Chapter 1744 Weapons and Tactics
Although Haihan is using the weapons-only theory as a sales pitch, and his own understanding of military affairs is not so narrow, the excellent performance of the Haihan Army over the past few years has indeed led many countries to one-sidedly believe that the Haihan Army is Its strength mainly relies on being equipped with advanced weapons and unique tactics based on this. It seems that as long as your country has the same level of armed forces, its combat effectiveness will be on an equal footing with the Haihan Army.
Only a few partners who have in-depth cooperation with Haihan in the military field, such as the Annan Zheng family and the Fujian Xu family, know that the strength of the Haihan army is not only the role of advanced weapons, but also the military thinking and military thinking that are hundreds of years ahead of this era. The concept of development is the real strength that other countries cannot imitate. Even if they can obtain weapons and tactics from Haihan, they still will not be able to complete combat missions in distant overseas areas like Haihan's army. Haihan's military achievements cannot be achieved only with determination and courage.
But even if they understand the key to this, these two companies are still the main buyers of Haihan arms. They all have the experience of fighting side by side with the Haihan Army, and they are far more aware of the role that heavy weapons can play on the battlefield than other countries, so their choice is as Bai Kesi said - the more, the better.
Another major buyer of Haihan artillery is the Portuguese. Although the Portuguese themselves have mastered the relatively advanced cannon-casting technology of this era, compared to the cannons made by Haihan, there is indeed a significant gap in performance between the cannons they made themselves, and apart from buying them for personal use, They would also ship this heavy weapon to Europe, package it with muskets, and sell them to the participating countries to earn the price difference.
With middlemen like Portugal, Haihan has indeed saved a lot of effort in promoting arms exports. The Portuguese took the initiative to take over almost all the arms sales in the area west of the Strait of Malacca, and the total amount of arms sold through this channel in the past few years has been It is not much worse than the other two big buyers, and the profits it brings to Haihan Ordnance every year are also very considerable.
The Army field artillery that Baix promoted today is not an upgrade from an old model like a rifle, but a new design. Because it was finalized last year, this artillery was named the Type 36 field gun and was divided into four models with different calibers: 85mm, 95mm, 105mm, and 115mm, which corresponded to the three artillery levels that were defined by shell weight in the past. Pounders, six-pounders, nine-pounders and twelve-pounders. As for larger-caliber field artillery, it is currently not included in Haihan Ordnance's production and export plans.
It is worth mentioning that starting from the end of last year, Haihan Ordnance’s artillery began to be named by caliber, replacing the past naming method of grading by shell weight. In addition to defining the grading standards of weapons in Haihan's way, it is also to improve the processing accuracy of weapons in future weapons production.
Of course, the most important reason is that the Haihan Army has gradually begun to eliminate traditional spherical solid-shell artillery. Simply grading artillery based on the weight of the shells can no longer keep up with the speed of the Shanghai and Han Army's armaments development. However, this adjustment will definitely be difficult for foreign armies to understand, and they will have to re-adapt according to Haihan's new standards.
However, according to Haihan's military development plan, the most advanced weapons must be reserved for personal use. At this stage and for a foreseeable period in the future, the new artillery currently equipped by Haihan Army will not be sold to the outside world. No matter how wealthy the buyers are, all they can buy from Haihan are traditional artillery pieces. In this way, Haihan will not need to worry about the emergence of organic artillery units that can really threaten him on the battlefield in his future external expansion.
Baikes did not intend to waste any time explaining the size units of gun barrel caliber to these buyers. He simply named these four types of artillery in order of caliber from small to large.
Compared with the artillery exported overseas by Haihan in the past few years, the improvements of the Type 36 artillery are mainly focused on range and accuracy. On the premise that there are no fundamental changes in the artillery shells, the goal can only be achieved by increasing the diameter of the artillery and improving the propellant.
