Film and Television: Starting from the Journey to Guandong

Chapter 150

In fact, no matter which tank, if it can be introduced to China, it will not be a big problem to deal with small tanks.

The small army has never been invincible in the world. It's just that it caught up with the weaker China, which made them look powerful.

If the small army is allowed to fight Germany and a bear on the European battlefield, the outcome is uncertain.

Anyway, from the perspective of armored forces, Xiaobenzi is definitely being crushed.

As the trump card of the army, the armored force has always been the vanguard. Having a brave and tenacious armored force is something that the participating countries are extremely proud of.

Neon, which claims to be "the strongest in Asia," naturally has its own armored forces, but its main force is not like Germany's No. 34 or the Soviet Union's "T-76/".

Instead, they took a different approach and chose a small, lightweight armored vehicle, the Type 97 tank.

In 1936, based on the requirements of frontline soldiers, the Neon Military Headquarters prepared to improve and upgrade existing infantry fighting vehicles in order to better adapt to the new battlefield environment and protect personnel.

The main force of the previous neon armor was the ********* developed in the 20s. Although this tank was fast and flexible, it had a fatal flaw: poor protection.

When faced with anti-tank rifles and PaK36 anti-tank guns, there was a fate of being penetrated;

In the battle with Mao Xiong, due to the small caliber of the artillery, it was difficult to pose a real threat to the Soviet tanks. On the contrary, the Soviet tanks could easily destroy the Soviet tanks.

The lessons learned on these battlefields require Neon's R&D units to develop a new type of armored fighting vehicle promptly and quickly. On the basis that the firepower must not be lower than the maximum, the protection of the armor must be increased at the same time.

However, due to the imperfect bridge and road infrastructure technology in Neon at this time, most bridges in Neon had limited carrying capacity.

Therefore, after the new tank is successfully manufactured, how to transport it safely becomes a big problem.

In the end, based on the conclusions and feedback from many parties, the Neon Staff Headquarters required that the weight of the new tank should not exceed 12 tons.

According to the requirements of the General Staff Headquarters, Neon commissioned two major domestic manufacturers, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries and Osaka Arsenal, to produce a prototype each, and then compared their performance to decide which prototype to choose as the final new product.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries' Plan A prototype vehicle has strengthened the defensive design, improved the body craftsmanship and lowered the vehicle speed standard. It is scheduled to weigh 13.5 tons. In terms of weapons, the main weapon is a two-person turret and the secondary weapon is 2 machine guns. The combat room volume of the vehicle remains eight. Nine-style standard;

The Plan B prototype of the Osaka Arsenal has reduced the weight of the vehicle, with a total weight of only 10 tons, and reduced defense; in terms of weapons, the main weapon is a single-man turret, and the secondary weapon is a machine gun.

When the two prototype vehicles were sent to the General Staff Headquarters, the debate over the choice between the two entered a heated stage: the weight issue of Plan A was mentioned many times. It was originally intended to reduce the weight of Prototype A to 12.5 tons, but due to technical reasons and give up;

The main weapon of Plan B is considered to have insufficient firepower, and there may be a problem of insufficient firepower in actual combat.

Since neither side could compromise, the General Staff Headquarters finally ordered two prototypes to be developed simultaneously.

In June 1937, two prototypes were completed and subsequently tested at the Fuji Training Ground.

Due to the Army's later requirements, the Plan A prototype vehicle weighed more than 15 tons;

The weight of the Plan B prototype has been reduced to 9.8 tons.

After the two prototype vehicles were sent to the front line, soldiers reported that the hull defense of Plan B was insufficient and the casualty rate of soldiers was higher than that of the Plan A prototype. In the end, Neon decided to use the Plan A prototype as the final version of the new armor. vehicle.

In 1938, Neon named the new tank the Type tank.

After the Type 97 tank was officially finalized, Neon installed two different types of engines on it.

One is an over-combustion diesel engine, and the other is a SA12200VD direct injection diesel engine produced by Mitsubishi.

After testing the two engines, Neon executives expressed high praise for the direct-injection diesel engine produced by Mitsubishi.

Compared with gasoline engines, diesel engines have higher combustion efficiency. To ensure that the Type 97 tank can operate in cold areas, Neon is also equipped with a gas cooling device, which makes up for the thorny problem of diesel engines requiring a large amount of cooling water.

In the initial version of the Type 57 tank, the main weapon was a 2580mm gun with a 349.3-gram ammunition load, a muzzle velocity of 6 meters per second, and a maximum range of kilometers.

The artillery is equipped with the same main weapon as the previous ***. It is improved on the basis of the 90-type 57mm artillery. Neon developed a shell with a faster muzzle velocity on its basis, giving it greater firepower within the range. A significant improvement, there are two people inside the turret, the gunner and loader on the left, and the commander on the right.

