Chapter 545: Bavaria's first hammer

Originally, the plan was almost completed, but when it was submitted to Prince Leopold, the latter still raised some objections. He agreed to substantially increase the number of 105mm howitzers and 150mm howitzers. But at the same time they opposed the exclusion of 77mm rapid-fire guns.

"Infantry eventually needs some field artillery to provide direct fire at close range. It is impossible for us to equip all troops with assault guns or mobile artillery with half-track vehicles as the chassis. Therefore, a kind of weight is as light as possible, and the gun weight is smaller. , And artillery with as fast a muzzle velocity as possible is still necessary.” Prince Leopold said.

"But the weight of some 105mm artillery itself may not be much heavier than the French 75mm artillery, or even lighter. If it is to destroy the bunker, the 15kg-class shell of the 105mm howitzer should be more powerful than the 7-8kg 3-inch rapid-fire gun. Isn't it better?" The prince said in a puzzled way.

The prince took this into consideration. In fact, the German Lefh16 105mm howitzer was a good artillery in history, weighing only 1525kg, and having a good initial velocity. The muzzle velocity was 395 meters per second. And it can shoot a 14.81kg grenade more than 9,000 meters away. Moreover, this artillery can also be equipped with armor-piercing shells. In terms of power, weight or other aspects, it far exceeds the 77mm rapid-fire gun of the Germans and the Miss 75 of the French in history. The only problem is that this artillery came out late, 1916. Years, but even if it is not up to the level of technology at that time, it is possible to sacrifice some initial speed.

"I always think that 105mm and 75mm artillery cannot be replaced by one type of artillery. You have told me that kind of light howitzer. I have to admit that it is indeed much better than the French 75mm rapid-fire gun. It is even better than any 3-inch gun. But the biggest problem with this gun is whether it's high or low."

"It's really lighter in weight and better maneuverability. As long as the 75mm artillery can be used, this cannon can also be used. The shells are indeed very powerful. But don’t forget his old profession, it was originally A suppressed artillery. Range is its key attribute. At a maximum elevation of 40 degrees, it is only about 9200 meters away. I find this data a bit unacceptable. I have asked the artillery designers of Skoda and Krupp. , Any two-ton artillery can easily suppress this 1.5-ton light howitzer, which is very difficult for division-level artillery to accept!"

"In short, I would like to equip my army with this short-range and light-weight 105mm artillery as a support artillery. I would rather use a 105mm artillery with a heavier but longer range, and then a 77mm rapid-fire gun as a supplement. I don’t want to use all the uniform specifications of short-range 105mm artillery.” Prince Leopold’s opinion was very firm. As the leader of the Bavarian Army, his opinion had to be carefully considered by the prince.

"Damn, I've got my appetite." My uncle disagreed, and the prince couldn't force it through. First, you are not a king, and second, you have to be reasonable, king. Then the prince was depressed. Obviously, the lefh16 howitzer used by the Germans after 1916 was used well in history. Although the range was shorter, it did not say that the army would reject it. Why is there something wrong with this plane? This is the same thing as a machine gun, and the subordinates have been raised by good things!

However, after calming down, the prince had to admit that what Prince Leopold said really made sense... The weight and performance of the artillery itself are directly proportional. The focus of suppressed artillery is different from that of field artillery. If you have to confuse it, it will happen that nothing can be done well. The original intention of the prince was this. The reason for retaining a large number of 3-inch guns in the 2nd battle was to be anti-tank. The absence of anti-tank in World War 1 would naturally make the existence of 3-inch field guns very tasteless. Similarly, the weight of individual 105mm light guns and 77mm rapid-fire guns are similar, so I want to use them, but the prince ignores the impact of lighter weight on the performance of 105mm guns.

In fact, there are indeed many contemporary 105mm artillery that can stabilize the German lefh16 artillery. For example, the French m1913 105mm howitzer has a weight of 2300kg. The elevation angle is -5 degrees to 37 degrees, the maximum elevation angle is even smaller than the German lefh16 artillery, but the muzzle velocity of the shell is 550 meters per second. Can shoot a shell out of 12 kilometers! As long as the gun mount is changed slightly and the elevation angle is increased, the range has the potential to increase, but even so, it is nearly 3 kilometers farther than the German ledh16...

The Russian m1910 107mm artillery is also good, the weight is only 2172kg, the pitch angle is the same as the French artillery, but the muzzle velocity of the shell is as high as 630 meters! The maximum range is 12.5 kilometers, which is a few blocks away from lefh16! At the cost of 600kg gun weight, to obtain an absolute advantage in range, it is really worthwhile as a suppressing artillery. Of course, it would be very difficult for the nearly 2200kg artillery to accompany the infantry. This weight is a bit heavy.

After understanding this, the prince realized that the Bavarian artillery unit cannot be at a quality disadvantage in the division-level confrontation, and what if the French m1913 105mm artillery and the Russian m1910 107mm artillery with good performance are required? It can only lengthen the body tube and enlarge the medicine room. This is the simplest and most realistic choice... Of course, the weight is up. It is a bit difficult to accompany infantry or commando.

Therefore, in the subsequent improvement plan for Prince Leopold, although the prince was very depressed, he still agreed to the Prince’s opinion and removed the original lefh16-level howitzer from the Bavarian army so that the weight of the replacement was larger. , But a 105mm howitzer with a longer range!

"Is this right? We originally had an advantage in transportation equipment~www.wuxiaspot.com~ If this is the case, we can naturally equip more artillery." Looking at the documents in hand and the somewhat depressed prince, Li Prince Opold said with satisfaction, and the prince assured that at least one third of this uncle's good mood was because he saw that he was slumped...

"In fact, there is another reason why we cannot eliminate medium-caliber artillery. In the future, our army will be equipped with aircraft, and the enemy's army will also be equipped with aircraft and airships. Therefore, the air defense problem of ground forces is obvious. It is impossible to rely on the air force. Various machine guns have limited range and firing height. At this time, we need to get some antiaircraft artillery, and a long barrel and high muzzle velocity artillery is indispensable." Prince Leopold said The words completely solved the knot of the prince.

"Yeah, I forgot about this." The prince said with some shame. Although the air force was not very powerful in World War I, and Germany would not encounter strategic bombings similar to those in World War II, air defense is still needed, at least on the Western Front. The British v400 and v1500 are not vegetarian! The latter also has about 3 tons of ammunition! It is definitely a nightmare level for the ground forces of this era!

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