Chapter 128: Three Months Apart, Worth A Fresh Look
July 3, 1915, Prague.
Lelouch, who had just returned from Romania, finally arrived in Prague first after over twenty hours of jolting on a soft sleeper train; this was the last transfer station before returning to the Germania homeland.
The Emperor and General Staff Headquarters were still fiercely debating the merits of the two strategic plans from Lelouch and Lieutenant General Ludendorff. In the Northern Sector of the Eastern Front, the Lithuanian theater, Marshal Hindenburg and Lieutenant General Ludendorff were also still trying to prove themselves at this moment.
But Lelouch temporarily didn’t care about any of this, and he had no time to care.
He firmly believed that his strategic plan would ultimately demonstrate its superiority and be adopted by the Emperor and General Staff Headquarters.
And he still had many more important things to do, especially to lay some prerequisite conditions for the implementation after the plan was adopted by the General Staff.
The most important and most urgent one among them was to invent a mine-sweeping tool for the Empire to clear old-style moored mines, so that the Empire’s Navy could easily enter Riga Bay, or even the Gulf of Finland, when necessary in the future.
However, that matter required going to Hamburg or Wilhelmshaven to coordinate with the Navy people. On the way back, since he passed through Prague first, Lelouch didn’t mind delaying by one or two days and decided to inspect the progress of the half-track vehicle and tank projects first.
This time returning to Prague, the reception Lelouch received was even more grand than three and a half months ago.
Dr. Porsche personally came to Prague Train Station to pick him up, and even had someone drive an experimental electric car personally customized by Dr. Porsche.
“Congratulations, Dr. Mister, I heard you just got your doctorate from Vienna University of Technology.” As soon as the two met, Lelouch politely chatted, with a hint of teasing between old friends in his tone.
“Hey, empty flattery from others is one thing, but Colonel Lelouch, it’s no fun if you joke about this too. Everyone knows that I only got the honorary doctorate in mechanical engineering from Vienna University of Technology because of your guidance, which allowed me to produce the first-generation half-track tractor.”
Dr. Porsche responded to the other’s teasing straightforwardly, without any pretense. Three months ago, Ferdinand Porsche didn’t yet qualify to be called “Doctor,” but now he did.
In Earth’s history, Porsche developed a high-power tractor for Austria and ultimately received the honorary degree. In this timeline, he directly produced the half-track vehicle, making outstanding contributions to the Gorlice breakthrough and the Dukla Pass blocking operation.
Army Group Commander Marshal Leopold specifically thanked the Austrian Emperor for this, and after the Austrian high-level learned of it, their rewards for Porsche naturally became much more generous.
He not only got the doctorate but also an honorary title as a foreign academician of the Hungarian Academy of Engineering, plus a large sum of bonus money.
Porsche was also someone who liked to look respectable, and these honors were all obtained with Lelouch’s help, so his gratitude toward Lelouch naturally grew even deeper.
If Lelouch had any needs this time, he also decided to cooperate even more diligently.
Lelouch didn’t want to waste time either, so while sitting in the car to Skoda Company, he chatted with Porsche about project progress.
“How many half-track tractors have been produced since then? During the Gorlice breakthrough in May, there were less than 100 in total, which really wasn’t enough. There might be a major operation next month, and this time I hope to have enough high-power tractors to quickly deploy heavy cannons.
Moreover, they don’t have to be half-tracks; ordinary diesel heavy trucks would work too. When we reach the Kievan Rus’ Great Plain area in the future, the geographical environment will be very different from the Carpathian Mountains. We don’t always need half-tracks; half-tracks only have special effects during the muddy thaw period.
Dr. Porsche hurriedly patted his chest and guaranteed: “That previous half-track vehicle model, although the cumulative production so far isn’t high, is mainly because after the first generation went to the battlefield, some mechanical minor issues were exposed, and reliability wasn’t good, so I spent time fine-tuning it.
Starting in June, we slowly began trial production of the improved version, which was formally named the SDK15 half-track tractor as per your requirements.”
The previous productions could only be considered “SDK15 test version”; now it’s the official production version. As for the 15 designation, it’s naturally based directly on the year.
The Porsche electric car soon arrived at Skoda Company, and Lelouch was directly taken to tour the production line and warehouse, where he saw the improved new vehicles.
