afterglow

Chapter 404 Chapter [-] Trial Assault Gun Design; Routine Operations of Subordinate Staff

The history of Yangyue Company can be traced back to the ninth year of Zhichang. Its founder is Li Quan - a businessman who is good at human relations, but can be called ruthless.

There is no trace of the habits of a feudal landlord in Li Quan. It can be said that he is a rare and true capitalist. In the end, he alienated himself into a slave of capital - serving to maximize profits, so much so that he lost his job because of years of hard work. Died of illness.

With the birth of the Ford Model T, there was a car craze all over the world, and Ming Dynasty was no exception.

However, the initial investment in the automobile industry is too large. Machines and factories are easy to handle, but qualified engineers and skilled workers cannot be grown from the ground.

The imperial court invested heavily and took many years to establish Junda Automobile Company in Shanghai, and Yanjing's Xunjie Company was stabilized through joint ventures with many merchants and nobles from Beizhili and Shanxi provinces.

In contrast, Yangyue Company only had the support of the local government back then, and the Chief Secretary of Hubei Province and the Wuhan Government themselves were strapped for cash. After all, there were too many places to spend money, so they could only cooperate vigorously in terms of policies.

Li Quan started by running a textile factory. In the automobile industry, he started by establishing a car repair shop. He then imported parts for assembly, gradually increased the self-sufficiency rate of parts, and finally established a generally complete production capacity.

However, Yangyue Company does not have the ability to manufacture engines. It has long ordered from Junda and Xunjie, which have their own engine R&D and manufacturing departments. In addition, Tatra, Renault, and BMW are also major suppliers.

After completing a new round of expansion last summer, Yangyue Automobile Company's production has steadily increased, reaching the highest record under normal circumstances this spring.

整个春季，一共出厂了4584辆各型卡车、40辆三七式半履带装甲车、150辆三四式丙型4×4轮式装甲车。

"You manufacture few full-tracked vehicles, so you don't have enough production experience, right?"

In the No. [-] assembly shop, Zhou Changfeng and a group of people walked between rows of armored vehicles waiting to be painted.

The manager behind him immediately replied: "Yes, tracked vehicles are mainly made by No. [-] Machinery Factory and Hangzhou Huifeng Factory. We can't compare."

The No. [-] Machinery Factory refers to the Yanjing National No. [-] Heavy Machinery Company. This company mainly manufactures tractors, cranes, and locomotives.

Of course, tanks are also included in their business, and the Type [-] medium tank is their work.

Huifeng Factory is located in Hangzhou and is a tractor manufacturing factory jointly owned by local businessmen.In [-], the No. [-] Machinery Factory suffered from poor management due to many internal and external reasons and its production capacity declined, so it entrusted Huifeng Factory to help share part of the tank orders.

Huifeng Factory has since tasted the benefits and begun to expand its production capacity in this area.

However, the Ming Army troops did not have a good impression of the Huifeng Factory, because at that time it was the first time to manufacture army-standard tracked vehicles, and the quality control was poor. They were also Sanyi-type light tanks, but the failure rate produced by the Huifeng Factory was obvious. Be high.

It's a bit similar to people in later generations buying iPhone 15 and finding that what they got was actually Made in India.

Zhou Changfeng opened the door of an armored vehicle and looked at the seats inside. "Total war requires the full mobilization potential. If we can build as many as we need in the future, how far do you estimate we can go?"

"Did Zhou Taizhao say three shifts?" The manager shook his head and replied awkwardly: "I'm afraid not, there's not enough manpower, but two shifts... it's okay."

"In other words, the monthly output of trucks can be doubled from the current [-] units?"

"Three thousand... is quite difficult. We estimate it will be around two thousand and five thousand. The gearbox is very labor-intensive, and the engine may not be fully supplied."

In this way, the annual output of Yangyue Company reaches 3 units. Taking into account the two companies of Xunjie and Junda, Daming's annual truck output should be more than 10 units under wartime mobilization.

[The previous article overestimated truck production, so a portion of it was cut. This shall prevail. 】

This kind of production capacity is already considerable. Historically, the UK manufactured a total of 48 trucks from 9.6 to [-], with an average of only [-] trucks per year.

But this does not mean that the Ming Dynasty automobile industry surpassed the British, because a total of 11.3 tracked Bren machine gun vehicles were manufactured during the war.

Obviously, Da Ming cannot manufacture so many tracked auxiliary vehicles, which is really too luxurious.The limited production capacity of tracked vehicles must give priority to tank manufacturing.

