When he met Guo Wenyuan, Guo Wenyuan was leading a dozen of his students in his makeshift workshop, surveying and mapping parts in front of the disassembled tank.

The sudden arrival of Song Zhewu and Xiao Guodong, the first and second commanders of the Fourth Route Army, made Guo Wenyuan very surprised; today is the Chinese New Year's Eve, and according to common sense, Song Zhewu, who has just rushed back to Laiyuan at night and night, will have a day off today anyway, because he, the supreme leader of the Fourth Route Army, must be present at the evening party.

But when his eyes swept over the disassembled tank, his heart couldn't help but tremble, could it be that the commander came for the tank that he disassembled? He knew the value of the tank at this time, except for the Central Political Axe and Zhang Xueliang in the Northeast, as well as Chen Jitang in Guangzhou, ordinary people couldn't buy it even if they had money.

And he said that he would dismantle a car, if Song Zhewu really blamed him, he would have affected Xiao Guodong. Even if Song Zhewu blames himself, it is understandable, now that this tank has been dismantled by him, it is normal for others to worry about whether he can be reinstalled and restored to its original state.

Guo Wenyuan hurriedly stepped forward with apprehension, and said apologetically: "Commander, I disassembled the MC-1 of the teaching corps, but after measuring the parts and drawing the assembly drawing, I can immediately reassemble it in good condition." ”

Song Zhewu looked at the dismantled tank and asked, "It's all disassembled?" ”

Guo Wenyuan replied uneasily: "No, I am not familiar with the engine, the engine is not moving, and I also do not move the welded closed parts such as the fuel tank." ”

"How do you map it completely without opening it thoroughly?" Song Zhewu asked with some puzzlement.

However, he quickly noticed Guo Wenyuan's uneasy expression, and immediately understood what was going on, laughed and said, "Wenyuan, don't worry, not only will I not blame you for this, if you can really build a tank, I will reward you." Anything you need to study and map is dismantled, even if it is a dismantling of the destruction surname, and if you need to restore it, you can solve it with the mechanics we have recruited, most of whom are idle now. Also, this tank belongs to your research institute and is for your research and use. ”

Guo Wenyuan was stunned for a moment, and immediately turned his worries into joy, and said excitedly: "Okay, then I'll take it all apart." ”

"You think we can build a tank?" Song Zhewu was still a little worried, because he was a layman in mechanical manufacturing, and he couldn't help at all.

Guo Wenyuan nodded affirmatively and said, "Yes." Judging from the disassembled tank, his principle is not complicated, the tank is simply to add protective armor to the chassis of the car, and then configure the weapon system. ”

Song Zhewu felt that Guo Wenyuan was only a mechanical expert after all, not a tank expert, although what he said was right, but it was still simple to consider.

Seeing that Song Zhewu didn't say anything, Guo Wenyuan thought that Song Zhewu didn't believe it, and explained: "Commander, as far as this tank is concerned, except for the engine and the artillery on the tank, I Guo Wenyuan can't do it, because I don't know anything about these two aspects, as long as I am given the corresponding materials and equipment, there is no problem in making things the same as this tank, and I can make a military order." ”

As an expert in a certain aspect, it is the most intolerant for others to question his professional ability, Song Zhewu knows this very well, and said with a smile: "Wen Yuan, I absolutely believe that you can build such a tank, but this MC-1 is the earliest tank model of the Soviet Army, and today's tanks are much more advanced than it." ”

Guo Wenyuan was very confident in his ability, nodded and said, "The commander is right, although I haven't seen a tank before, I know a little about it." According to the tank instructor from the Northeast, although this is the first model of tank of the Soviet Army, the MC-1 is actually an imitation of the French Renault-17, but with a slight improvement, almost the same as the FT-17 of their Northeast Army. ”

"That is, the history of tank-building technology in the Soviet army began with the imitation of French tanks. The Russians first purchased a prototype tank from the West to study its construction and manufacturing experience, and later used its own advanced technical solutions to improve or even design it independently. The overall design of this MC-1 is: the engine, gearbox, driving wheels are in the rear, and the driving and other longitudinal devices are in the front, and only one driver is required. The turret is located in the front of the hull, and it has the commanding height of the whole vehicle, which can rotate 360 degrees, so that the commander's field of vision is very wide, and the fire response and speed of the tank are improved. ”

"And then there's the fact that the front wheel is very tall." Guo Wenyuan pointed to the MC-1 chassis on the ground and said: "I have discussed this tall front wheel with the instructor of the Northeast Army, and the purpose is to improve its off-road obstacle traversing ability. ”

According to the instructors of the Northeast Army, the Renault FT-17 light tank has four basic models: the first is equipped with an 8mm machine gun with 4,800 rounds of ammunition. The second is armed with a 37-mm short-barreled gun with 237 rounds. The third type is a communication command vehicle, with the turret removed, equipped with a fixed armored capsule, and equipped with a radio station. The fourth is armed with a 75-mm cannon. ”

"The MC-1 I disassembled was supposed to be an improved version of the M26 that copied the FT-17. Compared with the FT-17, the diameter of the load-bearing wheels was increased, rubber tracks were added, and a high-elastic suspension device was used to increase the driving speed of the tank, and a higher-power engine was replaced, so that the maximum speed reached 16 km/h and the range reached 160 km......"