The new vehicle still had no suspension shock-absorbing system, just rigid connections, making it very bumpy and shaky to drive; they could only pad some soft things inside the vehicle to make the crew less uncomfortable.
There was no way around it; this era didn’t even have the concept of suspension, and as a first-generation product, it could only be like this for now.
The vehicle’s road wheels were also simply paired and laid flat, without the “interleaved road wheels” from later German designs that drove logistics crazy.
In this life, Lelouch had no intention of letting “interleaved road wheels” or other equipment contrary to total war and long-term war of attrition thinking come into existence; paired road wheels would do just fine.
According to the latest test data provided by Porsche, Lelouch learned that the optimized half-track vehicle could generally achieve 300 km off-road or 500 km on highway with a failure rate below 5%—this test mileage was chosen because the current half-track vehicle’s fuel tank, when full of diesel, could only go that far.
And this mileage was calculated with a 2-ton payload, or carrying a fully equipped assault squad of 15 soldiers, including 1 squad leader, 8 assault team members, 6 fire support team members, all light weapons and ammunition, 1 light machine gun, 1 grenade launcher（. If overloaded to tow super-heavy artillery, the mileage would definitely shorten.
To go farther, they’d have to add extra fuel drums inside the vehicle. But with 1915 combat speeds, such long range wasn’t needed.
The half-track vehicle was ultimately just a transport vehicle, not needing to go directly to the battlefield or be armed; the current state was barely acceptable.
Lelouch didn’t interfere further with its improvements and production, just asked about capacity. He learned that the version with improved reliability already had over a hundred vehicles in stock.
If needed by the end of July, total stock could reach 200 vehicles, and they could be deployed to troops in advance pre-war. If used in August, stock could reach 300~400 vehicles by then.
Lelouch calculated that one vehicle could only tow one heavy cannon or carry one assault squad; a company with 16 squads, plus company headquarters and communication equipment, other logistics, would need about 20 vehicles per company.
80 vehicles could only transport one full-strength assault battalion; 200~300 vehicles could only transport a reinforced regiment with four battalions, which wouldn’t change the battle situation much; it was still more cost-effective to use them for towing heavy cannons.
Thinking that Porsche’s production speed was so slow, Lelouch couldn’t help reminding: “Dr. Porsche, have you looked into the Ford motor production line of the Ugly Country people across the ocean? I think whether it’s the Empire or Austria, our vehicle production processes are too outdated.
Pre-war, our country produced a sedan at a general cost of 20,000 marks, while the Ugly Country people only needed 5,000 marks, with production efficiency and cost differing by three to four times. Although our products are indeed much higher quality, it can’t withstand four times the production capacity.
You should also think about it and learn from the Ugly Country people’s production organization experience, especially the assembly line. I know you can’t do this alone; I’ll provide you resources to help organize it together, but you must take it seriously.”
Lelouch casually mentioned a few key points of assembly line mass production; he himself didn’t know much, but fortunately there were ready templates to copy; just imitate them. Lelouch believed in the wisdom of Germanians engineers; as long as they didn’t pursue perfection too much, they had plenty of ways to improve production efficiency.
Dr. Porsche also promised to take this seriously and strive to break in the production organization model within half a year, introducing some efficient processes. However, he estimated that achieving the level of Ugly Country peers in the short term was impossible.
Within half a year, production efficiency could at most improve by more than half compared to now; within one to two years, more than double. But to reach four times the current production rate like the Ugly Country, it would take at least three to four years.
The integration, borrowing, and progress of the entire industrial system all required years as units, and it wasn’t just the affair of Porsche or Skoda Company alone; the entire upstream and downstream needed to learn and progress together.
Moreover, the entire process would require initial investments of at least millions of marks to improve production lines and processes, and possibly tens of millions later.
……
After asking about the half-track vehicle matter, Lelouch naturally shifted the inspection focus to the tank project under development.
Tank development hadn’t been completed yet, but they had roughly figured out something similar in concept to the half-track vehicle.
Lelouch saw that Dr. Porsche had already built several vehicle hulls, which could be tested in groups: primitive versions without weapons, ones with only machine guns, and attempts to mount short-barreled howitzers.
