The Fourth Outstanding Person of Huangpu Military Academy

Huggins: "The M1930 will hit the head at 450 yards and the torso at 800 yards, I can guarantee you that!"

Sniper rifle, purchased from outside.

The batch size is too small, and producing it domestically would be much more expensive than importing it. Both the sniper rifle and the heavy machine gun have a caliber of 7.92mm and will be deployed in the firepower platoons of infantry companies. Each company will have approximately three heavy machine gun squads and three two-man sniper teams.

Not all of the goods Harkins brought were impressive. For example, none of the pistols were particularly useful. The Browning M1918, a light machine gun, received very low reviews from the test group. The FN 1930 light machine gun, however, was considered somewhat interesting by the test group, but they arrived too late. Had they come earlier to participate in the selection process and developed a 6.5mm version, they might have been able to compete.

Another good item that Huggins brought was the M2 heavy machine gun, still called the M1921E2.

Chen Tianheng has already decided on this gun in his mind, but he can't tell Harkins directly, so he has to lower the price and add conditions.

Why not choose Soviet models for heavy machine guns/anti-aircraft machine guns? Because DSHK has not been developed yet.

Not only has the DSHK not yet been invented, the Soviet Union has not even finalized the 12.7X108mm machine gun ammunition standard...

现在有现货的产品是:一战时德国的13×92毫米子弹，英国的模仿版12.7X94毫米子弹，美国的模仿增强版12.7X99毫米子弹。

12.7X99 is better than the first two, and this type of ammunition is the most widely used in later generations. Without a doubt, choose 12.7X99.

Moreover, there is the M2, a heavy machine gun model that can be used immediately. In this way, the revolutionary army only needs to determine a bolt-action anti-tank rifle that uses 12.7X99 bullets, and it will be complete.

"Mr. Huggins, I don't want to see water-cooling sleeves on anti-aircraft machine guns," Chen Tianheng began to find fault with the M2. "For air-to-air firing, the machine gun needs to quickly adjust its direction and elevation. The heavy barrel sleeve will affect the shooter's speed in aiming at the air."

Huggins: “But the U.S. Army purchased the M1921E2.

Chen Tianheng: "Because the US Army is stupid. I need a model without the water-cooling sleeve, but with a slightly thicker barrel to increase its sustained firing rate."

Huggins: "Oh, maybe you'll urge us to design a new model, the M1921 Heavy Barrel."

Chen Tianheng: "Yes, it's the HB modification. Mr. Huggins, the supply of this machine gun ammunition will be even higher than that of the M1930 sniper model. This is the biggest deal on your trip."

Chapter 73: Tanks finally use radios

The Guangzhou Joint Government procured approximately $600 million worth of weapons, ammunition, and military equipment last year. The types of equipment were scattered, and the value of each item was small, making it hardly a "giant arms procurement order" of this era.

For example, among the arms purchased directly by Guangzhou, a relatively large order was for 20 Vickers 6-ton tanks, specially ordered versions, with a unit price of 4600 pounds and a total price of only 9.2 pounds.

Todd Brandon, an engineer from Vickers who came to deliver 20 tanks, learned that Guangzhou had chosen the American M1921 (M2) as the army's standard anti-aircraft machine gun/heavy machine gun. He beat his chest and stamped his feet, saying that your choice is too unwise.

"Vickers has received an order from the British Army to design a new .50 anti-aircraft machine gun. They'll have a prototype next year," Brandon said. "I guarantee it'll be better than this Yankee thing."

"Perhaps," Chen Tianheng said, "but there are two problems. First, we won't see a prototype until next year, which is too late. Second, your standard ammunition is 12.7x81mm, which has insufficient charge and projectile energy."

Brandon: "Using this ammunition, the gun will be lighter. Oh, and if you really insist, Vickers can also develop a 12.7mm bullet with a higher charge."

