ustav had never come into contact with this kind of thing, after listening to Perfectz's description, he immediately realized that this thing would be the development direction of future artillery!
"General, do you only need this model? Do you want to develop some more artillery with different calibers and different caliber ratios?"
The assault gun that Mainz gave to Gustav was actually the StuG III of the Third Reich in history.
The caliber of this assault gun is only 75 mm. For the army's artillery, a caliber of 75 mm can only be regarded as light artillery.
Although light artillery has a faster firing speed and is lighter in weight, it can be deployed quickly and flexibly, but the power of this artillery is a bit small after all. If it faces slightly stronger fortifications and bunkers, this artillery will be powerless!
"The future development direction of artillery will definitely be towards automation, and the army will also move towards mechanization and rapid strikes, so assault artillery mainly emphasizes speed. It is lighter than a tank, and its protection can be slightly sacrificed, and its firepower can also be sacrificed, but its speed must be fast, at least not less than 45 kilometers per hour!"
Mainz did not immediately agree to Gustav's suggestion, but of course he did not deny it.
In fact, he was actually a little hesitant.
If his country was not German, but the Russians or the Eagles, or even the British Empire, then Mainz would not have such concerns, because these countries are not short of oil. The Eagles have several large oil fields, and the highest annual oil production can reach more than 200 million tons, which is not oily at all. If it were not for the Eagles themselves having so many large oil fields, the Eagles would not have become the first country in the world to lead the car culture!
In the Eagles, the price of gasoline is more than half cheaper than in other European countries. It is precisely because of the low price of gasoline and the large land area of the Eagles that they need to use means of transportation such as cars when traveling, so the car culture of the Eagles is so developed, and the sales of cars are the best in the world!
The Russians have the Caucasus oil-producing area. Although their oil fields are not as many as those in the Eagles, and their output is not as high as that in the Eagles. However, the Russians do not have as many cars as the Eagles. The major fuel consumers are mainly factories and the army. 30-40 million tons of production is enough for them!
The oil production of the British Empire is only one-tenth of that of the United States and half of that of the United States, but their oil production has reached 20 million tons a year. The oil fields in the North Sea have always been important oil fields for the British Empire and even the entire Western Europe, so for the British Empire, they also have no oil problems!
However, this situation is completely different for Germans. Germany has no oil fields at all and no overseas colonies, so their fuel crisis is very obvious.
It is easier to say in peacetime, because oil can be imported, but once it comes to wartime, oil will be easily cut off. At that time, once there is no oil, the trucks, armored vehicles, tanks and assault guns on the front line, which are big oil users, will probably break down!
It is precisely because of this huge oil crisis that Mainz dare not produce too many tanks, armored vehicles and assault guns at once. These things are very powerful when they have oil, but they become paper tigers when they have no oil. They can't be used at all. They are not as good as towed artillery, at least the latter does not need to burn oil!
"Then, we will only produce this one?"
Gustav didn't know Mainz's concerns, but he heard the hesitation in the admiral's tone, so he said with a little regret.
"In this way, based on the existing set of drawings, the 5mm assault gun will be produced first. This gun will be classified as the Type 3 assault gun. In addition, I will ask the Ministry of Finance to allocate 10 million marks to you. You can try to study and install the 88mm gun and the 100mm gun. Of course, if conditions permit, you can try to modify the 120-meter howitzer.
Although it is not certain whether these equipment will be mass-produced in the future, the research and development of these equipment can be carried out in advance. Even if they are not produced in the end, they can be retained as technical reserves. If they are needed in the future, the production line can be quickly opened and production can begin immediately!
"Yes, General, you will not be disappointed!"
Gustav was so excited that he could hardly hide the smile in his eyes.
As the helmsman of the Krupp factory, the military can be said to be the breadwinner of Krupp, so orders from the military are simply the existence that maintains their fate for Krupp!
What's more, it's such an order!
If what General Mainz said is correct, then this kind of assault artillery will become the main development direction of the German army in the future, and future orders may reach tens of thousands! Tens of thousands of self-propelled artillery, how big is the profit margin here, just thinking about it is exciting!
As the other party's brother-in-law, Mainz can also understand Gustav's joy.
However, his identity is not just Elizabeth's husband, Gustav's brother-in-law, he is also German's commander-in-chief of the three armed forces, so Gustav is happy, but the military may not be happy. Using the least money in exchange for the most equipment has always been the pursuit of the army. After all, the annual military expenditure is just a little bit. If the arms dealers make a lot of money, then the army's life will not be easy!
"Don't make the price too outrageous, otherwise the military might give Dingdang to groups such as Porsche, Rheinmetall and Mercedes-Benz!"
Mainz saw that the other party was a little too proud, so he knocked.
This sentence immediately made Gustav realize the crisis. He was indeed a little too happy just now. There are many military industrial enterprises in German. Krupp is not the only company that can manufacture weapons. If a large number of arms giants represented by Rheinmetall knew the existence of this kind of artillery, they would definitely sharpen their heads to get in!
After all, with such a big piece of cake, who doesn't want to have a piece of it?
"Well, we will pay attention to it and we will definitely lower the price to the lowest, making sure that other companies cannot compete with us!"
Seeing Gustav gritting his teeth and looking fierce, Mainz raised his eyebrows.
Although he wanted to tell the other party that there was no need to do so, he still didn't say it after all.
After all, Mainz's butt is still more on the side of the army, so he welcomes the possibility of lowering the purchase price of weapons to the maximum extent from the bottom of his heart, so it is naturally difficult for him to say something against his will!
As long as the Krupp factory does not cut corners on quality, they will find ways to lower the production price, which is what Mainz is happy to see.
Besides, Gustav said that he would sell it at the lowest price, and his lowest price would definitely not be a loss-making bargain price. There will definitely be profits, but they will not make that much.
Mainz also does not want the military factory to suffer losses because of the sale If the price is too low and they can't make money and end up going bankrupt, that's simply fishing in a dry pond!
After having dinner at Krupp's house, Mainz took Elizabeth to say goodbye to Beta and Gustav and headed to the next stop, Dusseldorf.
Dusseldorf is the headquarters of Rheinmetall. Rheinmetall was established not too long ago. It is an arms company established after the establishment of the Second Empire. In the early days, it mainly produced various artillery civilizations, including the first recoilless artillery and 150mm cannon. In addition, they also produced the 120mm secondary guns of naval battleships!
However, after 1922, the company began to transform towards heavy vehicles. In May, they produced the German army's first tank-Tank No. 1!