afterglow

Chapter 562: A useless duck tank; war artist

It has been fourteen months since the founding of the French Democratic Commune, which is much longer than the Paris Commune that existed for only 62 days seventy years ago.

Although the external environment faced by today's democratic communes is much better, internal undercurrents still plague the country.

In addition to the ruling party PCF, parties such as the Socialist Party PC and the Radical Party PR still exert their influence. As the birthplace of fierce collisions of ideological changes, the political views of various parties and factions have greatly different views, which constrains and affects the ruling party. as.

For example, in the traditional concept, the Radical Party represents the French middle class such as small businessmen, engineers, architects, and doctors. However, some people in the ruling party have different views, and even believe that freelancers and homesteaders can also be classified as small businessmen, engineers, architects, and doctors. For the middle class.

If the ruling party itself cannot unify its views, how can it coordinate with other parties?

From last year to this year, the French Society has been repeatedly conducting "multi-party debates", trying to clarify the definitions of key terms - or the attributes and components of people and things, so that everyone can be convinced, otherwise it will be difficult to effectively enact policies. .

Should a farmer be classified as proletarian or middle class? How should a company funded by several different classes of people be classified?

The hotel he stayed in was of good quality and elegantly decorated. Zhou Changfeng stood in front of the balcony and looked at the sunset in the distance, letting the soft sunset shine on him.

"It is really a bad thing to not be able to make a final decision at such a critical historical moment."

"What do we care about other people's private affairs? At least they are not harming others by quarreling behind closed doors at home." Xia Xiaoshi took out one dress after another from the suitcase and hung it in the closet of the room. .

Everyone has little interest in continuing to deal with the French. The next focus is to go to the front and second lines to observe how the Germans fight, how to organize logistics work and staff work.

The Ming Dynasty's foreign affairs mission also flew away collectively after finishing the finishing chores and arrived in Paris smoothly.

"That's what I say, but...if you think about it, wouldn't it be very boring if there were no regular guests on this historical stage?"

Issy-les-Moulineaux is just southwest of Paris, very close and can be reached by car in just a few dozen minutes.

Yesterday afternoon, the military inspection team submitted a diplomatic application, hoping to visit the Isile Mulino Arsenal (AMX Company) for investigation and investigation, but there was no response.

The status of this company to France is almost equivalent to the status of Norinco to China in later generations, and a series of famous tanks were born here.

Since Vichy France had nothing to do during the war, Zhou Changfeng really hoped to see a different situation.

The next day.

Another day passed before the official reply was finally issued.

"Maybe, but it's not impossible to be cleaner."

Zhou Changfeng nodded, pointed to the west casually and said: "So we won't stay here much, just take a look. Our inspection team's work needs to be more in-depth. There is nothing to see in Italy, so we will go directly to the west."

Although the French government was relatively indifferent, the official did not represent everyone - the people and some celebrities showed great interest, and several generals sent invitations, sincerely inviting Mr. Zhou and his wife to join the banquet.

After all, political power comes from the barrel of a gun. As long as the armed forces are in control, there is room for maneuver in everything.

Both the former Third Republic and the current Democratic Commune struggled to integrate the military-industrial sector. Many companies, including the Pito Arsenal, were integrated into larger group companies, and the Isile Mulino Arsenal also thrived.

All parties and factions have invariably set their sights on the army. The ruling party PCF did not let go as it did in history. Instead, it worked hard to exclude other forces and tried its best to keep the newly built Commune Defense Force in its own hands.

What is more optimistic is that the ruling party PCF is very aware of the importance of its fundamentals and is very concerned about military issues.

After learning about the lukewarm attitude of the French official, Xu Hexiang said calmly and relieved: "It doesn't matter. The court itself didn't have high expectations. This trip to Europe focused on discussing important matters with the Germans. Coming here... …It’s just a walk around.”

The diplomats at the Ming Dynasty's embassy in Paris were very helpless about this. This was really a bad time. The French had not even taken care of their own messy internal affairs. Of course, they had no time to entertain guests from afar.

The autumn breeze is refreshing and the temperature is getting lower.

Because it has absorbed many companies, in order to avoid production interruption caused by factory relocation, part of the tank production work is still in other cities.

There is already a bit of coolness in northern France in late October. You can wear light clothes during the day, but at night you need to add more clothes.

The factory area of ​​Isilemulino is full of leisurely scenes, with workers carrying out today's work unhurriedly.

