Iron Cross

The missile caused a sensation as soon as it appeared. It's not that everyone has never seen a missile, but the appearance of the missile was a bit shocking.

Among the five countries that came to observe, namely Italy, Japan, France, Romania and Hungary, except for Romania and Hungary, which are somewhat inferior in technical level, the political leaders of France, Japan and Italy, who are considered powerful countries, have already used various channels after learning about the existence of rockets. After consulting their own scientists to learn more about the principles and operating mechanisms of rockets, Japan and France have even issued research and development instructions to prepare to produce their own rocket forces. Among the three countries of Japan, France, and Italy, Japan started the earliest, France has a stronger foundation, and Italy has the most convenient conditions, but they are not as good as the United Kingdom.

Although the United Kingdom was not invited to observe, in fact, the country not only has strong rocket technology, but also received a physical V2 for reference. The only disadvantage is that the British scientific research team was divided into three pools: the local team, the United States and Canada. A spread.

What really shocked the political leaders of various countries was not the rocket, but the rocket-carrying truck - a truly behemoth that had never been seen before.

This missile truck is jointly developed by four top German companies and integrates the three functions of transportation, erection and launch.

The power system uses two high-power diesel engines produced by MAN and matching gearboxes, with a combined power of 1,380 horsepower. Only half of them can be turned on individually. The entire system is carefully placed on a shock-absorbing base (similar to the layout of a submarine) to reduce vibration and noise. When using the road for transportation when fully loaded or driving cross-country when unloaded, the power of a single engine can meet the demand. Only when the vehicle is fully loaded for off-road driving, two engines need to work together. The maximum highway speed is 60 kilometers per hour, the maximum off-road speed is 25 kilometers per hour, and the continuous driving distance when fully loaded with fuel is 400 kilometers.

The chassis is jointly developed by Mercedes-Benz and Skoda. The overall length of the vehicle is about 24 meters. It adopts 10×10 wheel drive, has an unloaded weight of 27 tons, and a maximum fully loaded weight of 65 tons. The cab layout is very creative, with two driver-passenger cabins on the left and right, which can accommodate up to 12 people. The two cockpits are completely independent, with a recess in the middle allowing the rocket tip to fit inside.

All upper components, including the erection device, are handled by Henschel. Generally, fully automatic operation is used. In special cases, manual operation can also be used. It requires four adults to cooperate and shake the handle 240 times to completely erect the rocket. The car body is equipped with multiple sets of hydraulic shock absorption systems - rockets are precision equipment, and vibration is their natural enemy.

In fact, this is a standard V4 missile launch carrier, because the length of the improved V2 rocket is only a little over 13 meters, the diameter of the missile is 1.04 meters, and the weight is less than 10 tons. There is only a short and thin section on it. There is no need for the recessed areas in the two cockpits. Only the V4 with a length of more than 21 meters, a bullet diameter of 1.9 meters and a weight of more than 30 tons is a perfect match. Of course, it doesn't matter if the length is a little longer, such as more than 25 meters, and the missile weighs more than 4-5 tons of full load. The load-bearing truck can perfectly accommodate it.

Hoffman was very satisfied with this truck and named it "Land Warrior" himself. People familiar with the matter learned that although the chassis, engine, and components were jointly developed by various companies, such a striking shape, In particular, the idea of ​​separating the left and right cockpits and recessing the middle was completely designed by the Führer - the sketch he drew and the final product are almost identical except for the proportions, as if he had seen it with his own eyes.

Since it is a big guy, the price of this multi-functional missile launch vehicle is also very tough. A total of 20 vehicles were produced through bidding. The total price of R\u0026D expenses plus production costs exceeded 90 million marks, and the unit price was as high as 4.5 million, which is equivalent to 16 vehicles. Tiger or 12 of the latest Tiger 3, even excluding research and development costs, the production cost alone exceeds 2.5 million marks.

In fact, what is displayed in front of everyone is not all the vehicles owned by the missile battalion. In addition to these land warriors, there are also command vehicles, flatbed trucks (carrying ammunition and preparations, without launching and erecting functions), and officer and soldier support vehicles (can accommodate 16-person sleeper car), not to mention trucks. All supporting vehicles and launch vehicles operate together to form the complete set of equipment of the missile battalion, which takes up a lot of establishment, funds and tonnage. All missile assault battalions are directly subordinate to the Supreme Command, and the equipment cost of one battalion is higher than the price of a Type 1944 armored division. Not to mention the quality of officers and soldiers, more than 70% have university diplomas.

A total of 14 Land Warriors set off from the German mainland, first passed the German-Italian highway to the port of Trieste in northern Italy, and then went around the Mediterranean Sea, the Suez Canal, the Horn of Africa, and the Indian Ocean. After enduring severe tests, they finally landed in Madagascar. The ship disembarked at the eastern port of Tamatave and reached the launch site under its own power. In their public appearance, they did not choose Western Europe, which has complete infrastructure and good road conditions, but chose Madagascar, which has relatively backward basic conditions. This shows that the German army is very confident in this operating system!

