Chapter 107 Marine Corps

Contoriotis was overjoyed to hear that Constantine agreed to form a marine force in the navy. After the Greek navy has a marine force, it will at least be able to use it in the future navy's scheduled battlefield - the Aegean Sea, when fighting to seize islands. greater effect.

It’s just that we have the Marine Corps, but the problem of how to land a large number of Marine soldiers in a timely and effective manner still exists. The 2,000-man Marine Corps is not a small number anymore. How to quickly and effectively land thousands of soldiers in a short period of time? Sending it to the ground is also a thorny problem.

For units like the Marine Corps, due to the special predetermined battlefield - the coast, it is destined to be difficult to supply such units.

The amount of a soldier's equipment and combat supplies is unclear: rifles, bullets, grenades, and food.

According to Constantine's plan, it is an excellent choice for such troops to equip lightweight mortars. Even mortars are already extremely light compared to cannons at this time - weighing 50 to 60kg, but for For a special branch like the Marine Corps, this is a big test.

Imagine using a 5-ton field gun, which is already the lightest ordinary cannon, instead of a mortar, to provide fire support to the Marine Corps. I can’t imagine how to use such a heavy thing. Transport from warship to intended landing site?

To sum up, the above-mentioned equipment that the Marine Corps must equip is not light. For them, how to transport their necessary combat supplies to the landing coast is a problem.

In extreme cases, soldiers can swim ashore. However, no matter how physically fit a soldier is, carrying equipment weighing dozens of kilograms - or even heavier - into the sea, he may not be able to escape the fate of drowning. Think about it. What is it like for a person carrying dozens of kilograms of weight to swim in sea water?

Therefore, for these Marines, rubber boats are necessary equipment for coastal landings under the current technical conditions.

"Your Highness, it's meaningless for the Marines who can't get ashore. You still need to equip them with rubber boats."

"An inflatable boat made of rubber can carry marines and their weapons and equipment on the sea some distance from the coast, and charge ashore together," Kontoriotis said reluctantly.

Constantine thought for a while and found out that he had not heard that the rubber boat he wanted to use had been used. He shook his head and said, "I don't remember that there is a factory that produces rubber boats, and I don't remember that there are any countries in Western Europe."

"Your Highness, this is not a high-tech thing, and we in Greece really need it. In the Greek industry, you have a wide network of contacts. Can you think of a way?"

"What relationship can a rubber boat have with the industry?" When Constantine thought about it, it was just an inflatable rubber boat. How difficult was it? European rubber pneumatic tires have been used for so many years.

Kontoriotis continued: "What I mean is that the rubber boats equipped by the Marine Corps are not landing crafts that can be paddled by hand, but rubber boats that can provide power."

"I saw in the UK that someone installed an engine on a bicycle, and then these bicycles can drive automatically without using human power."

"Can we also install a gasoline engine on the back of the rubber boat to power the propeller, so that the rubber boat can carry the soldiers and their weapons and land ashore?" Kontoriotis said here, probably He was very happy that he had come up with a brilliant idea to solve the problem of difficulty in landing the naval road team, and he seemed extremely excited.

Constantine was startled when he heard this, and then carefully looked at the naval lieutenant commander who had just returned from training, and was surprised by his sensitivity to technology.

The so-called bicycles equipped with gasoline engines were later motorcycles.

If you install a gasoline engine on a rubber boat, isn't it an assault boat?

Really, with this thing, the problem of difficulty in landing the Marine Corps has been solved.

"There is currently no company producing such rubber boats," Constantine said hesitantly.

"So, I need your help, Your Highness, to develop this kind of landing craft for our navy," Kontoriotis said positively.

"I heard that there is a company that produces pneumatic tires in the industrial zone. It seems to be opened by the Greek Congo company. The purpose is to process rubber and produce pneumatic tires. You can try it. The tires of the bicycles produced by the Greek Machinery Factory now seem to be like this. "Produced by a rubber processing plant." Although Constantine felt that it was a bit unreliable to produce assault boats with current technical means. After all, the current gasoline engine had only appeared for a few years and was technically very immature, but since Contorioti The Marine Corps commander was enthusiastic about this, and he was unwilling to dampen Contoriotis' enthusiasm and gave him guidance.

"In short, this 2,000-man Marine Corps will be left to you. However, I agreed to all the conditions you proposed. I also have requirements." Add a 2,000-man Marine Corps establishment to the Navy. , which is also a big expense, and Constantine also has his own plans.

"These soldiers must be carefully selected elites. They must have the ability to land ashore at night, be brave in combat, and have strong fighting spirit. This is the goal of the Marine Corps. This Marine Corps must achieve these goals." Constant Ding also expressed his request. He already had a vague idea of ​​the purpose of this special force.

Kontoriotis heard Constantine's request and felt that the request of the crown prince was inconsistent with his original goal of participating in the landing and island-taking operations in the Aegean Sea.

Except for a few islands, the number of soldiers stationed on the Ottoman islands in the Aegean Sea was not large. He could not see why it was necessary to require soldiers to be familiar with night landings under such combat conditions.

Such harsh conditions felt more like they were prepared to be used to sneak attack the port cities on the coast of the Ottoman Aegean Sea.

After hesitating for a moment, Kontoriotis agreed and sighed in his heart that it seemed that the commander of this marine corps was not so easy to take office.

"Do you think the Greek Navy needs to add more warships to deal with the threat of the Ottoman Turkish Navy, Captain?" Constantine asked Kontoriotis, a naval professional.

Although it is felt that when Greece clashes with the Ottomans, as long as the two new protected cruisers deployed at the mouth of the Congo River are promptly transferred back to the Mediterranean, the Greek Navy has enough strength to protect its narrow coastline, but in order to ensure that everything is foolproof, Constantine still wants to seek the opinions of naval personnel.

If the situation requires, new warships can also be built in local Greek shipyards.

Greece itself also has shipyards and has experience in building warships. Greece built the King George and Queen Olga coastal defense warships in 1867.

When the Congolese government purchased warships, the head of a local Greek shipyard once came to lobby Constantine, but after comprehensive consideration, Constantine still refused.