Canteen System Assistance Notes

Yes, this is the "Katyusha" of Chinese gays. Oh, this is... How should I put it... I have to say... Ah, it's really beautiful...

Looking at these two beautiful "ladies", Comrade Mikhail Kuzmich could not help but recall with a little embarrassment what happened around the beginning of this year.

At that time, he was working at the 2nd Central Special Design Bureau and received a carload of "parcels" from the General Directorate of Artillery.

According to the documents, this train car was carrying a batch of two types of Chinese-made rockets. The Chinese had already completed testing and finalization procedures domestically, and had already assembled the weapons onto the vehicles. However, they had apparently encountered some problems, requiring assistance with the mechanical design of the vehicles. Comrade Mikhail Kuzmich, a recent aircraft designer turned rocket system designer, was approached by the Main Artillery Directorate to conduct verification tests on these Chinese rockets and provide guidance.

Oh, some mechanical problems... Mikhail unpacked the goods, took a quick look at the technical documents that came with the vehicle, and arranged for the staff at the test site to conduct the tests.

He browsed the documents with the mentality of correcting homework: Chinese comrades, based on the aviation rocket production equipment they are currently using or developing, lengthened the rocket by extending the body, jointly casting the grain, etc., and conducted aerodynamic tests in wind tunnels, and successfully trial-produced two types of rockets.

The main calibers of these two rockets are 127mm and 220mm respectively. Both use foldable turbofins for stability and are launched using a guide tube. The former weighs approximately 48kg, is 1950mm long, and has an 18kg warhead; the latter weighs approximately 195kg, is 2580mm long, and has an 80kg warhead. Their corresponding ranges are 12km and 9km respectively.

Mikhail:?

Is it that the grain formula has higher energy, or that the projectile design is more outstanding, or is this information just nonsense?

Just as his brain was shutting down, a roaring sound came from the test site of the 2nd Central Special Design Bureau. A rocket flew out from the test site.

It passed directly over the target originally prepared for BM-13 and another assault rocket.

The missile crashed into the forest outside the test area, leaving behind a circle of Russians staring at each other.

Fortunately, the warhead of the rocket used for testing was filled with counterweights but no explosives, and the rocket at the end of its range had burned out of fuel, otherwise the entire design bureau would have had to be mobilized to put out the forest fire.

This incident made the entire exchange team of the 2nd Central Special Design Bureau have an extremely correct attitude. They all regarded this trip to China as an equal academic exchange rather than a trip to a backward brother country to provide technical assistance.

After witnessing the actual vehicle and live-fire demonstrations, the team members were more convinced: the Katyusha rocket launcher no longer needed to be kept secret from their Chinese allies. They shared with the Eighth Route Army's design team several examples of the Katyusha's use in the Soviet Union, as well as feedback and modification suggestions from independent artillery units. They also shared many hidden issues and solutions known only to the designers.

"...In short, the soldiers of the Guards Artillery Corps were very satisfied with its firepower density, but they thought that the rocket launcher raised a lot of dust when it was fired.

The characteristics are too obvious. If the Germans in front still have artillery positions,

"They'll launch a counterattack soon. Some rocket launchers were lost as a result," someone said.

"But it's not a big deal."

Mikhail added, "We believe this problem can be addressed through tactics: for example, determining target parameters during the day, conducting fire strikes at night, and immediately evacuating positions after the strikes are complete. As far as we know, after updating combat regulations to prohibit reloading Katyushas at their original firing positions, there have been no further incidents of counterattacks by German artillery."

"We have an idea that rocket launchers, as weapons, may be a better choice when used in the fire preparation phase before a large force attacks. I would like to ask

I would like to ask, Chinese comrades, how do you plan to use this rocket weapon?"

Across the long table, the Chinese people who were taking notes raised their heads, stopped writing, discussed for a while, and then a representative who could speak Russian spoke.

"We agree with our Soviet comrades. Rocket artillery is indeed more suitable for artillery preparation on the Soviet-German battlefield. It would be best to concentrate several rocket artillery regiments, coordinate with artillery units, and use concentrated firepower to create a breakthrough in a single point in the German defenses. Then, we could use tanks to charge..." the young Chinese man said excitedly, "However, on the Chinese battlefield, static defense lines stretching for thousands of kilometers were rare. Most of the time, we faced enemy forces entrenched in strongholds, forming a circular defense."

“So, we came up with this concept.”

The Chinese representative picked up a piece of paper with the words "looming target" written in large letters in Russian.

"During the long battles, we discovered that many valuable Japanese targets often only appeared at specific times and could disappear at any time. For example, artillery positions were being deployed, enemy reinforcements were marching in formation, logistics troops were unloading supplies, and Japanese generals were preparing to escape by plane..."

