Munitions Empire

"This is our newly launched weapon! In fact, we had designed this type of weapon two years ago, but… our chief designer didn’t think it was quite ready, so we didn’t launch it," the salesman introducing the new weapon said with a look of regret, as if everything he said was true.

He sighed, then continued to the visitors, "Unexpectedly, someone else got there first. Reluctantly, we have now decided to release this still-under-development weapon to meet the defense needs of various countries."

"We call this brand-new war machine a Tank, Tank! From now on, this weapon will be known as a tank, because the term ’war machine’ just doesn’t do justice to its power," the salesman said, beginning to introduce the behemoth behind him.

Actually, the salesman wasn’t telling the truth, because Great Tang Group had not designed and produced this outdated tank, which was nearly indistinguishable from a water cabinet two years ago.

Great Tang Group had initially taken a route similar to that of the Renault Tank, a smaller and lighter model that was leagues ahead of this World War I tank.

Besides the different design philosophies, Great Tang Group had skipped explorations like over-the-top tracks and directly chosen more advanced engines and gearboxes, also endowing the tank with higher speed and better defense.

Now, the tanks equipped by the Great Tang Group were already mature models from the World War II era. To bring out such World War I tanks was purely to swindle money from the nouveau riche.

If Shireck revealed such poor performance similar to the A7V tank, then don’t blame Great Tang Group for suppressing technological innovation.

As he spoke, the salesman from Great Tang Group began to expound on the exceptional capabilities of this brand-new tank.

Although these were merely substandard products brought out by Great Tang Group to meet the demands of various countries, they were still the closest thing resembling a tank that the nations could purchase at that stage.

At least this thing had two over-the-top tracks, allowing it to cross obstacles on the battlefield at a faster speed. In this regard, it was infinitely better than Shireck’s tanks.

These two types of tanks had entirely different approaches to utilizing tracks: Great Tang Group’s tanks used tracks to give the tank better off-road maneuverability, while Shireck used tracks to ensure that the tank wouldn’t sink into the mud due to ground pressure…

"The new tank is equipped with short-barreled 75mm caliber cannons on both sides, which can help the tank destroy all enemy bunkers and targets on both flanks!" The salesman’s enthusiastic introduction captivated the visitors, who were awed by this massive breakthrough weapon for fortifications.

While they had already heard of Shireck’s famed war machines, actually seeing these tanks as weapons was still a shock to them.

Once such a massive weapon appeared on the battlefield, it indeed could cause the enemy’s soldiers to lose their will to fight. Faced with such weaponry, it’s hard to keep soldiers’ spirits up.

The majority of weapons in the hands of ordinary soldiers were ineffective against tanks, which ensured that our troops could break through the enemy’s heavily fortified lines with minimal casualties by relying on tanks.

"It can destroy enemy bunkers and also attack enemy tanks! With this weapon, whether on defense or offense, you can gain a significant advantage," the salesman spoke in a way that piqued all the visitors’ interest.

The buyers were keen to purchase this new kind of weapon called a tank, in hopes of penetrating troublesome trench lines in the future. Moreover, they hoped to acquire a type of equipment that could counter enemy tanks.

Certainly, if one’s own tanks could both break through the enemy’s defenses and tackle the enemy tanks, that would mean spending money for a dual-purpose—a deal that was too good to pass up.

Seeing the eagerness in everyone’s eyes to spend money, the salesman took the opportunity to introduce another tank next to him: "Of course, to better suppress enemy weapons, we also have a machine-gun version!"

The other model of the tank was armed with four machine guns, which could deal with infantry inside surrounding emplacements. Though its firepower was reduced, the attack density was increased, and the sustainability of the firepower was improved.

It was an important supplement to the cannon tank. If used together, they could complement and cover each other.

In fact, this combination followed the most basic pairing philosophy of tanks and armored personnel carriers—overall, it was the correct approach, and also quite advanced.

Naturally, upon hearing the salesman’s pitch, the envoys attending the weapons exhibition became tempted.

This was especially true for the Dwarf Envoy from the Ice Cold Empire, who took a liking to this British-Chinese fusion style after one glance. Consequently, he directly asked about the price: "So, how much for these weapons?"

"Both models of the tank are priced the same, each at 350 Gold Coins," the salesman replied immediately, sensing a deal in the making.

