. "Can they really travel for 6 hours at 40 km/h? I mean under highway conditions!"

On the train heading north, Maxim, a democratic Russian armored technician, asked his German colleague in surprise, Lieutenant Colonel Konipkamp, ​​a technical officer of the German Special Advisory Group. Although it was only 4 hours before their first meeting, the two had found many common topics in their professional life, but nationality and national interests became the gap that hindered the further development of their relationship.

"Well, you will see this soon, so there is no need for me to hide it from it!"

Konipkamp took out a silver cigarette box from his top pocket, skillfully opened it with one hand, and it was filled with a box of dark brown cigars. Near the tail of the cigar, there was a golden partition with German words on it, and the most eye-catching one was an eagle spreading its wings and flying. Here is the famous Eagle brand cigarette.

In the mid-1910s, "Eagle" was just a pure German brand, but with the continuous battle between the German tanks, German soldiers equipped with this cigarette traveled across five continents and four oceans. By the mid-to-late 20s, Eagle brand cigarettes had "German characteristics" like the German army's unique large-eared steel helmets, gray uniforms and large leather boots, and left a very deep impression on the people of all countries. In addition, their continuous improvement in quality and taste, middle and upper-class people in many countries were proud of enjoying high-end Eagle brand cigarettes.

"Thank you!" Facing the cigarette box handed over by Konipkamp, ​​Maxim happily took out a small cigar from it. For those of them who are designing, especially military vehicles, coffee, cigarettes are as indispensable as food, and some people have even reached the level of "no smoking without inspiration". Because the economic and financial situation of democratic Russia is not good, Maxim's design institute and most research institutions in democratic Russia are facing a certain degree of funding shortage, and what they provide to researchers are also some low-grade consumer goods. It is a good place to smoke cigarettes with their own brands, and sometimes they can only make cigarette rolls with shredded tobacco leaves and tobacco paper. No wonder some people say that democratic Russia and the Soviet Union also receive considerable loans and aid from foreign countries every year, but once such loans and aid are suddenly suspended, the economics of democratic Russia will face collapse, unlike the Soviet Union, which can at least ensure the most basic self-sufficiency.

"Its engine machinery is quite huge. It has led to the increase in the volume of the entire tank year-on-year. Can I understand this way?" In the curling white smoke, Maxim used a pencil to simply sketch the paper, and expressed his meaning intuitively in just a few strokes.

Konipkamp smoked his cigarette with a calm expression, and after a while he said vaguely: "This is a reason under normal thinking, just like different numbers and models of boilers correspond to different levels of warships!"

Maxim stared at the sketch he drew for a long time, "Simply increasing the engine volume will only cause trouble to the transmission device. Next is the load-bearing capacity of each component and the maneuverability of the entire vehicle. The combat weight of 50 tons..."

Konipkamp quietly watched his Russian counterparts perform the same deduction, but it was still the same old problem. The countries they served were different, and the interests of the country made them unable to conduct more in-depth academic exchanges. In this case, the crystallization of the group wisdom of German armored experts was obviously something that Maxim could not obtain with temporary reasoning hydrochloric acid.

Half an hour later, Maxim still put down the pencil in his hand helplessly. He turned his head and asked Konipkamp, ​​who was enjoying the scenery outside the car window, "By the way, Lieutenant Colonel, what name did you give this kind of tank?"

"tiger! Tiger!" Konipukamp turned around. "We call it t-1 in the technical information!"

※※※※※※※※※

Three weeks later, located on the edge of a wooded area in the northern outskirts of Samara.

"Lieutenant Colonel, I suggest that you and your expert team should retreat to a more rear place, which is not comparable to the weapons test site. If you miss something, it will be difficult for me to go to my superiors..." He was wearing a standard democratic Russian military uniform and was talking about a middle-aged officer with a clear German accent. He was burly and had a slightly anxious expression, but his eyes were very firm.

Konipkamp, ​​who had been dressed in Russian military uniform, looked relaxed, "It's okay, it's not the first time we've been on the battlefield, Major! We will protect ourselves, and your soldiers and equipment are your concerns! If the situation worsens, I don't care about anything else, you must ensure the safety of the 1 of the Raiders. Never let them fall into the hands of the Soviets!"

