The original intention of the half-track design is to balance speed and off-road type, and in terms of off-road performance, it is between tracked ground and wheeled. In terms of speed, it is also not high, not low. At the same time, there is also an advantage that it is more resistant to damage, for example, if a load-bearing wheel is knocked in battle, it may be able to make do with it, if it is a wheeled chariot, one of the four wheels will be completely kneeled. The biggest advantage of wheeled armored vehicles is that they are fast, fuel-efficient, long-range, and cheap. (Of course, I think the cost of the 234 series armored vehicles in the later German period will be higher because of the complex 8*8 chassis, but unfortunately the author has no dry goods - !) And another problem is that the half-track can be built very large, for example, the 18-ton half-track of the Germans in World War II history. And the final appearance of wheeled armored vehicles is about 12 tons. (234 series.) ）

In addition to the battle over the chassis, the Germans were also entangled in the positioning of wheeled armored vehicles, that is, as a simple infantry carrier? Or as a useful supplementary force in the event of a tank attack? The former emphasizes the carrying capacity of the infantry, while the latter can be left without infantry, emphasizing firepower and protection. Germany had ready-made armored transporters, but they were all open-top and had only one universal machine gun, which did not play much of a role in the offensive at all. THE GERMANS SAW HUAXIA EQUIP ARMORED VEHICLES WITH A POWERFUL 30MM CANNON. So the Germans also wanted to install one on the original foundation, but then they found that the gun was too big for the original vehicle! COUNTING THE WEIGHT OF THE GUN CARRIAGE OF ALMOST 200KG, AS WELL AS AMMUNITION. Plus the necessary protection or something. directly squeezed out the space of the infantry behind.

It would have been tolerable if it was just a matter of space, but soon, the Germans decided that it was not enough for a vehicle equipped with rapid-fire guns to defend against shrapnel and machine gun fire. The Germans did not know what level of protection the infantry fighting vehicles in China had. But the Germans believed that their tanks had to be able to defend themselves against enemy machine gun fire. From a cost point of view, you have an expensive chassis and a cannon plus about 5 operators for this car. It would be too much to let the opponent sweep away in one round.

But then the Germans found it difficult to set the standard of defense. WANT TO PROTECT AGAINST A 30MM CANNON DESIGN? THE GERMANS COMPARED THE 30MM RAPID-FIRE CANNON THEY WERE DESIGNING, AND WERE SHOCKED BY THE FACT THAT THE 30MM TUNGSTEN ALLOY ARMOR-PIERCING PROJECTILE FIRED BY THIS GUN COULD PENETRATE NEARLY 70MM OF ARMOR AT A DISTANCE OF ABOUT 400 METERS AT A 30-DEGREE IMPACT ANGLE! If it's not much of a problem to resist head-on, what about the side? If you wrap it around with armor, the weight will go up!

The weight of the new infantry fighting vehicle must be controlled around 14 tons. The maximum off-road speed should be at least 35 kilometers per hour, and the maximum road speed should be 50 kilometers per hour. This means that the vehicle needs an engine of at least 200 horsepower. Of course, this is in the case of the use of a half-track chassis. If you're using wheeled armored vehicles. The speed will also increase. THE GERMANS FINALLY DECIDED TO MAINTAIN THE PROTECTION STANDARD OF 35 MM INCLINATION OF 40 DEGREES ON THE FRONT OF THE HALF-TRACK, AND AT LEAST TO RESIST THE ARMOR-PIERCING SHELLS OF LARGE-CALIBER MACHINE GUNS ON THE SIDES, THE REASON FOR THIS DECISION WAS THAT THERE WAS GENERALLY A GAP BETWEEN LARGE-CALIBER MACHINE GUNS AND ARTILLERY IN THE COMPOSITION OF THE WEAPONS OF THE ALLIES AND CHINA. WITH THE POWER OF HUAXIA WEAPONS, JUDGING FROM THE INTELLIGENCE HELD BY THE GERMANS, HUAXIA ONLY HAS 12.7MM MACHINE GUNS AND 30MM MACHINE GUNS. EVEN WITH STRENGTHENED PROTECTION ON THE SIDES, IT WAS DIFFICULT TO BLOCK THE ATTACK OF THE 30MM GUN. It is better to directly set the defense standard at the level of defense against large-caliber machine guns.

The protection standard is finalized. THEN THERE WERE THE WEAPONS, AND THE GERMANS FINALLY DECIDED TO INTRODUCE READY-MADE 30MM MACHINE GUNS FROM THE AIR FORCE AFTER CONSIDERING THE AMOUNT OF AMMUNITION AND THE MATERIAL AND OTHER FACTORS! Then look at the actual situation and make improvements. BUT SOON, THE ARTILLERY WAS FINALIZED, AND THE QUESTION OF THE TYPE OF SHELL CAME UP AGAIN, NOT THAT THE GERMAN'S 30MM MACHINE GUNS DID NOT HAVE ARMOR-PIERCING SHELLS OR HIGH-EXPLOSIVE SHELLS, BUT THE PROBLEM OF HOW TO REPLACE THE SHELLS IN REAL COMBAT! To put it simply, let's say a No. 4 tank hits an armored target, then the loader can simply load an armor-piercing shell. Use high-explosive shells when you hit bunkers or infantry. But the machine gun is fed with a chain, how do you change high-explosive shells and armor-piercing shells? Is it a temporary replacement of the elastic chain? Apparently unlikely. THE AIR FORCE'S 30MM GUNS ARE GENERALLY USED TO PERFORM ANTI-ARMOR MISSIONS. So it's all armor-piercing. And the armored vehicles of the Germans, apparently, also had to take into account anti-infantry capabilities, so how can this problem be solved?

