Another problem caused by the increase in the weight of the Tiger tank was that the stability of the Tiger tank was not good at the beginning. So almost all the Tiger tanks were brought back for improvement. Some modifications were even made to the drawings. But luckily

Fortunately, the Tiger tank finally stabilized one year before the outbreak of World War II. Then it entered the mass production stage. The result of the large number of Tiger tanks in service was that the German armored forces had an advantage in the early battles in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and South Asia.

, its technical performance exceeds that of all tanks in active service in the country at the same time!

The Tiger tank was left with almost all beards and tails. However, its cousin the Tiger Tiger was forced to undergo major changes. For no other reason than the inferiority of the armored forces in the two wars, the Germans had to fight more in advance.

.88mml7, which was almost finalized

The level 1 main gun was eventually overturned. The Germans finally decided to install a 105mml62 level gun on the Jagdtiger tank destroyer! This gun far exceeded the two original pre-selected main guns. The original combat compartment had to be completely modified

, the car body also needs to go in

Great changes were made to accommodate the huge artillery and accompanying ammunition. After some strengthening, the weight of this Jagdtiger tank destroyer exceeded 60 tons! And the equipment time was delayed again and again until the war.

A large number of equipment will only be used in the mid-term! Stability is also

Relatively low, but I have to admit that, relying on its powerful firepower and armor, this tank is quite powerful in defensive operations. Even the tanks in the late World War II could not guarantee that they could block a full blow of the 105mml62 artillery.

of!

However, it is difficult for Tiger tanks and Jagdtiger tank destroyers to completely replace the No. 4 tank in the German army due to complex manufacturing processes. There are also disputes within the Army about the development ideas of future medium tanks. Opinions put forward by all parties

There are many different opinions, generally divided into two types. One opinion is to abandon the No. 4 tank and redesign another tank. The other opinion is to tap the potential on the basis of the No. 4 tank.

Most of the people who support the first view are front-line commanders. The stimulation of this war to the German front-line commanders is simply too great. According to their words, the hedging between the armored forces of both sides was almost like smashing cheese onto the steel plate. It hit them directly.

Shattered! And claimed that if it continues like this, I'm afraid it won't

Someone will become a tank soldier. They strongly recommend the production of a 40-ton medium tank. The mobility can be reduced, but the frontal protection and firepower should not be inferior to the Type 29 tank destroyer currently encountered. As for side defense, we can first

Let it go, after all, there is still Tiger style for frontal breakthrough.

The people who support the second view are called academics by the former, mainly represented by officers in logistics, armaments and enterprises. They first admitted that the No. 4 tank was better than the opponent's tank destroyer in a head-on confrontation.

gap between. But at the same time they think tanks and tank destroyers

If the front of the vehicle is hit, the tank will definitely suffer. And many experimental results have shown that if the No. 4 tank attacks the No. 4 tank destroyer, it will also be hit all over the ground. This is determined by the weapon structure of both sides. The same specifications and weights

, the hardware without the turret will definitely have higher performance than the hardware with the turret.

So let’s not talk about the No. 4 tank. At least the No. 4 tank destroyer that has been equipped with the troops should continue to be retained. And it should be immediately added to the Middle East garrison. (At the beginning, the German Army’s plan was mainly offensive. Therefore, the number of tank destroyers was not

Not much.) Although the actual research and development progress has not kept up with this war, the 88mml56 artillery for the Panzer IV tank destroyer has not yet been developed (the shell launcher of the Panzer IV tank destroyer)

The length of the gun is the same as in history. Although the barrel length is the same, the power is still a bit lower than that of the Tiger.) However, the 75mml60 artillery originally supplied to the No. 3 tank destroyer has been developed, so it is currently used by the No. 4 tank destroyer.

The gun is a 75mml60 gun. The penetration depth of this gun exceeds that of the 75mm gun of the Panzer IV and Type 29 tanks. They believe that the gun of this tank destroyer should be enough.

Secondly, they elaborated on the importance of the No. 4 tank in Germany's future military-industrial system from an industrial perspective. In the armored force development plan, the Germans have positioned the No. 4 tank as the backbone of future medium tanks. Industrial system and organization and training

It is all based on this. Throwing away the No. 4 tank is tantamount to draining the bottom of the tank. The development plan of the German armored forces must be overthrown and restarted. The cost of this is really too high.