弹药方面配备了80发榴弹、40发穿甲弹总共120发炮弹；机枪手的武器为1挺九七式7.7毫米重机枪，可以携弹2745发，为前置机枪，另1挺装在炮塔后部偏右的位置，备弹100发。

The biggest advantage of the 57mm artillery is its high tracking ability of the target, and the tank can also shoot while moving.

In actual combat, the neon soldiers operating this artillery also have very good shooting accuracy when attacking and hitting at close range.

According to the data analysis of the Neon Staff Headquarters, the 57mm artillery firepower of the Type 7 tank was not at a disadvantage when confronting the German Army's No. 70 and No. tanks at the time, as well as Neon's BT- and T- tanks.

Time came to 1941 during the Pacific War. At that time, Neon had more than 700 Type tanks. When it invaded Malaya, it did not encounter much resistance due to the surrender of the British army.

However, when fighting in Myanmar and the Philippines, facing the latest M3 tanks of the Ugly Army, the Type 3 tanks were unable to penetrate the M armor frontally.

In April 1942, when the Neon Tank Regiment was conducting an armor-piercing projectile test, it was discovered that the 4mm artillery had a slow muzzle velocity and could not penetrate the armor when firing armor-piercing projectiles from the front. More than 57 shells had to be fired during a side attack before the armor of the test vehicle was damaged.

Neon therefore determined that the 57mm artillery was no longer suitable for the existing main weapon standards, and a new main weapon must be developed.

At this time, Colonel Sonoda of the 7th Neon Tank Regiment proposed to the military to use the L-type 47mm anti-tank gun as the new main weapon of the Type tank.

The reason why we have such great confidence is that Sonoda was one of the developers of the 47mm anti-tank gun and has a deep understanding of the power of this new weapon: the biggest advantage of the 47mm anti-tank gun is its muzzle velocity, muzzle velocity. It can reach 830 meters per second, which is more than twice that of the 57mm gun, and can fire 10-15 shells per minute.

In the experiment, the armor-piercing projectile fired from the 47mm gun successfully penetrated the frontal armor of the US military M1000/M3 Stuart tank at a distance of 5 meters. This gave Neon great expectations for this new weapon.

On March 1942, 3, the upgraded version of the Type 5 tank, the Type modified tank, was officially included in the Neon Armored Forces.

The new tank is equipped with a new 47mm anti-tank gun. Compared with the towed version, the initial speed is reduced to 825 meters per second, and it can penetrate 500mm thick armor at a distance of 75 meters.

It adopts a semi-automatic vertical sliding breech; the ammunition is equipped with 104 artillery shells and 2575 machine gun shells.

After changing the equipment of the troops in 1997, they immediately engaged in confrontation with the US armored forces.

On April 1942, 4, the 7 Reform ushered in its first battle, facing three US tanks and several supply trucks.

However, due to the fierce firepower of the US military, 3 of the tanks that had not yet directly fought were destroyed, and the remaining tanks had to withdraw from the battle.

Fortunately, the next day, the armored troops led by Captain Uno pursued a U.S. convoy despite artillery fire. The firepower of the 47mm artillery caused the U.S. military to pay the price of casualties. Later, in another battle, they captured a U.S. military convoy. Major General of the U.S. Army.

The US military, which had suffered a loss, decided to teach the arrogant little book a lesson. In January 1945, the US military and Neon staged a real armored showdown in the town of Muroz, Luzon Island, Philippines.

The "Sherman" tanks of Company C of the 44th U.S. Tank Battalion served as the vanguard and led the infantry of the 20th U.S. Regiment to launch an attack on the Japanese 6th Tank Regiment and other Japanese troops stationed in Muroz Town.

During the battle, the "Sherman" with its 75mm cannon was unstoppable and defeated many Japanese 97-modified tanks.

Therefore, the Japanese army could only hide the Type 97 and Type 95 tanks in camouflage fortifications and wait for opportunities to sneak attack the weak side armor of the "Sherman".

However, once the neon tanks hiding in the fortifications open fire, they will be "greeted" by the US military's light and heavy firepower.

During the battle, Captain Fikali, the commander of the U.S. company, took the lead in trying to fire a low-velocity grenade with an M1 carbine. He actually blew up a neon tank dozens of meters away. "It looked like a lighter, and it lit up with just one click." Now the U.S. infantry was facing neon tanks. The fear of Hong tanks disappeared. Under the "greeting" of rifle grenades, heavy machine guns and even hand grenades, Neon lost more than 20 tanks in one day.

In the blink of an eye, late at night on February 2, the remnants of Neon were preparing to break out to the north, but at this time the Japanese troops who had originally responded to them had withdrawn early. Neon's new station was also occupied by the US military, and a battle of annihilation was about to begin.

