Chapter 38 Firepower and Maneuver

The 37mm anti-tank gun also shined in the early days of World War II in later generations. It was the main anti-tank gun of Germany. Of course, it was also an anti-tank gun that was rapidly falling behind and faced elimination.

But now, it is quite powerful to install a 37mm anti-tank gun on the tank, which is specially used to counter the opponent's tank!

The anti-infantry needs a large-caliber howitzer, and the ballistic of the howitzer is curved and the ballistic of the anti-tank gun is straight. These two types seem to be impossible to integrate at this stage!

"It seems that my idea is a bit too advanced." Cyric said: "I also have an idea, our tank firepower should be in one step, how about the 75mm gun with a long barrel? The barrel length is enlarged to About 40 times the caliber. When using armor-piercing bullets, try to achieve a penetration depth of about 100 mm.”

The 75mm gun with a long barrel is directly attached, and the penetration depth strives to reach 100mm!

Everyone present was shocked by Cyric's statement!

In this era, tanks can have more than ten millimeters of armor, which is already good! The thickest front armor is only fifty or sixty millimeters, and now, Cyric's request has directly crossed to 100 millimeters! Is this too cruel?

"Cyric, will the firepower of this artillery be too great?" Guderian said.

"Guderian, we have talked about the three elements of firepower, protection, and mobility of a tank. So, what do you think should be the most important?" Cyric asked.

What's most important? Guderian thought for a moment and said, "It should be firepower."

"Yes, it's firepower! In the case of insufficient protection, we must meet firepower! In the case of insufficient mobility, we must first meet firepower!!!" Cyric said: "I don't want our soldiers to be on the battlefield in the future. Come on, call out loudly, you can't get through, you can't get through!"

Firepower, this is the first element! In this regard, Germany actually went the wrong way. The Tigers and King Tigers of World War II were all focused on protection. After World War II, it was found that heavy tanks were wrong, and the result went to extremes. The Leopard 1 tank had outstanding firepower. Excellent mobility, but extremely weak protection!

And look at Huaxia, the development of the new tank, the mobility, because there is no advanced engine, the performance is not outstanding, as for the protection power, this is a secret, and the firepower, did not hesitate to choose a 125mm caliber tank gun, and , Increase the medicine room, and strive to be the first in firepower!

If the firepower is not enough, then everything is in vain. Even if you can rush up and withstand the opponent's artillery fire, what's the use? Is it by impact?

Breaking through the enemy's armor, especially from the front, is the first priority of your own tanks!

"Now, the armor protection of tanks in all countries in the world is very weak. However, we can imagine that after more than ten years of development, the performance of tanks will be greatly improved. We need to target future threats. Therefore, large-caliber, Tank guns with long barrels, on our tanks, that's a must," Cyric said.

"Not only the 75mm gun, we also have the ability to replace the 88mm or 100mm tank gun in the later stage." Cyric said: "As we progress, the enemy's armor strength will definitely follow. ."

In later generations, German 88mm anti-aircraft guns were converted from tank guns with great reputation. Along with Tiger and Tiger King, they were talked about by all military fans. However, in fact, in World War II, the number of enemy tanks destroyed was the largest and Not an 88mm gun, but a 75mm anti-tank gun!

The PAK40 anti-tank gun, in addition to the German No. 4 tank, Stalker, No. 3 assault gun, and No. 4 tank destroyer main gun, is also a large number of anti-tank guns equipped with infantry, with remarkable results.

The original 37mm gun and 50mm gun, of course Cyric disliked it, at least the 75mm tank gun!

At the same time, this is a very suitable caliber.

Now, the 88mm anti-aircraft gun has not been shadowed yet! According to the Treaty of Versailles, Krupp can not study cannons now, and the historical 88mm anti-aircraft guns were only developed in the 1930s.

Although the power is greater after the caliber is larger, on the other hand, the number of shells carried is reduced, and at the same time, relying on manpower to carry the shells is definitely a labor of strength. The larger the caliber, the harder it is to carry.

Therefore, Cyric settled on the caliber of the tank gun to 75 mm, and he can work on the shells in the future!

"If we really set the tank gun to 75mm caliber, then our car body will also have to be enlarged synchronously, and the weight will also increase. If we want to have good mobility, then we need a better engine. It's also beyond our capabilities," said an engineer from Henschel.

If, like World War I, you can only keep up with the speed of the infantry, the tank is not very useful. Now, the tank should be used as the main weapon of the assault, and the cross-country speed must not be low!

Unfortunately, because of the restrictions of the Treaty of Versailles, Germany is extremely backward in all aspects. It is not suitable to find all the existing engines at hand!

"Our Maybach company does not have any kind of engine and transmission system that can adapt to tanks of more than 30 tons. Everything needs to be developed from scratch." Another technician spoke.

Driven by Krupp, many companies have sent their own engineers, and the participation of Maybach is an inevitable prerequisite for the smooth progress of the current project.

Because, they need a Maybach engine.

In later generations, the Maybach brand once went bankrupt, and now, the Maybach company is the most famous car manufacturer in the whole of Europe.

At the same time, the Maybach company is also an important company that manufactures engines. The famous Zeppelin airship uses Maybach engines. In the history of later generations, almost all German tanks are Maybach engines!

HL62 for No. 2 tank, HL108HL120 for No. 3 and No. 4 tank, HL210HL230 for Tiger Panther tank, HL230 for King Tiger tank, all Maybach!

After the decline of airships, the main energy of the Maybach company was to develop large luxury cars, and now, the engines used in their luxury cars are only 150 horsepower!

And driving a 30-ton tank requires at least more than 500 horsepower! This is simply an insurmountable gap!

And if there is no suitable power, any tank cannot mature!