Chapter 803 Kursk

With a "boom", the rocket fell to the ground and exploded halfway.

Conrad looked at Qin Chuan and then at Manstein awkwardly, and said: "Sorry, Marshal, this is a human error! If the control is not proficient and the missile body is pressed too low... this will happen!"

"Hmm!" Manstein nodded: "I saw it, try again!"

In fact, although it failed to hit the target this time, it was already half successful, because Marshal Manstein had seen the rocket adjusting its trajectory in the hands of the operator.

Conrad went up and kicked the operator, and shouted unceremoniously: "Get out, you idiot, go and call Biederman!"

"Yes, Colonel!" The operator didn't dare to reply, and got up happily to find someone.

Conrad walked back to Qin Chuan and whispered, "The control unit was designed by Biederman, and he is very good at it. This proves once again that he is worth saving, right?"

Qin Chuan just smiled, not expecting Conrad to still remember this.

After a while, Biederman came up, perhaps because Manstein was present, so he looked a little nervous.

Manstein also felt this, and he comforted him, "Don't worry, lieutenant... I won't kick your ass like the colonel!"

Several people couldn't help laughing, and Biederman was no exception.

So this ME63 lived up to expectations, with a "chi" sound, it flew towards the target under Biederman's obviously much more flexible control, and then with a "bang" it hit the opposite side of the tank cross-section steel plate.

Manstein and Qin Chuan jumped into the jeep, drove to the steel plate and stopped. In the smell of gunpowder, they saw several irregular black holes on the back of the 100mm thick steel plate, and there were a few wisps of green smoke coming out of the holes.

"Very good, Colonel!" Manstein was very satisfied with the experiment: "So, you have to train a group of qualified operators as soon as possible. Of course, we have to immediately put this..."

"ME63, Marshal!"

"Yes, ME63!" Manstein said: "We have to mass-produce it immediately!"

"Wait, Marshal!" Conrad said: "It still has some defects that have not been solved!"

"For example?" Manstein asked.

"For example..." Conrad thought for a moment and replied: "Although its range is two thousand meters, it is actually difficult to hit the target at a distance of two thousand meters, because its size is not large enough. At a distance of more than one thousand meters, it is difficult for the operator to observe it even with a telescope!"

Manstein and Qin Chuan understood this. It is possible to control it, but if you can't see the rocket, you can't judge how far it deviates from the target or in which direction, so you can't operate it.

"We don't need a range of two thousand meters!" Manstein replied: "One thousand meters is enough!"

"I don't think it's enough, Marshal!" Conrad replied: "Because there are a lot of interferences on the battlefield, such as dust, gunpowder smoke, and smoke bombs, etc., which will make it impossible for the operator to accurately control the warhead to hit the target!"

Conrad is right. Tank targets are larger and easier to see, but rockets are another matter. What's more, the tail of the rocket itself will produce a lot of smoke that affects the line of sight.

"Then solve it..." Manstein said: "Or produce part first, and then produce the other part after the problem is solved!"

"But..." Conrad spread his hands, indicating that he had no solution.

After thinking for a while, Qin Chuan said: "Colonel, why don't we install a tracer tube at the tail of ME63?"

"Tracer tube?" Conrad looked at Qin Chuan in confusion.

"Yes, it's the tracer tube!" Qin Chuan said: "Just like the tracer bullet, even in smoke, dust or in the dark, we can clearly see this bright spot!"

"Oh, yes!" Hearing this, Conrad opened his eyes wide: "Then we know the location of the rocket, and then we can control it normally... You are simply a genius, Lieutenant Colonel! This is a simple and practical solution!"

Qin Chuan is certainly not a genius, but the early wire-guided anti-tank missiles did this, installing a tracer tube at the tail to produce a bright spot for observation and aiming.

Then Conrad said to Manstein: "Marshal, I think it can be put into mass production!"

"Very good!" Manstein nodded.

After thinking for a while, Manstein invited Qin Chuan aside and asked: "Lieutenant Colonel, you originally planned to go back in a few days, right?"

"Yes, Marshal!" Qin Chuan replied: "The Maginot Plan still needs to be improved!"

"I think you should turn your attention here for the time being, Lieutenant Colonel!" Manstein said.

"The Soviets have taken action?" Qin Chuan asked.

Manstein nodded: "Otherwise, why do you think... I am so anxious to let the colonel produce ME63?"

"But..." Qin Chuan couldn't help wondering: "We destroyed their roads and railways, and it's still winter now. The Soviets shouldn't attack so quickly!"

"You are right!" Manstein replied: "They have only completed one-third of the road construction, and the speed decreases exponentially as the temperature drops!"

"Then how do they attack?" Qin Chuan was puzzled.

"Don't attack us!" Manstein handed Qin Chuan a cigarette: "Attack the Central Army Group!"

Qin Chuan couldn't help but say "Oh"... The main force of the German army was concentrated in the Southern Army Group, and most of the new soldiers and equipment were added to the Southern Army Group to prepare for another attack on the Soviet Union next year.

However, the Central Army Group has not been able to recover from the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Moscow. At the same time, the Soviet traffic in the direction of the Central Army Group has not been destroyed, so the Soviet army has the conditions to launch an attack from the center.

"We did not retreat to the original defense line!" Manstein continued: "We are deployed along the Don River, and the Don River extends from west to east. In this way, our defense line is not a straight line, and a depression is formed at the Central Army Group. Originally, there would be no problem, because the depression is in our favor. If the Soviet Union attacks this depression... it will be surrounded by the Southern Army Group at any time. But..."

"The roads and railways we destroyed?!" Qin Chuan seemed to understand something.

"Yes, we destroyed the roads and railways!" Manstein replied, "Plus the heavy snow, the areas that the Soviets had not repaired were almost impossible to march. The Soviets saw this as an opportunity to attack our weak points. Therefore, they assembled a large number of troops in the Kursk area!"

"Kursk!" Qin Chuan was shocked when he heard the name of this place.