Munitions Empire

The next day, Liu Guozhu discovered that even more troops had caught up, and various logistic support units also began setting up next to his camp, then the security units extended even further forward.

The first to arrive were the field meal trucks and water trucks, followed by the installation of water pumping equipment. Tents were erected one by one, and an open-air bathing area was constructed with simple wooden planks separating the shower lines.

This was a military camp, where women seldom came, so everyone was quite uninhibited. Many people even went to bathe without wearing any clothes.

After all, bathing was timed, and each common officer and soldier was only given five minutes. If they wasted time undressing, they would never finish in time.

On the fifth day that the Armored Corps halted their offensive, the logistics support retrofitting team finally arrived, bringing raw materials to retrofit the Type 4 tanks right there for the Armored Corps.

In battle, too many problems had been exposed. Actual users of the weapons needed to provide better improvement proposals to make them more reliable and complete.

For example, the Type 4 tank, as the war continued to evolve, was not perfect and required retrofitting.

The ability to retrofit at the front lines meant they were minor repairs and adjustments, some even requiring the Armored Troops to assist by hand, so the entire camp was bustling with activity.

A worker was scraping the paint off the side of a tank, and where the paint had already been removed, a welder was welding triangular iron pieces onto the side of the tank.

These triangular iron supports were for mounting the tank's side skirts, which the Type 4 tanks produced before the war did not have to enhance side protection.

As the war continued, the Type 4 tank's frontal armor was still adequate, but its thin side armor was clearly not quite suitable for the demands of future warfare.

Therefore, Tang Mo immediately used the simplest method from World War II to give a simple upgrade to all the Type 4 tanks.

All in-service Type 4 tanks were to be fitted with side armored skirts. Such additional external steel plates effectively strengthened the tank's side defense.

In addition, all Type 4 tanks on the front lines had to have a piece of armor welded onto the front to increase defensive capabilities, raising the thickness of the frontal armor to 60 millimeters.

The fully-weighted Type 4 tanks equipped with these armors saw a substantial increase in protection. The welded steel plates with gaps from the main armor were effective against impact-fuzed shells, reducing the risk of these shells penetrating the tank.

To be honest, it wasn't of much use, but having it was better than not, and the soldiers still liked the feeling of being cared for at all times.

The loader, driver, gunner, and mechanic were all handling a large steel plate, hanging it on the already installed side bracket on the other side.

This bracket had a latch that could secure the heavy steel plate, keeping it from falling off due to vibrations and scrapes during the tank's movement.

Similarly, brackets also needed to be welded around the turret of the Type 4 tank, and such steel plates were hung. This was the main method to increase turret protection.

The armor welded to the front of the turret was thicker than that on the hull's front, which also slightly reduced the turret rotation speed of the upgraded Type 4 tanks.

The improvements to the turret were welcomed by many Armored Troops, as the circle of metal had been slightly modified, doubling the size of the luggage box, allowing for the storage of many less important personal items.

Based on front-line combat experience, the subsequent production of Type 4 tanks included an added machine gun base for the tank commander, which could be fitted with a shielded machine gun at any time.

This gave the commander some ability to attack infantry, but at the same time increased the commander's combat risk. Hence, in general, this machine gun was not equipped but merely provided the base as an additional option.

Clapping his hands, the loader was clearly very satisfied with the steel plate added to his side, which gave him a greater sense of security.

However, he did not like the circle of steel plates mounted on the side of the turret, as they blocked the side hatch for the loader on the turret, making it less convenient for him to get in and out.

In the distance, the tanks of the 1st Armored Division, having been retrofitted, were getting a fresh coat of paint. This was the classic three-color camouflage that the Tang Army Infantry had begun to use on a large scale. The tops of the tank turrets were painted bright red with a prominent dragon emblem.

This was also an important part of the improvements, to prevent friendly fire from the Air Force. The prior method of covering with a red flag was too casual, so this time it was all changed to paint.

To reduce the risk of enemy detection, the former solid numerical numerals were changed to hollow white ones, painted on the welded external armor.

Overall, such modifications did indeed make the Armored Corps of the Tang Army look rather stylish. Everyone liked the new look of their tanks, and Liu Guozhu was no exception.

"It's a pity that the smoking device wasn't modified," as the tank commander, Liu Guozhu was only responsible for helping to paint on the roof. As he worked, he complained to the logisticians and modification crew.

"I heard that the new batch of Type 4 tanks have increased the power of the smoking motor." The worker explained helplessly, "The ones already equipped can't be modified, it's too much trouble."

