afterglow

Chapter 559 Maybach and BMW; Pacific Snake!

The German army's staff system has always been praised by others. The General Staff system formally established by Moltke Sr. is often regarded as the most terrifying part of the German armed forces, and its reputation alone is astonishing.

As the centerpiece of the German war machine, the General Staff is responsible for studying all aspects of war, discussing campaign deployments, formulating operational plans, and formulating mobilization plans. Only elites with good conduct, calmness, calmness, and superior intelligence can join this position.

However, due to various considerations - the most important of which was to disintegrate the influence of the Junkers' officer corps, the German Society drastically reorganized the General Staff and separated part of the power so that it would no longer be as dominant as in the past.

While the foreign mission was in contact and negotiating with the German Society government, Zhou Changfeng and others focused on examining the organizational methods of the German Society People's Army - command, control, communications, and intelligence.

As an important member of the Military Production Bureau, Li Zhijie believed that he had a thorough study of organizational methods. However, the Germans' sophistication and persistence in this regard were still beyond imagination.

The People's Army Establishment Bureau upholds the order they respect and science first, combines the weapons and equipment currently in service in the best possible way, and constantly designs new establishments for issuance and trial implementation.

Seeing that his colleagues were so dedicated and rigorous, Li Zhijie couldn't help but feel a little ashamed - the Military System Bureau of the Ministry of War indeed seemed quite amateurish and leisurely in comparison.

While discussing technologies worth introducing, Zhou Changfeng asked the accompanying military workers about high-performance anti-tank guns.

A senior engineer at the Shenyang Army Artillery Factory had a deep gash on his arm caused by glass shards during the attack that day, and needed more than a dozen stitches afterwards.

The "dual-engine plan" is currently the focus of Daming's machinery industry department. One is high-performance tank engines, and the other is high-performance aero engines.

However, this type of engine is a top-notch technology that they have not yet used, and the Germans would not consider transferring it due to emotion or reason.

The former is undertaken by Swift Company, which has simultaneously launched research and development projects on a 400-horsepower engine for medium tanks and a 550-horsepower engine for heavy tanks.

【Picture】

Ever since, the existing Maybach HL174 became the only choice.

For the sake of walking on two legs, the Ministry of War believes that it is valuable to introduce foreign technology at the same time. It may provide inspiration, it may be worth learning from, and it may be able to respond when Xunjie cannot hand over the answer sheet in time.

The same is true for the Maybach HL157. Naturally, the best things should be kept.

The second is the Maybach HL157, which is still under development, a V12 liquid-cooled type, outputting 3600 horsepower at 550 rpm.

The third is the Maybach HL210, which is still solving minor problems. It is a V12 liquid-cooled model that outputs 3000 horsepower at 650 rpm.

The engineer added: "Cannons are not a big deal, and the ability to build cannons depends on the judge. German cannons are usually on the heavy side."

There are many categories of technology introduction items proposed by the Ming Dynasty military inspection team. Although the Germans said that they would ultimately decide whether to sell or not based on the results of diplomatic negotiations, preparatory work has still begun.

He said nonchalantly: "We have mastered the process of high-pressure self-tightening tubes more than ten years ago. There is nothing we can't do with a large chamber, high-pressure and high-speed cannon, but such a cannon is too extreme, and it is not cost-effective to take the wrong approach. Unless there is an urgent and extreme need, it is a waste.”

"Uh...that's true."

As for the Pak38 50mm anti-tank gun, it is naturally disdainful.

The Germans offered a price of 420 million marks, which translates to about 550 million yuan, and provided three prototypes and a batch of parts with all drawings and information. Maybach will also send people to provide technical guidance.

Zhou Changfeng originally wanted to introduce a medium-caliber anti-tank gun, but everyone felt that this was meaningless. Moreover, the Germans themselves did not have a reliable anti-tank gun that met the requirements.

The first is the Maybach HL174, which has been designed and finalized, V12 liquid-cooled type, outputting 3000 horsepower at 450 rpm.

Regarding the high-horsepower tank engines requested by Mingren, the Germans had three engines on hand that met the requirements.

Under the current technical conditions, the manufacturing cost of long-barreled high-pressure artillery is high, the barrel life is poor, and the power of the grenade will also be negatively affected - the wall thickness of the shell increases and the charge capacity decreases.

The most powerful HL210 is the Tiger Heart - historically used as the engine for the Tiger tank. This compact engine can output 650 horsepower, which is enough to drive the heavy tank to a considerable speed.

This can be said to be a huge sum of money, and it is very expensive. The purchase price of the cutting-edge Type 8.4 medium tank is only 65 yuan, which is equivalent to units.

