176 – Age of Steel and Sorcery (5)
Kang! Kang!! Kuung, wieeeing—!
Drrr!
A space filled with all sorts of mechanical and metallic sounds. First-time visitors are often overwhelmed by the atmosphere, but I don’t know how many times I’ve visited this time.
“Welcome, Commodore.”
“See you again, Shakov.”
A middle-aged man with an impressive Kaiser beard greeted me with a smile.
“It was only yesterday that you were so called. You’re already a lieutenant. You don’t know how much I was surprised every time the story came out among the merchants.”
“Isn’t it the same repertoire every time?”
“That’s how amazing it is, ha ha ha!”
“Isn’t it the same as the head of the Shakov union who went from being the head of the Merchant Guild in small and medium-sized cities in the north to the position of managing the entire military industrial complex?”
It’s a relationship that has been going on since the ‘trafficking investigation’ of the chief of the guard in Cherno City.
Caught up in a conspiracy by the captain of the guard, he was imprisoned in prison, but now he is in charge of the largest factory complex in the North.
“At most it was a few years ago, so it’s not that old, but every time I see you, it feels like new memories come to mind.”
It wasn’t bad from my point of view, as he had experience as a union leader in Chernosy, he was a person with quite an influence in the north.
Most of all, it was because the person I was sure to erase the debt from was a dark person, even though his head was spinning well.
As soon as corruption in the defense industry breaks out at such an important time, all plans are bound to go awry.
“So, how is the matter related to the 2nd Industrial Complex progressing?”
“Lieutenant Colonel Claude Lane has sent back a positive response. After all, the industrial complex will be jointly managed by the Uk ranian and Walther allied forces.”
Already, the munitions industrial complex utilizing the land donated by Count Petro in the Bjartok estate was the largest in Uk ran.
The problem is that considering the demand for weapons that will arise in the future, one industrial complex was far from enough.
In addition, all sorts of equipment, including tanks, trains, and general infantry weapons, are now being produced at one industrial complex.
Even if it was unavoidable because Uk ran’s industrial power was so low that it was terrible, it was necessary to subdivide the production line as the management of the industrial complex was going on somewhat easily.
Of course, it was unfortunate that Uk ran couldn’t produce its own fighter jets…….
If you’re greedy for that part, there’s a very high chance that you won’t be able to eat porridge or rice.
While the Reinhalt Empire promised to take the fighters for sure, they had no choice but to rely on the lack of air power there.
In the first place, the Villartalk Industrial Complex itself was created with Reinhalt’s sponsorship overturned.
“How is the prototype production going?”
“It’s going smoothly. Unfortunately, I am not an engineer. It was a bit difficult to make an accurate assessment.”
“Hmm?”
“One hundred sentences are French, so you might want to take a look at it first.”
Shakov led me slowly into the industrial complex. What is currently being developed at the Bjartok Industrial Complex is a weapon that is one level higher than the ‘Denur’ infantry tank (DL-17) that Major Ervin brought during the last coup.
The Dnure tank was originally a light tank that looked very similar to the Renault FT of the world.
I needed a ‘medium’ tank to be used as the main battleground in the future, so I instructed the tank development department to develop a completely different equipment from the successful mass production of Dnure.
As soon as I followed Shakov into the tank production line.
I was astonished.
“Welcome, Commodore Enoch Levandel!! As you said, the overall prototype of the new generation tank has been completed. Now, if you take and attach only the important equipment inside, a perfect prototype…….”
“Who designed this?”
“Our senior research and development team leader… ….”
“Cut it now. No, cutting is a bit too much, so please change the position immediately.”
The shape of the prototype medium tank ‘DL-18’ was literally straight out of hell.
Assuming that it wasn’t a country modeled after the Soviet Union, it seemed that this extreme tank could be operated here as well.
“Why so many anti-tank turrets!?”
“Yeah…… It’s good to have a lot of pho…….”
“It will turn.”
It’s Hearts of General, which is set in a fictional world where magic exists, but in the case of equipment, there were many things borrowed from equipment actually operated by countries that serve as motifs.
