Rise of Empires: Spain.

Chapter 519 The Role of Tanks

On September 14, Spain's so-called secret weapon was finally used on the battlefield.

The role of the tanks quickly became apparent. In just a few hours, the Spanish army advanced the front line by nearly 5 kilometers, something they couldn't have done in a whole day before.

Unlike the rudimentary tanks used by the British in the Battle of the Somme, the tanks used by Spain were already in their second generation of development, with significant improvements in both armor protection and firepower compared to the first generation.

Such massive tanks, with their immense firepower, dealt a severe blow to the morale of German and British soldiers.

Even the elite German army was helpless against tanks made entirely of steel.

Bullets barely scratch these big guys. If you're lucky, you might get a shallow crater; if you're unlucky, you might only get a tiny scratch on the paint.

Even artillery shells would have negligible destructive power against such a massive tank.

Unless a shell lands precisely near the tank's tracks, it's unlikely to disable the tank. Otherwise, even if it explodes within a few meters of the tank, the shrapnel wouldn't be enough to penetrate its armor.

The German and British armies were largely powerless against these tanks, and could only watch helplessly as they advanced the front lines.

Although Spanish tanks were theoretically capable of reaching speeds of 20 kilometers per hour, their speed was severely hampered on the battlefield.

The good news, however, was that, under the cover of tanks, the front lines were able to advance in an orderly manner. A small number of Spanish infantry units had trained with tanks, and under their cover, large numbers of infantry quietly approached the British and German positions, then massacred the unsuspecting British and German soldiers.

The biggest problem facing the German and British soldiers was that the Spanish soldiers were hiding behind tanks, making it difficult to stop their advance.

In reality, only artillery can bypass tanks and inflict casualties on the soldiers behind them.

However, the Spanish army was constantly advancing, and artillery was not so accurate when firing at moving targets.

Moreover, the large tanks sent by Spain were not sitting ducks; they were capable of retaliating. If the Allies bombarded the soldiers behind the tanks with artillery, the tanks would retaliate with their own artillery without restraint.

Because tanks are fully protected by steel armor, they can't aim like the Allied forces, who could openly turn their guns to target Allied artillery positions.

More importantly, Spain sent a considerable number of tanks. A total of 300 tanks went to the front line, and after rest and inspection, as many as 120 tanks were deployed for the first time.

This is also the biggest difference from the historical use of tanks by Britain in the Battle of the Somme. Although Britain did deploy tanks in the Battle of the Somme in the past, the number of tanks manufactured by Britain at that time was not large, which resulted in a limited number of tanks deployed by Britain.

In addition, the tanks manufactured by Britain were relatively rudimentary, which ultimately resulted in British tanks not performing well on the battlefield after achieving good initial results.

On the day the tanks were deployed, Spain advanced approximately 12 kilometers into the front lines. This news greatly excited French Chief of the General Staff Joffre, who contacted the Spanish ambassador to Paris the very next day, hoping to order Spanish tanks as quickly as possible, regardless of the cost.

Carlo had anticipated France's desire to purchase tanks. As long as tanks proved effective on the battlefield, the French would not remain indifferent.

Given that France is currently an important ally of Spain, and that the Western Front still requires a significant French presence, selling tanks to France is therefore essential.

Of course, Spain has the final say on which tanks to sell and at what prices.

The second-generation tanks currently in service in Spain are the main type, while the third-generation tanks are already under development.

For Carlo, selling the second-generation tanks to France was perfectly acceptable.

After all, France suffered enormous casualties in this world war, and even if France had won the world war, they would have been destined to lean towards peace after the war.

Even if the French government wanted to continue the war, the French people's fear of war would force the French government to move towards peace.

This is actually one of the reasons why France surrendered so quickly in World War II. It wasn't that the French army was weak; it's just that France suffered such heavy casualties in World War I that the public was already terrified of war.

France's strength was not a major threat to Spain; on the contrary, it could help Spain resist powerful forces from the European continent.

After all, World War I ended and then World War II came. Compared to Germany in World War I, Germany in World War II was the biggest threat.

After receiving France's request to purchase tanks, the Spanish government quickly agreed to the French government's request, as Carlo had instructed him to do so beforehand.

Spain currently has two types of second-generation tanks: the lighter T1 reconnaissance tank and the heavier T2 main battle tank.

The former cost 12.36 pesetas, and the latter cost 21.77 pesetas.

This is the price the Spanish military paid for the tanks; if France wanted to order them, the price would definitely be higher.

After internal discussions at the Royal Arms Factory, it was decided to set the price of the T1 reconnaissance tank at 15 pesetas and the T2 main battle tank at 25 pesetas, with a sufficient amount of spare ammunition included with the purchase of the tanks.

Such a price is definitely very cheap. Firstly, considering that France doesn't have that much demand for tanks, selling a few hundred would already be quite good.

Secondly, both France and other Allied countries are currently essentially penniless.

Even the war was sustained only by continuously issuing national debt and selling off assets. At this point, there was no need to jeopardize the overall war effort for such a small amount of funds.

French Chief of the General Staff Joffre was quite excited after learning the price Spain had set for the tanks.

Because of soaring prices in France, even though France has the technology to manufacture tanks, the cost of building them domestically is higher than buying them from abroad.

This can be seen from the historical cost of tanks between Britain and Germany. Historically, the British Mark VI heavy tank, which was quite famous, cost around £5000, while the cost of a German heavy tank of the same class was as high as £1.5 or even more.

