The rise of great powers: starting from military industry - #163 - Chapter 163 Unsustainable Motorization

The next development direction of infantry is to become mules and horses.

Mule-horse transformation is the least standardized and least popular level in the development of the army. It can be regarded as a transition.

After the mules and horses became motorized, motorization did not mean that all soldiers rode motorcycles, but that when marching in, all soldiers rode in wheeled vehicles. Those who did not advance on foot were all seated in cars, that is, motorized Drive in. Motorization is only reflected in the ability of motorized advancement. After arriving on the battlefield, soldiers still need to adopt infantry combat mode. The vehicles are only responsible for transportation, that is, traveling by vehicle.

Each combat unit has its own wheeled vehicle, the artillery has its own artillery tractor, and the artillerymen ride on the tractor.

To put it simply, motorization means driving in by car and getting off to fight. This is its biggest feature.

Motorization is a long stage, and many national armies are stuck at this stage.

During World War II, the military powers of Europe and the United States and the Soviet Union could be regarded as motorized or semi-motorized, while the German army displayed semi-mechanization.

It is precisely because of the strength of the semi-mechanized German army that after the end of World War II, countries such as the Soviet Union and the United States began to reform their armies and slowly motorized their armies. Then, after the armies were motorized, they continued to reform and continued to develop in the direction of mechanization.

Finally, the Soviet army achieved mechanization in 1964, while the United States announced its mechanization last year.

As for mechanization, it is the next development direction of motorization. The mechanized force has two elements. One is the advance element, in which all members ride on organic combat vehicles and move in. The other is that all members ride on organically assigned weapons and equipment for mobile operations.

Mechanization consists of tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armored personnel carriers, self-propelled artillery and other weapons and equipment forming a tank and armored assault group, which can carry out large group or small group or even small-scale operations. Driving in by car and fighting by car are the biggest features of mechanization. Mechanization is a manifestation of the systematic combat model!

The war in Afghanistan is an example of Soviet mechanized warfare.

At present, in the world, only the Soviet Army and the US Army have achieved mechanization. Apart from this, no other army has achieved mechanization.

Because it is very difficult.

It is precisely because of the difficulty and long time span of mechanizing the army that some scholars have introduced semi-mechanization.

For example, the German army during World War II was semi-mechanized.

Of course, some people believe that during World War II, military powers such as the German Army, the US Army, and the Soviet Army had all achieved mechanization.

This debate has always existed, and even if it takes another forty years, this debate will not disappear.

“The Soviet Union and the United States are the two poles of the world today. Their military construction leads the world trend. According to the development direction of their military, after realizing the mules and horses, our army should become semi-motorized, motorized, semi-mechanized, and mechanized! This is It is a cyclical and gradual process. “Liu Tao said: “Motorization requires a large number of cars and personnel carriers. Do you think our country’s automobile industry can support the semi-motorization and motorization of the army now, and how much money will it cost to achieve it? Semi-motorized, motorized?”

Zhao Guoping shook his head.

How can it be?

Last year, the country’s automobile production was less than 190,000 units, and this automobile output is not just cars, but including motorcycles, with a total of 26,500 motorcycles.

China’s automobile industry cannot sustain itself at all.

And cars are expensive, and importing them is even more expensive.

Zhao Guoping knew that the cost of each Hongqi car was between RMB 60,000 and RMB 200,000, and if one was sold to the state for RMB 50,000, it would be a great blessing sooner rather than later.

Imported cars, in the past, many GAZM21 ‘Volga’ and FSO ‘Warsaw’ were mainly imported from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe for use as special cars for leaders at all levels.

After Nixon visited China in 1972 and China and the United States announced the normalization of relations, the Japanese responded quickly. Japanese Prime Minister Kakuei Tanaka came to China to directly promote the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Japan. As part of demonstrating Sino-Japanese friendship, China agreed to import a This is also the first time that China has imported advanced cars in large quantities from Western countries since the founding of the People’s Republic of China.

At that time, 200 Toyota Crowns were imported, each costing US$5,700!

If all cars are imported from Europe and the United States, even if all the foreign exchange in the country is used to purchase them, it will not be enough to achieve semi-motorization of the army, let alone realize motorization.

As for mechanization, it seems that there is no hope.

Liu Tao was also very emotional. According to normal development, after the 1980s, the Chinese army carried out reforms one after another, continuously streamlining the troops, and then the saved military expenses were used for the reform of the troops, gradually realizing semi-motorization. By the 1990s, semi-motorization was basically completed. It was not until the turn of the millennium that motorization was completed, and then it was like cheating. It only took about ten years to complete semi-mechanization and mechanization. In the first decade of the 21st century, the mechanization of the army was basically completed.

But at that time, the US military and other Western military powers had already achieved informatization.

“Then why does the factory director still set up a combined camp?” Zhao Guoping was very puzzled. “You also said that this will be the future direction of our army?”

“Although I believe that the reform of the army is a cyclical and gradual process, it does not prevent us from conducting exploratory experiments. Reform is always about crossing the river by feeling for stones. If this road is successful, there is no doubt that we can accumulate experience and prepare for the future. Troop reform provides direction and templates, which can save a lot of time and unnecessary waste.” Liu Tao smiled, “Even if it fails, it is just a waste of bullets and shells. The skills of the soldiers have improved, and the weapons and equipment are all there. will be ruined.”

“Failed, there are also lessons learned from failure, which are also valuable assets.” Liu Tao is very optimistic.

Synthesis camp is very expensive, Liu Tao knows this well.

Just such a combined battalion requires 20 Type 80 tanks and 2 Type 80 self-propelled anti-aircraft guns, which is a huge investment.

But he thinks it’s worth it. Now Panshan Machinery Factory can afford to maintain a synthetic camp.

And once it succeeds, the significance will be extraordinary, which means to find out the future development direction of the army.

Having a direction for development is definitely much better than being stuck in the dark.

After the Soviet Union and the U.S. Army completed mechanization, they were not clear about their future development direction, and the money they spent on exploration every year was wasted.

It was also the Gulf War, a hearty victory that reshaped the US military’s victorious spirit and ushered in a modern war model.

You must know that although the current US military has officially announced the realization of mechanization, everyone only recognizes that the US Air Force and Navy are powerful. As for the Army, it is far inferior to the Soviet Army. Many countries even despise the US Army.

After all, in the past thirty years, any decent wars the US military has experienced have ended in failure.

The U.S. military looks very powerful on paper, and its weapons and equipment are among the best in the world, but it seems that the U.S. military can no longer fight.

On the contrary, for the Soviet Army, the torrent of steel was definitely a nightmare for countless people.

As long as Liu Tao explores the road to the combined camp, it is no exaggeration to say that he can save China at least tens of billions or even hundreds of billions of military expenditures.