Iron Sonata of World War II

Just look at the example of the Fourth Middle East War that broke out in 1973 on the previous plane to see how significant the tank's battlefield repair ability is.At the beginning of the war, the armored forces of the Arab coalition forces were overwhelming in numbers against Israel, specifically 4500 tanks from Arab countries against Israel's 2000 tanks.

However, as the war progressed, the situation quickly reversed. The replenishment speed of the armored forces of the Arab countries was far from keeping up with the consumption of the battlefield. In the end, the number of tanks that Israel can actually put into the battlefield is almost the same as that of Arab countries.The main reason for this phenomenon is that Israel repaired a total of 20 damaged tanks within 3400 days, including more than 600 immobile Soviet tanks abandoned on the battlefield by Arab countries.As a result, Israel suffered permanent losses of only 800 tanks, while the number of Arab countries was 2600. The balance of power between the two sides was reversed quietly.

It is also worth noting that two-thirds of the 3400 vehicles repaired by Israel were completed on the battlefield, and only one-third of the tanks were dragged back to the rear repair factory. Quickly re-entering the field is very beneficial.Although Israel's amazing tank battlefield repair capabilities are based on its relatively small land depth, after all, Israel's tank repair factories and parts storage locations are relatively close to the front line, but this does not prevent Helena from A summary and sublimation of some experience in tank warfare in the Middle East.

At the micro-design level, Helena's measures to improve the tank's battlefield maintenance capabilities mainly include four measures:

The first is to integrate the tank’s engine, cooling fan, and transmission into a power pack. When the tank’s power system breaks down or is hit, if it is a minor fault that is easy to eliminate, just open the power hatch and the fan. , the engine and transmission can be repaired. If the on-site repair is difficult or the time is tight, the power pack can be lifted out directly through the hook on the fan and the engine, and then a complete power pack can be hoisted in. The whole process takes no more than half of the time. Hours.

The second is to combine the swing arm, road wheels and elastic elements of the tank suspension system into a unified suspension unit. When a certain suspension system is damaged, it can be replaced as a whole on the battlefield.

Third, the gun barrel adopts a front-drawing structure, which is different from the rear-drawing barrel commonly used by tanks in this period. Whether it is the No. 40 tank or the No. [-] tank, the barrel can be drawn from the front of the turret. When replacing the gun barrel, there is no need to lift the entire turret from the vehicle body (because the front of the tank turret has a high probability of being shot in battle as high as [-]%, the probability of the gun barrel being damaged on the battlefield is actually not small of).

The fourth is to strengthen the self-repair ability of the tank crew. Since the officers and soldiers of the logistics force may not always be able to arrive at the damaged tank in time, in Helena's view, it is also very important to strengthen the tank crew's own repair ability. The important thing is, after all, do it yourself and have enough food and clothing.Both the No. [-] tank and the No. [-] tank carried a set of pocket electric hoist components. If necessary, they could be combined on the turret to form a small crane. The five crews took care of some common tank failures by themselves.

Relying on the above measures, the average battlefield repair time of the No. [-] and No. [-] tanks can be reduced to one-fifth or even shorter than that of the contemporary tanks. This is extremely beneficial for improving the efficiency of the battlefield utilization of equipment. After all, the strength of the battlefield The comparison is not how many tanks you have in total, but how many tanks you can put on the battlefield at the same time.

Chapter 158 Armored Artillery

Among the high-level German Army, it was not only Lieutenant General Lutz and Colonel Guderian who were excited about the development of the No. [-] and No. [-] tanks. Major General von Manstein is also very interested in this new tracked chassis, but Manstein's focus is quite different from that of Guderian and others.

We know that the original intention of tanks during World War I was to serve as mobile bunkers to support the attacks of their own infantry on the battlefield with dense trenches and firepower points, so as to break the terrible deadlock of the war on the Western Front battlefield at that time.After the end of World War I, with the continuous advancement of internal combustion power technology, the mobility of tanks has also continued to increase.

During World War I, when the first combat-worthy tank, the MK.I "Grand Nomad", was put into the battlefield, its top speed was only 6 kilometers per hour, which was basically the speed of normal people walking fast.In this context, tanks, which function as iron boxes crawling at a snail's pace, are indeed only used as mobile bunkers to provide cover for infantry.

However, in the 30s, the situation changed. The faster model of the tank had a speed of more than 40 kilometers per hour. This speed was beyond the reach of the best infantry.So far, the tank has truly become a powerful combat platform integrating firepower, maneuverability and protection. Binding it with the slow traditional infantry will undoubtedly limit the tank's combat capabilities.So the idea of ​​gathering tanks as a mobile assault force came into being.England's Fuller, Germany's Lutz, and Guderian are all representative figures.The idea of ​​concentrating tanks as a mobile assault force is undoubtedly correct, and the actual combat experience of the previous plane has proved this point.