"This is incredible, even a little absurd. The timing and method of the general's retreat should be top secret. How could you find a Japanese general preparing to evacuate?"

"I know it sounds incredible, but it's true," someone from the Chinese delegation said nonchalantly to the Russian who interrupted and questioned him. "It happened not long ago... Come to think of it, three years ago, we sent off a Japanese lieutenant general just like that."

………-…-…-

"Ahem, ahem! In short, this kind of elusive target might only exist for a day or two, a few hours, or even dozens of minutes. If we use artillery to attack, even with the assistance of guerrilla fighters and reconnaissance troops, sometimes the enemy will escape.

"So we pinned our hopes on rocket weapons. They can be deployed in a few minutes and fire a salvo in 20 seconds, reducing any detected targets to ashes..."

"Hidden Target".

This difficult-to-pronounce new Russian word made the discussion lively. Although it was not known whether the current Soviet army could do this, many Soviet representatives who came to participate in the exchange meeting still said that this theory was very fresh and opened their eyes.

However, because there were not many experts specializing in military theory research at the symposium, Comrade Mikhail Kuzmichyanger, who presided over the Soviet discussion, had to slam the table and ask the exchange to return to technical details.

After some discussion, the two sides quickly finalized the collaborative framework for this technical exchange: the Soviet side would dispatch a team specializing in mechanical design to help Chinese counterparts refine the rotation and erection mechanisms of their rocket launchers, and collaborate with the Chinese side to optimize the mass production process design of their rocket artillery. In return, the Chinese side would send representatives to share the formulas for rocket grains and thermal insulation with the Soviet Union, and assist the Second Central Special Design Bureau in modifying the tail fin design of the M-13 rocket to improve its accuracy at the end of its range.

"However, Mr. Davarish, I have a personal question. This question may be sensitive, so if you are not comfortable answering it, you do not need to."

After the discussion, Mikhail approached the Chinese representative, who was packing up his notebook. "The concept of looming targets is indeed novel. I couldn't stop thinking about it for almost a moment during the meeting. But I've discovered a small problem."

"If you're using rocket artillery to strike a target that might only exist for a few hours, then the longer the range, the better. Your 127mm rocket is slender and very elegant; but the 20mm rocket has a much smaller aspect ratio, making it appear shorter and less attractive.

"A beautiful weapon is not necessarily an excellent weapon, but an excellent weapon is definitely beautiful. I used to be an aircraft designer, and my intuition tells me that...

Comrades in China, do you still have this kind of 220mm rocket with a large aspect ratio?

"It has a longer range and greater power?" Mikhail asked sincerely.

"To be honest, we have a similar rocket. It's equally powerful, but it's been plagued by a lack of range. If you have any ideas for resolving this issue, please let us know."

"No problem, dear Comrade Mikhail Kuzmich, if we find a way, we will definitely tell you."

The Chinese representative who could speak Russian smiled charmingly and replied.

Chapter 658: Sino-Soviet Wartime Cooperation Plan (⑶) Hunting Arrow

When the arrogance in one's heart disappears, many collaborations become extremely smooth.

However, for the Russians, perhaps one more thing needs to be added: "the pressure of reality."

In addition to some scientific researchers, engineers and technical workers, GABTU and GAU officials were also present in the delegation that went to China for inspection and exchange. Although they were technical bureaucrats, they usually did not participate in the research and discussion of specific technical details. Instead, they mainly coordinated the allocation of manpower and material resources in the Soviet Union during the cooperation with the Eighth Route Army. In other words, they mainly attended meetings and listened in.

Then hold a small meeting with the Russians to discuss internal affairs of the Soviet Union.

However, after a week of communication, especially after the Eighth Route Army showed the Soviet Union its rockets that were still in the prototype stage, they took the initiative and contacted the Eighth Route Army with a serious face.

"Dear Chinese comrades, please arrange for us a sufficiently confidential location with electricity supply - we have very important and latest intelligence to report to you.

"It's 'she' who has arrived. The 'she' Comrade Liu He mentioned has appeared!

“And there’s more than one!”

With Maozi's slightly trembling, or perhaps PTSD, narration and the display of many battlefield photos, the Eighth Route Army finally roughly understood what had happened.

In short, about a month earlier, Soviet forces, during defensive operations in the Volkhov direction, had spotted a German medium armored unit moving toward the front lines. Scouts observing from a distance reported that the Germans had deployed approximately 11 Panzer III tanks and 3-4 "heavy tanks" toward the Soviet Volkhov Line, seemingly planning an attack.

