HEIF-ER Mark XIII Howitzer

== HEIF-ER Mark XIII Howitzer ==
The HEIF-ER Mark XIII, HEIFER, or Mark XIII is an artillery piece that was created during the Dragonian Civil War to combat the Shield Arm of the Grand Army. Up until the creation of the Mark XIII Howitzer, the AcDragonian People's Army used a hodge-podge but devastating mix of captured artillery pieces, mortars, rockets and home-brew artillery to pin down and annihilate Imperial Forces. Used in sweeping barrages, this contrasted heavily against the Grand Army's highly coordinated artillery strikes. The main problem with this approach, although devastating was that most of the artillery pieces used different types of ammunition making sustained bombardments against enemy forces difficult, if possible at all. It made logistics very difficult as well.
The solution to this problem was the redesigned M894 Broadsword artillery used by the Grand Army. Originally called the Mark XIII, the artillery got it's name from the round used in the weapon. The HEIF round or High-Explosive Incendiary Fragmentation round is a specially designed round that loads the front end of the artillery shell with an extremely durable metal. The metal is manufactured into multiple sizes to maximize damage. The metal is able to withstand the blast of the exploding shell and it is also able to withstand the heat from the explosion. During this process the metal super heats to become white hot, making it penetrate anything that happens to be in the kill radius of the metal fragments. This round is very effective against infantry and vehicles, all the way up to tanks. The shell has yet to be tested on space ships. Given it's effectiveness, the AcDragonian High Command redesigned the cannon yet again to allow for the use of a longer barrel, more charge and smart HEIF rounds to give it an extended range from 30km to 45km. The cannon then became known as the HEIF-ER Mark XIII. It is colloquially known as the HEIFER, due to it's larger size in comparison to it's Dragonian counterpart. Make no mistake however, this artillery piece is all business.