afterglow

Chapter 607 Chapter Tiger runs ten miles in mud and breaks down; Erica who can explode
The efficiency of Deshe is incredibly high and the speed is unbelievable.

The military attaché of the embassy formally signed the purchase contract after New Year's Day. Unexpectedly, only one month later, the person in charge of the German society notified that the order had been completed and asked them to come to check and sign, and then load the goods onto the train for shipment.

In the open-air parking lot of the state-owned Porsche company, more than 30 angular heavy tanks were parked quietly, with their turrets all turned to the rear of the vehicle body.

Two Ming Dynasty military attachés stationed abroad walked around the mighty steel beast with great interest, looking around, their lips curled up involuntarily because they felt they had made a big profit.

According to the contract, this batch of "advanced" heavy tanks will not be installed with machine guns, only tank guns will be retained, because the Ming army does not want to set up a separate production line or import bullets for these dozens of tanks.

At the same time, the command tower was not installed, and there was a circular gap there, because the Ming army planned to install the same command tower as its own heavy tanks.

When the Ming Army sent a telegram to the embassy, ​​it emphasized the need to purchase "the most advanced heavy tanks."

Since we are outsourcing, how can we buy outdated products? If it is not cheaper to outsource, we might as well make them ourselves.

The German Socialist Party actually agreed with great trust, and did not seem to intend to hide the new weapons. The chief military attaché of the embassy (an air force colonel) was overjoyed, thinking that this was another advantage.

Little did people know that these heavy tanks were VK4501 (P), the infamous electric Tiger designed by Porsche in history, which was defeated by Henschel's proposal.

Dr. Ferdinand Porsche had a far-sighted vision and he had the following understanding:

First, air-cooled engines are better than liquid-cooled engines and are easy to maintain, which is very beneficial for military equipment.

Second, electric motors are well suited for heavy vehicles because of their high torque and the elimination of complex gearboxes.

These two perceptions may not be wrong, but unfortunately the second view is too advanced and out of touch with reality.

Thus, this confusing transaction came to the final stage.

35辆VK4501（P）重坦、2辆IV号G型中坦、2辆Sdkfz302艾丽卡遥控爆破车被装上了火车，向着遥远的东方出发了。

As for why the German Socialist side delivered the goods so quickly, it was actually because some generals in the German Socialist People's Army also favored electric tanks at the beginning, so they requested the small-scale production of dozens of vehicles early on.

As a result, in the subsequent rigorous tests, these electric tanks performed poorly and their reliability was questionable, so the subsequent mass production plan was hastily cancelled.

After receiving the goods, the Ming army, who thought they had gotten a good deal, were dumbfounded, and even the officials of the Armament Bureau of the Ministry of War were confused.

No? Why is this tank electric?
Judging from the data on paper, the performance of the VK4501 (P) Tiger heavy tank is quite good.

The vertical armor on the front of the vehicle is 100mm thick; the armor on the front of the turret is 100mm thick, the gun shield is 150mm thick, and it completely covers the turret. The combination of the two can be called the Wall of Sighs.

该型坦克的空重达59吨，搭载一门88㎜、56倍径坦克炮，可以在500m距离上击穿垂直放置的115㎜轧制镍锰装甲钢板。

It is powered by two air-cooled gasoline engines, which generate electricity for two electric motors (275kW each).

Because it uses electric transmission, it does not have complicated gear shifting and operating mechanical structure. It can achieve stepless speed change by simply changing the current. The driving experience is very good, the power response is sensitive, the starting acceleration is fast, and the reversing speed is also very fast.

The layout of the running gear is six road wheels on each side, in groups of two. It uses the longitudinal torsion bar suspension ingeniously created by Dr. Porsche. It will not occupy internal space and be difficult to maintain and replace like ordinary transverse torsion bars.

In addition, because it was an export order, this batch of Tiger (P) heavy tanks had some details modified according to the needs of the Ming army - they were equipped with wider tracks, increased from the original 640㎜ to 720㎜; the air filters were painted with anti-sodium chloride corrosion paint; the directional machine guns, coaxial machine guns, and command tower were left empty and not installed.

【Picture】

After the test evaluation, Army representatives and Ordnance Bureau officials were in a dilemma.

"Mr. Zhou, it's hard to explain." The civilian lieutenant colonel who reported the test results to Zhou had a frown on his face and could not speak clearly.

He raised his hand and gestured, "Alas! In the 20-kilometer tactical maneuver, the two-car test broke down three and four times respectively; in the 100-kilometer continuous cross-country march, the car broke down nearly 20 times!"

“What is the mean trouble-free trip distance?”

"For a short distance, it's about six kilometers. For a longer distance, it's probably less than five kilometers."