It's not impossible to use a complex ammunition feeder, but the cost and reliability are really a bit difficult. So the Germans opted for a rougher solution, which was to match one armor-piercing round for every five high-explosive rounds on the chain. In any case, the machine gun has a fast rate of fire, and the rate of fire of several hundred rounds per minute is enough for this gun to fire enough ammunition against targets of any nature within the effective range. IN TERMS OF THE CHOICE OF SECONDARY WEAPONS, THE GERMANS EQUIPPED THIS TANK WITH TWO CALIBER MACHINE GUNS AT THE SAME TIME, ONE IS A 7.92MM MACHINE GUN COAXIAL WITH THE MACHINE GUN, AND THE OTHER IS A 15MM LARGE-CALIBER MACHINE GUN LOCATED AT THE TOP OF THE TURRET.

In the end, the vehicle, known as the Jaguar, compensated for the lack of direct firepower for the German armored spearhead. However, unlike later infantry fighting vehicles, this vehicle does not carry infantry, but is a purely auxiliary vehicle based on machine guns. Compared to the mighty Tiger series and the No. 3 series, which had many derivatives, the Puma was not well known, but it was one of the favorite direct-aim support weapons of the German infantry.

As with other models, as the war progressed, so did the need for anti-armor firepower in Germany. IN THE CASE OF INSUFFICIENT PRODUCTION CAPACITY AT SITE 3, THE JAGUAR FIGHTING VEHICLE WAS ALSO USED TO CARRY 75MM ANTI-TANK GUNS. However, due to their weak defense, there are not many vehicles of this variant. The rating is not very high either.

In addition to the half-tracks, the Germans also engaged in a number of wheeled armored reconnaissance vehicles. Considering the situation of fighting in the Middle East and India, the territory is too vast, and both tracked reconnaissance vehicles and semi-tracked vehicles have the problem of insufficient travel and speed. For this reason, the Germans specially created the Weasel-type reconnaissance vehicle, although it is called the Weasel, but it definitely does not mean that this kind of combat vehicle has poor firepower and small weight. This one weighs up to 14 tons. The combat vehicle, which uses a 210-horsepower engine with an 8*8 chassis, has the largest stroke and the highest speed in the arsenal of the German army. It can run up to 90 kilometers per hour on the road and 60 kilometers per hour on off-road, and the distance is 600 kilometers on the road and 400 kilometers off-road.

RELATIVE TO ITS SPEED, THE WEASEL'S WEAPONS ARE SHARPER, AND THE WEASEL INFANTRY FIGHTING VEHICLE CAN BE EQUIPPED WITH ALMOST ALL WEAPONS WEIGHING LESS THAN 1.5 TONS IN THE GERMAN ARMY, SUCH AS 75MM ANTI-TANK GUNS, 30MM MACHINE GUNS, AND 150MM HEAVY MORTARS. IT CAN ALSO BE EQUIPPED WITH A TRIPLE 20MM ERLEY ANTI-AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY CAMEO AIR DEFENSE VEHICLE, AND EVEN A ROCKET LAUNCHER CAN BE HUNG ON THE SIDE OF THE HULL TO MAKE A CAMEO CAMEO AS A ROCKET LAUNCHER. Of course, the result of equipping so many weapons directly under a weight of 15 tons is the lack of armor protection, this combat vehicle has 30MM inclined armor on the front, and the sides can only resist the attack of general large-caliber machine guns, and when it comes to the M2 machine gun that uses armor-piercing shells, it depends on the character. It's a very uneven weapon.

If this weapon is placed on a frontal battlefield, then the most likely result is that it will be beaten into a sieve by the opponent's strong firepower. But if you use it another way, then it's different. The high mobility and powerful firepower of the Weasel series of vehicles greatly helped to intersperse and operate behind enemy lines, and these units specially equipped with Weasel vehicles to carry out sabotage and interspersing tasks behind enemy lines were known as wolf packs in Germany.

The most glorious time for the wolves was in the early stage of the war, when they often slipped into the breach after the main force opened a gap, and before the other side was trying to plug the gap, they had already penetrated behind enemy lines, avoiding the opponent's heavy troops, and specifically looking for key places such as military stations, supply points, airfields, etc., to attack, and make a mess of the opponent's rear. On the one hand, this is because of the excellent mobility of the Weasel-type tank, and on the other hand, because the Allied countries did not have enough troops in the early stage of the launch, and before the United States and Britain fully exerted their strength, the density of troops to maintain the frontal defense line was enough, and the rear defense was naturally empty.

And with the finalization of the Jaguar and Weasel series of battlefields, the German Army has finally completed a new renewal plan from beginning to end. This defeat in Italy allowed the Germans to learn a lot, see the gap between themselves and the Chinese armored forces, and have a certain understanding of the opponents they may encounter in the future. When German armored forces reappeared a few years later, the British, Americans, and French were taken aback by these monsters of the Second Reich. Even Xu Jie admitted that the speed and level of evolution of the German armored forces exceeded his imagination. However, because Huaxia entered the war late, and at the same time there is the biggest plug-in of the traverser, so although the German armored forces are very strong, they are also within the acceptable range!

On the one hand, the Austro-Hungarian troops, which had lost their strongest armored force, were surrounded by the British and Chinese coalition forces that attacked from the north and south, and in addition to some people who escaped from the encirclement, the Entente and Chinese troops captured at least about 50,000 prisoners. As for the operation on the southern front, the US and French armies did not expect a catastrophe to be brewing.

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the tip~~~, and the book friend f663026 monthly pass support ~~~. (To be continued......)