These technologies of the Messerschmitt BF-109 fighter have been verified and tested on other models, but they have never been used in a centralized manner, the aircraft is a precision equipment, each of its designs must be well thought out, the cumulative combination of multiple technologies is not as simple as one plus one equals two, there is no doubt that Messerschmitt is taking a great risk, more precisely, in order to save his Bavarian aircraft factory made a desperate gamble.

However, it is a pity that the prototype made in 1933 in history is not cared for by no one, and Messerschmitt does not even have the money to make the prototype, if it were not for its miraculous small amount of funding from the Ministry of Defense in 1934, this World War II Luftwaffe backbone model would have been stillborn, simply put, the BF-109 fighter is simply a fighter that no one wants! It was the brilliant performance of the sharp Soviet fighters in the Spanish War that saved the BF-109 fighter and the Bavarian aircraft factory, and also gave Messerschmitt a name for himself.

The main reason why Zhang Xuewu likes Germany is that the Germans are indeed more difficult, unlike the rich British Empire, even if there are good things, they have to hide them, and what they sell to others is second-rate goods to protect their hegemony, but the Germans are different, and Germany, which has a difficult life at home, also counts on advanced arms to open the international market, relying on the high quality made in Germany in exchange for a lot of profits from customers, and then uses these profits to carry out the recycling of production equipment, so since the Germans are willing to sell, why don't they spend money to buy good ones? Not only to buy the whole aircraft, but also to buy parts and production lines, and to import a large number of aero engines, these are Zhang Xuewu's plans.

Hao Wenbin sent back a telegram from Germany, the 150 mm German-made FH18 Rheinland heavy howitzer with 32 times the body, 24 plus 12 105 mm howitzers, 20,000 150 mm grenades of various types, and 20,000 105 mm grenades of various types, totaling 13 million Deutschmarks! Approximately the equivalent of the national currency.

Knowing that the German political axe, under the auspices of German Chancellor Adolf Hitler, had abandoned the gold standard and announced the exchange control law, so it seemed most appropriate to trade with the Germans only in a material manner? Moreover, there is no fixed exchange rate between the national currency and the mark, and it is completely subject to the unilateral exchange rate of the German side, Zhang Xuewu does not have the rare minerals that the Germans need, and the rare earths he has are now completely useless, so it was decided that Zhang Xuewu wanted to buy arms from Germany by using silver and gold to trade directly, and secondly, it can only be carried out through the Ordnance Department of the Ministry of Military Affairs, and the relevant payment is made through the Ordnance Department, the process is very troublesome, and other problems are very prone to occur! For example, Nanjing interception and so on!

The most important thing is that Zhang Xuewu almost shouted, is this damn too expensive? A standard German artillery regiment costs more than 13 million? It's no wonder that until the full-scale outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, the national political axe was only equipped with one artillery regiment, and this thing was really expensive after a long time!

If he can have Longtang's funds to support and engage in two such artillery brigades, he will definitely be able to give himself a huge surprise, but Zhang Xuewu's main vision is still on the 75 mm mountain artillery and field artillery, after all, the domestic road conditions and towing vehicles are difficult to get an effective guarantee, you must know that heavy howitzers are difficult to use animal traction in poor road conditions, so a horse pulling a 75 mm mountain cannon that can be transferred is still Zhang Xuewu's first choice, and heavy artillery must also be had. But not too much, and I really can't afford to play.

As soon as he thought of Zhang Tianpeng's complaining gaze every time he held a meeting, Zhang Xuewu felt a shudder, drunkard's wine! Money for money fans! Zhang Tianpeng's heavy artillery is all promised and can't be left undelivered!