Right now, Diabola seemed to be completely identical to the Reinhalt Empire’s airship.
It was clear that the Moldoke armored train was the same as the armored train operated by the German Empire in the original world, but not different.
There was nothing different about the West. The Summerfield rifle, produced in the United Kingdom of Britain and adopted as the current standard firearm in Uk ran, was very similar to the American Springfield rifle.
So, right before the war, the equipment that could be seen as the symbol of each country also existed in a similar form.
To name some of the worst pieces of equipment, it was the Khahahahalkov Heavy Tank, inspired by the Soviet T-35.
Only 3 turrets on the hull. Total of 5 machine gun turrets. Thanks to that, the crew that operates it is ridiculously over 12 people.
A decommissioned tank that is about the size of a train carriage, has poor armor, and is slow.
A crazy tank that always shoots a loss rate of 97.6% When it is used as an entertainment pick and put into the front line.
Watching the damn tank being assembled right in front of my eyes, I lost my mind.
Shortly, as soon as I said to change the designer’s department, the white-headed development team leader rushed over.
“Why, why!?”
“What was the condition I mentioned at the beginning?”
“Isn’t it a firepower support ground weapon that safely protects mages, can cover any rough terrain without difficulty, and boasts 100% defense against the smallest machine gun?”
“It was.”
“I grafted the concept of the existing Moldoke armored train…… Can’t we do this?”
Why are you asking me about that?
“Listen carefully. Projecting powerful firepower in many directions is good. But don’t we have artillery?”
The development of the Grizzly 57mm howitzer significantly strengthened Uk ranian artillery power.
Colonel Jan Bloch was also a serious fire nerd.
For truly complex fire support, it is far more advantageous to use conventional artillery rather than tanks.
It would be a headache to create a new combat method while leaving the forces running normally.
However, the developer, as if he still had something to say, came up with an opinion that directly contradicted my answer.
“Wouldn’t it be better for infantrymen on the front line to take cover and receive fire support from such a huge tank than to send information to the artillery and open fire?”
“In that case, wouldn’t it be better to cover the entire hull with machine guns instead of the turret? What is this doing? How many mages are you going to put in this tank!?”
“First of all, one for the driver…… Since we need to enchant the shells to improve their penetration and destructive power, one person per turret…….”
The developer folded his fingers one by one and counted, and a total of eight fingers were folded.
“Eight mages can roll eight Dnur chariots. Eight D’Nur tanks will be more reliable than taking this one tank and putting it there.”
It was only then that he realized something was wrong.
“The maximum number of mages to ride in each vehicle is two. Please approach with the concept of one mage operating one tank.”
“Ah…… All right… ….”
“You have to redo the prototype design from scratch. I’m glad you came early. If the real prototype had been completed, I would have gone crazy.”
“So, will my position be retained?”
“If you roll your next work like this, then there is no point.”
At my words, the developer bowed his head. Is it something like the top of the head that seems to roughly mean obedience?
Anyway, the results of the next-generation medium tank, which I had been looking forward to, left only disappointing impressions.
What…… If I think back to Uk ran when I first possessed it.
From talking about assembling multi-turret tanks in a well-equipped arsenal, it can be said that it is a great improvement.
Even though I had a blast, Shakoff, who was standing behind me, continued his next schedule with his face unchanged.
“Nice to meet you, Brigadier Enoch Levandell. It is a transportation equipment design bureau.”
“Transportation Equipment Design Bureau. It is the ministry in charge of designing equipment for transportation and supply.”
“Yes, a new mobile vehicle to replace the transport wagon. As the introduction of mages was completely excluded, the supply and demand of Reinhardt engines seems indispensable.”
“Wait a minute. Why does this have an orbit? They must be deployed in large numbers to the rear and deliver supplies quickly.”
“Yes? That’s for rough terrain…….”
A headache I haven’t felt in a long time.
It seemed that there was still a long way to go before Uk ranian weapon development was on the right track.
(Kahalkov heavy tank looks like this)
(Uk ranian tracked transport vehicle looks like this)
