Like most places under Democratic Russia, Yekaterinburg in early March was still a snow-capped northern landscape. Although its political status is not as high as that of the capital Orenburg, it is no less important than Orenburg as the largest city and industrial, transportation and cultural center in the Urals and the main base for the manufacture of armored vehicles in Democratic Russia, as evidenced by the fierce intelligence and counterintelligence war between Soviet Russia and the Republic of China.

As spring approaches, the temperature begins to rise gradually, but the more than a million citizens of Yekaterinburg do not feel the comfort of spring, the recent events, the number of soldiers walking on the streets has increased dramatically, the railway station has a train full of troops and supplies passing by almost every quarter of an hour, the frequency of air defense exercises has increased from once a month to twice a week, food has begun to adopt a strict wartime rationing system, at this moment no one doubts the possibility of war anymore, The news of the imminent large-scale attack of Soviet Russia spread at an extraordinary speed.

In the headquarters of the old fortress converted from Yekaterinaburg, some high-ranking personnel of the Russian army were also worried.

"Honorable President and Generalissimo of the Army, Navy and Air Force, even if the factory produces 80 of these new self-propelled anti-tank guns in two months, our soldiers will need time to familiarize themselves with them, and what is even more troublesome is that if we do not know the enemy's correct offensive line, we can only scatter them along the entire line of defense, which will undoubtedly greatly reduce their combat effectiveness!"

The man who spoke was gray-haired and bearded, and he was wearing a half-worn dark brown military uniform, a flat-topped military hat that imitated the German style, and a large red background and three golden four-pointed stars, the symbol of the Admiral of the Democratic Russian Army. This person was only a second-line general commanding reserve troops in the old Tsarist Russia, and he stood in the right position in the 1928 accident, and his repeated military exploits since then made him rise to the top in the military circles, and at this time he was already the commander-in-chief of the Second Army, one of the three major armies of the Democratic Russian Army, and he was also one of the most prominent figures in the entire Republic of Russia.

At the top was a man who looked to be less than fifty years old, also wearing a dark brown military uniform, but his collar and epaulettes had a completely different gold background. In the center is a bright sun-like flower. After listening to the former's explanation, he thought for a while before he said deeply:

"I haven't considered what Alexei said, but if the Russian K-type tank has indeed been put into mass production and equipped with front-line troops, it will be difficult to resist with only our existing German-made Type 2 tanks and 45mm infantry anti-tank guns! Let's not let our soldiers fight the enemy's tanks with Molotov cocktails and explosives packets like they did in 1914! Even if this new self-propelled anti-tank gun does not completely repel the enemy, let our soldiers see hope and hope for victory on their own! Blindly importing weapons from the Germans and copying them will only make us puppets of the Germans, as the ignorant Russians are doing now! ”

"Honorable President and Generalissimo of the Army, Navy and Air Force, I fully agree with your opinion!" Marshal of the People's Republic of Russia, who was sitting to the left of the superior, said in an almost flattering tone. "We must tell everyone, including the Russians and the Germans, with facts, that we can create advanced weapons with our own wisdom and strength! The Russians can copy the Type 4 tank of the Germans, and we can make enough weapons to destroy the Type 4 tank! ”

This man is actually over fifty years old, but his skin is smooth and he does not have a beard, and if the unsuspecting bystanders do not look closely at his chin and the corners of his eyes, they will even think that he is only in his thirties, such a soft-spoken, walking-tiptoeing fellow, by virtue of his eagle-like loyalty, has attained the status of one man under ten thousand people in this country. It's just that judging from the demeanor of being a general, most people don't have a good impression of him.

"Honorable President and Generalissimo of the Army, Navy and Air Force!"

Such a long salutation did not tire the generals, regardless of rank and age. Everyone here has to say this before they speak. In order to show the incomparable reverence for the superior.

