The Leopard 2 medium tank will be the main tank of the Imperial Army in the next world war. At least in the early and middle wars were the main tanks. Later in the war, the larger heavy tank will replace the Leopard 2 medium tank as the main tank of the Imperial Army.

"General Zhao, apart from the 'Leopard 2' medium tank, what about our heavy tanks?" Wu Haoxuan asked. He was very satisfied with the performance of the Leopard 2 tank. However, this does not mean that the Chinese Empire does not need more powerful tanks. It is simply unrealistic to fight the next war with only one tank. Besides, Emperor Wu Haoxuan knew that in another time and space, the Germans had produced heavy Tiger tanks and even larger King Tiger tanks in the later stages of the war. In this respect, the Reich could definitely not be worse than the Germans.

"Your Majesty, we are still developing heavy tanks. This is the plan of tank number six of the armament department. Now, a prototype has been taken out. However, in the process of development, some problems were encountered. Admiral Zhao Lei said.

"Questions? What's the problem? Wu Haoxuan asked. According to his plan, when the war broke out, the Imperial Army should be equipped with a batch of heavy tanks in small batches. And, as the war progressed, heavy tanks would make up an increasing proportion of the Imperial Army's armored forces.

"Your Majesty, the heavy tanks we produce, according to the plan, are to use 105 mm tank guns. However, compared to the 75mm tank gun, the 105mm tank gun was heavier and required a larger turret. As a result, the overall weight of the tank continues to rise. The final tank will weigh more than sixty tons. Our original plan was to keep the weight of the heavy tank within 55 tons. Admiral Zhao Lei said.

Wu Haoxuan frowned and pondered, with the current scientific and technological conditions, it is indeed too difficult to develop a heavy tank. This involves aspects such as power, control systems, suspension, artillery, and so on. If the tank is too heavy, the speed will be low, and at the same time, the failure rate will be large. In another time and space, the German tanks were excellent, but the complexity of maintenance was enough to drive the German tankers crazy. In addition, the failure rate has always been high. The manufacturing man-hours are also long. The Germans made one Tiger tank, and the USSR could already build several, if not more, T34 tanks. As a result, in the later stages of the war, Germany's superiority in armored forces became less and less, and finally it was directly wiped out by the Soviets with their numerical superiority.

"General Zhao, our heavy tanks, the number is controlled below 55 tons, this is a must. If the 105 mm tank gun cannot be equipped, then the 88 mm tank gun can be considered first. The 88-mm long-barreled tank gun, before the middle of the war, was still sufficient. Wait until our conditions are sufficient, and then replace it with a 105-mm tank gun. Wu Haoxuan said.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Admiral Zhao Lei nodded. Changing the 105mm tank gun to the 88mm tank gun will undoubtedly make it much easier.

"Your Majesty, in this case, in the next two years, we should be able to complete the development and then start small batch production." Admiral Zhao Lei said.

"Well, two years later small batch production began. Four years later, the armored brigades of the various armies were to be equipped with a battalion of heavy tanks. In addition, if we are to form a specialized armored corps, more tanks are needed. Wu Haoxuan said.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Admiral Zhao Lei nodded.

In addition to tanks, there were self-propelled guns. The Imperial Army's 105 mm howitzers and 155 mm howitzers were added to the chassis to achieve automation. In this way, it will be possible to achieve the autonomy of artillery in order to be able to keep up with the pace of the assault of tanks and armored vehicles, providing fire support to armored forces.

"Your Majesty. These two automatic guns can be used to equip the armored brigades of the Imperial Army. In future operations, it can cooperate with the armored forces of the Imperial Army to assault. Admiral Zhao Lei said.

Wu Haoxuan nodded: "In addition to these two caliber self-propelled guns, we should also have a self-propelled gun with a larger caliber." ”

Wu Haoxuan was very impressed by the 203-mm self-propelled guns of the Soviet Red Army in another time and space, and that kind of artillery, named Stalin's hammer, was extremely powerful. Mounted on the chassis of a tractor, it can be self-propelled and, in the event of war, is able to provide extremely high firepower for infantry and armored units. The Imperial Army has always attached importance to artillery. However, in the field troops, the heaviest artillery used was only 155 mm caliber. Larger-caliber artillery, too heavy and not conducive to transportation. However, when it is made into a self-propelled gun, these factors can be completely overcome.

"Your Majesty, this is not a big problem for us at all. We can use the chassis of the 'Leopard 2' tank to carry a 210mm main gun. Although the speed could not be too fast, there was no problem with the infantry assault. Admiral Zhao Lei said.

"Well, the armament department can start research on this. This artillery was named the 'Imperial Hammer'. I'm going to let all the enemies of the empire be smashed by this powerful artillery. Wu Haoxuan said.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Admiral Zhao Lei nodded.

