Gustav's eyes lit up after hearing this, and he secretly sighed that his son was indeed talented in weapon design. If he didn't become a soldier in the future, he would also be a good weapons manufacturer.
"Sure enough, I have inherited the design talent of the Krupp family!" Gustav thought proudly. When I thought of this, I looked at these technicians much more pleasantly, with an expression like my son is unusual, and then said, "Lampard, if you have any other ideas, please tell me!"
"Father, I wonder what engine this tank uses?" Lin Wei asked.
Gustav said cheerfully, "A 700-horsepower Maybach HL230P30V-12 gasoline engine is installed, and this engine is considered to be able to withstand the load of 2,000 kilometers of continuous travel. The traveling speed is 46 kilometers per hour. Suspension The system consists of a drive gear at the front, an idler at the rear and eight rubber-coated steel wheels. The tank adds two torsion bars to each shock absorber arm, which has good off-road performance but is expensive and time-consuming to build."
"Expensive and time-consuming!" Lin Wei muttered, "Father, I remember I mentioned to you before that I wanted to replace the welded turret with a cast turret! You seemed to have promised me at the time, but it seems that you haven't been able to do it now. !" Lin Wei pointed at the tank and said.
"Ahem..." Gustave embarrassedly covered up his gaffe and explained, "Lampard, it's not that my father didn't listen to what you said! But Germany is indeed not suitable for casting turrets. It's my fault that I didn't tell you last time. clear!"
"Oh?" Gustav said, with Lin Wei's expression of willingness to hear the details, "Casting turrets are indeed more efficient than welded turrets and can be deployed faster. In this regard, it is indeed true! But what you said must have a premise!" Seeing Lin Wei's unfazed expression, Gustav shook his head and said, "That is that Germany does not have so many resources to implement your plan, iron ore The stone must be imported from Sweden, you know this. We do not have so many resources to implement your plan! So when we do not have enough resources, all we can do is to strive for excellence instead of pursuing quantity. Besides, even if you want to pursue quantity, we can’t build it without resources.”
"Ugh!" This really hit Lin Wei hard. He always thought that Lin Wei thought that as long as he copied the Soviet model, he could get rid of Germany's future situation of facing a huge number of Soviet tanks. But Gustav's words woke him up. It was like Lin Wei in a dream. Yes, Germany has no resources. Even if it is at full power, it cannot build these things. It is difficult for a clever woman to make a meal without rice.
Seeing Lin Wei's shocked look, Gustav went over and patted Lin Wei on the shoulder to express comfort. Just when he was about to say something, he was immediately stopped by Lin Wei. Lin Wei looked like he was admitting his mistake humbly, "Father, I am indeed a little too ambitious and unrealistic. But there is one more thing, that is, the performance of this tank The engine is a bit weak, can it be improved? After all, the engine is the heart of the tank."
"This is very difficult, Lampard!" Gustav said, "Maybach is already the best engine company in Germany. This 700-horsepower Maybach HL230P30V-12 gasoline engine has just been successfully tested. Engine, it’s really difficult to make a breakthrough in a short time!”
What Gustav said is indeed true. The current Maybach company is indeed the best engine production base in Germany. Maybach and his sons are now Germany's most prominent engine manufacturers. In 1909, Wilhelm Maybach agreed to build a new and improved airship engine for the famous Graf Zipperin. Later, on March 23, 1909, he established the company, the Maybach Engine Manufacturing Factory. The technical director is his son Karl Maybach, who is also one of the founders of Maybach. Carl Maybach was also involved in designing the new engine.
In 1919, the Maybach father and son built the first test car w1 on the chassis of four Mercedes sedans and conducted comprehensive field tests. This was the first Maybach sedan. Then they started to develop the w2 automobile engine, which has a bore of 95 mm and a stroke of 135 mm. It has a total of 6 cylinders and a maximum output of 70 horsepower (2200 rpm). In 1921, Carl Maybach publicly stated at the Berlin Auto Show: "I want to build the most expensive car", thus officially establishing Maybach's market positioning and future development direction. Maybach has also become the brightest and most dazzling star in the automobile family. star.
"That's right!" Lin Wei was a little disappointed. In Lin Wei's eyes, the Panther tank was still a bit too slow. If so, it would definitely not be suitable for the blitzkrieg in the early stages of the war. Could it be that the Panzer IV tanks were used for the surprise attack, and later when the tug-of-war entered, they were replaced by Panther tanks? Unrealistic ideas, Lin Wei secretly concluded.