The vehicle body’s weight was at least two to three times that of the half-track vehicle.
The complete vehicle prototypes built by Dr. Porsche were estimated to weigh at least 6~7 tons empty, up to 8~10 tons at heaviest.
The reason for such a large weight difference was mainly different weapon equipment; without any weapons, 6 tons was enough, just an iron shell with 8 mm thick steel plates.
Speed was pretty good; Porsche directly used a BMW 150-horsepower diesel engine, giving the 6-ton version a power-to-weight ratio of 25 horsepower/ton, far higher than the later Frankish Renault tank’s 10 horsepower/ton in history. Highway speed could reach nearly 30 km/h, off-road 5~6 km/h.
If adding two light machine guns, with firing ports in the front, internal shields, and adjusting all armor to 10 mm, the whole vehicle reached 7 tons, with crew set at 3 people.
If mounting a 77 mm super-short 1902 field gun, total weight increased to 10 tons, crew to 4 people, and the cannon was still mounted inside the vehicle without a turret, similar to later assault guns.
It could only have a large hole in the front armor for the barrel to stick out; to avoid stray bullets entering through the big hole, Dr. Porsche’s temporary solution was to install a shield on the gun barrel, like ordinary field guns.
When Lelouch first saw this design, he was quite startled, thinking how Porsche managed to fit a 77 mm “heavy cannon” into a mere 10-ton vehicle body.
One must know that next year in history, the Britannians’ first “Mark 1” tank, at 28 tons full weight, only mounted 2 57 mm 6-pounder cannons and 4 heavy machine guns. The Germans’ hurriedly made A7V tank was also 30 tons empty weight, only mounting 1 57 mm cannon.
However, after a deeper understanding, Lelouch quickly spotted the issue—heaviness of a cannon wasn’t just about caliber; caliber length mattered more. Long-barreled cannons caused weight to skyrocket.
Just like in later generations, a turret and body that could fit an 88 mm 56-caliber might not fit a 75 mm 71-caliber.
Similarly, the historical Britannian “Mark 1″‘s 57 mm cannon was 20 calibers, while the German “A7V”‘s 57 mm was even 26 calibers.
The 77 mm field gun selected by Dr. Porsche here was the Krupp 1902 short-barrel version, only 12 calibers; purely in terms of barrel length, it was 40% shorter than a 57 mm 26-caliber, and total weight was also lighter than a 57 mm 26-caliber.
The cost of such a short barrel was naturally greatly reduced maximum range, very low shell muzzle velocity and accuracy. The Krupp 1902 short-barrel gun, when deployed as a towed field gun, had a maximum elevation range of only 2700 meters, similar to a mortar. After mounting on the tank, elevation was further limited, range even shorter, ultimately testing at only 2100 meters.
But this result made Lelouch’s eyes light up.
“Very good, that’s exactly the thinking I want! The tank’s cannon is for direct fire; maximum range of 2 km is already enough! I never expected it to do indirect strikes with curved fire anyway. Being able to destroy enemy artillery positions and solid bunkers within 2 km is sufficient.
However, your current vehicle body is still a bit strained to carry such a big gun, right? You can shrink it down and use a 57 mm cannon; there are ready ones, and it’s enough to destroy bunkers; anything bigger is firepower redundancy—concrete bunkers can’t withstand direct hits from 57 mm shells.”
For field guns, bigger caliber is better to expand the shrapnel kill radius and kill more enemy infantry over a larger area, but Lelouch didn’t expect tank shells to kill infantry clusters.
Hearing his suggestion, Dr. Porsche said with mixed joy and worry: “I’ve actually considered it too; 57 mm grenades have enough destructive power against fortifications, but the Empire currently has no sufficiently short 57 mm cannons. The shortest 57 mm cannon from the incorporated Belgian military factories is still 26 calibers, heavier than this 77 mm 12-caliber.”
Lelouch immediately decided: “First make a 57 mm cannon, saw off the barrel for structural design; I’ll have the Belgian artillery company producing 57 mm 26-caliber cannons urgently design a shortened 16-to-18-caliber version, while also reducing the propellant charge in shells and synchronously reducing the chamber volume in the gun breech. Other designs can follow your current practices and continue advancing.”
