Chapter 675: Technology Changes War
Unlike the Type XXI submarine from another timeline, Germany had this time directly evolved the bow section of its submarines to resemble the bow of a 1960s Chinese Type 033 conventional submarine, rather than adopting the still-sharp bow design of the Type XXI. This also led to the strange phenomenon, for the first time in the data of Germany’s newest submarines, of its surface speed being lower than its submerged speed, completely subverting the traditional submarine design philosophy of a “submersible boat.”
A similar improvement was made in the reduction of anti-aircraft weaponry. The number of Allied aircraft in the Atlantic was not large at present. To compromise for underwater quietness and submerged speed, this new type of submarine only retained a single 40mm anti-aircraft gun with a limited field of fire, which was also different from the Type XXI submarine of another timeline.
Another terrifying change was in the bow’s sonar system. Because Akado had a systematic reserve of weapon technology as early as 1925, Germany did not take any wrong turns in many of its weapon designs and had invested more manpower and resources in the correct direction for development and research. Coupled with Germany’s consistent lead in technology, this had created a large number of world-leading advanced electronic devices, of which radar and sonar were a part.
Thus, this new submarine with its relatively spacious interior was endowed with more advanced electronic equipment, becoming a true ancestor of the modern submarine. The bow sonar gave it the terrifying ability to launch torpedoes and attack directly from underwater. It was the first submarine in the world that could launch torpedoes at surface targets without the aid of a periscope for aiming.
In addition, it was also equipped with a small, retractable radar antenna that could search for enemy ships within a 25-kilometer radius on the surface and provide a warning for aircraft within a 75-kilometer radius. This achievement, combined with a maximum diving depth of 200 meters, made this submarine the safest underwater killer of its time, almost impossible to sink with current technology.
Of course, this was one part of Germany’s modern naval reorganization plan. In the future, the German Navy would have three main types of ships as its main force: one type would be anti-submarine and anti-aircraft missile destroyers and cruisers, whose main function would be escort; another would be the aircraft carrier, the core of the fleet; and the third would be the ocean-going submarine.
This direction of naval development, which had already been proven correct by facts, allowed the Germans to skip the battleship gap that their own development was too slow to catch up with, and directly pulled the world’s navies into the era of the carrier-centric fleet. It also transformed the originally weak German Navy into a first-class naval power, which in turn defeated the mighty Royal Navy of the British Empire.
Naval warfare today had become completely different. The era of the big-gun, big-ship navy, led by Great Britain, was gradually coming to an end, while the era of the carrier fleet, pioneered by emerging naval powers like Germany, Japan, and the United States, had quietly unveiled itself before the naval commanders of all nations.
With radar and carrier-based aircraft as its means of reconnaissance, the navy now possessed an all-weather, three-dimensional reconnaissance and detection capability. The powerful great guns of the old naval warfare model, constrained by their range, could no longer threaten a modern aircraft carrier fleet. Their world-destroying power had become useless due to the embarrassing situation of insufficient range. Germany’s crushing defeat of the British Home Fleet and the naval battles between the U.S. and Japan in the Pacific had already proven the increasingly important status of the carrier fleet in naval warfare. The battle formations of ships firing in line were gradually decreasing.
Of course, the madmen in the Tokyo Imperial General Headquarters, who clamored all day long to use the main guns of their battleships to blast open the gates of the American West Coast, were clearly not included in the scope of progress. After all, the scene of sending the enemy to the bottom of the sea with naval guns was simply too captivating, so it was perfectly understandable that some people clung to the idea of the supremacy of the big gun…
After all, not everyone was like Akado, able to clearly see the future direction of weapon development. Following old war experience was the best model for other world powers to choose. Every major power had its own experience and summary of war. Germany’s defeat in the First World War had prompted it to reflect on its own experience. The Treaty of Versailles had also set back German military-industrial technology for a period, making Germany’s technological development blind and lacking in experience. This gave Akado the opportunity to intervene and make changes. As for the victorious nations, they all held fast to their own experiences, believing their own direction was more correct.
The Manchu invasion of China provided them with corresponding war experience, the main part of which was that mounted archery was superior to firearms, and martial prowess was greater than technology. They believed this for two hundred years. So one should not laugh at the fact that Japan still believed in October of 1938 that battleships could defeat aircraft carriers. Because they had risen to power by relying on big-gun warships, and it had only been 30 years. Drawing on the experience of the big-gun, big-ship era was a completely natural thing to do.
