Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 165 Advantages and Disadvantages of Tracer Bullets

According to the plot of the final battle, Wang Cuiyun encountered Lao Zi's port patrol gunboats, which resulted in the annihilation of the entire force, with only Wang Cuiyun and a few scattered women surviving.

So Wang Gensheng really didn't know what to say about the sins Wang Cuiyun had committed. However, just as Wang Gensheng was recalling the plot of the final battle...

In Wang Cuiyun's view, Wang Gensheng was simply daydreaming, so she said:
"Comrade, which unit do you belong to?"

Wang Gengsheng only came to his senses after being questioned by Wang Cuiyun, and then answered:

"Originally it was the Eighth Route Army's directly subordinate cavalry regiment, now it's the General Headquarters' directly subordinate cavalry regiment. I'm the regimental commander, Wang Gensheng. But let me tell you, Comrade Wang Cuiyun, isn't it too dangerous for you to bring a whole bunch of military wives to look for your husbands? If our cavalry regiment hadn't intervened just now, you would all be finished! And you, as the women's director, even brought pregnant women along, aren't you afraid of something going wrong!"

When Wang Gensheng watched the TV series before his time travel, he felt both hatred and admiration for Wang Cuiyun. He hated her for taking a group of military wives to Dongbei without permission, only to have them almost all die on the way. He was moved by her later actions.

Just as Wang Gensheng was about to persuade Wang Cuiyun to go back, Li Xiu suddenly reported:
"Commander, we need to retreat immediately! Qin Huangdao's army is heading this way. It's probably those glowing bullets that let them know our exact location!"

In response, Wang Gensheng said:
"What do you mean by a bullet that glows? Those are tracer bullets, specially used to indicate the trajectory of a bullet. Alright, get the soldiers on horseback and move out quickly!"

There's no way around it. Although tracer rounds are very useful at night, they also have many drawbacks, namely, they make it very easy to expose one's position.

Since firing would expose their position, and tracer rounds have obvious drawbacks, why are they still used in large quantities?

In fact, as early as 1915, England pioneered the invention of tracer bullets, which were quickly imitated by other regions.

Then, more than a hundred years passed before Wang Gensheng's time travel. Tracer bullets not only did not disappear, but after continuous upgrades and modifications, they became an indispensable piece of equipment.

The scene of the tracer rounds being launched is like a laser weapon from a Star Wars movie, giving people a very shocking feeling.

The most obvious characteristic of a tracer round is that after it is fired, it leaves a bright trail of light as it heads straight for the target.

Whether it is day or night, once equipment equipped with tracer rounds fires, a very clear firing trajectory can be seen.

Undoubtedly, this shooting method looks cool, but it will undoubtedly expose the shooter's position, which is a very dangerous operation in real combat.

As the saying goes, "If the enemy is in the light and we are in the dark, we have a nine-tenths chance of winning." Concealing one's position is crucial to defeating the enemy, but tracer rounds go against this principle. Despite this drawback, it has not stopped the widespread adoption of tracer rounds.

Tracer rounds differ from ordinary ammunition in that the warhead of a tracer round has a special coating.

However, the color coating is only to distinguish it from ordinary ammunition; the truly special part is inside.

Tracer bullets are mainly composed of a jacket, a lead core, a tracer tube, and a pressure ring. The tracer agent inside the tracer tube is the key to the tracer bullet's ability to emit light.

The main components of the tracer are active metals such as magnesium, which have a very low ignition point. Moreover, by changing different metals, the tracer bullet can emit different colors of light.

When the tracer round is fired, the gunpowder ignites the tracer agent, causing it to burn rapidly and emit a bright light.

Due to their more complex manufacturing process, tracer rounds typically cost about five times more than regular ammunition. Furthermore, because of the added tracer agent, the ammunition filler is reduced, resulting in tracer rounds having lower power than regular bullets.

However, despite the fact that tracer rounds not only expose the user but are also expensive and have reduced effectiveness, their numerous drawbacks outweigh their advantages. One advantage of tracer rounds can outweigh all the disadvantages.

The fired tracer rounds leave long trails, and their most obvious feature is that they show a clear trajectory, which is exactly what the shooter needs.

In fact, the main function of tracer rounds is to display the trajectory of the bullet, so that the shooter can adjust the shooting direction according to the trajectory and thus give the opponent a more accurate hit.

At the same time, since tracer rounds can display the firing trajectory, they often serve to guide targets in team operations.

For example, Wang Gensheng just used this feature to indicate the position of the gunboat so that the mortars could attack the gunboat at sea.

In addition, in real battlefield environments, the clear trajectory of tracer rounds, combined with the piercing sound of gunfire, can often bring greater deterrence to the enemy, boost one's own morale, and break the opponent's psychological defenses.

To save costs and improve combat effectiveness, tracer rounds are generally not used alone. When combining ammunition, a tracer round is used approximately every five rounds.

This ensures effective shooting while displaying the ballistic trajectory and reducing ammunition costs.

Tracer rounds have a wide range of applications. Almost all equipment can be specially manufactured with tracer rounds to help shooters correct the trajectory and guide the attack target.

However, for those on the battlefield, seeing tracer rounds hurtling towards them, their bright trajectories illuminating not hope but death, is a terrifying thing.

However, Wang Gensheng had no choice but to leave quickly, as it was not the right time to fight with so many female comrades.

Fortunately, Wang Gensheng's cavalry regiment had two horses per person, so it wasn't difficult for these military wives to ride a horse by themselves.

Even if someone can't ride a horse, they only need to sit on its back and let the cavalrymen lead the horse.

Wang Gensheng's biggest headache now is how to settle the wives of soldiers who have come to the battlefield to find their husbands.

Even more cruelly, the subsequent Battle of Siping was an extremely fierce battle, and it was during this battle that Wang Cuiyun's fiancé died.

Of course, Wang Gensheng also understood that this battle was necessary, and that fighting it would greatly hinder their unstoppable offensive.

Faced with this large-scale battle, all Wang Gensheng can do now is try to sabotage its logistics, especially the supply routes for food and ammunition.

However, it's not just about that; they also need to mobilize the masses and get the people of Dongbei to support them. Only then will they have a chance to defeat the Lao Ji troops.

Gaining the support of the masses is simple: provide them with tangible benefits, which in turn means distributing land.

After all, if we can help poor people obtain land from landlords, then we can get the people to help us sincerely.

Therefore, Wang Gensheng also thought about where Wang Cuiyun and the others had gone.

(End of this chapter)