Considering the combat areas after the Ming Dynasty, although the output of these trucks is completely insufficient compared with that of the United States, it is enough if calculated carefully, and it can even be said to be relatively sufficient.

First of all, there is no need to fight on multiple fronts, and there is no need to disperse forces. The supply of trucks can be concentrated on battlefields that are in urgent need of trucks.

In addition, the battle for the Pacific Islands is not like the large-scale land wars on the Eurasian continent - after trains transport materials to the station, trucks are needed to transport them to the front line dozens of kilometers away, or trucks are needed to transport troops for long-distance maneuvers.

In the Pacific theater, the fleet only needs to unload supplies and troops at the port, and then it will only be short-distance transportation and maneuvering.

Therefore, the battle for islands can actually relatively limit the manifestation of US industrial advantages, allowing the two sides to engage in brutal fighting in a closer state.

After finishing the inspection of the production line, Zhou Changfeng asked casually: "How do you plan to design that assault gun?"

The manager was stunned for a moment and asked in confusion: "Assault gun?"

"Oh, it's a self-propelled infantry gun."

"I see, I don't know about this either... If Zhou Daizhao is interested, I can take you to the design department to find out, right?"

Although the name of self-propelled infantry artillery is very straightforward, it is not pleasant at all.

no!The name must be corrected to assault gun!
In this way, after leaving the factory area, a group of people took a car to an adjacent place.

There is a pond about the size of a football field on the edge of the boulevard. The water is dotted with lotus leaves and there is a water pavilion in the middle.

The design department of Yangyue Company is located in several buildings not far away. They are all double- or three-story buildings with white walls and black tiles hanging on the top of the mountain. They look like ordinary residential buildings.

It was afternoon, the electric fan was blowing, and many people were lying on the table and leaning on the chairs to take a nap.

"Hey! Get up, everyone, the people from the court are coming!"

As soon as the group of people reached the stairs, they heard a faint urging sound coming from above.

Zhou Changfeng glanced at the room next to the stairwell and saw the two people inside leisurely shaking cattail fans, drinking ice-cold mung bean soup, and reading newspapers.

This little life is quite leisurely.

In short, after some troubles, Zhou got his wish and met the design team formed by Yangyue Company in response to the assault gun tender.

After the initial debate, the team finally decided to design a 4×4 armored vehicle to improve performance as much as possible while meeting the purchase price of 2.6 yuan.If a 6×6 chassis is used, the cost will be higher, and it will most likely exceed the psychological expectations of the Ming Army.

"Can four-wheeled vehicles really guarantee off-road capabilities? Many times there are no paved roads. I feel that four-wheeled vehicles may not be able to pass through some big pits and ridges." Zhou Changfeng is very doubtful about the passing of the 4×4 wheeled assault gun. sex.

The team leader was a middle-aged man who looked very cultivated and knowledgeable. He pointed at a drawing hanging on the stand in front of him and replied in a calm voice:

"I understand Zhou Taizhao's concerns. Please look at the drawings. In order to enhance the off-road capability, we plan to install a pair of steel wheels on the head and middle."

"The grooves on the wheel surface increase the grip, so that the four main wheels can better apply power when passing through rough terrain."

"As early as ten years ago, we tried this design on some experimental vehicles, and the results were good; there are also similar vehicles abroad in recent years."

[picture]

Zhou Changfeng said "Hmm", crossed his arms and stared at the drawings, and then imagined in his mind what the actual armored vehicle would look like.

In terms of design, this small armored vehicle numbered "LQZ44-5" has endured a burden that it should not bear.

The length is 4.8 meters, the width is 2.35 meters, and the estimated total combat weight is 6.8 tons.

The front of the car body is 30mm inclined armor with an inclination of 12° relative to the normal line, and the sides of the car body are 12mm inclined armor arranged in the shape of "〈" and "〉".

Surface-hardened armor steel is very suitable for this type of light vehicles. For example, to resist 12.7mm machine gun bullets, the thickness required of surface-hardened steel is thinner than that of homogeneous steel.

However, the welding of surface-hardened steel is more difficult and tests the welding technology level of the factory.

Yangyue Company has made considerable progress in welding technology in the past two years, so the design team tried to apply the welding process.

If the quality is not up to standard, then temporarily change back to riveting.

The two-man turret is hexagonal, with the front three sides being 20mm and the rear three sides being 10mm, all with an inclination angle of 15°. Two processes are planned to be used.

Type I turrets are welded, while Type II turrets use casting instead.In order to compensate for the decrease in bullet resistance, the thickness of each side of the cast turret has been increased by 2 mm.

