The decisive battle against the Third Reich

With a "boom", the rocket fell to the ground and exploded halfway.

Conrad looked at Qin Chuan and then at Manstein awkwardly, and said: "Sorry, Marshal, this is a human error! If the control is not skillful and the missile body is pressed too low... this will happen Condition!"

"Uh-huh!" Manstein nodded: "I saw it, try again!"

In fact, although it failed to hit the target this time, it was already half successful, because Marshal Manstein had seen with his own eyes the rocket adjusting its trajectory in the hands of the operator.

Conrad went up and gave the controller a kick, and shouted unceremoniously: "Go away, you idiot, go and call Biedermann!"

"Yes, Colonel!" The operator didn't dare to reply. He got up and went to find someone.

Conrad walked back to Qin Chuan and whispered: "The control department was designed by Biederman, and he is very good at it. This once again proves that he is worth saving, right?"

Qin Chuan just smiled, but he didn't expect Conrad to still remember this.

After a while Biedermann came up. Perhaps because of Manstein's presence, he looked a little nervous.

Manstein also felt this, and he comforted: "Don't worry, Second Lieutenant... I won't kick your ass like the colonel!"

Several people couldn't help but laugh, and Biedermann was no exception.

So this ME63 lived up to expectations. With a "chirp" sound, it flew towards the target under Biedermann's obviously much more flexible control, and then with a "boom" sound, it hit the steel plate on the opposite side that had the cross-section shape of the tank.

Manstein and Qin Chuan jumped into the jeep, drove quickly to the steel plate and stopped. Amidst the smell of gunpowder smoke, they saw several charred irregularities on the back of the 100MM thick steel plate. The hole was perforated, and there were still a few wisps of smoke faintly coming out of the hole.

"Very good, Colonel!" Manstein was very satisfied with this experiment: "So, you must train a group of qualified operators as soon as possible. Of course, we must immediately put this..."

"ME63, Marshal!"

"Yes, ME63!" Manstein said: "We are going to mass-produce it immediately!"

"Wait a minute, Your Excellency Marshal!" Conrad said: "It still has some flaws that have not been resolved!"

"Like what?" Manstein asked.

"For example..." Conrad thought for a while and replied: "Although its range is two thousand meters, it is actually difficult to hit the target at a distance of two thousand meters because its size is not large enough. It is difficult for the operator to observe it even with a telescope at such a distance!”

Manstein and Qin Chuan understood this. They could control it, but if they couldn't see the rocket, they couldn't judge how far it deviated from the target or in which direction, so they couldn't Conduct exploration.

"We don't need a range of two thousand meters!" Manstein replied: "As long as one thousand meters is enough!"

"I don't think this is enough, Your Majesty Marshal!" Conrad replied: "Because there are a lot of interferences on the battlefield, such as dust, smoke, smoke bombs, etc., which will prevent the operator from accurately controlling the warhead to hit the target!"

Conrad is right, tank targets are larger and easier to see, but rockets are another story, not to mention that the tail of the rocket itself will produce a lot of smoke that affects the line of sight.

"Then solve it..." Manstein said: "Or produce one part first, and then produce the other part after the problem is solved!"

"But..." Conrad spread his hands, indicating that he had no solution.

After thinking about it, Qin Chuan said: "Colonel, why don't we install a tracer tube on the tail of ME63?"

"Tracer tube?" Conrad looked at Qin Chuan doubtfully.

"Yes, it's a tracer tube!" Qin Chuan said: "Just like a tracer bullet, we can clearly see this bright spot even in smoke, dust or darkness!"

"Oh, yes!" Conrad couldn't help but widen his eyes after hearing this: "Then we will know the location of the rocket, and then we can control it normally... You are simply a genius, Lieutenant Colonel! This is another Simple and practical solution! ”

Qin Chuan is of course not a genius, but early wire-guided anti-tank missiles did this, installing a tracer tube at the tail to produce a bright spot for observation and aiming.

Then Conrad said to Manstein: "Your Excellency, Marshal, I think it is ready for mass production!"

"Very good!" Manstein nodded.

After thinking about it, Manstein invited Qin Chuan aside and asked, "Lieutenant Colonel, you originally planned to go back in a few days, right?"

"Yes, Your Majesty Marshal!" Qin Chuan replied: "There are still many areas that need to be improved in the Maginot Plan!"

"I think you should turn your attention here for now, Lieutenant Colonel!" Manstein said.

"Have the Soviets taken action?" Qin Chuan asked.

Manstein nodded: "Or do you think...why am I so anxious to let the colonel produce ME63?"

"But..." Qin Chuan couldn't help but wonder: "We destroyed their roads and railways, and it's still winter. The Soviets shouldn't attack so soon!"

"You are right!" Manstein replied: "They have only completed one-third of the road construction, and it is decreasing exponentially as the temperature drops!"

"Then, how do they attack?" Qin Chuan expressed confusion.

"It's not about attacking us!" Manstein handed Qin Chuan a cigarette: "It's about attacking Army Group Center!"

Qinchuan couldn't help but say "Oh"... The main force of the German army was concentrated in Army Group South. Most of the new soldiers and equipment were added to Army Group South to prepare for another attack on the Soviet Union next year.

However, Army Group Center has never been able to recover due to the disastrous defeat in the defense of Moscow. At the same time, Soviet traffic in the direction of Army Group Center has not been destroyed, so the Soviet army has the conditions to launch an attack from the center.

"We did not retreat to our original defense line!" Manstein continued: "We deployed our defense along the Don River, and the Don River extends from west to east, so our defense line is not a straight line. A sunken area is formed. Originally, this would not be a problem, because the sunken area is beneficial to us. If the Soviet Union attacks this sunken area... it will be surrounded by Army Group South at any time. But..."

"The roads and railways we destroyed?!" Qin Chuan seemed to understand something.

"Yes, we destroyed roads and railways!" Manstein replied: "Coupled with the heavy snow cover, it is almost impossible to march in areas that the Soviets have not repaired. The Soviets think this is an opportunity to attack our weak points. Therefore, they gathered a large number of troops in the Kursk region!”

"Kursk!" Qin Chuan was shocked when he heard this place name.