Although the Great Purge has brought nothing but terror and disaster to the Soviets so far, there are certain exceptions, Mikhail, a young genius engineer transferred from the Experimental Design Machinery Department in Leningrad (whose main business is heavy tank design) in the Soviet leadership? Koshkin took over the design group. Koshkin immediately set about drastic revisions to the "A-20" program, which, due to the requirements of the highest military authorities of the USSR, inherited the tracked / load-bearing wheel twin running gear of the "Christie" and "BT" tanks. However, the Koshkin design team believed that this kind of running gear would only increase the weight of the tank, be too complicated, and would increase the cost and time of tank production, thus affecting the use of the tank in real combat, and they presumed that the use of the double running gear was also low. Koshkin renamed the improved prototype in a purely tracked form the "A-32" due to the fact that the armor on the front of the hull was increased from 20 mm to 32 mm. Unlike the A-20, which was equipped with a 45 mm gun, the A-32 was changed to a 76.2 mm short-barreled gun.

Soviet engineers believed from the experience of Spain and the Far East that gasoline engines were too easily ignited, so they expected a new breakthrough in diesel engines. From 1932 onwards, the Kharkov Steam Locomotive Plant developed new diesel engines under the code "BD", of which the military version designed for the tank was completed in 1937 under the designation "V2" thanks to the efforts of the engineer design team of I. Tolanschen, and in the second half of the same year, this design group was also accused of being an "anti-party group" and was imprisoned by "the close comrades-in-arms of the masters of all science".

Stalin put down the drawings in his hand, picked up the files of some "dangerous elements" and looked at them, he carefully picked through them, and pulled out the files of a small number of designers.

Of course, he understood what this thin piece of paper meant to these people.

Although the Great Purge was in full swing, the design of diesel engines, which was extremely important to the Soviet Union, could not be delayed, and the Great Leader hoped that they would be put into mass production and installed on the "A-20" and "A-32" as soon as possible.

In fact, when the plans for the "A-20" and "A-32" were submitted to the Great Leader and the People's Commissar of National Defense, the specific plan to be adopted was pushed to the Central Military Council. For some reason, the participants went so far as to criticize the more practical "A-32" prototype, "did not install the track/road wheel dual running gear according to the instructions of the 'Armored Vehicle Bureau'", "the design style was not implemented in accordance with the regulations" and other unreasonable accusations rolled in, and no one really understood Koshkin's good intentions, and of course they were very likely to be unwilling to understand at all, which is also understandable. Because the "Great Purge" is still not over, appreciating the unauthorized alteration of the design plan instructed by the superiors may be tantamount to plucking one's own head. Only the soldiers who had participated in the Spanish Civil War argued that the tragedy of the "BT" tank's lack of armor was once again raised, and fortunately, this opinion reached the ears of the great leader. This time, the leader firmly rejected the commissioners' accusations and ordered that both options be allowed to build prototypes. Tests carried out at the Kubinka weapons test site, completed in two prototypes, showed that the two were not much different in terms of mobile surnames, but the excellent protective surnames of the "A-32" attracted a lot of attention. As a result, the Central Military Council changed its original intention, abandoned the "A-20" and chose the "A-32" as a candidate for the new medium tank.

After the "A-32" was approved by the Great Leader, Koshkin was faced with the question of how to choose the name of the tank, and the launch of a new model by the Leningrad Heavy Tank Design Bureau was already done with the People's Commissar of Defense (Minister of Defense) Clement? Voroshilov was named KV tank. Koshkin was dismissive of this, and he specially chose the number "T-34", because in 1934 the Red Army issued a proclamation to strengthen the armored forces, and in the same year, Sergei? Ordzhonikidze took over as commander-in-chief of Soviet tank production, and 1934 was also the year when Koshkin himself was first introduced to the new tank program.

Stalin had high hopes for the "T-34" tank, which is why he made such a "forgiving" decision, which can be said to be quite rare in the Great Purge.

At this time, Stalin still had an extremely crazy plan hidden in his head.

Stalin was an extremely complex man, and now in the eyes of the Western world, he was a tyrant, a strongman and a bloodthirsty man. His harsh iron bowl rule and his iron and indestructible will shook the whole world. Now history seems to prove that it was the ruthless Stalin who was able to unite and strengthen the red Soviet Union in a short period of time, and to achieve the great revival of Russia.

The launch of the Soviet Union's First Five-Year Plan marked the beginning of the country's efforts to rebuild after nearly a quarter of a century of turmoil, recession, and infighting. However, since 1929, the Western countries have been suffering from economic crises, the ills of disorderly capitalist production have become more and more apparent, and the international situation has become more acute and complicated. And the encirclement of the capitalist countries reminded Stalin that the "people's red country" must be armed more deeply in the face of power!

