"Can they really travel at 40 kilometers per hour for six hours? I'm talking about road conditions! ”

On the northbound train, Maxim, an armored technology expert in the Democratic Republic of Russia, asked his German counterpart, Lieutenant Colonel Konipkamp, the technical officer of the German Special Advisory Group, in surprise. Although it was only four hours before their first meeting, the two had already found a lot of common ground professionally, but nationality and national interests became a chasm that hindered the further development of their relationship.

"Well, you'll see that soon, so I don't have to hide it!"

Kony Pukamp pulled a silver cigarette case out of his jacket pocket and expertly opened it with one hand, filling it with a box full of dark brown cigarillos. Near the end of the cigar there is a golden divider with German letters, and the most striking thing is an eagle with wings spreading, and here it is the famous Eagle brand cigarette.

In the mid-10s, the Eagle was a purely German brand, but as German tanks continued to fight in the north and south, German soldiers equipped with this cigarette traveled all over the five continents and four oceans. By the mid-to-late 20s, Eagle cigarettes had the same "German characteristics" as the German army's characteristic large-eared steel helmets, gray military uniforms and large leather boots, and left a deep impression on the minds of people in various countries.

"Thank you!" Faced with the cigarette case handed by Konepkamp, Maxim happily took out a small cigarillo from it. For those of them who design especially military vehicles, coffee and cigarettes are as indispensable as food, and some even reach the point where "no smoke is no inspiration". Due to the poor economic and financial situation in the Democratic Russia, Maxim's design institute and most of the research institutes in the Democratic Republic faced a certain shortage of funds, and the only products available to researchers were low-grade consumer goods. It's a good place to smoke their own brand of cigarettes, but sometimes they can only make their own cigarette rolls from crushed tobacco leaves and cigarette paper. It is no wonder that it is said that Democratic Russia and Soviet Russia receive the same considerable loans and aid from foreign countries every year, but if such loans and aid are abruptly suspended, the economy of Democratic Russia will face collapse, unlike Soviet Russia, which will be able to guarantee at least the most basic self-sufficiency.

"It's quite a huge machine. As a result, the volume of the entire tank increased year-on-year, can I understand it like this? In the white smoke, Maxim used a pencil to draw a simple sketch on the paper, and with a few strokes, he intuitively expressed his meaning.

Konipkamp smoked his cigarette calmly, and said vaguely for a while: "This is a corollary from normal thinking, just like different numbers and different types of boilers correspond to different classes of warships!" ”

Maxim stared at his sketch for a long time, "Simply increasing the size of the engine will only cause problems for the transmission, followed by the load-bearing capacity of the components and the maneuverability of the whole vehicle." Combat weight of 50 tons ......"

Konippkamp watched quietly as his Russian counterparts made the same deductions, but it was the same old problem, the countries they worked in were different, and the interests of the countries prevented them from engaging in more in-depth academic exchanges. In this case, the crystallization of the collective wisdom of the German armor specialists was clearly something that a Maxim could not have come up with with a momentary reasoning hydrochloric acid.

Half an hour later, Maxim reluctantly put down the pencil in his hand, he turned his head and asked Konipkamp, who was enjoying the scenery outside the car window, "By the way, Lieutenant Colonel, what did you name this tank?" ”

“tiger！ Tiger! Konippkamp looked back. "We call it the T-1 in the technical data!"

※※※※※※※※

Three weeks later. Located on the edge of a wooded area on the northern outskirts of Samara.

"Lieutenant Colonel, I suggest that you and your team withdraw to a place further behind, no more than a weapons test site. If any of you make a mistake, it's hard for me to ...... to my superiors" Wearing a standard Democratic Russian military uniform, he spoke a middle-aged officer with a distinctly southern German accent, he was burly, his expression was slightly anxious, but his eyes were very determined.

Konippkamp, who had changed into a Russian military uniform, looked relaxed, "It's okay, it's not the first time we've been on the battlefield, Major!" We will protect our own, and it is your soldiers and equipment that you need to care about! If the situation gets worse, I don't care about anything else, you have to keep that spider 1 safe. They must not fall into the hands of the Russians! ”

"In that case......," the major of the armored corps thought for a moment, called one of his officers, and ordered:

"Semur! Send a platoon from your unit to reinforce the security of the advisory group, and if anything goes wrong with the lieutenant colonel and his men, I will take you to court-martial!" ”

"Yes!"

