I was a tycoon in World War I: Starting to save France

Chapter 72 Mark I Tank

Historically, the "Mark I" tanks were divided into "male" and "female".

The "Male" is equipped with two 57MM main guns (one on each side of the gun room) and four Hotchkiss light machine guns.

The "female" was only equipped with 6 Vickers machine guns.

This means that the Mark I requires eight crew members to operate: driver, commander, plus 6 machine gunners or 2 gunners and 4 machine gunners, with a total weight of 28.4 tons.

The "Mark I" tank that Charles was developing had all its equipment reduced to three machine guns: a Vickers machine gun in the front and a Hotchkiss on each side.

The crew was therefore reduced to five people: the driver, the commander, and three machine gunners.

Joseph and Djokovic both felt it was a pity, and they all gave the following suggestions:

"Our engine has 83 horsepower, which can probably move 23 tons of weight, but now the Mark I and the crew weigh less than 19 tons, and there is about 4 tons of redundancy, so we can completely convert the Vickers machine gun into a cannon!"

"A cannon can certainly do more damage to the enemy than a machine gun!"

"Of course, it is an artillery shell after all. It has the potential to destroy the enemy's sandbag fortifications, while machine guns cannot do that!"

……

Dejoka and Joseph made an accurate estimate.

When the British invented the Mark I in 1916, the engine used was 105 horsepower.

105匹马力带动28.4吨的坦克，按这比例83匹马力的“霍尔特75”可以带动22.45吨的坦克。

This is not much different from their estimate of 23 tons, and a small-caliber artillery can indeed be added.

However, Charles still insisted on his idea.

"Just use the Vickers machine gun!" Charles said, "The more firepower a battlefield has, the better. Sometimes it needs bullets instead of shells!"

However, Charles did not completely reject their idea: "We can produce tanks with small-caliber guns in small batches, but we have to remove the side machine guns, that is, only carry one gun, and strengthen the thickness of the front armor!"

Deyoka and Joseph looked at each other. They did not think this was a wise move because the sides of the tanks needed machine gun cover, otherwise how could they prevent the enemy from approaching from the flank.

But Charles knew that they thought so only because they didn't understand the military.

Joseph was the director of a tractor factory. He spent his life studying tractors and had no idea what a battlefield was. Dejoka came from a merchant family, and his knowledge of military affairs was limited to hunting rifles.

They took it for granted that artillery must be superior to machine guns and that every tank must have comprehensive defenses.

But the fact is just the opposite.

The tanks of this period did not have a bistable system. They still used the most primitive rigid suspension, and could not even ensure that the body of the tank was level when driving on rough roads.

Artillery requires a horizontal and stable base, on which the trajectory can be calculated to roughly drive the shells into the target range.

In short, installing a gun on the first generation of tanks meant that no one could hit the target, and it all depended on luck.

The only role it can play on the battlefield is to scare the enemy with its black muzzle.

Machine guns have similar problems, but their bullets cover an area, and the machine gunner can adjust the angle according to the bullet's landing point while shooting. These all determine that it will be much more accurate than artillery.

As for the defense of the sides and rear of the tank, that should be left to the infantry!

The reason why Charles wanted to produce tanks with artillery in small batches was that he took into account a situation: if they encountered an enemy bunker, a tank equipped only with a machine gun would hardly be able to play a role, but the artillery could get close to the bunker and aim the artillery at the firing holes to fire the shells into the bunker. "How long will it take to complete?" Charles asked.

"Maybe another week!" Joseph replied.

Charles was quite satisfied with the progress. Historically, it took about six months for the "Mark I" to go from design to production of the test vehicle, but Joseph only needed more than two weeks.

This is largely because Charles gave a mature design and deleted many weapons, especially the two turrets on the left and right sides, which would have brought a huge burden to the tank and made it very difficult to produce.

However, the "Mark I" produced by Charles still has many defects.

The most serious problem is the track. Its maximum range is only 35 kilometers, and it needs constant maintenance during this period. When it reaches 35 kilometers, it is no longer a maintenance issue. The entire track must be replaced, and it must be replaced before the war, otherwise it will break after a short period of driving.

(Note: The original "Mark I" only had a range of 30 kilometers)

But Charles wasn't worried about that at all.

This was a war in which both sides were still at the level of trench warfare, digging trenches and fighting each other.

Trenches are fixed and will stay there once dug. The Mark I can always reach the battlefield and face enemy bullets. It is just a matter of changing a few tracks. It does not need to consider the mobility of tanks like in World War II.

More importantly, only if this tank is imperfect will Charles have the possibility to upgrade it into a better and more perfect tank.

By the time the capitalists succeed in copying the product, a more advanced new version of the Charles tank will have come out, which will instantly turn the tanks copied by the capitalists into a pile of unsalable scrap metal.

Charles and Deyoka were busy in the factory until nine o'clock in the evening before going home. When they were hungry, they ate some dry bread with coffee.

When the two drove back home, they were unsurprisingly met with Camille's anger.

She was mainly targeting Djokovic:
"It's rare for Ciel to come back, but you let him come back at this time, and I even prepared dinner!"

"Did you know he's going back to the military tomorrow?"

"I didn't see you working until nine o'clock before Ciel came back. Why are you working until now after he came back?"

Charles tried to excuse Djoka, during which Djoka did push Charles several times.

But Charles couldn't leave because there were many things about "Mark I" that required Charles to make decisions. Neither Djokovic nor Joseph understood military affairs and didn't know the future.

Some things are just words to Charles, but Djokovic and Joseph need to produce them and verify and compare them repeatedly.

However, Camille didn't listen to the explanation at all. She turned around and took out her anger on Charles:
"Aren't factories something that adults need to be more concerned about?"

"Does the army need a 17-year-old like you? Does the factory need you, too?"

"Developing equipment for the military? Are you worrying too much about this country?"

……

What Camille didn't know was that Charles wasn't worrying too much about the country, he was worrying about himself.

Charles didn't know how the nobles would treat him in the future. All he could do was to increase the bargaining chips in his hand as much as possible.

If Camille were told the whole story, she might not blame Charles for it, but she would be so scared that she would not be able to sleep or eat!

Charles didn't want it to be the latter, so neither he nor Djokovic gave any further explanation.

(End of this chapter)