Cannon Fire Arc
/ Cannon Fire Arc Chapter 406 – Chapter 406: Chapter 17 Suddenly, the Tiger
Chapter 406: Chapter 17 Suddenly, the Tiger-Style Lost Its Appeal
Wang Zhong heaved a sigh of relief when he saw the enemy surrender, then broke out in a cold sweat–damn it, thinking back on the moment they made that sharp turn in front of the enemy's gun barrel, if the enemy had fired, only “The Matrix's” Neo himself could have saved them.
“In 'The Matrix', Neo dodges bullets from pistols and rifles, while I dodge 88 mm tank gun shells; even Neo would have to light a cigarette for me!”
By this time, Wang Zhong was less than a hundred meters away from the Tiger tank, and he wasn't stupid, of course, he wouldn't try to compare turret turning speed with a Tiger tank at a distance of 1400 meters–that would be an idiot inviting death.
Moreover, Wang Zhong dared to charge like this because he was particularly familiar with the Tiger tank; he knew its turret was too heavy and without the engine running, there simply wasn't enough electrical power to drive the turret at full speed. He was no amateur who relied solely on in-game stats!
If the enemy increased the engine rpm to boost the power supply, the sound would give it away, and then it would be time to react.
But the enemy didn't increase the engine rpm throughout, so the turret turned slowly.
Could it be malfunctioning?
After all, it was a trial production model, so a high failure rate was normal.
Wang Zhong nudged the reins, urging Bucephalus closer to the spoils of war.
The white horse, not knowing why, held its head high and chest out with an impressive air, as if it had been the one to defeat the tank.
To tell the truth, without the vortex sights aimed this way from afar, the enemy wouldn't have surrendered no matter what.
When Wang Zhong arrived at the last Panzer VI, the infantry had already climbed aboard first, taking away the raised MP40 from the surrendered Tank Operator and opening all the tank's covers, with one thread tailor's shears per hatch pointed at the Tank Operators inside.
Hit in the face with a “scale-thrower” bullet, Wang Zhong didn't even want to imagine how dire the outcome would be.
Wang Zhong looked at the first to surrender and asked, “How come it's the Gunner coming out to surrender? Why didn't your commander come out?”
The enemy Gunner looked completely perplexed.
Wang Zhong gestured towards the infantry: “Field telephone.”
An infantryman took out a field telephone from his backpack and handed it to Wang Zhong.
The enemy Gunner squinted his eyes, looking at the tiny field telephone with disbelief.
“Amelica!” Wang Zhong flaunted the field telephone in his hand and declared.
The Gunner nodded.
At that moment, the commander also stood up under the “attention” of two “scale-throwers,” his upper body poking out of the turret.
Wang Zhong: “Vasily, come over for translation.”
“On the way!” Vasily's voice varied in volume, indicating his ride was very bumpy, the field telephone and he were sometimes far, sometimes near.
Just then, the infantry pointed southeast, and Wang Zhong looked over just in time to see a jeep kicking up a trail of dust as it headed their way.
During the few minutes waiting for Vasily, Wang Zhong and the surrendering tank commander and Gunner were left staring at each other, wide-eyed.
Wang Zhong decided to take a look at the tank first.
So he dismounted and began inspecting the Panzer VI's signature interleaved road wheels; indeed, they looked extremely complex from the outside.
These road wheels were more than just two interlocking rows; each one had a “clever design,” with three thin road wheels pieced together to form a “Gong “-shaped structure.
The two halves of this “Gong ” shape had different thicknesses; on one side, there were two small road wheels joined together, while on the other, there was a single wheel standing alone.
Not only that, but when put together, the Prussian engineers insisted on mirroring the two rows of road wheels with an almost obsessive compulsion.
Just describing it with words gives one an idea of the complexity involved.
This design was adopted to improve the tank's mobility.
However, on Earth, the Sturmtiger engineers themselves tested the captured T-34 and Sherman tanks (which had different suspension designs) and also admitted that the complex interleaved road wheels offered limited improvement to mobility.
There's a diminishing return effect with this kind of mechanism; after reaching a certain point, any further improvement becomes quite limited.
The T-34 and Sherman were both trying to find an optimal balance between mobility, reliability, and maintainability.
The Sturmtiger engineers just took things to the extreme, pursuing the ultimate mobility–are you familiar with the craftsman's spirit? Or the understanding of wrapped in oil paper?
It seems the Prussians did the same.
Wang Zhong shook his head; Ante was limited by industrial capability, couldn't produce such large turret rings and didn't have such powerful engines, so they used the vortex as a stopgap measure. When the Federation brings its might to bear and upgrades Ante's industry, they'll build more powerful tanks.
Prussian industry is so advanced, so why succumb to the habit of wasting tonnage?
The Army wasted tonnage on the interleaved road wheels; the Navy wasted tonnage on–who knows what.
Wang Zhong shook his head at the interleaved road wheels: “This walking mechanism is no good. If they really start using this en masse, their logistics will be doomed.”
By then, several Prussian Tank Operators had been taken out of the tank, but since they couldn't understand what Wang Zhong was saying, they just looked at each other, offering no opinions.
Finally, Vasily arrived and spoke some Prosen to the prisoners before the enemy commander immediately asked Vasily a question in Prosen.
Wang Zhong: “What did he ask?”
“He's asking what the general thinks about 'interleaved' road wheels. I know what interleaved means…”
Wang Zhong pointed at the heavy tank's road wheels: “This is what it means.”
Vasily's eyes widened: “Wow, is it that impressive?”
After all, the presence of interleaved road wheels was impressive to the naked eye, inspiring a sense of awe.
Chapter end
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