Munitions Empire

By the time General Feng Kezhi managed to sit up with the help of others, ten days had passed, and he contentedly leaned against his pillow, flipping through "The Impact of Infantry Communication Technology Advancements," finding the read increasingly enjoyable.

Unlike those obscure and difficult military treatises passed down from ancient times, this book no longer discussed ethereal military concepts, nor did it emphasize the personal quality of commanders or delve into the ever-changing battle scenarios.

The contents of this book were all substantive, addressing the impact of advancements in communication systems on the functioning of troops.

It elaborated why the Tang Army employed combat units on a large scale on the battlefield—a special and somewhat quirky formation.

The book began with ancient signal fires and progressed through torches, flag signals, and drums, concluding with later communication soldiers.

The author believed that even with limited technological conditions, to enhance officers' sensory perception and control over the battlefield, ancient troops would spare no expense, using their most elite forces and rarest warhorses to carry out the transmission of battlefield intelligence.

Between the lines, Feng Kezhi felt what the author emphasized, having experienced similar situations himself.

To secure battlefield communication, only the commander's most trusted soldiers would be selected as communication officers, who might even personally deliver the commander's orders at specific times.

Similarly, to ensure timely communication during the Flintlock Era, one of the most important roles of Cavalry was to convey messages. Maintaining a Knight could cost as much as supporting more than a dozen flintlock gunners.

Thus, when Feng Ke experienced the wireless telegraph, he was utterly astounded. A commander, or even the Monarch of a country, could learn within minutes what was happening in a certain area, and this communicative efficiency had completely transformed the mode of war.

In the past, from the assembly of troops to the march to the front line, and until the final outcome of a battle, it would take months for results to be determined.

Now, provided there were enough radio stations, a commander could accurately control the movement, location, and status of a troop unit... even the loss of contact itself was information.

Furthermore, with the invention of the telephone by Tang Country, battlefield communication had ascended to a new height. Once phone lines were laid down, commanders could instantly connect with any unit they wanted to contact with hardly any delay.

The moment the other party picked up the phone receiver, a battlefield commander could effectively control all the information of that unit, asking whatever he wanted to know, knowing whatever he needed to know.

Feng Kezhi had always felt that one of the reasons the Tang Army was at the forefront of the world's powerful militaries was its innovation in means of information and intelligence transmission.

And at this moment, as Feng Ke read "The Impact of Infantry Communication Technology Advancements," he realized just what kind of changes the Tang Army was implementing.

The book narrated how the Tang Army, to ensure communication, had disrupted its traditional troop organization to let Infantry accompany Tanks and armored vehicles, including self-propelled artillery, forming a combat team to guarantee that every unit could be immediately located and could instantly report the information they encountered.

For this, the Tang Army paid the price of organizational chaos: to empower the autonomous movement of troops, the Tang Army threw the pressure of supply upon the logistical support units, further decentralizing the command authority of different levels of troops to these combat teams under chaotic conditions.

Putting it positively, the Tang Army, relying on excellent qualities, could still manage temporary formations and seek opportunities for battle under a disordered command system.

Negatively, this meant the Tang Army could quickly find itself in a self-destructive disarray during combat, entirely dependent on the initiative of middle and lower-tier officers to continue the fight.

The Tang Army was essentially gambling on whether the enemy or themselves would succumb to chaos first and start disintegrating completely.

Then again, by utilizing the radios on tanks and armored vehicles to ensure the exchange of information, they ensured the effectiveness of communication, rampaging across the chaotic battlefield to eliminate those enemy units that had been isolated and unable to exchange information for coordination.

Could foreign militaries learn this system? They could... but also could not. They could because, theoretically, if they read this book in front of them, they could understand and learn these tactics.

However, to master this system, there were several prerequisites: an elite and efficient group of lower and middle-tier commanders, an advanced battlefield communication system, and a robust logistical support system.

With these three prerequisites, one could replicate the formidable power of the Tang Army and build a top-tier military.

In reality, though, almost no one possessed all these conditions of the Tang Army: they lacked advanced educational institutions to cultivate talent, did not have a reservoir of advanced communication technologies, and they also lacked a reliable logistical supply system.

Years went by, and military forces around the world seemed increasingly advanced, yet they were still under extremely outdated ideological leadership. They did not understand this system, and even when some ideas began to emerge, they were merely superficial proofs.