Chapter 48 Malcador Heavy Tank
“Sir!”
Loken seemed to have made up his mind and suddenly raised his head.
“There’s something else I’d like you to take a look at.”
“Huh?”
Soshyan looked at him doubtfully, and finally nodded.
Loken then took him to the door of Warehouse No. 1. After taking a deep breath, the technical priest opened the door.
"This is..."
As the heavy metal door slowly opened, a row of lighting balls arrayed on the ceiling of the warehouse lit up one after another, allowing twelve roaring steel giants to The beast emerged from the darkness, and Soshyan seemed to have broken into the lair of a group of beasts and awakened them.
Each of these metal monsters is much larger than the Leman Russ heavy tank.
Soshyan walked into the warehouse and observed them carefully. These huge blue-gray bodies, 8 meters high and 5 meters wide, were covered with rivets and fixing bolts. The tracks alone were as wide as a person, and the prismatic turrets had enough A cannon as thick as a Space Marine's torso exuded a dark oily sheen under the light, like the fangs of a beast.
"...I have not seen such tanks."
"They are Makado heavy tanks, an almost forgotten ancient model, currently only the Ma'kande II They are still in production, and they are also the pride of my mentor."
Loken stepped forward and stroked the steel beast as gently as he was stroking his lover.
The Malcador Heavy Tank is an extremely old design, many believe it is even the predecessor of Leman Russ, but it has become less common in the Imperial Army since the Heresy, and is even rarely seen in the Imperial Army. Few people know that such a tank exists.
In many areas of the Empire, the Malcador heavy tank has been completely decommissioned since the end of the Heresy, leading to the perception that it is a heretical, indigenous armored vehicle of a certain region.
But during the Great Crusade, it was one of the common equipment of the mortal auxiliary army.
As time went by, a small number of Malcador heavy tanks still serving in the Empire were either withdrawn to strategic reserves or to the interior of the planet and various other "preparatory fronts", Others are simply worn as a tradition by certain Imperial Guards.
Even most forge worlds no longer produce new Malcador hulls or improved models. As for the exact origin and provenance of the Malcador heavy tank, it is difficult even for the Adeptus Mechanicus to find out.
Most people believe that this type of tank was named after the magic pattern Malcador - but as a personal advisor to the early emperor of the empire, he himself was an extremely secretive figure.
This reason, used by some theorists to accuse this tank design, most likely comes from the years immediately following the outbreak of the Horus Heresy.
Due to the urgent need for various combat supplies during that time - after all, too many things were lost in the war, including knowledge and production capabilities, and even the ancient Land Raiders became the property of the Astartes. dedicated.
So, even something like Malcador is very likely to be turned out and mass-produced for emergency use.
But like most things from turbulent times, they have become a mystery of sorts.
Although intended to serve as a main battle tank, the original Malcador was larger and heavier than the familiar Leman Russ.
The tank itself is extremely durable due to its huge shape and thick armor. It is equipped with a powerful main battle cannon on a turret with a limited shooting angle. The two secondary weapon points can be equipped with heavy feller guns, heavy explosive shells, laser cannons or Small automatic cannon.
However, due to its early age, the tank's design has certain limitations, especially when compared with the smaller Leman Russ.
The first point is the firing angle of the weapon. Due to the tank's huge body, heavy armor and additional weapons, the firing angle of all weapons is limited. The main and secondary turrets that cannot rotate at the same time are vulnerable when the front is penetrated. It appears extremely weak in the chaotic encounter, and the enemy infantry can also take advantage of these disadvantages.
Nevertheless, experienced commanders will also combine infantry with it.
However, the second flaw of the tank - the weakness of the engine - is not so easy to overcome. The main engine of the Makado heavy tank is an ancient combustion power engine, which is also a modification used in many industrial and agricultural heavy machinery. Unfortunately, the size and weight of the Makado heavy tank make It's overloaded.
This makes it very poor logistically and has extremely poor fuel efficiency.
If you want to further increase the engine power, it is inevitable to increase the tonnage of the tank again - because the only way to increase the power is to increase the number of engines.
To put it simply, the design of the Makado heavy tank fell into the dilemma of adding water to the surface and adding water to the surface.
This may be the real reason why it was abandoned.
"...The mentor has been improving the Makhado heavy tank. He canceled the secondary turret, designed a new independent turret, gave the main gun enough shooting range, and replaced it with his improved composite power engine, which is enough to make the Makhado A multi-heavy tank can run as fast as a Leman Russ.”
While Loken was introducing it, Soshyan himself was also observing this type of tank.
As the other party said, the Malcador heavy tank in front of you does only have a main turret that can rotate 180 degrees. This is different from most of the empire's armor, and the front of the body has been cut into 50 degrees. The bevel at an angle makes the already very thick armor even more defensive.
As for the secondary weapons, they are a heavy bolter on the front of the vehicle and an external automatic cannon on each side of the vehicle. This design reduces the number of crew members by two. It takes 4-5 people to fight.
Soshyan admitted that the improved Malcador heavy tank is a trustworthy weapon and will even perform better than Leman Russ in breaking through front lines and tug-of-war.
After all, it has advantages over Leman Russ in terms of tonnage and defense, and the potential for improvement is also huge.
But the key question is, what does Loken want to do?
"Priest Loken."
Soshyan withdrew his gaze from the Malcador heavy tank and turned to the priest of the Mechanicus who was chattering endlessly.
“Take me to see these, what do they mean?”
Loken's shoulders visibly stiffened, and then he slowly turned around.
A stiff smile appeared on his face, and he said:
"Sir, after hearing the great deeds of your battle group, I... I also want to do something for you. The empire makes some contribution."
"This is not our property, nor is it yours."
Soshyan stared at Loken and his voice gradually became darker.
Under the gaze of the Space Marines, Loken's psychological defense finally collapsed. He lowered his head like a child who had done something wrong and mumbled:
"I... that... on your ship... ...There is still... one less technical priest..."
Loken lowered his head, but what he didn't see was that a smile appeared on Soshiyang's face.
Just as he guessed.
“Are you afraid of accountability?”
"No, no, no! It's definitely not accountability, they will only take revenge! They hate my mentor, and they hate me! They won't let this opportunity go!"
Loken raised his head, so nervous that his tongue was It's knotted.
Lao Mo is rolling around on the street, asking for votes and collections! ! ! ! ! !
(End of this chapter)