Arc of Fire

Chapter 672: Chapter 10: Rokossovsky Type Heavy Tank

In the days that followed, Wang Zhong felt as if the old days had returned.

Every morning, as soon as he opened his eyes, he could see Nelly standing beside him with a stern face, a familiar feeling that was truly nostalgic.

For the remaining days of March, Wang Zhong’s main focus was on handling matters of the Equipment Committee.

He put forward several new requirements, one of which was to imitate Prosen’s magnetic hand grenade warhead but not their magnetic head.

According to the confessions of captured Prosen combat engineers, they hadn’t used shaped-charge jet warheads in shells primarily because all the big guns were now rifled, causing the shells to spin after being fired.

When hitting the target, the rotation of the projectile would cause unpredictable changes in posture, affecting the effectiveness of the warhead. It was said that when Prosens used cannon to launch these warheads in tests, the penetration depth data varied every time, with considerable fluctuation.

The solution was simple, to use rockets to propel the ammunition and use fins for stabilization.

Just as Wang Zhong made this request, the Ordnance Department reported that the army already had suitable equipment: the Federation had imported 1000 Bazooka rocket launchers, which perfectly met Wang Zhong’s requirements.

Before traveling through time, Wang Zhong had been a World War II enthusiast, but after all, he was not a professional military historian; he had always thought that the Bazooka was copied from the Sturmtiger “Iron Fistlittle did he expect that the Federation would have produced it so early.

Therefore, Wang Zhong decisively went to inspect the rocket launchers imported by the Federation and then put forward new requirements: to eliminate the complex firing mechanism, make it a single-use version, and to increase the power of the warhead.

The firepower of the Federation was too weak; it was fine against Panzer III and IV for now but would not stand a chance against Tigers or Panthers—it was just uncertain whether this world would ever encounter Tigers or Panthers.

Wang Zhong’s orders were quickly adhered to: a genius at the Ordnance Department had modified a Katyusha rocket slightly to create something that seemed to meet his requirements.

When this device was test-fired, it resulted in a second-degree burn for the operator, but apart from this flaw, it perfectly met Wang Zhong’s demands.

Wang Zhong brought the designer over for a scolding, demanding a version that wouldn’t turn shooters into cooked meat.

The designer was quick to act and made improvements in less than two days.

He reduced some of the rocket’s propellant charge and used a water pipe as the launching tube, then welded a flame shield onto the water pipe.

When Wang Zhong saw this launcher, he was speechless because the device was filled with the “design aesthetics” of the Russians.

In the end, during the test firing, the shooter was indeed not burned, but the water pipe did get a little hot.

A day later, the improved model was designed, with the designer wrapping a circle of wood around the part of the water pipe that rested on the shoulder.

Wang Zhong had no choice but to find the designer himself and scold him fiercely, saying, “Why do you still need to pack so much propellant? This thing now can fly 1000 meters! Is that necessary? It only needs to fly 200 meters to meet our requirements!

"After reducing the propellant, the projectile will become lighter, don’t you understand this concept?”

The designer scratched his head: “Is 200 meters enough?”

Wang Zhong: “We’re anti-tank now, and warriors have to get within a dozen meters of a tank to throw incendiary bombs; a weapon that can be used at 200 meters is a huge improvement, isn’t it?”

The designer thought for a moment and nodded, “Alright! I’ll go change the design right away.”

A few days later, the new product was delivered again.

Wang Zhong hesitated as he looked at the wooden tube in front of him: “All made out of wood?”

The designer: “Yes, after all, it’s meant to be single-use, and this thing is simple to produce with readily available wood that just needs planing. When fired, the rocket gases will burn the wood, but… it’s one-time use anyway.”

Wang Zhong picked up the device and found it to be incredibly light for a rocket launcher. He then checked both ends and saw one end was sealed with kraft paper, while the other side was blatantly unopened.

"What’s the meaning of this?”

The designer: “We figured blowing the powder gases directly out the back was wasteful, and it would also burn anyone standing behind, limiting the use environment of the device. So, we sealed the back end completely, forcing the powder gases to only escape from the gaps around the rocket.

"We also designed the shape of the projectile; the warhead of the projectile is larger than the rest of the rocket, so the powder gases in the warhead section would be compressed, creating enough thrust and also acting directly on the head.

"This increases the range of the rocket, ensuring its stable flight. We precisely adjusted the new rocket’s propulsion charge; just on the charge alone the rocket couldn’t fly 200 meters, but with the assistance of the powder gases, it just barely reaches the range General you requested.”

Wang Zhong frowned and asked, “What does this rocket projectile look like?”

The designer promptly opened the booklet lying next to the finished product, displaying a schematic diagram of the rocket projectile.

The shape of the projectile was basically an Iron Fist.

The designer continued with excitement, “We found that this shaped rocket projectile has better overall stability; although reducing the propellant has slowed it down, its trajectory remains stable, a steady arc. So, as long as it’s paired with the simple aiming device we designed, it can guarantee a hit every time!”

With that, the designer showed Wang Huazong the sighting device.

