Although the H-type of the Magic-Changed No. 4 tank is still in the drawing stage, the improvement of the No. 4 tank has begun.

The most obvious improvement is that the No. 4 tank will be equipped with plate skirt armor and strengthen the thickness of the front armor, just like the No. 3 assault gun.

This improvement can be directly applied to all tanks, including the two tanks that the Army has now equipped.

Similarly, the newly produced No. 4 tank has also undergone some cost reduction improvements, including some details that make the soldiers of the armored troops feel a little depressed.

The originally soft seats are now really turned into wooden boards, and the originally solid floors have been replaced by metal mesh floors.

The means of saving steel fill every corner of the new tank, as if Germany had already lacked steel.

The original handrail was cut by 10% in length, and some handrails that were not often used were even replaced with leather handrails...

But if this kind of tank blindly cut corners, it would be a bit too one-sided, because many tank command towers have been equipped with machine guns, which was not available in the past models.

I heard that the head of state personally asked to install this design. I heard that the supporting machine guns even had anti-shield steel plates.

The biggest improvement is still focused on two aspects. On the one hand, it is the near-term goal, to increase the firepower of the No. 4 tank.

Because the head of state's intelligence organization heard about the news that the Soviet Union was equipped with more advanced tanks, the combat focus of the No. 4 tank had undergone serious changes.

Originally, the tanks that the German armored troops were responsible for annihilation of the opponent's tanks were tanks No. 3 with better mobility and smaller size.

However, the head of state believed that the No. 3 tank could no longer undertake the future German anti-tank mission - in fact, this kind of thing has been proven.

During the French Battle, when Germany's No. 3 tank fought against heavy equipment such as France's B1 tanks, they obviously felt the defect of insufficient firepower.

The shortcomings in armor protection and the lack of firepower made the German army, which relied on tank No. 3 for anti-tank operations, obviously passive.

In actual situations, the German army relied on skillful cooperation and other means to deal with enemy armored targets most of the time.

For example - the famous Stuka dive bomber, and the more famous 88mm caliber air defense cannon...

It is a bit regrettable that the German army won the French Battle, and it won very dazzlingly. On the one hand, it created the glory of the Third Reich, but also covered up the problems of the Third Reich on the other hand.

Therefore, the weapon that was originally not easy to use was pushed to the Soviet-German battlefield on the Eastern Front more than a year later. For example, tank No. 3 and tank No. 4, such as 37mm anti-tank guns, such as backward rags...

The tank with insufficient firepower, such as No. 3, undertakes important anti-tank tasks in the German equipment sequence. What is the purpose of the No. 4 tank with slightly thicker armor?

The answer is: This guy is a "breakthrough tank" used to support infantry! This is not funny, but in this era, the Germans' vision of tanks was not much more advanced than that of the Japanese.

Many people laughed at the Japanese for insisting on using their bean chariots during World War II. In 1940, the tank equipment used by the German army was actually not much larger than what the Japanese had.

The German army's large-scale equipment of No. 2 tank weighs less than 10 tons, the design requirements of No. 3 tank are 15 tons, and the No. 4 tank is a little over 20 tons...

Japan's Type 89 weighs more than 12 tons, the Type 1 tank weighs 17 tons, and the Type 97 weighs 15 tons - you see, isn't it?

What really sets the two sides apart is the enemy's gap: the Germans can only drive the tiger-style leopard-style when facing the Soviets, and there are no enemies in Japan using heavy tanks.

In this comparison, the opponent is indeed the best teacher. The German armored troops are typical examples of famous teachers producing high disciples.

Let us talk back to the present, as a fake head of state who knew the true situation of later generations, Li Le changed the status quo of the German army.

He asked the German tank troops to reposition and developed the No. 4 tank, which was originally used to support infantry, to use it for anti-tank combat.

Obviously this is a very wise decision, because in the near future, the Germans will do the same when they are forced.

To deal with more powerful tanks against the enemy, tanks with thicker armor and stronger firepower must be used to fight.

Obviously, tank No. 3 does not have this improvement potential, and the remaining one is No. 4, a tank being produced.

However, the No. 4 tank serves as the main force of anti-tank combat, and there is still a gap that cannot be pleasant: its firepower design is problematic.

No. 4 was originally responsible for supporting infantry operations, so it used a short-barrel low-pressure 75mm caliber artillery when it was designed.

It is impossible to rely on a low-combustion 75mm caliber cannon for anti-tank missions. And the high-power long-body cannon with high-combustion pressure and high recoil will be modified.

