Munitions Empire

Even amid a less-than-ideal combat situation, there were many favorable pieces of news; for example, the performance of the Dahua Empire's Anti-Aircraft Artillery Troops had been quite impressive of late.

Their battle achievements visibly improved because the performance of their weapons was improving and their combat methods continued to evolve.

The Tang Army's dive bombers' uniquely piercing and terrifying noise could no longer intimidate these anti-aircraft gunners, who were no longer novices.

They used their new weapons to fight more bravely, inflicting heavy losses on the Tang Army's Stuka Dive Bomber Troops.

This was no joke; from when the clouds dispersed and the Air Force could join the battle, up to the present moment, the Tang Army had already lost more than 200 aircraft of various types, with over 170 pilots killed.

The majority were dive bomber pilots, along with some fighter pilots; by contrast, the Flying Fortress Bombers on deep-strategic bombing missions suffered the least losses.

Because not many anti-aircraft guns could reach the altitude at which Flying Fortress Bombers flew, and the Dahua Empire's fighter interception troops couldn't fly up to ten thousand meters, the Tang Army's large bombers carrying out high-altitude bombing missions were often very safe.

If one were to plot the range of the anti-aircraft guns, it would form a small hemisphere, with a slightly lower ceiling and a slightly longer range—placed on the ground, it resembled a large bowl.

So, the higher the altitude, the smaller the coverage area of the anti-aircraft guns, the lower the firepower density, and thus, the weaker the air defense.

In order to cope with high-altitude bombers, anti-aircraft guns had to be deployed densely, increasing the aerial firepower density; this in turn made the defended area per unit of anti-aircraft guns even smaller.

As a result, when used in concentration, anti-aircraft guns had difficulty preemptively deploying without detailed intelligence support and lacked the mobility to intercept enemy bomber troops effectively. This is the origin of the saying, "Air defense is not as solid as it sounds."

However, fortunately for the Dahua Empire, their anti-aircraft guns, due to their inadequate performance, were all used for field air defense, which had ironically strengthened their field air defense firepower by giving up in-depth air defense.

Thus, it was understandable why the losses of the Tang Army's Stuka Dive Bombers targeting Dahua field troops remained high.

Cruel wars spur progress; no one is a fool, and people are all the more willing to bring out their subjective initiative when their lives are at stake.

Technicians of the Dahua Empire and engineers from Shireck Consortium, facing the powerful air force of the Great Tang Kingdom, were desperately developing new, more advanced, and powerful anti-aircraft weapons.

In numerous experiments, the Anti-Tang Alliance introduced many makeshift weapon systems, along with brand new designs of entirely new equipment.

For example, the Dahua Empire temporarily mounted four machine guns together to increase firepower density to raise the probability of shooting down Tang Army aircraft.

Frankly speaking, although this weapon may seem to lack technical content, its effectiveness turned out to be somewhat better than expected. Compared to those ideas seeking improvements with new technology, this simple and brute-force approach had an immediate effect.

Yet, as effective as it was, it was only better than the previous solitary machine gun used for air defense; it was not as if this weapon system was truly "invincible."

Its greatest issue was that this method of coupling the machine guns to increase firepower density did not increase range, and the air defense effects were still unsatisfactory.

Range is crucial for anti-aircraft guns. The range of an anti-aircraft gun determines its ceiling, the number of guns deployed, and the duration of the firing window for attacking.

The Tang Army aircraft were equipped with 20mm caliber cannons, which, whether in range or destructive power, were far superior to Maxim machine guns, easily suppressing these coupled guns.

Thus, the Dahua military urgently needed stronger anti-air artillery, satisfying the need for range. In other words, the Anti-Tang Alliance needed anti-aircraft guns of calibers greater than 20mm.

They didn't have the Bofors 40mm caliber anti-aircraft guns equipped by the Great Tang Kingdom, nor the 88mm caliber all-purpose guns of the Tang Country. Therefore, they had to conduct their own research and came up with a variety of odd contraptions.

One of the first was the Dahua Empire's twin-mounted 25mm caliber anti-aircraft guns. These focused on firepower density and improved range, performing quite well.

Yet, they had their drawbacks; the high cost made the Dahua military laugh and cry. The production of tanks, cannons, aircraft, etc., was already stretching the Empire's budget to its limits, not to mention the stringent manufacturing demands of such artillery.

Surely it was a joke to even contemplate stopping other weapon production lines to manufacture these costly anti-aircraft guns?

Another of its issues was its bulkiness: the entire piece weighed four and a half tons, only a ton lighter than an 88mm caliber anti-aircraft gun. Moving it required a truck with good performance since the horsepower of ordinary vehicles was insufficient.

Shireck Consortium had provided the Dahua Empire with the technology for 30mm caliber anti-aircraft guns, and they began producing this type of single-barreled anti-aircraft weapon with slightly inferior performance.