In the last plane, the French assigned the tanks to the infantry like peppercorns, which undoubtedly greatly limited the mobility and assault capabilities of the tanks. Although the performance of the sporadic tanks put into the battlefield was not bad, they could not form a joint force at all. Can only be wiped out like moths to a flame;

The British follow another way of thinking in the use of tanks. They divide tanks into infantry tanks and cruiser tanks, trying to take into account the demands of tanks supporting infantry and high mobility operations, but the tanks designed under this idea, either Become a slow iron tortoise (infantry tank), or become a big crispy skin (cruise tank) that can run but cannot defend, and the two types of tanks are still competing for resources in production, and finally the number of each type Neither is enough.

After all, in the last plane, Britain and France did not lose in the quantity and quality of tanks, but in the wrong application of tanks, and lost in the low combat efficiency caused by the wrong application.

However, every coin has two sides. Lutz and Guderian concentrated tanks as a mobile assault force. Of course, the tanks were freed from the shackles of traditional infantry, so that they could unscrupulously use their trinity of mobility, protection, and firepower. Huge advantages , But it also brought a serious problem: the original intention of the design of the tank was to support the infantry in combat, and now you gather all the tanks together to fight in the field, what should the brothers of the infantry division do?

If you put it in the early 20th century, the answer to this question is very simple, because the infantry division's style of play at that time was almost the same: the infantry rushed after the artillery bombarded, and the infantry rushed after the artillery bombarded.However, in the 40s and [-]s, although ordinary infantry divisions could not be as proud as the armored divisions of the same period, as a salted fish with ideals...ah no, as an infantry division with ideals, I still hope that there are some new ones in hand. Guys come to help them overcome difficulties.

……

"Please come in quickly, Uncle Erich, I have prepared everything you want." Helena heard the knock on the door and opened the door, and there was an officer from the Army General Staff Headquarters standing outside the door. Major General Manstein immediately guessed the purpose of the other party's trip.Major General Manstein, who was invited into the study by Helena, was still in a daze at this moment. Before entering the door, he was still thinking about how to get Helena to accept his point of view, but Miss Seekert seemed to have already known his purpose. .Obviously, he himself is still in the preliminary stages of brewing that plan, and he has never mentioned it to anyone...

"If I'm not wrong, this is what you want." Helena carefully opened a locked cabinet in the study, took out a neatly folded drawing paper from it, unfolded it The bed was placed on the table in front of Major General Manstein, and then pushed towards Manstein.

Only then did Major General Manstein see clearly what was on the paper. It turned out to be a gouache painting, and it was a painting with poor skills. However, this is not the point. Scenery or people, but a strange-looking chariot. The chassis of the chariot is somewhat similar to the chassis of the No. [-] tank prototype he saw when he inspected the Henschel company's factory a few days ago, but this car does not have No. A tank-like turret has only a low body with a large inclination at the front, and a cannon protrudes from the pig-nose gun mantlet on the front of the body.

Isn't this exactly what he envisioned the chariot to look like?Looking up at the smiling Helena, Major General Manstein suddenly felt a sense of embarrassment that his thoughts had been completely seen through.

It turned out that in Manstein's vision, after the tank was stripped from the infantry division, the infantry division still needed a cheap weapon that could accompany the infantry forward and shoot directly or curved at the enemy's fixed firepower point or tank. arms.This weapon should not be a tank, but an "armored artillery" with battlefield mobility.This kind of artillery combat vehicle is not part of the armored force, so it will not be incorporated into the armored division, but will be under the unified command of the divisional artillery of the infantry division. The main task is to perform fire support for the entire infantry division.

"What do you think? Uncle Erich. Is this what you want?" Helena's voice interrupted Major General Manstein's feverish thoughts.

"As you can see, this tank, which I call the 'Stug Gun II', was actually developed on the chassis of the Panzer II, and now experts from Rheinmetall and Henschel are now It is already being designed, and it is expected that you will be able to see it by the end of this year, or early next year at the latest, I hope my poor drawing skills have not spoiled Uncle Erich's first impression of this tank." Helena was a little embarrassed say.