The good news is that Germany obviously has technical reserves in this regard. In 42 years, the German army began to equip the No. 4 tank with a 75mm caliber long-barrel cannon.

Li Le just made this improvement more than a year ahead of schedule. For German engineers and technical mates, it is not a difficult problem to solve.

Therefore, the No. 4 tank will be equipped with a more powerful 75mm caliber long-barrel artillery within half a year to perform anti-tank missions.

With this improved tank, the Army will also have a real tank that is sufficient for a short period of time in 41 years.

After the elite German armored troops invaded the Soviet Union and encountered the mortal enemy T-34, they no longer had to use reckless measures such as impact to prevent the opponent from advancing.

"Simple improvements have been applied. Although some details have been reduced, the increase in production speed has allowed us to equip more tanks, which is good news." Blauchch was very satisfied with the current situation.

He has never been able to get tank replenishment so quickly. Within a month, he got tank No. 4 more, and I heard that he can get more afterwards.

Goering was depressed in this regard because this was a trick to increase production capacity that he could not learn.

Are you willing to buy a reduced-equipped car because it can barely drive on the road; but are you willing to buy a reduced-equipped plane and fly to the sky at a height of 8,000 meters?

In the short term, the No. 4 tank will still look the same, and it is not different from history. It is just that the armor is thicker and the interior is more streamlined.

However, the future No. 4 tank has been modified to a level that is very exciting. It uses wider tracks to adapt to complex road conditions.

More power engines were used, and even better-purpose diesel engines and rear gearboxes were planned.

The front armor was also improved, using fashionable tilted front armor, and its own weight was also increased to about 30 tons.

It will be equipped with a 75mm caliber long-barrel cannon, providing powerful firepower so that it has a certain firepower advantage over enemy tanks.

With Li Le's efforts, this tank can be said to be the Third Reich version of the T-34 tank, but the design concept and performance focus are slightly different.

Due to the limitations of the design era, even after countless improvements, the No. 4 tank still has some shortcomings. However, it seems that these shortcomings can be tolerated in 40 years, or even in 43 years.

During this period of time, Li Le had already made Porsche, Krupp, the famous Man Company and Rheinmetall develop their own production plans for the No. 5 general chariot.

This plan is not the famous Tiger tank in history, but a medium-sized general-purpose tank production plan similar to a Leopard tank.

The plan uses a practical and powerful 88mm tank gun, but the tank's own weight is limited to 45 tons, and the tank's defense ability must be ensured based on inclined armor.

This plan has just begun, and Porsche is still cutting corners, hoping to use its own Porsche GW tank that has been criticized by future generations to charge.

The Krupp company was not much better, and they tried to make their Tiger tanks favor by reducing weight.

However, the conditions proposed by the fake head of state Li Le made the two old tank design companies a little messy.

Because the head of state found inspiration from the mg-42 machine gun project and the improvement plan such as simplifying the production of No. 4 tanks, the ecology of the marrow began to pay attention to the production process.

The head of state required that new tanks must be able to be purchased and produced in large quantities, and that the annual output should not be less than 4,000 vehicles per year after conditions are ripe.

This value is something Krupp and Porsche dare not use Tiger tanks to gamble because they know that they cannot produce so many Tiger tanks.

Not to mention astronomical figures like 4,000 vehicles a year, Krupp thinks that it is just a dream to be able to produce 1,000 Tiger tanks within one year.

In history, only more than 1,300 German Tiger tanks were produced, and the total output was still several years. So it seems that at least Krupp is still self-aware...

The expected No. 5 tank actually weighs about the same weight as the historical Leopard tank, but Li Le's performance requirements are similar to those of the Tiger tank.

Such a requirement is not something that cannot be achieved. In fact, the paper data of the Stalin 2 tank meets this requirement. Although it is only paper data, it is at least comparable to the Tiger tank in terms of performance.

Even though everyone criticized the Stalin 2 tank, it was based on the comparison and competition between it and the Tiger tank.

If Stalin 2 tank is compared with the Leopard tank, then how to judge the pros and cons is another conclusion.

Some people say that the positioning between the two is different, one is a medium tank and the other is a heavy tank.

However, the total amount of steel consumed by the two is of the same level: the Leopard-type weight is 45 tons, and the Stalin 2 tank weighs 46 tons. Why not be better if the consumption is almost the same?

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While writing novels, I used paper to wipe my nose. Before I knew it, a pack of paper was used up. It was paper, not tissue...
Chapter completed!