Stalin believed that the emerging capitalist powers of Germany, the United States, China, and Ben were likely to unite with the old powers such as Britain and France to intervene and invade the newly recovered Soviet Union once again, and to find a way out for the crumbling economy. The Soviet Red Navy, on the other hand, was clearly unable to compete with any potential adversary. In Stalin's opinion, the new battleship was undoubtedly a symbol of national power. He now has absolute authority even more supreme than the Tsar, and the dream that has been hidden in the heart of this man of iron will for a long time finally bursts out: in order to create a powerful Red Navy, the USSR must build a battlefleet!

On May 27, 1936, according to Stalin's order, the Admiralty under the People's Commissariat of Defense of the USSR submitted a huge plan for the reconstruction of the Navy, requesting the construction of three super-battleships with a displacement of 80,000 tons and 460 mm guns for the Navy!

This class of unprecedented super battleships was named "Soviet" class battleships by the ambitious Stalin!

Although heavy industry and shipbuilding in the USSR developed considerably during the first two five-year plans, it was still impossible to complete such a grand plan. The Soviet Union, like in the days of Tsarist Russia, turned to Germany, the United States, and Italy for help, trying to build several battleships with the assistance of foreign technical forces. But the Soviets' request was first teased by the Americans, who casually made a couple of almost hilarious "super battleships" to deal with the situation. For this, Stalin once felt great humiliation and anger, "I don't understand why the Americans just don't want to help us build battleships." We are happy to first order a battleship with 460 mm guns in your country at a cost of 100 million to 200 million dollars, and we very much hope that after the completion of the first ship, American engineers and technicians will come to the Soviet Union to help us build another sister ship. But the Americans turned us down! ”

Stalin knew very well that it was the fierce ideological struggle that completely overrode the pecuniary interests, and because of the socialist system of the Soviet Union and the outbreak of the "Great Purge", the United States was not at all willing to discuss with the Soviet Union any surface ship larger than a destroyer. After the outbreak of the Spanish Civil War, US President Franklin D. Roosevelt announced a total embargo and blockade of the Soviet Union. Several high-ranking delegations of the Soviet Navy visiting the United States ended up in vain and had to return in disgrace. The German and Italian shipyards were too busy with their own business to take care of the crazy ideas of the Soviets.

The construction program of the "Soviet" class battleships inevitably took up a lot of raw materials, capital and skilled workers for the Red Navy and the Soviet shipbuilding industry, but Stalin was still interested in such "blind investments". In order to cope with the possible invasion of the "imperialist countries", Stalin not only engaged in "voluntarism" in the construction of the navy, but also decided to rebuild 20 mechanized armies at once, each with more than 800 tanks. In the Air Force, he ordered the purchase of 25,000 new aircraft to replace the old fleet. Any aspect of Stalin's aggressive expansion program far exceeded the capacity of the Soviet economy and industry at that time, and from any point of view, the "Soviet"-class battleships could sadly fall victim to the overall strategic mistakes of the Soviet state...... But Stalin did not believe this, he firmly believed that if he was given enough time, he Stalin would have made the "Soviet" class battleships gallop across the ocean with his excellent organizational skills and iron wrists, combined with the dedication and wisdom of the Soviet people at that time, which was beyond all else!

Stalin's mind was more alive than ever with his fantasies about the "Soviet" class battleships, and as he sat at his desk, flipping through sketches of the designs of various new weapons, Boskrebeshev walked in and handed him a report.

Seeing that this was a piece of information from Yuben, Stalin's eyebrows couldn't help but wrinkle slightly.

"It's Sorge who sent information about the movements of the Zoben Navy." As if he understood what the great leader was thinking, Boskerebeshev said succinctly, "I have made major changes to their battleship construction plan, which is said to have been influenced by the Chinese. ”

"Oh?" Stalin immediately took the report and read it, and Poskerebessev did not say anything more, but turned and left, leaving the Supreme Leader alone to read the classified information.

Stalin read the telegram quickly, shook his head with some confusion, and after a little silence he picked up the telephone and asked for the Admiralty's line.

"If the people of China really build super battleships according to such a theory, what they will build will be useless waste." Keiji Fukuda, director of the Basic Planning Department of the Ship Administration Headquarters, looked at the design sketch of the Chinese "Yellow Emperor"-class super battleship in his hand and laughed, "Such a warship, even if it fires a salvo, will overturn." ”

What Fukuda Kai was holding in his second hand was the super battleship designed under the "port side combat theory" that Shi Xuanhou gave to Yang Shuoming.

Keiji Fukuda handed over the design in his hand to Hiraga Jean, who looked at it contemptuously, sneered, and handed the design to Makino Shigeru and Toonaga Hideo next to him, and Makino Shigeru and Tomanaga Hideo couldn't help but laugh after reading it.

"Even if it doesn't tip over in a salvo, if such a weak starboard side is hit by a torpedo or mine, the whole ship will inevitably sink." Shigeru Makino said.

