Chapter 464: Tank Troops

After actual testing, even the most crude tank at present, when facing those relatively simple defensive works and small fortresses on the battlefield, could also have a considerable effect.

Although going to the battlefield would inevitably lead to casualties, the casualties in different scenarios were completely different. When conducting a defensive battle, as long as one relied on favorable terrain or built defensive works, one could effectively reduce casualties.

Conversely, when the army attacked the enemy's fortresses and strongholds, it would often also pay extremely heavy casualties.

The enemy could shrink inside the fortresses and strongholds, while the attacking side basically had no cover in front, and the soldiers were completely exposed to the enemy's gun muzzles and artillery.

This point could be well solved for tanks. First of all, the tank itself was a great weapon for dealing with offensive warfare.

Whether it was machine guns or rifles, they had no effect in front of tanks. The 75mm artillery carried by the tank could also have a good destructive effect on the enemy's simple defensive works and small fortresses.

As long as the tank could first destroy the enemy's defensive line, the subsequent infantry could approach the enemy's position under the cover of the tank, and remove these positions with smaller casualties and faster speed.

The current tank was not without shortcomings. First of all, it was too clumsy, and the speed of movement on the battlefield was not fast.

The current armored troops could not achieve the effect of the blitzkrieg of the World War II era; judging from the speed possessed by the current tanks, being able to advance the front line by tens of kilometers a day was already quite good.

Of course, even if Spain possessed tanks, it would not be extravagant enough to use tank troops in large numbers when advancing the front line.

These tanks were more of a trump card; when the front-line army fell into a stalemate, or at some important counter-attack nodes, they would be brought out for use, striving to give the enemy a fatal blow.

As for the problem that tanks could not break through large fortresses and strongholds, this point had already been anticipated when the tank was being researched.

The current tank could not yet load larger-caliber artillery, and the capture of those sturdy strongholds and fortresses would certainly require the use of larger-caliber artillery.

The tank's main purpose was still to cause greater damage to the enemy's infantry troops, especially when both sides were engaged in a tug-of-war with hundreds of thousands of people; once a tank was dispatched to tear open the enemy's defensive line, it could quickly and effectively change the pattern of the battlefield.

A group of generals in the Ministry of Defense were initially skeptical about this big guy that looked quite clumsy, but when they witnessed the tank's performance on the test field with their own eyes, the look in the army generals' eyes was no longer skepticism, but excitement that could not be concealed.

Even the usually steady Minister of Defense Qiao Di (the previous Andrew was for the next term, the error has been corrected), at this moment, some excitement could also be seen in his eyes.

"Minister Qiao Di, what do you think of this big guy? Can it be called a great weapon on the battlefield?" Gao Da looked at the excited Minister of Defense Qiao Di and asked with a smile.

"Of course, this is completely a great weapon on the battlefield." Minister of Defense Qiao Di nodded without hesitation; he now completely believed what Gao Da had said before about the tank's significant role on the battlefield.

It was no exaggeration to say that if Spain could equip tanks on a scale, the overall combat effectiveness of the Spanish army would be thoroughly and firmly ranked first in the world, and even Germany could not be mentioned in the same breath as the Spanish army.

Of course, the premise for all this was that Spain was equipped with tanks, and other countries did not have tanks or anti-tank weapons.

If one waited until all countries in the world were uniformly equipped with tank troops, then one would have to compare the combat effectiveness and quantity of each country's tanks.

The good news was that Spain was currently absolutely leading other European countries in tank research. At least under the investigation of the Royal Security Intelligence Agency, no news about tank research in other countries had been found.

Gao Da knew that the code name for Britain's tank research was "water tank," and he also had the Royal Security Intelligence Agency investigate any research projects related to the water tank in Britain.

Finally, after multiple investigations, it was determined that at least until now, Britain had not started tank research.

In fact, thinking about it, it was also very normal. Compared to the Britain in history, the Britain at this time had a bit more urgency.

Their naval status was not that solid; for the British government, what was more important at present was certainly ensuring that the British Navy remained number one in the world.

As for the tank research related to the army, the British government would certainly do it, but it certainly would not be now.

"Your Majesty, when can the army be equipped with these tanks? I can't wait to see the scene of these big guys cooperating with the infantry; this is simply the most perfect scene. Our army, combined with these big guys, can create the biggest trouble for any enemy.

I can guarantee that as long as we have these big guys, the Spanish army will definitely become the best-performing troops in the future war, and even the German Empire's army cannot be mentioned in the same breath as us." Minister Qiao Di said somewhat impatiently.

Gao Da did not directly answer Minister Qiao Di's question, but turned his gaze to the person in charge of the water tank research project, Spain's chief tank designer Bu Lai De: "You have to ask Mr. Bu Lai De about this; he is the person in charge of the project team, and he is the one who knows best about the tank's research progress and whether it can be built on a large scale."

Feeling the gazes of the high-level army generals looking over, the person in charge of the water tank project team, Bu Lai De, smiled slightly, and then explained to the military high-level officials: "Your Majesty the King, Generals.

Although the big guy in front of us has already passed the testing stage, for our project team, the entire water tank project is actually still in the preliminary research stage.

The finished product you see, which is the big guy in front of you, can actually only be considered our first-generation product.

We are currently researching the second-generation product; on the premise of slightly changing the tank's appearance, we have added a machine gun to the tank and improved the tank's engine, reducing the probability of the tank breaking down.

According to the current research progress of the second-generation tank, in at most half a year, we can see it on the test field. As long as there are no problems in the test, the second-generation tank can be formally built on a large scale within a year and equipped to the troops."

Because they received a large amount of capital support from Gao Da, the water tank research project team also had great ambition. They were not satisfied with the first-generation product in front of them, although the role of the first-generation product had already been displayed to the fullest.

The water tank project team hoped to research a new generation of tanks based on the finished products they currently possessed, effectively reducing the breakdown rate, improving stability, and improving the tank's firepower as much as possible.

Only such a tank could be considered a true great weapon on the battlefield. The current tank was indeed only the initial version; since Spain could possess better ones, naturally it had to research better ones to equip the troops.

Hearing what the person in charge of the research project team, Bu Lai De, said, Minister Qiao Di, although somewhat disappointed, still nodded and said: "Since it can be determined that the second-generation tank can enter the testing stage within half a year, the army can completely wait a little longer.

After all, these tanks are to be truly put into the battlefield, and those who operate these tanks are also our soldiers. Being able to reduce some failure rates can also improve the survival rate of the tank soldiers." ===== CHAPTER 465 =====