Steel Soviet Union

"Comrade Kejing, these eight tank turrets were built overnight by the comrades in the factory according to eight design drawings. Everything was completed according to the requirements on the design drawings. There is no problem with mounting the new 85mm main gun. You see How to do testing now."

In the design of his next-generation new heavy tank, he drew on the failure lessons and lack of experience of the original KV1 heavy tank. The active and bold Kogin required that the turret of the new heavy tank must be compatible with subsequent ones at the beginning of the design. It is possible to replace the main gun with a larger caliber and make the turret stronger and larger.

To be precise, Kogin hopes that his new heavy tank will not only be a pure heavy tank, but also be compatible with more new equipment that may be replaced in the future, including tank main guns and larger tanks. power engine, and the addition of stronger and heavier additional armor should any battle situation require it.

Based on this requirement, the turrets of these eight new heavy tanks produced overnight are all, without exception, a full circle larger than the turrets of the original KV1 heavy tanks. If the original KV1 heavy tank turret is compared to a bull, then these eight newly manufactured prototype turrets are like rhinos weighing up to two tons and are generally more powerful.

After hearing this, Kogin immediately stepped forward and carefully inspected every process and welding mark on the turret. Although they were rushed products manufactured overnight, these turrets, as important prototype vehicles, still ensured the highest quality and quality. The craftsmanship and genuine products are undoubtedly much better than the Soviet mass-produced tanks that kept rolling off the assembly line like dumplings.

Kogin, who circled around the eight turrets several times, reached out and touched them repeatedly to make sure there were no problems, and then made up his mind. He patted the dust on his palms, turned around, and immediately gave orders to the accompanying engineer beside him.

"Load all turrets onto the vehicle immediately. There is no need to wait for the chassis of the new heavy tank to be produced. Before that, test whether the actual combat performance of the turrets and the reliability of the main gun are up to standard, and wait until the chassis of the new heavy tank is designed and manufactured. It can be applied immediately in the future, which will save us a lot of unnecessary time. ”

Ke Jin said it lightly, but the accompanying engineer beside him was still a little puzzled.

"Comrade Kogin, what you mean is that we should immediately install these eight turrets on the chassis of eight KV1 heavy tanks, and the main guns will all be equipped with new 85mm tank guns. Is that true?"

Kogin, who was in a good mood due to the successful completion of the prototype turret production task, did not show any impatience. On the contrary, he looked at the eight different turrets spread out in front of him with a smile and answered.

"Yes, this is exactly what I want to express. When designing the new turret, the issue of compatibility has been considered in the diameter of the turret seat ring. The new turret seat ring and matching steering gear should be perfectly compatible with the original For the KV1 heavy tank, there is no big problem in testing the prototype turret right now.”

"But how to conduct the test? Comrade Ke Jing. Should we first conduct a ballistic test on the shooting range or simulate actual combat conditions off-road to test the reliability of the new turret? You still need to come up with a plan for these tests."

After hearing the engineer next to him speak again, he had already learned from his acquaintances in Moscow's upper-class circles that Lieutenant Colonel Malashenko had been reactivated and was about to serve as the newly formed 1st Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment. The head of the group.

For this Red Army heavy tank commander who had previously "saved" him at the Moscow Future Tank Decision-making Conference, Kogin still has an indescribable and inexplicable affection for Malashenko in his heart to this day. According to the detailed investigation conducted by Kojin in recent times, the heavy tank unit led by Malashenko and his men should be the most powerful tank unit in the entire Red Army.

"There is no need for ballistic tests and other tests. Once the factory inspection is done and everything is correct, all eight prototype vehicles will be packed and sent to the front line in Moscow. I will contact the newly established Guards in the suburbs of Moscow in advance. The First Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment, all actual combat testing will be completed by them.”

"At that time, we only need to make some targeted improvements based on the actual combat results fed back by the frontline troops. There is no need to continue to scribble on the drawings. The level of the new heavy tank we have created can only be determined by the front-line quality. It is the elite heavy tank soldiers who have the most say.”

Seeing Ke Jing's resolute order, the engineer beside him who was still a little doubtful finally swallowed his words after thinking about it.

After all, these prototype turrets, which have been repeatedly measured on drawings and have been demonstrated for no less than a hundred times on feasibility issues, are basically unlikely to have any major drawbacks or fatal flaws. The KV1 heavy tank chassis used to load it on the body has a lot of minor flaws, but in the final analysis it is technically mature and reliable. In general, the combination of the two does exactly what Kogin envisioned. It won't cause much of a problem.

Everything depends on what kind of results the frontline troops will feedback after the actual test.

Looking at the eight new tanks parked quietly inside the warehouse in front of him, the muzzle of the thicker and longer main gun mounted on the turret was flashing with a cold light. Even standing there without moving is enough to demonstrate its powerful and terrifying power.

What surprised Lavrinenko even more was that, apart from the fact that the chassis of the eight new tanks in front of him were all the same as the chassis of the original KV1 heavy tank, the eight turrets that were the heads of the tanks were almost all different and had completely different appearances. The most exaggerated one seems to Lavrinenko to be an enlarged replica of the T3476 tank turret.

From the corner of his eye, he glanced at Lavrinenko, who was stunned beside him. Malashenko smiled slowly and then took a step forward and spoke softly.

"The Second Special Tank Design Bureau in Chelyabinsk sent us these eight new prototypes, all equipped with the latest experimental 85mm D-5T main gun. This gun is actually derived from the original M1939 It is based on the modified anti-aircraft gun, and its muzzle velocity, ballistic trajectory and armor penetration depth are much better than the original 76mm main gun. "

"In addition, due to the increase in muzzle velocity and changes in ballistic performance, the sighting scale of the main gun sight has also been adjusted and replaced with a new one. In actual combat, remember to let the gunners in your crew adapt to this. Don't do it because Originally, I was used to the ballistic relationship of the 76-gun and it performed abnormally in actual combat. "