Chapter 489 Exploring the Future

Given that the IS2 heavy tank, which was born in 1943, has no absolute advantages, and is only better than the last German heavy tank King Tiger in terms of mobility and reliability, and is almost not at the same level as the King Tiger in terms of firepower and armor protection, Malashenko, who has already made up his mind, does not intend to use the IS2 until the end of World War II.

"Comrade Kotin, have you heard of a German named August?"

The unexpected question from Malashenko made Kotin slightly stunned. Kotin, who thought that the matter of August was a top secret of the Red Army, spoke with some surprise.

"Of course, Comrade Malashenko, this German named August was just sent to me not long ago, but he is currently undergoing political review and investigation, and it will take some time to arrange a formal job for him. How do you know these things?"

From Kotin's slightly surprised expression, Malashenko understood the meaning, and estimated that Kotin should not know the specific details of the whole incident, and then he told the story.

"I caught this German, Comrade Kotin, from the elite German Infantry Regiment of the Germans. After I caught him, I suggested to my superiors that I send him to you. August said he wanted to meet you and work with you."

"This German named August is one of the main persons in charge of the next-generation heavy tank program. The things in his head and the knowledge reserves are of high value. Please make good use of them, Comrade Kotin. The technology of our Red Army's next-generation heavy tanks can learn from the excellent designs of the Germans to make up for our shortcomings, which will make us stronger."

Having only met August once and not taking him too seriously, Kotin thought that August was just a marginal figure in the German engineer and technical group. He never thought that August actually had so many things in his stomach.

"The main person in charge of Germany's next-generation heavy tank program? This is a big deal, Comrade Malashenko, what exactly is this German guy named August good at?"

The expression on Kotin's face showed impatience. It seems that the father of the Red Army's heavy tanks also has many problems that he cannot solve.

"After capturing him, I briefly interrogated him. When August was in Germany, he was specifically responsible for the transmission and suspension systems of the tank. He assisted Porsche in the transmission system, and he was fully responsible for the suspension system."

"Let me put it this way, Comrade Kotin, this August has an excellent talent in transmission and suspension systems. He claims to have a dual doctorate degree in Germany and the United States. I guess he is not lying. His major is mechanical engineering."

"Make good use of him, and the suspension and transmission systems of our Red Army's next-generation heavy tanks will be greatly improved!"

The transmission system of the Red Flag tractor directly used in the previous generation of KV heavy tanks has been completely eliminated. The next generation of heavy tanks must be equipped with a more powerful new transmission system. This is an indisputable fact for Kotin.

How easy is it to redesign the tank chassis and transmission system? Although the Soviet Union, which lacked in technology in the field of precision machinery, had a fairly developed heavy industry base, it was not good at chassis transmission systems, which involved very precise parts and overall design architecture.

He was confident in the prototype tank turret he designed, and the bulletproof appearance design and armor layout of the tank chassis were not a big problem. The real problem that troubled Kotin was the transmission system of the tank chassis. Kotin, who repeatedly argued and overturned the previous poor design, had not slept well for several nights. He saw strange things like gearbox gears and transmission shafts.

The good news brought by Malashenko was undoubtedly very important to Kotin. Kotin, who was almost excited, immediately expressed his feelings to Malashenko with a sense of relief.

"To be honest, Comrade Malashenko. After studying the captured German tank samples, I was really inspired by their tank design! But I have to admit that our industry still has a lot of gaps with these Germans in terms of precision machinery. Compared with their designs that are like works of art, the path we are taking is a bit, um, a bit indescribable, Comrade Malashenko, but you should know what I mean."

It's just stupid, big, black and rough!

Malashenko smiled in his heart and naturally knew what Kotin wanted to express. The Germans used the best technology to make tanks like works of art, but they were too delicate and had many faults on the battlefield.

On the contrary, the Soviet Union used a very simple method to make stupid, big, black and rough equipment as cheap as possible. This is the huge contrast between the two.

If the two can be combined in a proper way, Malashenko has reason to believe that the development of the Red Army's heavy tanks in World War II will usher in huge changes, such as the excellent heavy tank that was blown up in the prototype test and its bones flew and its head was separated.

Malashenko made his expression more serious and spoke to Kotin again, with his mind made up.

"We can ask August to give us suggestions on the design of our heavy tanks, Comrade Kotin. The new heavy tank that August is responsible for in Germany uses a very novel electric transmission system, but this technology is not yet mature. We can let August improve it based on the ordinary transmission system, using their German technology and design ideas."

"August has long heard of you, Comrade Kotin. He said he really wants to meet you, the creator of the Red Army's heavy tanks. If things go well, we should be able to convince him easily."

"Long heard of you? About me?"

The result given by Malashenko obviously surprised Dr. August. Kotin, who has always been devoted to his career and had to devote some energy to fighting dissidents and engaging in political struggles, was so busy that he even ate his meals hastily. He never thought that he would be remembered by a German.

The focus of the subsequent conversation with Kotin was almost all about the specific design of the tank. From the current situation, Kotin's design ideas are still developing towards the existing IS2 heavy tank in history. This situation makes Malashenko, who is eager for success, a little disappointed.

But after thinking about it carefully, he remembered the old saying "You have to eat one bite at a time and take one step at a time". It is very clear to Malashenko, who comes from the future, that taking too big a step may cause trouble.