"The people of China came up with such a ridiculous design." Hiraga said, "The old problem of the people of China seeking innovation and seeking speed and being ambitious has not changed much until now. ”

"I think this may also be a smoke bomb deliberately released by the Shina people." The younger Hideo Tomanaga said, "The Shina people must have known about our plans to build super battleships, and they want to build battleships that can compete with us." This should be just one of the design options. ”

"You're right, although this design is not desirable, it shows one thing, that is, the people of China have greater ambitions than we do in the construction of battleships." Pinghe let him help his round glasses, and said with some excitement, "We have to catch up!" ”

"But do the people really want to build such a large battleship?" A hint of doubt flashed in Keiji Fukuda's eyes, "Looking at its design, it is to be equipped with 16 18-inch giant cannons!" Its displacement will definitely exceed 100,000 tons. ”

"In any case, our 'Yamato' class battleships, the planned tonnage is a little small." "I suggest that we should explain the situation to the Admiralty and the Military Command Department, revise the original design, increase the tonnage and caliber of the artillery. ”

Hearing Hiraga Jean's suggestion, Keiji Fukuda couldn't help but gasp.

"Increase the tonnage and caliber of artillery?" A little sweat oozed from Keiji Fukuda's forehead, but at this time he couldn't bother to wipe it, "How much is enough?" ”

"Of course, more than 100,000 tons, and the caliber of the main gun, I propose to increase it to 20 inches." At this time, Hiraga Jean unconsciously came up with the imaginary picture of the "Yamato" ship drawn by Kikuo Fujimoto, "The main turret can be a quadruple design, with three turrets and 12 main guns. ”

"10-ton giant ship......" Keiji Fukuda secretly calculated in his heart, and couldn't help but be secretly speechless. And Shigeru Makino and Hideo Tomanaga also looked at each other and didn't dare to say a word.

At this time, they were all frightened by Hiraga's words.

"I know what's going on in your mind." "You can also choose to stick to the original design, but what I want to tell you is that if the people of China really build such a super battleship, once the war breaks out, the super battleship we build will not have the slightest advantage over the enemy, and it will become a waste that will become obsolete after a while, then we will all become sinners for the ages." ”

Hiraga Jean's sentence "sinners through the ages" suddenly crushed the three people who were still hesitating, and Keiji Fukuda was convinced, he sighed and said: "I think His Royal Highness the Prince and His Excellency the Minister already know the news, they will make the right decision, and our task now is to quickly come up with an excellent design plan." ”

The excited Hiraga couldn't wait to pick up the pencil and draw it on a piece of paper, perhaps because he didn't want to leave people copying Fujimoto Kikuo's design, and the sketch he drew on the paper this time was slightly different from the "Fujimoto Private Case", the arrangement of the three quadruple main guns designed by Hiraga Jean was not designed by Fujimoto Kikuo in the form of a "pyramid" in the front of the warship, but in the same position in the shape of a "ladder".

At about the same time, a heated discussion on the same topic was also going on in the Naval Command Department.

"The people of China built such a super battleship with only one purpose, that is, to completely defeat Yuben in future wars." Prince Fushimi Miyahiroko, the head of the Naval Command, looked at the senior admirals of the Navy who were sitting in the conference room, and said in a deep voice, "The most dangerous moment has been reached, and a decision must be made. ”

"China has become a subsidiary of the United States, and such a shipbuilding plan must have the support of the United States."

"Yes, although the people of China are rich, their shipbuilding technology is not up to the height of building such a giant ship of more than 100,000 tons, and it must be that the United States came up with such an idea in order to borrow the military power of China to attack the capital!"

"Damn the Shina people!"

"All evil Mi people!"

"The battlefleet is the backbone and core of the Imperial Navy! The empire is in danger of being attacked from both sides! The forces of the battlefleet must be strengthened! ”

"The Imperial Navy must have bigger and stronger battleships!"

Seeing that everyone's reactions were surprisingly consistent with his own, Prince Fushimi Miyahiro Koko's face showed a look of satisfaction.

Prince Fushimi Miyahiro went to Germany to study the navy when he was a teenager, and he went from captain of the "Mikasa" ship, captain of "Takachiho", "Asasaki", and "Ibuki", commander of the 2nd Sentai and 2nd Fleet, and chief of the Sasebo town guard to the current chief of the naval command department. He can be said to be the general backstage of the "fleet faction" of the Navy. After receiving information about China's intention to build super-battleships with a tonnage of more than 100,000 tons, his first reaction was to re-examine the construction plan of the "Yamato" class battleships and build more powerful super-battleships.

That is to say, after the outbreak of war with China, in accordance with the established strategy of "quick victory," the "Yamato"-class battleships will take the lead in attacking, and before the arrival of the US fleet, they will break the Chinese Navy's battlefleet in one fell swoop with a magnificent decisive battle with the main force, expose China's coastal areas to the guns of the Yamato fleet, and force the Chinese political axe to surrender on its knees.

(To be continued)