"Although our new weapon is theoretically capable of dealing with the Russian K-tank, and our prototype has indeed shown the power of the expected, it ...... Honorable President and Generalissimo of the Army, Navy and Air Force. I beg your pardon, but there has been a little doubt below, and it is said that the information we currently have on the K tank was provided by the Germans......"

"Doctor, this doesn't seem like you're supposed to ask!" A high-pitched, thin voice interrupted the former's conversation.

The superior waved his right hand, "It's okay, there are no outsiders here!" Doctor, you keep talking! ”

"Yes, honorable President and Generalissimo of the Army, Navy and Air Force! Thank you for your magnanimity! The bespectacled technologist said worriedly: "If there is a certain degree of deviation in this information, that is, the K-type tanks made by the Russians are not as we know, I am afraid that this will seriously affect the performance of our new artillery on the battlefield!" ”

"Doctor. Don't think of your arsenal to shirk responsibility with this, huh! The high-pitched, thin voice rang out again.

The doctor hurriedly explained: "Honorable Vice President and Marshal of the Army, Navy and Air Force Force, Lord Borisov, I dare not shirk my responsibilities in the slightest!" This is just an instinctive speculation, and I hope you will forgive me! ”

"Instinct? Hum! The voice was still unwavering.

"Whether or not the intelligence is really biased, time doesn't allow us to think about it anymore! General Mikharov, General Segot, the production and defense of the factory will be handed over to the two, eighty vehicles in two months is already the minimum, if it can exceed 100 vehicles. I will personally honour both! Dr. Maxim, you have already done a great job in designing the T-1, and I am here to present you with the Outstanding Scientific Prize on behalf of the country and the people, and you and your assistants will receive additional material rewards! In the coming time, I hope that your design and research institute will continue to improve and perfect this new combat vehicle, and cooperate with the factory to do a good job in product inspection! ”

The three who were called by name hurriedly stood up, "Yes, Honorable President and Generalissimo of the Army, Navy and Air Force!" ”

"If nothing else, that's it for the meeting!" Sokolov, who rose to prominence in the Russo-Japanese War and grew up in the German-Japanese War and the Russian Civil War, is now the only leader of Democratic Russia, proclaimed from his seat.

"Oh, honorable President and Generalissimo of the Army, Navy and Air Force, the Germans have a shipment of supplies arriving in Krasnovodsk next week. In addition to the general firearms and ammunition, there are some special weapons, but the Germans refused to tell us in advance, but repeatedly asked us to ensure the safety of the cargo and do a good job of secrecy, these weapons were only allowed to equip the 77th Infantry Division! The soft-spoken Burisov reminded in a whisper.

"Hmm......" Sokolov thought for a moment, the 77th Infantry Division was extraordinary, the soldiers and some of the junior officers were carefully selected from the Democratic Russian Army, and nearly half of the non-commissioned officers and most of the officers were "volunteers" from Germany. The right to decide on the actions of this unit is in the hands of a so-called advisory group composed of Russian and German officers, and secrecy is their first principle. They were armed with far superior weapons to those of the average Russian army, and many of the new weapons supplied by Germany would be used in this division first, and only then would they be equipped with other units of Democratic Russia, depending on the situation.

Borisov continued to bite his ears next to Sokolov: "Honorable President and Generalissimo of the Army, Navy and Air Force! You don't have to worry about such small things, just bring a few technical experts over! Belch...... This Maxim looks a bit level, let him go with him this time! ”

"Okay!" Sokolov nodded, "Then I'll leave it to you!" And this Maxim, you have to show me, he is the chief expert of our current Armored Design and Research Institute! ”

"Don't worry! Hey! Borisov laughed slyly, an expression that made everyone in the room shudder, knowing that this vice president was more than just a marshal of the army, navy, and air force. He was also the head of the secret police unit of DPR. It can be said that he holds everyone's little secrets here, and no one likes him but no one wants to offend him.

