Chapter 38： Firepower and mobility

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

And now, the 37mm anti-tank gun mounted on the tank, specially used to counter the opponent's tank, is already quite powerful!

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

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

The 75mm gun with a long barrel is directly mounted, and the penetration depth is striving 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 pretty good! The thickest front armor is only fifty or sixty millimeters, and now, Cyric’s request directly spans 100 millimeters! This is too cruel, right?

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

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

What is the most important? Guderian thought briefly, and said, "It should be firepower."

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

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

And look at China, the development of the new tank, the maneuverability, because it does not have an advanced engine, the performance is not outstanding, as for the protection, this is a secret, and the firepower, without hesitation, chose a 125mm caliber tank gun, and , Enlarged the medicine room, and strive for the first firepower!

If the firepower is not enough, then everything is useless, even if it can rush up, can hold the opponent's artillery, what use? Is it by impact?

To penetrate the enemy's armor, especially to penetrate the opponent's armor from the front, is the first priority for your own tank!

"Now, tanks in all countries in the world have very weak armor protection, but 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, with a large caliber, A tank gun with a long barrel, equipped with our tank, is necessary." Cyric said.

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

In later generations, German tank guns modified from 88mm anti-aircraft guns became famous and were talked about by all military fans along with the Tiger and Tiger King. However, in fact, in World War II, it destroyed the most enemy tanks. Not an 88mm gun, but a 75mm anti-tank gun!

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

The original 37mm cannon and 50mm cannon, of course Cyric can't stand it, at least it should be a 75mm tank gun!

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

Now, the 88mm anti-aircraft artillery is still out! According to the Treaty of Versailles, Krupp cannot study artillery. The 88mm anti-aircraft artillery in history was not developed until the 1930s.

Although the caliber is larger, the power is greater, but the other aspect is the reduction in the number of shells carried. At the same time, it is definitely a laborious task to rely on manpower to carry the shells. The larger the caliber of the shell, the harder it is to carry.

Therefore, Cyrek has finalized the caliber of the tank gun to 75 mm, and can work on the shells in the future!

"If we really set the tank gun to a 75mm caliber, then our car body will have to be enlarged simultaneously, and the weight will also increase. If we want to have good maneuverability, then we need a better engine. This is also beyond our ability." An engineer from Henschel said.

If you can only keep up with the speed of the infantry like World War I Tanks are of no use. Now, tanks are used as the main weapon of assault. Off-road speed must not be low!

Unfortunately, due to the restrictions of the Versailles Treaty, Germany is extremely backward in all aspects. It is not suitable to find out all the existing engines on 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. The participation of Maybach is the 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. Now, Maybach is the most famous car manufacturer in Europe. It produces high-priced cars that only the wealthiest big models can own.

At the same time, the Maybach Company is also an important company in the manufacture of engines. The famous Zeppelin uses Maybach engines. In later history, almost all German tanks are Maybach engines!

HL62 for No. 2 tank, HL108HL120 for No. 3 and No. 4 tank, HL210 HL230 for Tiger Panther tank, HL230 for Tiger King tank, all Maybach!

After the decline of the airship, Maybach’s main energy was to develop large luxury cars, and now, the engines used in their luxury cars only have 150 horsepower!

To drive a 30-ton tank, at least more than 500 horsepower is required! This is simply an insurmountable gap!

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