Munitions Empire-Chapter 945 - 868 Dwarves’ Experiment

Chapter 945: 868 Dwarves’ Experiment Chapter 945: 868 Dwarves’ Experiment In the icy tundra, a group of dwarves stood amidst the snow, peering through telescopes at a target set up in front of a small hill.

The target was very odd-looking, with a huge surface area, but a very strange shape.

If viewed purely from the side, the target resembled a “Z” shape, with a sloped surface at its front. Above the sloped surface, there was a horizontal steel plate pressing down on it.

“Fire!” the leading dwarf engineer gave the order, and a dwarf officer beside him looked towards the soldiers nearby.

As everyone anticipated with eagerness, a group of soldiers pulled the firing cord of a cannon, and this 76mm caliber artillery piece discharged a shell.

The dwarf anti-aircraft guns were mostly 76mm in caliber; they had increased the chamber volume, extended the barrel length, and increased the chamber pressure, thus enhancing the muzzle velocity at the cost of adding to the weight of the gun, which improved the power of this type of anti-aircraft gun.

In the absence of better anti-tank guns, using these anti-aircraft guns to counter armor was a desperate but a practical act.

...

The experiment proved that this makeshift anti-tank version of the anti-aircraft gun had an excellent armor penetration effect, easily penetrating steel plates over 80mm thick from a distance of more than 500 meters.

This meant that at a standard combat range of about 700 meters, this gun could threaten the frontal armor of a ‘No. 4 tank,’ indeed qualifying it as a competent anti-tank gun.

The only downside was the gun’s weight was somewhat too heavy: the smelting technology of the Dwarf Empire was not as advanced as that of Tang Country, so they had to increase the weight of the gun as a compromise.

The immense recoil of the gun blew away the surrounding snow at the firing position, and when all had settled, everyone’s gaze was fixed on the distant target.

“It didn’t penetrate…” Everyone saw that on the sloped steel plate there was only a terrifying mark left by the impact; no penetration hole had resulted.

“It still didn’t penetrate?” The dwarf officer, upon hearing this, was surprised and turned to the engineer beside him, “Isn’t it only 70mm thick?”

“It’s probably close to the theory I calculated before.” The chief engineer raised his arm, “Let’s go! Let’s take a look! If I’m not mistaken, the shell was deflected.”

All of them trudged through the snow step by step towards the target standing 500 meters away and saw the charred impact mark on the sloped armor.

“There’s deformation, but indeed no penetration.” An engineer inspected the slightly indented impact mark and spoke with some disappointment.

“The trajectory of the shell was deflected.” Another engineer, looking at the horizontal steel plate above the sloped armor and noticing the cavity in it, exclaimed with surprise.

“Just as I predicted, the sloped design was deliberate to deflect the shells,” the leading chief engineer concluded, “The engineers from Tang Country must have calculated and found this ingenious method.”

“So does that mean it’s a good method?” The military representative, the dwarf officer, asked curiously.

“Absolutely a good method. Haven’t we calculated it? If inclined to a certain angle, a 70mm thick steel plate can nearly match the defensive capability of a 100mm thick one,” the dwarf engineer pointed at some scrapped targets a distance from the specimen and said.

They had already conducted a series of experiments before, and as long as the sloping angle was sufficient, even 80mm thick armor could easily withstand the assault of the 76mm caliber anti-aircraft gun from 300 meters away.

“Can we use it?” What the dwarf officer cared most about was whether the Ice Cold Empire could also use this technology—if so, their tanks could take a big leap forward in technology.

Read latest chapters at freёweɓnovel.com Only.

They were recently trying to introduce a special steel from Tang Country. If successful, they could reduce the weight of the 76mm gun.

With the sloped armor design, the tanks of the Ice Cold Empire could make significant advancements in both armor and firepower. Coupled with radio technology, their tank performance might well match those of Tang Country!

“Yes, I’ve been contemplating how to apply this technology to the new tank designs as well,” the chief engineer nodded, expressing great admiration for the weapon designers of the Great Tang Empire.

Ever since witnessing the victory parade of the Great Tang Empire, the Ice Cold Empire had been paying close attention to the research of the Panther Tanks of the Great Tang Empire.

Contrarily, the Dwarves weren’t very interested in the Tang Empire’s No. 4 Tanks, because they believed those tanks, which had been used since the Tang-Qi War and continued through the Tang-Dahua War, were severely outdated.

