The tank weighed about 12.5 tons, and on the basis of accommodating four crews, it was also capable of carrying two ring bullet bags of 1,200 rounds of machine-gun ammunition, twenty-eight shells and weapons for four crew members.

Because it is a tracked tank, the tank can travel an average speed of 25 km/h on flat roads and a maximum speed of 32 km/h.

Of course, if it is a non-flat road, then the average travel speed and maximum travel speed will be greatly reduced, and it may even affect the stability of the tank.

Although this big guy is relatively slow, it has a maximum driving distance of 210 kilometers.

Because the tank body is fully covered with 17mm steel armor, this big guy looks a little bloated, but the protection ability is indeed trustworthy.

Historically, the armor of tanks in the late First World War was only about 5 to 12 mm, and the armor thickness of the first generation of Australasian tanks has far exceeded this figure.

Of course, there is still a long way to go from the thickness of tank armor during World War II. During World War II, the armor thickness of tanks was already generally 45 to 100 mm, and the armor thickness of the Rat super-heavy tank even reached a terrifying 350 mm.

What is the concept of 350mm? It is 35 centimeters, and the thickness of the armor alone is almost half a meter, and the bullet is estimated to have rubbed off a layer of paint.

Seeing that Arthur was very interested in the tank that had just been developed, the researchers of the agricultural machinery factory quickly organized an experiment on the performance of the tank.

Of course, this experiment could not be put in a farm machinery factory. After all, you are a factory engaged in agricultural machinery, what is the matter with explosions and machine guns all the time in the factory?

For the sake of secrecy, the tank experiments were placed at the station of the Guards Division on the outskirts of Sydney, and the sound of artillery and machine guns could also be falsely claimed as training for the Guards Division.

The garrison of the Guards Division, a certain training ground.

Usually here at this time, various artillery and shooting training has already begun.

At this time, however, the training ground was quiet, and there were more trenches, barbed wire, tunnels, ditches, horse rejections, and small simple forts.

Of course, although these facilities are simple to build, they can be trusted to be robust.

At least in war, it is a qualified defensive position, and the protective performance is definitely better than that of a hastily built defensive position.

Maybe it was because of the rain yesterday that made the training ground a little muddy. When people walk on such a road, they will inevitably slip, which will naturally reduce their combat effectiveness in combat.

On a high platform outside the training ground, Arthur, Secretary of Defense Raul, Secretary of State Kent, Commander of the Guards Division, and the head of the Agricultural Machinery Factory stood on the high platform and looked carefully with binoculars.

I saw that in the training ground, a strangely shaped tracked vehicle drove slowly not far away, and because it was a tracked one, it did not skid in some muddy training grounds.

This is naturally the protagonist tank today, and all the arrangements of today's training ground are prepared for tanks, in order to test the performance of tanks built by agricultural machinery factories.

"Mr. Factory Director, does this big guy really have the ability you said?" Thomas, the commander of the Guards Division, asked curiously.

Although the director of the agricultural machinery factory blew this big guy named Tank to the sky, but no matter how you look at it, Commander Thomas thinks that this is a clumsy guy, can this really be put into the battlefield and become a big killer?

"Commander Thomas, just take a look!" The director of the agricultural machinery factory glanced at Arthur's face, and then said to Thomas with a smile.

Under the gaze of the crowd, the tank slowly approached the various fortifications that had been built, and quickly passed over the barbed wire, wooden stakes, puddles, tunnels, and the like with a devastating force.

Seeing that the tank easily crossed over in the face of these infantry's very tricky obstacles, Division Commander Thomas raised his eyebrows with interest and continued to watch with concentration.

This is followed by a steep slope that looks a little laborious, and below the steep slope is a regular trench.

Because of the close proximity of the steep slope and the trench, there is a risk that the tank will not be able to stop the vehicle and plant in the trench at any time.

However, this is not difficult for the tracked tank, after climbing the steep slope easily, the tracked tank passes through the trench as if it were walking on the ground, as if the two-meter-deep trench did not exist.

At the end of the trenches was an improvised fortress made of steel and concrete. Although it is not thick, if the infantry is allowed to pull out this fortress, I am afraid that it will have to pay a lot of casualties.

After all, such a fortress is like a turtle on the battlefield, and there is really no good way for him to shrink into his shell.

Seeing that the tank was approaching the fortress, the men who had already hidden in the fortress used rifles and machine guns to strafe for three minutes, and after finding that no damage had been done to the tank, they immediately and decisively withdrew from the fortress.