However, compared with airplanes and heavy artillery, Zhang Xuewu is more difficult to deal with Tang Ziqiang, who has to eat and sleep with him in a luggage roll, this time Tang Ziqiang brought all his team, especially Chen Kebin, a trainee of the Munich Military Academy with gold-rimmed eyes, Chen Kebin is the chief of staff of the mechanized brigade, and his specialty is campaign synthesis, in fact, he should stay in the corps staff, but considering that Chen Kebin has the experience of studying in Germany, if he introduces tanks from Germany in the future, he will definitely have to deal with the German side. So Zhang Xuewu finally reluctantly cut his love and transferred Chen Kebin to the mechanized brigade as the lieutenant colonel chief of staff, but after letting Chen Kebin go, Zhang Xuewu regretted it!

Because Tang Ziqiang can be regarded as a black-bellied right-hand man to help him deal with the corps commander, the five divisions under the Rehe Army are all fully manned, the Nanjing political axe is replenished, Zhang Xueliang privately supplies, buys on his own, annexes the headquarters of the 34th Army, and so on, basically every division now has a two-battalion 75 Mountain Field Artillery Regiment, although Zhang Tianpeng's artillery brigade is crying poor, but the three artillery regiments under its establishment of 108 Krupp field guns imported from Germany of 75 mm and 36 times the barrel can arrive one after another.

Looking back again, I saw that my mechanized brigade had only one anti-tank artillery regiment trained with anti-tank guns made of wood, and only nine old combat vehicles that survived the battle of Chengde were used as training vehicles. Whenever Tang Ziqiang saw his officers and soldiers carrying tanks made of cardboard boxes in rehearsals and coordinated attacks, he couldn't wait to dig a crack in the ground and get into it.

In order to reduce the number of times he dug the ground and drilled the cracks, Tang Ziqiang had to take Chen Kebin to find Zhang Xuewu, and they were very surprised that there were drawings of the tank on the desk of the corps commander? And brand new tank blueprints?

Zhang Xuewu saw that the two of them even forgot to salute as if they had received a treasure, so he coughed, and the two realized that the regimental commander was also in the room, so he happily saluted and said: "Regimental commander, you are really our relatives!" You're my real father! ”

Poof! Zhang Xuewu's sip of coffee squirted out, and Chen Kebin on the side also looked at Tang Ziqiang who was speechless in a daze, but Tang Ziqiang didn't care and said: "It doesn't matter if anyone can give me a tank, he is my uncle!" I introduced my sister to him! ”

Chen Kebin said with a black line on his face: "But I heard that your sister doesn't seem to be too beautiful?" It is said that you can't get married after marrying a few times? You're not a reward, I feel like it's a punishment! ”

"Fart! Lao Tzu is so handsome, can my sister be too far behind? Obviously, Tang Ziqiang's confidence is not very sufficient, because many people in the mechanized brigade have seen Tang Ziqiang's baby girl, a very strong alternative beauty!

Tang Ziqiang lay on the drawing for a while before he was puzzled: "Commander? What kind of tank is this? Doesn't look like any of the models known now? This is not the style of Soviet Russia, it feels a bit like the design of the Germans? Especially if the tanks on this drawing can be built, all the models of Xiaoyu Ben are scrap iron, 50 mm thick inclined high-quality steel plates plus two layers of protection in front! At least equipped with a 50 mm long barrel or a 75 mm short barrel gun to cover the infantry attack, a quick assault to divide the enemy is definitely a sharp weapon! ”

Zhang Xuewu glanced at the drawings in Tang Ziqiang's hand and was speechless, in fact, he was also hovering between choosing Soviet and German tanks, Zhang Xuewu realized that it was completely enough to have light tanks in Chinese tanks, and medium tanks were a waste, he needed fast light tanks with good defense, light weight, strong adaptability, and strong firepower, but he also knew that several of his requirements were actually very contradictory.

Originally, as far as the current situation is concerned, Zhang Xuewu will not come up with any T-34 design to please the Soviet Union, because from a long-term perspective, the threat brought to China by the Soviet Union is far greater than that of Germany, so in the end Zhang Xuewu made a compromise consideration, that is, from the known World War II famous vehicles, he can design a light combat vehicle suitable for China's road conditions, and he can also produce, assemble and maintain a small number of light combat vehicles in Baotou in the future.