"You can trust me with technical issues, but the assault gun, a new type of weapon, will definitely cause a dispute between armored and artillery units. This matter can only be coordinated by Uncle Erich himself. Lutz and Guderian is preparing to build an armored division, and if they know that the artillery of the infantry division is going to compete with them for the chassis, they will probably go crazy. But don't worry, Uncle Fletcher will support you in this matter." After sending Mann away Before Stein, Helena said so.

Chapter 159 Infantry Companion

Major General Manstein, who was standing on the street, was still in a daze until he came out of Seekert's house.Before coming here, he had already thought of a lot of words to persuade Helena, but none of them were used.Because Helena not only said everything he wanted to say, but also considered it more thoughtfully than him. As a result, poor Manstein was acting as Helena's good student from the moment he entered the door, and he didn't even have a chance to interrupt from the beginning to the end. No……

In the last plane, the concept of "assault gun" was actually officially proposed by Manstein in 1935. He said: "Infantry divisions must be equipped with tracked assault guns, and they will participate in the attack together with the infantry. Targets are enemy bunkers, machine gun emplacements, anti-tank guns, and other obstacles."

In Manstein's vision, the assault gun is actually a mechanized artillery platform that is cheaper than a tank (because the relatively troublesome turret and the rotating mechanism that serves it are omitted), but has stronger firepower and thicker armor. And its main task is to provide direct fire support for the infantry division's operations.

Although there were many opposing voices in the army at the time, Manstein's plan was adopted with the support of Varner von Fritsch, then commander-in-chief of the army.So from June 1936, Daimler Benz began to design a turretless infantry support combat vehicle that could be equipped with a 6mm main gun with a diameter of 24 times based on the chassis of the Panzer III.

The manufacture of the new tank was in charge of Alcatel, and the first batch of five prototypes came off the production line in 1937. This is the famous "No. 1939 Assault Gun" in later generations.However, due to the insufficient production capacity of the No. [-] tank chassis at that time, Guderian's armored units could only be given priority. Therefore, the officers and soldiers of the sadly urged infantry divisions looked forward to the stars and the moon. assault gun.

The consequences of the No. 30 assault gun not being in place in time can be imagined. After the German armored forces tore through the Polish defense line, the German infantry division, which lacked effective direct fire support, still suffered from the stubborn resistance of the remnants of the Polish army in the bunker. A lot of trouble.After paying the price of blood, before the French campaign, the German infantry division finally got a total of 50 assault guns A, which is also the first official production model of the assault gun III, with a 24 mm thick front Armor, the main firepower is still a short-barreled 75mm gun with a diameter of [-] times.

虽然参加法国战役的三号突击炮数量并不多，但在执行支援步兵任务时却依然表现出了极高的作战效能，其50毫米的前装甲足以在中等距离上抵御当时大多数反坦克武器的打击，而那门24倍径75毫米炮虽然初速只有385米/秒，但依然可以敲碎当时大部分步兵工事以及装甲目标（短管75毫米炮可以在1000米的距离上击穿倾斜30度放置的35毫米钢板）。

As the war continued, the weight of armor confrontation in the war gradually increased. After the No. 43 assault gun was installed with a long barrel of 48 times or 75 times the diameter of the 10000mm main gun, it became a very effective anti-tank weapon.In the last plane, the No. 20000 assault gun, which produced only a little over [-] units, destroyed more than [-] Allied tanks at the cost of thousands of vehicles. Considering that the No. [-] assault gun cost only two-thirds of the tank So, this cost-effectiveness ratio is quite astonishing!

Although in the last plane, generally speaking, each German infantry division can only be assigned to one assault gun company at most, and it is often the configuration of a beggar company with only a few vehicles in the whole company, and at least one company has only a few vehicles. A mere 6 cars.But please don't underestimate the few to a dozen assault guns. It was these assault guns that allowed the German infantry divisions to fight against the Allied armored troops in the previous plane. A record that is not commensurate with strength.

In fact, if you don't have a certain number of assault guns as a mobile force, no matter how many anti-tank weapons an infantry division has in hand, it will be difficult to guard against the opponent's armored assault, because your anti-tank weapons must be scattered in a wide area. On the front, the opponent's armored forces can concentrate their terrifying attack power on a very narrow front and release it at the time and place they choose.

At this time, the value of the No. [-] assault guns is reflected. With these assault guns that can be deployed flexibly, for the armored units of the enemy trying to break through, the front line of the defending infantry division is no longer purely static, but It presents a combination of dynamic and static.For such a resilient line of defense, the difficulty for enemy armored forces to break through has greatly increased.In fact, in the last plane, when the Allied armored forces tried to break through the German infantry defense line, they were ambushed by the No. [-] assault gun more than once, and they often suffered heavy losses as a result.

