Steel Soviet Union

Before the emergence of the Tiger VI tank, which had an overwhelming quality advantage over the Soviet T34 and KV series heavy tanks, the German army, which had already launched Operation Barbarossa and was in a period of slack, most urgently needed to solve the problem of the frontline armored forces facing it. The embarrassing situation of being too weak against Soviet tanks.

The enhancement and improvement plan for the Panzer IV tank, which was originally used to support infantry and provide front-line direct fire support, is proceeding step by step. At the same time, the improvement plan for the Panzer III tank, which was originally designed to counter enemy battlefield armor, is also underway. The Panzer IV project began at the same time.

When Operation Barbarossa was launched, the best anti-armor tank among the German armored forces and the one with the highest main gun penetration depth was the Panzer III J type.

The KWK38 42 times caliber 50mm tank gun equipped on this type of tank has excellent armor-piercing firepower on the European battlefield, which is enough to destroy the Soma S35 medium-sized tank that was the main tank of the French army from the front within a regular combat distance. tanks, but they were powerless when facing the heavier French B1 heavy tanks and the British Matilda heavy tanks.

However, in the previous blitzkrieg against Europe, the slow-moving British and French heavy tanks with outdated tactics were often defeated from the side by the German army who used cutting-edge blitzkrieg tactics to outflank them, or were transferred in before they had time to show their true strength. The 88 gun fired directly from the front to destroy it.

Thanks to the success of the Blitzkrieg against Europe, the Panzer III tank, which was very weak against enemy heavy armor, was not taken seriously by the German top brass. It was originally planned to replace the Panzer III tank as the main new frontline anti-armor force of the German army. The VK3001 tank plan was also shelved until Operation Barbarossa began and the Germans woke up when they encountered the Soviet T34 and KV.

The new Panzer III tank, which has been significantly improved and strengthened for anti-armor firepower, is equipped with a KWK39 60 times caliber 50 mm tank gun.

On the basis of ensuring that existing 50mm tank gun shells can continue to be used, the diameter of the main gun barrel is increased, and the acceleration time of the shell in the barrel is increased, thus further increasing the muzzle velocity of the shell itself. This also increases the penetration value of enemy tank armor.

The reason why the new and improved Panzer III tank is not equipped with a powerful main gun with a larger caliber is because the Panzer III tank itself did not consider the subsequent plan to install a larger caliber main gun at the beginning of the design, and it is relatively small. The turret cannot accommodate a larger breech.

On this basis, if you want to replace the main gun with a larger caliber, you will have to further enlarge the Panzer III tank turret to expand its internal space. However, as a result, the turret seat ring originally designed for the small turret will also have to be re-expanded. , otherwise it will cause unacceptable serious consequences such as the turret steering gear being overwhelmed.

If you want to replace the main gun with a new one, you need to replace it with a new turret. If you replace it with a new turret, you have to enlarge the turret seat. If the turret seat is enlarged, you may have to widen and elongate the tank chassis to accommodate it. This series of chain cause and effect The effect is almost equivalent to redesigning and manufacturing a new tank. The German tank engineers who roughly simulated this plan on the sketch quickly rejected it.

Based on this principle, when the caliber of the main gun was restricted, increasing the length of the main gun barrel to expand the main gun diameter became the only feasible modification plan for German tank designers to increase armor-piercing firepower.

Only the length of the main gun barrel was increased without any changes to the breech structure and chamber volume. The manufacturing process of the newly shipped KWK39 60 times caliber 50mm tank gun was therefore extremely smooth.

At the same time, the KWK39 main gun, which uses the same breech structure and chamber volume as the previous KWK38 main gun, also inherits the same universal shells as the former. This is undoubtedly a good thing for the German army, which has no additional production resources to waste in a state of war. Therefore, the 50mm tank shells stored in various tank units on the front line will not be wasted.

According to the original historical trend, this type of German frontline anti-armor medium tank, named Panzer III J1, should have been quickly installed in the front-line troops after it was officially put into mass production in December 1941.

But the time he was currently in was undoubtedly mid-November 1941. This not-too-ridiculous time difference and the reality before him made Malashenko feel a little worried.

"Is it possible that my butterfly effect has spread to the Germans? So this batch of No. 3 J1 debuted more than half a month earlier than in history. Is it because of historical records that are wrong or is it really because of me? Caused by it?”

Malashenko, who was asking himself and thinking hard on the spot, said nothing. Such a frozen expression looked to squad leader Dyakov on the side as if it represented something bad, and he was also very worried in his heart. After gathering his courage, squad leader Tyakov took a step forward and asked Malashenko.

"Comrade Malashenko, is there anything wrong with these German tanks? Are these cunning guys deceiving us and playing a conspiracy?"

Squad leader Tyakov, who served in the infantry, knew nothing about tanks. The random words from his mouth soon attracted the attention of Malashenko, who was in a daze beside him.

"Conspiracy? No, there is no conspiracy. It's just that these German tanks are a little different from the ones I have encountered before. They are obviously new tanks that the Germans have just transferred from the rear. Look at that main gun, if If you have seen other German Panzer III tanks before, you will definitely find something different.”

Squad leader Tyakov was confused by what Malashenko said. Therefore, in his opinion, the tank gun should be the same as the howitzer of the infantry division. The barrel must be as thick as possible. Only in this way will it work. It was powerful enough. After all, even the regiment leader he respected and admired, Lieutenant Colonel Yakov, had always thought so and mentioned it to everyone.

"I still don't quite understand, Comrade Malashenko, the gun barrel of this German tank is as thin as a large rifle. How powerful can such a thing be? I still think that the KV2 heavy tank of our Red Army is the only He is the most reliable comrade. The first time I saw that 152mm howitzer, I was so frightened that I couldn’t close my mouth.”

Malashenko simply smiled at squad leader Diyakov's unprofessional words and stopped replying. In his heart, Malashenko was eager to know where these J1 Type III tanks came from, and then he turned his head over again. Turned aside.