The Germanic steel torrent raged in Eastern Europe, and it took only a month for the Panzer Group of the West Frankish Kingdom to defeat Poland, and then sweep across the Baltic coast and the Grand Duchy of Kiev, the Kingdom of Bayros. At this time, the Datang Army Department also found that the equipment of its own troops' armored vehicles was seriously insufficient.

"For the sake of victory in the war, we need more tanks! The more the merrier! This is something that Marshal Chang Chengzong, Minister of the Army, repeatedly mentioned at the joint meeting of the Supreme Base Camp.

Army Armament Bureau.

"Colonel Li Guoyong, the director asked you whether you have reviewed the report on the supplementary vehicles of the Don River Military Region?"

"It's already done, I'll send it later." Li Guoyong put down the phone, rubbed his slightly red eyes, and looked at the trees outside the window. In summer, Luoyang has a hot climate, people always like to hide in the shade, and the trees under the scorching sun seem to be invigorated, and the leaves are wilting.

"General Tang, this is the report you want, I have already reviewed the vehicle figures." Li Guoyong went to the office of Major General Tang Shaohong, deputy director of the Equipment Bureau in charge of planned production, "The current production of armored vehicles is far from meeting the needs of the military, mainly in terms of tanks. Tang Shaohong gestured to the chair across the table,

"You sit down first, Guohao." Tang Shaohong pointed to the chair opposite and greeted this fellow countryman, "I think Admiral Wutai is going to be angry at us again at the meeting." He was flipping through the papers, signing them, "Our current production can only meet 40 percent of the number of vehicles he demands." ”

"We need to harmonize and simplify the production of machine factories, which requires convincing Marshal Li Tingkai to accept our point of view and reduce the requirements for the convenience of the performance of armored vehicles, so as to greatly increase production. Whether quantity or quality is important, in the end, it is still up to them, the bigwigs of the Imperial Army, to come forward and make a decision. ”

"I have already reported on the plan for simplifying production that you mentioned last time, and the Chief of the General Staff attaches great importance to this output report, so Marshal Li Tingkai has designated us to report in person." Tang Shaohong said, "The two of us will go to the General Staff of the Army now and report to him." ”

The War Department, the General Staff and the General Armament Bureau of the Army actually all worked in one compound, and the two went to the building of the General Staff. The corridors of the General Staff were bustling with people, and many young new faces were added.

When they went up to the office of the Chief of General Staff on the fourth floor, Colonel Fan Yunhua, the chief of the office, saw them and said, "Oh, Director Tang, the chief of the General Staff is waiting to see you." He led them to the field marshal's office.

"Chief Chief, Director Tang of the Equipment Bureau is here, and Colonel Li Guoyong."

"Report, Tang Shaohong of the Equipment Bureau was ordered to report for duty." Tang Shaohong said after saluting.

"Well, you guys sit down first." Marshal Li Tingkai nodded and nodded, and then asked them to sit down on the sofa in the office first, while he continued to sign a few documents. After a while, he screwed the cap of his pen on, and then he stood up and walked to the side of the single sofa and sat down.

"Major General Tang, what is the analysis of the production figures of armored vehicles by the Armament Bureau? Our plan is to produce 15,000 tanks a year, and now that it's mid-June, and our production is only one-fifths complete. The field marshal said with a serious expression.

"According to the judgment of the Production Planning Division, we can only complete 40% of the annual production plan. The main thing is that the production plants are being adjusted, and at the moment only three tank factories have production lines in a normal state. With the new plant in Jiuyuan and Jinyang Heavy Industries' two production lines coming into operation, it is estimated that production will increase after September, and the most likely output for the whole year is estimated to be 9,600 units. ”

"It's less than two-thirds, what's the main problem?" Li Tingkai asked with a frown.

"Commander-in-chief," Li Guohao said as he looked at the field marshal, "There are two main problems, it turns out that our heavy machinery factory mainly produces construction machinery, and the production capacity of tanks is insufficient. The newly built tank production line can only be gradually assembled, and these will take time. Another problem is the lack of necessary skilled workers, and our current Type 02 heavy tank production process is very complex, and the requirements for machining accuracy are also very high. Tank factories need a large number of qualified skilled mechanics, and the training of skilled workers is still just beginning. ”

"I heard you have a new adjustment plan? Tell me what you think. ”

"Yes, the chief executive, the new production line and skilled workers can only be solved by speeding up the construction speed and training of workers, and at present we believe that the most feasible solution is to simplify production and use standardized production of common accessories, which was proposed by Hu Dengke, chief engineer of Luoyang Heavy Industry. He believes that many heavy machinery factories that produce tractors and excavators in the country have the capacity to produce and manufacture tanks, and this can be done as long as the army agrees to reduce the performance of the current Type 02 heavy tanks by 20 percent. If this were the case, almost all heavy machine factories would be able to produce armored vehicles, and the current production could be increased by at least four times. Li Guohao replied.

This is a problem that they have carefully studied, and the main problem is the manufacture of the hull, which requires the replacement of the hull and turret made by the current forged homogeneous armor steel and welding process with a cast hull and turret. This certainly weakened the defensive performance of the tank, but the benefits in terms of the number of production were obvious.

"Hmm...... Twenty percent combined performance, four times the yield...... When will this project be completed? Marshal Li Tingkai thought for a while before asking, he was obviously very interested in the question of increasing production.

"You know, our current tanks use forged homogeneous armor steel, and its production requires large hydraulic forging equipment, which many heavy machine factories do not have. The large hydraulic forging machines of more than 10,000 tons in China are basically in the shipyards, and the navy obviously has their plans. If it were to be replaced with a cast hull and turret, even small and medium-sized agricultural machinery factories would be able to do it. Li Guohao said, "At present, we can only be within the scope of responsibility of the Equipment Bureau, let Luoyang Heavy Industry and Wuzhou Heavy Industry manufacture a few prototypes." If you have time, you can go and see the comparative test for yourself. ”

"Have you already made a prototype?" Marshal Li Tingkai said, "What about the performance data? ”

"The weight is around 32 tons, but there is not much room for improvement, and it can reach up to 36 tons. The engine uses a 620-horsepower Luoyang VB-8 diesel engine, which is slightly smaller than the 750-horsepower Jinyang VT-8 diesel engine of Type 02, but the maneuverability is not bad. Li Guohao said.

The Army's Type 02 tank weighs 45 tons, and the performance of this new tank is much worse than that of Type 02.

However, there is a great improvement in terms of ease of production......

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