The Soviet Union's TB series is OK against the army's ** type, but it is powerless against the Type 95 or even the Type 97 light tank with a long-barreled 50mm gun, so Zhang Xuewu is more inclined to the German design concept of complete craftsmanship and large-scale machining in the Soviet Union, which effectively combines the two.

Zhang Xuewu clicked with his hand at the overhead battle lane in the three views in the first chapter of the drawings: "The sources of these drawings are all top secret to a certain extent, this tank I am going to name it the Honor Type 1 tank, which is mainly designed to deal with enemy armored combat vehicles, and support the infantry to fight side by side with the Honor II tank you just saw." ”

Tang Ziqiang and Chen Kebin glanced at each other happily, relatively speaking, the two of them seemed to be more fond of the honor type two that looked fierce and abnormal, in fact, Tang Ziqiang and Chen Kebin knew that the honor type one tank in Zhang Xuewu's mouth was the type three tank that the German army was equipped with a large number of times during World War II, but in the war, with the large number of new Allied tanks put into use, the type three tanks were destroyed a lot, and after the so-called T-34 crisis on the Eastern Front, most of them began to be gradually replaced by the improved No. 4 tank, Only a small number of them served as infantry support in the later stages of the war.

But for the armored forces of the Yue Army, which are active in the Chinese battlefield, the Type 3 tank is their ultimate nightmare!

Zhang Xuewu remembers that in the first half of about 1936, the first prototype No. 3 was produced and assembled by Daimler-Benz. At that time, the 50-mm high-barreled Krupp tank gun had not yet completed the final tests, so it was temporarily replaced with a short-barreled 37-mm tank gun, but its turret was designed for heavy artillery, so it looked extremely ridiculous.

However, according to Hao Wenbin's news from Germany, Germany's Daimler-Benz company, Krupp company, MAN company and Rheinmetall company have completed the assembly of their respective three-type tank test models, and the Germans seem to be very enthusiastic about promoting their tanks, which is why Zhang Xuewu spent two days drawing several outstanding improvements in the history of the three-type tank mass-produced in 1939 in 1939. E and many other models can be described as weather-resistant.

However, Zhang Xuewu's final killer feature is a German test car in 1942 in a stillborn child, the final version of the design plan of the VK1602 light reconnaissance tank codenamed in history was promulgated in March 1942, jointly completed by MIAG and Daimler-Benz, the first is to design a new chassis, followed by the design of a new turret, according to the final design scheme, the VK1602 light reconnaissance tank light vehicle is about 18 tons, and the heavy vehicle is about 26 tons.

Zhang Xuewu pointed to the design drawings of the Honor II and said to the excited Tang Ziqiang and Chen Kebin: "The Honor II tank will be divided into two types: light and heavy, the light vehicle is about 18 tons, and the heavy vehicle is about 26 tons, the Honor II uses the concept of oblique angle body in the design, the prototype will use an all-welded armored steel plate body, and the frontal protection is 50 mm thick high-quality armor, and there is a 50-degree angle of inclination." The body was covered with thirty mm thick armor on the sides and back, and twenty mm armor on the top and bottom. The engine and transmission layout are with the engine in the rear, the power is transmitted to the front of the body through the propeller shaft, and the gearbox is in front of the body. Note that the driver is on the left side of the hull, the radioman is on the right, and in the middle of the hull is the fighting compartment, where the turret and related equipment and ammunition are mounted, and the turret contains the seats of the commander and loader. ”

After listening to Zhang Xuewu's introduction, Chen Kebin frowned slightly and said: "Commander, can eighteen-ton and twenty-six-ton tanks still be called light tanks?" So what about my 3.6-ton Vickers and 5.2 Renault? Little? But such a self-weight hull definitely needs a lot of horsepower to ensure high speed and maneuverability, but the built-in space of the hull definitely has limitations, I wonder how the Honor II tank balances these problems? ”

Zhang Xuewu nodded with satisfaction, as the chief of staff of the armored brigade, Chen Kebin is indeed very qualified, he asked the key to the balance of tank design, knowing the soldiers and understanding the tactical use of equipment and equipment, which is the most basic requirement for the commander of the armored corps.

