readx;

Europe on the east coast of the Atlantic Ocean is in flames, and the European theater of World War II is still in a state of stalemate. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ╔╗

The Maginot Line, built at great expense by the French, played a huge role in making it impossible for the Germans on the opposite side to break through. In the Ardennes Mountains at the western end of the Maginot Line, the French army was alerted by the Chinese Empire to deploy heavy groups there in advance, so that the German army's attempt to launch a blitzkrieg around the Maginot Line failed. In the north, the German army successfully captured Norway, Denmark, the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries, but was blocked by the British and French forces in the Dunkirk-Lille - Vance - Verdun line, the British and French forces from Guanghua 40 years have successively obtained from the Chinese Empire advanced J-10 fighters, H5\H6 bombers, M28A3 main battle tanks, W30 wheeled infantry fighting vehicles, Z29 anti-tank fighting vehicles and a large number of advanced weapons and equipment, greatly improving the equipment level of the British and French forces, So that the Anglo-French army, which was weak in strength, was able to block the iron hooves of the German army, and basically maintained the front without major changes.

In the two years since the outbreak of World War II, the Italian and Spanish armies on the entire Western Front have basically lost their combat effectiveness, and the Anglo-French allied forces have dragged down the total strength of Italy and Spain of more than 1.13 million troops with only 200,000 troops.

On the African battlefield, the German army controlled most of North Africa, most of Central and Western Africa also fell to the German army, and with the Italian army's actions in Ethiopia, Africa was basically the world of the Allies.

Germany had a long history of peeping into South Africa, but the interests of the Chinese Empire in South Africa were much greater. Therefore, when Germany planned to invade South Africa, the Chinese Empire immediately expressed its strongest opposition, forcing Hitler to withdraw the order for a military invasion of South Africa. However, South African gold and diamonds are very important to Germany. Hitler did not give up. On the one hand, Hitler ordered the German General Staff Headquarters to draw up a series of military combat plans for the invasion of South Africa, and on the other hand, Hitler completed the nuclear weapons test as soon as possible, so that he could have an equal dialogue with the Chinese Empire.

But. ╔╗ Germany's uranium enrichment technology is still not up to weapons level, before that. Hitler had to endure the "exploitation" of the Chinese Empire.

As far as Germany is concerned, although the Chinese Empire has further expanded its exports of advanced weapons to the Entente countries, this has also caused the British and French Entente countries to become more and more dependent on Chinese weapons and equipment, their local self-developed weapons capabilities have been inhibited, and the local arms manufacturing industry has been hit. Germany, on the other hand, under the pressure of the Chinese Empire's arms export restrictions, greatly improved the R&D and manufacturing process of indigenous weapons and equipment.

On the battlefield, the advanced weapons and equipment imported by the British and French forces from the Chinese Empire could only inflict heavy losses on the German army in the early stage. Soon, the German army summed up the method of countering such advanced weapons and equipment, and through the victory of local battles, it continued to obtain advanced Chinese weapons and equipment from the British and French forces. The German side immediately transported the captured advanced Chinese weapons and equipment back to the rear, and organized a large number of scientific researchers and engineers to conduct reverse research, and then imitate them, and soon mastered the key technologies in them.

It must be said that war is a catalyst for weapons and equipment. The advanced weapons and equipment exported by the Chinese Empire to the British and French Entente countries could basically only maintain an advantage for about half a year. Half a year later. New tactics of fighting against the weaknesses of Chinese weapons quickly appeared in the hands of the German army, and the German army was equipped with a number of advanced weapons and equipment that were reversed by copycat Chinese weapons to deal with the British and French forces.

In the autumn of 1940, in order to break the German-French deadlock as soon as possible, the German General Staff Headquarters drew up a plan for the Lille campaign to eliminate the British, French, Dutch-Belgian forces in the Lille salient. Eliminate its threat to the German attack on the main railway line of the left flank in Paris.

