"Your Majesty, the 'Panther tank' tank we are equipped with is very advanced in performance. According to the information we have received, tanks from other countries cannot compare with our 'Panther tank' tank. Our 'Panther tank' tank is at least five years ahead of them!" No. 8 Army Group Commander General Guderian had a smile on his face.
As one of the two armored armies Commander of the Imperial Army, General Guderian is now very ambitious. He was very much looking forward to the war that was about to break out. Looking forward to leading the German Empire army to defeat powerful enemies. In that case, he would be able to get the coveted marshal's scepter.
Manstein, who was a staff officer, was already one step ahead of them, becoming Marshal Imperial Army and serving as Minister of War and Chief of Staff. This makes both General Guderian and the 9th General Army Group Commander Rommel very envious. You know, before the last World War, when Oscar took over as the 8th Army Group Commander, he valued all three of them very much.
Oscar nodded, the performance of the 'Panther tank' tank is indeed very advanced. As a time traveler, he is well aware of the flaws of the 'Panther tank' tank from another time and space. Therefore, he personally participated in the design of this type of tank, found out all the flaws, and made improvements. This has greatly improved the performance of the 'Panther tank' tank now equipped with German military.
Qin Tian knew that if a war broke out, the 'Panther' tank would be the main tank of the German armored forces. At least, in the early or even mid-term of the war, the huge number of 'Panther' tanks will become the most powerful armored weapon for German armored forces to crush other countries. As for more advanced tanks, due to production and cost reasons, they will not replace the 'Panther' tank as the main force among armored forces in a short period of time.
The 'Panther tank' tank weighs 38 tons, is 8.66 meters long (including gun barrel), 3.22 meters wide and 2.68 meters high. It uses a 1,000-horsepower Maybach gasoline engine, with a maximum speed of 60 kilometers per hour, a maximum traveling distance of 250 kilometers without an auxiliary fuel tank, and a maximum traveling distance of 500 kilometers with an auxiliary fuel tank. Tank Cannon is 52 times caliber 75 mm Tank Cannon, equipped with cap Armor-piercing Shell, tungsten carbide core Armor-piercing Shell, hollow charge High-Explosive Shell and tracer bullets.
"How big is the output of our 'Panther tank' tanks now?" Oscar asked.
"Your Majesty, the current monthly output of 'Panther tank' tanks is three hundred. If war breaks out, this production can be quickly increased to six hundred! If necessary, it can even be increased to nine hundred!" Chief of General Staff Field Marshal Manstein said.
Oscar nodded, this output is already quite high. The 'Panther tank' tank started mass production last year. Currently, only 8th Army Corps and 9th Army Corps are equipped. The other 10 army groups are still equipped with the previously produced 'Panzer IV' tanks or even 'Panzer III' or 'Panzer II' tanks. The previous tanks still had many immature features in terms of performance and insufficient reliability. Therefore, the output is not large. In the German Army plan, they will be gradually equipped with 'Panther tank' tanks.
If the monthly production of "Panther tank" tanks can be increased to 900 during wartime, it will be more than 10,000 tanks in a year. This yield seems to be very high. But the various losses of tanks during the war were also huge. In addition to being destroyed by enemy tanks, more were lost due to various mechanical failures. Therefore, a large number of tanks must be available to supplement the front line at any time, so that the Armored Forces's powerful assault capability can be maintained.
You know, in another time and space, more than 80,000 Russia T-34 tanks were produced. Germany If we want to fight other big countries in this time and space, we will definitely need more tanks. Therefore, in Oscar's view, even if the monthly production is increased to 900 'Panther tank' tanks, it is still not enough.
"Let's find a way to further increase production. After the war breaks out, our 'Panther tank' tank can be increased to a monthly production of 1,200 or even 1,500 tanks. If subsequent more powerful tanks are to be mass-produced, the output will also need to be further improved. In this way, our Armored Forces can have enough tanks in the war." Oscar said.
"Yes, Your Majesty!" Field Marshal Manstein nodded. He knew that because of Oscar's order, the arsenal responsible for producing tanks had to expand, install more production lines, and recruit more workers.
Oscar stayed at 8th Army Corps for three days before leaving Warsaw and returning to Berlin.
The German Arsenal tank factory in the suburbs of Berlin is working overtime to produce German Army's most advanced tanks. The 'Panther tank' tank is just a medium-sized tank. Although its performance is very advanced, it is enough to defeat any tank from other countries. However, German Army still needs a more powerful tank so that it can deal with those powerful tanks with thick armor from other countries. For example, once Buru is defeated miserably on the battlefield, they will soon launch the KV series heavy tank. The 75mm Tank Cannon of the 'Panther tank' tank will be quite difficult to deal with the rough-skinned and thick-bodied KV tank.
It is to prepare for this that German Army developed a more powerful heavy tank at the request of Oscar. The tank currently in mass production is the 'Tiger III' tank. The previous 'Tiger I' tanks and 'Tiger II' tanks are both experimental in nature. Because the technology is immature, all aspects of the tank's performance have not been able to achieve the expected results. Therefore, only a very small quantity was produced for testing purposes only. It was not until the latest tank 'Tiger III' that its performance matured and mass production began.
The 'Tiger III' tank, named 'Mighty Tiger' tank, will be mainly used to equip the heavy tank brigades of the Armored Army, the Armored Forces heavy tank battalions of other armies, etc. The cost of the 'Mighty Tiger' tank is much higher than that of the 'Panther tank' tank. Therefore, large-scale mass production will not be carried out at present, but only small batch production will be used to equip the main forces. On the battlefield, they will also mainly assume the role of Armored Forces's sharp knives. Unless the enemy's tank performance is greatly improved and the 'Panther tank' tank is difficult to cope with, the 'Mighty Tiger' tank will be mass-produced on a large scale and installed in the army.
Of course, if that time comes, German Army should have developed a more powerful tank. For example, advanced tanks equipped with 105mm Tank Cannon, or even main battle tanks equipped with 120mm smoothbore guns, using tail-stabilized shelling Armor-piercing Shell, etc.