After everyone left the fortress, the tank bombed the fortress, and under the premise of frequent consumption of shells, it took less than two minutes to blow up a large gap in the fortress, and the fortress was also crumbling, and it was directly destroyed under the impact of the tank.

The most difficult problem for the infantry to pull out such a fortress is that when the fortress is removed, the people of the fortress will also carry out all kinds of counterattacks, causing a large number of casualties to the infantry.

The fact that the tank withstood three minutes of fire from inside the fortress before destroying it was to prove that the tank could withstand an attack from inside the fortress while destroying the fortress.

Seeing this, not only Division Commander Thomas, but also Secretary of State Raul and Secretary of State Kent were all very interested in the new weapon developed by the agricultural machinery factory, the tank.

After watching the tank destroy the fortress, they slowly returned to the place where the experiment began, and several people from the military looked at the agricultural machinery factory, and the excitement in their eyes could not be concealed.

"Well, you've been called here to see this new weapon in action. New weapons will definitely be equipped with our army, and first of all, with the Guards Division. Arthur looked at the excited faces of the three of them, and couldn't help but say funny.

"Your Majesty, why don't you just equip us with a regiment! This kind of big guy is a big killer on the battlefield, which can not only reduce the casualties of our soldiers, but also can wantonly destroy the enemy's soldiers and fortresses, which is simply unreasonable. Hearing Arthur say this, Division Commander Thomas couldn't bear it anymore and hurriedly requested.

"The equipment must be equipped, but the current tank is still in the research and development stage, and the performance is not so stable. There were no accidents in the tank experiments today, which does not mean that there will be no accidents in the future. But it is worth affirming that this tank has great combat capabilities and can play a decisive role on the battlefield. Arthur said with a smile.

In fact, it is no wonder that these military leaders are so excited about tanks, which are a powerful weapon that can change the concept of warfare, even in the original history.

And didn't the steel torrent of Red Russia in tanks and armored vehicles in later generations also make European countries chill for a long time?

"Director Joel, tell these guys about the current progress of tank development." Arthur said with a smile.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Joel, the director of the Agricultural Machinery Factory, nodded respectfully, and then explained to the three Kent people: "Everyone, at present, our tank is still in the research and development stage, and it is expected that it will be about half a year before it is officially put into production. You don't want to buy tanks that have problems every now and then, right? Please give us half a year at the machine plant, and I assure you that after half a year we will be able to provide the military with reliable tanks. ”

Hearing the half-year deadline that Director Joel said, the three Kent nodded in understanding.

After all, soldiers don't want their weapons to go to the battlefield but strike at themselves, isn't this a joke about the lives of soldiers?

Minister Raul nodded and said with a smile: "Director Joel, the follow-up tests and improvements, you have to hurry up!" You can rest assured, the military's orders are absolutely indispensable, and even if they are out of the box, I will win orders for at least a thousand tanks for the army. ”

Whether it's Kent, Minister Raul or Division Commander Thomas, they are all high-ranking and elite people from the military.

They already have a full understanding of the combat effectiveness of tanks and their decisive role on the battlefield.

If the Australasian army can be equipped with thousands of tanks, even if the army has only 120,000 soldiers, it is definitely worth hundreds of thousands of troops from other countries.

Even to put it bluntly, with a thousand tanks, Australasia's land forces are directly at the level of the great powers, and even among the great powers it is definitely not at the bottom.

"The information on the tank must be kept absolutely secret, and it is basically impossible to equip the troops on a large scale in a short period of time." Kent glanced at Minister Raul and directly retorted to Minister Raul.

"I was negligent." Facing his former subordinate, Arthur's absolute confidant, Deputy Prime Minister of Kent, Minister Raul did not dare to be presumptuous, and hurriedly said.

"Kent is right. Tanks are currently in absolute secrecy for Australasia and cannot equip troops in the open. However, we can secretly form armored divisions, secretly form an army made up entirely of tanks, and often send other divisions to mix with tank divisions. Of course, the members of these divisions that train with tank divisions also need to be carefully selected, in short, until other countries have vigorously developed tanks, our tanks have better be kept secret. Arthur nodded, agreeing with Kent.

Seeing that Arthur had spoken, Minister Raul naturally did not dare to have any opinions.

"Of course, if it is found that other countries in Europe are already vigorously developing tanks, then our tanks can also be taken on the bright side. When the time comes, as Minister Raul said, even if we have thousands of them, we must ensure our superiority over other countries in terms of tanks. ”

The second change of 3,000 words, ask for a monthly pass, ask for support!

(End of chapter)