Song Zhewu remembers that the Soviet designer Morozov specially developed the famous 12-cylinder 39-liter V2 diesel engine for the T-34, with a power of 500 horsepower, which allowed it to reach a top speed of 55 kilometers per hour on the road.

Another advantage of the V2 diesel engine was fuel economy, the T-34 tank had a fuel tank capacity of 60 liters, and a reserve fuel tank with a capacity of 39 liters hung on each side of the body, which allowed it to travel up to 540 km.

For comparison, the German Type 4 tank is only 160 km, while the Tiger tank has to refuel for 100 km. And the worst thing is that the German tank engines are all gasoline, and once the tank is punctured, it will immediately cause a fire.

Not only is the technology of the diesel engine immature now, even if it is developed by the Soviet Union in the future, it will not be sold, and it will never be sold to him, the person who recaptured Northern Mongolia from the "bear's mouth". The only way to do this was to develop it himself.

However, Song Zhewu vaguely remembered that it seems that the world's first diesel engine to be used as a power unit should be the 95 type medium tank and Poland's 7TP light tank, the diesel engine of the 95 tank was successfully developed by Mitsubishi Corporation in 33 years, and the diesel engine used in the 7TP tank was the German Schorer diesel engine, which was probably developed in 1932. It is estimated that it is unlikely to get the diesel engine of Mitsubishi, and it is a good choice to get the Sorrel diesel engine for reference, even if you already have your own diesel engine at that time, you can also learn its advantages and learn from each other's strengths.

Guo Wenyuan saw that Song Zhewu was thinking and did not speak, thinking that Song Zhewu was not satisfied with this prototype, so he hurriedly added: "Commander, now the turret of this tank is still riveted, our welding technology is not up to par, and large-thickness steel welding is not good." However, we are considering a single casting, and after the installation of the 5,000-ton hydraulic press that was allocated to us, we will also consider using the integral forging method for manufacturing. This can not only greatly increase the protection strength, but also save production costs. ”

Guo Wenyuan hesitated for a moment, and then said: "The production cost of our tank is too expensive, I have made a preliminary calculation, it will cost about 180,000 oceans. ”

"Oh! Why is it so expensive? ”

This price really surprised Song Zhewu, the Soviets only spent 60,000 US dollars to buy two tanks from the United States, and Hedayang only spent 100,000 yuan, why did they use so much money for this one? If this is like the Soviet army, which has tens of thousands of tanks, it will cost billions, and you can't get so much money even if you smash the pot and sell iron!

What's more, there are more places where he urgently needs money.

"That's right, almost all the main parts of our existing tank are imported, not only the chassis, but also the engine, fixed-axle gearbox, propeller shaft, steering machine, clutch, steering gearbox...... Wait, even the manganese alloy steel for the production of crawlers has to be imported, how can this price not be expensive! If all the armor of this tank is replaced with alloy armor, 200,000 may not come down. Unless our supporting factories can be set up to produce all the parts of the tank ourselves. ”

With Song Zhewu here, Xiao Guodong has always rarely spoken, especially when Song Zhewu expressed his incredible scientific views in front of these experts and scholars.

At this time, Xiao Guodong took Guo Wenyuan's words, and whispered a little bitterly: "Yes, Wenge, if it is at this price, if it is really as you think, we need thousands, or even tens of thousands of tanks, then it will cost more than a billion oceans, and we can't afford this price." ”

"So many parts need to be purchased from the outside, so it's no wonder that the price is not high!" After learning the reason for the high cost of tanks, Song Zhewu secretly breathed a sigh of relief in his heart.

If these parts can be produced by themselves in the future, then the production cost will definitely be reduced, even if there is no large production structure like the United States, because of the extremely large number of production, which leads to a significant reduction in costs, the price of producing the current medium tank, it is estimated that it is not a big problem to reduce it to 60,000.

However, with the increase in the thickness of the tank's armor and the more complex structure, at the current price, it is estimated that it will cost 100,000 oceans. If 10,000 units are produced, it will cost 1 billion, not counting the maintenance costs of tanks and the use of fuel. Such a figure is still unbearable for him.

But there are too many places for him to use money now, not to mention that he can't take out 1 billion now, even if he has more funds in the future, I'm afraid that for a long time, he will not be able to have 10,000 tanks, and if he wants to reach the tens of thousands of troops in the Soviet Union during the war, it is absolutely unimaginable for his local forces.

In this way, he can only follow the path of high-quality products like Germany, with few but fine tanks, and overcome the lack of quantity with quality.