Although the performance of these 30mm caliber anti-aircraft guns was slightly poor, they were a massive improvement compared to the old anti-balloon guns that had been used previously.

With these high rate-of-fire, small caliber specialized anti-aircraft guns, the Empire's field air defense capabilities significantly increased, so it was only natural that they achieved commendable results.

After a substantial purchase of these small caliber field anti-aircraft guns, the Dahua troops gradually mastered some "new tactics."

They would use these anti-aircraft weapons as temporary anti-tank guns to deal with the Great Tang Kingdom's armored vehicles: even if they couldn't destroy the No. 4 tanks and Panther tanks, they were quite effective against the Lion-type armored reconnaissance vehicles and 113 armored personnel carriers.

In addition, Dahua also bought a number of large caliber anti-aircraft guns, of which the most common were the 76mm caliber anti-aircraft guns, evolved from anti-balloon guns, serving both anti-air and anti-tank purposes.

Compared to their outdated predecessors, the performance of the improved new-style 76mm caliber anti-aircraft guns had greatly progressed. They were fitted with specialized mounts for faster elevation and rotation, and their range had also significantly increased.

For easier target acquisition, the initial velocity of the shells for the new 76mm guns had nearly doubled; in other words, aside from the caliber, it was almost like designing them anew.

Compared to the unimpressive Dahua Air Force, the ground air defense troops had achieved remarkable results, and with the anti-aircraft artillery troops protecting the ground forces, those pesky Stuka dive bombers could no longer dive down with impunity, helping to stabilize the morale of the troops. Therefore, Dahua's anti-aircraft artillery troops had become cherished assets in the eyes of commanders at all levels.

At a Dahua anti-aircraft gun position, the gunners were resting in the shade covered by camouflage nets. The loaders were busy loading shells into special magazines, as the 30mm caliber anti-aircraft gun they serviced was magazine-fed.

An observer responsible for vigilance peered through his binoculars, searching the distant skies, while the military officer commanding the anti-aircraft gun sat on a sandbag, overseeing a nearby camp.

This was a small-scale logistics supply hub, which wouldn't otherwise have been granted the focused protection of anti-aircraft guns. Dahua's anti-aircraft guns were not yet abundant enough to cover every area.

On nearby high ground, three mutually supporting anti-aircraft guns were positioned. If enemy planes attacked, they could coordinate a defense, fending off any annoying Stuka dive bombers.

In fact, if they could entice the Stuka dive bombers to waste their precious 500kg bombs on destroying anti-aircraft gun emplacements, that would be considered worthwhile.

After all, the camp below, stocked with ammunition, medical supplies, and food, was worth far more than a single anti-aircraft gun.

"Enemy planes! Enemy planes!" The ever-vigilant sky-watching observer suddenly shouted in alarm.

The officer, who had been sitting there deep in thought, immediately looked in the direction indicated by the observer. Indeed, there were several small black dots rapidly approaching.

The officer immediately grabbed the whistle around his neck and blew it forcefully, alerting the nearby two other anti-aircraft guns to rapidly prepare for combat.

Soon enough, the responding whistle sounds rose. The other two anti-aircraft guns raised their barrels, clearly ready for action.

The Dahua anti-aircraft gunners didn't have to wait too long, as Tang Nation Air Force bombers began to bear down on them. As the distance narrowed, the officer monitoring the Tang planes frowned.

"Wings not turning... Fighter jets?" The officer, noticing that the incoming planes did not have the seagull-wing design, murmured in confusion.

"It's not the Butcher, right? It doesn't look like it!" The gunner heard his superior's mutter, peered through the sight for a while, and was puzzled too.

"Could it be our planes…" Not recognizing the incoming planes as the usual Stuka dive bombers or the Tang Army's escorting fighter jets, known as Butchers, the Dahua commander filled with uncertainty.

"I've never seen our planes look like this..." As the four planes came closer, the gun chief had not finished his sentence when he changed his argument, exclaiming, "Yellow nose! They're Tang planes!"

The bright yellow was the Tang Nation Air Force's identification color for friend or foe, painted on the nose and wingtips to prevent fratricide. Because of their planes' overwhelming performance advantage, Tang air force paint schemes had always been quite brazen.

While speaking, he had already stepped on the pedal, and his 30mm caliber anti-aircraft gun began to roar: "Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!"

The expensive tracer bullets, one after another, surged toward those rapidly approaching Tang planes, which, upon being attacked, immediately scattered and altered their flight paths.

As they dodged and exposed their underbellies, the unique shape became even more apparent, with the Great Tang dragon emblem on their wings glistening in the sunlight.

Between the dragon emblem on the wings and the fuselage, some exceptionally slender bombs were suspended – unfamiliar details that made the Dahua commander standing beside the anti-aircraft gun extremely uneasy.