Steel Soviet Union

Malashenko did not plan his trip to Chelyabinsk to do business so quickly. When he got up early the next morning, Malashenko, who had finished everything the day before, actually started to have nothing to do.

"What the hell are we going to do? There are four days of vacation left. If you include today, it will be five days. It would be a shame to return to the army immediately. I have to find something to do in these few days."

Holding a cigarette in his hand, he turned his brain and kept thinking about what he should do next. Sitting at the window sill and thinking for a long time, Malashenko didn't think of any good solution. In the end, he could only do it lightly. After sighing, he decided to go home and go back to Moscow to settle the matter.

"Forget it, if you still have time to think about it, why not leave as soon as possible? Wouldn't it be nice to go home and be with your wife?"

Malashenko, who simply packed his luggage and backpack, did not go directly to the train station, but first came to Kotin to say his final farewell.

Hearing that Malashenko planned to go home and stay for a few more days, Kogin, who smiled and nodded, seemed to be in a good mood, and then responded with a smile.

"I have never had time to visit your home. I have always heard that the wife of tank hero Comrade Malashenko is very beautiful. It seems that I will not have the chance to see her face this time."

It is a good thing to be praised by others for the beauty of one's wife. Malashenko, who felt that his face was particularly glorious, responded with a confident smile. My friend's daughter-in-law is always the target of compliments wherever she goes.

"Before I leave, I have one last thing to ask you, Comrade Kogin, when will our brigade be able to receive your new heavy tanks at the earliest?"

Although it was confirmed that Kotin was working hard and working overtime to complete multiple tank projects at the same time, Malashenko, who could not get the exact answer, still hoped that he could find out a little bit from Kotin, even if it was just a person. Regardless of the approximate time, it will not make me still worry about when I can use the new equipment after returning to the front line.

Faced with Malashenko's question, Kogin, who never easily disclosed the specific plans of his projects to outsiders and was always tight-lipped, rarely spoke without any hesitation after thinking for a moment.

"If everything goes well, the IS1 heavy tank with upgraded firepower can be delivered to you in one to two months at the earliest. In addition, after you left last night, I urgently summoned manpower to improve the upper armor you proposed. The proposal has been studied, and basically there are no major problems or difficulties. It is expected that the first mass-produced upgraded IS1 heavy tanks will all adopt the new design.”

The first battle with the 502nd Heavy Armored Battalion really made Malashenko feel the oppressive power of the Tiger tank.

This heavy and powerful heavy tank is very powerful and extremely ferocious. Malashenko, who originally expected that the IS1 could at least be on par with it, truly felt that there was still a gap between the IS1 and the Tiger tank in terms of comprehensive combat performance. . x ̸͍̘̳͂͊̂̊̀͊̕͘.̷̹̦̆̆c̶͙͈͚̽̄̈̎̒͜ó̶̧̧̝̳̠͇͕̺̲̹̔̈́ ́՝͝m̷̗͓̽̂̌̋̌̌

In addition to the 85mm DT5 tank gun, which needs to be close to a distance of 500 meters to destroy the Tiger tank head-on with a high probability, it faces an imminent upgrade.

The armor plate on the front of the IS1 that comes with the driver's observation window is also a big problem.

The armor at this position is too weak and the projected area is not small, close to the root of the turret. The Tiger tank's accurate 88mm main gun can easily and accurately shoot at this position. It is almost inevitable to hit it within a regular combat distance. Wearing it is very deadly.

After the war, after looking through the wreckage of all the irreparable battle-damaged tanks one by one, Malashenko finally came to the conclusion that the armor plate with the driver's observation window on the front of the tank was more important than being destroyed by penetrating the front armor of the turret. Greater vulnerability conclusion.

The semi-curved turret front and the edge of the gun mantlet can at least bounce ricochet bullets, so it will not be fatal as soon as it is hit. However, the armor plate on the front of the car body is extremely criticized. Once it is hit by the 88 gun, it will almost die. The must-wear ending is like a huge coin slot.

Malashenko can probably guess that this is the result of Kotin's conservative use of the body design of the previous generation KV heavy tank. However, judging from the current situation, this poor design is bound to face improvement, just like the existing The same as the historical IS2 heavy tank produced in 1944.

Changing the front of the car body to a single large-angle tilted armor similar to that of the IS6 heavy tank was Malashenko's final improvement suggestion to Kotin.

After listening to Malashenko's battlefield situation description and suggestions, Kogin also felt that this was an excellent suggestion that should be adopted and improved. It is not laborious to change the front of the car body into a single piece of large-angle inclined armor. It can even save some additional processes of cutting armor and welding, saving materials and man-hours. Kojing himself is also happy to see such improvements.

"In addition, regarding the two new heavy tank designs, it will definitely take a long time."

"The project that is currently closest to completion and has the fastest development speed is Project 252. If you just change the electric transmission to mechanical transmission, it will not waste too much time. You only need to re-plan the power cabin layout on the design drawing. The overall tank The design doesn’t need to change.”

"Project 701 has only completed the prototype design of the car body and turret. The layout details of the power cabin are still being planned, and the running gear and suspension system still need to be adjusted. It will take at least half a year for this project to have the first prototype. Malashenko, the current situation is that I cannot devote all my energy to it, there are too many things waiting to be done, I hope you can understand.”

"In addition, I also need you to help me say something for Project 701, at least to let more people in Moscow hear our voices. No matter what method you use, in short, I hope to get more support, whether it is specific work It’s also political.”

If it were anyone else who heard Ke Jing say this, they might still be confused and confused.

But Malashenko clearly knows that Kogin's concerns are essentially caused by his great lack of confidence in the "super tank" of Project 701.

In the history of the development of the Red Army's heavy tanks, any project that was even remotely related to the word "super tank" ended up in vain.

Although most of the reasons for this are because the performance of these "super tank" prototypes is really unsightly, this situation is bound to erode the confidence and confidence of the big guys in Moscow for similar projects in the future. Patience, even with the fatherly comrade who sits on the throne of supreme power in the Kremlin.

It is true that the loving father Comrade Stalin was a fan of heavy tanks and the bigger the better, the better. However, liking heavy tanks does not mean that the loving father is a collector of steel waste. The "super tank" project that has failed too many times is once again How Comrade Kejing, who is good at figuring out business, will be viewed by his loving comrade in the future is what worries him the most.

To this end, he needs a strong partner to help him speak in Moscow. Kotin's own status as a "son-in-law riding a dragon" is not enough.