Everyone is quite dissatisfied with the German lion's open mouth. How can anyone kill people like this?
Li Zhijie gave up the idea of ​​introducing it as soon as he heard it, and waved his hands repeatedly: "We don't dare to waste our money like this. Don't buy it. We are self-reliant. I believe that Xunjie Company can do it."

Stopping next to Zhou, Chris realized something was wrong and asked several officials at the scene questions in German.

After exchanging a few words, she tilted her head and said, "Sorry, the notification was wrong. This transaction does not require all payment in money."

Zhou Changfeng asked doubtfully: "Don't pay?"

Chris nodded and said: "Ten percent will be paid in precious metals, and the rest will be replaced with our country's scarce resources, but at a slight discount."

Discounting refers to lowering the average price of resources so that Germans can get more.

Everyone in the inspection team present looked at each other, and their brows suddenly became happy.

"Buy, this is really worth buying." Li Zhijie said to Zhou Changfeng in a low voice.

The latter smiled slightly and said: "This is worth considering. It seems that you are sincere, hahahaha——"

The scarce resources of Deshe are not only metals such as molybdenum, nickel, and tungsten, but also rubber.

Although the famous Farben company invented artificial styrene-butadiene rubber and artificial nitrile rubber in the 1930s and have now been put into industrial production, their performance cannot be compared with that of natural rubber. It can only be said that they have solved the problem.

The German approach is to blend artificial rubber and natural rubber together to improve performance and reduce the consumption of natural rubber, but in the final analysis, the latter is still indispensable.

However, natural rubber is not worth mentioning for the Ming Dynasty. It is too abundant to be used up - the annual consumption is only tens of thousands of tons, while the Southeast Asian countries can produce more than one million tons every year.

Selling technology is certainly very rewarding, but selling resources is not bad either!
Facts have proved that sitting and collecting money is much more comfortable than working hard to earn a small profit. There is a huge difference.

After initially confirming the opinions on the tank engine, the two parties then negotiated the intention of the aero engine. As early as the year before last, Daming had introduced the technology of the DB600 liquid-cooled V12 engine. Teams from many aircraft companies such as Changyang, Zhongsheng, and Shangshang were initially optimistic about this type of engine, but they soon changed their minds. Turning the corner, the opinions became unified - no, this design is not advisable.

The V-shaped liquid-cooled engine designed by Mercedes-Benz uses a unique inverted layout, which brings a series of unexpected flaws.

When the crankshaft rotates, the lubricating oil thrown out will penetrate into the cylinder on one side. Therefore, Mercedes-Benz had to design the compression ratio of the left and right cylinders differently to improve the situation and prevent knocking. However, there are still many troubles, which significantly restrict the power, shortened life.

It can be said that compared with the mainstream straight V-shape, the inverted V-shape has no advantages at all. It can be said to have only one benefit - the pilot has a better downward view.

This is a bumpy, wrong path.

【Picture】

It's a pity that everything has been imported, so we can only make do with it temporarily. Solve the problem of whether or not first, and then solve the problem of good or bad.

The DB600 liquid-cooled aviation engine copied by Hangzhou Zhongsheng Aircraft Company is named Juan II, with a nominal power of 1160 horsepower. It uses a self-designed first-stage and two-speed supercharger. So far, about one thousand have been manufactured. tower.

The Type 1200 fighter equipped with this liquid-cooled engine is designated as Type E. Because of its small windward area and low resistance, Type E is actually faster than Type D (equipped with a 568-horsepower air-cooled radial engine), with a top speed of up to 1400km/h, and the maximum range has also been increased to km.

This allowed the Ming Air Force to see its long-term development prospects and strengthened the confidence of the upper levels of the Air Force.

Even if high-performance fighter jets equipped with liquid-cooled engines are difficult to maintain, it is still necessary to install some of them.

After some weighing, the military inspection team decided to introduce BMW's BMW-XV liquid-cooled engine, project code 117. This upright V12 engine has a displacement of 38.2L and can output a maximum power of 1100 horsepower, with a continuous operating power of 905 Horsepower.

Compared with the DB600, which has inherent shortcomings, the BMW-117 is considered to have better development potential.

BMW actually has a long history and made many achievements in the development of liquid-cooled engines. In the 6s, their BMW- was very popular around the world and was copied by many countries.

However, historically, BMW's products have not been favored. The Germans who took the wrong path were obsessed with Mercedes-Benz's inverted V12 liquid-cooled engine, so BMW simply switched to air-cooled radial engines.

