Steel Soviet Union

It's been a while since Malashenko experienced such a strong and exciting visual impact. I remember the last time he was fighting Nazis in Berlin.

Wait, it seems that it wasn’t too long to go to Berlin to play Nazis?

Forget it, it doesn't matter. Anyway, the big guy in front of me, who is not too big, gives the impression that he is really awesome.

The main gun with the turret turned backwards and the gun barrel facing backwards, fixed on the engine room to facilitate railway transportation, looks quite familiar, and has a sense of "the Red Navy has a strong morale when it comes ashore", which is similar to the 130 main gun of IS7. The sense of sight of guns can be said to be of the same origin.

Tracing it back to the source, it is actually an improved version of the Red Navy's B-43 100mm naval gun.

Of course, this is not the first time that this "borrowed" Red Navy naval gun has appeared on a tracked combat vehicle. Another Red Army tank destroyer that is quite famous and equally powerful - the SU-100, has been around for a long time. The cannon was used and the cannons were opened in the German zoo.

The monsters in the zoo were killed so much that their turret heads flew to the ground, which was a truly impressive feat. Of course, it also fully proved the power of this "ship gun mounted" main gun.

On the other hand, the Red Army has long wanted to put 100 guns on tanks, and this idea even came earlier than putting 100 guns on tank destroyers.

Malashenko still remembers the scene when he visited the factory and Morozov pointed to the long-nosed T34 and said to himself, "That is the last T34 tank, Cherno Alpha."

The T34-100, which had insurmountable flaws, ultimately failed, but its design, development experience and exploration results were turned into technical reserves, retained, and eventually used in the next-generation latest T43 tank improvement and upgrade project. .

It is also because he has never forgotten the failure of the T34-100 project. Morozov, who has never given up upgrading the firepower of his tanks, made full plans when the latest T43 tank project was established.

However, medium tanks are far different from heavy tanks. They can be relatively high-quality with low quantity and high quality. They are specially equipped for elite troops and used for centralized breakthroughs. It is not too troublesome to have a smaller quantity. Medium tanks are It must be ensured that every Red Army tank unit has a functional and absolute mainstay.

The medium-sized tanks, which have extremely high production capacity requirements and are so large that just looking at the numbers are enough to make people gasp in shock, must be delivered in guaranteed quantities. This is a fundamental need that the Red Army cannot compromise on no matter what.

Morozov, who was affected by the limitations of artillery production capacity, had no choice but to use an 85mm main gun with poor performance but at least a large barrel for the T43. The production capacity of the 100mm vehicle-mounted main gun, which competed with tank destroyers for production capacity, could not meet the minimum bottom line requirements for the monthly delivery quantity of medium tanks, or even less than half.

If you dare to mass-produce 100mm main guns, then wait for the Red Army, ah no, it should be comrades from the Ministry of Internal Affairs who come to talk to you about your ideals.

The 85mm gun T43 has been finalized and put into production, but the design improvement work on the 100mm gun version of the T43 has never stopped.

Based on the principle of "Since the artillery production capacity is not enough, I will design it first" and unwilling to give up any available time, Morozov led the team to personally carry out the few 100mm prototype cannons for research use. I went down to the production workshop and kept making plans and changing the design. While waiting for the 100-gun production capacity to climb, I did my best to change the 100-mm gun version of the T43 to the "strongest and best" within my capabilities.

The hard work paid off. Morozov believed that the T43-100 prototype, which "has been modified to the point where there is no room for modification, and the current technical level is this," was finally completed in early 1945.

At this time, the production capacity of the Red Army's 100mm vehicle-mounted main gun has also been ramped up. It has the ability to ensure the supply of main guns for large-scale mass-produced medium tanks without affecting the supply of main guns for tank destroyers.

At this point, Kotin had thought about installing it on his car, and Morozov also thought about installing this "hot and spicy" 100 mm main gun on his car. In the end, Morozov was the first to install it on himself. On top of the medium-sized tanks, mass production began.

It is also this superior-performance transplanted version of the 100mm main gun from the Red Navy that gives the T43-100 the ability to "penetrate" heavyweight targets such as the King Tiger in its original pre-development design.

What about "prevent"? How can we withstand the fierce bombardment of that long 88 main gun?

