Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 266:

In history, the US military developed the M50 emergency equipment in response to the possible outbreak of World War III in Europe. No matter what the US military did with it, the original purpose of manufacturing this thing was indeed used Anti-tank.

At that time, NATO had just been established, and the whole of Europe was trembling in the shadow of the red behemoth. Even if it was as powerful as the US military, it did not dare to expect to smash the steel torrent of the Soviet army. The Soviet tanks and seas were really foul, and coupled with a group of veterans trained on the cruel Eastern Front, the combat effectiveness completely crushed the European army that was strong and medium.

At that time, the NATO armored forces could not compete with the Soviet Red Army in terms of quantity or quality. Therefore, in order to deal with the threat of Soviet tanks, the U.S. military decided to develop a number of targeted units before the development of a new generation of heavy tanks. Emergency equipment to survive this transition period. The M50 was developed and manufactured in this era.

At first, the US military wanted an anti-tank armored vehicle that could be equipped with military gliders and quickly deployed across Europe. This was a fairly advanced tactical concept at the time and could effectively alleviate the problem of insufficient European troops. The M50 was classified as a destroyer tank at the time. In order to fit into the cabin of a heavy glider, it must control the weight of the car body. The total weight must not exceed 20 tons, and the length, width and height must also have strict standards.

At the same time, this vehicle must have enough firepower to destroy the main tank of the Soviet army within a normal combat distance, and it must also have the ability to support infantry units on the battlefield. These indicators seemed a bit harsh at the time. To be honest, the main tanks equipped by the US military at that time probably failed to meet this firepower requirement. This was verified in actual combat on the Korean battlefield. If you want to penetrate the latest tank armor of the Soviet army, the armor penetration ability must not be less than 250 mm. This target was not achieved until the 1950s when only a limited number of large-caliber cannons were bombarded at close range. Obviously, it is impossible to carry this type of cannon on this kind of car with strict weight restriction.

However, the weapon designer Aris Chamos still figured out a way. He focused on the large-caliber recoilless gun. In the artillery group of the same caliber, the weight of recoilless guns is the lightest, but the power of ammunition will not be reduced because of this.

The 106mm M40 recoilless gun developed by the U.S. Army in the mid-1950s was made to deal with Soviet tanks. This large-caliber recoilless gun has considerable armor-piercing capabilities. When it uses the M344A1 HEAT (high-explosive armor shell) produced in the United States, its penetration depth reaches an astonishing 700 mm, and the effective range is also increased to 1,000. Three hundred meters.

The only drawback of this type of artillery is that the rate of fire is relatively slow, and a well-trained shooting team can only maintain a rate of fire of one round per minute, which means that in dangerous anti-tank operations, this type of artillery often only has one shot. Shooting opportunities. The designer of the M50, Aris Chamos, cleverly compensated for this defect with a seemingly stupid method. Since only one shot can be fired before the battle, it is necessary to install a few more. Anyway, the total weight of this artillery Only two hundred kilograms.

As a result, he added a closed armored combat chamber to the full-track chassis developed by Cadillac for the M56 paratrooper self-propelled anti-tank gun, and then installed six M40s on the roof and sides of the vehicle, a shape The weird but powerful tank sniper vehicle is thus completed.

When the M50 was developed, it did not achieve the expected success, and the US Army cancelled the original weapon order. Because the Army found that ordinary Jeep can be used to carry the M40 recoilless gun, which is more mobile and maintainable, and the price is relatively low.

Fortunately, the U.S. Marine Corps was searching everywhere for vehicles that could be used to attack tanks. Ma Runs had reached the point where they were hungry. The fourth class did not have any qualifications for picky eaters. The Army's forefoot had just given up on purchasing this equipment. Picked up the order thrown away by the Army. The Marine Corps classified this vehicle as a self-propelled artillery and was very satisfied with its performance. In the past three years, they ordered a total of 297 M50s.

Everyone knows the story later. This kind of car, which was originally used to fight the Red Army tanks, showed great power in the tropical jungles and rice fields of Vietnam. The cannon flames ejected by the six-pronged salvo became An unforgettable nightmare for North Vietnamese soldiers.

The German "Scorpion" tank destroyer is almost a replica of the M50 except for the chassis and artillery used. Xu Jun borrowed the design concept of the M50, and it was just a concept. The head of state did not have a drawing of this vehicle, and this car has exceeded the age limit of the database.

Xu Jun also couldn't make the M40 recoilless gun that was developed in the mid-1950s, but he had a similar version of the German army in his hand, as well as a complete set of drawings for the US military's M20 75mm recoilless gun system in the late World War II. The German 105mm LG40 recoilless gun is the technological pioneer of the large-caliber recoilless gun family. The U.S. military has borrowed a lot of German technology from the development of its own recoilless gun.

And the site of this destroyer is not a copy of the "stalker", because there is no need to install that artillery, so the height of the car can be lowered. The hull of the "Scorpion" is now only two meters high, and its total weight is only 13 tons. The armor thickness is roughly the same as that of the "Stalker", enough to withstand most Soviet light weapons attacks, including their favorite anti-tank rifle.

There are four people in the vehicle, a captain, a radio operator, a driver, and a gunner. There is no loader in the crew, because when the six artillery is fired, everyone will be loading hand.

A large hatch was opened above the armor on the rear of the car body for quick entry and exit of crew members. This method of artillery deployment means that it is impossible to reload under the enemy’s firepower. Therefore, Xu Jun’s tactics for this fighter vehicle are exactly the same as the M50, which is to pour firepower at the enemy. Just leave.

Guderian knew very well that the German army had strategic shortcomings. Historically, the high-level leaders of the command also knew it well, but the success of the Western Front campaign was so smooth that most of them deliberately ignored these problems.

When the Germans started the war on the Eastern Front, they never thought that it would be a war of attrition. Whether the blitzkrieg mode would still be effective in the vast Soviet land, no one even seriously considered this. Even if Guderian was aware of the problem, he only felt that this was Hitler's another strategic adventure, and did not think that the German army would encounter the possibility of failure.

In fact, the High Command also knows that with the strength of Germany, it is impossible to annex the entire Soviet Union. A plan proposed by the Operation Bureau of the High Command is to fight a high intensity blitzkrieg lasting nine to seventeen weeks~IndoMTL. com~ They drew a bottom line on the map, starting from Arkhangelsk in the White Sea (Arctic Sea) and crossing the Soviet territory to Astra Khan, a coastal town on the Caspian Sea. This is the famous AA line. It was Lieutenant General Erich Max, who was the chief staff officer of the War Bureau at the time, who proposed this plan (the one in the movie "The Longest Day" who was about to land in Normandy in the battle flag deduction of the command. The lame general.).

Now these conditions have changed. The German army has given up the active offensive and turned to full defense. This is a wise choice in Guderian's view. The new head of state is worthy of a strategic genius. However, Guderian is not satisfied with fixed-point defense. He is an expert in tank operations. In his opinion, only by adopting mobile defense, the German armored forces can play their true value.

He has been advocating the development of armored forces to prepare for mobile defensive operations. Tanks are not used as bunkers buried in the ground. Armored forces should be like the cuirassiers of the year, using excellent mobility. Disrupt the enemy's combat deployment, use powerful firepower to destroy the enemy's vital forces, destroy the enemy's supply logistics, and destroy the enemy's command system.

Looking at this majestic car at the moment, Guderian couldn't help expecting a bit of expectation for its performance on the proving ground.

PS: Thank you for your support, the author will continue to work hard.