Although the assault gun is not without its shortcomings, for example, due to the turretless design, the shooting range of the assault gun is often relatively narrow.Although there are heavy armor and powerful guns, the assault guns are not very suitable for rushing to the front line and acting as arrows to break through the enemy's defense line when the flanks lack the cover of armored units.But there is no perfect weapon in the world.

In Helena's eyes, the assault gun was not only an ideal infantry companion during World War II, but also a very cost-effective weapon.Relatively thick armor, relatively powerful artillery, qualified maneuverability and relatively low cost allow an infantry division to be equipped with only a small number of assault guns, which can greatly enhance the ability of the entire division to overcome the enemy in offensive operations and defensive operations. flexibility.

1 Chapter [-] Convergent Evolution

Now that we are talking about assault guns, we have to mention another armored unit that appeared on the last plane during World War II. This is the tank destroyer that is somewhat similar to the assault gun.Unlike the assault gun, which was planned and developed in 1935, the appearance of the tank destroyer was largely a product of emergency.

In the last plane, as early as 1940 before the French campaign, some people in the German army realized that their poor anti-tank firepower might not be able to penetrate the armor of the new tanks equipped by Britain and France.Therefore, at the request of the military, Alcatel decided to use its chassis to produce a batch of tanks equipped with powerful anti-tank guns based on the No. [-] tank, which was obviously outdated at the time, for use by the German armored forces.

In order to allow the old No. 47 tank platform to have strong anti-armor capabilities, Alcatel removed the dual-mounted machine gun turrets of the No. 6.4 tank, and built a semi-open fixed battle room on the original position of the machine gun turret. , and then a 1180mm anti-tank gun produced by the Czech Skoda company was stuffed into the fighting compartment.After such a drastic transformation, this chariot with a total combat weight of only 60 tons suddenly has the anti-armor ability to penetrate [-]mm vertical steel plates at a distance of [-] meters.The modified product is called the No. [-] tank destroyer, which is also the world's first tank destroyer.

On the French battlefield, the No. 38 tank destroyer achieved good results by relying on the powerful main gun at the time. The Germans who had tasted the sweetness decided to make persistent efforts, so a larger-scale modification activity began.The No. 75 tank chassis produced by Germany itself, the 40t tank chassis, and various captured light tracked chassis have become the targets of transformation. These old chassis are equipped with a 75mm anti-tank gun (these anti-tank guns Some are the original German pak76 10mm anti-tank guns, and some are even modified from the Soviet [-]mm cannon), and immediately become a combat weight of about [-] tons, but has outstanding anti-tank capabilities combat vehicle.This is the "Weasel" series of tank destroyers known to military fans of later generations.

Following this line of thought, the Germans installed an astonishing 20 times more powerful door on the 71-ton No. 88/1000 chassis (combining the chassis parts of the No. 30 and No. 143 tanks). [-]mm anti-tank gun (which can penetrate a [-]mm homogeneous armor plate inclined at [-] degrees at a distance of [-] meters), and developed the famous "Rhinoceros" tank destroyer.If it is only developed to this point, we can think that there are still obvious differences between tank destroyers and assault guns. This difference is mainly reflected in the following aspects:

First of all, from the point of view of subordinate organization, tank destroyers belong to armored forces, and usually act together with armored units such as tanks; while assault guns belong to artillery, and usually act together with infantry units.

Secondly, from the perspective of protection mode, most of the fighting compartments of tank destroyers are semi-open, with thin armor protection only on the front and sides, and the top and rear are usually not covered by armor (at most, a shed can be built to prevent sun damage. exposed to rain).The assault gun has a fully enclosed armored fighting compartment from the very beginning.

Finally, from the perspective of combat missions, the combat mission of the tank destroyer is very clear, which is to destroy the enemy's armored targets.The main mission of the assault gun is to support the infantry. Specifically, it uses direct fire to remove the nails on the infantry's path. As for the occasional anti-armor, it is just a matter of convenience, not the main business of the assault gun during this period.

Tank destroyers and assault guns were so different in their respective childhoods that no one would have thought that the two species would ever cross paths.But fate is so mysterious. Under the strong impetus of combat needs, tank destroyers and assault guns soon began to evolve more and more like each other.

As mentioned earlier, the early tank destroyers were the product of the urgent need of the armored forces to improve the anti-armor capability, and naturally had a very strong emergency color, so most of the early tank destroyers originated from the reuse of old armored platforms.The tank destroyers modified in this way generally have qualified mobility and powerful firepower that is not commensurate with the total combat weight, but the protection ability can only rely on the belief of the armored soldiers.