This price actually wasn’t high; it could even be said to be very fair: according to the current prices of Great Tang Group, one civilian car sold for about 75 Gold Coins under the influence of inflation.

That is to say, the price of five cars was roughly equivalent to one tank, and from any angle, this pricing was very affordable.

But everyone knew that just buying these tanks and taking them back would likely mean that they could not be used right away—personnel needed training, tactics required practice, command had to be learned, and support needed to be rebuilt.

The representatives of countries who had begun to understand modern warfare knew that simply calculating the price of a single tank was clearly incorrect.

Sure enough, the salesman soon reminded them, "The price of personnel training needs to be calculated separately, and the establishment of a tank troop also requires a brand-new logistics support troop. The cost of equipment for the repair factories is also an additional charge..."

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Then, he offered a less troublesome quote, "The package purchase price is 500 Gold Coins per tank, which is actually not expensive, considering the substantial discount. However, there is a minimum purchase quantity... starting at 300 units."

Even so, the price was not considered expensive, for the tanks obviously used better engines, needed more steel, and had two cannons. To offer them at this price was very conscientious indeed.

"We hope everyone can understand that we also have research and development costs as well as operating costs." Seeing the people’s lively discussion, the salesman continued to explain.

Even at 500 Gold Coins per tank, most countries that had profited from the war did not find it overly expensive.

What they wanted was to quickly form their own tank troops, learn the new tactics of this weapon, and ensure that their militaries could take the advantage in the next war!

Do you not see, the Ice Cold Empire and Suthers Kingdom utilized airships to gain tremendous advantages in this war? The results with airships led them to swift victory and also demonstrated the immense value of new weapons.

Do you not see, how a nation like Gobur almost defeated Dorne Kingdom, which had two renowned generals of the age, with just tanks?

If they don’t have their own tanks before the next war breaks out, that is when they will be in real danger.

Originally, everyone was thinking about purchasing a batch of Shireck’s tanks to equip their troops, but the frontline situation in Gobur made many adopt a wait-and-see attitude.

Some countries, eager to buy, inquired about the price despite the urgency of the war only to find that, as Shireck needed to commit more tanks to combat, they could not provide any immediately available units.

If you wanted to get your hands on the tanks, you would have to wait several months, or even a year, a delivery speed that most of the countries’ top echelons felt they could not afford to wait for.

Those days are long gone when the Great Tang Group could delay delivery for over a year and still have people lining up to buy Ironclad Warships.

Due to industrial development, everyone now had more choices. When the Great Tang Group couldn’t provide Ironclad Warships on time, didn’t these countries turn to Shireck for new ships?

Conversely, when Shireck couldn’t provide immediate stock, they all turned back to the Great Tang Group, a move that was utterly natural and sloppy.

For the countries involved, orders worth tens of thousands of Gold Coins were actually not considered expensive. The Ice Cold Empire’s envoy didn’t hesitate to put down a deposit. Suthers Kingdom did the same, since they had also reaped a large windfall from the war.

The contracts were even already drafted, with the Great Tang Group set to deliver 500 tanks to both countries within a year, the specific models differing slightly in quantity according to each country’s needs.

Gales, Poplar, and Songmu, the three countries that had ostensibly returned to peace, unfortunately, did not reap any benefits as they fought for a year, essentially just wasting ammunition.

Gales was still alright, but Poplar Kingdom and Songmu Kingdom even lost a substantial number of expensive naval and air force units, which can be described as crippling.

Under such circumstances, the finances of several countries were actually not so affluent; therefore, their procurement of tanks also seemed somewhat frugal.

They too ordered 300 tanks, but they did not need Great Tang Group to hurry with the delivery. Instead, they were willing to delay the timing in exchange for a cheaper price.

Soon, they got what they wished for and secured a slightly more favorable price, though the first batch of tanks would not be available until 3 months later.

After all, with each country placing orders for several hundred tanks, they certainly could not all be produced at once, and so deliveries were scheduled in batches according to the contracts.

Great Tang Group’s factories in Brunas and Jade City went into full production capacity and began the round-the-clock manufacturing of the Mark 1 tank.

Subsequently, the envoy from the still warring Laines Empire and the envoy from Dorne Kingdom to the south both arrived in Jade City.

They too were interested in Tang Group’s tanks and wanted to obtain some immediately. Clearly, they hoped to rely on Great Tang tanks to continue their wars, which they were close to not being able to sustain.

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