In addition, there is a gun mantlet on the front of the turret, which is a piece of 25mm thick homogeneous steel armor.If you're lucky, this mantlet can stop small-caliber armor-piercing rounds from long range.

The power configuration is planned to be equipped with a V-shaped eight-cylinder air-cooled gasoline engine produced by Junda Company, with a maximum output of 95 horsepower, four forward gears and one reverse gear, and a maximum stroke of 300km.

Zhou Changfeng intuitively believed that it was not enough for a nearly seven-ton armored vehicle to rely solely on such a small engine. "Is it less than a hundred horsepower? I'm afraid it's not enough? What about the torque provided by the gearbox?"

"The torque can reach 110 Nm, which is enough in theory." The person in charge pushed up his glasses and said helplessly: "Uh... Zhou Taizhao, this is the only option among the current energy-producing engines, but the Swift Company There is a [-]-horsepower one, but it’s too big to fit in.”

The existing conditions are mediocre, and we still have to find ways to meet the various stringent requirements put forward by Party A. It must be cheap and easy to use. It is really difficult. It is almost to the point of making those who hear it sad and those who see it cry.

Zhou Changfeng could only lament that things are not easy in this world, and bowed his hands in greeting.

The Ming Dynasty Army plans to use this type of armored vehicle for two purposes. One is to provide mobile support firepower to infantry units - just like its name.

This type of vehicle will be equipped with a twelve-type 80mm mountain cannon. Rather than letting this old artillery sit in the warehouse and collect dust, it is better to recycle it. Anyway, it is very suitable in terms of performance.

The anti-explosive bomb weighs 6.8kg, has a muzzle velocity of 390m/s, and has a short rear seat travel, which is quite suitable for the limited space of the two-man turret.

The other type of vehicle is used as an armored reconnaissance vehicle to perform deep reconnaissance and fire reconnaissance missions. It will be equipped with a modified Oerlikon MS-cal.60 20mm anti-aircraft gun.

The Ming army liked this small-caliber machine gun that was light and easy to use. It bought thousands of them that year and produced thousands more by itself.

In many border conflicts, the Tsarist Russian army suffered such heavy losses that they had to buy a batch from the Swiss to fight against it.

Just imagine, among the wastelands and hills on the border, when you see the Ming army occupying a hill in the distance suddenly setting up several anti-aircraft guns and firing loudly, you can imagine how desperate the Russians are. .

In recent years, with the large-scale production and commissioning of new Type [-] and Type [-] anti-aircraft guns, many Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns have been retired and stored. Now they finally have the opportunity to go into battle again.

"You guys are really good at taking charge of your own affairs. Developing new ones for these things won't improve the performance much. It's really better to just use the existing old ones." Zhou Changfeng praised.

"Hey, who wants to be so prudent in spending money? When we become prosperous in the future, we will also try to spend money lavishly."

In the next two days, Zhou completed his duties in Wuhan, then accompanied Xia Xiaoshi to the Yellow Crane Tower for a tour, and then prepared to return to Beijing.

Also on this day, hundreds of miles away in Hengshan County...

At the entrance of a village in the north of Shiwan Town, dozens of people gathered at the entrance. If you include the children joining in the fun, the number would exceed a hundred.

The sound of "chuchuchu" came from far away, and several motorcycles carrying officials from the county appeared in people's sight.

Today is the day to divide the land. The county government has delayed it again and again, and it has been postponed for more than a month.

"Can we make a decision today? We can't extend it to the back, right?"

"Yes, it's been more than six months. We have to leave some time to find out the foundation of the (field) before planting rice seedlings."

People are talking a lot. Most of their clothes are made of cheap low-end machine-made cotton, and the colors are also very single, mainly khaki and indigo.

The living standards of these tenant farmers who are dependent on the landlords have certainly improved significantly compared to the past, but they cannot be compared with today's own farmers, because the tenant farmers have almost no money left to consume industrial products.

Although the land redemption policy implemented in the Ming Dynasty was a mild land reform method, there were still a lot of tricks in the implementation process.

The most common thing is to withhold compensation from landlords for buying land. In the past, landlords were still the backbone of Ming society, but now it is different.

The subordinates who have been treacherous and greedy since ancient times do not want to miss any opportunity for exploitation - since the land acquisition is compulsory, it is not up to you, the rich landlords.

It is also common to blackmail the tenant farmers who have been allocated the land. If they are not willing to be squeezed out of the last few yuan, then they can wait until the end to be allocated less fertile land.

(End of this chapter)