Imperial Elite

Chapter 125 Harrison's Military Reforms

Normally, something like a major earthquake in Shengyang wouldn't have much of an impact on Qiao, since it's too far away and there's no trade relationship between Qiao and Shengyang.

However, given that the clauses concerning defense companies in the Washington Naval Treaty were largely initiated by the Sun, Joe, who was already delighted by the London gentlemen's gloating in the newspapers after hearing about the major earthquake in Sun, was further displeased upon seeing the earthquake.

He paused for a few seconds, then immediately opened the champagne.

Joe was especially happy when he heard that many large warships under construction in the Sun Navy had been scrapped due to the earthquake.

Joe was so happy that he gave every tourist on Paradise Island a glass of champagne for three consecutive days.

This gloating behavior naturally drew protests from the people of Shengyang, who said that Joe was not human, but a monster, for being able to celebrate such a human tragedy!
While the people of Shengyang were becoming happier as they broke down their defenses, just like after every major disaster, there were fools and bad people spreading rumors, and this happened after the earthquake.

There were also malicious people spreading rumors that the earthquake was caused by other Far Easterners! They claimed that after the earthquake, other Far Easterners took advantage of the chaos and abducted women!

Instead of stopping these rumors, the Shengyang government was happy to promote their spread.

After all, the disaster victims need to be distracted. Rather than focusing their attention on the government's relief efforts, it would be better to redirect their attention in other ways.

In that case, wouldn't those Far Easterners living in the Sunrise be an excellent target?

However, with this shift in focus, xenophobia and the already popular right wing began to rise on a large scale in Sunrise.

However, after the initial schadenfreude subsided, Joe shifted his focus back to military matters.

In fact, after disbanding almost all of its armored units, Wagner's combat effectiveness had indeed plummeted to rock bottom.

However, Joe believed that this was not a problem. As long as the reorganization from heavy armored units to air assault units could be completed, all these problems could be solved.

The most important issue in forming an air assault force is how to get the troops into the air. A year ago, Joe didn't have a good solution to this problem.

Airships are the only option for training airborne troops.

However, the situation has changed a bit now; the concept of air breakthrough has become feasible from a purely conceptual one.

Just like after the war, many military supplies were converted for civilian use. For example, the Teutonic helmets were simply modified into small pots.

Even these small pots sell very well at Citibank.

During the war, after losing military orders, the bomber manufacturers of the Bunitania Air Force also began to look for new customers and try to open up new markets.

Soon enough, the original Hendry Page O/400 heavy bomber was converted into a W.8 passenger plane.

This twin-engine biplane was modified and made its maiden flight in 1920. It could carry 12 to 15 people on a single flight and could fly more than 400 kilometers even when fully loaded.

Because of their low price and ample supply, many emerging airlines purchased these aircraft for short-haul routes in the Old World.

This bomber-to-passenger aircraft has performed well for more than a year since it entered service, with no serious accidents.

So, before the air races had yielded any results, Joe decided to purchase a batch of these aircraft for troop training and deployment.

Besides the fact that the air transport problem has been temporarily resolved, Joe has also figured out how to reorganize the now-lightened Wagner.

Although Wagner's overall size was reduced, the original 7th Truck Transport Company would not only not be reduced but would be expanded into a special tactical battalion in the next few years.

They receive the most rigorous and comprehensive training, are equipped with the best and most complete custom-made gear, and are tasked with accomplishing the impossible.

With this level of training, naturally many people will be eliminated.

Although those eliminated by this training are not qualified soldiers, it does not mean that they are not qualified soldiers.

Compared to the well-rounded warriors of the special tactics battalion, these eliminated warriors may only have been slightly lacking in certain aspects.

Therefore, they will be organized into an air assault regiment, which will definitely be slightly inferior to a special tactics battalion in terms of training intensity and equipment.

For example, in order to conduct all-weather, all-domain operations, special tactical battalions need to undergo training in diving and driving various vehicles.

You need to be able to drive tanks and airplanes, and also be able to operate engines and rudders.

Although it's uncertain whether they'll be needed, since the mission is to accomplish the impossible, we don't expect them to be highly skilled at driving these vehicles, but at least they should be able to drive them.

For an air assault regiment, however, it certainly doesn't need to be able to achieve that level of capability.

