Chapter 282 U.S. Military Buildup

While the Soviets were busy researching their heavy tanks, across the Atlantic in the United States, things were certainly not idle.

At the outbreak of the European war, everyone, including Americans, initially believed that this war would evolve into a protracted trench warfare similar to the last great war, with battles fought in the dark, collapsing skies, and shaking earth. However, contrary to all expectations, this time Germany played its cards completely differently. The blitzkrieg led by the German armored forces swept across entire Europe. Starting with Poland, self-proclaimed "East Europe's foremost military power", one after another, Denmark, Norway, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Belgium fell. Finally, even the strongest European country, France, and the longtime maritime hegemon, Britain, suffered significant losses. Not only were hundreds of thousands of Allied forces sent to German prisoner-of-war camps, but even the capital, Paris, became an undefended city.

It can be said that the current situation in Europe is highly favorable to Germany.

While other countries may be amazed by Germany's military strength, the Americans, who have been eagerly eyeing European hegemony, are very displeased.

Germany's brilliant achievements prompted Americans to reevaluate the development of their own military. The German air force, army, and navy all had experiences worth learning.

Among them, the U.S. Army was the most active. When they saw reports of the German armored forces maneuvering across the European continent with lightning-fast blitzkrieg tactics, officers at all levels of the U.S. Army seemed to have been injected with chicken blood. They crazily submitted requests to various departments, demanding the establishment of corresponding armored corps to cope with the future mode of warfare.

The United States did have tanks, but the main ones in service were the M2 light tank and the M2 medium tank. However, these two tanks were outdated even before they were put into service. Compared to contemporary European tanks, they were considered lackluster. The Americans also understood that these tanks were somewhat redundant, they were not sent to overseas battlefields to avoid embarrassment and were only used for tank crew training domestically.

Now, the U.S. military urgently needed to develop and manufacture new tanks to enhance their military power.

The current U.S. President, Franklin D. Roosevelt, was no fool, and he lacked neither ambition nor decisiveness. He readily approved the Army's request.

The design department, based on the M2A4 light tank with an armored plate riveting structure, took measures such as increasing armor thickness, installing guided wheels for mobility, and improving anti-aircraft weapons. They modified and designed the M3 Stuart.

The initial armament of the tank included a 37mm cannon as the main weapon and five 7.62mm machine guns as auxiliary weapons: one mounted on the right side of the cannon, one mounted on the front right side of the hull, two mounted in the machine gun seats on the sides of the hull, and one mounted on top of the turret. There was a small command turret on top of the turret. Shortly afterward, some improvements were made to the turret, changing it to a welded structure, eliminating the small command turret on top of the turret, and canceling the machine guns on both sides, with auxiliary weapons changed to three 7.62mm machine guns: one coaxial machine gun, one forward-mounted machine gun, and one high-angle machine gun.

However, the Army was not satisfied. In their view, this tank, equipped with a 37mm gun, was far inferior to the German's 50mm caliber main gun, and the armor was more than a bit behind, clearly outdated.

Perhaps stimulated by the criticism, the design department unexpectedly brought in a 75mm cannon and forcefully mounted it on the vehicle. In response to the Army's dissatisfaction with their tank being inferior to the Germans, they countered with, "Look, the Germans have a 50mm caliber gun, and I've equipped you with a 75mm. That's better than Germany, isn't it?"

However, this also led to the new tank having a total of 3 layers, resembling a mobile tower. On the left side of the driver's seat, two fixed machine guns were installed. Behind the driver's seat, there was a dual-person turret. The tank commander and a gunner were responsible for using the M5 or M6 tank gun derived from the 37mm M3 anti-tank gun inside the turret, along with a coaxial machine gun. The tank commander had a command dome with a machine gun for observation. Due to the numerous weapons inside the vehicle, there were a total of 7 crew members (compared to 6 in the Grant model), making it appear quite crowded.

Although this medium tank, named the M3 Lee, had considerable firepower and good mobility, its protective capabilities were relatively lacking. This was evident in its high silhouette, thin armor, and riveted hull. Another prominent feature was the crowded interior with 7 crew members, along with two guns. The use of two guns, divided into two levels, made it inconvenient for the tank commander to command and quickly deploy firepower.

Even though the Army was still dissatisfied with this "broken thing" that was far inferior to German tanks in overall strength, the United States was not currently facing a strong tank threat. The Army reluctantly prepared to equip a total of 3000 of these "broken things".

Since the ground forces had "upgraded their guns", how could the soaring eagle in the sky fall behind?

The air force department (during World War II, the United States did not have an independent air force, but rather had the Army Air Forces and the Navy Air Forces) was also eager to update its equipment. Although they had not faced a direct challenge, just comparing the performance data showed that their P-36 fighter was far from a match for the German Bf 109.

Fortunately, Lockheed had delivered the XP-38 prototype in January 1939, and it had successfully completed its maiden flight. (Originally, there should have been an intermediate P-37 model between the P-36 and P-38. Allison, a division of General Motors, designed the liquid-cooled V1710-11 engine. They also used a General Electric turbocharger to give the engine more powerful output. To demonstrate the improvement, they experimented with making a dozen XP-37 planes. Although it's unclear why these experimental aircraft were not adopted, it is rumored that the collected data was used in the design of the P-40.) The Army Air Forces now only waited for the new aircraft to enter mass production.

Just as the Americans were making a concerted effort to narrow the performance gap with German weapons, a more shocking piece of news reached the White House.

The hundreds of thousands of British and French allied forces trapped in the Dunkirk area raised the white flag under the command of Viscount Gort, the supreme commander of the British Expeditionary Force.

The European war situation had completely exceeded the expectations of the Americans in just a few days, and there were even intelligence reports suggesting that the French were also about to surrender, and the Germans would follow up and land on British soil.

"This doesn't align with the interests of the United States. We have to lend a hand to the British." Once the Germans truly landed in Britain and established a foothold, the United States would lose the springboard to interfere in Europe. President Roosevelt, with ambitious plans, would not allow the entire unification of Europe.

"But will Congress easily agree?" The one speaking was General George Catlett Marshall, the Chief of Staff of the Army.

After the outbreak of the European war, there were those in the United States advocating strenuously avoiding war, and others advocating active preparedness. However, isolationism still prevailed in the current United States (simply put, because during World War I, the United States participated in the war, suffered heavy casualties, but when the Paris Peace Conference came, the war dividends were distributed, and the United States did not gain much, so at the beginning of World War II, Americans were not willing to participate in the war). Even those who advocated active preparedness did not want the United States to rashly get involved in the war.

General Marshall was one of them. He believed that whether they liked it or not, in the not-too-distant future, the United States would inevitably be drawn into the war. And as the Chief of Staff of the Army, active preparedness was an obligation. What the United States needed now was time, and the most effective way to delay the Germans was to support Britain. Assisting Britain was equivalent to buying time for the United States itself.

But how to persuade those conservative members of Congress?