It embarked upon actual construction of weapons while its rivals
in other countries were content to prepare their drawings, which
were filed against "The Day." But it must not be thought that
because the German manufacturers of armaments were ahead of
their contemporaries they dominated the situation. Far from it.
Their competitors in the market of destruction were every whit as
keen, as ingenious, and as enterprising. Kruppism saw a
commercial opportunity to profit from advertisement and seized
it: its rivals were content to work in secret upon paper, to keep
pace with the trend of thought, and to perfect their
organisations so as to be ready for the crisis when it developed.
The first Krupp anti-aircraft field-piece was a 6.5 centimetre (2
9/16 inch) arm. It possessed many interesting features, the most
salient of which was the design of the axle of the carriage. The
rigid axle for the two wheels was replaced by an axle made in two
sections, and joined together in the form of a universal
coupling, so that each wheel virtually possessed its own axle, or
rather half-axle. This was connected with the cradle of the gun
in such a manner that the wheels were laterally pivoted thereon.
Pages:
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245