Chen Tianheng: "We'll have to wait. Anyway, the current 12.7X81 has a curved trajectory, making it difficult to aim at air targets, and it also lacks accuracy when shooting at ground targets."

"But the manufacturing equipment and quality management in the UK are the most advanced, and good manufacturing technology can make the accuracy of firearms reach a very high level."

Chen Tianheng: "Based on the results of our trials and the information we have, the manufacturing processes and quality management of large US military enterprises are also quite good."

"Oh, ha," Brandon laughed. "American goods, Mr. Chief of Staff, you may not know that thirty years ago, American goods were synonymous with inferior quality, just like German goods were thirty years ago. That's why we have to require that industrial products exported to the Commonwealth must be marked with the country of manufacture, 'Made in USA', 'Made in Germany', to help buyers avoid minefields."

Chen Tianheng: "Thirty years later, things will be different. This is true for both German and American products. Things are constantly evolving, and the US is moving faster. At their fastest pace, the 381-meter-tall Empire State Building was built at a rate of four and a half floors per week. It topped out in less than a year and was completed in a year and two months. High efficiency means progressing faster than others."

Brandon: "The Americans simply took advantage of Europe's crisis and war to buy large quantities of industrial machine tools and equipment from Europe. They're buying up patented technologies everywhere, sometimes stealing them rather than buying them, using this method to improve their manufacturing. But Mr. Secretary, the Americans are still no match for Europe. America's shortcomings lie in technological research and development, especially in fundamental technologies, and it still relies on Europe. Europe, and especially the UK, is the engine of the technological revolution."

Chen Tianheng: "...You'd better talk about the United States."

"Look, after receiving your special request, Vickers completed the design revisions, tested the design, and produced 20 deliverable vehicles in just one year and three months. Our current industrial efficiency in the UK is quite good."

The two stood in front of the 20 Vickers MKE-CT light tanks delivered this time. The 20 tanks were neatly lined up in a row, with new paint.

It is equipped with a 37mm cannon with a long barrel, which is much more handsome than the short stick of the Renault FT-17 or the original Vickers MKE.

A special modification of the Vickers MKE. The suffix CT stands for "Guangdong", meaning the tank was exported to Guangdong.

Chen Tianheng: "But Mr. Brandon, if we hadn't clearly stated our improvement requirements, Vickers wouldn't have built a tank with a separate commander's window, a tail compartment, and enhanced armor. So, can we say that, at least in the field of armored equipment, China is the engine and driver of scientific and technological research and development?"

Brandon: "..."

The weight of these specially ordered tanks increased slightly to 8.02 tons, but the engine was a 110-horsepower one, slightly stronger than the original 98-horsepower, and the maximum speed was 37 kilometers per hour.

The front armor has a vertical surface of 25 mm and an inclined surface of 15 mm. In short, the front can defend against close-range direct hits from anti-tank guns. The side armor is 15 mm.

The turret is much larger than the original Vickers B type, and elements such as the commander's independent observation window and the tail compartment are not available on the Vickers B type.

"These tanks are mine, mine"

Dai Anlan quickly jumped onto the first tank and climbed into the cockpit. These tanks had been unloaded from the ship and then fueled up and driven to the training ground. Dai Anlan struggled to start the engine, and the tank rumbled and creaked as it sprang out.

Chen Tianheng: "Be careful not to hit the tree! If you do, you'll have to pay for it!"

Qian Deng Ruoxian: "Don't worry, he has been reading the instructions mailed by Vickers for the past two months."

Watching Dai Anlan's tanks go away, Chen Tianheng said: "Then, let's start modifying the tanks. Only two, can we finish them today?"

Qiandeng Ruoxian: "The engineering maintenance company is ready, and the machine has been debugged and there are no problems."

The Engineering and Maintenance Company of the Training Division's Armored Training Corps arrived, carrying two Motorola 5T71 radios on a cart.

