Chapter 218： Tank (below)

"This is the tracked armored fighting vehicle that you improved successfully."

On the day of separation from Major Ilascu, Hoffman took a train to Constanta, and then rushed to the Volkswagen R&D center without stopping. Here he looked at the tall tracked chariot in front of him, and asked the three main R&D personnel.

Hoffman saw the lonely tracked armored fighting vehicle in front of him. This car had many differences from the previous experimental models that were always faulty. The car body became taller and the lower abdomen was also improved a lot. Can make people bend over and crawl over. Moreover, the **** armor of the hull has also become less inclined, and he always feels that the turret is much shorter.

Heck, still the best eloquent in the trio, stepped forward to answer Hoffman's questions. "Your Excellency Lieutenant Colonel, this is the limit we can do now. Because this tracked armored fighting vehicle needs to be installed with tracks and adapt to complex terrain, we raised the car body. Now its height is 3.48 meters, which is indeed better than The wheeled armored fighting vehicle is 63 cm tall and has increased in width, but not many have reached a width of 2.95 meters, mainly to put down two diesel engines."

Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman listened to Herk's answer and asked in surprise. "You changed the power of your tank?"

Faced with Hoffman’s question, Wang Chaoqiang, another member of the trio, stepped forward and explained, “We found that half of the problems in the crawler tank were caused by the shock to the gasoline engine. For this we optimized the chassis. , But there are still a lot of problems, and we don’t have a good solution. Finally, we thought of replacing the more earthquake-resistant diesel engine. For this reason, we found the power laboratory and the Ploiesti Machinery Factory, which has the most experience in using diesel engines. Details Understanding of the situation."

Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman looked at the oriental-faced scientific researcher named Wang Chaoqiang. He had known him a long time ago. The only person with the eastern face in the Volkswagen factory, and one of the main developers who want a tracked armored combat vehicle, is hard to know. For this reason, he told Wang Chaoqiang. "Wang, you keep talking."

As a member of the trio, Chaoqiang Wang continued. "We got their newly developed 80-horsepower diesel engine from the power laboratory. After comparison, we found that the efficiency of the diesel engine is more reliable. However, if only one engine is loaded, the speed of this tracked armored combat vehicle is still not too great. Change, and then we widened the interior to make it easier to put down two diesel engines in parallel."

Hoffman asked curiously. "what's the result?"

Helke replied this time. "It can run at a speed of 32 kilometers per hour on the road and 25 kilometers per hour in the wild, and this is the data after we improved this test car. Of course, it is not just changing the power, you may also see it, the turret It's also a lot shorter."

Helke pointed to the cannon on the tank and continued to explain. "Because we found that if the height of the turret is not lowered, it will be difficult to operate when using this artillery. When we tested it, we found that the jitter was too large for the operators inside to use it at all."

Hearing Herk's explanation, Hoffman asked. "Then you guys suddenly stopped and shot while on the move?"

"It was tested before, and the situation is not ideal. Because it is in the periscope mode, this 37 mm tank gun can hit a distance of up to 300 meters, and it won’t hit the target any farther. I don’t know what to load this gun. Meaning, in fact, we can completely disassemble it and replace it with a 20mm cannon. At least in this way, we can also hit the opponent in a strafing mode."

Hear

Hearing what Herk said, Hoffman also felt a headache. To be honest, he didn't know the significance of this tank gun that could only shoot at 300 meters. But this was the order the king gave him, and he couldn't help it.

Here, Edel, who has memories of later generations, has always stubbornly believed that a tank without artillery can still be the king of the land? So when developing this tracked tank, Edel told Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman that he would like to see the tracked tank have its own artillery on the turret. Although it was a deliberative tone, after spending some time by Edel's side, Hoffman knew he had to finish.

That's why the two machine guns on the turret were replaced with a short-barreled 37mm artillery. For this reason, the number of machine guns carried by the crawler tank was reduced from 3 to 2. In the face of continuous reduction in firepower, Hoffman can only count on this 37mm gun to be reliable. All I can do is to let these vehicles take care of each other more during training.

Faced with their improved tank, Hoffman began to care about other data. "So what is the fuel consumption of this tank? How far can it go when it is filled with fuel at once?"

"After testing, we found that the fuel consumption of this sample car is 1.34 liters of diesel per kilometer on the road, and 1.71 liters of diesel per kilometer in the wild. Because this is the reason why two engines are installed. We are dedicated to it. Two through 57-liter fuel tanks are installed at the back of the tank, which allows it to run 85 kilometers on the road when it is full of fuel. As for the wilderness, it can only run 65 kilometers and must be refueled."

Hearing the designer's answer, Hoffman felt that the performance was acceptable. So he asked about the core and topic, which is the cost of this tank. "Then how much do you calculate the cost of this car?"

The three designers glanced at each other, and finally Helk stepped forward and asked. "It depends on how many such tanks the army purchases?"

Hoffman played a trick here. "The military intends to purchase 24 vehicles first and test the results before deciding whether to continue purchasing."

In the face of Hoffman's little tricks, Herk was not fooled at all. "If this is the case, then the cost of the first 24 vehicles is the unit price of 84,000 lei per crawler tank. As for the future if the military continues to purchase on a large scale, our price will be lower."

Hoffman was taken aback when he heard the price. "Why are so much more expensive than wheeled armored vehicles? Two wheeled armored combat vehicles can be purchased at this price."

Herk stepped forward and explained to Hoffman who was about to jump up. "Your Excellency Hoffman We did not add profit at all. This is all because the diesel engine is more expensive. Moreover, the crawler tank is a completely different transmission system, and we spend more money. This price It can only guarantee that Volkswagen will not lose money, so it is impossible to reduce prices."

Hoffman and the trio of mushrooms did not reduce the price of the tracked tank by 1 lei for a long time. In the end, they could only report to the General Staff at this price, hoping that they could purchase the tanks needed for their armored battalion.

In fact, the munitions department that purchased the equipment did not reduce the price. In the end, it purchased two companies of tracked combat vehicles from Volkswagen at this price and equipped the armored battalion with complete equipment.

After Hoffman waited for the tank he needed, he immediately began to experiment with his thoughts on future wars. Around Constanta, you can often see these armored monsters marching in the wilderness, and they are constantly rehearsing Hoffman's thoughts. It was during the exercise that Hoffman found that many of his ideas were very immature. He relied on the armored battalion to continuously improve his tactics, and has been building a sharp sword in his heart, which will one day amaze the world.

However, in terms of training funds for the armored battalion, this armored battalion has always been a thorn in the eye of the Military Supplies Department of the General Staff. Their one-month training cost can be used as the cost of two other infantry regiments. It's just that the general staff, General Preeshan, completely ignored their wastefulness, and could only make the Chief of the Military Supplies Department lose his temper.

As the main promoter, Edel, in his mind, tanks are more important than funds. But now he has encountered something more difficult for him, and even the newly developed tank doesn't even bother to look at it. 8)