Munitions Empire

He tossed the chalk into the groove below the blackboard, patted the chalk dust off his hands, and said, "So, digging trenches has become a reasonable method... What is a trench? A trench is a series of such pits."

As he spoke, he picked up a teaching aid previously carved out of wood. It even had some little wooden carved figures that looked very lifelike.

While speaking, Tang Mo picked up the teaching aid and stepped down from the podium. He placed the teaching aid in front of the students for a closer look, "Soldiers hiding in this trench wouldn’t have to worry about most of their bodies being exposed under the enemy’s gunfire, and their chances of survival would be much higher."

He pointed to the head of a soldier sticking out from the trench and said to all the officers who had gathered around, "The enemy can only target our soldiers’ heads, which means their hit rate would be much lower. The trench can also evade more than 90% of the enemy’s artillery fire, proving more effective than a wall."

"I am not joking, to attack such trenches, the enemy may have to pay tenfold before achieving any results," he looked at the attentive commanders, who were several decades his senior, and earnestly cautioned, "Unless you plan to leave immediately, you must dig trenches! It’s the best way to preserve your lives!"

All the people in this classroom could be called the confidantes of either Tang Mo or Fisheo. Being selected to be here represented an honor in itself.

Those who could sit in this classroom, whether officers or soldiers of Tang Mo’s direct troops, had all distinguished themselves in the previous battle at Northern Ridge. Their rewards included Gold Coins and the opportunity to attend this class.

No one would give up such an opportunity, because everyone knew that once they stepped out of this classroom, they could stir up storms in the world.

"With adequate preparation, on one position, we only need to deploy 500 people to withstand the attack of 10,000 enemies!" Tang Mo was still introducing his defensive position concept at this point.

He aimed to quickly instill these tactics in the officers and then make them outstanding figures ahead of their era.

Hence, as he spoke, he walked around the classroom and then returned to the podium, "Gentlemen, the era is progressing! If you do not wish to advance with the times, you will be considered fools and be eliminated by history!"

"In the future, soldiers will be equipped with more powerful weapons, including hand grenades, rifles, bayonets, and for better defense arrangements, they should also be issued Engineer Corps shovels!" he said and wrote the words for Engineer Corps shovel on the blackboard.

"Not only should they be issued Engineer Corps shovels, but also mess tins, spare socks..." He filled an entire blackboard with his neat handwriting.

There were many more defensive tactics he had yet to teach, because the Maxim machine gun had not yet emerged, and the defense system built around the machine gun was incomplete.

Once machine guns became available, attacks would become very difficult, and both sides would enter a state of trench warfare, requiring great courage to initiate an attack.

Just like in World War I, when attacking the enemy’s solid defense lines, it required massing heavy artillery, using overwhelming firepower to destroy all of the enemy’s defense systems, and then furiously attacking the enemy’s now-damaged defenses with soldiers.

Even so, this kind of attack was no different from suicide: even if more than half of the enemy’s defenses were destroyed, they could still hold out for a long time.

During this period, the attacking soldiers would be divided by the enemy’s dense barbed wire and landmines, and then easily slaughtered by the machine guns.

After destroying these machine gun positions and completely taking over a whole section of the defense line, the exhausted attackers would be surprised to find another enemy defense line in front of them, identical to the one they had just breached.

Therefore, before the birth of tanks, before the widespread adoption of large-scale mechanized troops and high-performance bombers, the entire war could only be conducted through trench warfare.

Everyone had no good solution; they could only probe each other in the most cumbersome way. This was trench warfare, a war as intractable as a quagmire.

After a pause, he continued to address these eager students, "We will continue with the defensive aspect in the next lesson. Now let’s outline the offense. With stronger rifles and hand grenades, the soldiers’ attacks have become much sharper."

"The squad, that is, the small units of teams and platoons, now have the firepower to contend with an entire battalion of the enemy," Tang Mo explained earnestly, and his emphasis enlightened the commanders.

Indeed, their previous tactics were to walk in step, maintaining a formation to get close to the opponent, and then use volley fire from flintlock muskets to break the enemy.

