The Iron-Blooded Army of Beacon Fire

Chapter 176 He Wei Battle Group

With an idea in mind, it was natural to do it. The next day, He Wei summoned the main officers and held a meeting in the large conference room of the Army Artillery School. The officers attending the meeting were various officers from He Wei's special agent camp. The company commander and platoon leader directly under his command, the major leader of the automobile unit, the platoon leader and above of the tank company, and the platoon leader of the tank defense artillery platoon of the armored corps all gathered together.

He Wei called everyone here today just to study the formation of the battle group and seek advice from his officers.

The biggest feature of a battle group is its flexible organization and combination. Troops from different units and different sequences are mixed together, but they can burst out powerful combat effectiveness. However, this combination is not just a random combination of some different units and attachments. To be called a battle group, it must be optimized in all aspects such as communication and coordination. With continuous coordination and training, only then can it exert the combat effectiveness that a battle group should have.

"Everyone, I called you here today to discuss the cooperation of the troops in combat. I believe that all the new cadres have already understood the establishment and organization of our special agent battalion. Now, in addition to my special agent battalion, there are also combat vehicles. Company, tank defense artillery platoon and two automobile companies, we all come from different units, but now we are dependent on each other for life and death, we share life and death. I would like to ask, what do you think about cooperative operations?"

He Wei asked the question first, and as soon as he finished speaking, a captain stood up.

"Sir, I have something to say."

He Wei took a look at this man and saw that he was wearing the uniform of a tank soldier. The collar badge on his collar was the Chromie collar badge unique to the armored corps. He Wei remembered that this man was a captain and platoon leader of the tank company. He is still a senior who graduated from the ninth class of Whampoa Military Academy. The words he asked to speak were quite imposing, as if he wanted to get the upper hand, but no matter how he looked at it, he felt that this guy had bad intentions.

"please say."

The captain first saluted a standard military salute, and then said: "Sirs and colleagues, Battalion Commander He said that we need to coordinate operations. In fact, this coordination is mainly the coordination of our chariot troops and infantry troops. Let me talk about it first. From my personal point of view, I think coordination should be avoided as much as possible. If infantry fights infantry, if we encounter a difficult situation that cannot be overcome and let our tank troops join in and coordinate easily, it may be better to fight independently."

As expected, this man's words were astonishing and extraordinary. Everyone was surprised by his speech and all cast strange glances at him.

"You may be surprised by my speech, but I can say this because I have my own reasons. Before I was transferred to the platoon commander of the third tank company of the Armored Corps, I originally served as a second lieutenant platoon attachment in the first tank company, and Participated in the attack on the enemy forces in Songhu in the early stages of the Battle of Songhu. During the Battle of Songhu, the First Company of our tanks was assigned to the Army for attack missions. However, the Army did not understand what coordination meant at all and just blindly urged our tanks. Launching an attack resulted in our tank troops losing protection and having to attack the Japanese positions on their own."

"During the battle, our company commander Zheng Shaoyan was killed. At that time, I was serving as a platoon auxiliary on the command vehicle of the first platoon. Because the infantry cover was not good, the Japanese infantry climbed onto my tank and opened fire. There was no infantry around to support the tank. Basic protection caused my platoon leader to be blinded. If I hadn't reacted quickly and retreated directly, everyone here might not have been able to see me speaking here."

"I have said so much, but what I want to express is that since you don't understand coordination, then don't cooperate. Each one fights his own way and decides the target of attack. There is no point in forcing coordination, and forcing coordination is not good. It is better to fight independently. , maybe achieve the greatest results.”

After saying that, the officer sat down. He Wei also understood what this guy meant. According to this person's combat experience, due to the lack of cooperative training between infantry and tanks in the national army, infantry and tanks fought together. The fighting was often a mess, and the so-called coordinated operations were often based on infantry. The tanks were forced to attack as if being chased away by the infantry, losing their autonomy, but the result was heavy losses.

Therefore, based on his own knowledge of the Battle of Songhu, this tank officer believed that it would be better for each of them to fight his own way rather than get mixed up with the infantry. He Wei could feel his disapproval of the infantry unit from his sad and angry tone. The depth of resentment.

He Wei had a different expression, observing the reactions of other officers. At this time, another officer stood up. Compared with the previous chariot officer who was slightly excited, this one was much calmer and calmer.

