Overnight, the pit was filled with water again, and the tank had already been submerged.

This was done by Lin Chao on purpose.

If you let the tank dry overnight, it's no wonder that the rust is so bad that it will fall off the slag.

"Buzz!"

The diesel water pump was started again, and after more than ten minutes, the tank turret was exposed to the water.

Lin Chao couldn't help but be stunned.

This turret is simply atypical, it resembles an upside-down mouse, and there is no upper armor plate.

In other words, it's a convertible.

Combined with the chassis of the "Sherman", the answer is immediately available.

"Tank destroyer, M10 or M36."

When half of the water is removed, the rest can no longer be drained away.

Lin Chao installed a sprinkler on the outlet pipe and began to clean the silt on the tank.

"Whoa!"

As the water hit, large chunks of dirt were peeled away, revealing rusty steel plates.

When he saw a duckbill-like thing exposed, Lin Chao immediately knew its model.

"M10 tank destroyer."

In June 1940, France was defeated by the Third Reich's blitzkrieg.

At that time, it had an army of 3 million and a large number of advanced weapons, and was known as the first army in Europe.

But such a powerful force collapsed in a very short period of time.

This fact shocked Citigroup, and a debate began within the Army, how exactly can it fight enemy tanks?

In the end, the opinion of the artillery officer to vigorously develop anti-tank guns prevailed.

In May 1941, Citi Army Command issued an order for an anti-tank weapon to be used against the increasingly urgent threat of specialists.

Although Citi was a military power at this time, their army equipment was very backward.

Maozi and Hans both began to fiddle with the T-34-76, the Four, and the Citi Army was still using the "M3" medium tank, the infamous "Seven Brothers Coffin." ”

Now, a big order has been made.

Everyone can see the business opportunities inside, so various designs emerge one after another.

However, those designers clearly did not learn from the experience of the war in Europe.

It is believed that the so-called tank destroyer is just a tracked chassis plus a gun.

In order to take the lead, the designers chose almost two M3s, namely the M3 medium tank and the M3 half-track.

The artillery on it is also varied, howitzers, anti-tank guns, anti-aircraft guns.

It doesn't matter if it's practical or not, it's sold to the Army.

The army was not afraid, and went directly to the Aberdeen test site.

After some testing, there are only three models left: M5, M9 and T35.

The first one to go out is the M9, because it is equipped with 76.2 mm anti-aircraft guns, and there are only 28 full Citi, which does not eliminate you, who else will you eliminate?

The second to finish playing is the M5, which was supposed to have high hopes, and even the Citi Army is ready to order 1,580 units first.

Unfortunately, M5 is riddled with disease.

The vehicle is overweight and the design is flawed, resulting in a high failure rate of the vehicle.

During the test, the tracks were crushed, and what was even more outrageous was that he also played self-immolation, which is his own son who has to throw it!

Now, the only option available to the Army is the T35.

Unlike those "M3", the T35 uses the chassis of the M4A2.

This makes its off-road performance and load far superior to its peers.

Moreover, it also has a turret!

Citi Army, who was waiting for the dish to be cooked, was immediately attracted by this design highlight.

At their request, the T35 underwent a large number of improvements.

However, in order to reduce the weight, the hull armor was cut by 1-1/3 inches, and the weight was also reduced from 30 tons to 29 tons, which is the T35E1.

At this time, war was imminent.

The army's demand for tank destroyers can only be described as "hungry and thirsty".

The improved T35E1 was designated M10 and was given a priority production level of the AA1 class, which surpassed even the M4 medium tank.

However, with the increase in production tasks, the M4A2 tank chassis was already insufficient.

As a result, the army put the M10 tank destroyer into production, the M10A1 tank destroyer.

It uses the M4A3 tank chassis, and unlike the twin diesel engines of the M4A2, the M4A3 uses a Ford GAA gasoline engine.

"It's finally here!"

The American GIs were ecstatic.

Just by looking at the thick barrel, you know that the power of the cannon is not small.

But they soon found out that the trouble was coming, and it was with this artillery.

When the M10 is traveling, the barrel is backwards.

However, the barrel of the heavy gun is too heavy, which causes the turret to be unbalanced.

As long as the vehicle is driving on a road surface of more than 4 degrees, driving becomes extremely difficult.

Moreover, the turret will also get stuck, and lateral rotation is almost impossible.

To solve the problem completely, the counterweight must be rebalanced.

But in this way, the vehicle is overweight.

In desperation, the army could only add an M2 heavy machine gun behind the turret.

But this is also a palliative rather than a cure, and in the face of the following complaints, the army tasked the turret manufacturing plant to make improvements.

By January 1943, the advent of a wedge-shaped heavy-duty counterweight completely solved this problem.

The turret with this counterweight looks like a duck's beak from the side.

So he got the nickname "Duck Bill." ”

Now that everything is out of the way, the M10 should be able to do its job.

But at this moment, Leslie McNair, commander-in-chief of Army Group Group, jumped out.

This gentleman was born as an artilleryman, and his role in tank crews was relatively vague, and he even prevented the production of tank destroyers.

In his opinion, towed anti-tank guns were enough against tanks.

Building your own anti-tank guns that you can run on is a complete waste.

However, the car has already been built, so you can't do without it!

McNair patted his head and decided to organize tanks and tank destroyers separately.

His idea was simple, the tank was supposed to deal with the enemy infantry, and as soon as the Germans' tanks were spotted, tank destroyers were sent.

This seemingly reasonable plan is simply on paper.

Once tanks and tank destroyers belong to different units, it becomes difficult to move.

Moreover, due to the limitations of communication conditions, tank destroyers are often not on call.

The "Sherman", who is weak in firepower, is not the opponent of the "Tiger and Leopard" at all, and it is good to have a blue nose and swollen face, and it is not new to be wiped out by the whole army.

And only the M10, which is equipped with a heavy machine gun, is most afraid of the infantry attacking closely.

The M2 heavy machine gun on top of it had to rely on the rotation of the turret.

I don't know if the designer's head was kicked by a donkey, but the turret of the M10 tank turned by hand.

One rotation of the turret of the Tiger tank is generally 45-60 seconds.

The "Duck Bill" M10 turret takes 2 minutes to make a turn, and the early ones know how much time it takes.

If you can turn slowly on the training ground, it will be fatal if you put it on the battlefield.

For this purpose, the crew members also carry guns and grenades.

Even if the M10 is deployed correctly and captures the enemy, it depends on who the opponent is.

If No. 3 and No. 4 can still be bullied, if they encounter the "Panther", it will be troublesome, the frontal armor will not penetrate at all, and the side armor will have to be close to penetrate it.

If you meet the "tiger" and "tiger king", you don't have to waste shells, and you can't blow it up if you stick to your face.

To this end, on the basis of the M10, the M36 tank destroyer was developed.

Of course, that's another story.

After the war, a large number of M10 tank destroyers were abandoned.

A small amount was also exported to other countries, and the dug up car should have been shipped to Brazil at this time.

Lin Chao breathed a sigh of relief.

"As long as it's not Sherman, Ah Jiu does the work."