"Since that's the case..." The major armored soldier thought for a moment, called an officer under his command, and ordered:

"Semur! Draw a platoon from your troops to strengthen the security of the advisory group. If any mistakes happen to the Lieutenant Colonel and his men, I will send you to the military court!"

"yes!"

The agile captain officer took the order without any ambiguity.

After a while, a team of fully armed German soldiers wearing Russian uniforms were ordered to come. Under their escort, Konipkamp and his party returned to the observation bunker built in advance in the woods. The defense of this civil structure was naturally not comparable to that of reinforced concrete fortifications, and there was no decoration inside. All the equipment was only a few sets of binocular periscopes and two radio stations. Fortunately, the cold winter had passed, so you don’t have to worry too much about keeping warm when staying here. Moreover, the fortification was very carefully repaired. As long as it was not directly hit by heavy pound shells, the thick soil layer supported by the thick wooden stakes could still ensure the safety of the experts’ lives.

"Doctor, are you sure you want to stay here? It is our duty to record battlefield data, and you have neither the obligation nor the need to take your life with us!"

Konipkamp said tactfully and seriously to one of the only three Russians in the group - Maxim, who insisted on seeing the operation of this new weapon with his own eyes. The other two Russians here were Maxim's assistants, and in addition, they were all technicians from Germany and German army officers.

"Don't worry! How many people like me die on the battlefield in ancient and modern times? It's a great honor for me, Maxim, to die! Besides, I am also a member of this special advisory group now, how can I escape privately?" Maxim acted like he would never leave anyway. Since witnessing the majesty of this new tank, he sent a report to the civil and Russian authorities, asking him to go to the 77th Infantry Division with the German advisory group. In addition to eating, sleeping and going to the toilet, he followed several major technical officials such as Konipkamp, ​​as if he could get the mystery of T-1 from them in this way.

Since General Heinau, Von and Eberstein, the heads of the advisory group, were only nominally in charge, the command of the site was controlled by Konipukamp and several other senior technical officers. Therefore, Konipukamp had a brief discussion with them before reluctantly agreeing to stay Maxim.

After all, he was a Russian technical official appointed by the Russian authorities to accompany the German Special Advisory Group throughout the journey, and the main purpose of T-1 being sent here is battlefield inspection rather than confidentiality.

The rumbling sound of cannons in the distance did not mean to approach here, but the sky became noisy early. Over Samara, dozens of fighter jets from both sides were chasing each other, and from time to time, several of them flew out of the main battlefield to the nearest woods. However, they did not focus on this remote area that was more than 50 kilometers away from the front line. Moreover, the personnel and equipment on the ground were hidden under white or blue-gray camouflage nets, and it was difficult to find as long as the enemy was not approaching.

From the scene, the Soviet side has a certain advantage in air power, but the civil and Russian side has no intention of retreating. In order to compete for air supremacy in the capital region of the civil and Russian capital, the fierce air battle has continued since the Soviet army attacked the Volga River defense line on April 3, and the victory and defeat are still difficult to distinguish, but both sides have lost no less than 100 aircraft here. It is worth mentioning that although the German government has continuously provided material and personnel assistance to both sides during the Russian Civil War, it rarely sent pilots, especially fighter pilots to participate in the war. Instead, it is sent instructor groups to help both sides train pilots. At sea, Germany also participated in the Russian Civil War in the same way. Only on land can volunteer troops such as the 77th Infantry Division of the Democratic Russia be organized to participate in the war.

As the defensive side, the number of planes lost by the civilian and Russian forces in combat is no less than that of the opponent, but the pilots who jumped quickly can return to the troops to continue to participate in the battle, while the Soviet Russian Air Force suffered some losses in this regard. In addition, the Germans continued to transport fighter jets to democratic Russia through Turkey, so that both sides could tie the game when the strength was not balanced.

Compared with the stalemate of the air battle situation, the war on the ground is obvious at a glance. After a winter of rest, the Soviet soldiers continued to be in their spirit of dying. This time, the Volga River failed to stop their advancement. As of three days ago, the Volga River defense line that democratic Russia worked hard to manage had been completely broken. As an important air base of the Volga defense system of the Civil and Russian Volga, the transportation hub and the northeast gate of the capital Orenburg, Samara, less than a hundred miles away from the Volga River, immediately became the next focus of the competition between the two sides. At this time, the 77th Infantry Division of the Civil and Russian Army also came to the city of Samara.
Chapter completed!