Chapter 98 German Tanks

"Da-da-da." The twin-mounted 8mm machine guns on the CV 33 tank spat out long tongues of fire, advancing toward the opposing positions, closely followed by a dense crowd of Italian soldiers.

This type of tank had a height of only 1.32 meters, while the shortest Italian soldier behind it was at least 1.7 meters tall, towering over the tank. The peculiar height difference amused the German expeditionary officers observing from the rear. German tanks were over two meters tall, and soldiers following them could easily advance using the tanks as cover.

"I really don't know what the Italian designers were thinking.", remarked one of the officers. Unbeknownst to them, without Wilhelm's guidance, the Germans had created their own Panzer I tank, which wasn't much better than this small tank, making their criticism seem somewhat ironic.

Bullets swept across the government army's positions, seemingly keeping them pinned down, making it difficult for them to lift their heads, creating an atmosphere of breaking through the defenses.

"Boom!" At that moment, a tank in the advancing formation exploded, instantly turning into a pile of scrap metal.

"Rheinmetall's 37mm anti-tank gun." An officer from the expeditionary force, observing the situation through binoculars in the rear observation post, happened to witness this scene and muttered softly. Seeing the surprised eyes of the Spanish officer next to him, he shrugged and explained, "You heard it right, it's our German Rheinmetall company's 37mm anti-tank gun. However, we sold it to the Soviets back in the '30s. It was later incorporated into the Soviet arsenal with the designation M30. I heard they developed a more advanced 45mm gun based on it, but it seems that thing hasn't arrived yet. What came here is only this outdated 37mm anti-tank gun."

The Spanish officer nodded in realization and asked in a low voice, "I heard that your country is about to complete the construction of two warships commissioned by the Soviet Union. Will you deliver them?"

The German officer gave him a strange look. "Of course, conflict is conflict, business is business. Besides, this is your civil war; we haven't intervened, and the Soviets haven't shown up either."

"..." Perhaps unable to understand the German way of thinking, the Spanish officer sighed and continued to observe the distant battle. However, he saw the Italian army hastily retreating, leaving behind seven or eight destroyed CV 33 tanks.

"Huh?" They're retreating now? The Spanish officer looked at the Italian officer beside him, whose complexion was unpleasant. He didn't know what to say.

After the defeated Italian army reorganized for a while, they rallied and launched another attack. However, the result was the same; halfway through, they withdrew in a dejected manner, returning to their starting point.

This repeated four times. Seeing even the Spanish officer showing a disdainful expression, the Italian officer trembled all over, suddenly drew his pistol, and shouted, "Adjutant, prepare the punitive squad! Anyone who dares to retreat this time will face execution!"

The German and Spanish officers looked at each other, shrugged, and it seemed like this time they were going to be tough. This was something to look forward to.

Under the intimidation of the punitive squad, the Italian army seemed to "regain" their courage. They stubbornly pushed forward to a point just over 500 meters from the defensive positions, as if a little more effort could break through.

Just then, two steel monsters, unseen before by the government army, emerged from behind their defensive line. Compared to the nearly flat CV 33 turret, the opposing tanks had a large turret on their hull. Most importantly, the dark tank barrel on that turret! It made the Italian tankers tremble with fear; their CV 33 twin-mounted 8mm machine guns and fragile armor were no match for that.

"T-26 tank? Type B? How come there are only two? The Soviets are really stingy?" Hearing the German officer's amused gaze fixed on those two tanks, he mocked, "They have a smaller caliber than your tanks?"

The expeditionary force officer nodded, relaxed. "These tank guns have a caliber of 45mm, indeed smaller than our tanks." A 45mm tank gun, considered outdated in the later stages of World War II, was now an absolute dominator on the battlefield!

As an undisputed original inventor of tanks, every tank developed by the UK until the outbreak of World War II was imitated and reproduced by many countries. The Soviet T-26 tank (and the German Panzer I) was also based on the British Vickers tank, officially finalized in 1931 and equipped by the Soviet Red Army in 1932. It was one of the early mainstays of the Soviet Red Army's tank force. Moreover, its firepower significantly exceeded that of the Panzer I and even surpassed that of the 38t and early Panzer III.

