NOVEL WEB Chapter 362 Additional Armor
In the flying leaves of the sycamore trees, Lauren drove Shire towards the tank base.
It wasn't a pleasant experience, as the cars of this era were semi-open; when the car sped up, fruit hairs would hit Shire's face in the strong wind, sometimes even getting into his eyes and nostrils, causing both pain and itching.
Shire had to pull down his military cap and raise his collar to cover his mouth and nose, looking as if he couldn't face anyone.
Despite this, people on the sides of the streets still recognized Shire, waving excitedly at him, and some even ran a short distance behind the car.
Shire found this behavior quite boring. What could they achieve by catching up? Expressing admiration or asking for an autograph? What significance would that hold for them?
After more than half an hour, the car finally reached its destination.
Perhaps because there were fewer sycamore trees in this area, the number of fruit hairs in the air had significantly decreased.
Brownie and Estiny, having received advance notice, were waiting at the base gate with several guards to greet them.
As soon as they saw Shire's car, they smiled and approached.
"Long time no see, General," Brownie said, his eyes filled with affection and a hint of surprise.
It was hard for Brownie to imagine that the "little guy" who once rode a bicycle had become like this, although upon closer inspection he hadn't changed much in appearance, overall, he had changed significantly, almost to the point that Brownie didn't recognize him.
Estiny didn't care about this. He was holding a thick briefcase, seemingly carrying a pile of problems just waiting for this moment to discuss with Shire.
Shire first inspected the training of the tank brigade and was quite satisfied overall.
Previously, the tanks and infantry of the First Tank Brigade were separated, with one tank regiment and one infantry regiment, and the infantry would be temporarily assigned to the tank regiment during combat to advance together.
Brownie explained, "I was thinking, if we have to assign them every time we go to battle, why not prepare beforehand?"
This made more practical sense, Shire thought, and it also proved that Brownie and Estiny were competent commanders. Under their command, the tank brigade was moving in a more rational and correct direction.
Then Estiny eagerly brought Shire into the base laboratory.
This was built by Estiny himself, a branch of the tractor factory research institute, where he could conveniently test and improve tanks simultaneously.
The laboratory wasn't large, roughly about 100 square meters, supported by waterproof tarpaulins as a makeshift shelter, with tools and parts piled everywhere, and two "Shire A1" tanks in the middle, either being repaired or improved.
Estiny eagerly said, "Perhaps you know, our tank engines have surpassed the 'Holt 120' and reached 130 horsepower."
Shire replied with an "Hmm," acknowledging Matthew's contribution.
After learning for a period at the aircraft manufacturing plant, he improved the engine, successfully surpassing it at this moment.
Although the surpassing was slight, with only 10 more horsepower than the 'Holt 120', and was still not stable enough, these were merely issues of time.
"Under these circumstances, I plan to replace it with a larger caliber gun," Estiny said, approaching with a document, displaying a design drawing in front of Shire: "I want to mount a 75mm gun. I thought the extra horsepower would be enough to carry its weight, but I found that wasn't the case."
"Is the breech too long?" Shire asked.
Equipping a tank with a gun isn't just about weight; the barrel is outside the body, and the breech is inside.
If the tank turret isn't large enough, the longer breech of a large-caliber gun would hit the top or side walls of the turret.
"Yes," Estiny looked somewhat surprised at Shire: "This makes its elevation angle very low, almost immovable, and the gunner has no extra space."
"It needs a new gun," Shire responded, "and a new turret as well."
This was dictated by the space inside the tank compartment, with no better solution.
Shire suggested, "By comparison, if we use the extra horsepower in the armor, it's much simpler."
"You are right, General," Estiny agreed, though he seemed less interested: "Increasing armor is indeed easier, but I don't think it's very necessary."
As he said this, Estiny flipped through the briefcase and took out a data sheet: "This is the Germans' A7V firepower summary, with a 57mm caliber gun and six Maxim Machine Guns."
Upon hearing this, Shire understood.
The "Shire A1" had 25mm frontal armor.
The 57mm gun could penetrate it, while the six Maxim machine guns could not.
Even if the armor was increased, say to 30mm, the 57mm gun could still penetrate it, while the six Maxim machine guns could not.
Thus, the additional armor would be meaningless in combat.
No wonder Estiny was so focused on increasing the gun caliber rather than the armor.
Shire smiled and said, "We may not be facing just the A7V, Colonel."
"You mean..." Estiny looked puzzled at Shire.
"We are progressing, and so is the enemy," Shire answered, "Last time, our 'Shire A1' didn't give the Germans' A7V a chance to fire. Do you think they will continue to use this tank?"
Estiny's face turned pale, realizing he had made a mistake: all designs were aimed at the enemy's A7V.
Considering further, if the enemy also developed new tanks and required short turnaround times to produce and field them...
Estiny looked up at Shire, worried: "General, the enemy may very well create a light tank similar to our 'Shire A1'."
"Yes," Shire nodded, "and they may also introduce a small-caliber gun like our 37mm gun. In this case, reinforcing the frontal armor becomes crucial."
Colonel Estiny regretted it deeply; this invalidated his previous judgment.
Stacking defenses was not only useful but very useful because it meant the enemy couldn't penetrate us while we could penetrate them.
Realizing this, Estiny said worriedly: "My mistake, General. Strengthening armor now seems too late, as we need to reproduce the front armor, consider the balance, and then overhaul everything..."
He was referring to removing the old armor and reinstalling new armor, which couldn't be done quickly, especially with over 200 tanks in the tank brigade.
"No," Shire shook his head, "we can produce additional armor."
"Additional armor?" Estiny looked confused; it was a new term for him.
But he quickly understood its meaning from the word "additional," and then exclaimed: "Yes, General, additional armor! So simple, I couldn't think of it; I'm such a fool!"
Estiny was certainly no fool.
Every step in tank development and every innovation walked step by step through the long course of history, with many making mistakes and even heading in the wrong direction.