德国作为二战的挑起国之一，其军事实力自然不用多说，德国的武器装备在那个时代可以说是数一数二的存在，尤其是在坦克方面，德国将这种杀戮机器表现的淋漓尽致。 Today we will tell about one of Germany's craziest weapons of World War II - the 188-ton Mouse tank.
德军在苏联战场的失利
When Germany invaded the Soviet Union in 1941, German armored forces advanced in a stagger, but soon found that their tanks were inferior to those of the Soviets. At this time, most of the German tanks were still No. 3 and No. 4 tanks, which were quite different from the Soviet T-34 and KV1 tanks.
In particular, the Soviet KV1 tank had 110 mm armor, which made almost all German anti-tank weapons ineffective, and one KV1 tank blocked a German division for three days.
When the Germans knew that their tank skills were inferior, Hitler ordered the Ministry of Armaments to immediately develop a new generation of tanks, especially after Hitler learned that the Soviet army wanted to develop a tank weighing 100 tons.
It was in this dreary context that the German heavy tank program was implemented, and the later famous Tiger, King Tiger and Mouse tanks were all products of this program.
鼠式超重型坦克研制
When Hitler tendered for heavy tanks, the world-famous car designer Ferdinand Porsche submitted his proposal to Hitler, and he was received by Hitler, and later took full responsibility for the development of a super-heavy tank.
In 1942, Dr. Porsche finally came up with his own design plan, the weight of the tank was 120 tons, but it was such a monster Hitler was still not satisfied, and Porsche had no choice but to modify it.
By early 1943, the design draft of the Mouse tank was finally completed, the weight of this tank reached a terrifying 188 tons, you must know that the weight of the Tiger tank is only 57 tons, this one Mouse tank is three Tigers.
Hitler was overjoyed when he saw the model of this big guy and ordered rapid production. By 1943 Germany was already at a disadvantage on the Eastern Front, and there was an urgent need for such a big killer to boost morale.
By the end of December 1943, the production company finally produced the chassis of the Mouse tank, but it was so heavy that even with Porsche's electric transmission solution, it could only maintain a speed of 15 km/h.
By 1944, the nobles came up with two rat prototypes, although the indicators of the rat were perfect, but the speed was really miserable, and the two prototypes could only run 25 kilometers per hour. And it is necessary to refuel once after running more than a hundred kilometers, which can be imagined for the pressure on logistics.
生猛无比却又废拉不堪
Although the Mouse had a 150 mm heavy gun and 200 mm thick armor, no tank or anti-tank weapon during World War II could effectively penetrate its armor.
But he was too heavy, he could hardly pass the bridges of Europe, the requirements for roads were too high, and the bulky fuselage of the mouse tank also made him a living target for aircraft. The biggest threat to tanks has never been on the ground, but in the air, and dive bombers can blow up any tank.
Moreover, later in the war, Germany's domestic industry was severely weakened by British and American air raids, and the manufacture of the mouse tank was delayed indefinitely until the end of World War II, when the Soviet Union acquired these two mouse tanks that were blown up by the Germans.