Chapter 214

Troop mess hall.

"Qin Miao, I raise a glass to you, thank you for bringing Ha Gong Da school-run factory to greatly upgrade our Steyr engine! We not only have confidence to win the Eastern tender, even in Europe we can rely on strong power and decent economy to capture a larger market!"

Ruibei'er was very happy!

Before, we were constantly suppressed by the other two bidding products, barely able to breathe; this time, we finally got to raise our heads! Power performance far surpasses other products!

"Hmm, this is actually nothing yet; the next step of improvement is upgrading the fuel supply system."

The others present instantly had their eyes light up.

"Qin Miao, how is the fuel system upgraded?" Kulte asked.

"Well... that's a work matter, we'll talk later; now, let's drink, drink!"

Old Yuan beamed with a smile; he knew Qin Miao was whetting these guys' appetites! I wonder how much money Qin Miao can squeeze out of other manufacturers this time?

"When Steyr just accelerated, I listened carefully; it seems… except when starting and stepping on the clutch, the rest of the time you didn't press it at all!" Present, a base commander spoke, from the tank unit, also from the motor transport unit, familiar with vehicle operation.

Old Liberation, Old East Wind, to avoid gear clash when shifting, they used double-clutching, especially for downshifting: press clutch, shift to neutral, release clutch, blip throttle, then press clutch again to shift gears; if mismatched, you could hear the gearbox clatter, making one's heart ache.

"For heavy trucks, the transmission gears are large and have high inertia; while driving, shifting gears whether you press the clutch or not makes no difference, so skilled drivers can shift without pressing the clutch…" Ruibei'er continued his lengthy introduction.

"For military vehicles, automatic transmission is still suitable." Qin Miao said: "It can reduce the driver's burden, and even if injured, one can still drive the truck…"

In later times, countless people brag about how great their manual transmissions are, talking about oil-clutch coordination and man‑machine unity; in reality, manual transmissions are gradually disappearing—passenger cars are almost universally automatic, except minivans, and commercial vehicles, i. e., large trucks, many have also begun to popularize automatic transmissions.

Now, when Qin Miao brought up automatic transmission, Horst shook his head: 'Automatic transmission certainly has many advantages, but using it on heavy trucks increases fuel consumption and operating costs, which transport companies won't welcome.'

In the West, running a company is about making money; the primary consideration is saving!

The clutch of an automatic transmission is replaced by a torque converter; for a small car, fuel consumption increases by over one liter per hundred kilometers, and for a heavy truck, at least three to five liters per hundred kilometers! No transport company likes that.

In Europe, even old men and women handle manual transmissions with ease, and heavy trucks certainly won't be fitted with automatic transmissions.

Qin Miao smiled: "Then, through a technical upgrade, we can avoid increasing fuel consumption while achieving automatic shifting—wouldn't that work?"

Horst widened his eyes: "How to do it?"

"Come, drink, drink! We're bringing up technical topics again today—let's have a good drink!"

Who can have a good time? You brat, why do you always speak in half‑sentences?

"Having eaten and drunk our fill, Qin Miao rubbed his belly: 'Old Yuan, this afternoon there seems to be no test item; let's take you to look at that Steyr truck cannon? Once Steyr is domestically produced, our army can procure truck cannons in large quantities, at least half the price!'"

"Good, good, good!"

The military and Steyr folks have left; the remaining people droop‑faced—looks like we're just here to make up the numbers!

The truck cannon, aside from the chassis swap, hasn't changed much—after all, this gun has already been battle‑tested and is very mature.

"Old Yuan, want to go up and feel it?"

"Good!"

The driver is from the unit, Old Yuan sat in the middle, Qin Miao beside him; after the vehicle started moving, Old Yuan then asked: "What do you think of Steyr, you're so optimistic about it?"

"Speaking of performance, Mercedes‑Benz heavy trucks are absolutely unmatched, but… Mercedes‑Benz acts high and mighty, unwilling to cooperate with us, while Steyr lowers its stance, even willing to lend us money, so I think partnering with Steyr is our best choice."

"Then what's your purpose in showing off all these new technologies in front of the Germans, you brat?"

"Well…" Qin Miao smiled: "Not much, actually just setting a bait."

"What do you mean?"

"What if Mercedes‑Benz hears about it, gets anxious, and voluntarily comes to us for cooperation?"

This is entirely a historical event; back then we went to them, Mercedes‑Benz acted high and mighty, looking down on Eastern visitors, but after we signed the cooperation agreement with Steyr, Mercedes‑Benz got anxious and came to us on its own.

Unfortunately, the automotive industry already had the Steyr cooperation project, so it didn't want to work with Mercedes‑Benz either; in the end, the ordnance industry system stepped in and built a Mercedes‑Benz heavy truck plant on the grassland.

However, during that special period, lacking management talent, the Mercedes‑Benz produced on the grassland, though technologically advanced, could not enter the market; annual output hovered around tens of thousands, dropping to a few thousand in bad years; ten years later, when the cooperation with Mercedes‑Benz expired, continuing to use its trademark still got sued by Mercedes‑Benz.

At that moment, hearing Qin Miao's words, Old Yuan's expression grew complex: "By then, if we've signed contracts with Steyr and still cooperate with Mercedes‑Benz domestically, we probably won't have enough energy."

"Cooperating with Steyr is a First Machinery Ministry project; cooperating with Mercedes‑Benz later would fall on our ordnance enterprises, saving us from wrangling with them…"

Old Yuan's eyes lit up.

The state wants to develop the economy, the army must endure, the ordnance industry system is also struggling; who knows how many enterprises are barely getting by—if we gave the ordnance industry system a whole automotive project… it could definitely pull many enterprises along!

Qin Miao's move is truly far‑sighted! What is this? Eating from the bowl while eyeing the pot!

Mercedes‑Benz, hurry into the bowl!

"Hmm, if we could really get Mercedes‑Benz to come begging for cooperation, that would be a huge boon for our ordnance industry system! By the way, you Ha Gong Da… what benefits do you need?"

"We need nothing; as long as we can help the army, we're happy."

There are naturally benefits, but at this moment we can't speak of them; we must stay low‑key, stay low‑key.

Sure enough, Old Yuan was very pleased.

"San Shui, I really didn't misjudge you! Our army will reach a consensus and support the Steyr project; by the way, the main agenda of my meeting this time is…… you need to produce another batch of Steyr truck cannons to show to higher‑level leaders when the time comes."

The meeting's content is something Old Yuan can't disclose, but Qin Miao has already guessed it: the North China grand review!