Zhou Changfeng almost couldn't help but throw the teacup in his hand, "Playing the piano! Isn't this nonsense? You bought a bunch of difficult ancestors!"

The civilian lieutenant colonel hurriedly explained, "But the army said that it's not impossible to use these tanks. If one-third of these tanks can be deployed to the front line, they will be able to play a vital role as the backbone of the army."

"Haha, you're trying to find an excuse for the ugly thing you did."

"Mr. Zhou, this..."

What else can be done?

Now that I have bought it, I can only use it with a pinch of my nose.

There is no point in explaining this. The Germans can justifiably refuse - didn't you say you wanted the most advanced things? Objectively, these tanks are undoubtedly the most advanced!
Fortunately, according to the Sino-German wartime trade agreement, these weapons and equipment were paid for at a 70% discount on rare resources and 30% on precious metals, which meant that after rounding off, they cost almost nothing.

Zhou Changfeng, who was at a loss whether to laugh or cry, was so interested that he flew to the Qiongya Joint Training Camp to personally inspect the three independent assault vehicle teams that were being formed.

The Ming Army summed up the lessons learned from the past - deploying heavy tanks into battle in battalions still seemed a bit "clumsy" and inconvenient.

In view of this, the Military Administration Bureau of the Ministry of War cancelled the establishment of the assault vehicle battalion and re-established the regiment-level administrative unit. Each regiment was under the jurisdiction of five assault vehicle teams, but they were only responsible for daily administrative management and would only be deployed as a team in actual combat.

This greatly increases tactical flexibility and improves efficiency.

The first year of Jinghe, the assault fleet was organized as follows:
①Team headquarters

The captain's car is a heavy tank, the deputy captain's car is a medium tank, the supervisor's car is a medium tank, and there are also 1 off-road vehicles and 1 motorcycles.

② Row × 3
The platoon leader's vehicle is a heavy tank, and the three squads have a total of three heavy tanks.

③Maintenance row
排长座车1辆中坦，6辆摩托车、3辆履带式通用车、4辆油罐车、4辆重型拖曳车、2台中型3吨起重机。

④ Baggage rearrangement
Two baggage squads and one field supply squad, 5 off-road vehicles, 6 motorcycles, and 3 tracked general-purpose vehicles.

The baggage platoon includes many second-line service personnel, such as shoemakers, tailors, carpenters, and military doctors; the replacement squad has two reserve crews that can replace wounded tank soldiers.

The fully equipped assault team had 13 heavy tanks and 3 medium tanks, as well as many vehicles.

Compared with the German Tiger heavy armored company, the Ming army's similar organization appeared to be more independent and self-contained.

The Ming army newly formed two independent assault teams, numbered 601 and 602, both of which used Tiger (P) heavy tanks as their main weapons.

At a camp south of the Qiongya Joint Training Camp, Zhou Changfeng saw the steel behemoths arranged in three rows. The leading colonel pointed at these electric tigers, put his hands on his waist and sighed: "It's really tricky. It's too troublesome to serve these 'expensive things'. The Ministry of War is still searching for people who understand both electricity and mechanics in the army."

Zhou Changfeng nodded and thankfully said, "Fortunately, there aren't many of them. There are only two teams, so a few dozen people will be enough."

"Speaking of which, Mr. Zhou, where do you think we should send them?"

"Let's go to Australia and Hawaii. India is not suitable. It's too hot and you're more likely to collapse."

Zhou Changfeng was very interested and planned to test drive it himself.

The angular and tough appearance makes him look full of martial virtue and the strength of steel.

The driving experience of Tiger (P) is unexpectedly good, with quick power response and push-to-go. It is not at all clumsy and sluggish like a steel behemoth weighing tens of tons. This is the characteristic of electric motors with high low-speed torque.

But when he tried to reverse into the garage, the lieutenant next to him was horrified when he saw him push the lever directly.

"No!!! Sir, slow down, this car is reversing very fast. A few days ago, someone in the next row was killed by a reversing car."

Zhou Changfeng nodded to show that he understood, then carefully pushed the lever and maneuvered the tank back into its original position little by little.

Three days ago, a Tiger (P) had an accident during its initial training. The driver of the new car did not expect to reverse so fast, and the tank suddenly jumped backwards and ran over an off-road vehicle.

The accident resulted in the deaths of two people, and everyone could only clean up the scene while retching.

"Well, the car is good, but it's too expensive. It's hard to describe in words." Zhou Changfeng commented.

He then improvised a doggerel: "A peacock flies southeast, and pauses every five miles. A tiger runs in the mud, and drops anchor every ten miles."

Everyone present couldn't help laughing and repeated it several times.

"Practice harder! Get familiar with it as soon as possible, because the fighter planes can't wait."

"As ordered!"

In addition to these heavy tanks purchased for use, the Ming Army also purchased a small number of Type IVG medium tanks and remote-controlled blasting vehicles for evaluation.

