Chapter 22 The Great Leap Forward (6)

"Let me introduce you, General Sickert, Commander-in-Chief of the German Wehrmacht, an old friend of mine. He happened to be on an inspection tour in Italy this time, so he is an expert..." Contini smiled, "Is it okay to let him see me?"

"No, no, it's an honor for me to serve the general!" Hallick nodded repeatedly. Although the Treaty of Versailles restricted Germany from developing machine guns, the problem was now clearly caused by the Italians. He, a small designer, should not get involved in this. This is such a complex international event, and Britain, France and the United States will bear it if the sky falls.

Sickert didn't take it seriously either. Although the Treaty of Versailles stipulated that Germany could not develop heavy machine guns, it did not say that it could not develop light machine guns, nor did it say that if you buy a machine gun, it is obviously a light machine gun.

Contini had already made an agreement with Sickert, and the machine gun production base would be located in Italy. It would be produced by German engineers and German workers, and then purchased back by the Weimar Wehrmacht. It would be perfect.

"The product on the left is the product we originally designed, and the product on the right is the product improved based on your suggestions, President." Halik said, "I personally think each has its own advantages and disadvantages..."

"Of course, there is no perfect weapon..." Contini smiled and motioned to the officers of the German Weapons Agency to come forward and take it to the shooting range.

Harik curled his lips, feeling a little more certain in his heart.

As the designer of this model, he has been engaged in design for more than 5 years. After developing the prototype with telescopic stock, bipod, quickly replaceable barrel and other functions 3 years ago, he gained the attention of the Czech military. He hopes that He continued to improve, but at this time the Prague Ordnance Factory where he worked was on the verge of bankruptcy and was unable to produce at all. Harrick and most of the technical staff have resigned. So Contini quickly grabbed people and brought the designer himself and the technical team to Italy.

The Czech state-owned arsenal was a little slow to react after learning about this incident. More importantly, the United Group was much more generous than the state-owned arsenal. The various resources and treatment were simply not comparable to those in the Czech Republic. In addition, the United Group was much more generous than the state-owned arsenal. There are also many Czech engineers, mostly of German descent, but if they can speak German, Czechs and Slovaks are also welcome. Harlick and most of the technical staff felt very comfortable here, so they stayed calmly.

Of course, Harik is still patriotic, and he has made an agreement in advance: the original design belongs to the Czech side, and can be produced and used unconditionally if the Czech military needs it. An Italian modification will be made based on the improvements and adjustments proposed by Contini, and the patent belongs to the United Group. Of course Contini readily agreed.

So there is a difference between Design No. 1 and Design No. 2: No. 1 is the original Czech style, with an upper in-line 20-round magazine, weight 9.6 kg, and a total length of 1.14 riflings; No. 2 is an Italian modification, using the lower It has a 41-round drum, weighs 10.4 kilograms, has a total length of 1.14 meters, a barrel length of 596mm, and 6 riflings. The other appearances are basically similar.

Observers can easily see the difference in the verification: although the range of the ruler is set to 1,500 meters, the No. 1 design is still very lethal above 1,000 meters, while the No. 2 design is less lethal and the accuracy is slightly reduced. Because the muzzle speed of No. 2 with a short barrel is 80 meters/second slower than that of No. 1. Of course, within a range of 800 meters, thanks to the 6-rifling design of No. 2, the accuracy and lethality are basically the same. Even around 400 meters, No. 2 has better accuracy.

Modification No. 2 clearly shows Contini’s positioning of the light machine gun: it is mainly used for suppressive shooting within the range of 400-800 meters, with the focus on 400-600 meters. He believes that it is not a light machine gun if it exceeds 800 meters. area of ​​effect.

Half an hour later, the observers gave a clear opinion:

"No. 1 gun needs to tilt its head when aiming, which is relatively difficult. No. 2 gun does not have this problem."

"The amount of No. 1 ammunition is too small and requires frequent replacement of magazines, which is not conducive to the continuity of shooting. The amount of No. 2 ammunition is relatively sufficient..."

"No. 1 is lighter and has a relatively more reasonable center of gravity distribution. No. 2 is heavier and has a rear center of gravity, making it more difficult to control. Especially during continuous shooting, the dispersion is larger and has little impact on burst shooting."

However, one thing that observers say is very pertinent: both No. 1 and No. 2 are better than the Danish Madsen or the British Lewis light machine gun, and are considered good models in the field of light machine guns.

"You may also need some new shooting experience." Contini asked the security secretary Enzo to summon the motorcycle. "Gentlemen, let us now experience the perfect combination of the new joint force motorcycle and the light machine gun..."

The majestic sidecar motorcycle immediately attracted the attention of Sickert and others, and the subsequent maneuvers dazzled them. The motorcycle performed emergency stops, quick U-turns, large-angle turns, etc., and then the machine gunner on the sidecar made a rapid march. Shooting time.