On the wide breakthrough section of 120 kilometers from Lens and Arras, the German 4th Army and the 31st Army of the 1st Danish Servant Army (a total of 18 infantry divisions, 3 cavalry divisions, 2684 artillery pieces, 2511 tanks No. 3 and No. 4 and about 1,300 combat aircraft) were concentrated. ╔╗

The Entente of the Lille salient, which the Germans wanted to attack, consisted of the French Second Army (7 newly formed mechanized infantry divisions, 840 artillery pieces, 430 tanks and 206 aircraft). Since most of the army was composed of new recruits, the fortifications of the defensive positions were very weak, but it was the most equipped with modern weapons such as the advanced M28A3 main battle, W30 infantry combat vehicles, and Z29 anti-tank fighting vehicles in the Chinese Empire.

On August 8, the German ** team did not carry out artillery preparations in advance, that is, under the cover of aircraft and artillery fire, the armored divisions were guided by tanks to launch a surprise attack on the French position, and by the end of the day, it had advanced 12 kilometers into the depth of the French defense.

Within half a day, the French suffered more than 6,000 casualties, lost more than 400 artillery pieces, and the Germans blew up the field airfield before the plane could take off. However, the planes lost by the French army were all old-fashioned aircraft, and the J-10 series fighters purchased from the Chinese Empire were all transferred intact, and the main force of the armored forces was always left behind by the French army, and was not succeeded by the German sneak attack in the first wave of attacks.

On 9 August, the German 1st Army was fully engaged. On 10 August, the 1st Division of the 3rd Army was also engaged.

However, the armoured units of the army were soon met head-on by the French armoured forces. The Chinese-made M28A3 main battle tanks equipped by the French armored forces blocked the fierce attacks of the German tanks No. 3 and No. 4 with their strong armor protection. In turn, the M28A3 series main battle tanks were powerless to fight the German tanks with their extremely fast cross-country combat speed and powerful tank gun firepower.

In the Lille tank battle, the German army lost more than 600 tanks in two days, while the French army only lost less than 60 tanks, and the battle loss ratio between the two sides was as high as 10:1, and the German army suffered a heavy loss.

Due to the heavy losses of the main battle tanks of the German armored forces, the progress of their operations was slow, and it gradually turned into a local battle. By the end of the day on August 13, the Germans had only advanced about 10-18 kilometers on a frontal distance of less than 55 kilometers, completing the established combat mission of attacking the French salient, inflicting heavy losses on the French Lille salient army (about 18,000 men. 4300 of them were captured).

However, the Germans also paid a heavy price, almost all of the German armored units in the Lille salient were heavily damaged, and more than two-thirds of the front-line main battle tanks were lost. The retreating French armored forces still have more than 300 M28 main battle tanks. The French armored forces had an absolute advantage.

However, the French high command was not able to catch the fighters. Due to the loss of more than a hundred M28 tanks (too expensive, a Chinese-made M28 tank is more expensive than a French-made aircraft). Therefore, despite the strong opposition of the French officers and men, they ordered all the armored troops to retreat to the main position. The Lille salient was abandoned on its own initiative.

The Germans were worried about the French counterattack, and were ready to give up on their own initiative. However, after seeing the retreat of the French army, the German army immediately breathed a sigh of relief, so they urgently transferred a large number of No. 3 and No. 4 tanks from other fronts to supplement the tank losses in the Lille salient and stabilized the front.

Germany claimed to have won the Battle of the Lille Bulge, but only the generals of the German armored forces knew in their hearts that the Chinese-made M28A3 series main battle tanks equipped by the French army opposite were extremely strong, and if Germany could not come up with a main battle tank to rival the M28A3 in a short time. The Germans were to face a significant threat.

The German War Office urgently transported several M28A3 main battle tanks from the Lille tank battle to the rear for dissection, and based on the results of the analysis, German tank engineers soon developed the next German main battle tank based on the M28 Leopard main battle tank of the Chinese Empire. ╔╗

In the autumn and winter of 1940, after accepting the military commission to develop a 30-ton tank, the German MAN, Henschel and Porsche companies based on the PZKPFWIV tank and the shape of the M28A3 tank of the Chinese Empire were used to manufacture prototype vehicles, with the models VK3001H and VK3001P. Among them, the prototype of the MAN company was modified in early 1941 with a long-barreled 75 mm caliber cannon and improved the shape after being named the VK3002 test vehicle, which was later the PZKPFWV "Panther" tank, the German side considered it a relatively successful tank, and finally the design of the MAN company was adopted by the military in May 1941, called the No. 5 tank.