The weak and incomplete armor made the early tank destroyers look like a naked knight holding a sharp epee, and their use was greatly restricted. Not only were they incapable of frontal armor confrontation tasks, And it is also easily destroyed by light weapons by enemy infantry units that are approaching in a roundabout way.Tank destroyers that can only shoot black guns in safe places obviously cannot satisfy armored commanders, and it is imperative to enhance the protection capabilities of tank destroyers.

The tank destroyers here urgently need to improve their protection capabilities, while the assault guns over there urgently need to increase their anti-tank firepower.The armor-piercing power of the 24-times-diameter 75mm main gun on the No. 75 assault gun could barely handle it in the early stages of the war, but in the face of more and more thick-skinned monsters that appeared frequently on the battlefield, the armor-piercing shells of the short-barreled [-]mm gun could hit it. It can only be heard.As we have said before, in the face of the armored forces used intensively by the offensive side, the defensive infantry divisions are difficult to resist with only the towed anti-tank guns with poor mobility. As one of the few mobile forces in the hands of the infantry division, strengthen The anti-tank capability of the assault gun was equally imperative.

In the biological world, two distantly related species often evolve similar morphological features or structures due to similar habitat environments. Biologists name this scene "convergent evolution".This phenomenon also occurs in the weapons world, in tank destroyers and assault guns, two weapons and equipment that do not have much intersection.

So there was a scene we are very familiar with. In the later period of the war, tank destroyers and assault guns equipped with long-barreled artillery blended with each other, and even gradually became indistinguishable from each other.Not only is it indistinguishable in appearance, but its functions tend to overlap. Even the barriers of organization have been broken to a large extent. The stalkers also ran to the infantry division for support.

In order to describe this phenomenon, and to include some assault guns equipped with long-barrel cannons into the sequence of armored soldiers, Guderian even created a new concept in the last plane: Jagdpanzer (hunting chariot), and Panzerjaeger (literally translated as armored hunter) of the past.This concept includes not only the traditional tank destroyer Panzerjaeger, but also an assault gun with a long barrel gun and strong anti-tank capabilities.

So far, the tank destroyer with a fully enclosed combat room and the assault gun equipped with a long barrel have finally really come together, no matter whether it is form and spirit, or name and reality, they can no longer be separated.

Chapter 161

Familiar with the development trend of the integration of tank destroyers and assault guns in the future, Helena decided to make the assault guns of this plane have the dual functions of infantry support and armor confrontation at the beginning of its birth.In order to achieve this design goal, Helena believes that this assault gun should have the following four basic characteristics: the first is a powerful firepower that can effectively attack soft and hard targets, and the second is that it can be immune to most of the enemy's counterattacks at normal combat distances. The omnidirectional protection of tank firepower, the third is the mobility that can keep up with mechanized troops and meet the requirements of mobile defense and defense operations, and the fourth is the low procurement cost that is lower than the cost of the No. [-] tank.

It is not easy to create an affordable all-rounder on the battlefield of the No. 20 tank with a load of more than 25 tons. Fortunately, for Helena, a traverser, the No. [-] tank destroyer in the previous plane is a very Good reference object.The No. [-] tank destroyer is a tank destroyer with a total combat weight of [-] tons developed by Germany based on the No. [-] tank chassis in the previous plane. The purpose is to replace the No. [-] assault gun that has been changed to the end of the mountain. .

However, in the last plane, this goal did not become a reality.The main reason for the failure was that the production process of the Panther, the Panther, which was supposed to replace the Panther IV, was too complicated, and the output had not been able to reach the ideal level.In order to maintain the number of tanks in the armored forces, Guderian had to order the continued production of the old No. 2000 tanks. This directly led to the fact that the Germans could not spare enough chassis for the No. [-] tank destroyers.In the end, the total output of various types of No. [-] tank destroyers was only about [-], which was only one-fifth of the No. [-] assault gun.

Although the No. 80 Tank Destroyer uses the old No. 50 chassis, this moderately maneuverable chassis is equipped with 70 mm thick battle room armor inclined at 75 degrees and a 200-fold diameter of [-] mm with strong penetration. After the main gun, it immediately transformed into a very lethal anti-armor weapon.In the last plane, the Panzer IV Destroyer in the defensive battle brought heavy damage to the Allied armored forces.For example, during the Battle of Caen, a No. [-] tank destroyer battalion under the "Hitler Youth Division" destroyed more than [-] Allied tanks, but its own losses were very slight.

