Chapter 522: Chapter 522: Vehicle-Mounted Rocket Artillery
Shire showed great patience.
He ate and slept on time every day, maintaining a stable routine. Sometimes, he would take a nap, and he developed the habit of running a few laps around the airfield before dinner to ensure his physical strength.
Shire believed that only by taking care of one’s body in peacetime could one have the capital to overdraft in wartime. Otherwise, maintaining a highly tense state all the time would soon bring oneself down.
After all, there was still a long time to go. The four-year-long war had just passed over a year, and it was not going to end soon as people thought.
Tijani, on the other hand, was busy here and there, concerned about the situation of the Battle of River Somme and gathering intelligence on Namur, while also nervously organizing and training the rocket artillery unit.
That evening, just as Shire finished his run and returned to the command post drenched in sweat, Tijani impatiently approached him: "Major General, aren’t two rocket artillery regiments too few?"
The rocket artillery regiment was organized with a conventional artillery regiment structure, with twelve launchers per battalion, and only thirty-six launchers per rocket artillery regiment.
Meanwhile, the German Army had placed five artillery regiments in the River Bay District alone of Namur Fortress, not even counting the 77mm guns held by the infantry divisions.
Shire took a towel from the orderlies to wipe off his sweat, then took the warm water they handed him and drank a few gulps before replying, "The important thing has never been the rocket artillery, General, but the rockets."
Tijani pondered for a moment and then understood.
Rocket artillery differed from conventional artillery; it wasn’t a consumable but something that relocated immediately after firing, making it highly likely to survive.
Therefore, how many rocket launchers weren’t the focus; the focus was how many rockets could be used to repeatedly cover the enemy’s artillery positions.
Tijani nodded and then asked, "So, what vehicles should we use to tow the rocket artillery? I mean, if we need to move right after firing."
Shire countered, "Why tow them?"
Tijani looked puzzled, "If we don’t tow them, do you expect people to push them? No, no, although they can be pushed, it would be too slow!"
"Follow me, General." Shire took his jacket from the coat rack, put it on, and took the military cap handed to him by the orderlies, putting it on.
The weather in December was already getting cold, and a few recent small rains had caused the temperature to drop sharply. Shire did not want his body to have any issues at this time.
He led Tijani downstairs, across the passageway between buildings, along the gravel path, and a few minutes later, they reached a warehouse.
There were a few guards at the door and a patrol team. On seeing Shire and Tijani, they quickly stood at attention and saluted.
The patrol team continued their rounds while the guards at the door laboriously pushed the warehouse doors open to both sides and considerately turned on the warehouse’s lights.
Tijani was somewhat surprised; as the commander of the Mechanized Division stationed at the airfield, he had no idea that such a "secret space" existed right under his nose.
Following Shire into the warehouse, Tijani became even more confused. The spacious area housed more than a dozen reconnaissance vehicles.
Looking deeper, besides reconnaissance vehicles, there were still reconnaissance vehicles, with nothing else in sight. The only difference was that the rear compartments of the reconnaissance vehicles were covered with tarps, as if they were carrying something.
Tijani was a bit disappointed; he thought there was some new equipment.
While reconnaissance vehicles might envy other units, they were standard equipment for Tijani’s Mechanized Division.
Shire stepped forward and pulled off a tarp. As the tarp fell with a "rustling" sound, Tijani’s mouth instantly dropped open in shock, unable to speak.
After a while, he looked at Shire with excitement and said:
"A rocket artillery, it’s actually a rocket artillery?"
"You, you actually mounted a rocket artillery onto a reconnaissance vehicle?"
"Brilliant idea, Major General, you are simply a genius!"
It was indeed a rocket artillery. Shire had mounted the 107 rocket artillery onto an armored reconnaissance vehicle, making some minor modifications: replacing the reconnaissance vehicle’s protective armor with rocket artillery and adding a rotatable base to the rocket artillery.
(The above image shows a Katyusha rocket artillery. The rocket artillery combining reconnaissance vehicles and 107 rocket artillery mentioned in the text does not exist in history and can only be replaced with this image. The rocket artillery invented by the protagonist is more advanced. The Katyusha used rails, with the rockets exposed and prone to accidents. It could not be moved while loaded with rockets, as the rockets would fall off the rails. This method was eventually replaced by tube-launch launchers.)
As he spoke, Tijani moved forward to touch this and that, his eyes full of amazement, shaking his head and muttering to himself from time to time, "This is crazy, unbelievable. The combination of two pieces of equipment has become one, a whole new piece of equipment!"
Shire nodded towards the rocket artillery and calmly asked, "Do you know the advantages of doing this?"
Tijani thought for a moment and then nodded heavily:
"I can roughly guess, Major General."
"Compared to the towed type, it is more straightforward, more stable, and easier to operate."
"More importantly, it is easier to position and more convenient and quicker to relocate."
"My God, it’s simply a perfect combination for ’guerrilla tactics’!"
Shire silently praised him.
Although these were not secrets to Shire, a modern man.
However, in the era of the Great War, many generals were still obsessed with "offense," "defense," and even "cavalry," "trench warfare," and "artillery," believing that these could solve all war problems.
Tijani’s ability to quickly summarize the advantages of rocket artillery was quite valuable.
Shire believed it might be because Tijani did not have much combat experience.
In an era of rapid changes and developments in tactics, combat experience often meant rigidity and obstinacy, as they firmly believed in their so-called experience and that it could bring them victory.
"How many of these artillery do we have?" Tijani looked at Shire with anticipation: "Are both regiments entirely equipped with them?"
"No, General," Shire replied, "We might only have time to produce one vehicle-mounted regiment; the other regiment will stick with the original version."
"Understood." Tijani nodded, "Given the shortage of supplies, even having one vehicle-mounted regiment is quite fortunate."
Tijani knew that while other units struggled to find a pair of boots, they were equipped with such high-end rocket artillery, it was like being worlds apart.
If it weren’t for Shire, they wouldn’t have such treatment!
What Tijani didn’t know was that this was intentional on Shire’s part.
The advantage of the 107 rocket artillery was its versatility in any environment, whether in the jungle, on high ground, or in trenches. It could be towed by sidecars or horses, or even pushed by manpower, with a total marching weight of just over three hundred kilograms.
If necessary, the launch tubes could even be disassembled and transported piece by piece, then reassembled at the destination.
While vehicle-mounted rocket artillery was excellent, it still depended heavily on roads and the environment.
Converting everything to vehicle-mounted rocket artillery would lose flexibility, and it would easily cause the troops and commanders like Tijani to develop an inertial mindset, not exploiting the guerrilla potential of the 107 rocket artillery.
So, it wasn’t that "there wasn’t time to produce."
But rather, Shire’s goal was clear:
Two rocket artillery regiments, one vehicle-mounted for countering the German Army artillery, and the other original version for supporting the troops in combat.