Soon, Neon, who retreated to the new station, was fully attacked by U.S. military firepower. For a time, U.S. heavy machine guns, rifle grenades and howitzers fired an overwhelming rain of bullets. What made Neon even more uncomfortable was that the U.S. troops chasing from Muroz Tank Company C also arrived on the battlefield in the early morning of the 7th.

Tanks from the U.S. and Japanese armies engaged in a close-range melee. Some U.S. tank crews were afraid of accidentally injuring their comrades due to artillery fire, so they simply rammed the neon tanks with their thick hulls.

At dawn, Neon left 247 corpses here, as well as the wreckage of 11 tanks, 10 trucks and 2 tractors. The Japanese army's breakout operation ended in a disastrous failure.

In the melee, only 2 US troops were killed, 16 were injured, and 1 artillery piece was lost.

The Type 97 tank was completely suppressed in this battle and lost its former prestige.

After that, Neon successively designed five types of tanks: Type I, Type II, Type III, Type IV and Type V according to the situation, and improved the 1997 tank to fight against the Allied attack, but it was too late. .

The M3 tank, which frightened the little book, actually did not have much advantage during the entire second station.

You must know that when the war broke out, Chou Country was located in a corner and its tank design was quite backward.

Their most advanced tank at the time was the M2 tank. This vehicle was a bunker-type design. In addition to a 37-mm cannon in the turret, the entire vehicle had 8 machine guns.

There are two heading machine guns on the front of the car body, a machine gun turret on each of the four corners of the car body, plus two anti-aircraft machine guns.

As soon as the French War broke out, the Ugly people realized that they were on the wrong track.

After observing the performance of the German Army's best Panzer 4 tank, Major General Xiafei, Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. Armored Forces, and the National Ordnance Bureau both believed that the new tank must be able to install a 75mm main gun, but the problem is the large turret equipped with a 75mm main gun. It hadn't been designed yet.

好在有法国B1坦克作为先例，已经展示了车体安装主炮的可能，所以丑国人在战前就用M2底盘加上一门75毫米榴弹炮搞了无旋转炮塔的T5E2试验车。

Further development on the basis of the T5E2 was the later M3 medium tank.

In order to save costs and construction time, the M3 medium tank was actually modified by adding an artillery gun to the right side of the produced M2A1 tank body.

It can be seen that the M3 medium tank is a transitional model. Once the M75 medium tank that can install a 4mm gun in the turret is successfully designed, the M3 medium tank will no longer be improved and produced.

As the successor of the M3 medium tank, the M2 medium tank also inherited its characteristics of a machine gun bunker.

The machine gun firepower of the M3 tank is divided into three levels. First, there are two directional machine guns on the left side of the driver, which are fixed horizontally but can be tilted;

The second is the parallel machine gun next to the 37mm artillery; the top is a machine gun on the commander's command tower.

In 40, the British army lost all its equipment at Dunkirk and had to go to other countries to buy tanks.

The British wanted to let the American factory produce the Matilda 2 and Crusader tanks on their behalf, but the rules of the American Congress were that the American factory could only produce equipment accepted by the US military, so they had to choose the M3 medium tank (even the same type at that time). The car didn’t even come out).

However, the British were not satisfied with the three-layer layout of the M3. They believed that firstly, the vehicle was too tall, and secondly, the three-man turret was too crowded and the third commander could not operate the radio. Therefore, the British redesigned a large turret without a command tower. .

In the summer of 41, both tanks were put into mass production.

The British army named the model they used as the Grant model after the famous Union Army general Ulysses S. Grant in the American Civil War, and named the model used by the US military as the Lee model after the famous Confederate Army general Robert F. Lee.

As we all know, Lee was Grant's defeated general, and the British army used this to imply that their design was better.

In fact, in the US military's own numbering system, these are all M3 medium tanks, but later on, Grant and Lee's names gradually spread, and it was accepted by default.

美军用的M3李式中型坦克一共是7名乘员，分别是驾驶员、无线电员、75毫米炮手、75毫米炮装填手、车长、37毫米炮手、37毫米炮装填手。

The radio equipment is in the vehicle body, and the antenna is on the left rear side of the combat compartment of the vehicle body.

The British Army's M3 Grant medium tank moved the radio equipment to the rear of the turret and was directly operated by the commander. The antenna was on the top of the turret. There were only 6 crew members excluding the radio operator.

Objectively speaking, the British Grant type was much looser in both the car body and the turret, and the working conditions were better. Therefore, the US military later removed the radio operator and had the driver operate the radio.

In May 1942, the M5 medium tank participated in the battle for the first time in the Battle of Bir Hakeim in North Africa, giving the German tanks a head-on blow.