Although it was indirectly tricked by the "Black Panther" tank, the total output of the No. [-] tank destroyer was not outstanding, but in Helena's eyes, the No. [-] tank destroyer was still a very good army equipment, and it was a key factor in the war. One of the two most cost-effective armored combat vehicles of the German army in the later period (the other is the "Stalker" light tank destroyer).Therefore, on the No. [-] assault gun, Helena also generally followed the thinking of the No. [-] tank destroyer in the previous plane.

Of course, Helena will not let the No. [-] assault gun simply copy the No. [-] tank destroyer. As a hastily launched product, although the overall idea of ​​the No. [-] tank destroyer in the previous plane is correct, it is constrained by the old The No. [-] tank platform still inevitably has many technical gaps.

For example, although the ultra-long barreled 70mm gun with a multiple diameter of 75 has a strong anti-armor capability, the power of the high-explosive shell is relatively average and the productivity is not ideal. Otherwise, the early models of the No. 48 tank destroyer would not be able to Take the 75 times the diameter of the [-]mm gun on the No. [-] tank and make up the number.Another example is that the thick frontal armor, the long-barreled artillery, and the heavy transmission are all stacked on the front of the tank, causing the center of gravity of the Panzer IV to be too far forward, which not only greatly increases the weight of the first set of suspension. burden, and seriously affected the off-road performance of the tank.

We know that due to the defects of too small diameter of the road wheel and insufficient movable travel, the off-road performance of the Panzer IV chassis is not considered excellent.On the top-heavy Panzer IV tank destroyer, the problem is even more prominent.Some German armored soldiers even jokingly called the Panzer IV "Guderian's Duck" because of its wobbly running.

Of course, the No. 60 assault gun of this plane cannot replicate these shortcomings of the No. [-] tank destroyer.On the one hand, in Helena's plan, there is no place for a fishing rod with a barrel length exceeding [-] times the diameter; on the other hand, the chassis of the No. The weight distribution of the tank was improved to a large extent, and it also allowed the gun installation position of the StuG II to be further lowered.

As for the competition for production capacity between the No. [-] tank and the No. [-] tank destroyer in the previous plane, it will not happen in this plane. If five years later, the production lines of the No. [-] and No. [-] tanks are still producing tanks, it will only It shows that the development of a new generation of tanks has encountered serious problems, and it is impossible for Helena to allow such a situation to happen.

二号突击炮的研制工作由亨舍尔公司和莱茵金属公司合作完成，但它的主炮却是一门由克虏伯公司提供的60倍径90毫米高压加农炮。和上个位面虎式坦克上的KwK36型56倍径88毫米主炮一样，本位面的60倍径90毫米坦克炮同样是由同口径的高平两用炮演变而来的。

It's just that in this plane, Helena pinched out Krupp's idea of ​​​​designing a replaceable inner chamber on this high-level dual-purpose gun early.History has long proved that in large-scale wars, this design not only fails to save money, but instead increases the manufacturing process in vain and reduces the potential for increasing the chamber pressure.You must know that, as the key target of the opponent, most of the 88mm guns will not survive the day when the life of the bore is exhausted.Even if you are lucky enough to use up the life of the bore and not be destroyed, then simply replace the barrel and you're done.

60倍径90毫米坦克炮发射的被帽风帽穿甲弹可以在1000米的距离上穿透倾斜30度放置的150毫米的均质装甲。由于身管长度的关系，威力与上个位面中德国“猎豹”坦克歼击车上的Pak43型71倍径88毫米炮存在一定的差距，但也大大超过了另一款同样著名的苏联坦克歼击车Su-100上的那门53.5倍径100毫米主炮的穿透力。

What is the concept of this penetration?If placed in the previous plane, the main gun of the No. 2000 assault gun is enough to destroy Pershing head-on at a distance of 102 meters when only conventional armor-piercing bullets are used. Inclined at 47 degrees), Stalin-2 (frontal armor 120 mm, inclined at 30 degrees), Churchill-7 (frontal armor 152.4 mm, vertically arranged) these thick-skinned monsters.

It is worth mentioning that the productivity of this artillery is also quite good.After repeated weighing, Helena believes that in the field of high-pressure cannons, a barrel length of 50 to 60 times the diameter is almost the upper limit for the Germans to balance performance and production capacity.For example, in the last plane, Germany easily produced more than 2 56-caliber 88mm guns, but the combined output of 70-caliber 75mm guns and 71-caliber 88mm guns was only Thousands of doors.Fortunately, in the last plane, Germany did not put those exotic gadgets with a diameter of more than 100 times into production. Otherwise, it is estimated that the output can exceed 1000.