The actual situation was not as good as it appeared, and there were problems such as breakdowns and malfunctions. This was one of the key factors why Keitel complained about the delay in the deployment of the rocket battalion, but the overall situation was much better than expected. In order to prevent accidents, Germany specially deployed 14 vehicles (2 vehicles as backup), and the fact that 12 vehicles were able to safely gather at the launch site also shows this. However, Hoffman is not as optimistic as everyone else, because this time the launch vehicle carries only 10 tons of missiles, which is not even one-third of its load. It is not a particularly big test for the vehicle. If it can have this kind of missile when it is fully loaded, Performance can be called true maturity.

The current scene is enough to frighten people: knowledgeable generals and marshals can understand at a glance that this posture means that the German rocket force can completely get rid of railways and roads to achieve mobile deployment and field operations. Its effectiveness is greatly improved, and the threat is also greater.

"Gentlemen, I am German rocket engineer Krauser. Please allow me to explain to you the rocket parameters..." A rich baritone sounded at the scene. Braun and others were also in Madagascar, but introducing this kind of There is no need for him to take action personally for small matters. He and Peenemünde's scientific research team are mostly at the missile's scheduled splashdown point.

"On the left side of the launch site, the one marked with No. 1 is the standard version of the V2 rocket, with a range of 320 kilometers and a circular probability deviation of 8 kilometers. It can carry a 1,500 kilogram warhead and has a terminal speed of Mach 4.8. It is completely unable to intercept; on the right side of the launch site, it is marked with No. 2 "The V2 rocket has enhanced power, has a range of 200 kilometers, a circular probability deviation of 6 kilometers, and can carry a maximum of 2.25 tons of conventional warheads or special warheads."

Although Krauser did not elaborate on what special warheads are, the generals all know that they are nothing more than chemical weapons and bacteriological weapons. Although they are weapons prohibited by international conventions, they are standard equipment for powerful countries. Everyone understands this tacitly. The capital has developed and reserved a batch. Germany ranks first in chemical weapons in the world, and Hoffman knows that Japan has a very high level of bacterial weapons.

"In the center of the launch site, the one marked No. 3 is the enhanced range V2 rocket. It has a maximum range of 500 kilometers, a circular probability deviation of 10 kilometers, and can carry a warhead of about 1 ton."

Krauser introduced it in detail, and everyone was taking notes, but Hoffman knew that these data were all wrong. The real data were an order of magnitude better than the introduction. On the one hand, it was for confidentiality, and it wanted to show the level of Germany at the same time. We cannot let other countries know the real core secrets; on the other hand, these data are used in conjunction with the export version (monkey version). Only by adding more watered-down technical parameters can we get more money out of the pockets of the wrongdoers.

After V2 was officially finalized and mass-produced, it no longer used the names of standard type, enhanced power type, and enhanced range type, nor did it use the temporary name V2+. Hoffman gave them a resounding and brand-new name - Scud!

Scud A: standard range 250 kilometers, warhead 2.5 tons, circular probability deviation 3.5 kilometers;

Scud B: standard range 400 kilometers, warhead 1.8 tons, circular probability deviation 5 kilometers;

Scud C: Maximum range 650 kilometers, warhead 1.25 tons, circular probability deviation 7.5 kilometers.

These models are all heavier and more powerful than the Scud missiles developed by the Soviet Union in history, but the circular probability deviation is really unsatisfactory.

After the erecting command was given, the rocket soldiers slowly erected the missiles. After a few minutes, they began to inject liquid fuel into the missile engine turbine pump. Finally, they tested the missile battery, set the gyroscope and other technical parameters. Since the missile launch needs to be carried out in an absolutely vertical state, it needs to be calibrated after injecting fuel using a latitude and longitude sight and a gyro calibrator - these are highly technical tasks that cannot be performed without a degree from a science and engineering university.

Because rocket fuel is highly toxic and unsafe, the liquid fuel is poured on-site before launch. None of the dignitaries who came to observe felt that the waiting time was long. They all stared intently, fearing that they would miss a detail. I sincerely thank Germany for opening up such a top-secret scene to them.

Because there are many things to show this time, in addition to new combat concepts and new tactical systems, a variety of new equipment are essential. Before visiting the rocket launch, the German army had already unveiled the latest batch of Tiger 3 tanks that had just rolled off the production line. The Tiger 3 (King Tiger) tank with a total tonnage of 62 tons, an 850-horsepower HL234+ engine, a 128mm/L55 tank gun, and 165mm sloped armor made everyone’s eyes widen and their hearts beat faster.

The on-site display is even more impressive: the German army will collect the enemy's strongest defense tanks, including the latest Russian-made IS-2 heavy tank, the American-made M26 (although it has also been captured, but it is still in South America), and the American-made Super Sherman (The Dumbo with a turret thickness of nearly 150mm) is placed in a straight line on the shooting range. At a distance of 2000 meters, there is no enemy with a single shot of King Tiger. It can be penetrated at any position, and the hit rate is very high. Basically, 3-4 shots are enough. It can be hit (the opponent is stationary), and if you are lucky, you can wear it at 2400 meters.

As for the opponent's artillery, except for the Russian-made 122mm (the accuracy is terrible), the rest basically do not pose a threat to the King Tiger beyond 800 meters.

Everyone finally understood why Germany decided to open up exports of the Tiger. The Tiger was already an old toy to the German army...