Arc of Gunfire

Just as the tank commander finished speaking, another lieutenant colonel spoke again: "The reason why the infantry lacks machine guns is because they install all the machine guns on tanks! There are only so many machine guns in total, and if they are installed on tanks, there will be less for the infantry. !

"Moreover, the number of machine guns in the tank is really unnecessary. In actual combat, the machine gun on the back of the turret is completely useless! Originally, the BT7 has a two-person turret. During the battle, it is so busy that who has time to operate the machine gun on the back of the turret!"

Wang Zhong laughed dumbly. He himself had commanded a T28. There was a machine gun on the back of the T28's turret, and it was designed to be used by the commander, but Wang Zhong simply forgot about the existence of this machine gun.

It’s so funny that you can’t even focus on the front during the battle, but you turn around and shoot the machine gun behind you?

There is also a machine gun on the back of the BT7 turret. Wang Zhong was standing behind the BT7 turret and commanding the tank. The only function of this machine gun was to punch him in the stomach from time to time.

By the way, at first Wang Zhong was worried that the machine gun would go off and kill him. Then the commander of BT7 reassured him because the machine gun was not loaded at all and all the ammunition had been removed to save space.

Wang Zhong had read many memoirs of Soviet tank soldiers before traveling through time. He either forgot about the existence of this machine gun and never mentioned it during the whole process, or complained that this machine gun took up a lot of turret space and was not used.

But this backward machine gun has always existed. Most tanks had it at the beginning of the war, IS1 had it in the middle and later stages, and IS2 had it in the later period. It was not canceled until the IS3 which only caught up with the victory parade.

I have to suspect that the machine gun on the back of this turret is the personal preference of a certain designer.

By the way, this incident had a very humorous ending many years later. In War Thunder, a war game made by Maozi himself, all the rear-facing machine guns were just models and had no shooting function at all.

This design is just like the elimination of the commander at the beginning of the BT series, and has become a laughing stock of Maozi tank design.

Before Wang Zhong traveled through time, he thought that the troops actually had no objections. Now it seems that the troops have great objections. I don’t know why they were not adopted by the design bureau.

Even adding a commander to the T3485 was only added after the T3485 was modified. The designers of the original version of the T3485 only added a commander's observation tower to the gunner to enhance the gunner's field of vision when not operating the cannon.

Just reading the description makes my blood pressure rise.

Wang Zhong thought to himself, now that I'm here, I can bring a gun, destroy this shit designer who refuses to admit his mistakes, and replace him with a designer who can meet the requirements of the army.

When he was thinking about this, the tank soldiers were still having a heated discussion: "To be honest, I don't understand the use of installing two coaxial machine guns in the turret. One machine gun can complete most tasks. Installing an extra machine gun can make the generals more capable." Will the Rosen people die more? The turret space is already small, and it will be even more crowded if there is an extra machine gun. It is better to free up the space and store more machine gun ammunition."

Another said: "Yeah, if you remove the machine gun on the back, you can put a lot more ammunition."

"The bugs in the design bureau don't understand tanks at all! Forget it if you don't understand, why not copy the Prossen tank? The Prossen tank we destroyed did not have a rear machine gun at all, and a commander, a new model There is also a commander’s observation tower.”

At this time, a bald middle-aged man came over and said in a low voice: "Stop talking, the rear-firing machine gun and the elimination of the commander were all the ideas of His Majesty the Tsar's popular man Valentin. He is as deep as General Skrobo." With His Majesty's trust, even General Sergey's words in front of His Majesty are not as important as Valentin's.

"He presided over the design of the B4 howitzer and T35 heavy tank, both of which are loved by His Majesty."

All the tank commanders present frowned.

Wang Zhong: "It seems that everyone knows how bad the T35 is."

"Don't you know? The Tank School uses this crap as a teaching vehicle because it has a large capacity and can accommodate more people attending classes." The Major General Tank Division Commander just said with a frown.

Good guy, it turns out there is such a connection.

Wang Zhong patted his chest: "I will be responsible for correcting the wrong course of the Ordnance Bureau. I will try to build a new tank with a commander and a radio next year based on my T34 that was used for the ceremony."

All the tanks' expressions lit up: "Really?"

"I went to the garage to see your car No. 422. It's really good."

Wang Zhong's car actually returned to Yebao earlier than others. At that time, these cars did not get off the train and were sent directly to Yebao to return to the factory.

Wang Zhong patted his chest confidently: "Really. In fact, I used the royal special plan to have the Yebao United Machinery Factory start construction of a hundred viewing tanks. It was nominally used for the military parade on the founding day of the People's Republic of China. In fact, it was planned to be used for the National Day military parade. Fight on the front lines.