德军对M3中型坦克的评价比较高，比如隆美尔就认为M3的出现使德国人第一次失去了坦克技术上的优势，21装甲师第3侦察营的指挥官汉斯·冯·勒克则认为格兰特式比德国4号F1型之前的所有德国坦克都好。

As mentioned before, the M3 medium tank is a transitional product, but transitional products do not mean inferior or cheap products. Ugly Country still works very hard when it manufactures tanks.

The M3 series' turret and body front armor are both 51 mm and have an inclination angle. This defense cannot be said to be weak.

Although they had never made such thick tank armor before, they had riveted thicker battleship armor, so the M3's body was covered with huge rivets.

Although riveted armor has the problem of the rivets being cut off and flying around injuring people when it is impacted, the kinetic energy cannot cut such thick rivets until it reaches a certain level.

当然丑国人也不是没意识到这个问题，在M3的大型号中，M3A1是铸造车体型，M3A2和M3A3则为焊接车体型，后两种工艺将在M4坦克上大行其道。

The two guns of the M3 medium tank are also worth mentioning. Its 75mm gun has a low muzzle velocity and weak armor-piercing capability. However, the 37mm gun was the best among guns of the same caliber in World War II. Both of them have armor-piercing capabilities at meters. The abilities are almost the same.

But no matter where the caliber is, the M3 medium tank at that time could kill German Panzer III tanks and 3mm anti-tank guns beyond the effective range of them (the Battle of Bir Hakeim was fought with captured German 50mm armor-piercing warheads).

In particular, the 75mm gun has the ability to fire high-explosive shells, which quite restrains the performance of the German Afrika Korps.

At that time, the caliber of British tanks was small, and the 2-pounder gun and 6-pounder gun had a short effective range.

What's even worse is that the 2-pounder tank gun has no grenades. Although the 6-pounder tank gun has grenades, their performance is very poor and their quantity is small. There are basically no grenades on the African front.

Using an armor-piercing projectile to hit a distant artillery shell is actually equivalent to firing a large bullet. Unless it hits the gun body directly, it will have little impact if it misses the target.

Therefore, the German Afrika Korps adopted anti-tank artillery leapfrog tactics, alternately covering and advancing with tanks.

The only way for British tanks to deal with anti-tank guns was to shoot them with machine guns while charging forward, and they were called out one by one on the road.

When the M3 medium tank arrived in Africa, it actually abolished the special tactic of the African Army.

In addition, these two types of guns have inherited the skills of Ugly tanks. They can fire steel ball pellets at close range, one large and one small. The effective range is 100 meters, which is really unfriendly to infantry.

In fact, the above is nothing. The most important thing is that the M3 medium tank can mount a vertical stabilizer. Not only the 75-meter gun can be mounted vertically and stably, but the 37-meter gun can also be mounted.

Despite the fact that everyone is boasting about the superior gun control of German tanks, what kind of gun control do they have? Optical mirrors are ground to a higher degree of precision, and some commanders carry a hand-held scissor gun scope.

The later large-scale Tiger Leopard guns had a hydraulic balancer at the rear. That was because the barrel was too heavy. Without a balancer, the gun could not be shaken by hand. It was completely different from a vertical stabilizer stabilized by a gyroscopic rotor.

However, it is said that the quality of the front-line soldiers at that time was poor and they did not know how to use or maintain them properly. Therefore, the vehicles were later dismantled and even shipped from the factory without installing them properly. After all, those things were expensive and it was not worth wasting them.

The M3 medium tank with a vertical stabilizer is easy to identify. The 75mm gun has a ring-shaped counterweight near the muzzle, and the 37mm gun has a rod-shaped counterweight under the barrel. Do not mistake it for a parallel machine gun barrel.

Although the British army called the model they used separately the Grant, due to the production speed and war losses, they had to directly use the American Lee type, resulting in a mixed use situation.

The US military eliminated the front-line M3 medium tanks after the Battle of Tunisia, and the British army replaced them after the Battle of Sicily. Since then, the M3 medium tanks have disappeared as front-line equipment on the Western Front.

The situation on the Eastern Front was different again. When the M1942 medium tanks to aid the Soviet Union arrived in 3, Timoshenko and Comrade Steel completely threw away the Red Army's tank reserves in Kharkov. , these tanks are just for emergency use.

But the M3 tank does not have a good reputation among the Soviet army. The Soviet army has long played with the 76.2mm gun.

Others cannot compare with the T-34 in terms of maneuverability, and cannot compare with the KV in terms of defense. Moreover, it uses a gasoline engine and is prone to catching fire when hit. Who do you think would like it?

Another unbearable thing is that this vehicle consumes too many crew members. At that time, the Soviet Union lost a large number of tanks and also a large number of tank crews. According to the memoirs at the time, some units equipped with KV ended up with three-man crews.