Wang Zhong: “Why is the sight designed like this?”

The designer: “The shooter just needs to align the sight with the turret of the enemy tank, and see which horizontal bar on the sight matches the width of the tank turret, and that’s it—they’re guaranteed to hit.”

Wang Zhong mimed the action: “Just… align this horizontal bar with the enemy tank, see which one is just as wide, and fire like that?”

"Yes, I utilized the principle that objects appear larger when they’re closer and smaller when they’re farther away, and not just for the turret but also for the vehicle body. That one beside it is for the vehicle body. We just find a horizontal bar of the same length.”

Wang Zhong, “You also simplified the range-finding step, very thoughtful consideration.”

Designer, “This way, our mobilized divisions can also make extensive use of this weapon.”

Wang Zhong, “So, what would be the impact without this wooden tube?”

Designer, “The range would drop to 100 meters.”

Wang Zhong slapped the wooden tube forcefully, “Remove this wooden tube immediately and come up with a version that can be fired directly by hand! And match it with this sighting device.”

Designer, “Eh? But that will only have a range of 100 meters, is that okay?”

"Fine,” Wang Zhong patted the designer’s shoulder, “Also, what’s your name?”

"Valentin Konstantinovich Filinov.”

Wang Zhong, “You’ve done a very good job. I will sign an order immediately to form a design team centered around you, specifically to improve our infantry anti-tank weapons.”

Filinov, “Really?”

"Really. But before that, let’s solve the mass production of this device first. I hope that by this June, my troops will be equipped with at least one hundred thousand of these. And by May, we should send at least a thousand to the units for tactical core training.”

Filinov, “Understood! Leave it to me!”

Apart from anti-tank rockets, what Wang Zhong has been most concerned about in the past few months is that small tank he drove once—no, the mass production issue of the heavy tank.

The performance of the heavy tanks sent to the front lines turned out to be even better than the broken-down Ulban Assault Guns. Probably Ke Jing’s team, after so many practices, has become quite adept.

So as soon as Wang Zhong returned to Yeburg, he immediately ordered the start of mass production, and it was to begin with the highest priority.

After all, in his vision for the summer campaign of 916, the main conflict would be an armored engagement on the plains. The more Whirlwinds and new heavy tanks his troops had, the smaller the losses his tank operators would suffer.

Thus, at the beginning of April, the new heavy breakthrough tanks held a grand final assessment ceremony at the Ordnance Department testing grounds.

On the morning of April 5th, Wang Zhong arrived at the testing ground early, only to be told that the ceremony could not start and must wait for “important guests.”

At 9 o’clock sharp, Olga and Belinsky’s vehicles arrived one after the other.

Olga, wearing a blue riding skirt, burst with enthusiasm as she approached the new tanks, “Eh, it kind of looks like a turtle.”

Wang Zhong, “This is the best bulletproof shape.”

Olga, “The back of this turret is round and smooth. Is it really reliable?”

Wang Zhong, “Certainly, according to my requirements, the back of the head has an effective thickness of over 110 millimeters in all directions and can resist close-range attacks from all current Prosen anti-tank guns, including the PAK40 which could easily penetrate the frontal armor of our T34s.”

Olga, “Since you say the defense is reliable, it must be very reliable then. So what’s this tank called?”

Wang Zhong, “I plan to call it Atama.”

The latest Russian tank on Earth, the T14, is called Atama; Wang Zhong planned to borrow this name.

Olga, “Does this name mean anything?”

Wang Zhong was at a loss; he couldn’t exactly explain that it comes from the future, could he?

Olga, “I think we should call the tank Aleksei Rokossovsky Type One. After all, it was based on your design requirements and designed by your trusted engineer, Ke Jing.”

Wait a minute, how did Ke Jing become my trusted engineer?

It couldn’t be that rumors are floating around that I’ve got my own power now, right? No way!

If you guys keep this up, you’re going to make a mistake in the future!

Wang Zhong was about to reject Olga’s suggestion when Belinsky said, “Your Majesty, that’s an excellent suggestion. The warriors will be inspired to fight in tanks named after Rokossovsky.”

No, but what about my opinion?

Olga, “Since Grand Patriarch His Eminence says so, let’s go with that! Or are you, brother, going to refute both of our opinions?”

Wang Zhong glanced at Olga, then at the Grand Patriarch, and smiled awkwardly, “How could I? I’m just a General, of course, I respect both of your opinions!”

Olga, “Great! Engineer Ke Jing, you have to work hard too. Aim to soon make improvements to the Rokossovsky Type Two heavy tank!”

Ke Jing, “Certainly, I will keep adjusting the design according to feedback from the front lines. Also, my apprentice has designed a 30-ton medium tank based on the Rokossovsky Type One, and the prototype manufacturing is in progress.”

Wang Zhong, “So we’re putting this name to use already, huh? You sure are enthusiastic… wait a minute, what did you just say?”

Ke Jing, “Ah, the prototype for the 30-ton tank with the Egg-shaped Turret you proposed is under manufacturing. This is because the Federation’s new machine tools have arrived.”

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