Considering the weight and mobility requirements of field artillery, a weight reduction design was also used on the Type 36 artillery. Although the barrel was lengthened, the overall weight did not increase. The upgrade of the gunpowder has increased the effective range of the artillery by about 100 meters. Although this distance is almost negligible on the field battlefield, if the effect of the change in diameter is added, the Type 36 artillery has an increased range compared to the old model. The effective range has reached three hundred meters, which is about one hundred feet, and the effect is quite obvious.
In addition, taking into account the environmental conditions of field transportation, the structure of the gun carriage of the Type 36 field gun has also been adjusted, and a new bearing is used on the axle to make it easier to be towed by external forces.
Of course, the more the new artillery improves in performance, the more obvious it will be in price. The final price quoted by Baikes was 30% higher than the model previously sold by Haihan. This price is indeed a bit high for many buyers. The price of an artillery can easily reach thousands or tens of thousands, and the later use consumption cannot be ignored. Any artillery equipped by the army wants to achieve what Baikes said. To the extent that it is "enough", they have to face the embarrassment of military budget. For example, Matalan State, which purchased a large number of weapons in Haihan last year, chose to buy on credit because of lack of funds, and it has not yet paid off the order.
However, there are also people present who are eager to buy, such as the Dutch East India Company. Last year, after Su Keyi had a fight with the Matalan people, he finally grabbed a batch of warships made in Haihan, but the problem was that he did not We can get artillery orders, but the orders for these ships are all empty ships. We can only use Dutch-made artillery, and our combat effectiveness will inevitably be greatly reduced. Moreover, the Matalan people rushed to buy a lot of artillery. Although there were not many field guns among them, if the enemy was strong and transported all the large-caliber city defense guns and coastal defense guns to the battlefield, then Batavia's situation would definitely be worse than It was even more difficult when trapped in 1632.
If Haihan is willing to lift the sales restriction on the East India Company, then even if it is a loan, Su Keyi will do his best to buy a few more cannons and send them back to Batavia. It's a pity that the Haihan people don't seem to be interested in making money from the Dutch through the arms trade. Su Keyi had already approached Bai Kesi to inquire about it beforehand, but the other party clearly told him that the East India Company still had no share in this arms sales activity.
Not to mention Fei Cexian's feelings. The things are good and the Ming Dynasty is willing to spend money to buy them, but are the Haihan people willing to sell them? Seemingly thinking that such publicity was not enough, after Bai Kesi reported the price, the publicity about the new artillery did not end there. Instead, he invited Haihan Defense Minister Yan Chujie to explain to the buyers the role of the new artillery in the war. the role it can play.
"I know that there are many officials here with civilian backgrounds who don't know much about the military, so I will try my best to explain it in plain language so that everyone can understand why your country's army should spend money to buy these artillery pieces." After Yan Chujie took the stage, he made his purpose clear and concise.
"I think before Haihan appeared in the South China Sea, various countries had already begun to equip weapons like artillery to a greater or lesser extent. I believe everyone will not deny the huge power of artillery on the battlefield. But why is this weapon so lethal? In the past, it was rarely used in field operations? There are many reasons, including high cost, poor maneuverability, cumbersome operation, not enough safety, insufficient accuracy, limited range, and difficulty in artillery training... There are probably dozens of reasons like this in the past. In the past few years, various countries have often used artillery as the last trump card in urban attack and defense. ”
Yan Chujie paused and then said: "But the successful cases of our army in the past have shown that the use of artillery in war is not limited to the offense and defense of city fortresses. Artillery can also be used in field battles as the core of the tactical system. . Weapons with better performance, coupled with the tactics developed around the weapons, will allow the army to exert stronger combat effectiveness in field battles. After the army is equipped with field artillery, it is no longer a fantasy to defeat the cavalry with infantry. The army has proved this with many actual combat results on the Liaodong battlefield! ”
"The tactical system with artillery as the core should be a new topic for the armies of all countries. How to combine artillery with the existing troop organization and tactical system to maximize combat effectiveness in field battles. I think this is It is a problem that requires every commander to work hard to solve. But if you are willing to order new artillery made in our country, then we will be happy to train some commanders who understand new tactics for the buyers, so that the armies of various countries can avoid detours and be able to do so in a short time. Understand and grasp the correct direction of military development within a short period of time.”