The crew of two M3s can be equipped with three KVs, but the combat effectiveness and crew survivability of two M3s are not as good as those of three KVs.

The combat intensity and firepower density on the Eastern Front far exceeded that of North Africa. The survival of the M3 medium tank was in doubt, so in the eyes of the Soviet army, the M3 medium tank had only a lot of problems.

Another point worth mentioning is that although the M3 medium tanks sent to Mao Xiong are basically American configurations, the Red Army is accustomed to calling it the M3 Grant.

The M3 medium tank was used in the Pacific Theater until the end of the war.

Based on the armor-piercing capabilities of the Japanese anti-tank artillery at that time, there was actually no difference between using the M3 or the M4. The M3's firepower configuration was more flexible, and it may have had an advantage when facing Japanese infantry meat bomb attacks.

However, the M3 Lee tanks used by the British army in their counterattack in Myanmar were modified to some extent. The commander's command tower was removed and a smoke grenade launcher was installed on the side of the turret.

The reason may be that the machine gun in the commander's command tower is too noisy. The gun body is right next to the commander's ear. The noise and vibration when firing must be very touching. As for the M4, as a medium tank, it was a famous tank in the middle and late stages of the second station. It was also one of the tanks with the largest production volume in the second station, with a total production volume of 49234 vehicles.

In the tank battle at the end of the second station, the M4 tank played a major role, and thus occupied an important position in the history of world tank development.

On the battlefield, the Sherman tank's excellent performance has also allowed it to be transformed into various other military vehicles, most of which are tank rescue vehicles and armored ambulances modified based on the Sherman tank chassis.

The main gun is the arm of the tank. The early Sherman tank is equipped with an M3 75mm L/40 cannon, which can fire armor-piercing rounds, grenades and gun-fired smoke grenades.

该炮能够在914米距离上击穿60mm/30°钢板，穿甲能力略强于毛熊T-34早期型号的76mm F34坦克炮。

But there is a big gap compared with the 75mmL/48 gun of the German Panzer IV H-type and the 75mmL/70 gun of the Panther tank.

Later models of the M4 were equipped with a 76.2mm gun, which could penetrate 914mm/88° steel plates at a distance of 30 meters. The firepower was greatly improved, slightly better than the Soviet T34/85, but it was still weak against tigers and leopards.

The British were more foresight. They installed a 17-pounder gun on the Sherman and converted it into a Firefly tank. Only then did they have the ability to destroy German tanks and Tiger tanks at long distances.

There are a total of 4 different types of engines installed on various improved vehicles of the M4 series. The gearbox is mechanical. The moving part adopts a balanced suspension device. The 6 road wheels on each side are divided into 3 groups, with the driving wheel in the front. , the inducer is behind.

The models of M4 tanks are very complicated. There are more than 4 types of M50 series improved vehicles, variant vehicles, and experimental vehicles officially announced by China alone.

There are mainly six types of improved vehicles: M4, M4A1, M4A2, M4A3, M4A4, and M4A6. The main guns are 6mm, 75mm, 76mm, and 90mm.

Although the M4's firepower was slightly lacking in the early days, it was well-known in the military community for its sturdiness, reliability and durability. Throughout the war, the M4 became the backbone of the U.S. tank force.

Since the US military is not equipped with heavy tanks like the German and Soviet armies, the M4 sometimes has to be used as a heavy tank, although it is not qualified for this role at all.

Starting in 1942, M4s were put into use batch after batch in order to replace the disabled M3 as soon as possible.

The first place where it showed its prowess was on the battlefield in North Africa.

When the British army withdrew to El Alamein and was in a desperate situation, Rothover gave Uncle Qiu about 400 Sherman medium tanks to make up for the large number of Matilda and Warren tanks lost by the British Third Army. D. Crusader tank.

These Sherman tanks were quickly replenished to the British Eighth Army.

With the cooperation of "Crusader" and "Valentin" tanks, and after five hours of artillery preparations, Sherman took the lead in launching an attack on the German army, which was seriously short of fuel and spare parts and was at the end of its war effort.

After twelve days of fierce fighting, the British army defeated the German Afrika Korps.

In this battle, more than 1 German-Italian tanks, which had been invincible to their opponents in the desert, were destroyed (mostly Italian tanks. The German tank exchange ratio with the British tank at that time was 4:1, which meant that the British army had to destroy 4 One German tank would cost more than tanks).

Rommel, the Desert Fox, never recovered.

During the Tunisian landing operation, the U.S. Army's M4 tanks also appeared on the scene, making a huge contribution to driving the German and Italian fascists out of North Africa.

Since then, Sherman can be seen everywhere, whether in the European battlefield or the Pacific battlefield.

On June 1944, 6, the Normandy landings began.