Because of the considerable differences from the original plane, Germany's aviation industry has developed relatively smoothly, so BMW has not given up on their liquid-cooled engine project.

The German Society agreed to the transaction. They offered a price of 560 million marks, equivalent to about 750 million yuan, and the payment method was also replaced by 10% precious metals and 90% discounted resources.

Everyone in the inspection team had no objections and immediately made clear their intention to introduce the product.

"In order to support enterprises, the government will convert precious metals and half of the resources into market prices and distribute them to corresponding companies." Chris explained.

After signing, Zhou Changfeng said: "The first two items are confirmed, and you can choose the other items and buy them!"

90% of the cost can be deducted with resources, rounding off means it is free, and the price/performance ratio is simply not too high.

In the eyes of the Germans, these second-class technologies that cannot be called cutting-edge can be exchanged for a lot of gold, silver and a large amount of scarce resources. It is really a bargain.

That night, the military inspection team held a meeting to discuss equipment worth considering next, as well as long-term plans for aero engines.

The German aero engines can only be called good at best, and cutting-edge liquid-cooled aero engines have always been mastered by the British - Rolls-Royce's Merlin and Griffin are super-class high-performance engines.

The Ming Dynasty collected the wreckage of many downed British Spitfire and Hurricane fighter jets, and transported the relatively well-preserved Merlin engines back to China for dismantling and research. This can be regarded as an additional source of technology.

Generally speaking, the next development routes for liquid-cooled engines are divided into three lines:
The first is a copy based on the DB600, although it has flaws, it is still a guarantee; the second is a copy based on the BMW-117, which has high hopes; the third is a model completely self-developed by Zhongsheng Company. In view of Daming's lack of experience in this area, the prospects are unknown.

Zhou Changfeng raised his hand and glanced at his watch, and said relaxedly: "After that, let's do our own thing. We'll wait until results are achieved. We'll hold regular meetings to exchange opinions."

Everyone gathered together responded and then dispersed.

Hydrogen peroxide torpedoes, magnetic anomaly detectors, high-power magnetrons, anti-aircraft gun firing directors...these are all objects that can be considered for reference or imported for imitation. Spending money to speed up research and development is undoubtedly quite cost-effective.

While the military inspection team was rushing around to evaluate the technology, the foreign mission was also very busy with repeated meetings, negotiations, discussions, and requests for instructions.

The British Empire's War Cabinet received a new Future Strategy report. Compared with last year, this year's expectations are more pessimistic.

The DSA's control of the Baku oil fields significantly damaged the confidence of the British upper class in the victory of the war. Assessments showed that the existing strategic bombing efforts could only reduce oil production by 50 to 60%. Sufficient oil allowed the DSA's state machinery to operate at full capacity.

A cruel and objective assessment concluded that Deshe did not have any shortage of resources - even the shortage of resources could be solved through trade with the Ming Dynasty.

Material reality cannot be transferred by human will, and the British upper class had to revive the idea of ​​​​peace. Perhaps peace with the Ming Dynasty is worth considering?
However, the interests of Britain and the United States are temporarily converging. If Britain chooses to make unilateral peace with Ming Dynasty, what will the United States do?

However, Prime Minister Winston firmly opposed the voice of "surrender before fighting". Those who supported him generally believed that it was promising to carry out the war to the end - standing on the same front with the United States would not lead to complete defeat. As long as we persisted to the end, we would eventually win In the worst case, it is just a "small loss" or a "medium loss".

Correspondingly, some people questioned that this was too wishful thinking. How could we place our hopes on those Yankees?
While the men in London were arguing over the Union Flag, the public was paying close attention to the changes taking place on European soil.

It is even more eye-catching that the figure most hated by the British appears in Berlin.

These days, major newspapers are rushing to report the news of the Ming Dynasty mission. In order to hype up the hot topic, newspaper editors all adopted conspiracy theories to exaggerate the secret talks between Germany and China, and even claimed that the two would form an evil alliance.

What made him laugh was that some newspapers described Zhou as a cunning and cruel demon general, which was outrageous.

Of course, there are also slightly normal nicknames. For example, the Times quoted a U.S. Navy admiral and gave him the nickname "Snake of the Pacific" - which actually doesn't sound very good.

"No, am I that annoying?" Zhou Changfeng put down the newspaper in his hand, dumbfounded.

Xu Hexiang, the leader of the foreign mission and the left minister of the Ministry of Rites, said with a smile: "I'm afraid so."

Chrissy, who was brewing black coffee, also raised her eyes and said seriously: "Your enemies must hate you."

(End of this chapter)