The defeat in Western Ukraine made the Germans realize that their tanks were inferior to the Soviets in terms of firepower, armor, and numbers, and as a result, the failure of the German offensive plan directly led to the failure of the German offensive plan. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

The 41st Panzer Corps commanded by Moder was reorganized into an infantry corps because of the heavy losses of the armored corps and the inability of the German rear to provide tank replenishment in time, and the 4th Tank Group was also reorganized into an ordinary army group, and Army Group Center lost the ability to carry out large-scale armored attacks.

However, Hitler did not abandon his aggression against the Soviet Union, and he concentrated a lot of manpower and resources on the development and design of new tanks and tank destroyers.

By February 1942, Daimler and the Lion had already handed over the drawings of the VK3002 tank (i.e., the Tiger tank), and in addition to that, the development of the Elephant destroyer and the Rhino self-propelled anti-tank gun had begun, and the Germans were determined to create a more powerful tank.

As in history, Hitler was more satisfied with Daimler's VK3002 (DB) scheme, which was actually a copy of the T-34 tank, but the armor thickness was different, the tank gun used was different, and the detailed design was of course different, but its appearance and producibility were extremely similar to the T-34 tank.

The Lion company's plan is different, this plan is the Leopard tank scheme adopted in history, its performance, armor protection are better than Daimler-Benz's scheme, but the tank designed by the Lion company, the production cost is relatively high, and the producibility is not as good as Daimler-Benz's scheme, so the output is also limited.

Historically, because the Germans attached more importance to quality, the Lion company's plan was supported by the majority of German military officers, and continued to uphold the principle of slow work and meticulous work in German industry.

But in this world, the Germans needed a tank with lower production cost and higher producibility, and at the same time could compete with the T-34, so they chose Daimler-Benz's solution, and named the tank with the plan number VK3002 (DB) as the Leopard tank.

According to the plan, the Leopard tank would be tested in March 1942, and production began in June 1942 (half a year earlier than in history), with an estimated monthly production of 350 units.

The Germans would remain on the defensive until the Leopards entered mass service (1,000 units in service), which meant that the German Army would not launch any large-scale offensive against the Soviet Union until September 1942.

However, just as the Army was on the defensive, the German Navy had already moved its main fleet to Norway and the Baltic coast, which were closer to the Soviet Union, and prepared to compete with the Soviet Navy at sea.

"Report Comrade Kuznetsov, German submarine activity was detected in the Gulf of Finland!"

In March 1942, the People's Commissar of the USSR Navy (and Commander-in-Chief of the Navy) Nikolai Gerasimovich Kuznetsov received reports on the activities of German submarines in the Gulf of Finland.

Shortly after, the British Navy took the initiative to inform the Soviet Navy about the transfer of the German fleet to Norway and the Baltic.

By all indications, the German Navy was planning an operation against the Soviet Union.

The German Navy transferred the fleet back to Norway, most likely to use Norway as a base to cut off the Arctic Ocean route, so as to cut off the material exchanges between Britain and the Soviet Union, and prevent the Allies from sending supplies to the Soviet Union through the Arctic Ocean route.

At the same time, the appearance of German submarines in the Gulf of Finland also showed that the Germans could pass through the Gulf of Finland to strike at the Soviet Navy's fleet in the Baltic Sea, clear an obstacle to the German attack on Leningrad, and even attack Leningrad by sea, so as to achieve a breakthrough on the northern front.

Fortunately, the Arctic Ocean route was also protected by a powerful British fleet, and the British Navy had a large advantage in both quantity and quality.

But in the Baltic, the Germans achieved almost total sea supremacy. With the exception of Sweden, all the shores of the Baltic Sea were already in the hands of the Axis powers, and the Soviet-controlled sea area was only the eastern part of the Gulf of Finland near Leningrad.

Historically, the German Navy did not invest much in the Baltic Sea, and most of the main forces were in the Atlantic and North Seas, engaged the British and American navies, so it did not eliminate the Soviet Baltic Fleet deployed in Leningrad from the sea.

In addition, during the First World War, the Imperial Russian Navy deployed a large number of mines in the Gulf of Finland, which made it impossible for foreign fleets to enter Leningrad from the Gulf of Finland (the British Navy tried to break through and hit a mine), and after the outbreak of the Soviet-German War, the Soviet Navy also deployed a certain number of mines in the Gulf of Finland, and as a result, the Germans were still unable to pose a threat to Leningrad from the sea.

However, in this world, the German Navy has invested more troops in the Baltic Sea than in history, and even sent submarines to reconnoiter and record the location of mines, and also sent minesweepers to clear obstacles, obviously to find a breakthrough in the Gulf of Finland.

However, at the same time as the German Navy was strengthened, the strength of the Soviet Navy was strengthened a lot, and it gained absolute superiority in the North and Black Seas.

Just before that, two Soviet-class battleships of the USSR (Soviet and Soviet Ukraine) were put into service and were incorporated into the North Sea Fleet and the Black Sea Fleet, respectively.

In addition, the Soviet battlecruiser Kronstadt had also been launched and incorporated into the Baltic Fleet, increasing the strength of the Soviet Navy in the Baltic Sea.

The battlecruiser, with a displacement of 40,000 tons, armed with 9 12-caliber-inch naval guns (3 3-gun turrets), was not inferior in firepower to the German Scharnhorst-class battleships.

Originally, the battlecruiser Kronstadt was to be equipped with six 15-inch guns (the same as the main gun of the battleship Bismarck), which was produced by the German Krupp company, and was the product of the trade between the two countries during the period of mutual non-aggression between the Soviet Union and Germany (real money deal, not under the skin).

However, before the Krupp company could deliver the goods, the Soviet-German war began. How could the Germans, as enemies of the USSR, send their artillery to the USSR at this time? As a result, these guns, which were supposed to be installed on the Kronstadt battle cruiser, were used by the Germans as coastal defense guns.

So, the question is, since the Soviet Union did not have the artillery provided by Germany, how did this Kronstadt battle cruiser be built? Without the 380mm caliber naval guns of the Germans, there are also 305mm caliber naval guns of the Soviet Union's own production.

In this world, the Soviet Union's Stalingrad Plant 221 and Kramatorsk Plant have successfully produced 406 mm caliber B-37 naval guns, and have accumulated a lot of technical experience in the process of research and development and production, so that the Soviet Union has the technology and ability to produce large-caliber naval guns.

In the end, the Soviet Union, with its own factories and its own technology, produced nine 12-inch naval guns, which were installed on the new Kronstadt battlecruiser.