Chapter 355 Radar Station and 105mm Howitzer

Chapter 355 "Radar Station" and "105mm Howitzer"

For this strange behavior of hiding a big move and surrendering, the deputy chief of staff and Lao Cui could only respond with silence.

Obviously, there are better equipment but they are left in the warehouse to gather dust. They would rather be beaten into a sieve by the enemy's armored forces than to train in advance. This strategy of taking care of the head but not the butt is really outrageous.

After the milk method was invisible, the old Russian adjusted his mood, and then said to his allies with expectation:

"Zuo, Huang, let's try the gun together!"

"The data on paper is not as intuitive as firing a few shots. I want to see the power of this anti-tank gun with my own eyes."

In Lao Cui's cognition, the Japanese armored forces are updated and iterated slowly. After the Battle of Nomonhan, the opponent seemed to have only upgraded the original tanks.

In terms of the armor protection of the Type 95 light tank and the Type 97 medium tank, they can't withstand this 47mm giant root at all.

This means that the SA37 in front of us is likely not tested by war.

Combined with the information previously revealed by Huang, he has reason to suspect that the data just given by the ally was directly inherited from the Gallic Army.

If this is true, then the problem arises.

As we all know, during World War II, countries had different standards when testing new weapons.

Just like the French, they like to use simple and crude vertical homogeneous armor plates as targets. It is difficult to get penetration data without water when testing anti-tank weapons with this kind of honest armor without angles.

In contrast, the full set of procedures of De III is much more rigorous.

Even the heavy tanks of France, the European overlord, have never been famous for their inclined armor. But German engineers will still give priority to testing weapons with armored target plates with a 30-degree tilt angle.

After all, the terrain of the European continent is not just plains, and the undulating ground will cause the angle of incidence of the shells to not reach the vertical state.

All the weapons in this experiment may become standard equipment for their own Eastern Front troops in the future. In this way, Lao Cui must of course take a serious and responsible attitude to ensure the authenticity of each data.

The request of the ally did not surprise Huang He. He first exchanged glances with the deputy chief of staff, and then ordered the soldiers not far away:

"Comrades, prepare for the artillery fire!"

"Target, one hundred meters, five hundred meters, one thousand meters ahead!"

Hearing this, the artillerymen of the headquarters immediately took action.

Six soldiers quickly unfolded the gun carriage, and then adjusted the elevation and steering mechanisms according to the pre-calculated parameters. The smooth movements were very pleasing to the eye.

After confirming that everything was correct, the shooter pulled the bolt handle and cooperated with the ammunition operator to load a special armor-piercing shell.

"Fire!"

With the red flag falling, the shell flew straight toward the target ahead, and the shock wave shook the surrounding dust around the gun body.

It is worth mentioning that the SA37 uses rubber tires and shock-absorbing springs, and the entire anti-tank gun did not move significantly after the shooting.

Boom!

One shot hit the target!

The artillerymen of the headquarters were very stable and did not show their joy because of the first hit. They adjusted the elevation and steering mechanisms again and fired on the remaining targets on the spot.

Although he had not seen the test results in person, the movement on the scene alone was enough to make Lao Cui's blood boil.

It seemed that the shells were not hitting fixed targets, but that the infantry was blocking the advance of the Type 3 and Type 4 tanks.

After the shelling was over, the comrades at the shooting range immediately delivered the armor plates for the test to the three people. Looking at the three batches of penetrated target plates, Lao Maozi's face was full of satisfaction.

"Good stuff! The actual combat capability of this anti-tank gun must be good! It is exactly the equipment our front-line troops need."

As if he was not satisfied with long-distance observation, Lao Cui first sought the consent of Huang He and the deputy commander-in-chief, and then quickly came to the vicinity of SA37, stroking it and saying:

"Except for the marching weight, its various data are far better than our current M1937."

"I have a strong hunch that this gun will definitely surpass the Pak38 of Germany III on the battlefield, and eventually become the nightmare of the Panzer III and Panzer IV."

Hearing Lao Cui's generous praise, Huang He, who followed closely, nodded.

Pak38 is indeed a good anti-tank weapon. Its role in the North African battlefield is far greater than that of the 37mm stepping stone, and the 60-caliber design is also quite avant-garde.

But! Without using APCR, the penetration of Pak38 is much lower than that of SA37.

It can only be said that France, a powerful artillery country, has a deep foundation, and even if it surrenders, it can leave a lot of good things.

"Old Cui, be more ambitious. This is just a 47mm anti-tank gun, which is not a treasure on the Eastern Front in Europe."

"Based on my understanding of the German Third Army, they will soon develop a new tank with stronger firepower and thicker armor, specifically for dealing with your T34 and KV1."

"But it doesn't matter, our anti-tank guns will also be upgraded by then."

After these words came out, the old Russian was happy at first, and then showed a puzzled expression.