"Everyone, let me tell you something. I think that coordination can be trained collaboratively. It must be trained collaboratively to achieve the maximum effectiveness of combat effectiveness. However, I think that if tanks and infantry train collaboratively with each other, the infantry must be clearer. matter."

"First, the officers and soldiers of the infantry unit need to be full of bravery.

[-]. To deal with enemy tanks, the use of tank defensive guns is most effective. Using tanks is extremely uneconomical.

[-]. The infantry discovered combat anti-aircraft artillery and did not inform the backup tanks, which could easily cause damage.

[-]. Senior commanders are not allowed to make suggestions about the use of tanks, even if mistakes are inevitable in use.

[-]. If you use a chariot without any preparation time, and if you are given a task suddenly, you will definitely fail.

[-]. If the infantry does not know the performance of the chariot and does not coordinate with the chariot, it will be difficult for the chariot to be effective. If the infantry does not know how to reap the victory from the chariot, even if it wins, it will be in vain.

[-]. If a chariot stays in one area for too long, it will be damaged.

"

"If the brothers in the infantry unit can do the above points, I think coordination can still be achieved." Although the tank officer's speech was not as polished as the first speaker just now, he was still polite. It's like doing a battle report summary.

But his words actually contained a lot of resentment towards the infantry. When he finished speaking, the faces of the infantry company commanders in the special agent battalion were not very good-looking. However, He Wei was very good at cultivating qi. He took the initiative and said with a smile: "Talk about it." It's good, it's well said, I've heard about Songhu, but the infantry lacks understanding of tanks."

"Battle Commander He, my subordinates were offended just now. Let me apologize to you first. However, what they said makes some sense. The infantry troops really lack understanding of tanks. Once they get combat vehicles, To strengthen the chariots, when we overcome difficulties, we just blindly let the chariot troops hit the ground without knowing how to cooperate with each other, which is really against the spirit of sincerity and unity."

Zhao Huzhen also said with some sadness and indignation at this time. However, before he finished speaking, the first officer to speak interrupted and said: "Don't talk about middle and lower-level officers, even senior officers are not interested in advanced weapons like tanks. I don’t know, but when I was in Songhu, I met General Zhang Zhizhong, the top commander at the time.”

"Shut up and be careful what you say. You are not allowed to talk behind Mr. Zhang's back."

Chariot company commander Zhao Huzhen shouted and stopped the officer's somewhat outrageous remarks, but it was too late. He had already said what should be said and what should not be said. What he was talking about was the early stage of the Songhu Battle. The commander-in-chief is General Zhang Zhizhong, and he once served as the Chief of Education of the Central Military Academy, so many military school graduates call him Chief of Education Zhang.

He Wei waved his hand and said: "Captain Zhao, it doesn't matter. We are all brothers here who live and die together. There is no gossip behind the scenes. Let this brother speak freely. Whatever you say, anything is okay here. Speak, there is nothing that cannot be said.”

Hearing what He Wei said, the tank officer ignored the look in his company commander's eyes and said loudly: "In Songhu, I was in the first tank company. At that time, my company had just arrived in Songhu from North China. Once we arrived in Songhu, Shanghai then received an order to coordinate with the Army's [-]th Division to attack Yangshupu. The person who gave the order was General Zhang. At that time, my company had just arrived, the men and horses had not rested, and the tanks had not been repaired, so the company commander of my company told General Zhang: ' The vehicle is too bad, and the enemy's firepower is too strong, and it is difficult for our infantry to keep up.' But General Zhang said: 'That won't work. If your tanks don't attack, don't come to see me!' As a result, my company was forced to attack. The loss was heavy, and now that I think about it, I still feel angry.”

"

After he finished speaking, the conference room fell into silence. This time, not only the officers of the chariot unit were indignant, but even the infantry officer of the secret service battalion who had been provoked just now felt uncomfortable. He Wei also understood at this time that he The core issue of this battle group concept lies in the cooperation between the infantry unit and the tank unit.

As a time traveler, it is impossible for him to maximize the advanced infantry-tank coordination tactics he has mastered. There is no other way. The equipment is too limited. Not to mention anything else, how the infantry can keep up with the chariot assault is a problem. Now the company The German army did not deploy half-tracks to carry infantry on a large scale, let alone He Wei's group of two-pole light infantry who would be grateful if they had trucks.