The 5T71 was the world's first car-mountable walkie-talkie. As expected, this first-generation radio was no small feat, weighing 65 kg. This weight was without the battery; the 5T71 was designed to be connected to a car or tank's power source.

Of course, because of the external power supply, it is not limited by battery power like mobile walkie-talkies, so this first-generation car voice radio produced in 1930 has a maximum call distance of 25 kilometers.

It's not a single machine either. The complete 5T71 consists of several instruments on a cart, and its main part looks like... a split window air conditioner.

The main body consists of two instrument cases, one large and one small. In addition to these cases, there's also an antenna, which needs to be manually installed on the outside of the tank turret; a small speaker; two sets of headphone-microphone kits; a power cord and connector. Motorola also thoughtfully includes a tool kit, including a pencil, screwdriver, and small wrench.

The sergeant of the maintenance company opened the turret tail compartment of the Vickers tank according to the instructions, and it went relatively smoothly.

The size of the tail compartment was estimated by Chen Tianheng, but there was a large margin. The size of 5T71 did not exceed the upper limit of the tail compartment. After the instrument box was stuffed in, the tail compartment could still hold some other items, such as a repair tool kit or a backpack.

Chen Tianheng watched the maintenance sergeant install the adapter plate in the tail cabin, put a rubber cushion under the instrument box, and fixed it firmly with bolts. The antenna was erected outside the tank turret and also fixed with bolts. The antenna was connected to the large instrument box with a wire, the power cord was connected to the large instrument box, and the large instrument box was connected to the small instrument box. Then, two sets of headphone-microphones were plugged into the jack of the small instrument box.

"Report to the commander, it's been adjusted."

The sergeant turned on the radio and listened attentively to the noise in his headphones for a while.

Chen Tianheng: "Qian Deng, find two drivers and let's try driving the tank a distance."

The tanks rumbled out of the parking lot and entered the tank training ground.

Chen Tianheng: "A2, A2, I'm A-one, I'm A-one, if you hear me, please answer."

"I'm A2! I heard it! Over!" Qian Deng Ruoxian's voice on the other end was very excited.

The turret roof was open, and Chen Tianheng leaned halfway out of the tank. Fortunately, the headphone-microphone cable was long enough to support the commander in this position. Looking around, Chen Tianheng saw Qian Deng Ruoxian's car about four or five hundred meters away.

What is different from driving a Renault FT-17 in the past is that Chen Tianheng can not only see the A2 car, but also communicate with the driver of the A2 car through the radio.

Chen Tianheng: "A2, A2, have you found A3? Over."

Qian Deng Ruoxian: "Reporting to A-yao, A3 appeared at my 2 o'clock position a minute ago, 400 meters away. A3 then hid in the bushes. Over."

The A3 was the car Dai Anlan had driven out. Chen Tianheng said, "I think the A3 has already returned to the parking lot. Let's go back too. Over."

The two tanks returned to the parking lot, one in front and one behind. Chen Tianheng's tank was in the front, and sure enough, he saw Dai Anlan, who had jumped in first to experience the new tank.

Chen Tianheng asked Qian Deng Ruoxian not to drive his car into the parking lot and parked his tank next to Dai Anlan.

"Dai Anlan, don't you want to try the voice radio?"

The Vickers MKE-CT became the first tank to be fitted with a voice radio. However, this wasn't a significant advance, merely a head start. The radio installed was developed by Motorola, not something Chen Tianheng had developed himself. The fact that Chen Tianheng could buy it suggests that 5T71 had already been advertising in American newspapers, promoting the retrofit option to car owners.

In a few months, the Vickers MKE tanks ordered by Poland will require the installation of voice radios. Poland plans to equip each tank company with a radio-type vehicle, which means that the company commander's vehicle must have radio voice communication capabilities.

"Mr. Brandon, of course, there is good news for you."

