Armored Train “Charlemagne”
Prior to the outbreak of the Sieuxerrian-Saintonge War in 1937, useage of armored trains in the Sieuxerrian military had been limited to the War of Sylvan Succession in the early 1900s. These trains were improvised and were generally of limited tactical value, mostly being used as long-range artillery platforms. Following their use in the WSS, planners worked out newer designs for dedicated armed trains, but this work mostly consisted of rail cars equipped with anti-aircraft equipment to protect exposed rail networks from air assault. The plans for a purpose-built armored train designed for ground combat did not start until the start of 1937, just in time for the first tanks to roll across into Sieuxerr in mid-June of that year.
Development of an armored train was shelved, but then quickly retarted following the breakout in August. Saintonge forces had advanced to the Seine river, shelling the industrial city of Cleebourg and had been attempting to cross the river. Attempts to advance across the river were halted by a combination of nearly all bridges being blown up, as well as a reserve contingent of armor being use to halt any beacheads from forming. However with the continuing Ostlandic/Saintonge advance, with the possibility of it threatening even Líme itself, the armor forces were needed elsewhere. The development of armored trains was accelerated at an incredible rate. The idea would be to use the extensive railway system between Cleebourg and Líme to move armored trains up and down it to prevent any attempted crossing, and to provide infantry with support to crush any beacheads that were established.
The product of this would firstly be known as Charlemagne. The armored train would be heavily armored to resist small arms and light cannon fire, and was to be armed with the rough equivalent of a tank platoon in terms of firepower.
Mobility was to be achieved with a V-12 gasoline engine, a model that was also to be used on super-heavy tanks that would be featured at the Battle of Líme roughly 6 months later. Protection would be enough to stop small arms and near-by shell splinters from artillery, with the side armor totalling out at 25mm in most places.
Armament for the train would be 2 75mm guns in their own turrets, a 13.2mm anti-aircraft machine gun that would be manned by lower hull gunners when needed, and 9 7mm machine guns. The two 75mm guns would get fire control information from a mechanical rangefinding turret sat in between them in an elevated position. The 13.2mm machine gun was set in an elevating mount with inspiration drawn from hide-away guns used on early merchant cruisers from the WSS, allowing the machine gun to be protected from danger when not needed. The turret was the same as used on other Sieuxerrian tanks of the time. Ammo for the 75mm guns was 200 rounds, the 13.2mm machine gun had 2,000 rounds, and in total the ammo for the 7mm machine guns was over 20,000 rounds. Crew was 14 personnel including a commissioned officer, 2 gunnery NCOs, 8 gunners, a mechanical NCO and 2 mechanics/drivers.
In addition to the single armored train, two reconnaissance cars would be provided. These would be of a standardized typed, known just as the Type A. These two cars, which bore the name of swords from the Song of Roland, were both armed with 47mm guns. The turrets for these cars were taken off battle damaged Sieuxerrian tanks to cheapen the production process, however these turrets were single man only, and had issues with overloading the commander. These recon cars were armed with the aforementioned 47mm gun and also 5 machine guns. They were crewed by an NCO, 4 gunners, and 2 mechanic/drivers. All cars were equipped with radios for communication, as well as signal flags and flares for non-radio communication. Crew weapons included mostly rifles as well as an egress kit for the 13.2mm machine gun to use it dismounted if ever needed.
The 3 train cars would also have two flatbeds for supplies and railroad repair equipment, each other be positioned on either side of “Charlemagne” itself to also protect it from possible mines if its recon cars were not around.
Design and production were both incredibly quick, with all 3 vehicles being produced in Cleebourg in just 2 months. The trains were crewed and commanded by the armor branch, with railroad drivers and mechanics being drawn from the railroad service. “Charlemagne” would set off in November of 1937 and almost immediately throw in into combat. The train was used to assault raids and landings across the river from Saintonge forces, as well as shell known important targets.
In December, with Axis forces only hundreds of kilometers away from the capital, Saintonge saw an opportunity to attempt to finally cross the Seine river. The 5th Army, supported by reserve divisions as well as an Ostlandic cavalry brigade, assaulted the river across bridges that had not been blown up to a failure of the detonating charges themselves. The forces managed to cross and establish themselves. “Charlemagne” was dispatched rapidly to assist and would spend much of the next few months engaging in various battles with Axis forces. The train would conduct both direct and indirect fire support, with its recon vehicles being typically detached to assist with other units.
This is where the train would spend much of its time until mid-1939 when a counter-offensive broke the Axis forces. Here Charlemagne would be used as a mobile shelling platform, effectively going down the river following the various counter-attacks.
With fighting moving off the Seine by 1941, the train was put into reserve status and kept with a half-sized crew. The recon cars would be taken away to patrol the new-conquered Saintonge, but the differing railroad gauges and a lackluster will to convert them meant they would stay with “Charlemagne”.
Sadly by the 1950s the train had been abandoned near Cleebourg with other armored trains and traincars, by the 1960s most of these had been scrapped to fuel the rapidly re-expanding Sieuxerrian economy during the economic boom preceding the Crazy Years.
Overall, the train would be the first of a small handful of armored trains produced by Sieuxerr, and like the others, they would perform relatively well at their job to patrol the river and support or directly engage enemy forces. The trains would help reduce the need for a large armor reserve across the Seine, and would allow said armor to be used in the fighting leading into and around Lime, allowing the capital to stave off being captured by Saintonge and Ostlandic forces.