Not long after Edel led the ambassadors to visit Romanian tanks, the new tank developed by the trio had been developed. This time Edel finally did not miss the debut of the new tank, because he was in Constanta to inspect the work at the time.
Although it is said to be an inspection work, it actually involves some personal matters. Because he arranged two personal maids here, our King of Romania is extremely concerned about the development of Constanta and will come to inspect it from time to time. In fact, Su
Queen Femary also has certain doubts about this, but she can't control it. There are too many such situations in Europe now, and she has known a lot about it since she was a child (mainly her father Otto Franz)
Carefree), so I won’t interfere with this matter as much as possible.
So this time Edel caught up with the launch of the new tank, it was thanks to the work of two former maids. For this reason, he punished the two maids harshly last night, and as a result, Edel felt that his legs were a little weak when he went out today.
"Your Majesty, are you feeling unwell today?"
A guard looked at Edel's reaction and asked in a low voice.
"It's okay, let's go to Volkswagen."
Edel, who was almost spotted by the guard, told him.
At the entrance of the Volkswagen company, Edel saw Volkswagen executives greeting him.
Edel walked into the door of Volkswagen and said to his senior management, "Minopa stays, and everyone else can go about their work."
After watching other Volkswagen management leave, Edel said to General Manager Minoba who was following him. "Volkswagen's performance has not been good recently. You need to think more about solutions."
General Manager Minoba also knows what Edel said. As the most famous company in Romania, Volkswagen has not been doing well recently. Its output has dropped from an annual output of 100,000 cars before the outbreak of World War I to 50,000 now.
There are about 30,000 cars. Although the Ottomans closed the Black Sea Strait as the main reason, Volkswagen management also has a certain responsibility. Because Volkswagen's current best-selling products are still products from ten years ago, it is not an exaggeration to say that they are not enterprising.
"Your Majesty, we have not done a good job in the past few years."
Minoba, who knew the meaning of Edel's words, did not make excuses for himself, because he knew that his situation would be worse if he did so.
"So have you thought of a solution now?"
Faced with Edel's inquiry, Minoba stated his plan. "We have just established a passenger car project. We believe that the current T-type car has occupied the market for too long, and the T-type car has made many middle-class people
We cannot show the gap between ourselves and ordinary people, so we plan to design a model that the middle class can be satisfied with. Besides, the people also need to see new car types."
Hearing that Volkswagen's top executives were still trying to figure out how to deal with the current predicament, Edel said nothing more. After all, he was not a practitioner in the automobile industry, and he did not know the industry as thoroughly as these people, so he encouraged. "I hope you will be better after the war."
, give me a satisfactory result.”
"I will, Your Majesty."
After chatting with Minoba for a few words, Edel walked to the Volkswagen R&D department. The purpose this time was to see the new tanks, not to talk about the factory with the Volkswagen general manager. But if this
Minoba could not continue to lead the public out of the predicament after another battle, and Edel believed it was time to replace him.
When Edel arrived at the R&D Department, the trio and Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman were waiting for the arrival of His Majesty the King.
"I have met His Majesty."
Facing the salutes of Hoffman and the three designers, Edel stopped him. "You are so polite. Please take me to see the new tank."
"Your Majesty, please come this way."
After the group walked to a workshop of the research department, Herc stood up, pointed to a tall vehicle covered by canvas and said to Edel. "Your Majesty, this is the new tank we developed according to the requirements of the military. We call it
For jackals."
When Herc introduced Edel, several staff members opened the canvas, and Edel saw a tank that was completely different from the previous Explorer. Edelka thought that this tank was different from the Explorer.
Too many. Its body is much taller than the Explorer, and its turret is much shorter, which is more in line with his understanding of World War II tanks. However, the tall body and short turret look a bit funny. There are two more at its tail.
A thick exhaust pipe, but the specific situation needs to be explained by Herke, one of the designers.
Of course, Edel would not be kept waiting. When he opened the canvas, Herc told Edel about the data of this tank. "Your Majesty, we developed this Jackal tank according to the military's requirements for new tanks.
During this period, it was mainly due to the support of new technologies from the Ploiesti Machinery Plant that this tank could be made so perfect."
Herc praised the new tank so much that Edel was a little curious. However, Herc would not let Edel wait any longer. "Your Majesty, the body of our new Jackal tank is 13 centimeters taller than the Explorer.
The body is equipped with an independent cylindrical coil spring suspension system."
Herke pointed to the cylindrical steel structure and its winding springs exposed outside the tank body, and explained to Edel. "The installation of this independent suspension system has a great effect on the new tank. It helps the tank improve the tank crew.
