Chapter 514: Giants in Battle 3
"I have convinced you!" The prince was really helpless, but he really learned some people's stubbornness. But the current situation is not bad, Xiao Maoqi finally began to seriously consider building a train cannon force to make up for the lack of long-range firepower and strike strength. Germany's tactical advantage on the western front will be maintained longer, and the eastern front will also receive support from the railway artillery itself and turn it into a strategic advantage...
Yes, you read that right, it is a strategic advantage! The reason why it is a tactical advantage on the western front is that Germany has large-caliber train guns, and the United Kingdom and France also have them! The technical gap between the two sides is very limited. You can hit me, and I can hit you. No one can completely overwhelm the opponent. But the Eastern Front is different! Because the Russian army is a thorough thread! In terms of equipment, it's silkier than Austria-Hungary!
Look at the world's artillery giants at that time. France has Schneider, Germany has Krupp, England has Vickers, Austria and Hungary have Skoda, and Italy has Andorsa. What's in Russia? Haven't heard of it? In the army artillery, don’t talk about Germany and Britain. The Italians all have 15-inch heavy artillery. The Austro-Hungarian Empire has two overweight guns, 15-inch and 420mm! Especially the m14 42cml15 super heavy artillery, this is a big killer when the war starts!
This heavy artillery that existed in 1914 weighed 105 tons. A total of 8 were built in history. The shells of this artillery weighed 1020 kg and the muzzle velocity was 432 meters per second. The maximum range is 14,600 meters! Has a rate of fire of 1 round in 5 minutes! From a comprehensive point of view, this artillery can almost be regarded as the most powerful weapon in war! What a good train material! (Well, this cargo was also a shore artillery from the beginning--!)
And what do the Russians have in World War 1? Not to mention the movable train gun. If all the guns used by the army are counted, it seems that there is only one m1915 type 305mm heavy gun. But this thing weighing more than 69 tons is still a bit uncomfortable for his tonnage, and the maximum range is only 13.47 kilometers!
Therefore, if the prince’s eastern route can deploy train cannons from the beginning, then these powerful artillery will hardly be threatened at the beginning of the war, and they can safely project the terrifying bullets on the top of the Russians! If the prince remembers correctly, there were not even decent long-range cannons in the Russian field troops in World War I?
"The 12-inch l40 naval guns and 10-inch l40 naval guns retired from the Navy can be converted into very useful train guns. The 280mm artillery that Krupp failed in the bidding can also be changed into a train gun." Xiao Mao thought for a while. "We have ready-made artillery, anyway, the navy is going to use new artillery. If these artillery and ammunition are handed over to the army, it will be fully utilized!"
"It's a good idea, but Krupp's 280mm gun is not necessary to equip it. The 12-inch gun can do better, and we now need to simplify our equipment system as much as possible to reduce the difficulty of later replenishment." I still feel a little tired of Krupp and his 11-inch gun!
Now Xiao Moqi is following a complete historical routine. The first train cannon in Germany was really waste. For example, the 21cmsk "peteradalbert" train cannon. The artillery of this thing was originally equipped by the German Navy in Blücher and The main gun on the Hanhorst-class armored cruiser!
After the sinking of the armored cruiser Blücher, all the 210mm artillery and artillery shells in the German Navy's inventory were useless, and no active warship could use these weapons. Then the German Army decided to change it into a long-range artillery. And these guns that are not good enough to fight battleships perform well in the army. Although the power of the shells is not too big, the range of up to 26 kilometers is still extremely powerful for many howitzers!
The weight of the artillery carried by two 4-axle trains is about 110 tons. The Germans successively built 11 such train guns and used them in many battles on the Western Front. They played a certain role. When the Germans found that these "waste-use" artillery was used very well, they also started. The artillery of more old battleships was removed from the battleship and installed on the moving trains!
The Germans' subsequent improvement work can be called frenzied! Almost all the former dreadnought ships equipped with 240mm artillery cannot escape the black hand! The 210mm gun is too small for its power, so use a 240mm gun! At the beginning, the German Army also checked. In the manufacturing process of the first batch of 240mm train guns, the German Army also knew to shorten the barrels. The weight of these short-tube train guns was about the same as the weight of 21cmsk "peteradalbert". , But the bullet weight increased to 140-151kg. And it can be transported in the same trailer.
But then, the Germans discovered that the weight was reduced, but the initial velocity and range were also reduced, the maximum initial velocity was only 640 meters per second. The range has been reduced to 18.7km. And this distance was still a little bit dazzling when facing the evildoers of the same level on the western front, so after building 4 cars, he stopped decisively.
Later, in February 1915, five German Kaiser Friedrich III-class battleships were decommissioned. A total of 26 240mm guns were dismantled. In addition to 8 for shore defense guns, the other 16 were later used as train guns. Handed over to the German Army, this is the 24cmskl/40 "theodorkarl" train gun with the largest production volume in Germany's First World War. This train gun using the 240mml40 gun was finally produced in a total of 34!
The basic performance of this gun is basically the same as the previous one, but because the barrel is longer and the initial velocity is higher, the maximum range is 26.6km. The largest weight of more than 110 tons can still be transported by two 4-axle trains, so the German Army is still very satisfied with it~www.wuxiaspot.com~ Although the 240mm train gun has a large production capacity, it is still effective. The 280mm train cannon is larger. There are two main types of train cannons of this class, 28cmskl/40"bruno" and 28cmkl/40"kurfürst". The output of the former is 22 to 24, while the output of the latter is 6.
These train guns, which were manufactured using the 280mml40 artillery on the last German dreadnought warships, have good performance, especially in terms of range. When using the l2.9 240kg old artillery shell, it has a range of 20 kilometers. And if you use the 14.4 new 284kg shell, it has a range of 27.5 kilometers!
However, whether it is a train gun with a 240mm artillery or a train gun with a 280mm artillery, there is a problem of too little shell power, which is much better than the French train gun modified with an old 240mm artillery, but if it is used with those using 12-inch or even Compared with the train gun of the 340mm artillery, it is a grade.
Fortunately, on this plane, the German Navy does not have the problem of small guns, and even the problem of the smaller power of the German army’s train guns has been solved.... Does the land and the sea separate families? Of course, there is only such a plan now. As for how to do it in the future, a detailed plan is needed.
The prince and Xiao Moqi talked a little bit, and the latter needed some time to digest, so they decided to postpone the visit to the Bavarian army exercise, and the prince also had more time to prepare.
