Chapter 480: Production

Often, people have misconceptions about production man-hours. It is a common belief that a product that takes more man-hours to produce must be complex and unreliable. In fact, this is a misunderstanding, because sometimes production time does not directly reflect the true technological content of a product.

For example, if it takes five workers in Nationalist China a week to produce a 75mm cannon, while the same five German workers only need three days, you cannot say that the Chinese cannon is more complex than the German one, nor can you say that the German cannon is more cost-effective.

If German engineers and skilled workers were to produce the T-34 tank, would it improve production efficiency? The answer is not what everyone imagines: a skilled worker who can process one precision part in one hour will not be able to process three crude parts in one hour. Their speed would only increase to 1.5, or even less—at most, it could not exceed 2. So even if Germany were to switch from producing the Tiger tank to the Soviet T-34, Germany’s tank numbers would still not be able to catch up with the Soviet Union’s.

So, would Germany be willing to trade 2,000 Tiger tanks for 4,000 or even 5,000 Soviet T-34s? I believe that as long as you are not insane, you would not be willing to make that trade. After all, the combat records are there. The German panzer forces, relying on their qualitative advantage, proved that 2,000 Tiger tanks were indeed a better fit for Germany’s national conditions than 4,000 crudely made T-34s.

To put it simply, for Germany to abandon its technological advantage in aiming systems and reduce the performance of its weapons to meet faster production speeds would be a suicidal act. For Germany, with its large number of elite troops, to fight a war of attrition with the Soviets using inferior weapons would only lead to a faster demise.

Therefore, simply copying Soviet weapon production is a very wrong choice. Akado knew that the correct direction for German weapon production was to choose a balanced path between the precision-seeking Germans and the crude but robust Soviets. What he needed to do was to slightly compromise on weapon performance while doing everything possible to expand production.

Thus, under these circumstances, Akado liked neither Germany’s doomsday weapons nor the Soviet equipment, which had no technological advantage. He preferred a balanced development of weapons and equipment, to let the German soldiers use the weapon system that was most suitable for them.

This was the main reason why he was in no hurry to equip the German Air Force with jet aircraft. Akado knew that to hastily throw jet aircraft into the war now would only harm Germany’s elite pilots with a product of uncertain quality, and it would only stimulate the United States to develop its own new war weapons.

So Akado was holding back many immature weapon development projects. The Third Reich’s weapon development, thanks to the existence of Führer Akado, had not stopped its pace; in fact, it was advancing even faster than in the original timeline. The V2 rocket was actually quite well-developed, but Akado still had not put it into combat, because this weapon was too expensive and too wasteful of resources.

Shelved along with the V2 rocket was the jet fighter project codenamed ME-X, which was the development project for what would later be known as the Me-262 fighter. Akado stubbornly insisted that all jet aircraft development projects must ensure the reliability of the engines. As a result, many super weapons that were already on the drawing board did not appear in the German army’s equipment sequence. On the contrary, some “mediocre” weapons, which were not outstanding in performance but were more reliable, were highly favored by the Führer.

For example, the Stuka Type 2 attack aircraft, which the German army equipped to replace the Stuka. The performance of this aircraft was not particularly outstanding. On the contrary, its only advantage was that it was cheaper and easier to produce than the Stuka. So the Führer ordered the expansion of the Stuka Type 2’s production line and the simultaneous development of a naval version of this aircraft.

Another example came from transport aircraft. The Ju-52 was a very old design, and its performance was not particularly outstanding. However, after modifications, this aircraft maintained its characteristics of being sturdy, durable, simple in structure, and easy to fly. Moreover, it was very fuel-efficient. So the German army had been continuously producing this model, while the more advanced Me-109A fighter had long been out of production.

The most miserable was probably the Krupp company. This world-famous leader of the German artillery industry was renowned for its skill in developing large-caliber cannons. But now, the number of development projects proposed by this company that had been rejected by the Führer was countless. The plans for the 800mm Gustav railway gun had been sold to the Soviets by the Führer through a spy, and the production plan for a 370mm railway gun had also been halted for being a waste of resources.

But in contrast to this was another miracle of weapon production: from the start of the war in 1937 to the present, the total number of cannons of all calibers produced by all the companies under Krupp had reached a staggering 127,940. Almost 350 “Krupp” cannons were delivered to the German army every day. Most of these were howitzers ranging from 20mm to 150mm in caliber, and also included many special-purpose cannons.