"Every time I fire a shot, I feel like I'm committing suicide; I still need to bring this up to my superiors," Liu Guozhu persisted, undeterred.

This issue genuinely affected his combat experience. The air inside the tank was already poor, and after firing several shots, it became even more suffocating.

"We will write a report, your feedback is extremely valuable," seeing Liu Guozhu's Second Class Cavalry Medal pinned to his chest, the worker took his comments seriously, "But don't get your hopes up too high, I think the most likely outcome will be simply assigning you a new batch of tanks."

At that time, those who had a Second Class Cavalry Medal on their chest were tough as nails. It was said that they had contributed greatly on the battlefield and were known for being valiant and fierce.

In fact, the old weapon modifications of the Tang Army and the distribution of new weapons were happening simultaneously. While the frontline units were patching up, many second-line training units were surprised to find that they were being equipped with new weapons they had never even heard of before.

For instance, Tang Mo started using the Type 4 chassis to modify larger-caliber guns, namely the 155 mm self-propelled howitzer.

As the war progressed, many units reported that the 105 mm howitzers mounted on the Type 2 tank chassis had too little power and might be at a disadvantage when facing enemy artillery of larger calibers.

The troops urgently demanded a larger caliber self-propelled artillery that could provide stronger and more effective fire support to the rapidly advancing tank and armored corps.

Consequently, the overburdened Type 2 tank chassis went out of production, and as the production capacity for the Type 4 chassis became sufficient, it took on the 155 mm howitzer, becoming the latest type of self-propelled artillery for the Tang Army.

After testing, the engineers of the Great Tang Group replaced the original 150 mm howitzer of the "Wild Bee" with a 155 mm one, extending its range to 14 kilometers and greatly enhancing its firepower.

The brand-new "Wild Bee" had formidable combat capabilities. In comparison with the 105 mm self-propelled howitzers currently in use by the Tang Army, it had a longer range, greater power, and higher compatibility with Type 4 tanks.

Another new weapon was the Type 4 assault gun distributed to the infantry. This piece of equipment originated from the infantry's request; they wanted a breakthrough combat vehicle of their own.

If they encountered enemy defenses, they would have to wait for tank support, which greatly reduced the efficiency of the infantry's operations.

Therefore, the infantry commanders hoped to acquire an armored fighting vehicle that belonged to the infantry, to provide more timely battlefield support.

Later on, many departments suggested that it might be beneficial to equip the infantry with some anti-tank capabilities, allowing them to independently confront enemy armored tank vehicles.

These two requirements together spurred the development of a brand-new armored fighting vehicle: the Type 4 assault gun.

Unlike the historical "Stug IV," this assault gun was actually equipped with the same short-barreled 75 mm gun mounted on the Type 4 tanks, with performance parameters and all other indicators being exactly the same.

Because it used the Type 4 tank chassis instead of the Type 3, the new "Stug IV" could carry more ammunition than the "Stug III" and had slightly stronger sustained combat capabilities.

Like the assault guns familiar to Tang Mo, this new Type 4 assault gun also lacked a turret and had a low profile design, which also reduced production costs and construction expenses.

Differently from history, Tang Mo had no plans to produce tank destroyers because his tanks, in terms of quality and quantity, were destined to overpower the opposition. Instead of producing tank destroyers, it made more sense to produce more armored divisions equipped with tanks.

However, he didn't completely resist the temptation of tank destroyers and planned to equip infantry units with better-performing anti-tank destroyers at a suitable time. But by then, the chassis might not necessarily be from Type 4 tanks.

So far, only 45 Type 4 assault guns had been produced, expected to be equipped to three companies, forming part of the artillery battalions under the control of the infantry division's armored sections.

Subsequently, there were plans to establish an armored battalion equipped with Type 4 assault guns belonging to the infantry, to support the troops, and to provide temporary anti-tank firepower to the infantry. In addition to that, it could also serve as a makeshift indirect fire suppressor, truly a jack-of-all-trades on the battlefield.

The reason for such low production was due to a severe shortage in the production capacity of the Type 4 chassis, which was needed for tanks and for the conversion to the 155 mm self-propelled howitzers, making it impossible to spare enough to manufacture assault guns in the short term.
Experience tales at My Virtual Library Empire

Therefore, at this stage, the assault gun was still experimental and not yet widely deployed. Whether it could become a renowned friend of the infantry or not still depended on whether the production capacity of Type 4 tanks could be further increased.