Chapter 162 Cost-effective

Due to the priority of ensuring sufficient firepower and protection, the No. 2.5 assault gun is expected to increase the weight of the No. 26.5 tank by [-] tons, making the combat weight of this tank reach [-] tons, which is slightly higher than the No. [-] tank on the previous plane. Destroyer.

In order to eliminate the negative impact of the increase in track pressure on off-roading, the No. 360 assault gun can be used in addition to the track width of 420 mm on the No. 45 tank. It can also choose a track with the same meshing hole distance but increased to 42 mm. mm track.However, due to the decrease in the power-to-weight ratio, the maximum road speed of the No. 40 assault gun is expected to drop from [-] kilometers per hour to [-] kilometers per hour, but it is still slightly higher than the speed of the No. [-] assault gun and the No. [-] tank destroyer in the previous plane. [-] km level.

Thanks to the compact and scientific rear-mounted power pack design, the chassis used by the No. [-] assault gun has at least three inherent advantages compared to the No. [-] tank destroyer with a front-mounted transmission system and a rear-mounted engine. The large transmission shaft that runs through the car body can save some space in the car; second, after moving the gearbox from the front to the rear, the weight of the front of the tank can be greatly reduced, thereby improving the balance of the tank; the third is that there is no An obstructive gearbox can further reduce the height of the tank's line of fire, which is not only conducive to the installation of a more powerful main gun, but also slightly reduces the height of the front armor in exchange for protection.

Thanks to these advantages, plus the total combat weight is 1.5 tons heavier than the No. [-] tank destroyer, the No. [-] assault gun can also free up a certain amount of weight for perfect protection when it is equipped with a heavier artillery. ability.The armor thickness and inclination angle of each part of the No. [-] assault gun are arranged as follows:

The thickness of the frontal armor is 90 mm, and it is arranged at a slope of 50 degrees to the rear;

The thickness of the upper side armor is 40 mm, and it is arranged inwardly at an angle of 35 degrees;

The thickness of the lower side armor is 40 mm, arranged vertically, and an additional 5 mm skirt armor can be hung on the outside of the track;

The thickness of the rear armor is 40 mm, and it is arranged at a 20-degree slope to the rear;

The thickness of the armor on the top of the fighting compartment is 20 mm, and it is arranged at a downward slope of 8 degrees, which can reduce the height of the frontal armor a little;

The top armor of the power cabin is 10 mm thick and arranged horizontally;

The thickness of the hull bottom armor is 10 mm (rear) to 20 mm (front), arranged horizontally.

……

It should be noted that the front armor of the No. 50 assault gun adopts a 60-degree inclination angle, which is smaller than the [-]-degree inclination angle of the front of the No. [-] tank body, so some protection gains will be lost.However, this is not because the designer does not know the benefits of increasing the head-up angle, but because an excessively large head-up angle will not only cause trouble for the pitching of the artillery, but also greatly compress the available space inside the car body, and the design Teachers must make some compromises on this issue.

You know, although the No. [-] assault gun also uses a four-man vehicle crew like the No. [-] tank, the crew of the No. [-] assault gun does not have the tall turret of the tank to stay.In other words, all the crew members of the No. [-] assault gun had to be squeezed into the narrow and low hull.Since the No. [-] assault gun requires the crew to maintain a high combat efficiency, it is definitely not feasible to blindly increase the head-up angle and compress the space of the crew.

Also based on this consideration, in the last plane, the heads of the No. 100 tank destroyer and the SU-50 tank destroyer both adopted a relatively compromised 100-degree inclination design.You read that right, the SU-50 Destroyer's head-up angle is actually 34 degrees, not the same 58 degrees as its prototype T-[-] tank.

Of course, there are not no guys with larger head-up angles. For example, the "Cheetah" has a head-up angle as high as 55 degrees, and the "Stalker" has a head-up angle as high as 60 degrees.However, these are special cases. The tall "Cheetah" already has plenty of internal space, and according to the positioning of the "Stalker", there is no need to consider continuous combat...

In general, in Helena's eyes, the No. [-] assault gun under development basically meets all her performance expectations for assault guns/tank destroyers during World War II: a powerful artillery with excellent infantry support and anti-armor capabilities, enough to Solid armor that is immune to firepower in most places at normal combat distances, qualified mobility that can meet tactical maneuvers, and relatively low procurement costs and good maintainability.

If this chariot is placed on the previous plane, compared with those recognized excellent works, Helena thinks that the No. 100 assault gun in this plane will not be inferior.We can take out two similar classic equipment from the previous plane: the Soviet SU-[-] tank destroyer and the German "Cheetah" tank destroyer for comparison.