In addition to the air assault regiment, Joe reorganized the other two regiments into a mechanized infantry regiment that relied mainly on various armored vehicles and off-road trucks for mobility, and an aviation regiment.

After all, to carry out an air assault, one must maintain one's own air power. Whether it is to cover the air assault regiment's air drop or to do other things, the support of the air force is required.

With this round of reorganization, Wagner has almost completely become a special operations unit.

This is, of course, part of the overall NATO military reform.

Originally, in Joe's plan, NATO would serve as the eastern defense line of Bonitania, and according to the comprehensive defense plan, NATO's military equipment and training would naturally be completely Bonitania-ized.

Defense construction also followed the same path of large-scale mobilization. As long as the large numbers of troops could maintain the defense line and hold out until the Bonitania Expeditionary Force arrived, it would be considered a victory.

According to Joe's most pessimistic estimate, if NATO forces could hold out for seven days under any circumstances, the Bunitania Expeditionary Force would arrive by the time they could take a bath.

Moreover, there's Wagner. In Joe's plan, to complete the defense of the East and the core area of ​​the Near East, Wagner will eventually expand into a massive military force of three heavy armored divisions, two mechanized infantry brigades, and one airborne regiment.

With such a force, let alone conducting mobile defense in such a small area as NATO, it wouldn't be impossible to launch a counterattack and encircle and annihilate one or two divisions, provided there are enough troops to fill the gaps.

With Wagner placed under strict restrictions, this defense plan was lost forever.

Of course, NATO member states can also form their own armored forces. You contribute an armored division, I contribute a few armored regiments, and we can also put together an armored assault force.

However, NATO's military spending is limited. If money is spent on armored forces, then spending on infantry and other areas will naturally decrease.

Even the strongest armored forces need sufficiently strong infantry to guard their flanks.

Without sufficiently strong infantry support, armored units are nothing more than a few tougher iron turtles to be cracked.

Most importantly, the main reason Qiao dared to build up the armored forces was that he was certain that although there would be no conflict between major powers now, small-scale frictions and conflicts would certainly not be uncommon due to the fragmentation and reorganization of the post-war geopolitical landscape.

As long as the conflict exists, I will definitely not have to worry about business, and I can use my customers' money to support the army.

Just like the previous contract with the Bohemians, although the Bohemians bought all the tanks that Wagner was going to retire, Joe even provided them with two battalions of veterans so that they could use the tanks as soon as they got them.

And there will be no problems with training.

Meanwhile, Joe also planned to smuggle the gold that was still in his hands into Bohemia by mixing it with these tanks.

Logically, this should have been a deal that satisfied everyone. However, a slight unexpected event occurred: as a nation that had gained independence from the Habsburg Empire, it had experienced minor frictions with almost all of its neighboring countries due to historical and ethnic factors.

The Teutons believed that the Sudetenland region, which comprised 90 percent of the Bohemian border, should be Teutonic territory.

Meanwhile, Poland also has some territorial disputes with Bohemia in the Cochin region, and as for the Little Habsburgs in the south and the Russian military government in the east, there is even more to discuss.

So even though the deal was struck, these tanks, which theoretically belonged to Bohemia, could never be transported in.

Even the Teutonic government has taken a firm stance this time, refusing to allow Bohemia to transport the tanks it purchased, as this would affect regional stability.

In this geopolitical environment, Joe felt that raising three armored divisions was a piece of cake.

However, as circumstances change, the original NATO defense plan naturally needs to be changed as well.

The old approach of mobilizing all available personnel and rapidly expanding the number of line fillers is definitely not going to work.

After all, the population of the three NATO countries, even including Bohemia which has some interest in joining NATO, is not that large.

However, although there are few people, and historically it was a desolate place where even birds wouldn't defecate and rabbits wouldn't lay eggs.

However, this area is either mountainous or densely forested, making it naturally suitable for elite infantry to conduct guerrilla warfare.

So Joe's new plan is that NATO's money, apart from a small portion used for the construction of fortresses in key locations to control key nodes, will be allocated to other areas.

The remaining resources should be allocated to elite light infantry capable of rapid response and maneuverability.

Air assault brigades, airborne regiments, and mountain guerrilla regiments are all being prepared for deployment.

Apart from the fortress garrison, the rest of the troops should not engage in direct combat with the enemy after the start of the war.