"My division only has one tank battalion, and it will definitely not be able to accommodate these 100 tanks. It is estimated that it can form two battalions. The royal family has the final say as to who will receive the tanks for the ceremony. I can operate them."

In fact, it was Crown Princess Olga who had the final say.

That basically means that I, Wang Zhong, have the final say.

All the officers looked understanding.

But obviously their understanding may be slightly different from Wang Zhong's understanding.

At this time, the teacher just suggested: "I finally heard the good news today, let's celebrate with a toast!"

He turned to the people present and raised his voice: "Everyone! The general just promised us that there will be more and better tanks for the tank crews and more machine guns for the infantry! Let us raise a toast to Rocco Cheers, General Sovereign!”

All the officers present picked up their wine glasses, and those who did not have a wine glass quickly asked the waiter to get one.

Soon everyone was holding drinks.

Wang Zhong picked up a glass of red wine, looked at everyone and said, "Everyone! Today we are like a big family reunion, so happy!"

He raised his glass.

"Well! I'm the happiest today!

"I estimate that victory will take five years. Let's drink to victory in five years. See you in Prosonia!"

After saying that, he drank the whole drink in one gulp.

The young and combat-experienced officers present shouted in unison: "See you in Prosenia!"

After drinking, Wang Zhong saw the orchestra appearing near the fountain. It turned out that the dinner party had just started, and it was just a chatting time before everyone arrived.

The band began to play, and it turned out to be "Holy War" that Wang Zhongcai released today. It sounded like a melody that combined a hymn and a march.

The choir of only six people began to sing: "Rise up, great country! Fight to the death!"

The officers who had just finished their drinks stopped.

People who have been on the battlefield feel much deeper when listening to this song than the average person.

Everyone's expressions became extremely serious. They might be thinking of their comrades who died on the battlefield, or their relatives who didn't know the details of the lost country.

The band made some creative arrangements, such as the heart-beating rhythm, which was achieved by plucking strings on the double bass, making it heavier.

————

August 13, early morning. St. Catherine's Castle King's Cross Station.

The train full of new recruits is about to leave, and the girls are saying goodbye to their beloved boys.

The band at the station was playing "Ante Woman's Farewell", and everything was the same as before.

Until the musicians of the Yebao Philharmonic Orchestra appeared with "long guns and short cannons"-instruments were their weapons.

All the musicians have dark circles under their eyes, obviously they didn't sleep well yesterday.

Alexandropov, the deputy leader of the group, came to the military band of the station and said to the leader: "Okay, stop, we will come next."

The leader of the military band is Alessandro's student: "Huh? Teacher, what's going on? Are you going to perform at the station?"

"No, it's not a performance, it's just to carry out your mission. Just listen."

At this time, all the musicians of the Philharmonic Orchestra were in place. Alessandro moved a box himself, stood on it, nodded to the leading musician, then nodded to the choir, and finally to the group he had been preparing. The announcer said: "Announcement!"

The announcer took a deep breath and said loudly: "Please listen to the song "Holy War" composed by General Rokosov and written by Warrant Officer Filippov!"

Alessandro raised his right hand and gently picked up the baton.

A deep and majestic melody sounded.

The basses of the choir began: "Rise up, great country! Fight to the death!"

All the young people who had just been saying tender words of love and kissing each other goodbye stopped and looked at the musicians.

The people who were bidding farewell to their children also stopped and listened quietly to the musicians singing.

The railway workers at the train station also stopped and listened to this majestic music together. A young driver said to the old driver: "It's almost ready, it's time to blow the horn."

"Shh, Alyosha. Let's talk after listening. There will be times when you blow the whistle in the future." The old driver raised his index finger and said so.

At this time, the station manager opened the door and came out. After listening to a few words, he entered the broadcasting room next to the stationmaster's office and said to the technician in the broadcasting room: "Take out the microphone. I want this song to be heard by the whole station right away. And Record now!"

Technician: "Webmaster, just record half of the song now. You can ask them to sing it again later and record the whole thing."

"Okay, hurry up and put the microphone on! I want to broadcast it to the entire site!"

After a while, all the loudspeakers in the train station, including the loudspeaker in front of the station, played "Holy War."

The crowds of people in front of the station stopped immediately and looked up at the loudspeaker.

"Let the noblest anger roll like waves! Make a people's war, a holy war!"

The sonorous and powerful lyrics were driven into everyone's hearts by the melody, igniting endless anger and continuous fighting spirit.

It was just a song, and the entire station—no, the entire station square burst into applause.

The stationmaster rushed over excitedly and held Alexandropov's hand: "Do it again! I want to record it and play it every day! They say that "La Marseillaise" is better than a legion, and this song is the same!

"Sing it again, Mr. Musician!"

Alexandropov: "Okay. Then bring the microphone and prepare the recording. Let's sing it again! No, you can sing it as many times as you want!"