Sword of Light: Humanoid Self-Propelled Artillery

Chapter 288: Two minutes to fire, half an hour to cool down

Wang Gensheng understood what Battalion Commander Yang meant.

That's just how land-based artillery is; it can't compare to the cannons on ships at all. If it were ship-based artillery, those eight 155mm howitzers would have already used up their three basic loads of over a thousand rounds long ago, and there would be no issue of the barrel overheating.

Although they are used in different scenarios, whether they are land-based guns or naval guns, they are essentially cannons, and they all fire ammunition through a cannon barrel. They have similar operating principles, which is what they have in common.

The main differences between naval guns and land guns are twofold: first, the cooling methods of the gun barrels differ. Land guns typically rely on natural cooling with long intervals, while naval guns depend on water cooling with shorter intervals. Therefore, after an offensive operation, the barrel temperature of land guns is extremely high for a short period, requiring a considerable amount of time to cool down.

Secondly, the ammunition loading methods differ. Land-based artillery is mainly handled manually, which is inefficient, while naval guns generally rely on automatic ammunition feeding systems to continuously complete the ammunition loading task, making them more efficient.

Based on this analysis, it becomes clear that, in terms of firepower, land-based artillery is generally no match for naval guns. This judgment is based on their performance characteristics.

Based on the above differences, land-based artillery is not only inferior to naval artillery in terms of mobility, but also significantly lags behind in terms of shell firing rate and attack efficiency.

In a direct confrontation in coastal waters, land-based artillery would have little advantage, while naval guns could inflict continuous and powerful damage on the enemy. This is like a person with a submachine gun attacking an opponent with a semi-automatic rifle head-on; the odds of winning are obvious.

Take the Battle of Tashan for example. If Wang Gensheng hadn't used the Huitian torpedo to destroy Lao Zi's warships, the Battle of Tashan would have become just as tragic as it was in history.

Of course, there are many such examples in history. For instance, after the outbreak of the Yasukuni War, the reason why the Japanese and other powerful forces were able to land on the coast time and time again was because they could easily deal with the land artillery with fixed positions by relying on the aforementioned characteristics of naval guns, and ultimately win the war.

How big is the difference in firepower between land-based artillery and naval artillery? Take the Sukhomlinsky AK130 twin-barreled naval gun as an example. This gun has a rate of fire of 100 rounds per minute. When in full attack mode, it has the powerful firepower equivalent to a heavy artillery battalion.

In contrast, land-based artillery is far behind, with the initial rate of fire of land-based artillery in various countries generally around eight to ten rounds per minute.

Furthermore, in actual combat, land-based artillery must reduce its firing rate to allow for natural cooling. Maintaining this rate for an extended period could easily lead to barrel explosions or other problems.

For example, right now, in order to prevent the cannon barrel from exploding, Battalion Commander Yang had to stop firing and start piling snow on the cannon barrel to speed up its cooling.

In addition to their powerful firepower and extremely high rate of fire, naval guns also possess advanced ammunition feeding systems that land-based artillery cannot match. Naval guns are generally equipped with automatic ammunition feeding systems consisting of hoists and loaders, enabling rapid delivery of ammunition.

Land artillery, on the other hand, has a clear disadvantage. After firing one shell, it takes multiple people to reload it, which affects the efficiency of the attack and puts the artillery in a difficult situation in actual combat.

However, are land-based artillery pieces necessarily no match for naval guns? Of course, this is not absolute. If we analyze the specific situation in conjunction with the battlefield environment and the opposing forces, we will find that land-based artillery also has its advantages.

For example, in an inland waterway environment, land-based artillery can easily overwhelm naval guns, and there are classic examples of this. Before the PLA launched its Yangtze River Crossing Campaign in 1949, a British frigate named "Zishi Ying" disregarded warnings from the PLA and suddenly entered the Yangtze River, attempting to provoke them by taking advantage of its so-called inland waterway shipping privileges.

This led to a conflict between the two sides. During the conflict, the PLA artillery launched a fierce attack, killing seventeen Japanese soldiers on board and seriously injuring more than twenty others, including the captain and first officer, ultimately forcing the "Amethyst" to run aground. Following this, the Japanese destroyer "Consort" and other warships also joined the conflict with the PLA, but were forced to retreat by the powerful firepower of the PLA's 105mm howitzers and other artillery. Although the PLA suffered over two hundred casualties in this conflict, it gained the upper hand and achieved victory.

The reason why the enemy was able to suppress them with firepower was mainly because the specific environment of the Yangtze River restricted the maneuverability of the Yingjun warships, preventing them from playing a flexible combat role, while the Jiefangjun relied on large-scale artillery deployment to form an overall advantage.

Therefore, during the Chao-Guo War, the Ying-Guo Kingdom sent the most troops besides the Mi-Guo Kingdom, dispatching more than 14,000 soldiers, equivalent to the strength of a full-fledged Lion Army.

Looking at the history of world warfare, there are many examples of land artillery successfully countering naval guns. For instance, in the war between the Japanese and the Soviet Union in the early 20th century, the Japanese military specifically developed and deployed 320mm caliber coastal defense guns to attack the Soviet Pacific Fleet, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy.

However, with the development of technology, especially the deployment of a large number of precision-guided missiles, land-based artillery has a greater chance of winning against naval guns, particularly coastal defense artillery. These coastal defense guns possess very robust overall fortifications, employ special design and deployment, and have achieved effective improvements in strike accuracy—factors that naval guns must fully consider in a confrontation.

Therefore, for safety reasons, the adversary will send air force to eliminate the threat from the shore.

This led to the development of air superiority as a combat system, representing the importance of air power in warfare.

As soon as Battalion Commander Yang stopped shelling, Smith immediately called for air support, requesting reconnaissance planes to locate the artillery's firing positions and then have the bomber squadron silence them.

However, Wang Gensheng had anticipated this, so he immediately said to Battalion Commander Yang:
"Battalion Commander Yang, the US military's low-altitude reconnaissance planes should be coming over soon. Quickly hide the trucks and artillery. If you don't have white cloth to cover them, just use snow. In short, we can't let the US military's reconnaissance planes find us!"

After Wang Gensheng finished speaking, he contacted the leader of the Eighty-Nine Lions and asked him to set up some fake artillery positions to attract US reconnaissance planes.

And so, because it was so dark, the American reconnaissance planes really didn't spot them.

After the reconnaissance plane flew over, Battalion Commander Yang's eight 155mm howitzers had cooled down, and the shelling resumed.

Of course, it can be fired after cooling for half an hour, but that's only because snow was applied to the cannon barrel to cool it down. If it were to cool naturally, it would take at least two hours before it could be fired again.

This infuriated Smith, who knew that the Air Force had just told him that they had destroyed the artillery positions.

That's why Smith ordered the soldiers to repair the airport runway that had just been bombed again.

But the soldiers had only just gotten onto the runway when the shelling started again, and the soldiers repairing the runway were in for another terrible time.

(End of this chapter)