"This is a new piece of equipment that I am going to take to North Africa for verification..." Contini explained, "The tribal armed forces have a camel cavalry, which is very mobile and cannot be dealt with by infantry. As for the cavalry, it is very difficult in the desert. , so I can only think of other ways to combine air and ground, use aircraft for reconnaissance and locking in the air, and send motorcycles on the ground to track and attack. Motorcycles have lower requirements for objective conditions than cavalry, and the flat sand in Libya is also relatively conducive to air-cooled motorcycles. The ride of the car.”

The German officers' eyes lit up: they thought this was a very good idea. A motorcycle with three members, or exactly four, could form a quick-response and offensive force. This was a very suitable weapon for endless harassment wars. Sickert nodded. Mobility is always a key element of the army. Although the Treaty of Versailles stipulates that Germany cannot develop armored forces, it does not say that it cannot develop motorcycle forces. If the Wehrmacht forms a motorcycle rapid battalion in each division, it will be very serious. convenient.

What's more, motorcycles are not necessarily required for combat. They can be used for communications, supplies, logistics, military police, and patrols. This kind of sidecar motorcycle has more tangible benefits than common two-wheeled motorcycles.

He asked calmly: "Can this motorcycle also be exported to the outside world?"

"Okay... This is a standard United Group product. The Italian Army has ordered 1,000 vehicles. I am planning to distribute 1,000 vehicles to North Africa. I will test and improve them at the same time. I believe there will be a lot of room for improvement.

"If, as you said, light machine guns can deal with offensive forces within 800 meters, then heavy machine guns will be introduced at a distance of 800-1500 meters?"

"This is the weapon I am about to show you."

At another venue, from the first moment he saw it, the observer from the Weapons Bureau blurted out: "This is the American Browning 1921 heavy machine gun!"

"Yes! But this is an improved model 1921. It abandoned the bulky water-cooled barrel sleeve and used an air-cooled barrel. It is very troublesome to find water sources in desert areas. It also added the function of quick barrel replacement, so it is now called m1926 Experimental type.”

The Browning heavy machine gun is a copy of the mg18 Dresser heavy machine gun used by Germany in World War I. However, Contini believed that the copy was more successful than the original product, and subsequent improved models continued to be used until the era he traveled through. It was simply It is unbelievable that the reputation of the American heirloom is not something that can be boasted.

After using 12.7mm bullets, the overall ballistic performance is good. Anyone caught within a range of 1,500 meters will be killed. Observers also personally experienced this heavy machine gun fed by ammunition belts, and found that it was indeed worthy of its reputation.

"In addition to ordinary ammunition, we have also developed armor-piercing incendiary bombs, armor-piercing bullets and tracer bullets, which can be applied to different scenarios. Below we can see its armor-piercing power..."

Under Enzo's greeting, a small truck slowly drove out of the warehouse. Seeing the truck and the M1926 heavy machine gun installed on the back, Sickert's eyelids couldn't help but jump.

"Do you feel familiar?" Contini smiled slightly, "I call this an assault truck. It is modified using a truck chassis with strong off-road performance. It has a double row of seats in the front and can accommodate 4-5 people. There is a small cargo truck in the back. The box can accommodate a machine gun design team of 2-3 people..."

If there were other time travelers present, they would definitely exclaim, isn’t this just a pickup truck? When he thought of going to fight in North Africa, Contini immediately took out the killer pickup truck. However, the technology in the 1920s was not as good as that of later generations. These two trucks were closer to small trucks than off-road pickup trucks.

Sickert said angrily: "This thing cost me a lot of men!"

"I'd like to reiterate again that I'm just selling knives, and last time it was a Hotchkiss with bullet plate ammunition, and the firepower was not sustainable enough. If it were replaced by a belt-fed Browning heavy machine gun, I'm afraid the damage would be even greater. " Contini smiled slightly, "However, this matter is over after all. We need to look forward. The last time it was used, it proved successful in street combat. This time we will verify it in field combat. "

Not to mention field battles. In a 1vs1 situation, it is difficult for a Renault-17 tank with a maximum speed of only 10 kilometers/hour to defeat an assault truck that can reach more than 30 kilometers/hour. Renault's proud rotating turret is in the open The flexible rotating m1926 placed on the rear cargo box is not much of a bargain. At a distance of 1,000 meters, the 12.7mm armor-piercing bullet is enough to penetrate the weak armor of the Renaults. Even the 22mm thickest turret armor can still be penetrated within 500 meters. It will be knocked open by 12.7mm armor-piercing bullets.

"You want to use this thing against a tank?"

"To be precise, it is just a cameo against tanks. It is more suitable for dealing with armored vehicles and cavalry. Although the combat effectiveness of off-road trucks is not as good as that of armored vehicles, it has advantages that armored vehicles cannot replace: first, it is maneuverable and flexible; second, it is cheap to build."

Sickert nodded in agreement, but also expressed his own thoughts: "These two light and heavy machine guns should be the best in this field at present. I agree with this, but we originally hoped that one could combine the advantages of the light and heavy machine guns and adopt A belt-fed integrated machine gun can reduce equipment troubles.”

"Your ideas are also very constructive, but unfortunately they are not available at the moment..." Contini shrugged, "Then why can't we respect reality and use them first? If there is better equipment in the future, we can update it without hesitation... I hope It’s neither realistic nor easy to do it all at once.”