When Yan Chujie said this, he asked his men to change the background wall chart behind him. Haihan Ordnance Industry also put a lot of thought into publicity this time. Just for the background of this venue, several posters were produced according to the theme. The content on the wall map this time is a bird's-eye view of a battlefield. The camps, units, and troop deployment are marked with simple drawings and text.
"Everyone, this is one of the battles for the Jinzhou Isthmus between our army and the Hou Jin Army in the Liaodong Peninsula last spring. The bottom of the map is our army launching an offensive from south to north, and the top is the Hou Jin Army holding the defense line of the Jinzhou Isthmus. . In terms of military strength, the opponent's cavalry is about four to five times that of ours, and the opponent's cavalry is more than twenty times that of our cavalry. I believe you have read detailed reports in local newspapers last year. , and even had face-to-face talks with senior generals who participated in this battle. So how did our army defeat the Jin Army's cavalry in a field environment with less, and seized control of the Jinzhou Isthmus? Now I will briefly analyze the role of artillery in it.”
The content of Yan Chujie's speech is undoubtedly quite hard-core. This kind of practical interpretation of combat examples can attract the attention of buyers more than empty boasts about how powerful the artillery is. There were many military attachés or dignitaries who had been on the battlefield. For these people, having the opportunity to hear Minister of Defense Haihan’s interpretation and analysis of a classic battle such as the Battle of the Golden State Isthmus may be more valuable than purchasing the weapon itself. more important. Because during this process, they could not only understand the detailed process of the war, but also increase their understanding of the Haihan Army's combat system.
In particular, the Ming Dynasty and North Korea, which were at war with the late Jin Dynasty, naturally paid more attention to this. When Fei Cexian saw the map hanging up, he knew that Yan Chujie would no longer talk nonsense like Bai Kesi. He suppressed all the previous unhappiness and braced himself to listen to Yan Chujie's analysis of the battle cases. If you can learn one and a half moves here, it may be of great benefit to your country's army.
Of course, Yan Chujie's explanation did not cover everything. He only touched on the content related to the Haihan Army's tactical system. The focus was still on the use of artillery to respond to the enemy's cavalry charge, and how to quickly identify targets in the wild. and construct artillery positions. The whole point of this article is to make these buyers realize that the success of the Haihan Army on the battlefield is based on the tactical system built around artillery, and this set of operations can be copied. If you are willing to spend money, you can OK.
Of course, we have to return to the old problem in the end. Let alone creating a force with the same strength as the Haihan Army, even if we can only imitate the early Haihan Army to 70% or 80%, it will cost an astonishing amount of military expenditures. Just fine. Haihan never discloses his country's military budget to the outside world, because the amount is too large. If it is announced, those countries that have been spending money to buy equipment and are interested in following Haihan's example will be discouraged.
Therefore, for buyers, spending money in the arms trade is not a problem. The question is how much money must be spent to reach or approach the combat level of the Haihan Army. Regarding this question, Yan Chujie did not give a clear answer, but responded generally that "each country's military should have a tactical system suitable for itself." This means that as long as you spend money to buy Haihan's weapons, we can teach you the corresponding tactics. How much you can learn and how to use them must be practiced by the commanders of your country.
But even if Yan Chujie blurred or even brushed off some key issues, his speech still benefited the audience a lot. Prior to this, their understanding of the Liaodong War mostly came from fragments of newspapers and official announcements. Naturally, the professionalism and tactical analysis of these contents written by literati could not be compared with Yan Chujie's interpretation.
Even a civil servant like Fei Cexian, who had never actually stepped into the battlefield, had to lament that the combat effectiveness of the Haihan Army was beyond the reach of the current Ming Army after listening to Yan Chujie's forty-minute explanation of the battle cases. Of course, having said that, if the Ming army was as capable of fighting as the Haihan army, then how could the Jin army create so much trouble for the Ming Dynasty.
(End of chapter)