He reported the situation to headquarters using his backpack long-range voice radio, Baofeng No. 2. Half an hour later, the artillery group behind him bombarded the German tank column. Perhaps because they were at the end of their range, the 107mm rounds landed scattered, achieving little success but only startling the Germans.

However, this group of Germans obviously did not have as resolute offensive will as their colleagues. After being bombarded by the Soviet army, the German army immediately abandoned the attack and began to retreat. But perhaps because the crew's driving skills were not yet proficient, one of the "heavy tanks" actually drove the wrong way and got stuck in the swamp beside the road, unable to move.

"Because this heavy tank had never appeared in the German tank identification manual, the front-line troops wanted to launch an attack to capture it. However, the Nazis' reaction exceeded our expectations. After failing to save themselves and discovering our attack, they immediately mobilized nearby troops, including an armored battalion, to move in. We also responded quickly, sending additional troops to reinforce us. As a result, we engaged in a battle with the Nazis over this tank."

The GABTU representative lowered his voice, as if saying something unbelievable, "The battle was extremely fierce. The Germans deployed planes, tanks, and elite grenadiers. Our soldiers fought bravely and at one point advanced to within two kilometers of the tank.

"Because the German offensive was getting more intense, our troops had to fall back. At that moment, our tanks were ordered to fire at the heavy tank.

Completely destroy it - but the T-34 tank's 76mm armor-piercing shells are like playing

It bounced off her front armor like a tool!"

The Eighth Route Army soldier took the black-and-white photo Maozi handed him. It was taken from a distance and was a bit blurry, but it had been manually annotated. In the pale mist, a tall tank was half-sunken in a swamp. Another tank of the same type was parked on the roadside as a guard, and three half-tracks were lined up, working together to pull the stuck tank out of the mud. Around the tank, large and small bullet craters still emitted smoke.

“What happened in the end?”

"We made one last attempt at an attack, even firing an 82mm armor-piercing round at her, which luckily hit the target, but it didn't cause any significant damage. Instead, she destroyed one of our T-34s at a distance of 1,800 meters. After three days of fighting, the Germans finally towed the shattered tank away, and we only managed to pick up a few fallen track plates.

The photos displayed by GABTU were affixed with a ruler for reference. The Eighth Route Army noticed that the width of the track was more than 600 mm; the intelligence department's analysis conclusion was also written next to the photo: they inferred the length of this new heavy tank based on the track width and the track marks measured on site. After referring to the ground pressure of common German tanks, the Soviets judged that the weight of the German heavy tank or heavy assault gun should be more than 600 tons, which is a very heavy tank.

The GAU official adjusted his mood and gave his final conclusion.

Our analysis of the recovered T-34 tanks revealed that it was armed with an 88mm cannon. This was different from the heavy tanks we had previously discovered on the Rostov front—there, our scouts had found wider track marks and recovered a number of shell casings and wooden boxes: these included 105mm shells and a small number of 128mm shells.

"We believe that the Germans have more than one mysterious heavy tank or assault gun, possibly divided into multiple models of different levels. The most important thing is that these deadly tanks have already been sent to the battlefield!"

When these words were spoken, the Russians didn't feel the fear of a demon descending upon them. Instead, they felt a sense of "finally coming": the boot finally falling wasn't as unbearable as the sword of Damocles hanging over their heads. The GAU representative breathed a sigh of relief, exchanged glances with the other Soviets, and after making up his mind, he adopted a sincere tone:

"After serious discussions at the Council of Ministers, we believe that if we want to keep pace with the changing war situation, the 2nd Central Special Design Bureau's wire-guided rocket project and the Chinese comrades' command-type portable rocket project should be merged."

The Russians had previously informed the Eighth Route Army of the "Katyusha" project's wire-guided design. Because the Katyusha's missile dispersion was excessive in the middle and later stages of its range, the Second Central Special Design Bureau attempted to improve the rocket's impact point using wire-guided control. Although the project was aborted due to its high difficulty and insufficient resources, it still left behind many valuable achievements.

"We believe that if this type of weapon is developed according to the command-type portable rocket route of our Chinese comrades, it will be able to effectively restrain the Nazis' heavy tanks; for the Japanese fascists, although they do not have as many armored forces, this command rocket can still play a very important role when you recover your homeland and attack the enemy's bunker defenses.

"Regarding the difficulties you encountered previously..."

