The Emperor’s Angel of Death

Originally, according to Soshyan's requirements, Uranhuda should have produced a large number of Leman Russ series tanks for the auxiliary forces, as well as some super-heavy armored vehicles.

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He has now seen the super-heavy tanks, one hundred Baneblades, which is not a lot, but not a few either. They are an extremely expensive asset in the Astra Militarum, but they are clearly not going to be the main armored force of the mortal auxiliary forces. Nothing can shake the Leman Russ's position as the main armored force of humanity, until Bangula led Soshyan to a foundry workshop and had a servo-skull lift a black velvet cloth.

"This is—"

What appeared before Soshyan was a "mini" version of the Baneblade.

First of all, its volume is about two-thirds of the Baneblade's, and the turret is also the Baneblade's hemispherical turret, but the main gun is only one, with a coaxial autocannon next to it. In this respect, it is closer to the Kratos tank, but the ratio of the turret to the hull is much larger than that of the Kratos tank, and the hull is closer to the Baneblade, except that there are no secondary guns. The frontal armor has a smoother surface and a slightly larger angle of inclination. The track structure of the hull is exactly the same as that of the Kratos tank, with more obvious protection, but there are no secondary guns on the side of the hull. Overall, it is a reduced version of the Baneblade combined with some of the technical features of the Kratos tank.

After looking around, Soshyan always felt strange. Although it could be seen at a glance that it was a human weapon, it had a natural difference from the style of the Imperium. It was simple and capable, even a bit "heretical," or to put it another way, its firepower was extremely "weak." The entire vehicle had only one main gun and one coaxial machine gun, that's it, just like the Astra Militarum infantry who only had lasguns and no bayonets.

However, after tapping the armor of this tank, Soshyan determined that its frontal armor thickness should be similar to that of the Leman Russ. Although it was shorter than the Leman Russ in overall size, coupled with the silver-gray paint, it still had a unique and human sense of power and beauty.

In addition, its main gun appeared to be a long-barreled battle cannon, similar to the main gun of the Adepta Sororitas's Immolator tank.

"Director Bangula, can you explain?"

Soshyan withdrew his gaze from the tank and looked at the foundry director, while the other warriors were still surrounding the mysterious war machine, checking its details and talking softly.

Bangula immediately replied:

"Lord Commander, this is a main battle tank jointly developed by three Tech-Priests that can surpass the Leman Russ."

"Surpass the Leman Russ?"

"I believe you can see that its appearance draws on the ancient Baneblade heavy tank and the Kratos heavy tank, but it uses almost the same materials as the Leman Russ."

As Bangula spoke, a huge flexible screen was lowered from above the foundry workshop, and then the entire internal structure of the tank was displayed on the screen.

"Its engine is exactly the same as the Leman Russ tank, the HL232 V12 multi-fuel engine, located in the rear of the hull. The external alloy armor is also the same as the Leman Russ tank. The hull height is 1.2 meters lower than the Leman Russ, and the length is 0.6 meters longer than the Leman Russ. It uses an integrated cast turret, located in the middle of the hull, slightly behind. The biggest difference from the Leman Russ is that the chassis and track suspension system were independently researched and designed by the three Priests, allowing this type of tank to have faster speed and better hull sealing, and can perform combat operations in various environments. With various structural optimizations and the removal of most of the secondary weapons, the fully loaded weight of this vehicle is 12% lighter than the fully loaded weight of the Leman Russ, but the frontal defense is not weaker than the Leman Russ."

"As for the main gun, it uses an accelerator cannon that was more common in the Great Crusade era. This is a weapon system based on ultra-high vacuum technology. The biggest difference from the Leman Russ's battle cannon is that it uses a set of overpressure mechanical devices, so it has a higher muzzle velocity than the battle cannon, and the recoil is also lower, which greatly improves the accuracy and stability of the tank when firing at high speed. Its caliber is the same as the Leman Russ's battle cannon, and the ammunition is universal. The entire vehicle can carry up to 40 rounds of ammunition."

As Bangula introduced it, the tank structure diagram on the screen also began to be layered, separating all of its detailed internal structure so that everyone could see it more clearly.

Soshyan noticed that its internal differences from a normal Leman Russ were still very large, especially the structure located on the chassis, which looked like a turntable.

"In addition, this vehicle uses the Baneblade's automatic loader, which was reduced and improved by a Tech-Priest. Without reducing performance, it was transformed into a turntable-type automatic feeding structure. All actions are driven by electricity. The gunner only needs to select the type of ammunition and press the loading button. The turntable carrying the ammunition will rotate to the required position, and then the loading system will raise a lever system, hook the shells and align them at the rear of the breech, and finally push them into the chamber through the loading rod. When the breech is locked, the lever system will descend to its initial position, at which point the main gun can fire. The entire process will not exceed 10 seconds, and can be compressed to about 5 seconds with further optimization."

Then the tank on the screen was reassembled, and a transparent virtual image began to simulate the loading and firing process, so that everyone present could clearly see the working mechanism of this automatic loader.

"Of course, manual loading can also be selected if the loading machine fails, but this probability should not be high. After configuring this type of loading machine, the number of crew members of the tank can be reduced to 3, that is, only the commander, driver, and gunner are needed, which greatly alleviates the crowded conditions inside the vehicle. The remaining vehicle-mounted equipment and communication systems are the same as the Leman Russ. In addition, a small temperature regulator and noise reduction materials are installed in the vehicle, which can basically maintain the internal temperature at a suitable temperature of 26 degrees, providing a relatively comfortable environment for the crew. It is also equipped with a fast-response fire extinguishing device, and four smoke grenade launchers are installed outside the vehicle, which can create a smoke screen area of hundreds of meters."

Speaking to the end, Bangula's voice even carried a hint of excitement.

"Most importantly, by reducing secondary weapons, using an integrated cast turret, reducing personnel, and lowering the vehicle height, the construction man-hours and materials required for this tank are a full 21% lower than the Leman Russ! The cost of manufacturing 10 Leman Russ tanks is equivalent to building 12 of these new main battle tanks! I dare not say that this new type of tank has an overwhelming advantage over the Leman Russ, but, given the small difference in performance between the two, I firmly believe that 120 of these tanks can defeat 100 Leman Russ! And more importantly, because the weight is reduced, a slightly modified Skytalon Valkyrie can just lift and transport it together with the crew, which is a great tactical advantage compared to the Leman Russ! Lord Commander, this is a strategic weapon. Perhaps its performance is not outstanding enough, perhaps it is not so extremely powerful, but it can still defeat many enemies, and more importantly, it will form an unstoppable iron torrent, enough to submerge all opponents!"

After Bangula finished speaking, Soshyan just quietly turned around and looked at the tank.