The first tanks to land in Normandy on D-DAY were hundreds of Sherman DD amphibious tanks, which became the vanguard of the Allied forces' march towards victory.

Although many materials describe Sherman as having a low failure rate, the truth is the opposite.

The shortcomings of the Sherman are its low reliability and high failure rate. After driving it, many American soldiers claimed that they never wanted to drive a Sherman again. However, due to its large number and the correct use of the Allied generals, it was able to complete its mission excellently. .

It also has many modified models, some of which are equipped with 60 4.5-inch rocket launchers (M4 organ) on the turret; some are equipped with flamethrowers to become fire-breathing tanks.

Others have changed their main guns to 105mm howitzers to enhance their soft-kill capabilities.

In the later stages of the war, the M76A4 was mainly produced and equipped with a 3mm long barrel high muzzle velocity main gun.

Its main shortcoming is that there is a considerable gap in firepower and armor defense compared with the famous medium tanks of Germany and the Soviet Union.

The armor protection around its gasoline engine was particularly insufficient, and it was easily hit and caught on fire when it faced off against German opponents.

Therefore, the Chou Army gave it a nickname - Ronson, a famous brand lighter (its advertising slogan: It will light up as soon as you hit it, and it will light up every time you hit it).

The M4 Sherman was not the best-performing medium tank in World War II, but its huge amount of equipment and the shrewd use of famous generals such as Montgomery and Patton made it occupy an important position in the Allied weapons and equipment sequence.

The main equipment of the U.S. Third Armored Division under the command of General Patton is the M4 tank. They played a major role in the battles after the Normandy landing.

In the second station, the M4 Sherman tank was in service with the U.S. Army and Marine Corps, and was also used by the Allied Powers of Great Britain (including Australia and Canada), the Bear, Free France, the Polish Government in Exile, and the Republic of China.

Sherman's first combat service was the Second Battle of El Alamein in October 1942, with the Eighth Regiment of the Royal Army.

The British Alliance also widely used Sherman tanks in the European theater to replace the M3 Lee tank and its derivatives, and became the main force of the armored forces in 1944 - the other tanks were the Churchill tanks and Karen tanks that entered the war later in the war. Will Tank.

英军曾使用M4、M4A1和M4A2，但之后的主力装备是M4A4。

The Firefly tank, a derivative of the M4, was modified from the M4 and M4A4 aided by the United States. It was deployed in troops equipped with Sherman tanks and Cromwell tanks to provide strong anti-tank firepower.

The most outstanding battle of the Fireflies was the battle where Wittmann died. Sergeant Gordon destroyed three Tigers with his bicycle. Whether the fourth Wittmann's car was destroyed is still controversial.

In addition, on June 44, 6.11, Lieutenant Harris of the 4th Guards Dragoons destroyed 5 Panthers with a Firefly.

虽然海军陆战队在太平洋投入了装备柴油引擎的M4A2，美军驱逐战车部队也在非洲和欧洲投入了以M4A2底盘作为基础量产的M10坦克歼击车，美军装甲部队长官中将雅各布·德弗斯却要求不在无行动战区之外投入柴油引擎的谢尔曼坦克。

首次投入战斗的丑国谢尔曼是在1942年11月在火炬行动中使用的M4和M4A1，在北非战役的过程中谢尔曼在坦克营里取代了M3李战车的位置。

虽然M4和M4A1在整个战争期间都继续服役，但丑国陆军在战争后期更倾向使用拥有500匹马力强力引擎的M4A3。

在1944年7月，M4A1首先装备76毫米长管火炮进入战斗，紧随其后的是M4A3。

By the end of the war, half of the Sherman tanks deployed by the U.S. Army in Europe were equipped with 76mm long-barreled artillery with high anti-tank capabilities, while the remaining half of the Sherman tanks were still equipped with 75mm short-barreled artillery.

Some units have a mixture of models equipped with both types of artillery.

第一种装备HVSS悬吊系统的车型是M4A3(76)W NEAA又称M4A3E8型，参加了二站。

In the Pacific theater, the M4A2 tank was also a nightmare for the Japanese army. In the battles on Saipan, Iwo Jima and Okinawa in the Pacific theater, the Japanese army basically had no frontal firepower to directly confront the Sherman series. To destroy the M4 Series tanks usually have to rely on well-concealed anti-tank guns to kill them at close range or even human-human special attacks to be effective against them.

Another anti-tank weapon used by the Japanese army is magnet explosives. For this reason, the U.S. Marine Corps has to add wooden boards to the body of the M4A2.

自由法军使用的M4A2占了相当高的比例，法国也是唯一经由租借法案接收M4A3E2“巨无霸“的国家。

The Polish Army used many Sherman Fireflies and derivatives equipped with 76mm long-barreled guns, and the Nationalist Government's Indian Expeditionary Force received a small number of M4A2s as fire support vehicles for tank regiments.