He took out a form and read it from top to bottom:

"The 2nd Central Special Design Bureau will make public the existing technical data of 'line-guided rockets', provide Chinese comrades with experimental data of 12 types of rocket aerodynamic layouts, and facilitate Chinese comrades' wind tunnel experiments; Comrade Dmitry Alexanderovich Wenzel, professor of ballistics at the Zhukov Academy, will be responsible for optimizing the ballistic data provided by Chinese comrades, and comrades evacuated from the Krasnogorsk Optical Mechanical Plant and the Leningrad State Optical Instrument Plant will form a new design bureau to be responsible for the design of the optical part of the aiming system.

"We propose that the Chinese comrades remain responsible for the design of the rocket charge, the warhead, and the aiming and control systems. We request your assistance in these areas. We believe that through the concerted efforts of the Chinese and Soviet peoples, we will be able to quickly find a way to restrain the Nazis—whether they are the German Nazis or the Japanese fascists."

At this moment, thousands of kilometers away, Lieutenant Kurt Hildebrandt, the commander of the independent anti-tank platoon of the Wehrmacht's 521st Tank Destroyer Battalion, and Captain von Nordl, the commander of the first company of the 501st Heavy Armored Battalion, sneezed at the same time.

At the Kwantung Army headquarters in Dalini, General Tada Shun suddenly felt a chill. "Is it the wind?" he wondered.

Chapter 659: ПK-3 Long-Range Escort Fighter-Bomber

"speed?"

"Radar speed measurement 672, optical speed measurement 675."

"Got it, thank you comrade."

A fighter jet, painted bright yellow with rust-proof paint and a red star with the Chinese character "中" insignia, streaked low over the Guanzhong Plain, trailing a wisp of afterburner smoke. Its massive wings, roughly five meters long, cast a shadow on the ground. With the roar of its engines, this steel-and-aluminum artifact flexed its power and grace, like a soaring eagle.

Aircraft designer Nikolai Polikarpov, looking up from behind his sunglasses, raised his microphone. "Alexei, how are you feeling?"

"It feels great! Great!" Ace test pilot Alexi Kubishkin's laughter sounded particularly unrestrained over the radio. "I feel like I'm riding a brown bear!" "Forget the brown bear. Our planes aren't that heavy."

"That's true, but it's a really big plane!" Alexey Kubishkin switched to rather impressive Chinese. "Steamer, Steamer, this is Doubao. The test flight has been completed, requesting to land." After a humming noise, a girl's voice came over the radio: "Steamer, I got it. Doubao, you can land. Approach heading 035, runway 3. After landing, standby in parking area 9."

"Doubao received, heading 035, runway 3. After landing, proceed to parking area 9 and wait. Over."

The fighter plane marked "O6" gradually flew away. Polikarpov switched his radio to another frequency: "Lu, are you there?" "Hello, teacher! I'm here and I can hear you loud and clear."

"Please tell the comrades in the tower that they can prepare aircraft 05, 'Zongzi', for takeoff and conduct the next test flight." "Understood!"

Since August 1941, Nikolai Polikarpov's project: the ITP long-range escort fighter program, has not been smooth sailing.

This was a fighter aircraft requiring "long range*" and heavy firepower, while also being capable of carrying a significant external payload. Perhaps due to time constraints, after enlarging the engine nacelle and fuselage structure originally suitable for Mikulin and Klimov engines, Polikarpov directly constructed the entire aircraft using duralumin skins and one-piece steel components produced in the border regions.

After passing static tests, the first prototype was quickly shipped, thanks to the hard work of Chinese and Soviet workers. While the aircraft successfully flew without any fatal design flaws, with the R-2800 engine limited to 1800 horsepower, the unarmed aircraft only reached a low-altitude speed of approximately 570 kilometers per hour—an acceptable performance for a large fighter at the time, but clearly not exceptional for an aircraft equipped with an 1800-horsepower engine (with limited output).

Something must have gone wrong, wasting the massive horsepower output of the Twin Wasp engines.

Using his designer's intuition, Polikarpov believed that the many irrationalities left over from the JTP's original design had caused excessive drag on the aircraft: this was a common problem, especially when an aircraft's engine was replaced, not to mention that the ITP was replacing the bulky R-2800 Double Wasp.

The increased frontal area and altered fuselage shape easily generated excessive wind resistance, increasing flight resistance and reducing the aircraft's speed. Polikarpov, along with engineers from the design bureau and his student Lu Xiaopeng, began adjusting the aircraft's engine cowling, lines, seam details, and other details to reduce unnecessary drag.

This meticulous work wasn't easy, but China boasted a "computing center" staffed by hundreds of computing experts, allowing Polikarpov to delegate much of the complex computational work and improve efficiency. However, after several unsuccessful test flights, lead test pilot Alexi Kubishkin reported that the propeller speed of the O test aircraft was consistently exceedingly high, with the overspeed being far more severe than on the MiGs and Yak aircraft he had flown before.