The fragile main armor belt of the early T43 proved to be useless, at least in the face of the 88mm and even the stronger 128mm.

"It will be worn as soon as it is hit, and it will be worn every time it is hit" has almost become a joke among the German heavy armor battalions for a certain period of time when talking about the Red Army's new medium tanks. The face was bruised and swollen in front of the Stalin heavy tank, but it finally regained its face with the medium tank.

Similar jokes were passed to Morozov's ears through the Soviet intelligence system and prisoners' confessions.

Although the design specifications proposed by the Red Army do not require medium tanks to be able to block the firepower of heavy tanks, this is simply not realistic in wartime conditions and there is no time to conduct such research. But Morozov, who was silent on the surface, continued to work on the drawings in private, secretly vowing to regain his place on the latest T43-100.

When I first started pre-research on the T43-100, I didn’t have a ready-made King Tiger prototype. I just heard that monsters like the King Tiger appeared on the battlefield.

Based on the idea that "the guns are all the same anyway", Morozov directly obtained an early-stage Ferdinand captured by the Red Army during the Battle of Kursk and used it as a research object.

It was controlled by the active tank crew of the Red Army responsible for testing the prototype vehicle. It shot repeatedly at homogeneous steel target plates at various angles and thicknesses, recorded the different shooting results one by one, and then improved the design.

There were even accidents during this period. Ferdinand, who was used too hard by Morozov and was used like a bullock, could not handle the huge workload. During a certain test, the power cabin smoked, the telex system was overloaded, and the cable caught fire. combustion. Fortunately, no one was injured because it was discovered in time and properly disposed of. However, Ferdinand, which was used as a free cow and horse, was completely useless. Since there was neither the ability to overhaul this thing nor the need to repair it, it was directly scrapped.

Fortunately, at this time, there was already a ready-made Tiger King that had been dragged back from the front line and specially reserved for research in the rear yard.

With a real King Tiger benchmark, Morozov can test more things, and the armor configuration design that has already been perfected is finally completed.

The 120mm physically thick armor plate on the front of the car body arranged at an inclination angle of 60 degrees, coupled with the 200mm physically thick mantlet that protrudes irregularly along the gun root, and finally supplemented by a flat oval round and smooth autumn. , but the most valuable thing is a turret with excellent defensive configuration.

Morozov was quite satisfied with the results of the test. The results of the shooting range test showed that this configuration of armored box targets could not only completely withstand the front-end shooting of the King Tiger Chang 88, but even those that were later captured were also dragged for use. The tested Jagdtiger 128 cannon can also block it.

This even fully realizes the foresight that the pre-research design should have, although the final armor thickness was obtained through continuous testing and modification during the implementation of the design. But it is indeed because in the "car-making on paper" stage of pre-research and design, a series of problems caused by the possible weight and thickness of the armor have been taken into consideration, and enough room for reinforcement has been left in advance, so that the protection is as good as it is today. In the end, the final result can still be achieved by maneuvering to the standard.

Oh, there's one more thing worth mentioning.

After Malashenko proposed the concept and assisted in the design, the latest composite armor technology, which is now in full use, has also been integrated into the design of the latest T43-100 tank.

In the finalized design plan, the T43-100 uses a "60 mm homogeneous steel + 40 mm rubber interlayer + 60 mm homogeneous steel + 20 mm rubber interlayer" design, with a total physical thickness of 180 mm.

The effect of the middle layer of rubber is obvious, weakening the chemical energy metal jet; the innermost layer of rubber, in addition to having a certain weakening effect, also has a good effect on reducing the amount of metal fragments and preventing them from falling and sputtering when the armor is penetrated by passive energy. .

If the armor is only semi-penetrated and the warhead fails to enter the vehicle, it can almost prevent all the armor fragments from collapsing. It is a simple but very easy-to-use design. It is also Malashenko's earliest design. proposed.

The design of the turret is relatively complicated. In addition to the 200mm physical thickness pure armored steel gun mantlet, the left and right faces of the turret have the same "sandwich" configuration composite armor design as the front of the car body. The specific thickness is given by The "120 steel + 40 rubber + 80 steel + 20 rubber" from outside to inside has the same anti-collapse lining rubber layer design as the front of the car body.

The reason for adding a rubber interlayer is obvious - to resist chemical energy armor-piercing weapons that may appear in the future.