Chen Tianheng said, "We plan to order an additional 20 Vickers MKE-CT vehicles, 4 more engineering maintenance vehicles with Vickers MKE chassis, and 50 Vickers MKE bare chassis vehicles. This is largely due to your country taking over the overseas patent agency for the Xiaoyanhuang antibiotic. In the past year, the overseas patent fee income for this drug has exceeded expectations."

Brandon: "That's great news. But, you're only buying 40 tanks. Don't you think that's still a little short?"

Chen Tianheng: "We're still not very wealthy, haha. In the last one or two years, these 40 cars are probably all we have."

London.

Vickers corporate headquarters.

"Has the second batch of payment from Nanjing not arrived yet?" "Are you sure it hasn't arrived yet?"

The deputy general manager frowned. This was the third time he had inquired with the finance department in the past two weeks.

"Yes, sir, no money has been deposited from Nanjing." The deputy general manager said, "Damn it."

Finance: "Do the Chinese want to take our tanks for free?"

"How is that possible?" the deputy general manager said. "Our second batch of tanks is still on shore and has not been shipped yet."

Chapter 74: Liaoxi Special Exercise

Nanjing canceled the order for the second batch of 20 Vickers MKEs, which made Vickers angry and disappointed.

Vickers would not ship the goods without payment, so it was not a free ride. However, the initial price of 80 vehicles was reduced to 25% of the original amount, which would be uncomfortable for any boss.

It was several months later that Vickers figured out the reason why Nanjing canceled the order. This was triggered by a long article by He Zhonghan.

He Zhonghan served as a diplomat on two arms delegation missions to Europe. After returning to China, he had become somewhat familiar with the international arms trade and the development trends of various weapons, and was almost an expert.

The Guangzhou organization also considered that He Zhonghan should further establish his own personality and reputation so that he could gain a better position in the national government.

So He Zhonghan wrote an article looking ahead to the development of international tanks.

In his article, he points out that the rapid growth of the automobile market since 1918, along with the rapid expansion of the auto industries in industrialized nations like Britain, the United States, and France, and the resulting extreme involution caused by competition, has led to tremendous advances in automotive technology, specifically in the areas of powertrain, transmission, chassis, and suspension, similar to those found in tanks. The latest sedans can't even be called new if they can't reach 100 mph, and new trucks start at 70 mph and have increasingly larger cargo capacities.

Furthermore, gun and artillery technology has also advanced rapidly. Consequently, tank technology has also advanced rapidly. Although the number of tanks ordered by various armies during the so-called "interwar period" is small, automobile and military factories have released a large number of tank models, with a new generation being released almost every three to four years. The three major performance indicators of firepower, armor, and protection are all significantly improved over the previous generation.

He Zhonghan added a thought-provoking paragraph at the end of the article, which is that as an agricultural country with underdeveloped industry, the Republic of China can only rely on foreign purchases to obtain tank equipment. Today, when tank technology is developing rapidly and is updated every three or four years, how to plan the construction of the national army's armored forces is a question worthy of consideration and discussion.

After He Zhonghan's last paragraph of "thoughts and questions" was conveyed to the upper echelons of Nanjing, it is unknown who made the final decision, but in any case, Nanjing's attitude became "Since this tank will soon become obsolete, we should save the money first and buy it in two years."

So Vickers' order was cancelled.

Guangzhou.

"With these 40 tanks, we can form a real armored regiment." Dai Anlan enthusiastically planned the future armored forces of the revolutionary army.

"Forty tanks are more than enough to form a tank battalion, and there are still a few left, which can be directly under the command of the regimental and divisional headquarters."

"Then there are three armored infantry battalions. Their main battle equipment is half-track infantry fighting vehicles. The battalions are composed of three armored infantry companies and one firepower company. The firepower company is a mixture of self-propelled mortars on half-track infantry fighting vehicle chassis and assault guns on Vickers chassis. The new infantry fighting vehicle chassis can be equipped with 100mm mortars, right?"