Because the tanks recently deployed by Spain had played a significant role, Joffre eagerly sought the French government's approval and secured a military budget, which was then used entirely to order tanks. The French government immediately ordered 120 reconnaissance tanks and 240 main battle tanks from Spain, with a total order amounting to 7800 million pesetas, or 7800 million francs before the war.

If converted to today's francs, it would be close to 3 million, which shows how drastic the devaluation of the franc has been, not to mention the ruble, which has devalued even more severely.

To demonstrate its sincerity as an ally, Spain not only donated ammunition for a total of 360 tanks, but also promised to build a tank repair plant behind French lines and send experts to help France with tank repairs.

Whether it's the first-generation tank or the second-generation tank, they were all in the initial stage of tank development.

Tanks during this period always faced the problem of breaking down, and it was a problem that was fundamentally unsolvable.

Even though the breakdown rate of Spain's second-generation tanks has decreased significantly compared to the first-generation tanks, it is still close to 40%.

The final results reported by the tank units sent by Spain also show that tank breakdowns are currently the biggest weakness of tanks.

Spain deployed a total of 120 tanks in the battle, of which 36 were destroyed by the enemy. Among them, 17 tanks were grounded and unable to move, ultimately becoming easy targets for the enemy to destroy.

Only 19 tanks were destroyed in direct combat, but the effect they achieved was significant, and the losses were entirely worthwhile.

Under the cover of tanks, the casualties of the Spanish army were significantly reduced. Without tanks, the Spanish army suffered tens of thousands of casualties daily, sometimes even exceeding ten thousand.

With the cover of tanks, the Spanish army not only advanced the front line effectively, but also suffered fewer casualties than usual.

This also demonstrates just how powerful tanks truly are. Considering that the cost of a single tank is not high, the cost of destroying dozens of tanks is less than the cost of building a cruiser of several thousand tons.

In addition to the direct loss of 36 tanks, another 17 tanks were rendered inoperable due to malfunctions. Fortunately, Spain deployed more than 300 tanks, still possessing enough to launch a second offensive.

Because French Chief of the General Staff Joffre had been closely monitoring the progress of the Spanish army, the French government signed a tank procurement agreement with Spain earlier than expected.

When the Italian government learned of the Spanish war report, the tank procurement agreement between Spain and France was almost finalized.

Although Spain did not reject Italy's request to purchase tanks, the delivery of the tanks to Italy will certainly be later than that to France.

Although the Italian government only focused on the role of tanks from battle reports, the fact that tanks could help the army advance quickly to the front lines was enough to make Italy spend a lot of money on tanks.

Moreover, Italy's intention was not to help France, but simply to use it in the battles against Austria-Hungary on the northern border.

Italy mobilized over a million troops to launch an attack on Austria-Hungary, but the results so far can only be described as mediocre.

The Austro-Hungarian Empire held its line with far fewer troops, while inflicting heavy losses on the Italian army.

Fortunately, Italy joined the war midway, so the losses were manageable for them. However, the lack of progress on the battlefield still made the Italian government and King Vittorio Emanuele III somewhat impatient.

Now that they have learned that Spain possesses a secret weapon capable of rapidly advancing to the front lines, the Italian government is naturally eager to act.

After learning of the Italian government's intentions, although Spain did not refuse Italy's request to purchase tanks, it did appropriately dampen the Italian government's enthusiasm.

Unlike the western front, Italy wanted to deploy tanks on its northern border, but most of the terrain was mountainous.

Tanks will be significantly less effective in such terrain, and their chances of breaking down will also increase.

Carlo was not optimistic about the performance of tanks in mountainous terrain, at least not at present, as the technology of tanks was not sufficient to support their performance in all terrains.

Despite learning that tanks would be difficult to use effectively in mountainous terrain, the Italian government did not completely abandon the idea of ​​purchasing tanks.

On the one hand, modern tanks do indeed play a significant role; on the other hand, the Italian government harbors greater ambitions than France.

France's current tank procurement is primarily aimed at winning a world war. Italy, on the other hand, seeks to develop and improve upon Spanish tank designs, aiming to acquire more and more advanced tanks.

France purchased a total of 360 tanks, while Italy purchased more than 500 tanks, with a total cost of 1.1 million pesetas.

Before the war, the Italian government was quite reluctant to spend so much on military expenditures. However, after the outbreak of war, Italy rapidly mobilized more than 200 million troops, and its annual military expenditures have long exceeded the government's fiscal revenue.

The Italian government is already heavily indebted, and as the saying goes, more debt is no burden, so the Italian government is not stingy at all about this extra military expenditure.

The tank orders from France and Italy were the only two orders Spain received. This is understandable, really; among the remaining Allied powers, Russia's finances were in dire straits, and smaller countries didn't have the capital to purchase tanks.

Moreover, the two orders from France and Italy are more than enough. This amounts to nearly 2 million peseta in sales, with a net income of almost 2000 million peseta, enough to make the Royal Armoury Factory very wealthy.

Even the Spanish government can earn nearly 1500 million pesetas in tax revenue from this order, which is why Spain's economy has grown rapidly since the outbreak of the war.

According to the agreement between the Royal Arms Factory and France and Italy, France will receive its first batch of tanks in two weeks, and Italy will receive its first batch of tanks in one month.

If construction proceeds smoothly, the delivery of these 860 tanks is expected to be completed within six months.

The tank production lines will not be wasted after the war. Spain can convert a portion of them into tractor production lines, which would be beneficial for increasing the mechanization rate of Spanish agriculture.

Furthermore, the Spanish Army also contributes a portion of the orders, which allows the Royal Arms Factory to significantly expand its tank production line without worrying about post-war recovery issues.

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(End of this chapter)