To claim victory depended partly on precise tactical judgment and partly on strict military discipline. After two volleys of mutual shooting, the first side to falter would lose the battle.

But now, the formation is definitely outdated, as the density of the soldiers’ firepower has clearly increased several times over.

If both sides were to use the original tactics at this point, the scene would be incredibly bloody, and both units would almost instantly meet their annihilation.

Both sides, at a distance of several tens of meters, fought with K2-type lever rifles, and it was unlikely that many would survive after several volleys.

Within a few seconds, two opposing formations that had approached each other would be annihilated by each other’s superior weaponry.

Instantly losing more than half of the soldiers, most troops would immediately collapse and lose their combat effectiveness. Such losses, whether in victory or defeat, were unacceptable to both sides.

Well-trained soldiers on a regular basis certainly should not be wasted so easily on a disordered battlefield where they were lined up for execution by firing squad. Therefore, actively seeking change was almost everyone’s common understanding.

Just think, if the Northern Ridge troops faced an enemy formation on the offensive, especially one employing needle guns or lever rifles, would they still use the same tactics to confront them directly?

Certainly not; the defensive tactics introduced by Tang Mo—digging trenches for concealment, thereby eradicating the enemy more safely and conveniently—were obviously a more appropriate choice.

The kind of combat where one trades life for life should be swept into the dustbin of history. The tactic of forming a human wall to increase the hit rate was also bound to be phased out.

In an open space on the blackboard, Tang Mo sketched out some terrain features and then drew a few simple arrows: "In such a situation, dispersed attacks are more rational than marching in line abreast, and they also reduce casualties."

As he spoke, he annotated "squad" behind those arrows, indicating a unit of 12 people: "Experiments have shown that operating by squads, covering each other and advancing alternately, is more in line with combat conditions… This requires you all to experience and explore in future battles. There are no rigid rules set here."

After tapping on the blackboard twice, Tang Mo reminded everyone, "I hope all the students take good notes! These theories are very important, do you understand?"

Hearing his words, all the officers began writing furiously, taking notes on the lesson.

Many among them had already studied Tang Mo’s artillery course, and some had learned the basic drills of the troops.

And it was at this moment that those veterans who had learned from previous lessons realized that the hand-to-hand combat and crawling taught by Tang Mo were actually preparations for this new set of tactics.

When facing a barrage of bullets from the enemy’s dense lever rifles, lying on the ground was clearly a wiser choice than standing there.

Tang Mo walked back to the lecturer’s desk, clapped his hands, and began to organize his teaching materials: "Now, you all know why our Great Tang Group’s security forces are equipped with these functional gear, right?"

"Understood," all the students nodded.

Tang Mo picked up his books and teaching aids, "After you return, make sure your troops have the capacity to construct field fortifications, and I also hope you will purchase the supporting equipment from the Great Tang Group."

"Alright, that’s it for this class, dismissed! Goodbye, students!" Tang Mo nodded slightly and left the classroom with a pile of miscellaneous items.

"Goodbye, teacher!" All the students stood up at attention and saluted Tang Mo with respect. They watched him leave the classroom with adoring eyes.

"Who would have thought that there really could be rifles capable of continuous fire..." Once Tang Mo had left the room, a Northern Ridge officer said with some amazement.

"Forget about rifles, if we didn’t know and were suddenly attacked by a unit equipped with revolvers, wouldn’t we lose too?" another officer commented with a sense of loss.

The officers whispered among themselves, some gathered to discuss the lever rifles that were likely to be manufactured in the future.

Despite the shortcomings of limited range, they were still more interested in it. Because compared to paper specs, the lever rifle, indeed, seemed more appealing than the KAR98K.

"Each unit should bring at least three more wagons..." Redman complained to Luff by his side, "The rate of ammunition consumption will surely be faster than before."

"Three wagons? I reckon even five might not be enough," Luff said with a wince, "Factoring in consumption for horses and people, with the extra wagons and supplies, five... more would not be less!"

The other officers from the Great Tang’s security force silently packed their things, as the classroom would be used by other students afterward.

They all knew that, one way or another, the next war would bring changes. They just didn’t know when it would come.

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