Steel Soviet Union

“Our bureau’s current plan is to take a two-step approach, Comrade General.

"First of all, we plan to make improvements and upgrades based on the T43 medium tank. Although this medium tank is not as good as the German new tank for the time being, it is a good upgrade and improvement platform. Unlike the previous T34, we are designing From the beginning, we considered replacing the main gun with a more powerful one and adding thicker protective armor.”

"To this end, we calculated the power-to-weight ratio of the tank and left enough engine power required for future armor protection upgrades. A sufficiently powerful engine has been installed in the early design and can fully meet future armor upgrades. Needed, the maneuverability will not be poor due to the increase in tonnage.”

"In addition, we also calculated the installation size of the larger-caliber artillery and the breech retraction distance. There is no problem even if the new turret is directly equipped with a 122mm main gun. But because the time is too hasty, the first batch The mass-produced T43 can only be produced and delivered to the troops using the 85mm main gun using the design that has been demonstrated and proven to be feasible on the T3485.”

"As long as the relevant demonstration is proved to be no problem and feasible, the plan to replace the more powerful main gun will be immediately reflected in the second and third batches of mass-produced models. The upgrade of armor protection will also be carried out at the same time. We have now begun to collect the power parameters of the German tank gun to prepare for demonstration. If there is enough time, there will be live-fire target testing, but it is not yet certain.”

In the existing history, ah no, it should be said to be the T44 medium tank. In fact, it is a very embarrassing and unlucky child who has not caught up with anything.

She did not catch up with the opportunity to prove herself by taking over T3485 in actual combat and knocking the German guy's broken car to the ground. In the post-war Red Army tank unit replacement and upgrade plan, it also failed to find its rightful place. The T54 medium tank that was immediately replaced quickly replaced it and completely became the tears of the times.

The T44 or T43 medium tank, which was born at the wrong time, is actually a Red Army medium tank in a technical transition period, a trial work that connects the past and the next.

But even so, Malashenko still does not deny that this is an excellent medium tank.

She indeed inherited the features of the previous generation T34 medium tank that were low-cost and easy to produce in large quantities during wartime. At the same time, it also achieved upgrades based on the T3485. In particular, the potential for upgrades and improvements cannot be ignored, which is much higher than that of the T34, which was designed earlier and did not take into account the needs of subsequent actual combat changes.

If the T34, which was finalized before the war, helped the Red Army tank troops to complete the first half of the game, achieved outstanding combat results, and delivered a perfect answer.

So T43, which inherits all the advantages of T34, is the official sequel to the excellent masterpiece of the previous generation. The difference is that it is extremely scalable and can be used with a bunch of MODs, just like Old Scroll 5 was transformed into Girly Scroll 5 by players. After a torturous magic modification, he is fully capable of taking over from T3485 and playing the entire second half until the end of the war and winning victory for the motherland.

The key to the problem lies in how to make magic changes, and how to start the changes is correct and required for actual combat.

Generally speaking, this requires a lot of time to prove, and for the sake of safety, many conservative designs will be adopted that affect the full performance of the combat effectiveness. This needs to be improved little by little based on actual combat feedback from the front line. This is true for any tank that has been proven to be excellent in actual combat, and this is the case with the T34 series.

But the problem is, whether it is the Red Army tank troops or Morozov, what they lack most now is time.

Under the premise that the Germans' new monsters have begun mass production and installation, the delay in time means greater losses for the frontline troops, and that is a lot of human lives.

There is nothing you can do about such urgent matters except taking it slowly. Morozov can't speed up even if he stares anxiously, but this is only under normal circumstances.

Comrade Ma is not an ordinary person. It is estimated that there is only one time traveler in the world who can call himself an "ordinary person". Problems like this that make Morozov so worried that he can't sleep are exactly what we, Comrade Ma, are. Comrade Ma's specialty.

"If I were to give you some advice, my suggestion would be to use 100 guns to upgrade your firepower. Comrade Morozov, what do you think?"

"100 guns?"

Of course, Morozov knew what the 100-gun Malashenko was talking about. This thing was originally a "borrowed" land-based version of the Red Navy's 100-mm naval gun.

As early as when Kogin originally designed the IS2 heavy tank, he had considered installing a main gun of this caliber on the vehicle.

However, due to production problems and suggestions from Malashenko, 122 guns were finally chosen instead of 100 guns. This has been used in subsequent models of Stalin heavy tanks and has been proven to be a successful large tank in actual combat. caliber tank gun.

The current situation is different from the past. The 100 gun has made greater progress compared to when Kogin was preparing to design the IS2 heavy tank.

Because the large-scale production of the German army's new tiger and leopard zoo has led to a sudden increase in anti-tank pressure on the front line, the authorities are preparing to use this new 100mm main gun as the main gun design of an anti-tank destroyer to contain the German zoo. The momentum is becoming more and more fierce every day.

But for Morozov, it is a completely different design idea.

Morozov, who was pressed for time, had no time to wait for the new 100-gun gun to be mounted on the tank and the demonstration was completed. Based on past experience, it can be estimated that after all the demonstration and test procedures according to the normal procedures are completed, the 100-gun gun will actually be equipped. Mass production of the improved T43 will have to wait until at least October or even later.

It will never be earlier than the mass production of a new tank destroyer equipped with this kind of main gun. After all, the main gun mounting demonstration is already underway. However, the main gun design suitable for the tank destroyer version cannot be directly used on tanks. These are two completely unrelated things.

If Morozov wanted to use it, he would have to start anew and make his own demonstration of the tank-mounted version of the 100-gun gun, but he really doesn't have the extra time now.

Because of this, Morozov's original plan was to directly use Kotin's 122 gun, which had been demonstrated and proved successful by actual combat results, and installed it on the T43 medium tank. In this way, it can greatly save the time of demonstration and testing, accelerate the mass production of subsequent batches of improved T43, so that frontline troops can use it as soon as possible and substantially improve their combat effectiveness.

In the final design of the last T43 medium tank, Kogin gave Morozov a timely hand and sent some designs that had passed actual combat testing, which was a big help to the burning Morozov.

With this "successful cooperation", Morozov planned to shamelessly ask Kotin to help him once again to finalize the design of the main gun and get the 122 gun on board as soon as possible.

But Malashenko's current sentence of "change 100 guns and get on the car" directly brought Morozov back to the crossroads of making a choice.

Morozov, who knew how difficult the situation was, was still full of doubts, and then asked Malashenko.

"The 100mm main gun has never been mounted on any active tank of the Red Army. We tried to mount it on the T34, but ultimately failed. Only one failed test prototype was produced and rejected. "

"If we want to carry a new 100mm main gun, we will have to spend more time testing and demonstrating the design, and whether it can be passed in the end is still a matter of debate. It might be the result of a failure like the T34 equipped with a 100mm gun. Such words are precious Time was wasted again. Although there was enough room for upgrades from the beginning, no one can guarantee the final result.”

"Is it really feasible to put 100 guns on the car? Why do you think so? Comrade General, can you elaborate in more detail?"