Let's first compare the SU-100 tank destroyer.

In terms of firepower, the No. 100 assault gun has a faster rate of fire and a higher penetration than the SU-1000 main gun (in the case of using conventional armor-piercing shells, the penetration depth of 30 meters against a 150-degree inclined target is 121 mm and 100 mm respectively. mm), it can be said that except for the slightly weaker single-shot power of the grenade, the firepower of the No. [-] assault gun far exceeds that of the SU-[-];

在防护上，二号突击炮拥有比SU-100更坚固的正面装甲（90毫米/50度对75毫米/50度），大致相当的侧面装甲（40毫米/35度对45毫米/20度），弱于SU-100的后部装甲（40毫米/30度对45毫米/48度）。不过由于正面装甲对于装甲对抗的重要性更高，所以二号突击炮的整体防护能力还是超过SU-100的；

In terms of maneuvering, although the maximum road speed of the No. 100 assault gun is slightly lower than that of the SU-100, the SU-100 uses a simple but unreliable clutch steering gear. When turning, the driver needs to brake the driving wheel on one side with all his strength. .Since the SU-[-] does not have any intermediate turning radius, this is a very serious disadvantage for a tank destroyer without a turret.The No. [-] assault gun uses a double-sided planetary steering gear with a booster. Although it still belongs to the category of single-stream transmission, it has an additional intermediate steering radius, which far exceeds its opponents in terms of life, reliability, and ergonomics.

However, the above estimates are not the most depressing for SU-100. The most sad estimate for SU-100 is that the production of the No. 100 assault gun is also better than it (provided that both sides do not cut corners, or cut corners to the same extent).The No. [-] assault gun consumes less production man-hours and scarce resources than the SU-[-].

Due to the built-in Christie suspension, the SU-100 needs to process ten square metal tubes in different directions inside the car body to accommodate the coil springs. The No. 100 assault gun only needs to install the suspension units produced elsewhere; The driver's cabin door is opened on the front armor. The SU-75 needs to dig a large opening on the rear steel plate with a thickness of 100 mm. The No. [-] assault gun has no such troubles at all. The engine block of the SU-[-] is made of cast aluminum, which consumes a lot of energy and competes with the Air Force for precious aluminum. The No. [-] assault gun said that the durable cast iron cylinder is very fragrant...

In general, in Helena's eyes, the ease of production of Soviet weapons in the previous plane was not very satisfactory, and there were countless places that could be optimized.So why did Soviet tanks give the world the impression that they were easy to produce in World War II on the last plane?Leaving aside the point of cutting corners during the war, Helena believes that the most important reason is that Hans on the opposite side is really good, forcibly contrasting the ease of production of Soviet tanks, which can only be regarded as a pass, into a top student...

Next, let's compare the "Cheetah" tank destroyer.Unfortunately, in terms of single-vehicle performance, the "Cheetah" is indeed the best tank destroyer in the previous plane. Its firepower, protection, and mobility greatly surpass the No. 45.5 assault gun of this plane (this Helena cannot be blamed, the "Cheetah" is a 26.5-ton vehicle after all, and it is normal for the No. [-] assault gun to exceed [-] tons in terms of performance).

火力上，“猎豹”的71倍径88毫米炮拥有比二号突击炮更强的穿甲能力（1000米对30度斜靶穿深165毫米对150毫米）；防护上，虽然二号突击炮的正面防护效果几乎能和“猎豹”媲美（90毫米/50度对80毫米/55度），但猎豹拥有比二号突击炮更强的侧后防护（侧面是50毫米/30度对40毫米/35度，后部是40毫米/30度对40毫米/20度）；机动性上，猎豹不仅极速更快（时速55千米对42千米），而且拥有先进的双流转向。

Although the three major performances of the No. 71 assault gun are not as good as the "Cheetah", Helena still has a word to say to the "Cheetah". Wheels and double torsion bar suspension, and I don’t want to talk about the high-speed engine of the “Cheetah” that often needs to run at a limited speed, and I don’t even want to complain about the difficult-to-produce 88-fold [-]mm fishing rod main gun.

The only thing Helena wants to say is: the money to buy a "Cheetah" tank destroyer company is enough to equip a No. [-] assault gun battalion!Alright, now that Helena has finished speaking, let the stretcher team come in, and you can carry that "cheetah" down.

"Cheetah" tank destroyer: what are you going to do?Miss Helena, you can't do this to me!let me go!I bled in Normandy, I fought in the Ardennes, I want to see...

Chapter 163 One Machine Two Types