Chapter 26: Destroying the Troops (Three)

  Apart from various operational rules, Xiao Lie also had to learn about the structural knowledge of various ammunition, which were all related to the needs of future operations. Different types of ammunition had different structures, and the destruction of different shells was also different. Compared to artillery shells, bullet destruction was much more convenient. The bullet head could be twisted open with a machine, and in special situations, it could be directly put into a destruction pit and covered with a thick steel lid, then heated up, causing the bullet to explode loudly.

  (PS: Although the lid is covered, the bullets inside are like firecrackers, but the demolition soldiers still run far away. The quality of the incinerator is guaranteed, but no one dares to say what problems that thing will have. For the demolition soldiers, they would rather pull these expired ammunition to be scrapped on another planet, it's still too dangerous on Earth.)

  According to the caliber of shells, they can be divided into small-caliber shells, medium-caliber shells and large-caliber shells. The boundary between ground artillery and anti-aircraft artillery is different. For ground artillery, a diameter of 20-70mm is considered a small-caliber shell; 70-155mm is considered a medium-caliber shell, and 155mm or larger is considered a large-caliber shell. For anti-aircraft artillery, a diameter of 20-60mm is considered a small-caliber shell; 60-100mm is considered a medium-caliber shell, and 100mm or larger is considered a large-caliber shell.

  According to the assembly relationship between the projectile and the propellant cartridge (or bag), artillery shells can be divided into three categories: fixed ammunition, separate loading cased ammunition, and separate loading bagged ammunition. Fixed ammunition combines the projectile and propellant cartridge into a single unit, which is loaded into the gun chamber at one time for firing. Separate loading cased ammunition has the projectile and propellant cartridge as separate entities; when fired, the projectile is first loaded, followed by the propellant cartridge. Separate loading bagged ammunition requires three separate loadings: the projectile, the propellant bag, and the primer tube.

  According to the loading method at the time of launch, shells can be divided into two categories: breech-loading shells (rear-loaded shells) and muzzle-loading shells (front-loaded shells). Breech-loading shells are loaded from the rear of the gun into the chamber, and after closing the breechblock, they are fired. This type of shell has a higher chamber pressure and greater recoil when fired, but has a longer range. Muzzle-loading shells are loaded from the muzzle into the chamber and fired. The artillery that fires this type of projectile generally does not have rifling, and the projectile uses tail fins for stabilization.

  According to the method of obtaining speed, shells can be divided into general shells and rocket-assisted projectiles. The projectile velocity of a conventional shell is obtained when the gun is fired, and the velocity at which the projectile leaves the muzzle is the maximum velocity. The projectile velocity of a rocket-assisted projectile not only obtains velocity when the gun is fired, but also after leaving the muzzle, the rocket booster engine works, and the projectile velocity can still be increased. When the booster engine finishes working, the projectile reaches its maximum velocity.

  Projectiles can be stabilized in two ways: spin stabilization and fin stabilization. The former relies on the rifling of the gun barrel to impart a rapid spin to the projectile, which then follows the gyroscopic principle to maintain its flight stability. The latter does not rotate or rotates at low speed, relying on the fins at the rear of the projectile to maintain flight stability. Most howitzers, shaped charge armor-piercing projectiles and smoothbore guns use this stabilization method.

  Shells can be divided into three categories: caliber shells, sub-caliber shells and super-caliber shells. The diameter of the caliber shell is the same as that of the gun barrel, and most shells belong to this category; the diameter of the sub-caliber shell is smaller than that of the gun barrel, which facilitates the increase of initial velocity, such as various armor-piercing shells; the diameter of the super-caliber shell is larger than that of the gun barrel, with greater power, such as long-range rocket-assisted armor-piercing shells.

  "In our place, apart from missiles and radioactive shells, you can see all kinds of shells and bullets in the army. Some people may have been artillerymen for their whole lives but still wouldn't have seen so many types." Tang Fei said as he picked up a 120mm shell and placed it on the machine's fixed clamp. The shell was probably around thirty kilograms, but for Tang Fei, picking up and putting down hundreds of shells wouldn't leave him even slightly out of breath, which made Xiao Lie admire the abilities of the people here.

  "Work hard, and after you're familiar with everything here, I can take you to play basketball." Tang Fei said with a smile.

  Fire a cannon? Hearing this socially dubious term come out of Tang Fei's mouth makes it sound very serious. Here, some intact and hard-to-destroy shells will be fired, and in a sense, after being stationed at the destruction site for a year, you can also become an all-around artilleryman. If time permits, guarding the boxed bullets can also make you a real sharpshooter. Some bullets have reached their expiration date but are still intact, so for the safety of the troops, they must be destroyed. If there's anything that can be considered easy work here, it's in the smelting room. The scrapped shell casings and gun parts will all be remelted. In winter, the entire smelting room is warm, but of course, no one wants to stay there for long in summer. The base's heating system and hot water come from the smelting room throughout the winter, which is also a form of thermal energy recycling.

  "Tang Fei, you guys need to finish these today. Tomorrow, the military district will send over a batch of anti-tank shells. You must pay extra attention to these three types of shells." Wei Qidong came over and instructed.

  "What are the three major types of anti-tank shells?" Xiao Lie asked curiously, and after a long time, he found that Tang Fei could be called an encyclopedia of shells.

  Many people think that the current anti-tank weapons are all anti-tank missiles, which is not wrong. Anti-tank missiles, in simple terms, are just adding electronic devices to shells, but in the end, it still relies on the shell body to blow up the tank. The three main types of anti-tank weapons are: armor-piercing shells, piercing shells, and fragmentation shells.