Zhang Xuewu pointed to the rear of the car body on the drawing and said: "The rear of the car body is the engine, fuel tank and cooling fan, I plan to use the German Maybach series of V12-cylinder gasoline engine, but the power must exceed five hundred and fifty horsepower, the engine must also be equipped with double carburetors, supporting German Bosch starters and Bosch generators." If the weight of the Honor II is controlled at twenty-six tons, then its power density can reach more than twenty-one horsepower per ton. ”

Zhang Xuewu then pointed to the position of the turret and said: "The new turret of our Honor and Type Tank should be able to install a 50 mm long-barreled tank gun, or a 75 mm short-barreled assault gun, a parallel machine gun and a course machine gun, and if necessary, an anti-aircraft anti-aircraft machine gun should also be installed. This arrangement has a good theoretical effect, such as the dispersion of pressure on the ground, and with the latest German engines, the Honor II tank should be very promising. ”

Zhang Xuewu's introduction and eloquent conversation made Tang Ziqiang and Chen Kebin almost embarrassed, it seems that the corps commander is the real brigade commander of the mechanized brigade, why does the corps commander know so much? Even a single drawing can depict all the efficacy and theoretical basis of the design?

If the frontal armor is 50 mm thick German high-quality steel plate, plus a 50-degree oblique angle, it means that the probability of being penetrated from the front by a 37-mm anti-tank gun within 100 meters is greatly reduced, which is undoubtedly equivalent to improving the survivability of the crew members in disguise, and the long-barreled 50 mm tank gun equipped with it will be greater than the power of any kind of anti-tank gun in service in the army in terms of range and power.

"Commander, how much does such a tank cost?" Tang Ziqiang's question made Zhang Xuewu dumbfounded, the drawings were only completed not long ago, only handed over to the German [***] affairs advisory group of Meitlin, brought back to Nanjing and sent back to Germany, this will be specifically evaluated, Zhang Xuewu's ideal is that the Germans will buy their own patents such as the design of the shield turret, the design of the front inclined armor, the design of the five load-bearing wheels, the design of the suspension shock absorption, etc., and the use of tanks to compensate for part of the cost of the car purchase is also in Zhang Xuewu's imagination, but it can only be called a dream in front of him!

In fact, Zhang Xuewu did not know the whole process of the development of the VK1602 light reconnaissance tank, but in the end, the German army thought that for this kind of reconnaissance tank, the full combat weight of 21.5 tons was really unacceptable. Of course, the VK1602 is indeed heavier than the "Lynx", but Zhang Xuewu could not ignore a very important point, that is, the armor thickness of the new tank of the VK1602 is almost twice that of the "Lynx", and a 50-mm tank gun has been added, while the "Lynx" is only equipped with a 20-mm machine gun.

In Zhang Xuewu's view, the real reason why the Germans finally gave up on VK1602 is probably that it was born too late, VK1602 light reconnaissance tank can not be more effective than the German army's active equipment against the Soviet T-34/76 tank, so it finally came to the end of its fate, but it was unexpectedly resurrected by Zhang Xuewu!

In Zhang Xuewu's view, as long as he asks Germany to manufacture 150 vehicles, helps him build a production line with an annual output of 80 vehicles, and imports more than 500 engine transmission mechanisms, the Germans will happily accept this huge arms order.

Moreover, the Germans will learn a lot from it, and even bring new inspiration to the German tank armor designers, and there is no doubt that the German armored forces will be able to inflict greater damage on the Soviets in the future! After all, the uncertainty in this is too big, so after thinking about it, Zhang Xuewu finally decided to come up with the design of the VK1602 light reconnaissance tank that was abandoned by the Germans but had a relatively complete technical design, instead of the famous T-34!

(To be continued)