Battlemaster Tank

Type-69 "Battlemaster" Battle Tank
Minor Faction	Communist China
Other Faction(s)	None
Unit Type	Main Battle Tank
Designation	Anti Tank
Production Building	Propaganda Centre
Secondary Ability	Canister Shot AoE Anti-Infantry
Cost	Unknown
Production Time	Unknown
Heroic Upgrade	Jammer Missiles
Dev. Status	Conceptual

Country of Origin	People's Republic of China
Produced by/ Recovered from	People's Metal Works, Beijing
Key Features	» 100mm armour piercing main gun  » Crude iron sights  » Hull-mounted machine gun  » Canister shells  » "Mao's Little Red Book" (x3)

"I think the problem was that we didn't have enough tanks."

- In hindsight to a previous battle.

Tactical Analysis

• Build more tanks!: Cheap, armed with a 76.2mm main gun, and with tough frontal armour, the Battlemaster acts as the Red Chinese main battle tank, and can easily punch holes in the armour of their Nationalist counterparts.

• Bah, infantry: Battlemasters are issued with a supply of canister shells, and are also equipped with machine guns. The shells act like oversized shotgun shells, raining steel pellets on the enemy, and are most effective against large groups of infantry.

• I think we need more tanks: Note that Battlemasters are completely at the mercy of aircraft, and won't last long if attacked by one.

• Shut them down: Upgrade kits for Battlemasters equip them with powerful jammer missiles, which can temporarily disable vehicles. However, very few kits exist, making competition for them fierce.

Operational History

Before the Bombs

Life in cities held by the Red Chinese was a constant, horrid press to provide war material and even the precious living goods from the factories and workshops that never closed. The war only got more and more intense; the supplies and equipment needed was critical so that the Nationalists couldn't win. The people of Red China cared little and wished only for peace, but that didn't stop anyone from being starved or beaten for not doing their "duty" to the Party (or worse, sent into the country.)

At its height, a Red Chinese citizen could expect to work 14 hours a day, seven days a week, welding together vehicles or assembling bullets, before shuffling to their work barracks for a few hours of exhausted, fitful sleep. Even after the bombs fell, what few people remained still had to work, often even harder, until they fell down dead from sheer exhaustion. It is little wonder many who could do so ran to the Atomic Kingdom parties sent to rescue them with open arms and cheering.

One of the most worked on machines was the Type-69 tank. Red China knew from the beginning that men and rifles alone would not win the war; after all, the Nationalists had them, too, and trenches as well. However, in the China of old, when bandits hid from the Imperial Army in ditches, one did not send men after them; they ground them into the dirt with war chariots (or so the Red Chinese figured).

The design and manufacture of a completely indigenous tank was given the highest priority, for in this war columns of tanks would serve the same function as cavalry had in earlier wars. Every factory in the areas of China that the Communists controlled was seized and was soon put to work equipping the entire People's Liberation Army with Type-69 tanks, for the main attribute to this tank was not speed or firepower or protection, but merely cheapness.

The Type-69 is a box of crudely-welded metal plates with various makes of engine propelling them. The armour is usually made from various pieces of scrap metal and often is not of the correct size or thickness, meaning modifications and improvisations had to be made on the fly at the factories that made them. The only thing that is not skimped on is the main gun; even Red China fails to find the benefit of their own tanks exploding.

The 76.2mm armour piercing main gun is nothing special, but it gets the job done well enough, and enough shells will destroy anything. All this shortcutting pays off, for it was estimated that three Type-69s were built for every one destroyed. Indeed, destroying Type-69s only made it easier for Red China to build new ones, as salvaged parts from the battlefield were quickly used for new tanks. Countless Type-69s were built, destroyed, and rebuilt over and over again. Due to the entire war being based on them, they were dubbed Battlemaster Tanks.

After the Bombs

The factories that once made the Battlemasters have long been reduced to craters, but thousands, if not more, of Type-69 tanks still exist. The Red Chinese would never look far enough to save some in warehouses as was done with the Soviets' Anvil Heavy Tanks (and they'd rather just use them immediately, anyways), but enough were in the field at the time, away from the sites that were bombed, to arm a large army by itself.

They even had enough fuel (though what the fuel is differed depending on the Battlemaster in question) to move across the blasted lands, as the Red Chinese had completely drained the once-rich Daqing Oil Field to provide enough fuel for many years to come.

Like a twisted, technological version of the Dark Ages of yore, bands of roving Type-69 tanks scour the landscape for food, medicine, and even the hapless bystander or two to take their misery out on. They can, however, be bribed, threatened, or simply beaten by remaining Red Chinese base commanders who are powerful or dangerous enough, and will never hesitate to go after Blue Chinese. Little can stop them otherwise, especially if they no longer obey the orders of the remaining Red Chinese officers.

The only thing standing between them is the Atomic Chinese forces that hunt them. This is harder than it sounds, even for such a powerful force. The Atomic Chinese, surprisingly, are ill equipped to deal with them. Few cloned infantry have the tools or experience necessary to fight such diehards, and the Atomic Kingdom has better use for military vehicles than chasing around some motor-bandits who don't (often) attack Atomic Chinese installations anyways.

For now, the Battlemasters roam across the atomic wastelands, a threat to the few people who ever see them. They're often modified heavily, with additional weapons, canopies, or engines from larger vehicles. The distinct shape, however, is impossible to miss. The Battlemaster's crude design has allowed it to survive hell itself, and it still hunts for Nationalists, as well as the cloned fiends who want to steal their nation from them.

Behind the Scenes

• The Battlemaster is obviously based on the unit from C&C Generals, albeit slightly modified to fit Red Alert 3's gameplay.