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Text 105. Military industry issues

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    In the huge assembly workshop, dozens of "Panther" tank bodies were lined up and placed on flatbed trailers.  The overhead crane made a harsh metallic friction sound as it slowly hoisted the assembled turrets onto the welded car body with the suspension system installed.

    Due to the failure of the Eastern Front and the heavy blow in Zhuyashviligrad, Hitler, after introspection, re-appointed the dismissed Guderian as the director of the German Armored Forces.  Guderian not only had the authority to command the armored forces, but also had the authority to produce and manage domestic armored equipment.

    After Marshal Manstein stabilized the war situation on the Eastern Front, Guderian returned to the country from the front and began to inspect the tank factory.  Now the German army on the entire Eastern Front only has more than 3,700 tanks, and the new director of armored forces really can't figure out what problems have arisen in production.

    In the tank factory of Man Company, the bluish-white flash of electric welding illuminated the workshop. The whole workshop was filled with various noises. Under the clamp of large machinery, one after another high-power diesel engines were being  It was hoisted to the top of the tank power cabin where the turret had been installed. Groups of technical workers wearing oil-stained blue work clothes were nervously installing and debugging the power system.

    Man Company has always maintained a good cooperative relationship with Republic of China. In China, the internal combustion engine factories, tractor factories and tank factories in Wuhu and Hanyang were all established on the basis of cooperation with Man Company.  The latest "Panther" tank jointly developed by Germany and the Republic of China was also completed by man company and Hanyang Arsenal.  In terms of production line layout and factory scale, MAN's tank production lines are comparable to those of the Wuhu Tank Factory and Hanyang Arsenal of the Republic of China.  But now the output is more than three times worse.

    Republic China can produce more than 1,000 of the latest Panther tanks at these two tank factories every month, while Man Company can only produce 150 tanks every month.  This is far from meeting the needs of the front line.

    On the sidewalk of the general assembly workshop, General Guderian, accompanied by Colonel Sauer, assistant to the Minister of Munitions Production Speer, and two senior managers of Man Company, inspected the production conditions of the general assembly workshop.  The admiral pointed at the production line from time to time and asked about some situations. In the noisy workshop, such a conversation could hardly be carried out normally.

    "Our tank factory is not inferior to the Chinese factory in terms of scale, but why has the output been unable to increase?" Several people left the assembly workshop, and Guderian then raised this issue that had been bothering him.  , "We have many tank factories. Like Krupp, Henschel, MAN, Porsche and Daimler Benz, as well as the Skoda factory in the Czech Republic. The Chinese only have seven tank factories, but they have  They can produce nearly 30,000 tanks, but we only have one-tenth of theirs."

    "General, there are many reasons for this. The main reason is that our products are too complicated. In terms of the number of chassis, our annual output exceeds 23,000, but most of them are used in self-propelled artillery and assault vehicles.  guns, tracked vehicles and even half-track transport vehicles. However, the Chinese only focus on the production of a single product. They have only two types of tanks. One is the 25-ton 28 modification for use in tropical jungles and mountains.  Amphibious tanks. The other is the main tank they equip in large quantities. After the Panther tank was finalized, they have stopped the production of the Type 39 tank. All tank factories have adjusted their production lines to only produce Panthers at full capacity, except for the Hanyang tank.  The factory has retained a light tank production line," said Heisenger, man company's production director.  He often travels between China and Germany and has a good understanding of the military production methods of Republican China.

    "Do destroyers and self-propelled guns have a great impact on tank production?" Guderian said.  In the Republican Army, there are not many self-propelled artillery equipment in the armored forces.

