stonecrandall Chapter 476
Chapter 476
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: 0.045s Scan: 0.026sAfter the exercise, Mainz personally went to Karlsplatz to inspect the exercise troops.
As expected, although Reinhardt’s troops finally defeated the opponent and arrived in Vienna within two days, less than 40% of his troops could be put into combat immediately. More than half of the weapons and equipment had malfunctioned for various reasons and fell behind, losing their combat capabilities.
This failure rate was ridiculous!
“If we go to the real battlefield, with such a high failure rate, I am afraid that the armored forces will lose their combat effectiveness before they are put into combat!”
Manstein said worriedly. This exercise exposed a lot of shortcomings of the armored forces.
If this was not an exercise, but an actual battle, the First Armored Division would probably have been wiped out!
With the lessons learned this time, Manstein doubted the combat effectiveness of the German army in long-distance raids!
Mainz nodded. The problem was indeed very serious, but it did not exceed his expectations.
“Let the mechanics check and see what the main reason for the failure rate is!”
The First Armored Division is the most elite armored division of the entire German army. They are also the first troops equipped with the No. 4 tank.
The results of this exercise exposed so many problems, proving that the No. 4 tank is flawed in design!
Rather than waiting until it is exposed on the battlefield, it is better to expose it in training at home. At least in this way, they still have the opportunity to improve, and in the future, they can reduce the losses caused by these failures on the battlefield!
Without Mainz’s instructions, Guderian paid more attention to the problems of the armored forces than him.
At the beginning of the exercise, Guderian was still in the mood to tease Dietrich and say a few sarcastic words by the way!
But at the end of the exercise, as the non-combat attrition of the tank troops became more and more serious, the smile on Guderian’s face disappeared!
What a joke, non-combat attrition exceeded half, if he could still laugh, then he was too heartless!
Under Guderian’s urging, the mechanics came to a conclusion after checking dozens of broken-down tanks: engine failure!
If there is a problem with a tank, 99% of the time it is the engine!
However, the engine has many parts, so which part is the problem?
“Thermostat!”
After further disassembly, the mechanics gave a definite answer.
The thermostat is an important part of the engine cooling system.
When the water temperature of the engine is too high, the thermostat opens, and the water pump in the water tank pumps water through the outer wall of the engine to achieve the effect of physical cooling.
The water tank is composed of hollow copper tubes.
The high-temperature water enters the water tank and circulates to the engine water channel after air cooling to achieve the effect of reciprocating circulation, and finally cools the engine to prevent the engine from overheating, thereby protecting the engine.
In the middle, there is a component like a switch – the thermostat!
If the thermostat is not turned on, the cooling system will not work, and the engine will malfunction due to high temperature, thus breaking down!
After learning that it was a problem with the thermostat, everyone finally had a specific direction.
However, the thermostat also contains several components. Which component is the problem?
“It is possible that there is a problem with the temperature sensing system. Some temperature sensing components may have sensitivity problems and cannot open the main valve in time. If the main valve of the thermostat opens too late, the engine will overheat; if the main valve opens too early, the engine preheating time will be extended, and the engine temperature will be too low. This component is quite heavy!”
Hearing the analysis of the mechanics, everyone was surprised. They did not expect that a steel behemoth weighing 30 tons would lose its combat effectiveness because of such a small component problem.
Sure enough, the more sophisticated the weapon, the more faults may occur, because the more sophisticated the weapon, the more various parts it has, and as long as one of them has a problem, it may destroy its normal operation!
“How squeamish!”
The cavalrymen who were exhausted and panting saw the tank mechanics sweating profusely as they dismantled one component after another, and finally found a small part that proved to be the culprit that caused the tank to break down. They couldn’t help but sneer at the side.
“That’s right. Although our war horses don’t run as fast as theirs, they are not as complicated as theirs. If there is any problem, the whole tank will be unable to move. Does this thing really have combat effectiveness on the battlefield?”
This sentence aroused the unanimous approval of the cavalry. Seeing the delicate appearance of the tank, they began to become dissatisfied with losing to such a big guy!
Guderian didn’t have time to pay attention to these sarcastic voices. After all, although they won a miserable victory, it was still a victory, right?
The cavalry lost the game, felt unhappy, and couldn’t help complaining. This was normal. If even the right to complain was deprived, how could people live?
Compared with these problems, Guderian was more concerned about how to solve the thermostat failure problem.
“Is there a way to solve this problem?”
If this problem is not solved, the failure rate of tanks will continue to exist for a long time, which will greatly restrict their combat effectiveness.
“There is no good solution for the time being!”
The mechanics shook their heads. The design of the Panzer IV had already gathered the top strengths of all industries in Hans. Everyone worked together to create such an epoch-making product.
At this time, a very important component inside had a problem. It was really a bit too much to ask these small mechanics to come up with a solution!
“The 1st Armored Division did not have such a high failure rate when it was on the flat ground, but once it entered the mountains, this situation occurred. This shows that the driving of tanks in mountainous areas is the main reason for the high failure rate!”
I don’t know when, Mainz and Manstein and others appeared behind the crowd.
Hearing Guderian’s anxious words, Mainz spoke
“Yes, yes, yes, that must be the reason!”
“I remember that when we went from Lower Saxony to Bavaria, there were not many problems with the tanks!”
“That’s right, the problem came after entering Audili!”
Everyone thought about it carefully and nodded to Mainz’s words.
However, if you think about it carefully, what is the difference between the mountain and the flat ground? Why did the failure rate suddenly increase so much after entering the mountain?
“The mountain roads are rugged, so the vibration of the tank will be greater. Such vibration has a great impact on some relatively small, but more delicate and sensitive small parts, so the failure rate will increase sharply!”
Mainz combined his knowledge and practical analysis of the actual problem and quickly gave the answer!
When everyone heard it, they all thought it was true, so they couldn’t help but look at their president with eager hope in their eyes:
Since General Mainz can find the problem, will he also have a way to solve it?
“Is there a way to solve the problem?……”
As soon as Mainz opened his mouth, everyone was shocked!
Here it comes!
As expected of General Mainz, he really has a way!
So, everyone, including Guderian, stared at Mainz, afraid of missing any words!
Among the seven German armies now, each army is equipped with armored units, and the armored units are the ace main force of each army.
Therefore, the problem that happened to the First Armored Division this time is definitely not just their own problem, but also a problem that all armored units have to face. If a solution to this problem cannot be found, then the combat effectiveness of all armies will be affected!
This is related to their vital interests, so everyone is extremely concerned!
“There are ways to do this, mainly from two aspects.
First, change the working principle of the thermostat and use a wax thermostat to replace the existing thermostat. Paraffin is very sensitive to temperature. If the temperature is too high, it will melt and the valve will open automatically. If the temperature is too low, the paraffin will solidify and the valve will close!
Second, add a hydraulic suspension shock absorption system to the tank to reduce the vibration of the tank and reduce the failure rate of various parts in the tank!”