Munitions Empire-Chapter 982 - How exactly do you choose 904

Chapter 982: How exactly do you choose 904? Chapter 982: How exactly do you choose 904? “Gentlemen! The time to test us has arrived!” the factory manager, just back from a meeting, called out loudly to the few engineers awaiting him as he entered.

Their factory was a cannon factory of the Great Tang Empire, mostly producing 75mm caliber long-barreled tank guns.

It was the same 75mm caliber tank gun mounted on the Panther Tank, now also being widely used on the No. 4 Assault Gun.

Unfortunately, the latest Model 59 Tank used a 105mm caliber tank gun, which was manufactured by a dedicated factory and wasn’t much related to their factory.

The factory system of the Tang Empire was somewhat different from that in the normal world: a typical heavy industrial factory elsewhere would continue its legacy, upgrading equipment and transitioning from producing old products to new products, meeting market demands.

Whereas the industrial upgrading approach taken by the Tang Empire was completely different: the Empire would allow older factories to develop on their own while building a completely new factory nearby to upgrade technology.

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Conversely, once outdated technology was completely phased out, the entire factory would be dealt with and given to other countries that wanted it, then the space would be cleared to construct more advanced factories—thus the cycle repeats.

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Regarding the workers in the factories, they would draft half to the new factories to learn and then the remaining half would go to learn afterward, one loop following another in repetition.

The biggest advantage of this approach was the rapid upgrade speed, and it also didn’t waste time on outdated production capabilities. Of course, there were also disadvantages, namely the need for many new technologies to be invested simultaneously to maintain the technological edge of the new factories.

In any case, Tang Mo, a time-traveling overlord with a golden touch, could play this game; others would likely break down if they tried to do the same.

Excited, the factory manager began speaking: “We now need to immediately start producing an anti-tank gun, to support the Fengjiang defense forces that are defending freedom!”

He thought his factory would soon be phased out, since after all, the 75 cannon had been around since the Brunas Era, and by now it had become one of the oldest lines of artillery.

Back in the days when the Great Tang Empire was still during Brunas’s time, they began mass production of the 75 short-barreled infantry gun, and later, its long-barreled improved version was even equipped by the Navy. The short-barreled guns were also later supplied to the Army tanks and the No. 4 Assault Guns…

As the factory manager spoke, he scattered the materials given to him at the meeting, along with some other documents, across the table and introduced to his most capable engineers: “The superiors mean that the new cannon must have stronger penetrating power, able to pierce through the frontal armor of the Type 3 Tank from a greater distance.”

The 76mm caliber anti-aircraft guns currently equipped by the Fengjiang defense forces and converted into anti-tank guns seemed to perform well, but in reality, they were not that great.

First of all, these converted anti-tank guns lacked a shield; secondly, they were not flexible enough. They were cumbersome and had an average rate of fire.

Actually, the most suitable option was to provide Fengjiang defense forces with the 88mm anti-all gun equipped by the Great Tang Empire itself, but the Tang Empire was unwilling to give away such powerful weaponry to the Fengjiang defense forces for nothing.

After all, it was unclear whether they would be friends or foes in the future, so holding back was deemed necessary. Hence, the military’s idea was to provide a weapon that was nearly at the end of its potential to the Fengjiang defense forces to make do temporarily.

An engineer who heard the factory manager’s words immediately said, “The frontal armor of a Type 3 Tank is about 80mm thick, and its actual protection level is even less than our own No. 4 Tank. Penetrating the armor at the front of such a tank is actually not difficult. What they mean is that using a 50mm or 75mm caliber long-barreled gun would suffice.”

He had always been studying armor penetration, so he was quite familiar with this type of weapon. Their factory had previously developed a 50mm high-caliber anti-tank gun, and they had the experience and the technical reserves. If needed, they could be put into production immediately.

After presenting his choice, he also provided his reasoning: “I personally lean towards the 50mm long-barreled gun. Its high caliber can make up for the smaller caliber, and the penetrating capability is indeed secure.”

An engineer responsible for production expressed some concerns: “Such a long barrel, such a high caliber… won’t that affect the cost?”

Since he was in charge of production, he needed to control product costs—after all, whether a weapon was good or not is completely linked to its price. Aside from the generously financed Great Tang Empire’s weapon procurement, other countries more or less cared about the cost-effectiveness.

The engineer who had initially proposed using the 50mm long-barreled gun nodded in acknowledgment and honestly admitted the most serious downside of the 50 gun: “Definitely, it will have an impact on cost. Ensuring such a long barrel surely won’t be cheap.”

