It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 39 | Eighty Years Are Enough
Nervous! Serious!
The discipline in the Federal Military Academy has always been strict, and Shang Ke’s time in the short-term training course at the Tank Academy was not easy. In addition to the basic courses, he had to take out his free time to worry about other things.

Writing ideas for armored force construction, hiring employees from the Tri-Union Defense Research Institute, exchanging letters with Jian Keqiu... and so on.

Especially after observing and test-driving a real tank, his worries became even greater.

From the perspective of a time traveler, the tanks currently equipped by the Wehrmacht are really hard to complain about.

The Type 32 tank, developed based on the infantry support concept, has a purchase price of 1.14 won. It is the army's main tank model, and its technical and tactical indicators are as follows:
Total weight - 16.2 tons

Members - 4 people

Power - 210 hp V12 gasoline engine

Top speed: 44 km/h on road, 20 km/h off-road
Armor - Case-hardened armored steel, 20 mm front of hull and turret, 15 mm sides
Weapons - 65mm short-barreled cannon, three 3mm machine guns
Suspension - 5 pairs of road wheels, independent spring suspension

As an interwar medium tank, this 16-ton tank is actually not bad, almost equivalent to the early model of the Panzer IV tank.

Since it was originally designed to accompany infantry in combat, it did not adopt the small-caliber long-barreled gun popular in Europe. This short-barreled gun fired powerful fragmentation grenades and was very suitable for attacking earthworks.

Such a design is quite consistent with the needs of the Grand Commander-in-Chief of the Federal Armed Forces, because one of the hypothetical enemies is the British Indian Army in the South Asian subcontinent.

In addition, the Army has two types of tanks in service.

One of them is the fast cavalry tank, which was an imitation product inspired by similar tanks of the Ivan Rus army. It was fully equipped to the Northern troops, and it seemed that they wanted to have a mechanized cavalry showdown with the Ivan Rus armored forces in the Siberian wilderness.

The second is the amphibious tank. Since the south is densely covered with water networks and the imaginary enemy is the British and Indian Army, overseas operations cannot avoid the need for landing operations, so amphibious tanks were developed and mainly equipped with the Marine Corps.

Shangke believes that they are both first-class products of their time and are well-made. During the test drive, the clutch shifting is incredibly smooth and the experience is excellent.

However, these interwar products could not meet the harsh armor-piercing and shell-shocking requirements of the world war.

Shang Ke knew this very well.

He listed some key technical and tactical indicators and suggested developing a medium tank with an empty weight of more than 20 tons, equipped with a medium-caliber tank gun, torsion bar suspension, inclined armor, and a large-diameter turret ring.

In any case, this thing has enough upgrade potential to serve as the mainstay from the beginning to the end of the war.

As a time traveler, it is most basic to play the role of foresight.

Who can guarantee that the Grand Federation will not be negligent in designing the next generation of tanks due to the limitations of the times?

The classic Panzer IV tank, the early Type A was only 17 tons, and it was continuously improved afterwards. However, even if the chassis of the Panzer IV tank was squeezed to the limit, it could only barely increase its weight to 25 tons, leaving a flaw in its fragile face - the front of the turret was only 50 mm thick.

The equally famous T-34 was difficult to increase in weight due to the weight-sensitive Christie coil spring suspension. Replacing the turret with an 85mm tank gun was the limit. There was no extra weight to be allocated to the armor, so the only option was to continue using the later 45mm frontal armor, which was obviously insufficient.

Similar shortcomings should be avoided as much as possible in our country.

Mr. Shang is a very meticulous person. In order to increase his professionalism, it is undoubtedly necessary for him to package himself.

He specifically bought second-hand textbooks for majors related to vehicle engineering and mechanical engineering, and then found ways to entrust an intermediary to get him a correspondence degree in mechanical engineering from Qizhou Institute of Technology.

From February to May, Shang Ke was busy with various things like a spinning top.

It can be said that he has worked hard for the grand cause. Shouldn't this be commended as a model worker who has devoted his life to the cause?

In early summer, the climate in Ganden is still quite cool.

Late that night, Shang Ke, who was suffering from back pain, put the cap back on his pen, stretched himself and sighed.

"Will the Commander-in-Chief give me a medal weighing a ton?"

"What have you come up with this time?" Xu Zhong was already used to him like this. He came over to take a look, then climbed the ladder to the upper bunk.

After spending some time together, Xu Zhong discovered that although Shang's academic performance was not outstanding, he was full of creative ideas and inspirations and was very active.

This guy pointed out the shortcomings of the two existing schools of thought and is committed to developing new ones. Maybe he is really a genius?
Xu Zhong lay on his side and asked, "By the way, when are you planning to release this idea of ​​yours?"

Shang Ke poured a glass of water and drank it all, then said vaguely, "Wait another month or so, I'm waiting for you to help me polish it."

"Do you really count on me?" Xu Zhong sat up.

"What else? I haven't systematically studied staff work." Shang Ke said as a matter of course.

"Okay, just consider it as earning money for my son's milk powder."

"How can you be sure it's a son? Maybe it's a daughter?"

"It's all right. I don't care. Oh, by the way, how's your fiancée?"

It is rare to find a young man like Shang who is still unmarried at this age, but Xu Zhong’s wife is already nine months pregnant.

"What fiancée? That's a fabrication! She and I just have a good relationship." Shang Ke was being very stubborn.

Xu Zhong, who was lying flat on his back with his eyes closed, uttered a sigh and said leisurely, "Don't waste the girl's kindness."

"Of course I won't let her down. Her bus will arrive tomorrow morning." Shang Ke's tone was extremely confident.

"Huh?!" Xu Zhong sat up again, surprised. "He came here by train from Xijing? When did that happen? How come I didn't know about it? Is this what you mean by a good relationship?"

The next day.

The few days of vacation at the end of the month are precious. Shang Ke got up early and went straight to the train station at dawn.

The scheduled train arrived at the station a quarter of an hour late, and he searched carefully among the hundreds of people.

Finally, the familiar figure appeared.

Shang Ke subconsciously raised the corners of his mouth, took two steps at a time and stepped forward, saluted solemnly and said, "I am Shang Ke, a major student in the second class of the advanced department of the Army Tank Academy. I am here to escort Grand Secretary Jian!"

Jian Keqiu looked at him with an expression that said, "Are you okay?" and then handed the luggage to him.

Three days ago, Jian Keqiu successfully obtained his bachelor's degree and after a quick packing, he boarded the train to Ganden.

The two first checked in at a hotel near the Tank Academy and put down their luggage, and then went to a restaurant.

"Where are you going to work next?" Shang Ke asked with his head tilted.

"I'm going to Jinling to find a research institute. My family doesn't agree with me staying in the capital." Jian Keqiu said lightly.

"Can we go to Gusu? I need someone to take care of my Triple Defense." Shang Ke took her hand and said helplessly, "Should I trouble you again?"

"You've troubled me so many times." A blush appeared on Jian Keqiu's face. Her voice became a little softer, and she said indifferently, "Don't trouble me anymore in the future. I'm very busy."

Shang Ke hesitated for two seconds, looked into her eyes and said quietly, "Then I can only spread the trouble I have to cause you over a longer period of time, maybe a hundred years."

Jian Keqiu also took two seconds to process this. Without looking away, she smiled and replied, "Does it take that long? Eighty years is more than enough."

(End of this chapter)