    "This is not a contradiction, general, but the problem is that our models are too complicated. The tanks include four types: Type III, Type IV, Panther and Tiger. Moreover, the superiors are constantly issuing new tank development tasks.  This also requires occupying the production line. Coupled with the production of five types of assault guns, the number of our tanks will naturally not be increased. Due to the complexity of the models, the parts are not universal. All parts can only be manufactured by the factory itself, and in China, most of them  Universal standard parts are purchased from civilian factories. The tank factory is only responsible for the final assembly and processing of some large and difficult-to-process parts. In Germany, we have never had a unified standardization system, which makes it difficult for civilian factories to join military production.  And large military industrial companies have always wanted to monopolize military production, which is another important reason why we cannot increase production capacity." Colonel Sauer said, "Germany has more than 800,000 machine tools, but only one-tenth can be used for military production.  Military production, and our special steel production capacity is limited.¡±

    Guderian nodded. It seems that Germany's tank production needs major adjustments, which requires the full support of the head of state who does not understand military production.  Hitler only noticed the shortage of military production after he fully took control of the army in early 1942. Germany's tank production could not meet the consumption of the front line.  And inCompared with the Chinese T34 tank equipped with an 85mm tank gun, the German Panzer IV tank, which is only equipped with a 75mm long barrel tank gun, has always been at a disadvantage.

    Fortunately, the Panther tank developed by Man Company in cooperation with the Chinese solved the urgent need. However, before Hitler ordered the production of Panther tanks, Man Company's plan was not recognized by the Ministry of Military Production until the Chinese had begun  After a large number of Panther tanks were equipped, Hitler began to order the Man Company to be responsible for the production of this type of tank, and this was the only company.  Other tank production lines are still manufacturing a large number of assault guns that can only be used for defense, and even occupy the production line of No. 4 tanks.

    Under Hitler's interference, Henschel's tank production line was undergoing transformation to produce new Tiger heavy tanks. However, in February 1943, the company only produced 25 Tigers. Porsche  The tank factory in China was required to produce an "Elephant destroyer" at full capacity. The monthly output of this time-consuming heavy anti-tank destroyer was only a pitiful 15 vehicles.

    Now only Krupp and Daimler are still producing the main German Panzer IV tanks, and they are also responsible for the production of a large number of Panzer III and Panzer IV assault guns. It is no wonder that Germany's tank production has been unable to increase.

    Guderian felt that it was necessary to have a good talk with Hitler and explain the basic theory of armored forces to the head of state in detail. Now Hitler is becoming more and more obsessed with some unrealistic "heavy tanks", which has greatly affected Germany's tank production.  .  In fact, the Republic of China has also been conducting research on heavy tanks, but due to the inability to meet the mobility requirements of the Army, the heavy tank project has always stayed in the development stage, and there has never been a plan to equip the Army on a large scale.

    In terms of tank design and usage concepts, there are some differences between the German Army and the Republican Army. The earliest German tanks emphasized mobility and despised firepower. In this regard, the Republic Army first emphasized firepower, and then began to pay attention to mobility.  The problem.

    The theory of the Republican Army is that due to the limitation of engine power, the armor of tanks cannot keep up with the development of artillery. Therefore, under the same conditions, tanks with better mobility will have better battlefield survivability.  In fact, even a heavy tank like the Elephant Tiger weighing nearly 60 tons cannot withstand the frontal armor of the 88mm/l56 and the Panther 90mm/l56 equipped by the Republican Army, and the American Pershing tank 90mm m3/l52  When tank guns attack within 1,800 meters, mobility is particularly important at this time.

    The Panther produced in Germany is equipped with a 75mm/l71 tank gun. Its armor-piercing capability is not inferior to the 88mm or 90mm tank gun, and its accuracy is much higher than the above tank guns, but the 50 times barrel  Due to the shorter muzzle movement trajectory, the tank gun's ability to capture and monitor targets is higher than that of a tank gun with a caliber of 70 times.  Compared with German tanks, although Republican Chinese and American tanks are not as sophisticated as German tanks, they are easier to produce and transport, and are more reliable on the battlefield due to their sturdy chassis.

    This is also the gap between the superpowers and Germany. Due to limited resources, the Germans prefer to manufacture more sophisticated products, while the United States and China place more emphasis on adapting to mass production and maintaining quantitative advantages.

    The current situation is very unfavorable for Germany. The tragic defeat in Zhuyashviligrad and the large-scale bombing of Germany by the US and British air forces have made the people in Germany panic. If this situation does not change, the future is not optimistic.  (To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to come to Qidian to vote for recommendations and monthly votes.
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