  The armor-piercing shell, also known as the hollow-charge armor-piercing shell. Its use strengthened the threat to tanks, its main feature is that it relies on the energy of the charge itself to penetrate armor, so it is not limited by initial velocity and shooting distance, and is a type of ammunition with relatively great development potential. However, its charge is very particular, because hollow-charge armor-piercing shells mainly rely on making the charge into a conical hole in the center of a cylindrical explosive column, and adding a metal casing to the surface of the conical hole, so that when it explodes, it will gather into a high-speed, high-temperature, and high-pressure metal jet stream, i.e. "聚能效应" (concentrated energy effect), destroying armor. On the other hand, if the charge is made solid, it cannot achieve the purpose of penetrating armor.

  APFSDS (Armor-Piercing, Fin-Stabilized, Discarding Sabot) rounds, also known as tail-stabilized armor-piercing discarding sabot projectiles, have brought great disaster to tanks. The main characteristics of this type of projectile are: it relies on the mass and initial velocity of the projectile itself to penetrate armor, so the sharper and harder the projectile is, and the faster its flight speed, the stronger its penetration ability will be. In other words, when the projectile hits the tank's armor, the greater the kinetic energy, the greater the armor-piercing power will be. The Belgian M1080 120mm APFSDS round is an example of this type of projectile.

  The HESH shell is also called "caramel candy cannonball". The projectile looks like an oxygen cylinder in appearance, the body is made of low-carbon steel that is easy to deform, the head is short and thick with a thinner outer wall, and it is filled with a large amount of plastic explosive. Its birth poses a major threat to tanks. It is different from both armor-piercing shells and high-explosive anti-tank shells. When this type of shell hits armor, the projectile deforms and ruptures, and under high temperature and pressure, the plastic explosive sticks to the surface of the armor like caramel candy. Then, the delayed fuse at the bottom of the projectile ignites the explosive, producing a strong shock wave of several tens to over 100 GPa in an instant, acting on the armor, forming a strong stress wave inside the armor, causing the back of the armor to burst out with fragments of varying sizes, achieving the purpose of destroying the armor and killing personnel.

  A certain shooting range in Xinjiang Military District.

  Three Warrior military vehicles drove into the shooting range one after another. The three team leaders, Xia Tianyu, who were training, saw the license plate and immediately went to greet them.

  The car stopped and a slightly gray-haired young general came down from it, with his straight figure showing that he was a true professional soldier.

  "Good." Xiatianyu saluted and said: "Reporting to the instructor, the 3rd Battalion of the 1st Brigade of A Division is conducting howitzer training, please instruct."

  "Hmm, don't blame me for not informing you in advance." Master Ou Yang Yuan Ye smiled.

  "Master, if you have any instructions for our work, we would be grateful." For this airborne commander who had been in office for less than three months, Ouyang Yuanye, before he arrived, Xia Tianyu had already heard of his great name. This artillery commander, known as the "Chinese Eagle," always exuded an aura of intimidation in both his work and demeanor. He was one of the new generation of military leaders who advocated for the use of force against China's blockade line. In training, he was known for emphasizing real combat, and in several military exercises, he had defeated the Red Army by deviating from the planned script. This gave him considerable influence within the military. Although he had been with the A Division for three months, staying at the grassroots level of the company every day, it was said that several battalion commanders had been reprimanded by him. Today, Commander Ouyang had arrived, making Xia Tianyu feel somewhat uneasy.

  "Alright, you all go ahead and do what you want, I'm just watching."

  Xia Tianyu nodded, made a gesture to the signal soldier, and the signal soldier issued a flag language for preparing to launch various elements. On the side, young artillerymen began to bustle about in an orderly manner.

  In the nearby mountains, several large circles were drawn with white powder, marked with 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. That was today's target.

  "Fire!"

  After the order was given, the artillery fired decisively, and the deafening cannon sound shook out the shells, which then accurately shot to their destination. The shells fell into the circle and exploded instantly.

  Xiatian Yu found that Ouyang Yuan Ye's eyes had never revealed a hint of emotion from start to finish, and when the loading continued, he heard a voice stop.

  "Captain Xia, have you found anything unusual?" asked Ouyang Yuanye.

  Xiatianyu thought for a moment and then said: "Please enlighten me, Master."

  "Haha, Xiayanyu, you've been the squad leader for so long, I want to ask you something. When facing enemy artillery fire, would you just wait there and let their shells fall on you? If the mountain in front of you is fully fortified, do you think it's fine as long as you can deliver the shells up the mountain? Bullets may not be able to beat shells, but humans have two legs." Ouyang Yuanye said.

  Xia Tianyu wasn't stupid either, and upon hearing Ouyang Yuanye say this, he immediately knew where the problem lay. He said, "But Master, it's always been like this, and the military training outline has also been like this."

  Xiatianyu's voice is not loud.

  "Books are dead, people are alive. Your gun is not just to hit the enemy, but also to support your brothers. Have you ever seen your enemy draw a circle on their own position for you to target?"

  Ouyang Yuanye's voice was not loud, but every word was like a needle piercing into Xia Tian's heart. He knew this principle well enough, but the tradition formed by the army over decades couldn't be changed by one person alone.

  "Master, I also know that the enemy won't just stand there and draw circles for us to hit. But..." Xia Tianyu said halfway without continuing.

  Ouyang Yuanye glanced at Xia Tianyu and smiled, suddenly understanding what the kid was thinking: "I can reveal some information to you, in a few days the new outline will be released, now you can choose to adapt."

  "Really?" Xia Tianyu said excitedly: "Pass the order down, put up that mobile target, we'll also try using an axe to kill a chicken."

  Yuan Nu's completed works include "Full Metal Species" and "Remnant Wings", thank you for your attention.