Chapter 295 Cannonball

The command center was silent for a moment, and everyone had a worried look on their faces.

This was especially true for Qin Chuan... The entire plan could be said to be designed by him. He originally thought that he could at least use the special terrain of Algeria to compete with the British. Although it could not be said to be foolproof, at least it would not be like the ending in history where the British army wiped out all of them and only Rommel and a few senior officials escaped.

But now, if we cannot compete with the British in air supremacy, then everything is in vain.

"Marshal!" Colonel Slaine said, "If you and Rommel ask the Führer for air force reinforcements together..."

Raeder smiled bitterly and replied, "That depends on General Rommel's ability!"

Raeder's words were a bit self-deprecating, but what he said was also true... Hitler had lost confidence in Raeder and his navy, so his request was useless.

After a pause, Raeder asked, "What do you think, Colonel?"

"What?"

"Is it possible for Rommel to ask the Fuehrer to send more fighter planes?"

Colonel Slaine thought about it and shook his head painfully: "In fact, General Rommel has always been asking for this!"

Colonel Slaine was telling the truth. Ever since Hitler transferred the 24th Air Wing in Sicily to the Eastern Front, the air supremacy in North Africa has always been in the hands of the British Army. Therefore, Rommel asked Hitler for more air power again and again, but there was no response.

Raeder spread his hands and said, "As far as I know... In addition to worrying about British planes, we also have to worry about American ones?"

"Yes!" Colonel Slain said, "The 10th Air Group of the United States has entered Port Said!"

"So!" Raeder smiled, "We are here to die, just like before, we are fighting a battle that is almost impossible to win!"

It must be said that Raeder's luck is a bit bad... Britain is an island country, so the first thing to develop is the navy and air force, while Germany focuses on developing the army. The overall strength of the navy is far inferior to that of the British navy. Of course, it is difficult for Raeder to make a breakthrough in naval warfare.

"It's time to adjourn, gentlemen!" Seeing that everyone bowed their heads and kept silent, Raeder taunted, "Now, we can only hope that the 'legendary sergeant' can teach us how to fight this battle, right?"

Raeder's naval staff laughed in cooperation, while Major General Oxter and Colonel Slain were embarrassed.

"Marshal!" Qin Chuan said, "I have an idea..."

"Oh, really?" Raeder said, "The 'legendary sergeant' lives up to his reputation. He came up with a solution so quickly!"

A staff officer said, "The 'legendary sergeant' wouldn't want to swim into the sea to help us with air defense!"

The staff officer's words naturally attracted laughter again.

Qin Chuan ignored their ridicule and said, "Why don't we modify the anti-aircraft guns of the warships to give them better air defense capabilities!"

"Lieutenant!" Raeder shook his head disdainfully, "Those are warships, with more than 70 of them. Do you think you can just replace those anti-aircraft guns or even the 130MM secondary guns?"

"No, sir!" Qin Chuan replied, "I'm not talking about replacing those anti-aircraft guns!"

"Then what are you talking about?" Raeder asked, "Besides that, what else can improve their air defense capabilities?"

"Shells, sir!" Qin Chuan said.

"Shells?" Raeder looked at Qin Chuan in confusion, as if he was looking at a madman.

Colonel Slaine and others had the same expression, because everyone knew that the shells were determined by the caliber of the artillery. If the artillery was not changed, that is, the problems of firing rate and elevation angle were not solved, then it would be useless to only make a fuss about the shells.

At this time, Raeder was too lazy to respond and directly made a gesture to send him away.

"Marshal!" Colonel Slain said, "Perhaps we should listen to what the lieutenant said, because as long as there is a possibility... it will become our way to survive, right?"

Raeder leaned back in his chair with an impatient expression and said, "Well, Lieutenant, since you have captured an entire fleet, I believe you are not stupid!"

"There are two types of shells used in our anti-aircraft guns now!" Qin Chuan said, "One is a percussion fuze, and the other is a delay fuze!"

This is what Qin Chuan heard during the battle. After all, anti-aircraft guns are commonly used by the army. Qin Chuan easily learned that anti-aircraft guns below 57MM caliber all use percussion fuze shells... This small-caliber anti-aircraft gun mainly relies on its high rate of fire. As mentioned before, the Bofors anti-aircraft gun can fire 80 shells per minute in actual combat. These shells will fire a dense barrage, destroying aerial targets like artillery coverage.

This type of shell has a disadvantage, that is, it will not explode if it does not hit the target, so the hit and destruction rate is extremely low.

For anti-aircraft guns with a caliber of 57MM or above, such as the German 88MM anti-aircraft guns, they generally use delayed fuses. The gunner will calculate how long it will take for the shell to encounter the enemy aircraft group based on the height and speed of the enemy aircraft group and the speed and slant range of the shells, and then set the explosion time for the shell fuse and launch it...

The advantage of this type of shell is that it will explode regardless of whether it hits the target or not, and the exploded shrapnel may destroy or injure nearby targets.

The disadvantage is that the firing process is too cumbersome. Even if the time can be accurately calculated, the artillery must manually adjust the fuse time with a wrench. By the time all this is done, the enemy aircraft group may have already flown away from the original airspace.

"Oh, great!" said Redl, "you taught us the types of cannonballs!"

The naval staff laughed again.

Qin Chuan could understand their psychology. The navy had always been inferior to the army. Now of course he would seize the opportunity to take revenge.

"What I mean is..." Qin Chuan said: "We can produce a shell that is completely different from these two modes, but its efficiency will be much better than these two shells!"

"Are you going to invent a new type of cannonball?" Reidel couldn't help but be startled when he heard this: "This seems to be what scientists do!"

"Your Excellency, Marshal!" Colonel Slain interjected: "The Lieutenant already has several amazing inventions, such as the mine-sweeping tank, and the 'Iron Fist' and 'Bazooka'!"

Leidel couldn't help but his eyes lit up when he heard this: "Are you talking about a 'bazooka' that can penetrate enemy tanks at a distance of 160 meters?"

Although Redl knew about the war situation in Africa, he did not have enough details about who invented the "bazooka".

"Yes, Your Majesty Marshal!" Colonel Slain said: "Colonel Conrad from the R&D Department has a high opinion of the lieutenant's innovative ability!"

Redel had obviously heard of Conrad, so he nodded and said, "Tell me, what kind of cannonball is this?"