It is naturally a good thing that the Eighth Route Army can come up with more advanced anti-tank weapons. The stronger the ally, the stronger the aid. Who would refuse a reliable friendly army with the same ideology?

As for the doubts, they are also very simple. To deal with the Japanese army's scrap metal, the 25mm Hotchkiss SA34 and the 47mm SA37 are definitely enough. Why continue to develop new weapons?

Against whom?

Will the Japanese form new armored forces in the future?

After a moment, Lao Cui simply gave up thinking. Anyway, the muzzle will not be pointed at him, so why worry about these things.

"Zuo, Huang, let's keep going."

"I heard that the Eighth Route Army is the best mortar-using force in the world. Any caliber can be used in your hands. Let me see it quickly."

Faced with the repeated urging of the allies, the deputy chief of staff and Huang He were not prepared to keep people on hold. The three continued to move forward and came to the next shooting range.

Lao Cui can be said to have heard of the name of the Eighth Route Army's French mortar. But even if he had made sufficient psychological preparations in advance, the equipment exhibited at the next test firing point still shocked him.

No other reason, because the old Russian saw the 120mm mortar.

"Suka! You actually copied the entire series of Brand! Is this Taiyuan or Paris?"

As the commander of the army group in the Winter War, Lao Cui was once ordered to test the various properties of the PM-38 mortar in Finland.

He has always praised this kind of inexpensive and high-caliber support equipment.

In the early Eastern Front battlefield, the 120mm mortar left a deep impression on the German Third Army. They even used the captured PM-38 for reverse engineering, developed and produced GrW 42.

How could Lao Cui not be surprised when the weapon that he regarded as a treasure appeared in another form in the Republic of China?

Looking at the allies who were shouting, Huang He said with some contempt:

"First of all, the mortars of the Eighth Route Army are not imitations. We have the production license and authorization of the French. Civilized people will not do things like adding one millimeter and changing the name to try to get away with it."

"Secondly, compared with Mle 1935, our 120mm mortar has better performance. So, don't get involved with PM-38, which is almost copied from Brand."

"Finally, it won't be long before the Eighth Route Army will be equipped with 160mm mortars, which is the pinnacle."

The production license mentioned by Huang He was naturally something he got from another ally, Lao Dai.

According to Huang's words at the time, your French Third Republic was beaten and surrendered, and those old arsenals became the possession of the German Third Republic.

Asking you to issue a few production licenses in the name of Free France, is it still a troublesome matter?

What? It costs extra money?

Is the equipment enough for an infantry battalion? They are all authentic French infantry weapons. I will never mix Lebel 1886 and Chauchat into them.

As for the 160mm mortar just mentioned, it is a new project of the Border Region Weapons Experimental Bureau, and it is expected to produce a finished product in the first half of 1943.

Although there is no sample gun yet, and even the design drawings have not been completed, this does not prevent Huang He from fooling people with PPT.

In the following period of time, Lao Cui started to test one by one from 50mm, and at least fifteen rounds of mortar shells of each caliber were fired.

As for the results of the test firing, it was naturally extremely satisfactory.

After all, except for the 37mm spade mortar, the mortars currently in service in the north are more or less French, and the early models are imitations that have not purchased production licenses.

Who doesn't like weapons that are of the same origin as themselves and more advanced?

If this batch of aid is sent to the battlefield, the front-line soldiers can definitely master it in the shortest time, which is several times better than the ugly domestic products.

·······

Five minutes later, a jeep arrived at the shooting range.

Seeing that the deputy chief of staff and Huang He were about to leave, the tired old Cui forced himself to cheer up and asked:

"Ah? Is it over? Where is the M18 cannon?"

"As far as I know, you have installed 75mm barreled guns in May this year. And with the current scientific research speed of the Eighth Route Army, I think your army is likely to have installed 105mm howitzers."

Faced with the questions of his allies, Huang He glanced at him from the corner of his eye.

"105?"

"No, that thing is too heavy, we can't pull it at all."

In fact, Huang He lied. He did unlock the 105 howitzer with the system some time ago. But the new howitzer and the 41-type 122mm self-propelled rocket launcher are not on the list of this test launch.

The reason why the former is not on display is very simple. It is a secret weapon prepared by Huang He for the Second Battle of Xinkou. It is still in the internal confidentiality stage. Only the artillery brigade directly under the headquarters knows the existence of the new equipment.

As for the latter, it is something to be sold for money and is not intended to be included in the Lend-Lease Act.

As for the selling price, it is currently set at eight taels of gold per piece, because our current allies are all poor.

"Let's go, follow me to the next scene."

"The next is the finale of this visit. Those things can be said to be equipment tailor-made for you in the north, which will definitely satisfy you."

"On the way, take a look at this document first, it's purely in Russian. It took me several days to write the knowledge points into concepts that you can understand."

After speaking, Huang He handed Lao Cui a folder, on which were eight big characters: Radio Detection-Radar Station.

Let's start with a chapter.