Song Zhewu, who was full of regret and frustration in his heart, couldn't show it on his face, and said to Xiao Guodong and Guo Wenyuan with a smile: "It's okay, some money must be spent and cannot be saved." After World War I, all countries in the world are vigorously developing tanks as new weapons, and its value is not obvious yet, but I can say with certainty that tanks will definitely be a sharp weapon for army operations in the future. As for the question of money, you don't have to think about it too much, not to mention that after our auxiliary factories under construction are put into production, the parts and components can be produced by themselves, and the cost will definitely be reduced. ”

"Of course, our tanks also need to be as simple, practical and reliable as possible. In a word, it is necessary to make the cost of our tanks as low as possible, and to make them easier and faster. However, in some key technologies and protection capabilities, the cost cannot be considered, and the money that should be spent must be spent, and such money must not be saved. ”

Afraid that Guo Wenyuan would misunderstand, Song Zhewu added: "What I said about simplicity and practicality is not at the expense of the quality and function of the tank, but only for the sake of faster manufacturing speed and more convenient maintenance." Therefore, in terms of production quality, it must be guaranteed. ”

Seeing Guo Wenyuan nodding his head, Song Zhewu felt that he had to encourage Guo Wenyuan, and encouraged Guo Wenyuan and said, "Wenyuan, your task is to develop an advanced tank as soon as possible. Although it is unlikely that we will be able to build tens of thousands of tanks because of the cost, we must still build thousands of them, and they must be the most advanced, so that our quality advantage can make up for the lack of quantity. ”

"Advanced high-power diesel engines, Zeng Yijing and Wang Dong are already developing, not only for our tanks, but also for our aircraft and automobiles."

Song Zhewu, who reached out to shoot the tank body, suddenly remembered that the paint had not yet dried, and retracted his hand a little embarrassed.

"The overall surname of this tank is very good, but it needs to be continuously improved, mainly in terms of speed, agility, enhanced protection and firepower. As long as the above aspects are done well, this tank will definitely become one of the best tanks in the world. ”

"For example, we need to apply more electric drive and hydraulic drive technology, even if the technology in this area is not yet mature, we must start to make technical reserves; The artillery still has to use large-caliber long-barreled high-surnamed tank guns; It is also necessary to install a wireless voice communication device in the car. ”

"The car radio station should be solved soon, we and the United States Calvin, the British Marconi company set up in Taiyuan laboratory will soon start work, Li Minghua's electronics research institute has a certain foundation in voice communication, Calvin and Marconi two companies are the world's well-known radio companies, strong technical force, come up with advanced products is only a matter of time. With voice wireless communication devices, our tank units will be more flexible and effective in combat......"

"The other thing is to improve this tank and develop other models of tanks. Strong protective capabilities and armor are bound to be strengthened, and preparations must be made in advance for the pre-research of heavy tanks. There are armored vehicles for other purposes......"

Song Zhewu glanced at the engineers and technicians present, and said in a solemn tone: "At present, our technical strength in developing and producing tanks is still very weak, mainly relying on us to digest and absorb the technology we bought from Europe and the United States, which is far from enough, we must continue to innovate, and we must not just copy other people's things." Only in this way can we design and build the most advanced and excellent tanks. What a heavy burden you have on your shoulders! ”

"Please rest assured, Wen Yuan and all my colleagues must remember the commander's teachings and will live up to the commander's trust!" Guo Wenyuan solemnly assured Song Zhewu.

Song Zhewu really wanted to tell Guo Wenyuan about the concept of heavy armor and reactive armor, but he knew that Guo Wenyuan and these experts could now design and manufacture such a tank, to be precise, it must be the prototype of the tank, and it was not easy.

It's like when a child just learns to walk and can't wait for them to run.

However, Song Zhewu is still very confident in the development of his own tank technology, and now this tank has many advantages of modern tanks, as long as it continues to follow this line of thought, it is not impossible to produce a tank that is stronger than the Soviet army in some aspects, or even stronger than the German army.

Song Zhewu nodded, thought for a while, and said: "Not only your tank research institute, but also your mechanical equipment research institute. We cannot always rely on buying other people's technology for industrial construction, and modernization cannot be bought with money, and we must manufacture it ourselves. All kinds of technical equipment we purchased this time, you must carefully digest and absorb it, start with imitation, and finally achieve innovation, and be able to design and manufacture advanced industrial equipment by yourself, which depends on you to complete it......"

(To be continued)