Munitions Empire

The Tang Army front-line troops also did some minor modifications to their aircraft, adding protective steel plates to vulnerable parts, with a focus on safeguarding the pilots and navigators.

Consequently, the weight of the Stuka Dive Bomber increased and its range was affected. As a result, most of the modified Stukas often had their sirens removed.

That is to say, most of the Stuka Dive Bombers of the Great Tang Kingdom in use today actually didn't have the device that emitted the piercing scream during a dive anymore.

However, due to the deeply ingrained impression, the enemy forces still had a strong aversion to Stuka Dive Bombers and would instinctively seek cover whenever they saw aircraft diving.

The Tang Country Air Force, after a long period of combat analysis, realized that they were in fact lacking a medium bomber to execute the task of bombing enemy positions.

The hit accuracy of the Stuka Dive Bombers was not a problem; the issue was that they carried too few bombs. They weren't designed for bombing enemy frontline positions in the first place.

As dive bombers, the best operational status for the Stukas was to keep advancing with the troops, destroying enemy strongholds, traffic junctions, paralyzing their movements, and preventing the enemy forces from regrouping and counterattacking.

To put it simply, they needed to be on the move. If both sides' front lines began to solidify, the inefficiency of the Stuka Dive Bombers in single mission tasks became more apparent.

After dropping a single bomb and then having to return to base, at most performing a dive and strafing a few more times—this kind of attack was becoming increasingly insufficient in the face of the Dahua Empire's more experienced air defense troops.

If they used the Flying Fortress to carry bombs for bombing, it was too large. This high-altitude bomber was more suitable for strategic bombing and was an overkill for attacking enemy positions.

The cost of a single launch of a Flying Fortress was not cheap, requiring a lot of fuel. Its bombing accuracy was not high, and was not a good choice.

Thus, many troops submitted their reports, hoping to add a new model of aircraft that could carry a greater number of bombs and whose flight attitude was more agile.

In Tang Mo's view, the front-line units probably lacked a support aircraft similar to the B-25 or the JU-88.

As for which to choose, Tang Mo hadn't decided yet. Both types of aircraft had their advantages and could be put to use.

Selecting weaponry for the troops was a complex matter, so it required more time for consideration. It was highly unlikely that the pilots of the Tang Army would get to use a new aircraft in this war. They could look forward to the next war.

Even in Tang Country, with the technical support of Great Tang Group, producing a new equipment and rapidly equipping the troops was not an easy task.

This required front-line troops to provide various requirement reports, which would then be discussed collectively to make decisions. Often, what the troops desired was not very precise and their pursuit of performance was somewhat fantasy.

If they were to create everything these pilots wanted, then it's likely that the Tang Country Air Force would be equipped with J-20 fighters...

...

General Feng Kezhi stood in front of the map, his back to the Air Force Commanders who had been complained about and denounced countless times by the ground forces.

The performance of the Dahua Empire's air force in the battlefield was evident to all. The expensive air force units, built at a great cost, had been so thoroughly dominated by the Great Tang Air Force that they no longer dared to take off and face the enemy. This was an indisputable fact.

But to say that the Dahua Air Force was full of cowards and fools would be too disparaging. The Dahua Air Force always wanted a fair chance to compete with the enemy.

They were not willing to engage in a do-or-die battle against the Great Tang Kingdom's Butcher Fighters with their biplane Camel Fighters, because that would be suicide.

They believed that the entire air force should at least be re-equipped with Dahua Type 1 Fighters to be qualified to fight against the enemy head-on.

As the battle continued, the number of modern fighters in the Dahua Empire Air Force also increased. They had finally built up some reserves and thus were contemplating a test of strength against the Tang Army.

But how to compete, how to surprise them, those were the issues that preoccupied Feng Kezhi's thoughts. Putting precious fighters into battle to fight it out with Tang Army's Butcher Fighters would only result in small attritional losses, which in fact wouldn't really affect the overall battle situation.

Deep down, Feng Kezhi still didn't trust his own air force. He didn't believe that simply swapping to a slightly better-performing fighter could determine the outcome of air combat.

So he discussed with the Air Force Commanders and laid out what seemed to be a more reasonable operational plan: a sneak attack on the southern oil fields.

Previously, the Dahua Empire planned to destroy all the southern oil fields, but in fact, their local garrisons did not carry out this plan, and let Tang Army take over the southern oil fields.

This led to the Tang Army's ability to replenish through the southern oil fields, continuing to maintain their offensive at the front and causing great pressure on the Dahua Empire's main battlefront.

Feng Kezhi harbored persistent thoughts about the southern oil fields. He believed that deploying the air force to bomb the southern oil fields would be an excellent option.

In his view, as long as the southern oil fields were destroyed, the Tang Army's offensive would be paralyzed, and the pressure on the main battlefront would be greatly alleviated.

A carefully planned surprise attack could swiftly reverse the battlefield dynamics. Feng Kezhi believed that this was the true purpose of the air force's existence.

Therefore, he gathered the Air Force Commanders to discuss the feasibility of this plan. He also received a satisfactory answer from the Air Force Commanders: they stated that the plan was completely feasible.