Mao Xiong prefers Sherman tanks equipped with diesel engines because the tanks it manufactures, such as the T-34, also use diesel engines.

Therefore, it is the country that uses a large number of M75A76 equipped with 4mm short-barreled artillery and 2mm long-barreled artillery after the British Alliance.

Unlike the British, M4A2 accounts for most of the Sherman tanks owned by Mao Xiong.

Sherman tanks using the HVSS suspension system were not accepted and used until the end of the war.

The Sherman tank was called "Em Cha" by Soviet officers and soldiers because the number 4 with the opening on the top resembled the Cyrillic letter chaЧ.

According to veteran LOZA's recollection, Sherman's shells will not explode in fire, so they are safer than the T-34.

The Mao Xiong 4th Guards Tank Brigade, which was the first to equip the M5 "Sherman" tank to aid the Soviet Union, gave this tank a high evaluation.

The brigade commander wrote in a report on October 1943, 10: This tank "runs very fast, is easy to engage in pursuit operations, has strong tactical capabilities, has the destructive power of grenades and the armor-piercing ability of armor-piercing projectiles." All can meet the requirements. Its disadvantage is that the target is high, especially in grassland operations, the target is obvious."

The report also specifically compared the M4 medium tank with the T-34 tank. It believed that the M4 tank was "light and easy to operate. It rarely breaks down during long marches. The engine can work for a long time without maintenance. It is a reliable tank." tank". This evaluation is still not low.

The M4 "Sherman" tanks that aided the Soviet Union participated in a series of major battles from the Battle of Kursk to the capture of Berlin, and played a major role in the Soviet counterattack.

特别是在1944年6月的夏季攻势(史称白俄罗斯战役)中，白俄罗斯第3方面军所属的第3“斯大林格勒近卫军”的“谢尔曼”坦克装备数量占了56%。

第3方面军的第9近卫机械化旅的季亚辛克中尉率领的坦克排创造出击毁德军4门野战炮、30辆军用车辆、击毙德军80人的辉煌战绩，而己方仅损失1辆“谢尔曼”坦克。

在中缅印战区方面，M4系列有一部分提供了英国军队，而在印度整训的中华民国驻印军在1944年也接收了少量的M4A4，M4A4原先不在租借法案的清单内。

However, the experience of the tank regiment of the Indian Army using M1943A3 tanks to fight the Japanese army at the end of 3 found that the protection of the M3 series was insufficient. Therefore, during the short break after the counterattack, the US military requested updated tanks.

The US military provided some M4A2s to assist the British army for use by tank regiments, with the total number not exceeding one company.

The M4A4 paint of the Chinese garrison in India is very distinctive. Not only does it have "Assault" written on the body, but also cat's eyes and whiskers are painted on the turret. It once fought against Japanese tanks in Guijie, and set a record of successfully killing Japanese tanks. .

二站结束后，丑国基本上淘汰除了装有76毫米长管炮或105毫米榴弹炮的M4A3E8以外的M4系列，剩余的坦克除了弃置于各国战场便是以军事物资出售。

During the Peninsular War from 1950 to 1953, the Sherman tank was still the tank commonly used by the US military.

A 1954 U.S. survey showed that there were 119 tank-to-tank battles during the Korean War, 104 of which involved Army tank units and 15 of which involved Marine tanks.

其中M4A3E8参战的59起(50%)，M26是38起(32%)，M46是12起(10%)，M24是10起(8%)。

其中只有24起有三辆以上的朝鲜T-34或Su-76M参战，在这些战斗中美方有34辆坦克被击毁，只有15辆是不可恢复损失。

There are 34 T-85-97s confirmed to have been destroyed by tanks, and the Ugly Army has 18 unconfirmed results.

击毁的T-34-85有39%归于M26，12%M46，剩下的大部分由M4击毁的。

The U.S. statistics on T-34 personnel losses found that 75% died after the tank was destroyed, while the U.S. tank crew mortality rate was 18%. Of course, there is a reason why the U.S. Americans are accustomed to repeatedly bombarding destroyed tanks.

Post-war Sherman tanks also served in many countries around the world and participated in several regional conflicts at the end of the 20th century.

Some countries (especially Israel) used new types of weapons and modified them so that they could continue to stand out on the battlefield, while various derivatives were used by various countries until the 1970s and were replaced by newer support vehicles.

霓虹所使用的M4A3E8型是根据MSA协定供给霓虹陆上自卫队，直到1970年代中期才被61式坦克完全取代以色列的以色列国防军广泛的装备了包含使用法制75毫米火炮的M-50“超级谢尔曼“和拥有105毫米火炮的M51谢尔曼，及其他多种的改装及衍生车型。

Sherman tanks were also used by both armies involved in the Second Battle of Kashmir and the Indo-Pak War (1971).

