Chapter Seventy-Seven: A Moment of Constant Armament

Contrary to the British, who forced Turing to destroy the Great Wall, the Germans kept arming themselves.

The limits of the Treaty of Versailles are already showing signs of collapse. Everyone knows that the German Wehrmacht has been growing in secret, but no one knows how strong the Wehrmacht is now, except for the Germans themselves.

On the economic front, Germany's reuse of economic genius Schacht, coupled with Reinhardt's early warning, avoided the financial crisis that swept across Europe.

In terms of production, German President Gustav, at the suggestion of Reinhardt, promoted Speer, who was only 27 years old.

Speer, an architect, was appointed deputy minister of the Quartermaster Department the next day after submitting an application for membership in the Socialist Workers' Party.

Subsequently, the young man, who had no relevant work experience, soon showed amazing talent. Under Speer's double-shift reform, the production efficiency of the newly developed MG32 machine gun in the Wehrmacht was increased by 80%.

Since the MG32 was a general-purpose light machine gun that circumvented the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty that did not allow Germany to produce heavy machine guns, it was a weapon that could be blatantly mass-produced. As a result, Speer's work was relatively smooth.

Although it is designed as an air-cooled light machine gun, this does not mean that the MG32 is inferior to traditional heavy machine guns.

Under Reinhardt's advice and guidance, the German firearms expert Stange developed the MG32 light machine gun two years ahead of history.

Compared to the historical MG34, the MG32 is also a "light machine gun that can be used as a heavy machine gun".

The MG32 is designed to be supplied with both chains and 75 drums. It can be used to feed left and right with the bullet chain, and it can also be used with two guns.

This general-purpose machine gun, equipped with 75 rounds of drums, can be used as a light machine gun if you use a bipod and fight with a platoon. If a tripod with a heavy machine gun is equipped with a 300-round magazine, it can be used as a heavy machine gun and can be used as a support weapon for battalions and companies. If equipped with an armored vehicle, it can also be used as a vehicle-mounted machine gun.

However, the careful Speer quickly discovered the major shortcomings of the MG32, and the complex structure of the MG32 directly led to a complex manufacturing process that required more man-hours and materials.

Although through the shift system, Speer solved the problem of working hours. However, according to the existing process, the use of mechanical processing MG32, a piece of solid metal should be processed by lathes, milling machines, etc., and the unnecessary parts should be cut off, and the metal utilization rate is only about 25%.

This is a shortcoming that must be overcome for Germany, which lacks metal resources.

After receiving Speer's report, Reinhardt quickly sent Speer an expert in metal stamping technology, Dr. Grunov.

On the proposal of Dr. Grunov, Germany improved a new version of the MG33 machine gun, produced using a metal stamping process. Compared to the MG32, the new version of the MG33 is more material and man-hour saving.

From the outside, the MG33 is completely inconsistent with Germany's consistent rigorous and sophisticated weapons production route. It was more like a shoddy weapon, a patchwork of pieces of iron and a pipe.

However, because MG33 uses very few materials, it can be manufactured through a simple assembly line, and the cost is only 70% of MG32, and the man-hours and materials spent are only 50% of MG32. In the end, the German Quartermaster Department chose this cheaper and more practical "ugly eight".

Compared with the development of weapons for infantry, the road to tanks in armored forces is much more difficult. Although Reinhardt had come up with the drawings of the No. 3 tank and the T34 tank five years ago. However, due to the lack of technical reserves and other willingness, the production of these two tanks was delayed again and again.

It was not until 1931 that the Mercedes-Benz company, a subsidiary of the Rheinland Group, began to produce tank No. 3 on a large scale. And after only 150 units were produced, it was discontinued.

As the production line of the T3 tank began to be established, the production of the No. 3 tank, which was originally used to confuse the Soviet Union, was completely halted.

The 150 No. 3 tanks that had been produced were secretly sent to the Soviet Union's Mount Taco school for training in armored troops.

In the future, these tanks will also be exported by Reinhardt to Romania in exchange for oil resources.

The already established No. 3 tank production line was directly changed by Reinhardt to produce a new support gun based on the No. 3 chassis and with an open roof, which was later known as the No. 3 assault gun.

Reinhardt, who was uncreative, retained the historical name of the No. 3 assault gun. In this regard, the German designers did not bother to argue with the Führer, who liked to name weapons by feeling.

Although the No. 3 assault gun, which uses a fixed turret instead of a tank's rotating turret, does not look as domineering as a tank. Less mobile than tanks, poor protection.

However, Guderian, who had been secretly promoted to the rank of commander of the armored forces, agreed with Reinhardt that it was a practical vehicle weapon suitable for attacking enemy infantry, heavy weapons, and strongholds, and could increase the anti-tank capabilities of infantry divisions.

In addition, the structure of the No. 3 assault gun is not as complex as that of the tank, and it is simple and inexpensive to manufacture. This combat vehicle, which has the nature of supporting infantry, is still being mass-produced.

Ugly MG33 light machine gun, low and ugly No. 3 assault gun. It was as if Reinhardt was developing the weapons of the German Army, step by step from the beautiful and precise road to the ugly and rough road of no return.

But in fact, with the same amount of money and resources, the production volume of the German Quartermaster Department is now forcibly increased by 35 percent. This is crucial for Germany's upcoming military expansion!

Although Germany imported and processed a large amount of steel from the Soviet Union at a low price, it even bought a lot of iron ore in Sweden. But now, Germany's demand for steel is still astronomical.

Although the army is using steel resources sparingly to produce new weapons everywhere, the huge consumption base is really on the sidelines.

And the German Navy, after experiencing the rainbow operation that saved face and lost the inside. It is even more crazy to build new warships to fill the huge gap in warships.

On the face of it, Reinhardt's secret British signing agreement stipulated that the total tonnage of the German navy could not exceed 25 percent of the total tonnage of the British navy, which seemed to limit the development of the German navy.

But in fact, after Operation Rainbow, the total tonnage of the German Navy was less than 10 percent of that of the British Royal Navy.

If the German Navy wants to reach 25 percent of the size of the British Royal Navy, it will have to launch new warships at full capacity.

And Reinhardt, who has always been regarded as having a career in the navy, is indeed not prepared to treat this first branch of the military that he came into contact with after his crossing.

In recent years, the Army has been secretly producing steel consumed by armored units, which is only a fraction of the steel consumed in the manufacture of new warships.