"If we give up the Panzer 4, it will be tantamount to delaying the war by at least five years! Moreover, the billions of marks in infrastructure funds, personnel training and supporting systems we have invested in this will have to be overthrown and rebuilt.

.Who can bear this responsibility? If the development of new tanks fails to succeed, then the German Army Armored Forces will face the situation of having no vehicles available!" said a supporter.

"As long as our No. 4 tank can be equipped with a 75mml60 gun, then our No. 4 tank can completely suppress all currently known models of tanks from the United States, Britain, and France. Even when facing the Chinese Type 29 tank, it can penetrate the opponent's frontal armor.

Medium tanks are inherently easy-to-produce consumables, allowing them to

It is unrealistic for them to overwhelm other tanks of the same tonnage in all aspects. It will only lead to a vicious increase in weight." Keitel, who finally supported retaining the Panzer IV, concluded this way. And what he said does make some sense. After all, preparations for war have been made.

Entering the countdown, if you change the generals again at this time, it will definitely cause some problems.

"But, what if the No. 4 tank cannot suppress the opponent? The United States and Britain are not fools. They can see the superiority of Chinese tanks, even if they will not copy them because of national pride. But at least they can learn from them, or buy them.

Just change the name and that's it. After all, our medium tank is still

It is not as good as the chassis of the Type 29 tank. What you just said is correct. Medium tanks will be the backbone of future armored forces. But the number is not as good as that of the Allies and China, and the quality is not as good as that of the China Type 29 tank. How can the No. 4 tank be qualified for this role?

” Model disagreed with Keitel’s opinion.

If your own weapons of the same level are inferior to those of your opponents, you must at least have an advantage in quantity. If you have no advantage in quantity and quality, it will be almost impossible to fight without considering the tactical level and the quality of the officers and soldiers. This is

The top German leaders are still very clear about this. From an army level, the number of machine guns and artillery equipped by the German division-level units at the beginning of the war far exceeded that of their opponents.

It is a howitzer more suitable for fighting in northeastern France than the French M1897 Type 75 artillery. The number of heavy artillery is even more dominant, so although the total number is less than the opponent, the firepower efficiency is higher than the opponent. Even so, Germany

They can only defeat the Russians on the Eastern Front. As for the Western Front? Although the exchange ratio and losses have always been superior, in the end they can only shake hands and make peace.

Maintaining quality advantage is the fundamental reason why the German Army and even the German army can survive to this day! Germany relied on quality to defeat Russia and Britain, the United States and France on land. It also relied on quality advantage for the High Seas Fleet to fight fiercely with the Royal Navy for several years at sea! In

In the future, the total industrial output of the Allies will be less than that of the Entente

In the case of China and China, if you want to win against your opponents far away from home, you must also rely on quality. Quality is the general guideline! It is a red line that cannot be touched! If the advantage cannot be guaranteed in terms of quality, then it will be difficult to develop any strategy. Industrial production capacity, structure

Everything else is just empty talk.

"What if we study another medium tank with superior frontal defense and firepower? At least it will not be defeated in a frontal battle, and at the same time, it will not add too much weight because it does not have to pursue the balanced defense of the Tiger tank. In fact, a 40-ton tank

If the design is good and the emphasis is only on facing the enemy head-on, then the front-facing performance will not be much worse than that of a heavy tank." At this time, a major general in charge of equipment research and development put forward his own opinion.

"We can install this tank with at least 80mm of front armor tilted at 55 degrees, and install an 88mml56 gun that uses normal propellant. In this way, it can use common ammunition with anti-aircraft guns and other artillery, or use a longer barrel length.

A 75mm gun, such as the 75mml70 gun. This level of artillery is enough to deal with non-heavy tank targets.

Frontal armor can also be immune to 75mm-level artillery." Seeing that neither party opposed his opinion, Major General Heinz improved his point of view. To put it bluntly, this plan is to make up for the direct gap between the No. 4 and Tiger tanks. Create a

The performance and cost are directly between the weapons of the Panzer IV tank and the Tiger tank. After all, the gap between the Tiger tank from more than 30 tons to nearly 60 tons is a bit too big.