Ultimately, under Lelouch’s guidance, Dr. Porsche further refined the tank plan.
Prepare to first make a quickly producible pure machine gun tank, mounting 2 machine guns, all-around armor 10 mm thick, front 20 mm, full weight 7 tons, highway max speed 24 km/h, muddy off-road 5 km/h. This model could start production around September.
Another model with one 57 mm 18-caliber short-barreled main gun, expected main gun range also 2 km, capable of destroying current concrete machine gun bunkers, with 30 rounds ready.
Plus two machine guns, one in the front coaxial with the main gun, for helping the main gun zero and fine-tune azimuth.
The other directly from a skylight on the roof, temporarily mounted on top to fire, with as flexible shooting angles as possible to protect the tank from enemy infantry approaching.
These design ideas all made Dr. Porsche’s eyes light up; many previously stuck technical difficulties were suddenly broken through or found practical compromise solutions.
Finally, Lelouch also reminded Dr. Porsche to pay attention to the tank’s shock absorption problem; he could consider using some springs or torsion bars—nothing too structurally complex, but enough to absorb shocks and protect the engine and transmission, so equipment doesn’t break from jolting and personnel aren’t injured.
As a military enthusiast in his previous life, Lelouch had some understanding of tank suspensions, knowing things like Christie suspension, torsion bar suspension, and that earlier suspensions were simply springs or bogies. But he didn’t know the specific mechanical structures or details, so he could only give a direction for the professional mechanical engineering team to figure out slowly.
After hearing this, Porsche thought that although it added some tasks, with two more months, they could barely make it; if not, the first generation could use the simplest springs or torsion bars, and improve later.
Ultimately, he only promised an adjusted timeline: “If adding this so-called ‘suspension,’ at least October for mass production of the basic model, early next year for the cannon version. Can you wait for this schedule?”
Lelouch: “We can wait, but give me a copy of the related technical data; I’ll have BMW engineers work on it too when I get back—maybe come up with wheeled armored cars with structures not too complex, without suspension, in time for the autumn offensive. And your machine gun tanks for the winter offensive.”
Porsche and Skoda’s technical strength was still too weak; after this project ends, Lelouch planned to have Porsche go independent, poach some team from Skoda, and formally start anew. For now, to save time, only joint development between Porsche and BMW, each solving some subsystem technical issues.
And Lelouch had a clear idea of the subsequent land battle campaign timetable.
As long as General Staff Headquarters accepted his suggested plan, first fight on the Kievan Rus’ Great Plain, advance along the coastline, then come back to Poland, so tanks just needed to catch the future Poland campaign.
Because muddy thaw period issues were particularly prominent only on the Kievan Rus’ black soil great plain; that place had poor drainage, easily pooling water inland.
The black soil great plain’s thaw period each year was March to May in spring; after entering June, the weather dried up, so the historical Barbarossa plan was set for June（theoretically earliest late May; on Earth, Barbarossa was delayed 1 month by the Yugoslavia campaign）
Autumn was after October to November—this is why the Earth WWII Kyiv campaign had to finish in October; any later, the Kievan Rus’ Great Plain would turn muddy again, troubling armored troops. But precisely because the Kyiv campaign rushed to finish in October, it delayed the later Moscow campaign timing.
Lelouch deeply understood these seasonal and geographical factors; of course, he would seize the dry summer and autumn seasons to act first on the Kievan Rus’ Great Plain. When it starts getting muddy by late October this year and troops can’t be used, then consider Poland in winter—that would be perfectly interlocking.
Muddy conditions around Poland weren’t as obvious as the Kievan Rus’ Great Plain; the Poland area wasn’t as cold as around Moscow, and it was close to Germania homeland; Germanian people were adapted to that climate. Once the ground hardened a bit after winter set in, tanks could immediately show their power; no matter how many heavy troops the Lushans left on the Poland plain, they couldn’t stop Lelouch’s infiltration!
So, armored cars’ debut battle on the autumn Kievan Rus’ Great Plain, tanks’ first show in winter Poland—the entire timeline interlocked perfectly! All R&D and production plans must be scheduled accordingly.
If really not in time, better to skip the suspension system and rush production to meet the campaign timetable.
