บท 110: Chapter 188 Streamlined Tank
"Boom!"
Although in the original timeline, one often saw in network, novels, and movies the idea of shooting down planes and destroying tanks, the legendary 88mm anti-aircraft gun, considered a marvel of its time, Wilhelm witnessed the firing of an 88mm cannon at such a close distance for the first time.
One word flashed through his mind: devastating!
This was the romance of men, the kind of toy men should play with! To control it, charging into the battlefield bravely and killing enemies, that was what a real man should do!
The 88mm cannon spewed out a fierce flame, and the invisible shell flew out of the barrel, instantly hitting a massive steel plate in the distance, shrouding it in a rising cloud of smoke.
"Target hit! Everyone, leave the artillery! Cease fire!"
Soon, a group of engineers rushed to the steel plate, beginning to check various data. "Report, at a distance of 1000 meters, the 150mm vertical homogeneous steel armor is completely penetrated!"
Everyone excitedly applauded. It's worth noting that at this time, the French B1 heavy tank's defense armor had only 40mm vertical homogeneous steel armor, and the renowned "Matilda II" tank's main armor thickness was around 75-78mm, making it paper-thin against this 88mm anti-aircraft gun.
Wilhelm knew there was still room for improvement in penetration. If he remembered correctly, it should be capable of penetrating more than 160mm of vertical homogeneous steel armor.
Gustav, also filled with excitement, said, "Your Highness, we have not let you down. This versatile large-caliber anti-aircraft gun has achieved complete success and can be put into mass production." He then proceeded to detail various performance data of this high-caliber gun.
"Not bad." Actually, he didn't need to be told; Wilhelm already knew all the data about this famous anti-aircraft gun. "I think this cannon should be more than enough for this war. However, to be fully prepared, I hope you can continue to strive for excellence. Continue developing tanks with even more powerful firepower."
Gustav respectfully said, "Please guide us, Your Highness."
Wilhelm smiled and said, "Guidance might be an overstatement. This time, let's develop a 105mm caliber tank gun. Around 105mm L/56 should be sufficient. If it can be developed, it should be usable for decades." The 105mm rifled tank gun was developed by the Royal Ordnance in the 1960s to resist the powerful T-54/55 armored clusters and their D-10T 100mm tank guns equipped by the Soviet Red Army. In the later Cold War era, Western countries developed a series of 105mm tank guns based on it, such as the L7a3 used by Germany and the licensed production version L7a4 used by Sweden, and so on.
Afterward, tank rifled guns reached the end of their development (although a few countries still insisted on using rifled guns).
In their place were relatively simple to manufacture, longer-lasting, and more powerful smoothbore guns.
"Understood, Your Highness. We will start researching it as soon as possible."
Wilhelm nodded and ordered, "This cannon can be put into mass production. Although the armored forces' tanks currently don't need it, there are still many other uses for it."
Currently, the German armored forces' Jackal tanks used the 50mm KwK39 L/60 gun; this tank gun could penetrate 72mm vertical homogeneous steel armor at 500 meters using the 39-type AP (Armor-Piercing) shell. When using the 40-type tungsten core AP shell, it achieved a penetration depth of 88mm. In theory, it could penetrate the frontal armor of the T34-76 at 700m and penetrate the turret at 1000m, making its performance quite good.
And now the Jackal tank can easily handle the 75mm KwK40/L48, not to mention sweeping across Europe; it could dominate the Eastern Front for a while.
Therefore, Wilhelm is not in a hurry to equip this powerful 88mm anti-aircraft gun.
Leaving the observation platform, everyone went to the tank factory. Wilhelm stood by the glass window on the second floor, watching the densely packed workers below busy in an orderly manner, tanks rolling off the production line one after another.
"What are those workers doing?" Wilhelm suddenly pointed to the workers at the second-to-last stage of production and asked.
Alfried immediately responded, "They are smoothing out the welded joints, Your Highness."
"Smoothing out welded joints?" Wilhelm slightly frowned, pondered for a moment, and continued to ask, "Would it affect the tank's performance if they don't smooth them out?"
Alfried hesitated for a moment and shook his head. "No, it wouldn't."
"Then why go through this unnecessary step? Just for appearance's sake?" Watching Alfried nod carefully, Wilhelm couldn't help but roll his eyes. "What's the use of looking good? Can looking good defeat the enemy? Come on, let's go down and take a look."
Following Wilhelm, everyone arrived on the ground floor and stopped a tank that had just rolled off the production line and was heading towards the warehouse.
Wilhelm circled the tank, kicked the front mudguard with his foot, and asked, "Is this thing useful, or is it just for appearance's sake?"
Everyone looked at each other, and Alfried hesitated as he replied, "It should be useful, right?"
Wilhelm hadn't actually driven a tank, so he didn't know if this thing would come in handy. "Remove this mudguard from the next batch of tanks. If frontline soldiers have feedback on the issue, we can install them later." Then he reached out and touched the not completely dry camouflage paint on the tank's body. "Too thick, it's a waste. Just spray a layer casually."
Calling for gloves, Wilhelm climbed onto the tank and entered. The first impression inside the tank was much simpler than the incredibly advanced modern tanks of the future. Because it had not been loaded with ammunition, it looked spacious inside, without the imagined sense of narrowness.
After a bit of inspection, Wilhelm climbed out of the tank. "Remove all the leather cushions inside."
In various photos and film materials from the future, German tank commanders wore large-brimmed hats, while other crew members wore boat-shaped hats, looking quite handsome. American and Soviet tank crew members, on the other hand, wore seemingly heavy tank helmets. This was because Soviet tank cabins had no proper protection; the small size, high speed, and almost spring-like suspension meant that people inside would shake and bump without wearing heavy crash helmets. According to a popular joke among Soviet tank crews, after German tank crews finished training each day, the first thing they did when getting out of the tank was to count how many bumps the other's head had; the one with the fewest bumps had to treat the others.
Germany, on the other hand, paid more attention to crew comfort. Although the interlaced torsion bar suspension could torment maintenance crews, the tank's movement was quite smooth, and leather cushions were installed wherever there were places to bump into. So German tank crew members did not need special crash helmets and could continue to wear their handsome large-brimmed hats and boat-shaped hats.
All of these were genuine leather, something that wouldn't be invented until 20 years later!
Under Wilhelm's guidance, it might increase the production cost, but for now, he felt that using genuine leather cushions for so many tanks was too wasteful. So he decided to have the tank crews wear the M1938 tank caps like the American tank crews.
"In addition to the three major components and other important parts like the suspension, slim down wherever possible for me."
Gustav asked in disbelief, "Can it really be done this way?" For capitalists, profit was the king, and any profit was worth careful consideration. Saving wherever possible was essential; even a mosquito's leg was meat.
Wilhelm affirmed without a doubt, "Of course, what I want is production volume, lots and lots of tanks!"
Gustav excitedly agreed, "Rest assured, Your Highness, we will streamline the tanks as much as possible." Although streamlining like this would lower the tank's price, it would also increase production volume, so overall, they would earn more. Therefore, Gustav was very willing to carry out this command.
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