The rapid progress of chemical energy armor-piercing weapons in armor-piercing depth made Morozov realize that this emerging weapon category, which has achieved rapid development in a very short period of time and poses a greater threat to armor than even traditional kinetic energy armor-piercing projectiles, will inevitably develop in the future. It will become a powerful protective enemy of tanks and vehicles, and it is undoubtedly imperative to enhance the protection of chemical energy armor-breaking weapons.

To this end, Morozov not only added the most fashionable composite armor design to the T43-100, but also used Kojing, who was exchanged for Malashenko's matchmaking, to help and provide a full set of external composite armor with technical support. The design has also been integrated.

This complete set of additional armor, which is sandwiched between two thin steel plates with a rubber layer and hung outside the tank just like the armor of ancient generals, has been proven by actual combat results to significantly enhance the tank's resistance to chemical armor-piercing weapons.

Even the T3485, which was somewhat outdated at the end of the war, could ignore the fierce bombardment of the Panzerfaust 100 after being equipped with this thing, charging like a bull in a china shop with anti-tank grenades.

All the above mature and reliable innovative designs, coupled with Morozov's "three years of hard work" on the T43, finally created the car parked on the trailer in front of Malashenko, with all the After adding external composite armor, it becomes a fully armed "super medium tank".

The old designer comrades called her "T43-100" because the entire project team, including Morozov, had called her that since the pre-research on this thing started before there was an official project number.

Later, even after I got the project number, I didn’t change it from word to mouth because it sounded so smooth. In the end, the official equipment number after the Red Army approved it and allowed the initial batch to be put into production was simply called "T43A", which means the first deeply improved sub-model of the T43 medium tank.

But Malashenko, who witnessed this scene with his own eyes, knew it.

If you look at it based on your own knowledge of existing history, you can judge and analyze it based on your own memories of previous lives.

Then this thing shouldn't be called T43A. It was really made a little ahead of its time.

Although the use of a large number of innovative technological designs and premature birth have resulted in great changes in its appearance and history.

But there is one thing that is truly "classic and has a strong flavor" that has not changed.

What is it?

Of course it’s the “five pairs of road wheels”!

To put it bluntly, Malashenko, who was more familiar with the "five pairs of road wheels" than his own mother, would never forget how influential this thing was in existing history until his death.

And this thing is a tank with a very similar base and very similar appearance to this thing. Its name in the existing history should have been "T-54 1947".

Now, this thing was born two years ahead of schedule, equipped with more efficient but simple and practical protective armor than in the existing history, and is far more powerful than the earliest T54 1945 model in the existing history.

The protection directly throws out the existing historical versions of various T54 improvements two years later, four years later, or even six years later.

If we look at the existing historical standards, only the T54A, which has been deeply modified, can compare to the T43A in this timeline.

Malashenko never expected that he didn't take care of it at first because he didn't want to cause Kogin to misunderstand, let alone get involved in the competition between the two men, and deliberately turned a blind eye to the development of Morozov's medium tank. In the end, such a powerful "super premature car" was built.

Although not as shocking as IS7 and ISU-203, the two "heavily equipped twin evils", Malashenko did not help Morozov too late after all.

If Malashenko is just a game cheat, then Kogin is undoubtedly the kind who "hacked the whole game" right after the Great Patriotic War started, so happy that he took off on the spot and blasted through all the achievements.

Morozov was different. He survived the most difficult first half of the game, but failed only in the second half, and his functions were not as comprehensive as Kotin's.

Therefore, Morozov's ability to come up with something like this has been "very shocking to Malashenko for a whole year."

It's a little regretful that I didn't catch up with the Great Patriotic War, but at least I didn't miss every battlefield. At least I caught the last train.

Well, this means that you Japanese devils will be able to eat the "IS7+T43A+BMP43+ISU203+TOS1A" limited-edition set meal right away. This does not include the slightly less powerful IS6 and ISU. -152A those secondary equipment.

This is the supreme and top-level treatment that even Germans have not enjoyed!

Malashenko doesn't want anything else right now, he just wants to protect the Japanese devils and the Kwantung Army bastards who are causing trouble in the Northeast. But he must never surrender as soon as he sees a swarm of tanks rushing towards him. It's so boring.

You must definitely bring your "bushido spirit" to the end. I'm begging you, okay?