The crew of the German tank No. 5 consisted of five men: the driver, the communicator, the gunner, the loader, and the commander. Since the No. 5 tank absorbed a lot of design technology from the Chinese M28 Leopard tank. The Germans, in particular, saw for the first time the advantages of inclined armor, which was also made of homogeneous steel plates, which were welded and latched to become stronger.

Due to the fact that the German Krupp steel armor could not reach the strength and toughness of Chinese special steel (lacking rare earth elements), the initial prototype of the No. 5 tank only had a 60 mm diagonal armor, but after testing, the strength could not meet the armor standard of the M28 tank, and it was soon thickened to 80 mm, and the turret armor was strengthened to the upper limit of 120 mm to protect the front end of the turret. The sides of the tank also imitated the M28 tank with a 5 mm thick skirt to protect the tank from enemy magnetic mines.

The German No. 5 tank was originally used to fight against the M28 Leopard tank of the Chinese Empire, but because the German tank imitation ability still needs to be improved, it is temporarily unable to meet the modern tank shape standard of the M28 tank (the low and flat hull is conducive to self-concealment and evasion from enemy shells), so the weight of the German No. 5 tank increased from the estimated 35 tons to 43 tons.

In order to drive the 43-ton No. 5 tank, MAN had to install a 700 hp Maybach HL230P30V-12 petrol engine powered by a gearbox and control system, which could withstand a continuous load of 2,000 kilometers. ╔╗In order to minimize engine failure, the developer deliberately installed a governor to reduce the engine speed to 2500 rpm. In addition, the installation of the governor also reduced the speed of the No. 5 tank from 55 km/h to 46 km/h, which lagged behind the M28 main battle tank of the Chinese Empire in speed, but fortunately, the gap was not too big, and it was within the tolerable difference.

Although the No. 5 tank borrowed the design ideas of the M28 tank of the Chinese Empire, due to the monopoly of the Chinese Empire on the tank track technology, the Germans could not imitate the tracks like the M28 tank, and in order to bear the weight of 43 tons, they had to use wider tracks and larger road wheels to improve maneuverability on soft ground.

In terms of off-road performance. The No. 5 was an exact replica of the M28 Leopard's suspension system, consisting of a drive chain gear at the front, guide wheels at the rear and eight rubber-coated steel wheels, with two torsion bars added to each boom as an additional part of the suspension system. As a result, the Germans also became very expensive to build. It's almost the same as the M28 Leopard tank of the Chinese Empire. However, it also brought irreplaceable off-road performance to the No. 5 Tank, which greatly improved the combat capability of the No. 5 Tank.

In order to fully suppress the M28 Leopard tank of the Chinese Empire, the main gun of the German No. 5 tank used a 75mm semi-automatic KWK42 70x diameter gun produced by Rheinmetall. Carries up to 79 shells (82 for the G model).

Although the 75 mm gun was not considered a large-caliber gun at the time, the main gun of the No. 5 tank was one of the most powerful tank guns of World War II. Its long barrel and strong chamber pressure. It was provided with a powerful muzzle kinetic energy, so that the power of the No. 5 tank gun suddenly overshadowed the M28 tank.

On the whole, the German No. 5 tank was on par with the M28 Leopard tank of the Chinese Empire in terms of armor protection, and its mobility was relatively backward, but the tank gun was obviously much more powerful.

Due to the huge impact of the Lille salient tank battle on the German army, the German army did not dare to take the initiative to engage in large-scale tank battles after that, and avoided engaging the Allied armored forces with a large number of Chinese Leopard main battle tanks as much as possible. In order to break the Allies' superiority in tanks as soon as possible, the Germans immediately prioritized the production of this tank. The final tank was officially put into production in July of the same year.