"I think this plan is feasible. It has double insurance. On the one hand, it will prevent the existing production system from being greatly impacted. On the other hand, when the No. 4 tank is in full decline, there will be another tank to replace it." Hinden

Bao is quite satisfied with this suggestion. This method takes into account the requirements of both parties and is technically relatively easy to implement.

"The weight of this tank is appropriately set at 45 tons to 48 tons. With this weight, while ensuring normal armament, in addition to ensuring the strength of the body armor, we can also increase the front armor of the turret to more than 140mm. And

The sides of the front part of the car body can also be modified

It should still be possible to increase it by 50 degrees and tilt it at 20 degrees. In this case, taking into account the angle of the opponent's side attack, the defensive power of the front half of the car body will be very good." Heinz further improved this plan, and then the famous Leopard in later generations

The prototype of the tank was basically formed.

The emergence of this tank is almost a historical necessity. Because the German armored forces encountered similar encounters in history. The No. 4 tank was at a disadvantage in the competition with the T34 (only based on paper data.)

Not even the long-barreled Panzer IV

It only relied on the powerful 75mml48 tank gun to have the ability to destroy each other. After the T34-85, it was still not as good as the Tiger tank. The Tiger tank is powerful, but its production capacity is seriously insufficient. (Okay. Judging from the later production, I always feel

this

It's because the Germans didn't work hard. Otherwise, the production capacity would have increased a lot.) So in the end, the Panther tank, which weighed between the Tiger and No. 4, and had excellent combat effectiveness and maneuverability, was born. And eventually it gradually became

The mainstream of German armored forces. Although the Panzer IV is much more powerful in this dimension than in history, but the other side has also been strengthened, the relative quality is still not good, so the appearance of the Leopard has become a historical necessity. If it does not appear this time, then in

Leopards will still appear after large-scale confrontations in the future!

However, like No. 4 and Tiger, the leopard in this plane is also much stronger than in history. From the current point of view, the front protection of the car body is almost the same. The protection of the turret and the side front has been improved. This solves the problem of leopard to a certain extent.

The 45mm vertical armor on the side is vulnerable. As for firepower, although we plan to use the original 75mml

70 artillery, but in fact the Leopard tank has great potential, and can be equipped with a larger 88mml56 strong-charge version of the artillery. The firepower of the later Leopard and the early Tiger are almost at the same level. As for the 105mml53 level of the later Tiger tank

It would be a thing for another time to overtake the Panther again after using its cannon. And because of the engine

It is rear-mounted at the same time as the gearbox, which saves a lot of space. Therefore, although the artillery and ammunition have become larger, the ammunition load has not decreased much. More importantly, the frame of this tank is originally based on a 40-ton tank.

The design has left considerable margins in all aspects, so the stability of this tank has also been greatly improved, and in the end

In the end, this tank weighed 47 tons and was included in the German Army's plan. Of course, because of the late research time and because some subsystems were not suitable for the dry and sandy environment in the Middle East, this tank was not available in the early days of World War II.

A large amount of equipment. However, in subsequent battles, it gradually replaced part of the No. 4 and became the backbone of the German armored force!

Perhaps it is because the Germans are so disadvantaged in terms of tank performance that they try every means to improve the anti-tank capabilities of their troops. In many battle records, it has been mentioned that the lack of tanks and combat anti-cannons face tanks and infantry

The low survivability of tanks and direct firepower. In addition, the performance of many anti-tank guns is not very good. For example, the German 50mm anti-tank gun. These things are difficult to intimidate.

It threatens China's current main armored Type 29 tank destroyer. The 75mm gun is not very powerful. The number of heavy cannons is insufficient. Whether it is 88mm anti-aircraft gun or 105mm anti-aircraft gun, most of them belong to the Air Force. Guderian is lucky.

, we got a lot of good stuff from the Air Force, but if there was a large-scale battle, the Air Force's anti-aircraft artillery wouldn't be enough, so how could we give it to the Army?
Chapter completed!