"Every brother in the chariot unit can be said to be true. Indeed, our army's infantry and chariots seriously lack coordinated education. However, it is not too late for us to make up for it. I have actually drawn up a rough training and formation plan. , please also ask all the brothers in the chariot unit to refer to it for details."

After saying that, He Wei stood up and used the knowledge he brought from later generations to shock these officers with a small dimensionality reduction blow. Speaking of which, although the tank officers were inseparable from the coordination of infantry and tanks. , but systematic and formalized infantry-tank coordination tactics are not mature in this era, at least in this year.

After decades of development and the baptism of World War I, infantry and artillery coordination tactics have gradually matured, but this is not the case for infantry and tank coordination. Even the foreign consultants of the tank corps failed to provide any decent training regulations. The German Army, which would be extremely powerful in the future, was just groping for armor tactics with its original Panzer [-] series tanks and even various modified tanks. At this time, Guderian only realized that armored units should be assigned to infantry divisions. Therefore, it is absolutely undesirable to occupy the vassal status of infantry. As for developing mature and terrifying blitzkrieg tactics, there is still a long way to go.

"Everyone, the coordination of infantry and tanks is quite complicated. Our army does not have ready-made drills, and there are no teaching materials or drills abroad for reference. Therefore, we can only do it ourselves. Collaboration is not called synergy if it is not forced together. , I think the most critical point is that when the tank needs the infantry to get close to cover, the infantry must be able to rush forward in time. Similarly, when the infantry needs the tank to assist in overcoming difficulties, the tank must also arrive in time."

The officers all nodded when they heard what He Wei said. Although what He Wei said was extremely simple, it was extremely important and valuable experience for Chinese officers whose tactical thinking was too primitive.

"Captain Zhao, I would like to ask, by what means do your company's tanks communicate with each other?"

Zhao Huzhen said in a familiar tone: "Captain He, all of our company's tanks are equipped with German-made FUC[-] radio communication radios. All vehicles in the company can use this type of radio transceiver for communication. In fact, our company's German-made tanks , its performance is not very outstanding. In terms of firepower, it is not as good as the Vickers tank of the first company of our armored corps, which is equipped with a [-]mm artillery and a heavy machine gun. In terms of versatility and speed, it is not as good as the amphibious tank of the second company of the tank. It is a dual-purpose tank, but it is unique in its communication capabilities. The communication of other tanks relies entirely on hand gestures and semaphores, but our company is able to communicate via radio."

"That's very good. If timely communication between infantry and tanks is to be achieved, communication is also very important. Therefore, I plan to assign an infantry company to the tank company, with Captain Zhao as the commander, and at the same time assign the company to the tank company. In order to enhance communication capabilities, the first radio station, Company Commander Zhao’s chariot company, the attached infantry company, and the armored corps tank defense artillery platoon originally assigned to Company Commander Zhao were unified into a battle artillery team in order to cooperate in operations," He Wei said. .

"But, Battalion Commander He, what are the specific regulations for the cooperative training of infantry and tanks? In what formation should the infantry and tanks cooperate to attack? In what formation should they cover each other? Attack the enemy's position? This is a question. , our army does not have ready-made teaching materials for comparative training."

However, He Wei showed a determined expression: "Leave the regulations and training materials to me. I will give you a complete infant-tank collaborative training material for your tank company tomorrow morning."

Then, He Wei did not wait for the officer of the chariot unit to ask questions, and continued: "According to my idea, each unit must be able to communicate with each other to form a combined combat group of various arms. And as I just said, It is composed of a tank company, an armored corps tank defense artillery platoon, and an infantry company from our special agent battalion, and this company is served by the third infantry company of the special agent battalion of Company Commander Hu."

"The remaining departments must also be prepared for coordinated operations. Starting tomorrow, each company of our special agent battalion will take turns visiting the tank company. The officers of each company must personally ride in the tank to understand the performance of the tank. Artillery, infantry, communications, and tanks Soldiers must understand each other, put aside their past prejudices, twist into a rope, make a fist, and form an unstoppable battle group!"

(End of this chapter)