Besides the change in naval combat models, the German Air Force had, in fact, always been at the forefront of the world. Germany’s original technological accumulation in aircraft engines was not advanced, and could even be said to be somewhat backward. Although a great deal of effort was made to compensate during the era when Akado was in charge of the Wehrmacht’s scientific research, it was only enough to barely keep from falling behind.
But as the German Air Force gained an advantage at the front and captured the engines of some aviation powers, Germany’s technological accumulation had in fact completely caught up with the world’s first-class aviation engine power, Great Britain. And in half a year, it had fully digested Britain’s Rolls-Royce engine technology.
As a result, German engines became more reliable, and their horsepower output became more powerful. The Ta-152 fighter had already reached a maximum flight speed of 750 kilometers per hour in its experimental state. This had in fact surpassed the flight speed of Britain’s newest secret weapon, the Meteor jet fighter, and its reliability was more than ten times that of its strongest opponent.
Who could have imagined that under the pressure of the German Air Force’s terrifying performance advantage, in less than two years (counting from the start of the Spanish Civil War), the flight speed of mainstream fighter aircraft in the world had increased from around 300 kilometers per hour to the current common 550 kilometers per hour? And the flight speed of German fighter jets had soared from a terrifying 550 kilometers per hour to over 700 kilometers per hour, the limit of piston-engine fighters?
In the bombing of Britain, the German Air Force had shown the world how a strategic air force, under the protection of air superiority, could easily destroy a country’s war potential. And the tactical air force that accompanied the German troops on the battlefield, sweeping away all resistance, had shown everyone the essence of battlefield support air power.
But the truly game-changing aircraft was still in the German laboratories. Once this new type of aircraft appeared in the sky, it was destined to be another earth-shaking change. At that time, humanity would enter a new aviation era, and in both speed and performance, a new chapter of history would be opened.
Of course, compared to the pursuit of faster, faster, and faster air force equipment, the changes in the army were even more exciting. At the same time as the commissioning ceremony for the navy’s first fuel cell submarine was being held, in the production workshop of the Krupp factory in Germany, the army’s newest weapon, the first King Tiger tank, was being carefully driven off the production line by technical workers.
This was not just the production of a single tank, a simple progress of a new type of tank entering service. The final completion of the King Tiger tank marked the beginning of the army’s equipment striding towards technological enhancement. At a time when German equipment could not pull away from its opponents in terms of armor thickness and gun power, it had achieved a technological leap forward, re-establishing its leading advantage in armored weapons.
Putting aside the innovations and improvements in the King Tiger’s armor and power system, the mere fact that it used advanced equipment almost unseen on the tanks of other countries at the time, including the prototypes of some advanced electronic equipment, was enough to prove that this tank was definitely a product that transcended its era. The infrared night fighting system and the gun stabilization system already showed the shadow of future main battle tanks. The German lead in armored vehicles remained unchallenged.
Coupled with the new helicopter, officially named after the Norse god “Odin,” Germany’s plan to create a combined air-land army combat style was also being steadily implemented. It would eventually bear fruit in the not-too-distant future, becoming a new combat model for the army. And this model would change the way armies fought in the future. The German armored forces would introduce new rules of war before their opponents could even adapt.
But speaking of the King Tiger, Germany’s progress in another direction was of even greater importance than the tank itself. This was the first mechanically controlled automated production line in human history, jointly launched by the famous helicopter manufacturer Frank Alston, the Krupp company, and the White Orchid Group. This production line reduced the man-hours consumed in the production of the King Tiger, improved the efficiency of the workers, and ultimately managed to compress the production cost of the King Tiger to a level even lower than that of the Tiger tank.
In the absence of computers, the degree of automation in this mechanically based automated production workshop was not as high as one might imagine. However, this could be said to be another leap forward for industrial civilization. It marked the beginning of Germany’s industrial production capacity entering the fast lane of improvement. The slight advantage the United States had in this area was now being caught up to, and even surpassed, by Germany.
So, in Akado’s view, the truly fatal improvement was the improvement of Germany’s industrial base, the improvement of the Third Reich’s energy environment, and the success of the integration of Europe’s industrial capacity! Although these developments and enhancements would not immediately affect the army fighting and bleeding on the front lines in the short term, one day, these things would become the cornerstone of the German army’s invincibility.
Published: 2025-09-17T08:53:03.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-02-18T19:22:09.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c675-changes-139090336
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