Historically, Germany commissioned Daimler-Benz to design a new 30-35 ton tank in order to develop a tank that could compete with the Soviet T-34.
The final design of Daimler-Benz is actually almost an imitation of the Soviet T-34. Different from the complicated designs of German tanks in the past, Daimler-Benz strives to achieve the best in body, turret, diesel engine,
The driving system, suspension system and tracks are similar to the simple design of the Soviet T-34 tank.
Although this plan was ultimately rejected in history, this time it was confirmed in advance because of the T3 tank plan proposed by Reinhardt.
During the Spanish Civil War, there was a T3 tank company in the armored division commanded by Rommel. Although in actual combat, the mobility of the T3 tanks on better roads was inferior to that of the largest number of Panzer II tanks in the German armored divisions.
It is much worse, but its wider tracks and larger road wheels make it much more maneuverable on soft ground than the No. 2 tank, allowing it to perform stably in most situations.
Nowadays, the production of the ordinary Panzer II tank has completely stopped. Instead, the German army began to use its chassis to modify the production of the Wasp self-propelled howitzer. This self-propelled artillery equipped with a 105mm howitzer provided the German army with mobility.
Extremely strong artillery support.
In addition, Krupp also produced a small number of variant Panzer II tanks with only one MG33 machine gun on the turret, but with compressed combustion gas tanks installed on both sides, and a small flamethrower turret on the front of each fender. This "sprayer" tank
"Fire Tank" will be distributed as a precious special vehicle in the future to each armored corps to form a direct fire tank battalion for use in special operations.
Next, there is the Panzer III tank, which has been completely discontinued. All the original production lines of the Panzer III tank are now changed to only produce tanks with a simple structure, good maneuverability, a certain degree of protection, and a low body that is not easy to be hit.
, and the low-cost Type III assault gun is used to destroy enemy tanks, bunkers, machine gun fire points and anti-tank guns.
Now, in a leading reconnaissance platoon of the 1st SS Armored Division, the 25-year-old Wittmann is commanding neither a Panzer II nor a similar product of the Panzer III, but a T3 tank named Panzer IV.
.
As a noncommissioned officer, he was fortunate enough to be the commander of this T3 tank. In his crew, the other three crew members were not even older than him.
"Lucas! Drive slowly, don't throw the No. 112 tank too far, otherwise our No. 111 tank will be fighting alone." Wittmann shouted to his 23-year-old driver Lucas with a smile.
Lucas's original ideal was to be a racing driver, but unfortunately his family did not have the money to support him in racing. When he heard that the SS was recruiting armored soldiers who were less than six feet tall, he simply signed up for one as he was 1.58 meters tall.
Name, came to drive a tank.
However, Lucas has a bad habit. He always likes to drive the tank in front of the entire reconnaissance platoon. He just can't bear to see other crews surpassing the tank he drives. This kind of habit can be regarded as a rare hobby on the battlefield.
Fortunately, Wittmann accepted it, otherwise no crew would have dared to ask for Lucas, the "racing tanker".
"Wittmann, don't expect Lucas to drive slowly. He's in a hurry to see God. It's not just a matter of a day or two. Aren't we all used to it?"
The person who was talking was the gunner Leo. This guy was originally a good gambler, and he was very courageous. He didn't care much about Lucas's habit of seeking death. In his eyes, there was no difference between gambling with money and gambling with life.
Da. Speaking of which, he even prefers the thrill of gambling.
He was once heavily in debt from a Jewish loan shark, but he was lucky enough to encounter the SS who sent people to arrest members of the treasonous Child family and threw his creditor into prison. Perhaps out of repayment,
Leo, who somehow didn't have to pay off his debt, went to sign up for the SS the next day, and was assigned to the armored unit because he was too short.
"You guys wait a moment! I can't help but want to go out to pee now. Let's stop the tank for a while." Loader Licht said with cold sweat on his forehead: "I've been holding it in for a long time and I can't hold it in anymore!"
Leicht, whose full name is Heinz Wilhelm Leicht, is Guderian's nephew. However, he is only 23 years old now, and his grades in school are also a mess.
Although his uncle Guderian was a popular figure around Reinhardt, Guderian was not prepared to open the back door for him. Instead, he threw him into the grassroots ranks of the SS armored forces to train him first, and then transferred him if he performed well.
Help yourself.
But Leicht had some skills after all, and he actually got a box of Fanta soft carbonated drink newly developed by Rhine Group before the war started, and he drank it almost every day.
Although Fanta was a new fruit-flavored soda made by the Coca-Cola branch of the Rhine Group due to the gradual shortage of syrup, it had no choice but to use other raw materials. However, because of its refreshing taste and preliminary interviews, it also became the focus of all walks of life in Germany.
There are novel and good things in it.
It was this kind of good stuff that Lichter drank two bottles along the way, which caused him to burst out with a strong urge to drain.
"Lecht!" As the commander of the tank, Wittmann seriously reminded: "Although we didn't encounter many Polish soldiers along the way, we are currently conducting reconnaissance at the forefront of the army, and there are many Polish soldiers shooting black guns outside the tank.
Maybe. If you value your life, you'd better stay in the tank."
"But..." Licht said anxiously: "I feel like my lower body is about to explode now!"
"Lechter, you are at the forefront of the war now!" Wittmann shouted seriously: "If you don't want your head to blow up later, just stay in the tank."
"But..." Licht cried and wanted to struggle.
"But, there is no way out." Wittmann waved his hand to interrupt Licht: "As far as I know, the maximum capacity of the human bladder is about 500 ml!"
Licht broke into a cold sweat and nodded attentively. His mind was now blank and he had gradually begun to lose the ability to think. He could only rely on Wittmann to point out a way out.
Wittmann squinted his eyes and continued: "And the soda bottles you drank just now have a capacity of 550 ml, which means..."
During the war, there are always times when soldiers have to ignore the so-called civilized etiquette for the sake of their lives, such as Licht now. No one will blame him, but it is inevitable that everyone will laugh at him for a long time.
Two minutes later, a drink bottle was thrown from the top of Tank No. 111, and then a burst of heartbreaking laughter came from Tank No. 111...
"I'm platoon leader Vic." Wittmann's earphones heard the joking voice of platoon leader Vic from his fellow tank No. 112: "Did Tank No. 111 just throw a bottle of biological and chemical weapons outside? Come on for me."
Tell Licht that the use of biological and chemical weapons is prohibited by international regulations! Hahahahaha..."