As soon as Guo Wenyuan talked about tanks, something that he had newly understood and deeply aroused his interest, he immediately became frowning and began to talk endlessly.

Song Zhewu was also moved by Guo Wenyuan's emotions, and said with great interest: "Okay! Wen Yuan, since you have confidence, I will set up another tank factory, and you will be the director and chief engineer. ”

"But I would like to remind you that in order to build our own tanks, imitation can only be used as a means of learning and technical reserves in the near future or for a short period of time, and by no means can be used as the guiding ideology for our own tanks. Because we can't get the most advanced tanks in the world for you to copy, if we only rely on imitation, we can only run behind others forever, and we will never be able to build advanced tanks. ”

"Also, take the tank in front of us, although it is a copy of the improved model M26 of the FT-17, but after all, it is a product of the early twenties, because the protective armor is thinner and the hull is smaller, it is difficult to cross a wider trench, and can only cross a 2-meter-wide trench, and has to rely on the help of a tail skid. In this way, although its total weight is only 7 tons, it is very light, but the combat surname can also be greatly reduced. After more than ten years of development, the surname of foreign advanced tanks has surpassed it, so the tanks we design and manufacture ourselves cannot be limited to the Renault series, but must have a forward-looking surname. ”

"However, I am not saying that the French Renault series cannot be borrowed, many of its design ideas are very advanced, and even the direction of the future development of the tank. For example, its engine, gearbox, driving wheel rear-mounted, driving and other longitudinal devices in front of the layout, a turret, and the turret can rotate 360 degrees, can cooperate with infantry combat in harsh environments. In terms of these characteristics alone, it can be said that it created a precedent for the development trend of modern tanks, and even the direction of the development of tank technology in the future......"

There are some things in Song Zhewu's memory that are absolutely inconvenient to say, and those facts are appalling again.

Song Zhewu paused and said to Guo Wenyuan, who was listening to him in surprise: "I mean, although we don't have the ability to develop heavy tanks for the time being, and we won't be able to use heavy tanks for at least ten years. But we can't just develop such a small tank, it can only deal with infantry, and it can't run into the opponent's tank. ”

Song Zhewu pondered for a moment his memories of tanks in his previous life and said: "I propose a technical standard for you, and this standard is our early tank development goal: our tank should inherit the advantages of Renault, but it should be widened and lengthened, and the ability to cross the trench should reach 3 meters, so that its own length should exceed six meters; The protective armor should be thickened, and the thickness of the frontal armor should not be less than 45mm; The armor is to be tilted, and tilting the armor can cause ricochets, which is equivalent to increasing the equivalent armor thickness. The inclination angle can be considered to be set to 30°. According to the principle of collision, when the shell hits a 45mm hard object with an inclination angle of 30 ° at an angle close to horizontal, it can actually penetrate the armor with a thickness of 90 mm, which greatly improves the protection efficiency of our armor; Of course, the cross-country ability of the tank should be as high as possible, but it depends on the engine, it depends on the ability of Zeng Yijing and Wang Dong who is still in the United States, and the engine is best to be diesel, the cross-country ability should be more than 40 kilometers per hour, the caliber of the gun should be larger than this 47mm, I think it is temporarily set to 75mm, and the total tonnage should be controlled within 20 tons, because ......"

Song Zhewu, who was talking endlessly, suddenly realized that he had said too much today when he suddenly saw Guo Wenyuan, who opened his mouth wide in surprise, and a dozen student assistants who were recording rapidly.

Song Zhewu hurriedly stopped talking, and said with a very unnatural smile: "What I just said is just the ideal state of the tank that I think we need ourselves, as for what kind of tank we actually design, that is a matter for you, a big expert, and what I said is only for your reference." ”

Guo Wenyuan said with emotion: "Commander, although I have a glimpse of the way of the tank, but after all, I am a mechanical, for the tank as a whole is still a mechanical equipment, I should know more than you, what you just said, I think it is definitely the insight of the development of the tank." As for the commander coming up with these technical data on our own tanks, I would have seriously considered them in the design according to our capabilities......"

(To be continued)