These ultra-long-barreled guns had extremely high chamber pressure, which meant that the steel required would inevitably be expensive. Furthermore, creating rifling in such guns was also a technologically challenging task, something only feasible with Tang Country’s robust technological and financial resources. Other countries would not even be able to manufacture such a thing.

A gun that costs as much to produce as a tank is unequivocally a failure. Even if its performance slightly exceeds that of its contemporary competitors, it is destined for obsolescence.

At times like these, the harsh reality is painfully clear: the upper echelons often fail to provide the frontline soldiers with the best weapons. Instead, they must make do with second-class, or even significantly inferior, armaments in their fight against the enemy.

In fact, procurement costs are just one part of the equation; the more pressing issue is that if the choice were made to manufacture more sophisticated weaponry, the frontlines might not receive a sufficient quantity of arms and equipment.

Ten soldiers with ten bad guns might still make do and keep fighting, but if only one good gun is available for ten soldiers, the remaining nine may very well hang the commander from the streetlight.

“Can our production keep up? Don’t delay matters.” Promptly, someone raised concerns about the quantity. Fengjiang is waiting for their equipment, and any shortfall in production could cause delays.

“That won’t be a problem; it just means transforming a few more production lines. Let’s supply Fengjiang with 50 units for trial. If they work well, undoubtedly more factories will be willing to join us in production,” the factory manager replied with ease, unconcerned about the issue.

Another person brought up the cost issue: “Is it really cost-effective to provide Fengjiang’s defense forces with such expensive artillery?”

“The cost isn’t coming out of our pocket; Fengjiang will be paying. So, what’s there to worry about?” The factory manager dismissed the concern with the same disdain.

Someone remembered their factory’s flagship product, which remains the mainstay medium-caliber artillery within the Great Tang Empire: “What about the 75mm gun? Could it cause unnecessary trouble?”

“That indeed is a problem. The 75mm gun is our own artillery, currently used by the No. 4 Assault Gun and the Panther Tank. If it appears on the battlefield, the Dahua Empire may protest,” another person chimed in promptly.

Though the military hasn’t explicitly banned the use of active-duty weapons, everyone knew that thus far, the Tang Empire hadn’t supplied Fengjiang with any such armaments.

“So what if they protest? Are we afraid of them?” someone retorted defiantly soon after. This opinion had its supporters; indeed, with a strong country as their backing, what was there to fear?

After thinking for a few seconds, the factory manager spoke: “It’s not that we fear them, but such trouble is unnecessary. If it can be avoided, we should try to avoid it as much as possible.”

An engineer raised his own concerns: “I actually don’t think the 75mm gun is that problematic in causing disputes. On the contrary, its potential should garner our attention.”

“Yes, that’s another point I wanted to make,” the factory manager nodded and continued, “Compared to the 50mm gun, which has virtually no potential left to tap, it wouldn’t cause much trouble if it were exported. But with the larger caliber of the 75mm gun, there is a risk it could become a threat to our own armored units if further developed.”

They now needed to discuss and submit a suitable proposal for review by the military authorities. Only if the criteria were met would their plan be approved, allowing them to organize production.

The engineer responsible for production chuckled self-deprecatingly and shared his opinion: “I think you’re overthinking it. The potential of the 75mm gun is just so-so. Although there’s some, it’s not much.”

He had a point, because it was precisely the limited potential of the 75mm gun that led the Great Tang Empire to develop a more powerful 105mm tank gun.

Since the caliber of the 75mm and the 88mm guns were similar, even the battle-proven 88mm gun was overlooked by the Great Tang Empire without consideration.

As a result, in the tank gun lineup of the Great Tang Empire, there was no parallel development of 75mm and 88mm guns. It is from here that the tank development of the Tang Empire has shed the influence of the San Dezi and followed the path of Soviet-style tanks.

No one in this world would know that Soviet-style tanks in the future would be influenced by other tank schools, eventually leading to a country taking an eclectic and compatible approach, developing a unique system of its own.

Tang Mo planned for Tang Country’s tank troops to take this very path—the most powerful Type 99A main battle tank on the surface.

That’s why Tang Mo gritted his teeth to develop the 105mm tank gun instead of using the Soviet-style 100 caliber. He also preferred the Soviet-style 125mm smoothbore gun over the Western 120mm caliber!

There was no particular reason, except that in the timeline he was familiar with, that’s the choice a certain country made! He simply favored it, liked it, and wanted this combination!

Compared to his favorite 99A, everything else—whether an M1 or Leopard 2—is heresy, pure heresy!