It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 225 | You're About to Hit the Jackpot!

A month later.

As the warm sun rose in the east, a special guest arrived at the headquarters of Hezhong Motor Vehicle Group in Songjiang Prefecture that morning. Several senior executives and engineers came out to greet him.

A black long-wheelbase sedan was parked at the main entrance, guarded by a sidecar motorcycle in front and behind.

"Ah, greetings, Commander Shang. I am Tang Shanglin, a member of the board of directors of Hezhong Group. Seeing is believing, Commander Shang is indeed a young and talented man."

"Chairman Tang, you flatter me. Nice words are useless; only good products matter."

After getting out of the car with a worried look on his face, Shang Ke straightened his collar and nodded to the people in front of him.

Tang Shanglin then took the lead and guided him into the group's headquarters for a visit.

Here, he saw the prototype of the new armored personnel carrier, as well as the things he had always dreamed of.

Armored personnel carriers were bound to appear. The reason is simple: as the correct infantry-tank combined arms tactics were established, people naturally realized that infantry needed to be equipped with transport vehicles to keep up with tanks, and preferably vehicles with armor protection.

Based on this guiding principle, armored personnel carriers came into being.

As early as last year, Shanker had Tri-Defense draft several general design schemes for armored personnel carriers, divided into three types from expensive to cheap: the first is a tracked type, the second is a newly designed four-axle wheeled type, and the third is a wheeled type based on a truck chassis.

Tracked designs offer the best terrain mobility, but they may impact the production capacity of tanks and self-propelled artillery, so they were ruled out.

The Army and the Armaments Bureau ultimately chose the third option.

As for the half-track... it's neither high-end nor low-end, and doesn't fit the national conditions of the Great Unified Federation, so it was directly abandoned.

The productivity of a large unified federation is more than sufficient, and the style of weapons and equipment that can be adapted can be relatively extreme, either expensive and complex or cheap and simple, without the need to compromise like second-rate industrial countries.

The third option is to take the chassis of the existing Hezhong brand 'Crossover' truck, redesign the superstructure, and transform it into a military armored vehicle.

It has a nominal load capacity of 3 tons, three axles and ten wheels, all-wheel drive, and is equipped with an inline six-cylinder 4.0-liter gasoline engine with a maximum horsepower of 96.

This truck is not a particularly advanced or high-end model; it was released several years ago and is very popular among the general public.

The 'Crossover' inherits the consistent truck style of the Great Unified Federation. It is a cab-over truck with very high material quality, making it quite sturdy and durable. Almost no civilian truck driver does not overload, because the more cargo they carry, the more money they make. As the saying goes, it's a fool not to make money when you can.

"The Equipment Bureau selected it from five or six types of trucks. Besides its mature technology and ease of mass production, what other strengths does it have?"

In front of Shank were a 'Crossover' and an armored personnel carrier prototype with the same chassis, showing that their lower halves were completely identical.

A senior engineer opened his mouth to list the performance parameters of 'Leap', but before he could speak, Tang Shanglin answered first.

Tang Shanglin smiled slightly and calmly replied, "There was a major accident reported in the newspaper last month. A vehicle that was overloaded by eleven tons overturned three other vehicles."

And slow!

Is it 'overloaded' or 'overloaded to the point of being'?
Shang Ke was embarrassed and said with a wry smile, "Okay, I believe you, this car is reliable."

Only then did the technicians have a chance to speak. "Commander Shang, the working conditions of armored vehicles are very different from ordinary cargo hauling. In addition to redesigning the superstructure, we have also made other improvements."

The ordinary pneumatic tires have been replaced with semi-solid bulletproof tires with a honeycomb structure, and the tread pattern is larger and deeper to enhance grip.

The rear two axles have been equipped with self-locking differential locks to enhance off-road and obstacle-avoidance capabilities.

A winch has been added to the front of the vehicle, which can be used for self-rescue or to rescue other vehicles.

It has been upgraded with a more powerful engine, an inline six-cylinder 4.8-liter gasoline engine with a maximum horsepower of 107 hp and a maximum torque of 325 Nm.

The superstructure has been drastically changed, with armor thickness ranging from 8 mm to 12 mm. The exterior features numerous sharp, angular bevels to enhance ballistic resistance, making it somewhat similar to the German SdKfz251 half-track vehicle.

The crew compartment has folding benches on both sides and a machine gunner's seat in front. It is designed to have 14+1 seats, but in reality, it can easily accommodate 20 people. Three vehicles can carry an infantry platoon and a lot of ammunition.

【Picture】

Shank noticed that the passenger compartment of the vehicle was open, so he bluntly requested: "Don't make it open, put a roof on top, it doesn't need to be very thick, just a thin steel plate of three or four millimeters will do, put a sunroof that can be opened and closed for ventilation, and leave a round hatch for the machine gunner's position."

Tang Shanglin's secretary took out a small notebook and quickly wrote down Shang's requirements.

These are insignificant changes; we'll just do whatever the military asks, without uttering a single unnecessary question.

Airburst fuses are rarely seen on the battlefield these days, and there's no need to consider nuclear, biological, or chemical protection; a convertible is perfectly acceptable.

Adding a roof improves passenger comfort, as European winters are extremely cold, and in tropical regions, the sunroof can be opened. Additionally, it eliminates the low-probability scenario of enemy infantry throwing grenades inside and killing everyone in the vehicle during urban warfare.

As for weapons, this vehicle can be equipped with whatever you like.

The standard troop carrier version uses a 12mm anti-aircraft machine gun, while those seeking maximum firepower can use a 15.5mm anti-aircraft machine gun or an older 20mm anti-aircraft cannon from existing stock.

The indirect fire support version can be equipped with an 82mm mortar; the direct fire support version can be equipped with a 105mm recoilless rifle; the anti-aircraft version can be equipped with a quadruple 12mm or twin 15.5mm anti-aircraft machine gun...

"The Equipment Bureau told you this from the beginning, right?" Shang Ke asked casually, fiddling with the tailgate of the vehicle. "The demand for this vehicle will be huge. At the very least, twenty or thirty thousand vehicles; at most, double that. Can you produce enough?"

Tang Shanglin replied in a disdainful yet proud tone: "Our company can easily handle 20,000 vehicles a year. If it's more than that, other competitors can share the burden."

How many can be manufactured before New Year's Day this year?

"Once the military finishes testing, we'll be ready immediately. The chassis production line will remain largely unchanged; the only difference will be the body assembly process. We'll begin trial production in June, officially start production in July, and expect to produce around five to six thousand vehicles by the end of the year."

This number was more than Shang Ke had expected, so he asked seriously, "That's fast. Can you guarantee the quality and quantity? Chairman Tang, you have to take legal responsibility for the promises you make. If there are any difficulties, the military can help you coordinate with other companies."

"Commander Shang, you may not know this, but our company sells four types of trucks. We currently produce more than 13,000 'Crossover' trucks annually, and the production line only operates in the mornings. Switching to producing this armored vehicle is simply a matter of replacing the body with a steel plate shell. What's so difficult about that?" Tang Shanglin said casually.

After saying that, he quipped, "I heard from the Equipment Bureau that the army is expanding too much now, and there is a bottleneck in the demand for anti-aircraft machine guns. I'm afraid we'll end up with 'vehicles but no guns'."

Shang Ke chuckled, turned around, and waved his hand, saying, "I'm relieved."

In short, it boils down to this: Are you ready to try your luck?
(End of this chapter)