Regarding the riding experience, the cost is that the vehicle body is raised by 38 centimeters. Moreover, this suspension system can reduce the failure rate of the tank while driving, for current tanks."
After talking about the suspension system, Herke talked about other differences. "At the same time, we put the diesel engine and driving wheel as the power behind. This change makes the thrust of the tank more powerful. However, its climbing ability is reduced. For this reason
We took the initiative to add a large auxiliary wheel at the front to solve this problem."
After showing off his professional knowledge, Herke talked about the main data of the tank. "The current Jackal tank is 5.80 meters long, 2.3 meters wide, and 3.38 meters high. The front slope armor of the body is 30 mm, and the side armor is 30 mm.
20mm and 15mm at the tail. The turret frontal armor is 35mm, the sides are 25mm and the tail is 15mm."
After talking about the armor defense of the tank, Herke talked about the configuration of the tank. "The Jackal tank is equipped with a 45mm short-barreled cannon on the front of the turret, and an accompanying machine gun next to the cannon, which can provide fire suppression and artillery shooting.
Guidance.”
Herke glanced at Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman and continued. "Based on the military usage and the British use on the battlefield, we have improved the machine gun configuration on the car body. Currently, a machine gun is installed in the front of the car body for the driver.
There is a machine gun on each side of the vehicle body. This allows four machine guns to be used. Due to the strengthening of the armor and the replacement of the artillery, the weight of our Jackal tank now reaches 19.5 tons, which has caused some decrease in its speed.
.”
Hearing that the speed of the Holk tank had been reduced, Edel couldn't help but ask, "How much has it been reduced?"
"Now the highway speed has been reduced to 25 kilometers, the speed on complex battlefield terrain has been reduced to 17 kilometers per hour, the climbing ability is 40 degrees, and the width of the trench is 2.1 meters. However, because of the use of many excellent technologies, the vehicle failure rate is higher than that of the Explorer
It’s 30-40% lower.”
After listening to Holker's detailed description, Edel realized that this tank had excellent capabilities and could be used by Romania until the 1920s. However, such an advanced tank was definitely not cheap, so he asked Holker.
"How much does this tank cost on a large scale?"
When Holker heard Edel's words, he couldn't help but asked curiously. "Your Majesty, can I ask how big it is?"
The other two people and Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman stretched their necks, waiting for His Majesty the King to reveal the answer.
"Three or four hundred cars, right?"
Edel gave an answer that satisfied everyone.
After hearing Edel's words, Holker made a rough estimate and said, "If this is the case, Your Majesty, then the cost of each vehicle will be 148,000 lei."
"So expensive."
The price exposed by Holker shocked Edel. Even the wealthy Edel couldn't help but jump at the price. This is not because the military cannot afford to purchase it, but because the cost of tank training is not cheaper than purchasing.
These two items together will cost over 100 million lei. Now the Romanian military's total funding is only a small amount, and it is all given to the armored forces. Do other troops need to be supported?
"Your Majesty, we have not included Volkswagen's profit in this price."
Faced with Edel's huge reaction, Holker had no way of explaining it. You get what you pay for. This tank that was ahead of its time certainly had a price that was ahead of its time.
Facing such a high-priced tank, Edel retreated inwardly, even though its performance was so superior.
"Let's do this. I'll ask the royal family to purchase 100 tanks. No, purchase 120 Jackal tanks at this price."
In a rare act of shamelessness, Edel didn't look at the three men who looked defeated at all. Next to him, Lieutenant Colonel Huffman was filled with joy because he knew it would still be him training the armored troops this time.
Edel also had his own considerations when asking the royal family to purchase. If he asked the military to purchase, it is estimated that General Puleshan would have to go to his office to cry for poverty. It is better to purchase these equipment in the name of the royal family. By then, Edel can completely control a piece of equipment.
The trump card of the army is also very beneficial to the Romanian royal family. It is important to know that after World War I, republics were on the rise in various countries. As a strong fortress of the European monarchy, Edel believed that he must be prepared.
Within a few days, Edel appointed Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman as the acting deputy commander of the newly established Royal Armored Brigade. The brigade commander was served by Guards Commander Carlust. However, the top military officials knew that this was just Edel's attempt to solve the problem.
Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman's low military rank was a cover-up. Who didn't know that Captain Carruther didn't know how to command military affairs, let alone command armored troops? He probably didn't even know how to drive a tank.
The military also fully supports His Majesty the King's direct recruitment of Lieutenant Colonel Hoffman to the royal forces. Because the funds for these troops need to be provided by the royal family, and their use is of course the responsibility of the military. How can they still ask these armored troops to go there?
Maintenance of law and order? Chief of General Staff General Pu Lieshan was the first to not believe it.