The dual-layered steel armor of the No. 4 Tanks served as compelling evidence: most of the No. 4 Tanks currently in service with the Great Tang Empire had front armor composed of two layers, with an additional steel plate temporarily fitted to the outside of the main armor, resulting in a protection not equivalent to an 80mm thickness.

Having participated in two wars, the design and thickness of the armor on Tang’s No. 4 Tanks were hardly a secret anymore.

The Shireck side had obtained wreckage of the No. 4 Tanks, and as the war progressed, more wreckage became available after the outbreak of war between the Dahua Empire and Tang Country.

The Dahua Empire even captured largely intact No. 4 Tanks due to mechanical failures, specifically later models equipped with steel plates at the front and side skirts.

Subsequently, both the Dahua Empire and the Shireck Consortium conducted various firing tests on the No. 4 Tanks and reached similar conclusions: the front armor of the No. 4 Tanks was approximately 80mm thick, roughly equivalent to over 90mm armor of other countries.

The reason why Tang’s double-layered armor still maintained such a high level of protection wasn’t because the integrated armor was better than other countries’ steel armor. It was because rare metals like molybdenum were mixed in, enhancing the steel’s performance, which made it significantly better than other nations’ steel armor.

After testing the protective capabilities of the No. 4 Tanks, all countries set new requirements for their own new tank models: they universally increased their tanks’ frontal protection to around 80mm, with some extremists even installing armor up to 90mm thick.

This directly led to a significant weight increase, making the tanks severely overweight, with reduced mobility and poor cross-country performance. Nonetheless, to contend with Tang Country, the nations had no choice but to tolerate these flaws.

The technicians from the Ice Cold Empire took a different approach, beginning to study the Panther Tanks that had appeared during the military parades of the Great Tang Empire.

And indeed, they learned something: at least from the sloped front armor observed, they were able to surmise a few things through reverse engineering.

The results of this experiment could be inversely applied to their own tank development, saving some weight on protection and, in turn, improving the tank’s mobility.

With the weight reduced, the pressure on the running gear would also lessen, naturally leading to a lower failure rate, a crucial metric on the battlefield.

In turn, with lighter tanks and unchanged power, the reduction in failure rate would mean fewer spare parts were needed, and thus, the logistical personnel could also be proportionately decreased.

These benefits might not seem significant on their own, but when considered holistically, they become invaluable: an entire tank troop would consume significantly less fuel, meaning that with the same amount of fuel, a tank troop could advance farther!

Just thinking about it made it clear what advantages this held, and it was at this moment that the personnel involved realized just how profound the Great Tang Empire’s weapons and equipment design philosophies were.

“Experiments have shown that those boxes installed around the No. 4 Tank’s turret can also increase protection…” Before leaving, the chief engineer mentioned the experience they had accumulated from the No. 4 Tanks.

“Then let’s incorporate a similar design on our tanks! Copying is not shameful, right?” the military representative voiced his opinion.

“Exactly,” the chief engineer nodded in agreement with the military representative’s opinion, “Even if we can’t build a tank more powerful than the Tang Army’s Panther Tanks, it’s sufficient to be stronger than other nations’ tanks.”

Next, as long as they could import high-quality steel, their plan could get underway. Soon, the Ice Cold Empire’s new generation of tanks would be ready for testing.

The engineers of the Ice Cold Empire weren’t the only ones busy at work. Like the dawn of that grand era in Earth’s history, engineers and scientists from all nations were indulging in their own wild endeavors based on half-understood concepts.

The Gobur Kingdom used two gasoline engines in their tank development to increase power. They had moved toward another extreme: disregarding fuel consumption entirely to purely enhance their tanks’ performance. However, whether these fuel guzzlers would be effective was yet to be tested on the battlefield.

The Dorne Empire, as a southern naval powerhouse, was going all out to upscale diesel engines for their warships. It’s unclear what they were thinking, but they believed that oil-drilling engines were the future of warship propulsion.

The Laines Empire, on the other hand, displayed remarkable wisdom in this area. With the foundations established by Brunas, they didn’t take such a roundabout route but opted for a middle path. Their designs were modest and conventional, with nothing too out of the ordinary.

In short, everyone was exploring the future, beginning their competition in a state of partial understanding: though their attempts might look clumsy and laughable, they were indeed the original inhabitants of this world, taking their tentative steps toward what they saw as the future under the inspiration of Great Tang technology.

As for whether the future was actually as they imagined it, no one knew at the moment—or rather, the only person who knew what the future looked like was right then in Tang Country.