Instead, relying on their mobility, they constantly dig traps and launch surprise attacks, targeting places like the enemy's logistics convoys and logistics nodes, or even airports.

Even if we can't reach these places, launching a night raid on the enemy while they are resting at night is a good option.

In short, it's about rejecting honest gunfights and prioritizing exchange over honesty.

It's not necessary to defeat the other party, but it's essential to inflict significant pain on them, thereby forcing them to the negotiating table.

After all, the entire NATO is not like the Southern Dark Continent of yesteryear, where huge gold mines were discovered and made it onto the list of must-eat foods in Britannia.

Therefore, as long as the other party is of sound mind, they will definitely give up continuing their armed invasion if the cost outweighs the gain.

To accomplish this military reform, the infantry naturally bore the heaviest burden.

Military reforms of this scale have left others wondering what Joe is up to.

They're buying airships and airplanes, and now they've not only stopped developing tanks, they're starting to develop infantry.

This is in addition to the fact that Joe had previously invested a lot of money in air racing.

So, for a while, quite a few clever people started to wonder if Joe was planning to do something in the sky?

Then, these clever guys started preparing to follow Old Joe's lead.

What these clever leaders didn't know was that Joe's most important part in this military reform was still the adjustment of equipment.

Although the development of the new equipment is as hellish as ever, this is less of a problem if we disregard the possibility of future integration with Bonitania's logistics system.

Joe not only cut off the development of all the new firearms except for the general-purpose machine gun, but also moved the firearms development department to Prag.

Then Joe began developing small-caliber intermediate-power rounds and fully automatic infantry assault weapons.

The reason we didn't bother with these things before was that Wagner would still have to use the Bunitania logistics system, so we would avoid changing things like ammunition if possible. Wouldn't it be better to just use Bunitania's ammunition directly?

However, after this incident, Joe no longer needed to bother with submachine guns and semi-automatic rifles, and could directly begin researching assault rifles.

Although small-caliber intermediate-power cartridges for assault rifles are not yet available, the technological foundation already exists in other areas.

Pneumatic automatic principles and locking mechanisms have been extensively practiced during and after the war.

Meanwhile, due to the rapid progress of the automotive industry, sheet metal and stamping technologies are also continuously improving. Therefore, Joe plans to make a slight leap forward, directly giving NATO forces an overwhelming advantage in infantry firepower.

Of course, relying solely on assault rifles is not enough, so in terms of heavy firepower, Joe continued to increase investment in rockets and recoilless rifles.

Because Rolls-Royce had developed a complete range of off-road vehicles, from four-wheeled to eight-wheeled, Joe had many options.

So in Joe's plan, not only would he cram un-staffed soldiers into infantry squads, but they would also fire a shot whenever they had a spare moment.

In mechanized infantry companies, rockets are mounted on every possible surface.

Although rockets aren't very accurate, as long as there are enough of them, a single saturation shot will always manage to hit something.

Moreover, rocket launchers are not as slow as towed artillery; they can drive to the location, fire, and run away.

Let those who get bombed not be able to find their own tails.

In short, we must make up for the lack of manpower with sufficient firepower, and crush the enemy's numerical advantage with superior quality. Once the war starts, apart from key points, the other fronts are completely irrelevant, and all troops are focused on racking up kills.

As long as the other side suffers heavy casualties, we are not afraid of our diplomatic representatives remaining silent.

Furthermore, it would be even better if those special tactical units could also take down some regimental or divisional command posts.

For this military reform, Joe planned to complete the adjustment of troop organization and training within three years. As for the supporting weapons, he believed that it would be a victory if they were all in place by 1930.

However, Joe himself knew that there was a very serious problem with this military reform plan.

Because NATO is small in size and population, although Joe established a tactical air force in NATO, he was always unsure how effective this air force would be after its establishment.

Therefore, in order to prevent the air force from becoming ineffective and causing the ground troops to be bombed into a state of utter incompetence.

Joe, who had almost given up on further research into armor, still joined forces with Rolls-Royce to develop field air defense systems for infantry units, specifically tailored to the NATO environment.

Although air defense is often ineffective without radar, the impact of an air raid is naturally different depending on whether or not it is accompanied by air defense.

So let's get it set up first. If all else fails, we can lay the anti-aircraft guns flat and use them to fight infantry.

(End of this chapter)