South America continued to use Sherman tanks long after the war.

The Chilean Army listed the Sherman as active equipment until 1989, and Paraguay is the only country in South America that continues to equip the Sherman tank.

Performance of the M4 Sherman Tank In all fairness, the M4 Sherman is not only a poor design, but also has many advantages and the most advanced technology at the time.

First of all, the M4 Sherman was the most reliable tank in World War II. The ruggedness and durability of its power system were even inferior to Soviet tanks, and even German tanks were far behind.

German Tiger Leopard tanks require overhaul every 1 kilometers, and the tank must be shipped back to the factory for overhaul.

The Sherman tank requires only minimal field maintenance.

Reliable performance and very few failures make the service rate of US tanks much higher than that of German tanks.

The production design of the M4 Sherman tank was probably the best in World War II.

The manufacturers that develop and produce tanks in the United States are automobile factories such as General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler. They adopt the production line principle advocated by Henry Ford, so they can produce in large quantities and significantly reduce costs.

During World War II, China produced a total of 287 armored fighting vehicles of various types, including nearly 000 M5 Sherman tanks.

The most interesting thing is that the size of the Sherman tank is based on the cabin design of the American "Liberty Ship", which is very convenient for ocean transportation.

It seems that the Ugly Army understands the importance of logistics very thoroughly.

The M4 Sherman tank also possesses several world-leading technologies.

First of all, the turret rotation device was the fastest in World War II. It only took less than 10 seconds to rotate once. This allowed the Sherman to react quickly in close-range tank battles, shoot quickly and destroy the opponent.

Secondly, the Sherman was one of the few tanks in World War II equipped with a gun vertical stabilizer, which could accurately aim at the target and fire while moving.

The Sherman's 500-horsepower gasoline engine was also one of the best tank engines in World War II, giving the Sherman tank a top highway speed of 47 kilometers per hour.

These advantages are very helpful for mobile operations.

The M4A2 tank once aided Mao Xiong and was highly praised by Mao Xiong people. Its closed radiator has the characteristics of effectively utilizing engine power at lower power. The unique five-blade radiator fan blades have different angles. When running at high speed, It can reduce noise and make the tank better concealed.

But the Sherman tank still has its very prominent shortcomings:

1. The firepower is not enough to fight against the new German tanks.

2. Gasoline-powered engines can easily catch fire after being hit.

3. The vehicle body is tall, which increases the area where bullets can be hit.

In the spring of 1942, the Sherman tank appeared on the North African battlefield for the first time. At that time, the tanks equipped by Rommel's Africa Corps were mainly Panzer III tanks and a small number of Panzer IV long-tube types. Panzer III tanks were the largest model in the Afrika Korps, but they could only penetrate Sherman's armor within 500 meters.

As a result, the Sherman tank had unquestionable dominance on the battlefield, and the British army used it extensively in the Battle of El Alamein.

After the battle, Rommel wrote: "The enemy's new Sherman tanks are more advanced than all our models."

In fact, on the North African battlefield, Germany only had a few weapons that could penetrate the Sherman tank armor from the front at a distance of 1000 meters, such as Tiger tanks, Pak 40 anti-tank guns and Type IV F2 tanks.

By the Battle of Normandy, the M4's opponents were no longer just the early Panzer III tanks. The emergence of the Panzer IV tanks (long tube type), Tiger heavy tanks and Panther tanks made the M4 vulnerable.

The main gun is the arm of the tank.

初期型谢尔曼坦克装备一门M3型75毫米L/40加农炮，该炮发射早期M72穿甲弹能够在914米距离上击穿60mm/30°钢板，穿甲能力略强于毛熊T-34早期型号的76mmF34火炮。

Facing the 80mm frontal armor of the German armored Panzer IV H-type, it could only be effectively penetrated at 100 meters.

Compared with the 75mm L/48 main gun of the German Panzer IV tank H type, it is even farther away.

However, after 1944, a large number of Sherman tanks were equipped with M61 capped armor-piercing projectiles, which improved their ability to deal with sloped armor and surface-hardened armor.

且穿深达到了500米击穿94mm/30°钢板，穿透力大大优于M72穿甲弹和苏制F-34主炮，且可以在500米的距离击毁德军在诺曼底的主力坦克-——四号坦克H型。

Slightly inferior to the No. 4 H type, it is even more powerless against Tiger and Panther tanks.

M4后期型号换装M1型76mm L/52火炮，使用M62型被帽穿甲弹对500米和1000米垂直钢板的贯穿力分别为116mm和106mm，对500码(457米)和1000码(914米)的30°(法线角)钢板则分别是98mm和90mm。

(End of this chapter)