Episode 124 Lightning-4 Tank

Then, as expected, the side and rear armor of the Hurricane-36 were fully resistant to rifle and machine gun bullets. But in the 7.92 mm tungsten core armor-piercing shot, a total of 10 rounds were fired, and only 7 rounds were fired off the side armor, and 3 were penetrated. The rear armor blocked only 5 shots, 5 penetrated. The next 12.7 mm anti-tank bullets pierced the side and rear armor with each shot.

The test results showed that the Hurricane 36 was able to defend against bullets on the battlefield, and the soldiers in the vehicle were well protected. But the defensive effect against anti-tank guns was so-so. However, this is also in line with the positioning of such an armored personnel carrier. After all, there are not many opportunities for an armored personnel carrier to come under direct fire from an anti-tank gun on the battlefield. Because the time when you are most vulnerable to fire from anti-tank guns is when you are charged by an assault. And when charging, the tank is always at the front.

Besides, even if the armored vehicle was fired by the enemy at this time, it was the frontal armor that withstood the bullets. Tests have shown that the frontal armor of the Hurricane-36 is still effective against anti-tank guns.

After testing the armored defense, Zhang Shaoheng took Xiang Xiaoqiang and them to see in detail another variant of the Hurricane-36: the Hurricane-36 self-propelled mortar. This self-propelled mortar is divided into two types, one with 80 mm caliber and one with 120 mm caliber. The 80 mm gun base is designed to be quickly disassembled, which means that if necessary, it can be removed from the inside of the vehicle for direct use by the infantry.

Xiang Xiaoqiang and the accompanying experts watched the firing of this self-propelled mortar, and then watched how the 80-mm mortar was quickly disassembled from the car and quickly installed.

"Because this 80mm mortar is the same as the infantry one," says one of Tai Ping's experts, "the only thing is that there is a slight difference in the base, which is easy to fix on the floor of the armored vehicle." Everything else is universal. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang nodded. To be honest, he was not very interested in the firing demonstration of mortars. The mortar shooting just now was earth-shattering and full of fireworks, but it was much better than the armor test. But the importance is much lower. After all, to put it bluntly, this is just a demonstration of 80 mortars and 120 mortars, and he came to Taiping today mainly to see the armored vehicles themselves.

Zhang Shaoheng also saw that Xiang Xiaoqiang was not very interested, so he let the word go over, and just try a few shots of each. Then, he mentioned two other variants to Xiang Xiaoqiang: the Hurricane 36-75 mm self-propelled gun and the Hurricane 36-47 mm anti-tank gun.

This is obviously much more interested in Xiaoqiang. Although these two are also variants of the windmill family, this variant and the other variant are not the same concept. Self-propelled mortars, just loading ready-made mortars into the car, although they are certainly very useful on the battlefield, but after all, the technical content is not large. And 75-mm self-propelled guns and 47-mm anti-tank guns are very different. They're not just a ready-made cannon to put on it. There are too many places involved, and the requirements for the design of the whole vehicle are much higher.

"How is it," Xiang Xiaoqiang asked, "Is there a sample car?" ”

"Not yet," Zhang Shaoheng said with a smile, "At present, only a preliminary design has been made." Because our Hurricane 36 is going to be made into a car family, there will be several variants for various purposes. These two are currently only tentative. However, once the decision is made to go with the formal design, there will certainly be no major technical problems. Just to say...... No matter what kind of variant the car is, it is based on the basic model of the Hurricane-36. Therefore, it still depends on the military's perception of the Hurricane-36. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled and nodded. He knew that when Boss Zhao said this, it showed that he was very confident and knew that the "military", that is, Xiang Xiaoqiang, would definitely not be bad at their perception of the Hurricane-36.

He hasn't had the time to negotiate the price until now. But he still casually asked:

"Well, what's the approximate price of the basic model? Just say about the range, I have a number in mind. ”

Zhang Shaoheng smiled, turned his head and discussed a few words with the attaché behind him, and then smiled at Xiang Xiaoqiang:

"Since Lord Xiang has asked now, I will estimate the approximate price with Lord Xiang. This mainly depends on the number of orders. Adults also know that this is not a mass-produced thing like cars or guns...... How to say it, this can be said to order dozens of more and dozens of less, and the unit price will change. Let's tell adults like this, the price is more conservative, and each car should be less than 10,000 Mingyang. Depending on the quantity ordered, the unit price should vary in the range of 5,000-10,000. Adults can refer to it. ”

Xiang Xiaoqiang smiled, turned his head to Wang Hexiang and said with a smile:

"Boss Zhang's price is really 'conservative', 10,000 Mingyang, almost catching up with the cost of Lightning-1."

Wang Hexiang also closed his eyes and shook his head with a "tsk".