In order to cope with the urgent requirements of the war, the German army signed a contract with MAN for the production of new tanks, and began to share the production of Daimler, MNH, and HS, in order to equip the German front-line troops in large quantities as soon as possible. Because at this time, the Anglo-French Entente** had gradually come back to their senses, and they found that the German main battle tanks No. 3 and No. 4 were not opponents of the M28 tank at all, so they launched a series of counteroffensives, and the German army faced a serious threat.

Fortunately, the M28 Leopard tank of the Chinese Empire is very strong in combat. However, the cost was high, the construction period was long, and although the total number purchased by the Anglo-French Entente was large (10,000 vehicles), the supply speed of the Chinese Empire was not fast, as if it was deliberately stuck with the Entente to help Germany. And the production line of M28 tanks purchased by Britain and France from the Chinese Empire, although it also began to be assembled in China. But it will take at least half a year before the official production and mass production, all of which bought the German army time to prepare the No. 5 tank.

Initially, MAN was expected to be able to produce 250 No. 5 tanks a month, but at the request of the German Army, the target was raised to 600 tanks a month in the second month. However, due to the bombing of the British and French air forces, production problems and other difficulties, MAN was unable to achieve this goal, and the actual monthly production was only 320 vehicles at its peak.

When the first German tanks were sent to the battlefield, they immediately showed great combat effectiveness. The Entente's Mark series, Cromwell series, and Newport series tanks are not its opponents, and basically 8 Mark tanks can be exchanged for a No. 5 tank.

Even the M28 series main battle tanks exported by the Chinese Empire to the Entente ** team are also in a weak position, although there is no obvious weakness, but after several tank battles, the battle loss ratio of the No. 5 tank to the M28 tank reached 1:1.2, making the No. 5 tank have a slight advantage.

However, this advantage was quickly reversed by the Entente. Because the No. 5 tank and the M28 tank, after a long battle, highlighted the gap between the military industries of China and Germany. The German No. 5 tank had a slight advantage at first, but soon revealed its fatal flaw – the engine was prone to overheating and incineration. This fatal wound once made the No. 5 tank almost cut down by the German side, and finally the MAN company solved the problem, but it affected the strategic deployment of the German army on the Western Front, so that the German army's plan to defeat the British and French forces made several times was forced to be postponed, and the Western Front battlefield once again entered an indefinite war of attrition.

However, problems with the No. 5 tank also gave the German High Command time to reformulate its strategic plan. Hitler saw that the situation on the Western Front could not be opened for a while, and entered a war of attrition, so his eyes began to shift from the Western Front to the Eastern Front.

For Germany, due to the stalemate on the Western Front, the consumption of various military supplies of the German army increased exponentially. The supply of steel, which was the most important part of the war, was relatively stable, and Germany could become self-sufficient. But when it comes to oil consumption, Germany is getting bogged down.

Germany's bartering model of national economic development prevented Germany from entering dangerous inflation, but due to the delay in resuming production in Romania's oil regions, 90% of Germany's oil had to be imported from the Chinese Empire. has been choked by the neck of the Chinese Empire, which made Hitler very unhappy. And the most important thing is that the Chinese Empire did not need German goods, so it could not be bartered for international settlements. The Chinese Empire only recognized hard currencies such as gold and silver, which caused a massive outflow of gold and silver from Germany, and the rate of loss far exceeded the rate at which Germany could acquire it itself.

Despite Hitler's massacre of Jews and plundering them of gold and silver, Germany received less than 200 tons of gold and 14,000 tons of silver each year, and this was decreasing month by month. The German government's report to Hitler stated that if it could not recover the Romanian oil fields as soon as possible, or find a new way to obtain gold, the gold and silver that Germany had accumulated for thousands of years would be exhausted in July 1942, and the new gold after August would not be able to pay for the oil supplies purchased from the Chinese Empire that month. Then Germany will have to reduce its oil imports, which will obviously have a huge impact on the German economy and military.

For Hitler and Nazi Germany as a whole, Hitler was once again cornered because of oil. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to come to the starting point () to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support, is my biggest motivation. )