For example, the 105mm anti-aircraft gun, the 88mm tank and anti-aircraft gun, the 75mm tank gun, the 150mm and 88mm naval guns, the 20mm autocannon and anti-aircraft gun, the 30mm autocannon, and the 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun. If one were to do a simple calculation, assuming that Krupp himself only earned 100 marks for each cannon, then he had made a profit of over ten million in the past year.

The production lines for Germany’s G43 rifle and MP-44 assault rifle had already been transferred to Belgium and the Netherlands. At the same time, parts for the Panther tank, such as its wheels and tracks, had begun to be produced in France and Norway. Germany, under the efforts of Speer, was rapidly completing the allocation of its industrial zones. From the second day of the Soviet invasion, Germany had declared a state of war mobilization, and the capitalists had enthusiastically thrown themselves into the win-win tide of making money and resisting the Red Soviet invasion.

The assembly lines for the Fw-190D fighter were already being converted to produce the latest Ta-152 fighter. Although this had led to a slight decrease in output, the feedback from the frontline fighter units was astonishing. The performance of German fighters once again surpassed that of its main rivals, maintaining the technological advantage of the world’s number one air force.

This fighter, known as the “long-nosed 190,” had achieved a 17-0 victory the moment it appeared on the Eastern Front. The Soviet Red Air Force fighter units, which had just mustered the courage to sortie again, had their confidence completely destroyed by this new monster. If the Fw-190D had left a terrible shadow in their hearts, then this new, slender, Fw-190-like fighter had brought the Soviets a crushing despair.

“Its high-altitude speed of over 700 kilometers per hour is faster than the Fw-190D,” a few of the Soviet pilots who had luckily returned alive described this never-before-seen German fighter as if describing a devil. “It suddenly accelerated, and I lost my target. Then my wingman started screaming in panic. I was so scared I climbed into the clouds, and when I looked back, my wingman had been blown to pieces.”

“Yes! There were only two of them! If they had had four such planes, none of us would have come back alive,” another Soviet pilot said, shaking his head. “No plane is a match for them. No matter what maneuver I did, it could follow me and close the distance. I could tell they were toying with us, like a hawk toying with a sparrow.”

“No. If you want me to die, you might as well just shoot me now. At least you’ll save a plane. Fighting the Fw-190D, I still had a hope of coming back alive. Fighting that kind of devil is a one-way ticket to death!” This was the unanimous attitude of the few Soviet pilots who had seen the new German aircraft.

Under Akado’s control, every new weapon the German weapon development department produced was enough to be hailed as a myth by the enemy. Such an efficient and rational military-industrial R&D team was terrifying to all. Every weapon that was issued to the troops was immediately loved by the soldiers. These cold war machines became the most reliable partners of the German army, and these weapons, due to their excellent performance and stable behavior, won everyone’s trust.

In contrast to Germany’s mature weapon development philosophy, the Soviet Union’s weapon equipment at this time was heading down a road of no return. The KV-2 tank was regarded by the commanders as their last resort. This weapon, which was almost no different from a fixed pillbox, was issued in large numbers to the front-line troops, but the loss rate of these units remained high.

More than half of the KV-2 tanks were abandoned on the battlefield due to their own mechanical failures. Although this tank theoretically had the ability to destroy all of Germany’s tanks, its actual combat record was pitifully small. According to the German frontline troops’ own statistics, in the fierce fighting with the Soviet armored forces on April 12th and 13th, the number of tanks destroyed by the KV-2 was not even as high as the number destroyed by the KV-1.

Records show that in four days, the Germans lost 7 tanks and 3 armored cars to the KV-2. But the number of KV-2s abandoned by the Soviets on the roads or destroyed by the German air force was as high as 54, and the number destroyed by German tanks was a full 30. This loss ratio was somewhat embarrassing. If compared, this loss rate was much lower than that of the KV-1.

However, as the one-man show of the Soviet government, they had an unparalleled advantage: their speed of transformation was unimaginably fast. In early May, Stalin made a correct decision and ordered the production of the KV-2 to be halted. The Soviet military-industrial enterprises immediately abandoned this seemingly powerful but almost useless “scrap metal.”

Of course, this was all in the future… For now, it was still mid-April. The Battle of Kiev, fought by the Germans and the Soviets over Ukraine, had just begun. To compete for the important Ukrainian plains, the German army and the Soviet Union had simultaneously turned their attention to the Ukrainian capital of Kiev and its surrounding areas.

Published: 2025-08-28T05:17:16.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2025-11-24T14:23:37.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c480-137526924

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