Gustav saw that Lin Wei was a little depressed and said, "No matter what, this tank is a successful tank after all. Although it still has some flaws, we still have time and will make it more perfect sooner or later."
"It's okay, father." Lin Wei turned the topic to the engine in a flash, because Lin Wei really wanted to replace the gasoline engine with a diesel engine, so he said, "I don't know if it is possible to replace it with a diesel engine now."
Gasoline engine vehicles have the characteristics of light speed, high quality, low noise during operation, easy starting, and low manufacturing and maintenance costs. Therefore, they are widely used in cars, medium and small trucks, and military off-road vehicles. The disadvantage is higher fuel consumption and therefore poor fuel economy. Due to their high compression ratio, diesel engine vehicles consume an average of about 30% less fuel than gasoline engine vehicles, so they have better fuel economy. In Lin Wei's opinion, the most important thing is that gasoline engines are flammable, while diesel engines are not flammable, so Lin Wei really wants to replace the engine of the gem tank. After all, in the future battlefield, no one wants to be hit. It turns into a big fireball. From a safety perspective, diesel engines are always safer than gasoline engines.
As for the 75mm semi-automatic KwK42L70 gun produced by Rheinmetall, Lin Wei did not consider it. From the artillery point of view, the Krupp family has always been confident, and Gustav handed over the main gun of this tank to Rheinmetall. For Lin Wei, there must be something unique about Rheinmetall's artillery this time. As a company that has always competed with the Krupp family, its technical strength is certainly no less than that of the Krupp family.
"It still doesn't work. As far as I know, no one in Germany can build a high-power diesel engine!" Gustav looked at Lin Wei's expectant expression. Although he wanted to comfort Lin Wei, he still had to tell the truth.
Gustav was a little embarrassed, because the areas where Lin Wei needed improvement could not be achieved with Germany's current strength. Gustave felt depressed for a while. Why was it that everything his son said was what he was studying
"However, it seems that there is nothing we can do about this matter!" Lin Wei muttered.
"What did you say? Lampard?" Gustave asked. Gustav also knew the advantages of diesel engines. Now he heard that Lin Wei had a solution, so of course he was anxious.
Seeing that Gustav was anxious, Lin Wei quickly explained, "Father, as far as I know, the Soviets seem to be very good at developing diesel engines. They have now applied diesel engines to the T34 tank!" This is also true. The tanks before the T34 in World War II were all gasoline engines. From the T34, tanks using diesel engines began to appear.
"What do you mean?" Gustav asked.
"I heard that the Soviet government's procurement delegation is in Berlin. We can think of a way!" Lin Wei said.
"Will they hand over the diesel engine technology?" Gustav doubted, "I don't think the Soviets will hand over such a confidential thing!"
"If you hand it over in vain, even I won't do such a thing!" Lin Wei replied decisively, "But if you want to exchange things with the Soviets, I think it's still possible!" Lin Wei slapped a Snapped his fingers, "I heard that the Soviet procurement group is very interested in Bismarck-class battleships."
"No, who would trade a battleship for an engine? Lampard, are you crazy?" Gustave shouted. If so many people weren't standing here, Gustave would have really wanted to touch Lin Wei's head to see if he had a fever.
Lin Wei kept enduring Gustav's verbal torture. After finally waiting for Gustav to say he was tired, he quickly took advantage of this time and said, "Father, could I be so stupid? A Bismarck starts from the beginning It will take at least a year from construction to launch. A lot of things can happen in a year, which can even change the strategic situation of Germany and the Soviet Union! And an engine won't take that long, right? If the Soviets promise to provide technology, there will be no chance at all Time to delay and we have!"
Gustav thought for a while and had to admit that Lin Wei was right, but he still said, "But Lampard, the conditions you proposed will scare away the Soviets. I think even if you are willing, the Soviets will I can’t believe you would trade a warship for an engine.”
"Of course I won't change it so easily!" Lin Wei said proudly, "First of all, the Soviets are indeed proposing to purchase our warships. There has been no news for such a long time. There is only one explanation, and that is that the head of state is dissatisfied with the Soviets. I was worried about my huge appetite, so I suppressed it. But I was not worried about this at all. Germany could completely defeat all its opponents in more than a year! Who knows whether Germany will still be able to maintain its current relationship with the Soviet Union by that time? What about the relationship?"
"Okay, you have convinced me on this matter!" Gustav said helplessly.
"It's not my purpose to convince my father!" Lin Wei said with a bad smile, "My purpose is to convince the head of state, but as long as I explain it well, I think it shouldn't be difficult."