"Aim at the target!" With one command after another, the factory's artillery crew pushed an armor-piercing shell into the chamber of the 88 mm cannon. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 ｉｎｆｏ

Then, the distant observation post raised a flag, indicating that the staff in the experimental area had all retreated and left, and that it was now safe to open fire at any time.

In the stands, near the back row, an expert in armored engineering technology, wearing glasses, was looking at his design data on paper.

Beside him, another expert in charge of designing artillery shells, asked in a low voice with great interest: "Do you think the armor you designed can withstand the impact of 88 mm armor-piercing shells?" ”

Raising his head, looking through the frame of his glasses, and glancing at his sworn enemy out of the corner of his eye, the armor design engineer snorted coldly: "Your cannonball, trying to penetrate my armor?" Dream on! ”

"Are you still dreaming? A month ago, my shells pierced through your armor, and it was still a piece of cake! The cannonball expert sneered triumphantly.

As he spoke, he stretched out a finger to show off: "Two weeks ago, it wasn't hard to break through your armor!" ”

"It's a pity that this time the armor steel is made with the latest technology, which has been tested in our own laboratory, and it can theoretically meet the requirements of the experiment." The armored engineer said confidently.

The experimental requirements that this engineering and technical expert in armor said were the Führer's requirements for the thickness of the front armor of the No. 5 combat vehicle.

The Führer wanted the new tank to be equipped with inclined armor and to be 100 mm thick – a 20 mm thickness over the frontal armor of the Leopard tank.

Under this requirement, the thickness of the frontal armor of the new German tank was set at an interesting value - 100 mm!

After tilting, the armored frontal defense capability of the new tank has actually surpassed the famous Tiger tank in history, which is also the main reason why Li Le developed the main battle tank instead of the Tiger tank.

Because with the technological innovation of tanks in the new era, a general-purpose main battle tank is more in line with the development direction than the development direction of light and heavy tank branches.

After the tests, the German tank designers were convinced that with good tank design and the help of new technologies, the 35-to-40-ton tank could fully meet the perfect balance of firepower, defense and mobility!

A tank that balances the three indicators is more in line with the needs of the battlefield and can give full play to the combat effectiveness of the tank than the design of a single strengthened performance index.

This idea was supported by the army, because in fact, the German armored command leadership, including Guderian and other armored commanders, preferred to get a tank like tank No. 2, which was highly mobile and suitable for rapid assault.

As for the thick-skinned Tiger tank, the German generals who fought offensive operations did not like it -- because it was too heavy, the tank often fell behind, and it could not form its due superiority in numbers.

However, as time went on, it became clear that the No. 2 tank had become obsolete, so the German top brass began to worry about when the new tank would be equipped.

Please do not doubt the correct values and IQ of most of the German high-level, throughout the Second World War, mass production has not stopped, it is the No. 3 assault gun, the No. 4 tank and the Leopard tank.

And the King Tiger and the Tiger tank, which everyone remembers, are all short-lived weapons and equipment: more than 1,000 Tiger tanks were produced, 500 King Tiger tanks were produced, and the two tanks combined were not as much as the No. 2 tank.

"Are you really so confident?" The artillery expert smiled and looked at the 88-mm anti-aircraft cannon in the distance, which was ready to fire at any moment, and his eyes jumped back and forth on the members of the artillery crew who were already standing there.

"Really so confident!" The armor expert nodded, affirming the armor he had designed.

"Boom!" This is the first time that Li Le has watched a real 88mm cannon fire at such a close range.

He had finally experienced what it meant to be devastating, though he knew that there were countless larger cannons out there, and that when they fired, they were much more imposing than what he saw.

But he had never seen such a scene, and he was still inspired by the sound of the cannon and the feeling of swallowing thousands of miles like a tiger.

No wonder the cannon is a man's romance, on the murderous battlefield, to be able to fight with such a weapon is a real man!

While the two engineers were arguing behind them, the 88mm cannon erupted in a blazing flame, and a shell seemed to travel through space in an instant, crashing into the body of the test vehicle.

The hull was a prototype of the No. 5 tank, which had just been completed, and the chassis had not yet been serialized.

