In fact, Wang Xuexin also has far-reaching considerations in this regard.
On the one hand, developing anti-tank missiles in Yingjiang will save the Eighth Route Army a lot of trouble... The Eighth Route Army also needs anti-tank equipment.
Although the rocket launchers in the hands of the Eighth Route Army were completely sufficient at this time.
However, the research and development of military equipment must be ahead of demand. Otherwise, when the equipment is needed on the battlefield, it will be too late.
The rocket launcher is indeed good. It has the advantages of simple production, easy operation, and low cost, but its shortcomings are also obvious: low hit rate, short range, and small armor penetration thickness.
Among them, the armor penetration thickness is particularly fatal. With the Eighth Route Army's current technology, it is almost the limit to produce a rocket launcher that can penetrate 50mm thick armor.
In fact, this is not just a problem with the production process, but also a problem with the rocket launcher itself:
If the armor penetration thickness is to be higher, more charges should be used.
If there is more charge, it means the rocket is larger and heavier.
And if the rocket is larger and heavier, it will not be suitable for individual combat...
So this is actually contradictory and almost impossible to resolve.
It's not that it can't be produced, but that if it produces larger and heavier rockets, it will lose the flexibility, maneuverability, and easy concealment advantages of the rocket launcher. It will be easy to be discovered and counterattacked by the enemy on the battlefield, so it will lose its practical significance.
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This requires the Eighth Route Army to develop an anti-tank equipment with a longer range, greater power, and higher accuracy to cope with future battlefields.
Anti-tank missiles can obviously meet this need.
Wang Xuexin has actually considered going further... One day in the future, when Yingjiang and the Volunteer Army meet, if there is an additional anti-tank missile, will it have an impact on the Volunteer Army?
Wang Xuexin thinks this has little impact.
The reason is that the Volunteer Army has almost no tanks. At the same time, the Yingjiang Army has an overall advantage in equipment in this battle. The artillery fire can repeatedly bombard the Volunteer Army's position. Does the Yingjiang Army still need to use anti-tank missiles to bomb it?
What's more, since the volunteers and Yingjiang are fighting in tunnels, how many opportunities do anti-tank missiles have to come in handy?
To take a step back, this is a joint research and development between Yingjiang and the Eighth Route Army. If Yingjiang has it, does it mean that the Eighth Route Army and the Volunteer Army should also have it in the future?
Anti-tank missiles have no effect on Yingjiang, which has comprehensive firepower, but it is different in the hands of the volunteers.
There are tanks for Eagle Sauce, and there are plenty of them.
The volunteer soldiers were very short of anti-tank equipment, so they still used grenades and explosive packs to organize demolition teams to blow up. Therefore, when the volunteers surrounded the Yingjiang troops on the battlefield several times, they used tanks to forcefully break through the encirclement.
Under this circumstance, by strengthening the rocket launchers and anti-tank missiles for the Volunteer Army, does it add many more fighters to the Volunteer Army or even make up for the shortcomings?
Wang Xuexin took these issues into consideration and told Skinner the idea of wire-guided missiles without any hesitation.
After getting this very creative idea, Skinny felt like a treasure and immediately started to develop wire guide technology.
I have to say that the Eagle Sauce is different once it is released.
Wire guide is not difficult to say, but it is not easy to say that it is simple.
Call it difficult, it actually involves using a wire to connect the projectile to control it.
Let’s just say it’s simple… but there are a lot of problems when you do it directly.
For example, the x1 developed by the Eighth Route Army used ordinary thin copper wires for its conductors. Because the copper wires were not enough, they had to be spray-painted for insulation.
But it is still overweight as it grows longer.
Wang Xuexin used the method of installing rollers at both ends, but the range was still difficult to exceed 300 meters.
This is not a question of whether the wire is long enough, but that once the copper wire is stretched out, the weight of the copper wire itself can tear the copper wire apart... Once the copper wire is broken, it is obviously uncontrollable.
On the other hand, another reason why x1 can use copper wire is that the flying speed of x1 is not fast. If the flying speed is not fast, it will not have such a large impulse to prevent the wire from being broken.
However, won’t x1 develop?
If we want to develop, in which direction should we develop in the future?
Obviously the purpose is to increase the speed of x1 and increase the range of x1.
The important factor that determines these two indicators will ultimately boil down to a seemingly inconspicuous thing: wire.
The thickness and toughness of the wire determine the range and speed of the x1. Without a qualified wire, everything will come to a standstill.
This was originally a big problem for Wang Xuexin, because the Eighth Route Army did not have such an industrial foundation at all and was unable to produce thin and flexible wires.
But this problem was solved by the Skinny anti-tank missile project.
Because of this demand, Yingjiang immediately mobilized their scientific researchers to further improve and develop anti-tank missile wires based on torpedo wires...
This project is being done in Yingjiang, and the Eighth Route Army does not have the necessary equipment.
It is said that Yingjiang immediately mobilized experts who researched the most advanced fighter aircraft and improved torpedoes to develop this kind of wire.
Yingjiang is indeed Yingjiang. It only took more than a month to develop qualified wires.
This kind of wire is also made of copper... Copper has good electrical conductivity and can accurately transmit signals even if it is as thin as a hair.
However, the texture of copper is relatively soft, and it can be easily torn if it is made thin.
Yingjiang came up with a way to cover the thin copper wire with a layer of nylon fiber to increase its toughness, and it was wrapped with precision instruments. The finished product is still as thin as a hair. If you don't look at it with a magnifying glass, you can't find that there is another layer on the outer layer.
layer stuff.
After the wires were made, they were immediately shipped to China by plane and delivered to Skinny.
Skinner installed wires on rockets for an experiment, and the effect was surprisingly good. The accuracy was much higher than before. The rockets could fly and rush to the target under the control of the shooter.
Although the target is still not hit, it is because the shooter is not skilled in the control... Wire-guided anti-tank missiles are like playing games. They use joysticks and buttons to control the flight of the rocket. It also takes a period of training for the shooter to master the "speed of control".
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Therefore, Skinner happily sent a telegram to China: "I think we have found the key. He (referring to Wang Xuexin) did not lie to us. It is indeed feasible! I think x1 operates in this way!"
Skinner's idea is normal. He believes that anti-tank missiles can use this method, and of course x1 can also be used.
The problem is...
Skinny failed to consider one thing: the launch environment of anti-tank missiles is relatively stable, with a range of several hundred meters and shooter control, which makes it relatively easy.
The environment where x1 is located is different. It was launched by a fighter plane, and there are strong airflows everywhere. If there is no control system to stabilize the projectile, x1 may be blown around and turned around before the shooter can control it.
No more regular exercise.
Skinner's achievement, specifically a wire, was naturally transplanted to x1 by Wang Xuexin.