CHAPTER 1458: CHAPTER 1439: YOU MUST FIRST HAVE A MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT

"Uh, well, tanks, cannons, armored vehicles, even helicopters and planes, those are not the issue. The issue is, can your men use them? Especially cannons, are you sure buying them is worthwhile?"

Maide looked puzzled and said in a deep voice, "Cannons? Cannons aren’t some cutting-edge weapons. What’s so difficult about them? Our mortars are being used very well now, and those few cannons also fire accurately."

Gao Yang sighed, shook his head, and said, "Let me tell you, even though cannons have been around for hundreds of years, there’s no fundamental difference between modern cannons and those from World War I. However, using cannons isn’t that easy. If you just want your soldiers to fire the shells out, it can be taught in an afternoon. But if you want the shells to land accurately on the enemy’s heads and not miss by hundreds of meters or even kilometers, then you need a qualified artillery unit. The problem is, the Skull Gang doesn’t have that capability."

Maide frowned and said, "We can establish an artillery unit and learn."

For the Skull Gang’s troops, they have just barely mastered the basic tactics of infantry and light weapons, and expecting them to use tanks and cannons right away—don’t kid yourself. If they can perform coordinated infantry-tank operations in three years, that would be rapid progress.

As for cannons, the Skull Gang has had a few D30s for a while, but they are still using the D30s as direct fire weapons, just aiming the barrel directly at the target and firing. Beyond visual range, these cannons are useless.

Whether an army is strong depends on its artillery and armored units, and a strong artillery requires the basic ability to fire beyond visual range with accuracy.

Don’t think that being an artilleryman is easy; positioning artillery to hit a target accurately beyond visual range is not a simple task. There might be only thirty countries in the world whose militaries can achieve this, certainly no more than fifty.

Having long-range, high-caliber cannons that cannot be used effectively is not uncommon.

That’s why Gao Yang asked Maide in the first place; transporting cannons from Ukraine is simple enough, but what’s the point for the Skull Gang if they can’t use them? Tanks are easier to use because they can rely on thick armor to withstand enemy fire and then use the tank gun at close range. Armored vehicles work on the same principle; they can still be effective.

As for cannons, it’s not that Gao Yang underestimates the soldiers’ quality; even if he helped find someone to train them, the Skull Gang soldiers wouldn’t learn how to use them in three years.

Modern cannons can easily shoot twenty kilometers, but the shell’s impact point isn’t determined by sight; it’s calculated. Even with front-line observers, it’s the same. For the Skull Gang soldiers to learn to use long-range cannons, you’d have to teach them math first, at least up to geometry. Soldiers who only operate the cannons don’t have to learn all this; they just adjust the angle according to commands. But even so, the officer responsible for calculating trajectories must surely know.

Either hire mercenaries, or in another term, find knowledgeable people to command the Skull Gang’s artillery, or simply don’t use cannons—tanks are more practical.

After explaining a long list of things to Maide, Gao Yang concluded by pointing to his head and saying to Maide, "Do you know why the African armies are still weak? It’s not the weapons; it’s up here. I won’t say all Skull Gang soldiers are illiterate, but claiming ninety-nine percent is illiterate isn’t too much. Among the few who can read, if someone has math skills at a Chinese fifth-grade level, that’s impressive. You studied in China, so you understand what I mean, right?"

Patting Maide on the shoulder, Gao Yang sighed and said, "If you want your people to really understand how to use cannons, you need a school to train a batch of students with math skills at the Chinese middle school level, no, high school level to serve as artillery officers. Think about the difficulty of that yourself."

Maide stared at the ground in silence for a long time before finally sighing helplessly, saying, "But can an army really be called an army without artillery?"

Gao Yang scratched his head in difficulty and said, "Well, um, it can’t be considered a strong army, not saying it’s not an army, but in Somalia, you don’t seem to need one that’s too strong. Your soldiers are already skilled enough."

Maide shook his head and said in a deep voice, "You have not seen the significant role artillery plays in the Skull Gang’s army. Often, when the cannon fires, our enemies collapse. If I have an artillery unit, even with just ten cannons, no, five! Five cannons that can accurately hit targets ten kilometers away could reduce our soldiers’ casualties by half. I’ve decided that the Skull Gang must have artillery, and not just any artillery, but genuine artillery units."

Gao Yang shrugged and said, "In that case, you’ll have to find people from outside. Fortunately, it’s not hard to find."

Maide said in a deep voice, "Your explanation has strengthened my belief that we must have artillery. Gao, you help me find the people, and help me buy the cannons. I rely on you. I need to quickly build an effective artillery unit, and my men must start learning how to use them. I’ll pull out all the literate people to form the artillery; one year isn’t enough, two, two isn’t enough, ten—I’m determined to establish an artillery unit!"

Finding artillerymen is easy, as is buying cannons. Gao Yang could solve everything within days with a trip to Ukraine.

Though there are few cannons and fewer people, another artillery-focused military force is about to be born. After silently sighing in his heart, Gao Yang nodded and said, "Alright, if you really want artillery, I’ll find some for you. No more than a month, and they could be delivered. However, you know, the cannons aren’t expensive, nor the shells, but it’ll cost you a lot to hire the people."

Maide seriously said, "No matter how much it costs, I want them. As long as the Skull Gang can afford it, I must have artillery!"

Gao Yang shrugged and said, "Alright then, I’ll get right on it. If you love artillery so much, do you still want tanks? How about armored vehicles? It’s all the same; if you get these, you’ll also need to hire people to help use them, so you’ll have an armored unit and trainers in the short term. The only issue is spending more on people than on weapons."

Maide waved his hand and said loudly, "Yes, include the costs for equipment and hiring people in that eighty million budget. Besides basic ammunition, use the rest to buy these. However many I can get counts, even if it’s just one tank and one cannon, I want them!" (to be continued. If you like this work, please vote and give your support at Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)