Albert, the person in charge of the final assembly workshop, wandered around from front to back and saw the round tank bodies and turrets being assembled together under the action of a crane.

Last year, he was still working at the Sartori factory, and he worried about the turbulence of the situation and the livelihood of the entire factory every day, but now he no longer has such worries.

He couldn't help but lament the benefits of the state-owned arsenal. At least he didn't have to worry about not being able to accept orders and losing his job.

The arrival of the inspection team added a touch of splendor to the boring daily life here, and the factory area suddenly became lively.

"In other words, your productivity is surplus?" Zhou Changfeng looked around looking around.

"Yes, the opinions of the army are always changing. Maybe they themselves don't know what kind of tanks they need." Albert shrugged and replied.

The confusion in the guidelines has led to unclear specific indicators. There are many disagreements within the newly-established National Defense Forces. The idea of ​​​​using the armored forces has not yet been finalized.

A poor idea is better than no idea. The British guidelines for infantry tanks and cruise tanks may be conservative and backward, but designers can at least design according to clear indicators.

Now the French can't even do this, and they are in chaos - should they continue to develop cavalry tanks? Or should we simply copy the German experience?

In this case, only a few companies are willing to boldly try to explore new paths, while those conservative companies naturally choose to do nothing - as long as they don't do something, nothing will go wrong.

When everyone entered the assembly workshop, the tanks undergoing parts assembly process immediately attracted everyone's attention.

"Hey, look over there."

"Huh? Isn't that right? This chariot is really weird."

"It's so round, it looks like a duck."

Eight pre-production AMX-40 cavalry tanks were parked quietly in the assembly workshop, and workers were installing internal equipment for them.

These tanks painted with orange primer have a round shape and are particularly unique, arousing everyone's curiosity. The turret is round, the body is round, and the whole body is smooth. There are only a handful of openings for hatch covers and optical instruments.

Zhou Changfeng stared at them and said thoughtfully: "Interesting, this car's bullet avoidance effect must be very good."

A senior engineer also speculated: "It should be cast as a whole, but...it feels a bit small, and there may not be enough space inside."

Seeing the surprised expressions of these visitors from afar, the beaming Albert pointed at the "ducks" and introduced:

"General, this is a product of French wisdom. They are unparalleled cavalry chariots. They can tear apart the enemy's defense lines in groups, and the enemy can only watch helplessly as bullets and cannonballs slide away from its body. !”

While the others were still listening to the translator, Zhou Changfeng had already understood the introduction.

What is in front of everyone is the AMX-40 cavalry tank. Its appearance is unique. If it is painted in yellow, it will look like a duck from a distance.

【Picture】

Last year, a military delegation from the Third Republic visited the United Kingdom. They were very interested in the A10MkII cruise tank used by the British army and recognized the effectiveness of this flexible and fast tank.

The French decided to develop a new cavalry tank on their own, which should have better protection capabilities and not be as thin and fragile as the British cruise tanks.

The AMX39 project was born from this. The French hope to use it to replace the Soma S35 in the future. Therefore, the AMX39 design follows many existing mature designs, but also adds many novel ideas and technologies.

However, due to the impact of the war, the AMX39 project was temporarily suspended. It was not restarted until the democratic commune government took over. After many twists and turns, the first batch of trial production models were finally produced, and the number was changed to the AMX40 cavalry tank.

In fact, no official approval was given for the purchase, but the Isilemulino Arsenal was extremely optimistic and produced these trial production vehicles at its own expense.

The structure of the AMX40 cavalry tank roughly continues the structure of the Soma S35, but uses a Christie suspension with the driving wheel at the rear and large armor skirts covering both sides of the body.

The biggest feature of this type of tank is its protective capabilities. The whole body adopts a rounded shape without a right angle. Although this idea is different from the T-34's sloped armor, it can also significantly increase the chance of ricochet.

Such an avant-garde bullet-resistant appearance was the iconic feature of the Soviet tank during the period of armor-plated war, that is, the "jarhead"-like turret, but it was not as extreme as the French.

The empty weight of the AMX40 is 19.4 tons, the front armor of the cast turret is about 60mm, and the cast body front is about 50mm thick. Because of its bullet-resistant appearance, its actual effectiveness far exceeds these paper data, and it is almost immune to armor-piercing bullets fired from small-caliber anti-tank guns from any direction.

However, such an extreme tank also has serious shortcomings, at least in Zhou Changfeng's opinion, it is unqualified.

