Chapter 234 Changing the Future (Part 2)

Malachenko dragged the document on the armrest of the sofa and began to write it in a flamboyant manner, without letting Zhukov, who was starting to draw again, wait too long. A document that will play a vital role in the development of the entire Red Army tank force in the near future was quickly handed back to Zhukov.

Compared with the vague and general answer given in the last meeting with Zhukov, Malachenko, who had received a guarantee from Zhukov, was obviously much bolder and more detailed this time.

"88mm tank gun? Do you think the Germans will move their 88mm anti-aircraft guns onto their tanks?"

Malachenko's bold speculation was not difficult to understand for Zhukov, who had been in battle for a long time. It was just that moving the bulky and huge 88mm anti-aircraft gun directly onto the tank turret, which had a very limited combat space, was too far-fetched in 1941.

Malashenko, who had known Zhukov's surprise for a long time and had a complete plan in mind, soon spoke again.

"This is not difficult to understand, Comrade Commander."

"In all the front-line armored confrontation operations since the Germans launched the invasion, the 88mm anti-aircraft gun is the only ground weapon in their hands that can effectively fight against our tank troops."

"This kind of artillery, which was originally designed for air defense, has excellent ballistics and high muzzle velocity. The accuracy of the artillery is also unparalleled and surprisingly good. It can destroy all the main tanks in our army, including KV1 and T34, from the front at a conventional combat distance of less than one kilometer. Whether in terms of performance or actual combat results, it has the conditions to be converted into a tank gun."

After a pause, Malashenko, who was ready to convince Zhukov in one go, spoke again soon after briefly organizing his words.

"The current 88mm anti-aircraft gun is indeed restricted by many factors that seem to be cumbersome, such as the gun mount is too high and the volume is too large. But it is undeniable that the current 88 gun is still a professional heavy anti-aircraft artillery. A large part of the cumbersome and cumbersome parts are born to perform air defense tasks, such as the hydraulic elevation mechanism of the gun barrel and the square gun mount used to deploy the gun position to stabilize the recoil."

"If it is to be moved to the turret of the tank and a full-scale main gun transformation is carried out, the large hydraulic elevation mechanism used to lift the heavy gun barrel to perform high-angle anti-aircraft tasks and the gun recoil that will be absorbed by the tank's own weight will be eliminated, making the huge square gun mount mechanism unnecessary. In this way, after abandoning many cumbersome and cumbersome 88 guns, only a basic gun operation mechanism consisting of a gun barrel and a breech block will be left."

"This simplified version of the 88mm anti-aircraft gun The gun was inserted into the newly designed tank turret, and then equipped with a main gun sight and elevation mechanism suitable for tank combat. Considering the impact of the huge recoil of the 88 gun itself on the tank structure and the accuracy of continuous shooting, a muzzle brake can be installed to reduce the gun recoil to an acceptable range. "

"This main gun that is enough to destroy all the main tanks in service of our Red Army within the conventional combat distance, and equipped with a solid heavy armor defense that is not inferior to our KV1 heavy tank based on the actual combat experience on the front line, this will be a very powerful heavy armored behemoth, comrade commander."

In 1941, Zhukov would not have expected that the German Tiger tank, which was born only a year later, would cause huge and heavy losses to the Red Army tank forces in the following years, but this did not prevent Zhukov, who had a long-term vision and keen strategic thinking, from figuring out some key issues in the details.

As Malashenko just said, it is indeed not impossible to move the seemingly clumsy and huge heavy artillery onto the tank turret.

The Soviet artillery ML-10 heavy howitzer with a caliber of up to 152 mm was not just an isolated case. The Red Army SU-100Y heavy tank destroyer, which had been shelved, even directly moved the 130 mm Red Navy B-13 naval gun onto the tank chassis intact.

Although the results of the tankization of the bulky cannon were basically not very successful in the Red Army, it also proved from another perspective that the design of large-caliber artillery equipped on tanks is not impossible.

Germany, which has far surpassed the Soviet Union in heavy industry development, may not be unable to solve the bottleneck problem that troubled the Soviet tank design team. Considering that the 88 gun is characterized as a heavy anti-aircraft gun, it is an absolute "light" artillery compared to the definition method of the army's field artillery with a caliber of 100 mm as the watershed. With the excellent heavy industry foundation of the Germans, it is probably not a problem to move it onto the tank.

Zhukov felt that his brain circuits had suddenly opened up, and then nodded quietly. In Zhukov's opinion, the detailed analysis from Malashenko was really reasonable.

"The 88mm heavy anti-aircraft gun has ready-made mature technology and existing production lines, which is very important for meeting the Germans' imminent front-line armor crisis needs. If the Germans really combine this powerful anti-armor gun with a heavy tank, it will undoubtedly be a very powerful new tank. Your analysis is indeed very reasonable and very important, Malashenko."

The rest of the transformation of the German army's existing tanks on the old basis is still basically the same as the last meeting.

Urgently modifying the Panzer IV tank with new artillery that can effectively deal with Soviet tanks, and thickening the armor to deal with the serious threat of Soviet tanks that kill with every hit, is what Malashenko had already explained to Zhukov last time The content, this time, is only expressed in writing in a slightly more detailed and rigorous manner.

After reading Malashenko's brief summary report, which was only a piece of paper, he felt that there was no big problem. Zhukov, who had already made a promise to Malashenko, fulfilled his promise and immediately raised the desk next to him. The pen in the upper pen holder added his name to the end of Malashenko's signature in the report.

"In this way, there will be no people with ulterior motives trying to harm you secretly, Malashenko. This report will be sent to Moscow soon. I hope it can play its due role and let us The superiority of the Red Army's tanks over the German armored forces can always be maintained."

General Zhukov's support is extremely important to Malashenko, who is only a small lieutenant colonel.

The tank designer team of the Soviet Red Army also had a competitive relationship with each other. The battles between different factions were no less than the undercurrents of overt and covert fighting in the political and official circles.

This document in Malashenko's hands indicates the not-so-distant future. It is very likely that due to differences in ideas, some consequences will not be beneficial to Malashenko personally, and will lead to him being indirectly involved in the rear designers. In the midst of competition among teams.

The autograph added by Zhukov after Malashenko's signature is undoubtedly an absolute talisman that helps Malashenko avoid possible dangers.