I Became a Plutocrat in World War I: Starting with Saving France-Chapter 897: What You Need Is Rocket Artillery
Shire didn’t want to turn down this deal. Over 100 tanks, selling the soon-to-be phased out "Shire A1" by the French Army, Shire had no reason to refuse.
But military production business is different.
If sold to Italy and they suffer a significant defeat afterward, it would affect the reputation and sales of the "Shire A1," potentially implicating the entire Bernard Group.
Therefore. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
From both an ally and a business standpoint, Shire should provide Italy with equipment that is truly suitable and helps them turn the tide.
Cadorna’s face was full of confusion: "So, Vice Admiral, what equipment do you think is suitable for us?"
Shire didn’t answer but instead asked several questions, like a doctor diagnosing a patient’s condition.
"What is the situation with your artillery?"
"The artillery has basically been destroyed and was largely abandoned on the front line and not brought back." Cadorna said with embarrassment.
Retreating 100 kilometers within a few days was, in fact, a rout.
For the sake of survival, the Italian Army almost abandoned all heavy equipment, including 2,500 cannons and a large amount of ammunition.
Even worse, these were utilized by the German and Austrian forces as weapons to attack the Italian Army.
Shire tried to appear calm to avoid hurting Cadorna’s fragile self-esteem.
"I guess you don’t have air superiority, right?"
"Yes, of course." Cadorna replied: "Our air power is insignificant compared to the Germans, which is the main reason for our failure on the battlefield."
Blaming the defeat on the equipment is a good excuse.
Cadorna didn’t reflect on why Italy hadn’t introduced French aircraft or produced its own over nearly a year and a half since declaring war?
The fundamental reason lies in his adherence to Haig’s combat philosophy, believing that aircraft and tanks are useless things, even a sign of cowardice.
(Note: Historically, Italy began importing French aircraft in 1916 and produced its own aircraft in 1917.)
Shire asked again: "Is your current position close to the mountains?"
"Yes." Cadorna nodded: "It’s a passage near the Alps Mountain and the Adriatic Sea."
As he spoke, Cadorna took out a map from his pocket, unfolded it, and pointed out the location to Shire.
(The red line area on the map roughly represents the course of the Italian Piave River. If the German and Austrian forces break through this defense line, they will enter the defenseless Po River Plain. During World War I, the Italian Army successfully blocked the German and Austrian forces’ attack here, thus the Piave River is called the "River of National Redemption" by Italy.)
Shire "hmm"ed, pulled open a drawer, flipped through it, and took out a document to place in front of Cadorna: "I think this equipment is more suitable for you, Chief of Staff."
Cadorna opened the document, saw the photo clipped inside, and looked up at Shire in surprise: "Rocket artillery?"
"Yes, rocket artillery." Shire explained: "You don’t have artillery, equipping tanks or other equipment, even restructuring artillery units would undoubtedly be suppressed by the Germans."
Cadorna slowly nodded.
Restructuring artillery units couldn’t defeat the Germans, which is determined by the quality of artillery and aerial reconnaissance. The Germans’ combined arms and air-ground coordination have left Italy far behind.
After hesitating for a while, Cadorna shook the photo of the rocket artillery in his hand: "It won’t be suppressed by enemy artillery? I heard its range is short and it’s not accurate."
The important thing is accuracy; if it can’t hit the target, what good is it?
"You’re right." Shire didn’t deny these shortcomings: "But it can hit across the river, and can fire all its shells within a few minutes, then hide in a safe area or tunnels before enemy artillery retaliates."
This is very suitable for new recruits conducting guerrilla warfare, especially the Italian troops, as the "hit and run" tactics seem tailor-made for Italians.
Shire added:
"You can quickly form combat power."
"As long as operated properly, there will not be significant losses."
"As for the lack of accuracy you mentioned, as long as there are enough shells, you can hit accurately, and your target is ’pontoon bridges’."
Cadorna’s eyes instantly widened, he looked at Shire in shock: "You mean, it’s to deal with the German pontoon bridges?"
Their defense line is at the Piave River; if they can attack pontoon bridges and prevent the Germans from crossing the river, it’s like standing in an undefeated position.
"Of course." Shire was confident: "You only need to deploy the rocket artillery by the unit along the Piave River defense line, once the Germans build pontoon bridges, the rocket artillery will come out of the tunnels and fire on the pontoon bridge in the shortest time."
Cadorna said "Oh," thoughtfully.
Having commanded on the battlefield for so long, he immediately thought:
The rocket artillery is fast-moving, and they can quickly maneuver into range to fire on pontoon bridges without air superiority.
After firing the shells, quickly evacuate the "scene."
If there are tunnels nearby providing protection for the rocket artillery, even the German aircraft won’t have time to react.
Shire reminded again: "Turn to the next page, it also has another version."
Cadorna turned two pages and indeed saw a "towable version" without a vehicle.
"This is..." Cadorna had a puzzled look, could this be more effective than the vehicle-mounted version?
Shire explained: "This has slightly less mobility, but it’s easier to hide and use; you only need to dig a hole on the defense line, and the rest is just the ammunition issue."
Cadorna suddenly understood.
"You’re right, Vice Admiral." Cadorna nodded repeatedly: "This is the equipment we need, but do you have enough production capacity? I mean, we may need a lot, both versions."
This is something used for survival, Cadorna would certainly not be stingy.
Meanwhile, he was very satisfied with the "service" Shire provided.
Purchasing equipment from the Bernard Group isn’t just about the equipment itself, it also comes with tactics and solutions.
The money is well spent!
"How much do you need?" Shire asked.
Cadorna considered for a while: "Let’s first purchase 100 vehicle-mounted versions, and 300 towable versions in the first batch."
"No problem." Shire readily agreed, rocket artillery is easy to produce, and the Bernard Group already has large reserves.
But the next second, Shire frowned:
"Other aspects are negotiable, the focus is on the rocket artillery shells."
"You know, if each rocket artillery holds 36 shells, 400 rocket artilleries will require nearly 15,000 shells."
"In terms of transportation..."
(Note: The ammunition load of a rocket artillery typically includes the ones for a full salvo, 12 shells, plus another 2 loads for replenishment, totaling 24 shells)
Cadorna asked: "Is there a problem with transportation?"
"Yes, Chief of Staff." Shire said helplessly: "It requires coordination with the Toulon Fleet, but recently the Toulon Fleet is boycotting the Bernard Group and refusing to provide us with transportation and escort..."