But Zhang Shaoheng was still calm, with a smile on his face. Because he knows in his heart: his things are really good enough, the other party is really satisfied enough, and the price is really not high. As an armored car, 10,000 Mingyang is a bit expensive, but 5,000 Mingyang is very cheap. Just like he said, the unit price of expensive munitions such as armored vehicles and tanks is very sensitive to the quantity ordered, and the price of 1,000 units and 3,000 units is a world of difference. Zhang Shaoheng also knows in his heart, and Xiang Xiaoqiang also understands it. This reaction is just a gesture and a good bargain later.

Xiang Xiaoqiang also knows that now is just a matter of asking, not the time to talk about the price. Because of this kind of expensive and complicated munitions, the purchase price is not something that a few of them can decide by looking at it here. In the future, it is necessary to ask experts from the War Department, the General Administration of Military Industry, and other units to conduct a comprehensive investigation. However, the People's Guard is a big user of armored products, and Xiang Xiaoqiang is also the main person in charge of the Ming army's weapon upgrades, so it can still be finalized.

……

After an afternoon of testing at the test site, now the sun has sunk in the west. looked at Xiaoqiang's watch, it was already past six o'clock. He waved his hand and ordered everyone to call it a day. That's all for today.

The group took the train back to the factory area, and then took the car back to the living area. That night, Xiang Xiaoqiang and his party lived in Taiping Ji. The next day, they looked at the drawings and models of the Lightning-4 tank.

The Lightning-4 is also a major weapon designed by Tai Ping Ji at the beginning of the year to Xiaoqiang. Because in the Battle of Nanjing, the Lightning 2-3 series tanks exposed the problem that they could not fight against the "Baturu" and "Kubu" tanks of the Northern Qing Dynasty. Therefore, Tai Ping Kee Company used the 47mm fortress rapid-fire gun of the Yangtze River defense line and the redesigned hull to propose a design scheme for the Lightning IV series tank.

Xiang Xiaoqiang and the expert team looked at the drawings while listening to the engineers of Taiping Ji introduce the basic performance.

The Lightning-4 tank weighed 24.1 tons, and its main armament was a 47mm 42 times caliber long-barreled anti-tank gun with 73 rounds of ammunition. The secondary armament is two 7.92mm Woodpecker machine guns (1,800 rounds for the course machine gun and 1,000 rounds for the side-by-side machine gun). Maximum road speed: If equipped with an engine produced by Daming, it is 38 kilometers per hour and a maximum range of 155 kilometers. If equipped with a German engine, the maximum road speed can reach 40 km/h and the maximum range is 165 km/h. However, the cost of using German engines will be relatively high.

In terms of armor defense: the turret front armor is 35mm, which is without a shield. With a shield, it's 55mm. The thickness of the front armor of the hull was 25mm. The thickness of the armor on the side of the hull was 25mm.

In addition, the engineer of Tai Ping Kee also specially explained: in urban battles, in order to prevent blows from the side, the Lightning IV can also add an armor plate on the side of the hull to increase the strength of the side armor of the hull. However, this will increase the weight and slow down the speed. Still, this little loss of speed in street fighting is worth it.

The thickness of the rear armor of the hull is 20mm. Moreover, the rear configuration tool glove basket also played a role in counteracting part of the blows of anti-tank guns. The thickness of the roof and bottom armor was 10mm, respectively. There is an escape door under the car.

According to the engineer, because the gun used in the Lightning-4 is an improved version of the 47mm fortress rapid-fire gun, it has relatively excellent anti-tank capabilities. The 47mm fortress rapid-fire gun has been widely used on the defense line of the Yangtze River in the Ming Dynasty, and everyone is very familiar with its various performances.

This gun is capable of penetrating 48mm armor at a distance of 500m and 68mm armor at a distance of 250m, and is mature and easy to produce. Although it is not possible to compete with the "Baturu" at medium and long distances in the front, with excellent maneuverability, it should be very effective to strike at the side, track, and rear engines of the "Baturu" at close range. Moreover, in the face of the "Kubu", it can give full play to its speed advantage, and the characteristics of frontal inclined armored ricochets can fully confront it.

……

Xiang Xiaoqiang and his entourage stayed at the Chongqing Taiping Ji Company for two days, and the expert group they brought with them also studied in detail the details of the Cyclone-36 armored vehicle and the Lightning-4 tank. When Xiang Xiaoqiang was leaving, he instructed the Taipingji Company to transport the armored car that had been tested at the test site, that is, the basic Hurricane-36 basic car with a lot of guns, to Nanjing as soon as possible. The General Directorate of Military Industry under the War Department is more specialized in this area and should be given a more detailed look. After all, in addition to the People's Guard, this kind of thing still needs to be equipped with a large number of army forces.

On the morning of the third day, Xiang Xiaoqiang and his party left Taiping Ji Company and returned to Nanjing by plane.