Placed in front of Morin was a report enough to make him go crazy.
And sitting opposite him was the Demag engineering team who had rushed overnight to Koblenz to meet him.
According to the head of this engineering team, if they didn’t want that half-track armored vehicle to become a mere showpiece only suitable for parades, they needed to solve four deadly problems: tires, suspension, power distribution, and materials.
First, the currently common methyl rubber tires wear out extremely easily under heavy loads, are prone to punctures, and become hard when cold and soft when hot. Their adaptability can be said to be extremely poor.
Moreover, the design of the half-track armored vehicle as a combat vehicle means the vehicle will enter the war zone, and the tires also face the risk of being hit by bullets, so bulletproof capabilities also need to be considered.
Second, the current transmission system has difficulty coordinating power distribution between wheels and tracks, and the reliability of the suspension system and road wheels is insufficient.
The suspension and road wheel structure of tracked tractors cannot meet the needs of half-track armored vehicles.
And the Demag engineering team, after “careful consideration,” gave the first version of the solution as the “interleaved road wheels” (Schachtellaufwerk) that gave the logistics of the Third Reich in another world nightmares.
This proposal was unsurprisingly directly rejected by Morin.
Are you crazy? Designing an armored vehicle with a combat weight of 5-6 tons requires interleaved road wheels?
Morin couldn’t understand how much these Saxon engineers valued the stability and comfort of the vehicle…
The last one was the lack of advanced materials such as high-performance alloy steel, leading to the vehicle being bulky and having poor performance.
Transforming an agricultural machine originally designed to pull wood into a war machine capable of carrying armor plates and a whole squad of soldiers cross-country, the strength of existing civilian steel was simply not enough.
If thickness was simply increased, the weight would soar, and the power system would collapse with it, falling into a vicious cycle.
“Sigh, headache…”
After ending the meeting with the Demag team, Morin, staying in his room, lay on the bed and sighed.
His biggest advantage as a transmigrator was knowing what “future technology” looked like and being able to point out a clear direction.
But to turn direction into reality, there were countless technical details and process difficulties in between.
He wasn’t omnipotent and couldn’t “invent” everything out of thin air.
Because Morin’s understanding of the composition of military tires only stayed at the concept of “styrene-butadiene rubber” (SBR), and he was completely unclear about deeper content, leading to the failure to unlock the technology in the [Technology] tab at this moment.
This was also why he couldn’t directly produce “Big Eight-Wheelers” (8×8 armored vehicles), because compared to tracked armored vehicles, mature wheeled armored vehicles actually required a higher level of technology.
“It seems, besides using cheats, I have to take another shortcut…”
Morin muttered to himself.
“Now I have to become a ‘pay-to-win whale’.”
Although it sounded a bit unpleasant, throwing money at the problem right now was actually fine.
When technological accumulation is insufficient, the simplest and crudest way is to smash it with money, pile up massive resources, and use trial and error.
Morin himself didn’t have the time or the professional knowledge to do R&D bit by bit, but he could spend money to hire the top talents, give them the best equipment, and let them advance along the R&D path he pointed out.
So soon Morin ran to find Cecilia, who was still in Koblenz.
“Sister Cecilia, I need to use your connections to recruit some people.”
Morin didn’t care about being lovey-dovey this time and went straight to the point: “Chemists, specifically researching rubber and materials science, the more top-notch the better… Money is not a problem. Tell them I have a concept about ‘styrene-butadiene.’ Whoever can figure it out, I will bury him in Imperial Marks.”
Leaving professional matters to professionals was the most suitable solution Morin could think of.
Given the direction and funds, he didn’t believe the smart people of this world couldn’t figure out a formula.
For the next week, Morin locked himself completely in the office of the Regimental Headquarters.
He asked the orderly to move in a drawing board and piles of drawing paper. Three meals a day were delivered to the door.
Except for necessary physiological needs, he hardly left this room for a step.
The daily training and management of the entire instruction regiment were temporarily handed over to Kleist, Manstein, and the others.
Everyone only knew that the Regimental Commander was conducting a “top-secret technical research,” but no one knew what the specific content was.
Inside the office, the curtains were drawn tight, leaving only a bright desk lamp.
Morin bent over the drawing board, holding a pencil in his hand, his spirit highly concentrated.
Before his eyes, it seemed no longer white blueprints, but the blurred entries “Radial Tire Technology” and “Run-Flat Tire” in the system’s [Technology] tab.
Unlike “styrene-butadiene rubber,” of which he only knew the name, Morin had a fairly deep understanding of the structure of modern military tires.
There were quite a few vehicles in the military academy before his transmigration. Morin had a unique interest in mechanical equipment since childhood, so he quickly became familiar with the school’s Equipment Department and Logistics Department.
In his rare leisure time, he would even run over to help repair Dongfeng Mengshi (Chinese Humvee) vehicles, so he had personally disassembled and assembled vehicle tires several times.
