It's not even just a problem for the driver. The front of the Mao Xiong half-track car has no armor at all. A bullet can penetrate the engine at the front of the car and make it unable to start or even catch fire.
In addition, the rear cargo area is still wooden and has no protection for soldiers.
But this doesn’t seem surprising at all, because the furry bear uses it to transport supplies. The transport of supplies is at the rear, and of course there is no need to consider armor protection.
Wang Xuexin walked around the half-track car, and then replied casually: "We use it to fight, Comrade Alexei!"
Alexey's eyes immediately opened as big as bells, and then he said nervously: "No, no, they didn't tell me this. Listen to me, comrade battalion commander, I'm just a maintenance soldier, I don't have any
Combat experience, in addition, this kind of vehicle is not suitable for combat, it is simply a target in front of the enemy..."
"I know, Comrade Alexei!" Wang Xuexin interrupted him and asked: "Can you give me the data of this car?"
Alexei's head seemed to be stuck. He was stunned for a while before he realized what was happening. He said "Oh" before returning. A half-track car pulled out a dirty document from the cab and handed it to Wang Xue.
For newbies…
Wang Xuexin couldn't imagine that for such a serious matter as cross-border transactions, the data provided by Mao Xiong was actually found in a corner of the cab, and it was still incomplete.
Maybe, this is the style of the furry bear!
Wang Xuexin looked at it and saw that the payload was 2.5 tons, the highway speed was 40 kilometers/hour, the field or snow speed was 8 to 20 kilometers/hour, and the operating radius was 200 kilometers.
Wang Xuexin asked Alexey what the last piece of data meant, because he was a little curious about how a car could have a radius of action. Couldn't it be driven with gasoline?
Alexey took out the medium-sized wrench from his waist and raised it, saying: "That's the upper limit of its maintenance. It needs maintenance once every 200 kilometers to ensure continued use!"
Wang Xuexin said "Oh", it can drive 200 kilometers at a time, which can fully meet the combat needs of the Eighth Route Army.
Because the straight-line distance between Yuncheng and Wangxing and Wanxian airports is 100 kilometers, and the highway distance is nearly 200 kilometers. If the Japanese advance in to fight, it means that most of the driving distance of the Eighth Route Army's mechanized units is within 200 kilometers.
This is a coincidence, and it also shows that this half-track vehicle is very suitable for Yuncheng's defense.
Later, Wang Xuexin learned that the "maintenance" Alexey referred to referred to overhaul, and they simply ignored the fault that the car could run within two hundred kilometers with just a few clicks.
"The load capacity is 2.5 tons!" This is what Wang Xuexin values most.
Because this means that the car can be equipped with armor protection.
Wang Xuexin pointed at the half-track car while looking at it and said: "Lower the cab and remove the front and rear partitions..."
There is a reason why Wang Xuexin made this change.
Mao Xiong's car is simple and rough, the cab is just a rectangular parallelepiped with no lines at all, and most of Mao Xiong's people are tall and their horses are big, because the cab is usually a head taller than that of Chinese people.
This space is completely unnecessary for Chinese drivers, and it will also make the car body too high and easily spotted by enemies.
As for the partition between the cab and the rear cabin...this will only hinder the communication and collaboration of the soldiers during combat, and will also reduce the usable space.
Then Wang Xuexin said: "Then, add semi-enclosed steel plates around the car as protection, including the engine. Is that okay?"
This modification is indeed very simple and can be completed by just a few welders.
"In addition..." Wang Xuexin added: "Add steel plate protection to the windshield of the cab. It can be lowered to observe through the observation hole during combat, and it can be propped up at ordinary times. Can it be done?"
Alexey looked at Wang Xuexin with some surprise.
He has been doing maintenance for some years, and has been repairing various military equipment in the army, so he is very familiar with the uses of various modifications.
Although these modifications proposed by Wang Xuexin are inconspicuous and easy to do...but it is precisely the ease of doing them that is one of the highlights, because it simply changes a half-track car with no protection ability into a
An armored vehicle.
There are some truths in this that only Alexey can understand.
For example, why is it semi-enclosed armor instead of fully enclosed?
If you are a newbie, the first thing that comes to mind should be fully enclosed.
A fully enclosed armored vehicle can prevent bullets from the sides and attacks from the air. How exciting!
But can strikes from the air really be prevented? Is it necessary?
Aerial strikes were either direct hits from artillery shells or strafing from enemy aircraft.
No matter which type it is, the half-track armored vehicle is bound to die.
Therefore, there is not much difference between having and not having the armor on the head.
On the contrary, its negative impact is huge.
For example, whether it can bear the weight, and whether it will restrict soldiers from fighting...
This is especially the latter.
Fully enclosed armor means that soldiers can only disembark through the rear opening, which is very dangerous in battle. It is easy to be blocked by enemy firepower, and the troop deployment speed is not fast enough for civilians.
With semi-closed armor, soldiers can jump out of the vehicle from their position at any time and deploy it into combat status.
As the saying goes, "laymen watch the excitement, experts watch the door."
Alexey is an expert, and as soon as he heard Wang Xuexin's modification plan, he mentally agreed with it.
"Yes, Comrade Battalion Commander!" Alexei replied: "We should have changed this long ago!"
"What do you mean?" Wang Xuexin felt a little strange when he heard this: "Can't you change it?"
Alexey shrugged helplessly: "I'm just a second lieutenant, comrade battalion commander, how can they consider the ideas of people like us?"
So Wang Xuexin understood that the bureaucracy in the Mao Xiong army was very serious at this time, and the superiors did not care about the soldiers' opinions and needs at all. In other words, Mao Xiong's R&D personnel were more thinking about how to win the war than about how to win the war.
Protect soldiers.
Therefore, Wang Xuexin's approach of adding protection to cars will not be approved by Mao Xiong's superiors, and they may even think it is a sign of greed for life and fear of death.
They will say: If the weight of these protective armors is used to carry soldiers and supplies, do you know how much more can be loaded? These extra supplies are the basis for our army's victory! The soldiers on the front line are fighting bloody battles with the enemy.
But you are thinking about how to protect yourself!
Wang Xuexin looked at the helplessness in Alexei's eyes, patted him on the shoulder and said: "We are different, Comrade Alexei, you can show off your talents to your heart's content!"
Alexei opened his mouth to say something, but in the end nothing came out.
Perhaps, he is thinking whether it is worthwhile to "show talent" for China!