The athletic captain officer took the order unequivocally.

A short time later, a group of heavily armed German soldiers, also dressed in Russian uniforms, arrived, and under their escort, Kony Pkamp and his party returned to the observation bunkers that had been set up in the woods. Naturally, the defensive power of the bunker of this civil structure cannot be compared with that of reinforced concrete fortifications, and the interior is not decorated. All the equipment is just a few sets of binoculars periscopes and two radios, fortunately the cold winter is gone, stay here at least don't worry too much about keeping warm, and this fortification is very serious, as long as it is not directly hit by heavy shells, the thick soil layer supported by the thick wooden stakes can still ensure the safety of the experts' lives.

"Doctor, are you sure you want to stay here? It is our duty to record battlefield data, and you are neither obligated nor necessary to risk your life with us! ”

Konipkamp tactfully and earnestly addressed one of the only three Russians in the group, Maxim, who had to see the new weapon in action, and the other two remaining Russians were Maxim's assistants, along with German technicians and German army officers.

"Don't worry! How many people like me have died on the battlefield in ancient and modern times? It's a great honor for me Maxim to really die! Besides, now that I'm part of this special advisory group, how can I run away without permission? Maxim put on a posture that he would not leave no matter what, and since he saw the majesty of the new tank, he sent a report to the Russian authorities, asking him to go to the 77th Infantry Division with the German advisory group, in addition to eating, sleeping and going to the toilet, he followed Konepkamp and other key technical officers every step of the way, as if he could get the secret of the T-1 from them.

Since the head of the advisory group, General Heino, von Eberstein, was only nominally in charge, the command of the field was held by Konippkamp and several other senior technical officers. Therefore, Konepkamp had a brief discussion with them before reluctantly agreeing to Maxim's stay.

After all, he was a Russian technical officer appointed by the Russian authorities to accompany the German special adviser to the whole process, and the main purpose of the T-1 being sent here was battlefield testing rather than secrecy.

The rumbling cannons in the distance had not yet reached the point of approaching here, but the sky had become noisy early. In the sky over Samara, dozens of fighters from both sides were chasing each other, and from time to time a few would fly away from the main battlefield near the woods, but they did not pay attention to this remote area that was still more than 50 kilometers away from the front line, not to mention that the personnel and equipment on the ground were hidden under white or blue-gray camouflage nets, as long as the enemy did not approach, it was difficult to find.

Judging from the scene, the air power of the Soviet and Russian sides had a certain advantage, but the Republic of China and Russia did not have the slightest intention of retreating. In order to fight for air supremacy in the capital area of the Republic of Russia, fierce air battles have continued to this day since the Russian army attacked the Volga defense line on April 3, and it is difficult to tell the winner, but both sides have lost no less than 100 aircraft here. It is worth mentioning that in the Russian Civil War, although the German government continued to provide material and personnel assistance to both sides, it rarely sent pilots, especially fighter pilots, to participate in the war, but sent instructor corps to help both sides train pilots.

As the defender, the Republic of China and Russia lost no fewer planes in the battle than the other side, but the pilots who parachuted were able to quickly return to the troops to continue the battle, while the Soviet and Russian air forces suffered some losses in this regard, and the Germans continued to send fighter jets to Democratic Russia through Turkey, so that the two sides could reach a tie in the case of an imbalance of forces.

Compared with the stalemate in the air war, the battle on the ground can be described as clear at a glance. After a winter of recuperation, the Russians continued their death-defying spirit, and this time the Volga did not continue to stop their advance, and by three days before the Volga defense line had been completely breached. As an important air base and transportation hub of the Volga defense system of the Republic of Russia, as well as the northeast gate of the capital Orenburg, Samara, which is less than 100 miles away from the Volga River, immediately became the next focus of contention between the two sides, and at this time, the 77th Infantry Division of the Republic of Russia also came to Samara City.

On the sandbox of the Republic of Russia, the main force of the 77th Infantry Division, which is also the most elite armored unit in the entire battle sequence of the Republic of Russia - the Independent Armored Brigade, is deployed on the right flank of the newly constructed Samara Line, and defensively, they face the relatively weak 22nd Army of the Russian Red Army, and they will play a very important role in the scheduled counterattack operation. (Full Text)