After the Polish-made 7TP tanks equipped with the same tank gun have all been withdrawn from the front-line combat units, the 37 tank gun used by the All-Resistance League is probably the only 38T tank. Not to mention that there are only a few dozen, even if there are more of them, in the absence of a follow-up source, it is impossible to open a single ammunition production line for such a small number of tanks.

However, if all of them are replaced with 45-mm tank guns, in addition to disassembling the guns on Soviet-made T26 tanks, the Anti-United Nations will not be able to meet the needs of a larger number of replacements. Then it is impossible for him not to be criticized. There were only more than 30 38T tanks and only 20 No. 2 tanks transferred by the Soviet army.

In fact, the biggest headache for Xiong Dazhen was not to solve the problem of the artillery of the German No. 3 tank, but precisely the problem of shells needed for the short 75-millimeter tank gun of the No. 4 tank. It is easy to say that there is no problem at all in the production of grenades, and it can even be modified using the stock of Japanese-style field artillery shells. But the armor-piercing shells used in this tank gun gave him a headache.

When the Soviets handed over these German tanks, most of them were in good condition. Even some of them were damaged in battle, but they were all repaired. But all the shells that came with the car, together were less than 400 rounds. The 75-mm armor-piercing shells used by the No. 4 tank were even more pitiful with only 45 rounds. Even with the addition of high-explosive grenades, it is less than 200 rounds.

At present, all the energy has been invested in the production of several other armor-piercing shells, and the military industry really does not have the time, nor the energy, and more importantly, there are not enough skilled workers to produce the 75-mm armor-piercing shells used in this tank.

Before the campaign was launched, both the anti-coalition armored forces and anti-aircraft artillery units were in urgent need of a large number of armor-piercing shells. The tank units of the Anti-United Nations alone currently have tank guns of 40 mm, 45 mm and 76 mm calibers, which need to be equipped with sufficient armor-piercing shells.

In addition, because of the lack of armor-piercing shells, only 23 and 57 mm anti-aircraft guns with grenades could only be used in anti-aircraft combat. At present, there is also an urgent need to equip anti-aircraft armor-piercing shells, which are long overdue, to solve the situation of insufficient anti-aircraft firepower and too single type of artillery shells.

Even the 37 and 85 anti-aircraft guns, which had been using original Soviet-made imported shells, also needed a large amount of replenishment when the number of original imported armor-piercing shells had bottomed out. That is to say, before the launch of the next stage of the campaign, in addition to the sufficient number of armor-piercing shells for 40-mm British-caliber tank guns, there were seven calibers that needed to be replenished with armor-piercing shells in large quantities just before the arrival of this batch of German-made tanks.

And the military-industrial armor-piercing ammunition production department, which was originally the weakest technical force in the production of ammunition, has so far been unable to bear the load. Although the principles of the manufacture of armor-piercing shells are practically the same, after all, the gap in caliber is there. It was already the end of January when all the German tanks arrived, and even if two production lines were opened, it was too late for mass production.

Not to mention that there is too much time, even the current military production capacity of the Anti-Japanese Federation, as well as the corresponding technical and equipment capabilities, are simply unable to increase the production of two types of artillery shells under the condition that they are already overloaded. After all, there are still a lot of shells for suppressing artillery and rocket artillery, as well as aerial bombs to be produced.

Unless these German-made tanks are left in the rear and not on the battlefield, the production capacity of the armament department and the military industry department will simply not be able to meet the shells required for the two new caliber guns at the same time. He estimated that with his best efforts, he could only meet the limit of one of the two shells.

In the face of heavy pressure, Xiong Dazhen finally knew why No. 1 already knew that the power of the German-made 50-millimeter tank gun was greater than that of the Soviet-made 45-millimeter tank gun. But he still preferred to reverse the car and replace the German-made tank gun with a Soviet-style 45-mm tank gun. And let the military industry department first copy the T 34 tank guns, and strive to replace the short-barreled 75 guns on the No. 4 tank in a short period of time.

With so many caliber artillery, not to mention the manufacture of ammunition, it is a headache to look at. Let's not talk about the battlefield, the logistics personnel who are in a hurry will mess up these kinds of tank shells when they are about the same size on the outside. The production problems alone are enough of a headache.

One thought of the troops using Soviet-made 45-mm tank guns received 50-mm shells. The troops that used 50-mm tank guns received 40-mm British-made shells, and Xiong Dazhen shuddered a little. Don't look at the caliber of these shells, there is not much difference, but it is absolutely impossible to be universal.

In particular, the shells of 40, 45, and 50 mm calibers are almost the same size, and they simply cannot be used universally. Even if the shells for the 40-mm tank gun are sufficient at the moment, there is no need to produce them for the time being. But the latter two caliber closer shells were the ones that made him scratch his head the most.

In the end, it was the Americans who helped him get out of this predicament. After learning of the problem of the shortage of anti-United tank shells, Pearson asked the US delegation to the Soviet Union to directly get a few rounds of 75-mm armor-piercing shells and high-explosive grenades used in the No. 4 tank from the Soviet army as samples and send them back to China by plane.

The industrial manufacturing capacity of the Americans, compared with the Anti-United Nations, is naturally heaven and earth. In just one month, before the launch of the Anti-United Nations campaign, 130,000 German-made 75-millimeter tank shells were directly transported by plane. And among them, the most powerful armor-piercing shell with a cap accounts for one-third of the total.

