Iron Cross

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Speer wisely did not ask why the Americans still landed. He is a smart man. It is extremely unwise to intervene in politics or military affairs when he already has economic power. In the eyes of outsiders, he will be regarded as It is an attempt to seize the highest power - his current position is already powerful enough to attract attention, but he must give the necessary advice: "Although the output and number of mobilization of military industry can be further expanded without affecting the expansion of the army, the consumption industry can The level has dropped a lot, and if there is a change in the control area, it will have adverse effects on the people.”

Hoffman knows what the so-called "adverse effects" mean. Once life becomes so difficult that the story of the late World War I repeats itself, public support for the party and government will rapidly decline, and an anti-war movement may even form - this is Germany's failure in World War I. The main reason is that long before the military defeat, the German government had failed in the economy, people's livelihood and social control.

Even though he was shaken and confused, in the face of the goal of "all for winning", Hoffman could only harden his heart and go to the dark side on the road of militarism. He said to Speer: "You have to be right. There is a correct estimate of the people's level of endurance. This generation has been humiliated and starved by the Treaty of Versailles. Especially the soldiers who come from ordinary families in the army are mostly deeply impressed by the pain in their childhood and have this kind of national sentiment. As support, they will not give up on us easily, but there are two points that must be kept in mind. The first is that political dissidents cannot be let go. They are cancer on the body of the entire nation. No matter how beautiful they say, they cannot cover up the fact that they corrode people's minds. Facts, no matter how correct they are, are absolutely wrong at inappropriate times and occasions - I left this issue to Himmler and Bowman; the second is to strictly establish a scientific and reasonable supply and support system, which is what we need in the military The guarantee of winning is the basis for us to consolidate our political power in society. No matter how strict and harsh the rationing system is, it must be absolutely fair - I leave this issue to you and Dr. Goebbels."

"I see."

"Relax..." Hoffman patted him on the shoulder, "We still have a long way to go in the future. We have overcome difficulties greater than this challenge. This test is not enough for you and me..."

Speer nodded in agreement, but Hoffman knew that the other party must not understand - the difficulties he mentioned were the Battle of Stalingrad and Operation Torch. As a time traveler, the biggest regret is that he cannot share it with others. How this world should be.

"At three o'clock there is an armored vehicle armament meeting. They are already waiting for you in the conference room."

"Okay..." Hoffman said with a self-deprecating smile as he walked, "Recently, I have been busy with meetings and data almost every day. Last time, Director General Zeitzler asked me how long it had been since I visited the Eastern Front. I took stock. , almost three months, it’s unimaginable!”

After the tank rearmament case and the two aviation rearmament cases, Hoffmann's broadsword finally began to attack armored vehicles and instructed Speer to prepare relevant plans. Although representatives of various manufacturers had already been mentally prepared, After receiving the invitation to the armored vehicle rearmament conference from Speer, the "German economic head", everyone was frightened, but they dared not not come - who dared to disobey, steel, labor, energy, market He was not responsible for any of the orders and orders, and even the road to switching to civilian products was blocked.

Before the meeting, they had inquired about the relevant insider information from the manufacturers who had participated in the previous arms conferences. Everyone had a mysterious and inscrutable attitude, which exacerbated their panic. After seeing the contents of the rectification plan, , everyone couldn’t help but take a breath of air-conditioning.

"Based on the requirements of the head of state and the experience of restructuring in the tanks and aviation fields, the production of armored vehicles has also been adjusted according to the idea of ​​'simplifying models, common parts, and increasing production.'" Speer said unhurriedly, "The current military equipment The half-track armored vehicles and wheeled armored vehicles span 13 models, nearly 200 sub-models, and the output is less than 15,000 a year. The degree of confusion is evident. The Ministry of Armaments has made the following suggestions: In the field of half-track armored vehicles, only SD should be retained .kfz250 and 251.”

"Um..." someone stammered and asked, "You don't want other models?"

"don't want!"

"In the field of wheeled armored vehicles, there are only 4-wheeled sd.kfz223 type and 8-wheeled type 234."

"What?" A lot of people jumped up, "You don't want 221, 222, etc.? You don't want a bunch of 6-wheelers either?"

"No!" Speer said categorically, "Among the retained Type 250s, the sub-models must be sorted out. The armored personnel carrier models will be cancelled. If personnel carriers are needed, all Type 251s will be used."

"But the 250 and 251 personnel carriers have different functions respectively. One transports half a squad, focusing on reconnaissance, and one transports a squad, focusing on assault and accompanying operations." A representative of the Dimag company responsible for the production of the 250 type explained.

