Iron Cross

Seeing that the atmosphere at the scene became a little strange, Marshal Keitel, who was not sure what was going on, turned to ask Speer. Only then did he understand that the report the professor mentioned was after the two thoroughly studied the Porsche and Henschel Tiger tank prototypes. Special report formed. The Weapons Bureau believes that compared to Henschel's design, the power system designed by Porsche is more prone to failure and is completely unsuitable for actual combat. In addition, the turret is too far forward, because the artillery has been determined after the prototype vehicle came out. The length of the rear barrel of the 88MM KwK36L/536L/56 anti-aircraft gun is as long as 4.9 meters, which causes the gun barrel to protrude too much from the front of the vehicle, which not only destroys the body itself Balance, and the muzzle brake and turret rotation mechanism are easily damaged when fighting in woodlands or towns. What's more terrible is that once the tank is besieged in an encounter, this layout structure can directly kill the team members. In terms of suspension design, the longitudinal torsion bar suspension that Porsche intends to use is not mature enough. Its structure of semi-bevel gears and short hydraulic rods is too complex and can easily break even under the most common conditions of use, affecting the tank's battlefield survival. Capability - Although the overall tone of the report seems relatively peaceful, the shortcomings of Henschel's design are also clearly commented on. But Hoffman knew that the problems caused by Porsche's design could have very serious consequences on the battlefield. On the surface, the report has a non-committal attitude towards both prototypes, but in fact the preference is clear: Weapons Directorate Six prefers the conservatively designed Henschel prototype. Because they are not only more familiar with Henschel's old design style, but also mixed with some personal factors - these technical officers prefer honest, down-to-earth and experienced Henschel engineers, but do not appreciate those who are incompatible with others. Manager, a technician from the Nibelungen factory (where the Porsche tank factory is located) with a "there's someone above me" attitude.

Of course, Colonel Tomale did not dare to say anything about the head of state's practice of "saying one thing and doing another". He might be frightened and shrink back when the head of state glared at him, but Professor Ai Boan, who was an intellectual, did not. With so many concerns, he dared to challenge the head of state in such a public place and complain about the weapons bureau.

Keitel was secretly amused: on the one hand, the head of state commented that this was a "very valuable report" and agreed with the conclusions in the report. On the other hand, he agreed to Dr. Porsche's request and instructed Speer to order tanks from Porsche in advance. No matter how you look at it, it is a contradictory behavior. Hoffmann was in trouble and couldn't tell. Although he was the head of state, he was not the one who had a close relationship with Porsche, and he was not the one who made the purchase decision. He simply took the blame for Hitler. Standing in the other party's position, he could understand Professor Ai Boan's emotions. This was the pride and persistence that a scholar should have. To put it bluntly, Hoffman himself had been one of them. For a moment, he couldn't find the right words to express.

Speer looked at Hoffman's embarrassed expression, and then at Dr. Porsche's ugly face. He "understood" everything in his heart, and cleverly smoothed things over: "Professor, you have misunderstood. Porsche Company really hopes that the Ministry of Armaments will order an order." Vehicles and turrets were also ordered from Krupp, but that was before the implementation of the general mobilization system. After the tank armament rearmament case, all purchase intentions and orders need to be re-examined. In other words, there is no clear finalization. "The Ministry of Arms will not purchase from any company before the production tasks are determined. I did not make this decision, and the head of state did not give corresponding instructions."

Professor Aiboan smiled and nodded, seeming to accept Speer's explanation. At this time, Colonel Tomale, who was sweating profusely, finally came to his senses and was afraid that he would say something embarrassing again, so he didn't care. Being rude, he dragged the professor to the main podium and hurriedly announced the start of the meeting before everyone could sit down.

Hoffmann found the seat that suited him best and sat down. Speer sat on the left hand side. Since Bowman did not come with him today, Marshal Keitel naturally sat on the right hand side of the Führer.

"Fuhrer, it seems that I came to the right place today." Speer said playfully to Hoffmann.

Marshal Keitel, who was usually serious, also wanted to make fun of Hoffman: "My Führer, this is probably the most severe professor you have ever encountered since studying at the Academy of Fine Arts in Vienna, right?"

Hoffman nodded: "Anyway, this professor is quite cute. The Supreme Command lacks such talents. I think he can be transferred to serve as an armored vehicle development consultant."

This time it was Keitel's turn to look bitter. He turned his head away with difficulty, pretending not to hear the next half of the sentence, and only focusing on the main podium.

Once they entered the professional field, Colonel Tomale and Professor Aiboan returned to their serious faces. The two spoke for nearly an hour in total, expounding on the development, results and main existing problems of new tanks in the past six months.

Although these reports are typical products of bureaucracy, there is one main idea that Hoffman agrees with: in order to reduce production pressure and reduce the trouble of product conflicts among military factories, it is necessary to achieve the commonality of tank parts. The production of armored vehicles before the No. 4 ignored this issue. Now the Weapons Bureau has been committed to promoting the commonality of parts for the No. 5 and No. 6 tanks. Although this effort has not achieved much in front of several large companies such as Henschel, Porsche, Ochsburg-Nuremberg Machinery Manufacturing Plant (generally referred to as MAN), and Mercedes-Benz, it represents the right idea in Hoffman's eyes. Of course, he can also understand the arrogance of these four companies. It is precisely because of Hitler's overly fanatical and paranoid love for the performance and combat effectiveness of new tanks that these companies desperately pile up performance in vehicle design, and completely ignore productivity and maintainability. He will not let this mistake happen again.

Hoffman was positive about the overall design of the Tiger: due to the combat mission of supporting medium tanks (this role has been reserved for the Panther), the Tiger's firepower and protection capabilities should be strengthened. Not only should the strongest tank artillery and fire control equipment be used, but also thicker protective armor should be used for protection. As for the lower mobility caused by strong firepower and strong protection, it is acceptable. After all, tanks cannot be top-notch in firepower, protection and mobility, and need to be fully balanced. However, the existing design has chosen the worst idea. In order to increase the space inside the vehicle and ensure a large amount of ammunition, the designer simply increased the length, width and height of the vehicle body. At the same time, in order to improve mobility, a complex driving system (combat tracks and transport tracks) and suspension system (8 pairs of triple staggered overlapping road wheels) were used, which greatly increased the weight of the tanks and made them seriously overweight. The design indicators issued by the Weapons Bureau to various companies first increased from 30 tons in VK3001 to 36 tons in VK3601, and then to 45 tons in VK4501. The final Tiger prototype weighed more than 56 tons. Overweight not only worsened the mobility and battlefield trafficability of the Tiger tank, but also increased the burden on the driving system, suspension system, engine and gearbox, leading to serious mechanical failures and low combat attendance.

The same tank has one type of track when transported and another type of track on the battlefield. It is even necessary to remove the outermost layer of road wheels to achieve battlefield transportation (the Tiger has a total of 8 pairs of triple road wheels, and all wheels add up to 48). Such a weird thing can only be done by the Third Reich. As a time traveler, Hoffman hates it. Of course, he knows the whole story. The designers are certainly responsible, but most of the responsibility should be attributed to Hitler, but he is not going to continue to take the blame.

As the Führer stood up and prepared to speak, all other discussions suddenly stopped and everyone pricked up their ears to listen.