At the same time, 20,000 rounds of armor-piercing shells and high-explosive grenades were allocated from the 76-millimeter tank shells produced for the Soviets, which basically solved the dilemma in the production of large-caliber tank shells for the Anti-United Nations. It also urgently allocated a batch of high-performance steel for the manufacture of armor-piercing shells for the Anti-United Nations, which solved the problem of raw materials for replenishing artillery shells during the battle. The first batch of shells for the German-made 105 howitzer in actual combat at the climax of the battle were also made by the Americans.

Moreover, not all of the German tanks handed over by the Soviets had to be put into front-line combat units. This part is not only allocated to the training base for training crews. There are also some who act as donors when they are unable to manufacture their own parts.

Although the Soviet Union also handed over a number of parts that had been dismantled from the destroyed German tanks that could no longer be repaired, such as tracks, towing wheels, load wheels, engines, electrical equipment and other parts. But on the battlefield, no one dares to guarantee what kind of situation will happen to this batch of tanks. It is still beneficial to keep an extra batch of spares.

As a result, only two-thirds of the total number of German-made tanks put into front-line combat units was handed over by the Soviet Union. The 50-mm tank shells produced in a hurry, although the number is not very large. However, under the equal distribution, it is enough to ensure that the battle is carried out.

Although there was some hurry, and under Yang Zhen's reluctance, the three caliber tank guns currently used by the Anti-Japanese Federation eventually became two. But considering the reality of the situation, Yang Zhen did not pursue it in the end. It was only told that the original plan to replace the artillery remained unchanged.

For the time being, the original guns were used, but after the war, all German tanks were planned to replace their guns. Not only the German tanks captured by the Soviets this time, but all of them had to be replaced with Soviet-made tank guns. Even the German tanks transferred by the Soviet army in the future must be replaced with Soviet-style tank guns. Yang Zhen did this, which meant that he acquiesced to Xiong Dajin's hand.

In fact, Yang Zhen knew very well that the number of 45mm tank guns was insufficient to replace all the German-made tank guns, and there were also a large part of his own reasons. It can even be said that the main reason for this problem is that he is the number one in the army.

Among the two Soviet-style tank guns, except for the 76-mm tank gun, because the technical drawings handed over by the Soviets were too late. Even with the help of Soviet specialists, no matter how quickly they rushed, it was basically impossible to achieve mass production before the campaign was launched. Artillery is not a broadsword, it can be made with a little iron.

From design to production, it takes a lot of time and technical support. This is not the case with ordinary artillery, not to mention much more complex tank guns. Don't look at all artillery, but the design and manufacture of tank guns is much more complicated than ground guns of the same caliber. Even if there are perfect drawings, they may not be able to produce them immediately.

However, the drawings and technical data of the Soviet-made T26S tank, as well as the Soviet experts who assisted the Anti-Japanese Union in the production of this type of tank, were already in place at the end of last year. In fact, the military industry was already able to manufacture a 45-mm tank gun for this tank last year, as well as the capacity of a 90-horsepower engine. Regardless of production capacity, the problem of existence has been solved first.

It's just that after receiving the report, Yang Zhen vetoed the construction of the military industry to start producing tank guns and engines. Only small batches of engines were approved for the production of some engines as spare engines for active tanks, as well as for armor-piercing shells urgently needed for modified tank guns. As for the mass production of tank guns, even the report submitted by the military industry department on the trial production of some prototypes was directly rejected by him.

Yang Zhen is well aware of the problems of the T26 tank's armor being too thin, the hull being too small, and the engine horsepower being too small, which limits their subsequent development. In the face of the rapid development of tank technology throughout World War II, this tank, which basically has no room for improvement, can only survive on the battlefield with less and smaller living space.

Not to mention the new tanks against the German army on the European battlefield, even the Type 97 tanks that have begun to be mass-produced against the Japanese army on the Chinese battlefield and have begun to equip the troops on a large scale are no longer opponents, let alone against the new tanks that may appear at any time against the Japanese army? Its performance can barely bully the Japanese army's Type 95 tanks, as well as Type 94 and Type 92 armored vehicles.

Its cramped body, as well as its ninety-one horsepower engine, also limited its ability to upgrade. Not to mention the large-scale upgrade, even after the Anti-Union itself added additional armor that was not too heavy, the structure and engine of this tank were somewhat unbearable.

Wang Guangyu's long-distance attack on Linxi, because of technical failures, lost many tanks than on the battlefield destroyed by the Japanese army. With the addition of additional armor, the armor protection of this T26 tank was greatly improved enough to withstand the power of the Japanese Type 97 tank gun, but its reliability also decreased sharply.

And its fragile armor, without additional armor, could not withstand the wide variety of small-caliber artillery of the Japanese army. Not to mention the Japanese Type 94 infantry rapid-fire guns, as well as the Type 1 anti-tank guns, even the Japanese infantry using the Type 97 20mm automatic gun, at a distance of 420 meters, can easily penetrate its armor.

Even if this kind of outdated tank is copied, it will not play much role on the battlefield. Rather than Lang Fei Kanglian's already scarce resources, it is better to put it aside for the time being and see if we can get more advanced tank manufacturing technology.