"Can half a squad complete the reconnaissance mission?" Speer said with a mocking tone, "In order to transport one squad, I need to dispatch two Type 250 personnel carriers at a time, and only one Type 251 personnel carrier. It's okay to use only one vehicle. I have to prepare two sets of fuel, supplies, and accessories, and they are not compatible with the 251, so it is not cost-effective.”

Everyone fell silent immediately. Dimag's 250 and Hannover's 251 have always been competing in the field of half-track armored vehicles. Not only are their parts not interchangeable, but they are also competing to develop sub-models with similar functional positioning. If you make a troop carrier, I will make a reconnaissance vehicle. If you produce a communication vehicle, I will produce a command vehicle. There are many models and overlapping products, but the output is low.

The 251 type has more tonnage, horsepower and space than the 250 type, and is actually more promising. However, considering that two different sets of standards have been formed in fact, even a tough Speer cannot require them to be consistent. Guderian has always wanted to use the 251 type for the entire series. According to his idea, if all grenadiers are transformed into armored personnel carriers, at least 30,000 251 troop carriers are needed. This is just the number of troop carriers. The number of other armored vehicles is at least twice that number. At the beginning, the army's top brass was scared and rejected it without thinking.

Therefore, although Germany claimed to promote blitzkrieg, in fact, most of the mechanized troops still rely on walking to fight. Some people in later generations commented that perhaps Guderian's ideals could only be fully realized in the United States, but Hoffman knew that the ideas proposed by Guderian were correct, so he gritted his teeth and had to develop the 251 troop carrier quickly.

"The two models of wheeled armored vehicles are implemented according to the idea of ​​light and heavy matching. The 223 is developed according to the idea of ​​250, and the 8-wheeled 234 is developed according to the 251 model. The two models need to be standardized and transformed to strengthen the universal design of parts - 250 is closer to 251, and 223 is closer to 234." After Speer finished speaking, everyone was thinking.

Indeed, if the adjustment of the Armament Department is followed, the overall production idea will become clear at once. In the field of half-track armored vehicles, there are mainly two models, 250 and 251. Among them, the 250 vehicle family is mainly responsible for light tasks such as reconnaissance, communication, and rescue, while the 251 vehicle family is mainly responsible for heavy tasks such as transportation, command, and accompanying attacks. In the field of wheeled armored vehicles, the awkward 6-wheel series and the imperfect 8-wheel (sd.kfz231/232 series) were cancelled. At the same time, considering that wheeled armored vehicles are mainly used in deserts or Western Europe (places with good road conditions), and it is difficult to obtain water replenishment in the desert, all air-cooled engine designs are required.

"Finally, the Führer proposed a design idea and hopes that you will speed up production." Speer took out a bidding request, "In view of the good use of tank destroyers and the superior transformation performance of the 234 heavy armored vehicle, the Führer hopes to develop a wheeled armored vehicle equipped with a 75mm anti-tank gun on this basis."

This requirement is certainly not groundless. The Sd.Kfz.234 series is the most advanced wheeled armored vehicle in World War II and has influenced the design of wheeled armored vehicles after the war. After seeing the application form for the Type 234 armored vehicle project piled up in the Armament Department, Hoffman suddenly thought of the historical Sd.Kfz.234/4. This wheeled gun has a 12-cylinder 200-horsepower engine (Czech Tatra 103 air-cooled V12 diesel engine) and is also equipped with a tropical air filter. As for the early sub-models equipped with 50mm anti-tank guns and short-barreled 75mm guns, he skipped them directly and planned to use the same 48-caliber 75mm gun as the No. 4 to facilitate desert combat.

"I will give you three months to design and improve. I need to see the finalized car in March next year. The nickname is already chosen, and it will be called the Puma armored car."

"This... time is a bit tight." The representative of Busin-NAG stood up and stuttered, "We originally planned to make it into a 20mm machine gun."

"I want 150 vehicles per month. If you don't have time, I will let others produce it." Speer stared at him and said.

"It's still in time, it's still in time!"

"Why don't you also produce this model on the half-track armored vehicle?" the representative of Hanover Company asked, "We can also develop this sub-model."

"Because there are already hunters on the Eastern Front, there is no need for anti-tank models for the time being." Looking at the dejected representative of Dimag Company, Speer suddenly laughed, "But I need a large number of 251 personnel carriers."

"This...how many do you mean in large quantities?"

"10,000 in 1943." Hearing this, the representative of Dimag Company almost fell down, this number is more than their cumulative production after the war.

"Okay, okay."

"In addition, 200 251 rocket models are required every month. This Himmler organ is very popular on the front line."

"This is really impossible to complete."

"If it can't be completed, you can authorize Dimag Company to produce it, and you can also invest in setting up a factory in Italy."

"Yes..." He dragged out his voice reluctantly, causing everyone to laugh.