However, unlike modern tanks, this tank broke free from the basic design limitations of many World War II tanks.

First of all, this hull was the first of the German tank hulls without a central drive shaft. This made the whole hull much lower, from the tall hull of World War II to the flat appearance of the main battle tank hull after World War II.

Because of the rear gearbox and engine, the tank's frontal armor tilted more naturally, and the center of gravity was more rationalized because of this change.

At the same time, the low profile of the tank also reduces the space on the side of the tank. The problem that plagued the side armor of World War II tanks was well solved!

There were three different ways to deal with this piece of armor in World War II, and the main participating countries, Germany, the United States, and the Soviet Union adopted different design attitudes on this side armor.

The German Leopard tank used large pieces of sloping side armor to ensure the protection of the vehicle and protect the space for the crew to move.

The U.S. adopted a design of vertical side armor that was easy to produce, and the Sherman tank's signature side vertical armor was fragile and least protected.

The Soviet T-34 tank has a low profile and a side armor design, which has strong protection, but the problem is that the space inside the car is not good, which is very awkward for the user.

The three countries turned in their own answers to the medium tank, and due to the technical limitations of the time, they chose different and embarked on three completely different paths.

However, Li Le traveled from the 21st century, and in the year he traveled, the design and structure of the T-54 tank, known as the first god car of the Cold War, has long been no secret.

With this future tank design reference, it was easy for German designers to copy a similar one!

The T-54, the culmination of Soviet tank design ideas, is a pinnacle of the Soviet tank's idea of "insufficient technology to design to make up". After this tank, it will be difficult for the design to compete with the rapid technological development.

At this juncture of balance between design and technology, it is naturally the best choice to take out the T-54 tank as a sample of the new German tank.

Moreover, the German engineers did not copy it, and they made many modifications according to their needs, such as slightly reducing the diameter of the wheels of medium tanks and increasing the number of pairs of load-bearing wheels from five to six.

More critically, the side armor of the hull, which was not very easy to deal with in World War II, had almost no area on the upper side of the chassis of the T-54! Because the area is small, it is enough to defend with vertical armor!

In this way, it not only takes into account the convenience of production, but also increases the internal space of the car body, and has not lost its protective performance...... The so-called technology can't be made up by design, it's so magical!

The most interesting thing is that this is not a technology that needs to be accumulated to develop: this design was born at the end of World War II, and although it didn't appear in 1940, everyone can play it for 45 years!

After a series of "innovations", the chassis of the No. 5 tank was almost locked in its position as the strongest tank chassis in World War II just after its birth - after all, it was the classic tank design of later generations, and the leading degree is self-evident.

In the lens of the telescope that Li Le was holding, the tank chassis in the distance, which looked really modern, was hit by an 88 mm caliber shell that crossed the distance in an instant.

"Hit the target! The target was hit! "At the observation post, I immediately transmitted my observations. As they spoke, the hull of the experimental tank No. 5 was still covered in a cloud of rising smoke.

"The experimenters are approaching the target, and the artillery stops firing!" While waving the flag in their hands, several managers at the test site confirmed each other over the radio.

"Everyone get out of the artillery! Stop shooting! Several factory executives hurried to the still smoking guns and shouted to the crew members who were already standing away from the guns.

"The testers are already close to the prototype! Observing the blow! "There was a distant voice on the radio, and there was some noise in the loudspeakers.

Looking at the craters on the hull of the car that had been knocked out by the shells, he touched the armor around the charred craters with his hands, which was still a little hot at this moment.

However, even a blind person can see that the shells did not penetrate the frontal armor, and the two immobilized goats used for experiments in the body of the car were still jumping alive despite being frightened.

"Report to the Observatory! The front of the hull of tank No. 5 was not penetrated! My God! It really wasn't penetrated! I didn't let Li Le, who was waiting on the viewing platform, wait too long, and there was exciting good news from the radio speaker!

Li Le's hand behind his back involuntarily clenched, after two months of hard work, he put forward a lot of design drawings and technical ideas of the No. 5 tank hull, and finally in a cheer, was finalized!