The German army in the original dimension used the Type III as an anti-armor battle tank, using a 50mm long-barreled gun; the Type IV was used as an infantry support tank, using a 75mm short-barreled gun.

However, after encountering the T-34 crisis, the more promising IV was forced to change its career and transformed into a major anti-armor combat tank.

But now it is different, because of the fighting on the Iberian Peninsula and the Apennine Peninsula, the German Socialist People's Army is under less anti-armor pressure.

According to statistics, 87% of the ammunition consumed by the German People's Army armored forces was used to attack enemy infantry or field fortifications, and only 13% was used to deal with enemy tanks.

Therefore, the Type III tank was still usable, and the Type IV tank was able to continue to develop as an infantry support tank. Frontline officers and soldiers felt that the 75mm short-barreled gun was not powerful enough, so the Krupp State Owned Enterprise tried to install the Le.FH26 105mm howitzer into the Type IV tank.

The design was successful by shortening the barrel and installing a muzzle brake, but it took up too much internal space, making it very crowded and seriously affecting the activities of the crew members, so it was not mass-produced.

The Weapons Bureau subsequently issued an order requiring the development of a new short-barreled gun capable of firing large-charge high-explosive shells.

The state-owned Rheinmetall company chose the 8.8mm caliber and developed an 88mm, 24-caliber short-barreled gun. Apart from the same caliber, it has nothing to do with the 88mm anti-aircraft gun and is a completely new design.

This tank gun was named KwK41, and its ammunition size was 88×415㎜. To make efficient use of production capacity, the research and development team chose to use the warhead of the SK.L/45 88㎜ naval gun during the European War. The warhead weighed 9.5㎏ and was loaded with up to 2.3㎏ of Amatol explosive. It should be noted that the 75㎜ high-explosive shell only has a charge of 0.85㎏.

This high-explosive bomb has an outstanding killing effect on soft targets and is praised as an "iron fist" by frontline officers and soldiers.

You were a little slack in designing and building a new tank gun, but you made up for it by using the old warhead design and machinery.

When dealing with enemy tanks, this short-barreled gun can fire armor-piercing shells, easily destroying Sherman and Valentine tanks.

In addition, because the losses on the front line were relatively small, the German People's Army was not worried about gaps, so the IV G type changed to use inclined armor with an angle of 55° on the upper front (the design change would result in a drop in production within two months), which was still 50mm thick, and the front of the turret was thickened to 80mm.

Historically, the "fragile face" of the Panzer IV was a regret, because when it came to improvements, the German army had to choose between two options: either thicken the turret or thicken the hull, and the German army chose the latter.

Now, because the upper part of the vehicle body is replaced with inclined armor, the thickness remains unchanged, and the thickness of the lower part remains unchanged, so the weight saved can be used to thicken the turret.

The matter was resolved perfectly, which made everyone very happy.

The Ming army tested the two Type IV G tanks that had arrived and concluded that it was still a pre-war design and was somewhat outdated, but the Germans had cleverly tapped into its potential.

What attracted the army generals even more were the two mini vehicles - the Sdkfz302 Erica remote-controlled blasting vehicles.

This is a very small tracked vehicle, like a toy car. It has 5mm thick armor that can withstand machine gun bullets. It can carry 12kg of explosives at a maximum speed of 75km/h to the vicinity of enemy fortifications and raze them to the ground.

【Picture】

The Germans seem to like to give some contrasting names. Historically, this demolition vehicle was called "Goliath", which means giant; now it is called "Erica", which means heather.

Zhou Changfeng and a group of generals watched the simulated use of this remote-controlled blasting vehicle and found it very interesting. It can be used to blast and clear obstacles.

"There's a wire trailing behind. It's easy to get tangled, right?"

"The armor is also weak. It might be knocked down by just a few bullets."

"But it's quite powerful, with more than 100 kilograms of explosives."

"how much for one?"

"Not including explosives, two thousand people's marks, which converts to about two thousand six hundred yen." A civilian captain answered without hesitation.

Small things are quite expensive, huh?
Everyone's attitude changed and they thought it was too expensive. If they were only carrying out blasting and obstacle clearance tasks, the vassal state's vassal army, which cost almost nothing, would obviously be more cost-effective.

"It's more expensive to produce this stuff ourselves. Don't forget that we get a 70% discount when we import it from Germany." Zhou Changfeng stretched out his index finger and shook it, saying, "It should be good to use it with our big rocket tow truck for both long and short distances."

A group of generals echoed.

At this time, a staff officer arrived on a sidecar motorcycle.

He came running over, clasped his fists and reported, "Report, superiors, the train ferry broke down in the strait, and our assault vehicles may not arrive until tomorrow."

(End of this chapter)