As the dark gun barrel pointed towards them, the Italian tank crew made the same choice without hesitation—drop the shields and retreat!

Jokingly, even the opponent's small-caliber anti-tank guns could easily penetrate their thin armor, let alone this intimidating tank gun?!

However, they weren't fools; they knew that turning the tank around to run back would waste precious time. So, they chose to drop and take cover at the first opportunity.

Watching his soldiers sprinting backward, the Italian police officer's mouth involuntarily twitched.

Just as he hesitated about whether to order the punitive squad to open fire, the German expeditionary officer finally grew impatient. He directly, in a semi-commanding tone, ordered them to stop this farce. The Italian officer, stressed by his subordinates' poor performance, had lost his temper long ago and could only let the Italian army stay put.

Upon receiving the command, the rear airbase became busy. Stuka dive bombers were refueled, armed, and prepared for takeoff. They carried one SC250 250kg bomb under the fuselage and four SC50 50kg bombs under the wings.

There were a total of 32 Stukas, although the government forces no longer had a decent air force. However, to be on the safe side, six Bf 109 fighters were sent for escort.

When this squadron of dive bombers took off, accompanied by the roaring engines, one tank after another, with long barrels held high, confidently emerged from their cover.

Looking at these "big" tanks, which appeared exceptionally powerful compared to Italy's tiny tanks, the Spanish officer couldn't help but almost drool.

Now, this is what you call a tank!

The original timeline's German tank designers had an incomprehensible obsession: the design of American and Soviet tanks started from the bottom, with the chassis and engine first, followed by the turret and gun. Many Soviet tank guns were modified from other artillery. German design, on the contrary, began by selecting an excellent gun, modifying it into a suitable tank gun, and then designing the tank body around that gun. They continued to develop the chassis and turret according to the gun's performance.

The result was that German tanks were praised for their superior firepower, thicker armor, and overall combat capabilities. However, they were also criticized for being too heavy and having low reliability. In contrast, Soviet tanks, starting with the T-34, gradually took a brighter path. The late-war classics like the T-44, T-54, IS-3, and subsequent models almost perfectly maximized the three elements of tanks.

Wilhelm couldn't tolerate this situation and made some significant modifications to the Panzer IV.

Sloped armor, rear transmission, mid-turret, torsion bar suspension, transverse engine, SSG77 transmission – after these changes, he found that this tank no longer had much in common with the Panzer IV. It looked more like the Soviet T-44 tank. Of course, this "resemblance" was only in terms of structure and appearance. Wilhelm named this tank "Jackal", and it weighed only 21 tons, far less than the T-44 tank in terms of firepower, protection, and mobility.

As for the engine, he still used a gasoline engine. Despite many people considering diesel engines the best choice for tank engines due to their fuel efficiency, reliability, and low flammability, even with today's German technology, a perfect diesel engine cannot be produced. The current diesel engine with the same horsepower is 1.8 times the volume of a gasoline engine, making the layout more challenging and the total horsepower relatively small. Overcoming the challenges of downsizing a diesel engine would take considerable time.

Moreover, German tanks using gasoline engines were less fatigued during long-distance marches. Unlike their Soviet counterparts using diesel engines, whose limbs were almost falling apart after long marches, German tank crews could still maintain some combat effectiveness. Some even said that Russian tank crews couldn't endure more than two hours inside, while German tanks could run all day without any issues.

Furthermore, the German tanks used the most compact, fuel-efficient, and powerful 320-horsepower Maybach HL120TRM engine in the world. Its fuel economy was excellent, consuming only two-thirds of the fuel of similar British and American engines. Combined with its impressive production capacity (one engine rolled off the production line every 25 minutes), various factors made Wilhelm not in a hurry to equip diesel engines.

Regarding tank guns, Wilhelm didn't choose the 75mm KwK/37 or 75mm KwK/40 guns used by the original Panzer IV. Instead, he opted for the KwK39-type 60-caliber 50mm tank gun used by the Panzer III J.

It's essential to note that during the attack on France, there were still many Panzer II tanks serving as the main force. In the short term, this 50mm-caliber tank gun was more than sufficient. Wilhelm was also concerned that if he directly used the 75mm tank gun, it would greatly stimulate other countries, leading to them desperately developing tanks. It was better to keep a lower profile.