Battle of the Third Reich

Historically, the US military developed the emergency equipment M50 in response to the possible third world war that broke out in Europe. No matter what the US military did with it, the original purpose of manufacturing this thing was indeed used for anti-tank.

At that time, NATO was just established, and the whole of Europe shivered in the shadow of the red behemoth. Even if it was as strong as the US military, it did not dare to hope to face the steel torrents that would harden the Soviet army. The Soviet tank sea was too foul, plus a group of veterans of the hundred battles trained on the cruel eastern front, the combat strength completely crushed the strong and powerful European troops in the group.

At that time, NATO armored forces, regardless of quantity or quality, could not compete with the Soviet Red Army, so in order to respond to the threat of Soviet tanks, the US military decided to produce a batch of targeted emergency equipment before the development of a new generation of heavy tanks. Come through this transition period. The M50 was developed and manufactured under this background.

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

At the same time, this vehicle must have sufficient firepower to destroy the Soviet main tank within the normal engagement distance, and it must also have the ability to support infantry units on the battlefield. These indicators were a bit harsh at the time. To be honest, the main tanks equipped by the US military that year were probably unable to meet this firepower requirement. This was verified by actual combat on the Korean battlefield. If you want to penetrate the latest tank armor of the Soviet Army, the armor-piercing capability cannot be less than 250 millimeters. This index was only reached in the 1950s when only a limited number of large-caliber cannons were bombarded at close range. It is obviously impossible to carry this kind of artillery on such a small car with a strict weight limit.

But the weapon designer Aris Chamus still came up with a solution. He set his sights on the large caliber recoilless gun. Among the artillery groups of the same caliber, recoilless guns are the lightest, but the power of ammunition will not be reduced.

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

The only disadvantage of this artillery is that the rate of fire is relatively slow, and the trained shooting team can only maintain a rate of fire per minute, which means that in dangerous anti-tank operations, this artillery often has only one shot. M50 designer Aris Chamos used a clumsy method to make up for this shortcoming. Since only one shot can be sent in the battle, then simply install more doors, anyway, the total weight of this artillery Only two hundred kilograms.

As a result, he installed a closed armored combat room on the full-track chassis developed by Cadillac for the M56 paratrooper self-anti-tank gun, and then installed six M40s on the roof and sides. A strange but firepowered This is the complete tank sniper car.

When the M50 was developed, it did not achieve the expected success, and the US Army canceled the original weapons order. Because the Army found that it is possible to use ordinary Jeep to carry the M40 recoilless gun, the mobility and maintenance are better and the price is relatively low.

Fortunately, the US Marines were looking for vehicles that could be used to attack tanks at the time. The Ma Runs had reached the point of hunger and no food. The fourth class did not have the qualification to pick food. The army just gave up on the purchase of this equipment, and they picked it up at the back. Orders thrown away by the Army. The Marine Corps classified this vehicle as a self-propelled artillery and was very satisfied with its performance. During the three years before and after, they ordered a total of 297 M50s.

Everyone knows the later story. This small car that was originally used to fight with the Red Army tanks showed great power in the tropical jungles and rice fields of Vietnam. The flames from the six-barrel volley became the life of the North Vietnamese soldiers. An unforgettable nightmare.

The German Scorpion tank destroyer is almost a replica of the M50 except that the chassis used is different from the artillery. Xu Jun borrowed the design concept of the M50, and it was just a concept. There was no drawing of this vehicle in the hands of the head of state. This car has exceeded the age of the database.

Xu Jun also could not manufacture the M40 recoilless gun developed in the mid-1950s, but he had a similar version of the German army and a complete set of drawings of the US military equipped with the M20 75mm recoilless gun system in the late World War II. The German 105mm LG40 recoilless gun is a technological pioneer of the large-caliber recoilless gun group. The US military has borrowed a lot of German technology in the development of its own recoilless gun.

And this fighter vehicle's site is not completely copying the "hunter", because there is no need to install the artillery, so you can lower the height of some vehicles. The "Scorpion" has a body height of only two meters and a total weight of only 13 tons. The armor thickness is roughly the same as that of the "Stalker", which is enough to withstand the attacks of most Soviet light weapons, including their favorite anti-tank rifles.

There are four crew members, a captain, a radio officer, a driver and a gunner. There is no loader in the car group, because when the six artillery shots are completed, everyone will be the loader.

A large hatch was opened above the armor at the rear of the hull to allow members of the crew to enter and exit quickly. This artillery layout means that it is impossible to reload under the enemy’s firepower, so Xu Jun’s tactics for this destroyer are exactly the same as the M50, that is, to pour out firepower to the enemy. Just leave.

Guderian knew very well that the Germans had strategic shortcomings, and historically, the senior officers of the headquarters also knew that, but the success of the Western Front was too smooth, causing most of them to deliberately ignore these problems.

When the Germans started fighting on the Eastern Front, they never thought it would be a war of attrition. Whether the blitzkrieg mode is still effective in the vast Soviet territory, no one has seriously considered this. Even if Guderian sensed the problem, he only thought it was another strategic adventure of Hitler, and did not think that the Germans would face the possibility of failure.

In fact, the headquarters also knows that with the strength of Germany, it is impossible to annex the entire Soviet Union. One plan proposed by the headquarters war office is to fight a high-intensity blitz for nine to seventeen weeks. They draw on the map At the bottom line, from Arkhangelsk in the White Sea (Arctic Sea), it traversed the Soviet territory and reached Astra Khan, a seaside town on the Caspian Sea. This is the famous AA line, and the plan was proposed by Lieutenant General Erich Max, who was the chief of staff of the War Bureau at the time (the one in the movie "The Longest Day") who was planning to land in Normandy during the deduction of the headquarters of the headquarters General lame.).

Now these conditions have changed. The Germans gave up their active offensive and turned to full defense. This seems to Gudrian to be a wise choice. The new head of state is indeed a strategic genius. However, Guderian is not satisfied with fixed-point defense. He is a tank combat expert. In his view, only by adopting mobile defense can the German armored forces exert their true value.

He has been advocating the development of armored forces, which is to prepare for mobile defense operations. Tanks are not used as bunkers in the ground. The armored troops should use the excellent mobility to disrupt the enemy like the breastplate cavalry. The military’s operational deployment uses powerful firepower to eliminate the enemy’s vital forces, destroy the enemy’s supply logistics, and destroy the enemy’s command system.

Looking at this majestic car at this moment, Guderian couldn't help but look forward to his performance on the proving ground.

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