"Regimental Reconnaissance Company, Carden Lloyd Ultralight Tanks." "Regimental Mechanized Artillery Company, Vickers Chassis with 75mm Field Guns."

"There are also auxiliary forces such as the engineering company, maintenance company, supply company, and air defense company."

Dai Anlan continued drawing: "One armored regiment, two motorized infantry regiments, and one or two motorized artillery battalions. This is what the armored division will look like."

Qian Deng Ruoxian: "Can we eliminate one motorized infantry regiment and just have one armored regiment plus one motorized infantry regiment, and make it an armored brigade first?"

Chen Tianheng said, "We'll build it according to the framework of an armored division. In the future, we'll gradually import or produce our own tanks and infantry fighting vehicles. It doesn't matter if they're modified from existing chassis, since we'll have our own assembly plants... Once we have enough equipment, we'll upgrade one of the motorized infantry regiments to an armored regiment, and the number of tank battalions under an armored regiment will increase to two or even three."

Cai Qingchuan: "So, wouldn't an armored division with two armored regiments have over 200 tanks?"

Chen Tianheng: "That's right. The entire division has over 200 tanks, dozens of self-propelled artillery pieces, and over a thousand pieces of various motorized equipment... In combat mode, they burn over 100 tons of oil every day."

By 1933 or 1934, when the T-26 was mass-produced and available from the Soviet Union, the complete armored division had this configuration.

I don’t know what the final Soviet price of the T-26 was, but based on the fact that it “burned more than 100 tons of oil every day”, the revolutionary army’s armored division was likely to have only this one before they could acquire a large oil field.

But it is very necessary to build a unique armored force, which can enable the officers of the revolutionary army to understand armored warfare, rather than stuffing tanks into infantry companies or carrying tanks to the city walls as bunkers.

"Secretary Zhou, does the Special Intelligence Department have any detailed information on Zhang Zuolin's special exercises in western Liaoning?"

At a work meeting of the Military Commission, Chen Tianheng asked Zhou Enlai, "The General Staff's intelligence network fails to cover such distant areas. I wonder what Lao Zhang actually practiced to imitate the Jiangxi special exercises."

Zhou Enlai: "The Party organization in Fengtian also received very limited intelligence. From what is known so far, Zhang Zuolin mobilized a total of three brigades, originally two brigades stationed in Fengtian and one in Changchun. Zhang Zuolin first concentrated the three brigades in Fengtian, set out in formation, first marched to Tongliao, then turned back and entered western Liaoning. Everything seems to be imitating our Jiangxi special exercises, I am referring to the information the outside world has learned about the Jiangxi special exercises."

Chen Tianheng shook his head. "I just feel that Zhang Zuolin's fuss is unnecessary. They don't need to fight like this. Twenty thousand troops have been marching out of the city in formation for almost a month. The Northeast Army really isn't worried about losing food and horses."

Liaoning. Jianchang County (Chaoyang City).

Not only did Chen Tianheng think that Zhang Zuolin's "Liao Special Exercise" was unnecessary, but the Fengtian Army participating in the exercise also thought so.

Marshal Zhang is also trying to take advantage of the popularity and follow the trend to organize the "Liao Special Performance" and large-scale marching exercises. It's really exhausting.

However, considering that this exercise was like going to war, everyone was paid double salary and the food supply was sufficient along the way, the soldiers and officers put up with it.

In the chill of late autumn and early winter, Yang Yuting dismounted and went into the old county office in Jianchang County: "Go get a sheep and make some soup! I'm freezing!"

"Yes, Commander!"

In this exercise, the three participating brigades were temporarily organized into an army called the "Zhenliao Army", with Yang Yuting serving as the commander.

As the Chief Counselor of the Security Command, Yang Yuting felt that his concurrent command was quite demeaning. The Liao Zhen Army, with only three brigades under its command, had forced him to endure a month-long, exhausting march.