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A week later, Krasnovodsk, on the southwestern border of Democratic Russia, on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea. In the evening, a Turkish-flagged freighter slowly sailed into the harbor and signaled to the Russians waiting at the docks.

"That's it! Germans are Germans, and that's really punctual! ”

In the bitter cold wind, a high-pitched, thin voice came from behind a thick scarf.

Maxim, who was wearing glasses on the side, was silent, he didn't understand why he received a batch of German aid, why he was the chief armored vehicle of Democratic Russia, and more than half a week passed after counting the time to go back and forth on the road, although the T1 self-propelled anti-tank gun has completed the prototype test, but there are still a lot of things waiting to be done in the design institute. Every time I think about it. Maxim was eager to push the self-righteous man in front of him into the icy waters, so that he would be completely sober from head to toe.

"Doctor, guess what gifts the Germans brought us?" The white-looking guy in front of him suddenly turned to look at Maxim.

"Firearms, artillery, ammunition, after all, these are war-related materials, Honorable Vice President and Marshal of the Army, Navy and Air Force1" Maxim lifted his glasses, not daring to act careless, but he really didn't have much interest in guessing these things.

Borisov was interested, "Mm-hmm, that's a good guess. Go on! ”

Maxim could not refuse, he carefully looked at the approaching freighter, sailing in such an inland sea as the Caspian Sea, it was naturally not a huge ship, but the one in front of him was the kind of medium-sized steamer that could carry four or five thousand tons of cargo at the least.

"Is it a fighter jet?"

Borisov shook his head, "That's not the point, guess!" ”

"Is that a military vehicle? Tanks? Maxim had to guess closer, and this was the most plausible answer to the question of why Burisov had brought him here.

"Clever! That's smart! Borisov was inexplicably happy, "Guess what model it is?" Guess right, I'll lose you 500 gold rubles! ”

500 gold rubles! Maxim shook his head secretly, this was naturally a lot of wealth for himself, but for a man like Borisov, it was not worth mentioning at all.

"Could it be the best No. 4 tank for the Germans?" When he said this, Maxim himself thought it was impossible, because the Germans never sold such advanced tanks to foreign countries, and even their closest ally, Turkey, could only get the improved No. 3 tank.

Sure enough, Borisov shook his head and said with a sly smile: "500 gold rubles!" Doctor! ”

"That must be some kind of modification of Tank 3! Could it be the 3-f type in active service with the Germans? Maxim continued to think better, otherwise the Burisov would not have allowed himself to guess.

"No, no, no!" Burisov had a very regretful expression, "It seems that the doctor has no chance with the 500 gold rubles!" Hehe, let me tell you, the tanks on this ship are experimental products of the Germans, which means that even the German ** team is not equipped yet! ”

Maxim couldn't help but be shocked, although in the past two years, in addition to selling decommissioned equipment to both sides of the Russian Civil War, the Germans have also used the Russian Civil War to train their pilots and combat commanders, but the equipment in active service is rarely provided to Soviet Russia and Democratic Russia, and as for the test products that need to be tested on the battlefield, they are usually shipped to the Far Eastern front. Thinking of this, Maxim laughed:

"Honorable Vice President and Marshal of the Army, Navy and Air Force are joking with me!"

"Are you kidding? Ha! "Do you think that a vice president and marshal of the army, navy, and air force plus the minister of secret police can even get such information?" ”

"Honorable Vice President and Marshal of the Army, Navy and Air Force, there is absolutely no disrespect here! I just think that the Germans have always been cautious about new weapons, so ......" Maxim quickly explained.

"Humph! You don't understand that! Burisov triumphantly said: "Although the Japanese are still resisting, there is no ground war in the Far East before the Germans land!" With the geographical characteristics of Japan, the Germans could have won the war by continuing to bomb, so why let the soldiers die in vain? ”

Maxim was stunned, and when he looked at the freighter again, his eyes were full of strange anticipation.