In order to ensure the integrity of the armor, the number of openings in the AMX40 is very small, because the more openings, the lower the overall strength of the armor. Therefore, the hatch cover and observation equipment of the AMX40 are very few, which can only be said to be barely enough, and the field of view is narrow. Perception is worrisome.

The crew of the AMX40 is still composed of three people, divided into commander, driver and loader. The commander needs to be responsible for command, search, operation of tank guns and other tasks at the same time. He wears many hats and has a heavy burden, which reduces the combat efficiency of the crew. Not good.

Therefore, after the initial surprise, the Ming Dynasty military inspection team lost interest after learning the details of this type of tank.

"It's too extreme, too much pursuit of perfection." Li Zhijie shook his head slightly and commented.

"This is useless to us. It looks scary but is actually useless. If three people do the work of five people, in a war, they will lose sight of one thing." Someone said.

"It won't be used for the time being, but it gives me an idea." Zhou Changfeng turned around and walked out first, "Ask the price. If it's not expensive, you can buy two and go back to test them."

The French felt good about themselves and offered the AMX40 a sky-high price of 160 million francs, equivalent to about 25 yuan, with a starting price of units.

The reason they gave is very legitimate - the most exquisite design in France is here, with first-class performance, unrivaled, and worthy of the price!

Obviously, these French people believe that excellent protection capabilities are the gold standard for judging whether a tank is good or bad.

"This one is equivalent to three Type 40s, but you can't sell less than 20 of them? It's a complete rip-off! What do you think of the imperial edict?" Li Zhijie was very unhappy.

"Then I won't buy it. The appearance has reference value, but other aspects are too conservative." Zhou Changfeng pointed to an attendant beside him, who took out a miniature spy camera.

"Did it all get filmed? That's great."

"Shh, keep your voice down."

The Ming army faced a relatively "low-pressure" environment, and the confrontation between armor and bullets was not intense. Therefore, it was not cost-effective to pursue the ultimate in protection.

Since the beginning of the war, Ming army tanks have been attacking enemy firepower points and civil fortifications most of the time, accounting for more than 90% of the time. The remaining 10% have been head-to-head confrontations with enemy tanks.

Because of this, the 80mm, 36-caliber tank gun equipped with the new Type 811 medium tank uses specially developed large-charge anti-explosive bombs with a charge of g to further enhance the impact on soft targets. .

At the same time, the firepower encountered by the Ming army tanks was only the 37mm anti-tank gun. The Type 50 medium tank had a frontal armor thickness of 45mm and a ° inclination, which could easily deal with small-caliber anti-tank guns and medium-caliber field guns. .

Frontline generals generally believed that this was sufficient, as larger caliber anti-tank guns would be cumbersome for the enemy and unlikely to be encountered.

But it is always a good idea to plan for the long term. The ultimate in anti-armor bomb resistance is the "jarhead" shape and low profile. The corresponding technical test vehicle can be studied leisurely and as a casual move.

Unlike the upper echelons of the French Society who seemed to have forgotten about the Ming Dynasty envoys who had come from afar, celebrities from all walks of life and some generals held a special dinner and invited Mr. Zhou and several diplomats to attend.

The banquet was chosen at the prestigious Ritz Hotel. This luxury hotel claims to give guests the same treatment as a palace. It is one of the most beloved places among the upper class. The kings of Sweden, Portugal, and Spain have all stayed here.

In light of the regime change, both the Ritz and its loyal old customers have kept a lower profile, but the former still provides and the latter still enjoys first-class service.

Xia Xiaoshi, who attended the dinner, put on the most gorgeous dress she brought and dressed up carefully; Zhou Changfeng gave up the idea of ​​wearing an honorable dress after getting entangled, and kept wearing regular clothes and carrying a saber.

When getting out of the car, Xia Xiaoshi pretended to be casual and asked: "If your 'old friend' comes with you, what will she wear?"

Zhou Changfeng supported her and blurted out without thinking: "No matter what you wear, I'm not as good as you."

Different from its reputation for luxury, the appearance of the Ritz Hotel is unremarkable and quite low-key, but the more inconspicuous a place like this, the more secrets it hides.

As soon as the delegation accompanying the banquet entered the hotel lobby, some celebrities waiting here couldn't wait to say hello and chat.

A tall and thin brigadier general suddenly approached Zhou Changfeng in three steps at a time, grabbed Zhou Changfeng's right hand and said excitedly: "Long time no see, classmate, congratulations on your accomplishments in the art of war!"

(End of this chapter)