Chapter 910 Tank Test Site
The tank test site in East Africa is built in the Rukwa Lake Basin, which is located northwest of the city of Mbeya. On the one hand, it can make use of the industrial resources of the city of Mbeya, and on the other hand, the terrain and climate are suitable for tank experimental operations.
Lake Rukwa is also one of the largest lakes in East Africa, equivalent to half the size of Qinghai Lake, and is located between Lake Malawi and Lake Solon (Lake Tanganyika).
As a saltwater lake, the biggest difference between Rukwa Lake and Qinghai Lake is that Rukwa Lake is a seasonal lake and will even dry up completely during the dry season.
There are a large number of wild animals such as hippos and crocodiles living in Lake Rukwa. Unlike other places, the development and utilization rate here is extremely low. After all, the two characteristics of saltwater lake and seasonal lake mean that East Africa will not carry out large-scale development here for the time being. The local resources are the salt pond in the southern part of the lake. East Africa has set up a small salt refinery here.
Apart from this, there are basically no human settlements around Lake Rukwa. A small number of villages and towns are mainly distributed along the rivers that flow into Lake Rukwa, which provides a good weapons and equipment testing site for the East African Army.
After all, the population is sparse, which is not only conducive to confidentiality, but also not easily interfered with by external factors. As for those ignorant "animals", if they are injured or killed in weapons experiments, they deserve it.
In order to ensure the safety of the test site, there are special armed personnel guarding the vicinity of Lake Rukwa. In fact, they are guarding against the hippos in Lake Rukwa. Crocodiles will not easily come ashore.
Hippos are absolutely hated by humans and dogs in Africa. Their exhaust gas alone is unbearable.
At the beginning, in order to ensure the safety of water sources, East Africa "killed" a large number of hippos. After all, more than a thousand hippos could pollute the entire river.
As for why the hippos in Lake Rukwa escaped the disaster, it was entirely because there is no water source here. At the same time, Lake Rukwa is an inland lake with only inflow and no outflow, and the lake water cannot affect other areas.
So the hippos in Lake Rukwa were born in the right place. Just like the animals in the Serengeti, they have escaped the "sanction" of the state because of their range of activities.
The Serengeti grassland is a special case. After all, Ernst does not want the famous scene of "Wildebeest Crossing the River" in his previous documentary to disappear.
Lake Rukwa has temporarily escaped the clutches of East Africa entirely due to its harsh environment. In fact, as East Africa develops local salt resources in the future, it will still be affected to a certain extent. Of course, the current domestic demand for salt resources here is not large.
Because there are many saltwater lakes like Lake Rukwa in East Africa, the largest of which is Lake Turkana. Salt lakes are widely distributed in East Africa except in the Congo rainforest area, so they are a very common resource.
Not to mention other places, there are many salt lakes in the Plateau Province, and they are also close to the industrially developed coastal areas. The advantage of Lake Rukwa is that it is close to the city of Mbeya.
However, the climate of Mbeya is quite different from that of the Rukwa Lake Basin. As a basin of Lake Malawi, the rainfall in Mbeya City is very abundant, so it is not as severe as the Rukwa Lake Basin where people are killed by drought or flood.
"The tracked chassis of the tractor is more suitable for the terrain of the Rukwa Lake Basin than wheels. It can move freely in both the dry and rainy seasons. Of course, another important reason is that tires can hardly bear the bulky size of tanks, so tracks are more sturdy and reliable." Philip, an East African tank research expert, said to his colleagues.
Colleague Yarske said: "Wheeled armored vehicles also have their advantages, such as the obvious advantage in speed, but the requirements for road conditions are quite high. If it is a hardened road, it may be okay, but a flat road in a battlefield environment is an ideal state that is hard to come by. What's more, the infrastructure level of many countries is not even as good as that of my country, and the road conditions are very poor."
Although it is a late-developing country, East Africa, like the United States and Germany, was an infrastructure maniac in the 19th century. The United States' railways are unique in the world, while Germany has strong comprehensive capabilities, especially in terms of density, which is far superior to other countries.
As for East Africa, although it started late, it has been in a state of explosive growth in recent years. Roads, railways, canals, etc. have exploded across the board, and it is rapidly catching up with other countries in the world.
It is no exaggeration to say that the current infrastructure level of a single country in East Africa may be stronger than that of the entire African continent in the past. In another forty or fifty years, East Africa will be able to catch up with Europe and the United States.
In fact, in some areas, East Africa is already the world's number one in terms of scale. The most typical example is hardened road surfaces, also known as "modern roads." In order to pave the way for the automobile industry, East Africa's road construction, especially cement roads and asphalt roads, is the largest in the world.
After all, other countries cannot foresee the demand for roads after the future explosion of the automobile industry, and the importance of railways in land transportation in various countries still ranks first.
In the field of canal construction, the situation is even more exaggerated. Although Germany and Belgium are no less enthusiastic than East Africa in building domestic canals, East Africa's vast territory and inherent deficiencies in inland water transportation mean that the East African Grand Canal project alone exceeds the total of other countries' national canal plans.
Therefore, the infrastructure level of East Africa was absolutely first-class in the 19th century. This was also the result of being forced to do so. It was like a test paper. Other countries had a certain foundation, but East Africa started from scratch, so East Africa naturally had the greatest room for improvement.
Of course, with the development of East Africa, not to mention compared with Europe and the United States, at least compared with the Far East, South America and other regions, it has surpassed these relatively backward regions. As for European and American countries, there is still a certain gap, but as time goes by, one day it will be able to reach the same level.
"You are right. If the infrastructure level is improved, the maneuverability of military armored vehicles will be higher, but they will never be able to surpass tanks, unless the entire East Africa is a large cement yard. Even so, wheeled armored vehicles still have to solve many problems, including load-bearing capacity and stray bullets."
The current tire design of military armored vehicles does not exceed the limitations of the East African automotive industry, and the tires may be directly scrapped if they encounter sharp objects or stray bullets. Of course, how to solve this problem specifically is something that Philip's competitors should consider.
While Philip and Yarsk were talking, the East African "tank" had already started a new round of performances. It was an extremely bulky giant, covered in heavy steel, with a medium-caliber gun barrel extending from the top, moving through the mud at a snail's pace.
“Crack…”
Hearing the voice, Phillips and Yarsk's faces darkened, and the familiar scene once again emerged in their minds.
I saw that big guy lying directly in the mud, with black smoke billowing out from his butt, and he looked half-dead.
"Expert Philip, the engine exploded!" The tank driver said helplessly as he climbed out of the iron box of the tank.
Although Philip and Yarsko were accustomed to this result, they still couldn't help feeling uncomfortable every time they failed.
"Go get the toolbox, and let's take it apart and take a look this time. I don't believe that there will always be problems." Philip ordered.
This complex structure is very difficult to disassemble. It took several people half a day to complete it, and this is only the first step. After all, the problem lies in the engine, which means that there is no way to eliminate this fault today.
"Pull the engine back to the laboratory first." Philip could only say helplessly.
After working on it for a long time, Philip and Yarsk no longer looked like "civilized people". Their bodies were covered with oil and dirt, and their faces looked stained. The same was true for the others. They were working in the mud, so it was impossible for their faces to be spotless. This was the normal state of life on the test site.
The tank's engine was not small, so it took more than a dozen people more than ten minutes to lift this big guy onto the rear frame of the tractor.
(End of this chapter)
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