The next thing is the armored car, and the armored vehicles equipped by the armament department for the armored forces are divided into tracked armored vehicles and wheeled armored vehicles. Both armored vehicles, with the same armament, were a 20 mm rapid-fire gun and a 12.7 mm heavy machine gun. The thickness of the frontal armor was 20 mm, the side armor and the rear armor were 15 mm. The tracked armored vehicle was named the 'Hound 1' armored vehicle, and the wheeled armored vehicle was named the 'Hound 2' armored vehicle. These two armored vehicles will be used by the mechanized infantry of the armored forces of the Imperial Army, as well as by the armored reconnaissance units or power search units. In this way, it can provide better defense for the infantry.

"Your Majesty, ahead is our rocket artillery experimental area. With the help of the Imperial Academy of Sciences, we have successfully developed the Buran rocket launcher. Admiral Zhao Lei said.

There are two main types of rocket artillery in front of Wu Haoxuan, one is a truck type, and the other is a crawler type. However, these two types of rocket artillery are just different in their main carriers. Actually, it's all pretty much the same. The firing part is composed of a slide rail bed, a gun carriage, a rotary disk, a base frame, an aiming device, a firing device, etc. Before launching, the rocket is clamped with a directional button in the directional groove of the slide rail. In the body of the combat part of the rocket is ******* explosives. The cartridge part is composed of seven tubular firing cartridges, and the cab is equipped with a firing wheel for the firing device.

This rocket launcher, is 16 tubes. The diameter of the rocket artillery shell is 120 mm, the slide rail is 5 meters long, the projectile length is 1450 mm, the projectile weight is 42.5 kg, the muzzle velocity is 70 m / s, the high and low firing range is 7 ° ~ 45 °, the directional firing range is 10 ° on the left and right, and the maximum firing range is 10 kilometers. It can be fired in a single shot, or in a partial burst, or a salvo, it takes about 5~10 minutes to load the ammunition of a salvo, and it only takes 7~10 seconds for a salvo.

This kind of rocket artillery was actually improved by Emperor Wu Haoxuan based on the Katyusha rocket artillery of the Soviet Red Army in another time and space. After he made his request, the experts of the Imperial Scientists and the engineers of the Arsenal worked together to develop it.

"How many prototypes are there at the range now?" Wu Haoxuan asked.

"Your Majesty, now we have produced 12 truck-type Buran rocket launchers and 12 track-type Buran rocket launchers." Admiral Zhao Lei said.

"Alright, let's do a test shot, let's all open our eyes." Wu Haoxuan said.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Admiral Zhao Lei nodded and immediately ordered.

In less than fifteen minutes, the rocket artillery unit was ready. 24 rocket launchers have been aimed at the range in the distance.

"Launch!" With the command of the commander, 24 rocket artillery vehicles began shelling.

"Whew! Shout! Shout! ”

The orange-red tail flame ignited at the tail of the rocket, and one rocket after another flew towards the target range at high speed. Two minutes later, the target range was covered by an explosion.

"Oh my God! Such a firepower strike is too dense. Just these 24 rocket launchers, the intensity of firepower is comparable to that of an artillery brigade! War Minister Marshal Shi Qingshan said.

"Yes, Your Majesty, that's a good thing! Our 1st Army is to be equipped with a batch of these rocket artillery. Admiral Cai Songpo was the first to say.

The commanders of the rest of the army groups also expressed the need for such weapons. The firepower of this weapon is so dense that once it is covered, there is simply no way to live!

"Don't worry, the armies will be equipped. First, each army group was equipped with a battalion. If it works, add more equipment. Wu Haoxuan said.

"Yes, Your Majesty." Admiral Zhao Lei nodded.

In addition to rocket artillery, there is also a single rocket launcher named 'Iron Fist'. This is a weapon for individual use against armored targets and pillboxes, as well as fixed points of fire. The caliber is only 45 mm, the length is 800 mm in the carrying state, the length is 1050 mm in the combat state, the total combat weight is 5.1 kg, it is equipped with armor-piercing shells, the warhead weighs 3 kg, the diameter of the bullet is 150 mm, and the weight of the explosive is 800 grams. The maximum rate of fire is 50 meters, the muzzle velocity is 50 meters per second, and the armor-piercing roar is 200 mm. Such power is enough to pose a deadly threat to all tanks. In particular, the weak side armor and rear armor of the tank could not withstand the blow of such a bazooka. If it was hit head-on, the Imperial Army's 'Leopard 2' heavy tanks would not be able to resist it. Of course, if it's a heavy tank, you can get it hard to resist. Of course, in urban street fighting, the Imperial Army could have added a layer of composite reactive armor to the outside of the tank to deal with the blow of this rocket launcher. (To be continued.) )