It's like...the engine driving the propeller is too simple.

The resistance of the engine comes from the propeller, and when the engine power increases, the propeller will obviously increase its speed under the same shaft power. With this clue, everyone immediately reviewed the engine replacement work and quickly discovered the problem -

Initially, the Polikarpov Design Bureau, new to the R-2800's large, high-power engine, apparently didn't fully appreciate its 200 stationary horsepower + 250 emergency waterjet horsepower. During the construction of the first prototype, to expedite progress, the designers responsible for this portion of the design bureau retained the Soviet army's common three-bladed propeller. Furthermore, to account for the increased engine power, the designers employed the propeller parameters of the "Earth Z" and implemented a simple, scaled-up design.

This propeller is clearly not enough to suppress the R-2800, a monster of horsepower!

However, redesigning a suitable propeller would have been prohibitively time-consuming. Fortunately, due to the need to maintain the Corsair fighter, the Eighth Route Army's Guanzhong Aluminum Company had previously licensed several large propellers from Hamilton Standard Propeller Company, making it the only domestic manufacturer of metal propellers. Polikarpov quickly adopted a "take-it-all" approach. After testing and comparing, he selected large propellers similar to those used on the F8F Bearcat and the Goodyear F2G for the ITP's propellers.

This large propeller, with a diameter of 3.84 meters and four blades, converts the Twin Wasp engine's powerful horsepower into reliable aerodynamic force without digging the propeller into the ground. Soon, the No. 01 prototype, equipped with the propeller, took to the skies again. This time, it reached a top speed of approximately 630 kilometers per hour in low-altitude level flight, a significant improvement.

The measures are effective, and the iteration begins!

Thanks to the efforts of aviation engineers and technical workers from China and the Soviet Union, the aircraft city in Liyang ran at full capacity. Within a few months, it quickly completed the manufacturing of another five prototypes based on the different conditions of the aircraft.

The "Q" model, which had its power restrictions lifted and was equipped with a two-stage supercharger, was a high-altitude model. The "03" model, which had completed its first round of drag reduction but lacked a supercharger, was a low-altitude model. The "4" model, which had completed drag reduction and was equipped with a two-stage supercharger, was a "full-state high-altitude model" model. The "05" model, which was equipped with a 23mm cannon and a 12.7mm machine gun, had undergone a second round of drag reduction, and was equipped with a water jet and a two-stage supercharger.

And the "full-state low-altitude model No. 06" that had just flown over Polikarpov, without a second-stage supercharger but with an extra-large afterburner tank.

The high-altitude model will suffer some loss in low-altitude performance, and the maximum speed will be reduced to 642 km/h, but the performance above 600 meters will be greatly improved, and its climbing ability is good, comparable to regular fighters. It is more suitable for Chinese comrades to escort bombers flying to Japan; the low-altitude model has excellent maneuverability and speed at low altitude, and with the afterburner system it can quickly respond to the pilot's operations, making it suitable for the Soviet Air Force to escort Il-2 attack aircraft for ground attacks.

"Oh, I set up 6 underwing hardpoints and 1 belly hardpoint for her, so she can carry ammunition and attack the ground by herself - but after hanging bombs and rockets, she will be as stupid as a pig and unable to fight in the air.

"... In both low- and high-altitude combat tests, it comprehensively outperformed the Wildcat, Donkey, and Hurricane fighters equipped by its Chinese counterparts. Furthermore, and most importantly, it can achieve a range of 1850 kilometers when carrying three auxiliary fuel tanks, enough to fly from China to western Japan, or from Murmansk to Bear Island..."

Polikarpov climbed into the jeep and headed for the next scheduled test site. As the swaying vehicle rocked, he pondered slowly: "At this rate, the aircraft will definitely pass type approval... Is there anything else that needs improvement?"

"I hope the pilots from the Soviet and Chinese trials can tell me the answer."

Chapter 660: The Delayed Deployment of the North China General Army

While A Bie and Maozi were exchanging technology with each other and deciding on joint research projects and material distribution; while the national army was experiencing a personnel storm and watching the rise of the "Prince faction"... Lieutenant General Iimura Mamoru, one of the second-in-command of the North China Front Army, was attending a ceremony at the Temple of Heaven in Beijing, a very strange ceremony.

"Comfort sacrifice for the soldiers and horses killed in battle."

To put it simply, it is a ceremony to commemorate the assets of His Majesty and the imperial horses who died in the war that just happened. The ceremony to commemorate the fallen generals has been held at the Tokyo Shrine on Chiyoda Kudanzaka in Tokyo. What needs to be held in North China is probably the ceremony to commemorate the horses.