For this reason, the instructor even specially talked to him, afraid that he would delay his serious studies.
Morin remembered that the sidewalls of those tires were unusually thick and contained sturdy support structures inside.
He also remembered some principles about tires explained by the Master Sergeant of the Logistics Department. The cord arrangement of the radial tire body was completely different from traditional bias tires, providing better load-bearing capacity and wear resistance.
These memories allowed him to strive to construct the cross-sectional view of the tire in his mind: layers of cord fabric, sturdy belt layers, special bead structures…
And with the appearance of the sketch, the [Technology] tab also successfully completed identification and, like with the HEAT warhead, began “optimization” work, guiding Morin to complete the design.
The progress bar on the technology entry grew slowly with the clarity of the sketch under his pen and finally lit up successfully.
[Radial Tire Technology Unlocked: 100%]
[Military Run-Flat Tire Technology Unlocked: 100%]
As for the suspension system of the half-track armored vehicle, Morin referred to the suspension and road wheel designs of armored vehicles commonly used by the US military in World War II in another world.
Combining the characteristics of half-track vehicles, under the constant correction of the [Technology] tab, he managed to produce a set of balanced suspension devices.
[Balanced Suspension Device Unlocked: 100%]
After signing his name in the corner of the blueprint, Morin threw down the pencil and collapsed into the chair.
He felt that after using the “cheat” for technical optimization for several consecutive days, his brains were about to boil.
However, looking at the three fully unlocked technology entries on the [Technology] interface, Morin grinned, revealing a tired but satisfied smile.
These were not just a few blueprints; these were the cornerstones that would allow the future torrent of steel to run faster and farther.
Let alone the suspension structure of the tracked road wheels, just bringing out the technology related to military bulletproof tires could theoretically benefit all vehicles.
When Cecilia saw Morin again in the manor in Koblenz, she felt Morin looked as if he had just recovered from a serious illness.
Eye sockets deep, full of bloodshot eyes, chin covered with green stubble, face pale as a ghost.
“Oh my god, what have you been doing these days?”
Cecilia touched Morin’s face with heartache, but found his face full of smiles.
“It’s okay, i just stayed up a few nights, and a bit tired.”
Morin couldn’t help but hug Cecilia, who had a heartbroken look, smelling the fragrant scent on her neck.
“I solved part of the problems encountered by the Demag team before… Sister, arrange reliable people to apply for patents immediately, then hand over the technical details to Demag’s team, let them produce samples as fast as possible.”
Cecilia was silent for a moment, seemingly shocked by his efficiency.
“One week… you really drew a set of brand-new design blueprints within one week?” Cecilia’s voice was full of disbelief.
“Inspiration came, Icouldn’t stop it.”
Morin smiled weakly, making up an excuse. “Alright, no more talking, I’m going to sleep for a while… I feel like I’ll die suddenly if I don’t sleep.”
After saying goodbye to Cecilia, he almost crawled back to the room where he had “fought” before, fell headlong onto the bed, and lost consciousness.
While he slept, two radiant crystal sedans sped out of the manor, carrying the few blueprints drawn by Morin, and drove towards the Koblenz train station.
Those confidants personally arranged by Cecilia would send these things to the Imperial Patent Office in the capital and the headquarters of Demag as quickly as possible.
Sleeping for nearly fourteen hours, Morin woke up from his stupor.
He opened his eyes and looked at the ceiling. His brain crashed for several minutes before slowly recovering.
His body felt heavy as if filled with lead, but the feeling that his brain was about to burn up finally receded.
Struggling to sit up, Morin picked up the warm water at the head of the bed, which seemed to have just been changed, and drank it all, feeling alive again.
The clothes on his body had been changed into comfortable pajamas at some point, but otherwise, no one seemed to have disturbed him.
Upon discovering Morin had woken up, the maids in the manor also brought warm food.
Morin gobbled it down, feeling his physical strength recover a bit.
The problems of tires, suspension, and road wheel structure were solved. Next were the other hard bones—power distribution system, better shock absorption technology, and high-performance steel.
These things couldn’t be settled by drawing a few blueprints.
Behind them were a huge materials science system and precision processing technology, the crystallization of generations of technological accumulation.
Morin knew very well that currently, the most convenient place to communicate with, and possessing “beyond the times” technical reserves in these fields, was probably the Teutonic Knights.
Those six-meter-high Armored Knights could perform various unbelievable maneuvers on the battlefield, relying on that incredibly tough “muscles and bones.”
Their power distribution system could precisely transport the energy of the Radiant Crystal Internal Combustion Engine to various parts;
And those hydraulic shock absorption structures could withstand the huge impact force when landing;
Finally, the load-bearing skeleton and structural frame absolutely used the Empire’s current top alloy materials—this could also be seen from the Armored Airships flying in the sky.
“It seems I have to go to that ‘Golden Lion’ Grand Master to ask for help.” Morin muttered to himself.