Japan Space-Time Strange Chronicles

Heartless Massacre

This is this month's post.

This scene... was a bit complicated to write for a Japanese like me. However, I wrote it at the time, thinking that such things must have actually happened in the past.

- Kazuhiro Kasami

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June 5, 1750

Waspaniat Kingdom, 600 km inland at the border

The Yi Empire's army deployed in the southern area was forced to stand still due to the loss of communication from the vanguard unit. Originally, they had stayed to resupply, but the lack of regular reports from the vanguard and the numerous obstacles and traps set up by the Japanese had kept them pinned down at this location. The debris and large trees blocking the road made it impossible to proceed, so they had no choice but to have the engineering unit blow up and remove the debris to make way for the road little by little.

However, there were many soldiers who were caught in deep holes and booby traps in the forest, which made them mentally exhausted. Moreover, the forest was teeming with poisonous insects and other animals that had been driven from their homes by the logging, and the soldiers were reaching a state of extreme stress because they had to pay attention to them.

Since there was no choice, they were bringing out vehicle-towed infantry guns and other equipment to blow up the obstacles roughly and then remove the smaller ones, which they thought would be more efficient. In addition, since pitfalls, booby traps, and mines had to be searched for using very primitive means, such as bashing the ground with sticks and bayonets, the soldiers were in an unusual state of stress and fatigue at the same time.

In addition, they were currently in the process of requesting supplies from the mainland, as they were likely to run out of supplies soon if they continued as they were. In this way, the Japanese delaying strategy was succeeding beyond imagination.

Hong Jiangdu, who had been appointed commander of the Southern Dispatch Force, groaned at the situation in which he had to keep nearly 70.000 troops at a standstill.

"Something is wrong... are these really barbarians we are fighting...? Is the military headquarters mistaking something about Japan's strength...?"

In his line of sight, he can see a Hongqi 1, which is on anti-aircraft alert.

This vehicle was originally a vehicle towing a light infantry gun with a 2 cm AA gun mounted on it. The vehicle, which military enthusiasts may find similar to the German Sd.Kfz.10, is attracting attention because it is a weapon that can destroy a Jianyu, which has a reputation for being devastatingly hard to shoot down by machine guns, with just a few hits.

Biplanes of the olden days had wooden fuselages lined with canvas, so they could not be destroyed by a small hit from a machine gun. Even if the plane was hit in the fuselage, it was difficult to destroy the fuselage or lose its ability to fly unless the pilot or engine was hit directly. As all-metal fuselages appeared, small-caliber machine guns became even more difficult to penetrate, and machine guns of 20 mm or larger calibers were gradually introduced, as in the late 1960s, when jet aircraft were equipped with 30 mm autocannons.

Aside from this, the Yi Empire is currently in the process of researching whether it would be possible to make this AA gun into an autocannon that could fire continuously and at a higher altitude, and mount it on aircraft. If this were to be established, it would greatly improve the anti-air defense capabilities of naval vessels, which until now have been limited to 7,62 mm machine guns with a range of only a few hundred meters or so.