The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1057 - 788: Bear-style Tank

Although the T-31 medium tank was already excellent in terms of design data, it could only serve as a conventional main battle tank in the short term and was by no means one of those formidable behemoths when it came to tanks.

To compensate for the deficiencies of the armored troops in assault and frontal combat, it was essential to design a very large heavy tank.

In its heavy tank design philosophy, Australasia abandoned the pursuit of speed and shifted the main direction of design to firepower and armor protection.

The T-31A heavy main battle tank was the Royal Military Factory's best response to the Ministry of Defense's requirements for heavy tanks.

Although it looks like the T-31 medium tank belongs to the same model, apart from similar exteriors, the weapons loaded and the fundamental design philosophies of the two tanks are completely different directions.

The T-31A heavy main battle tank is internally referred to as the Bear-style tank at the Royal Military Factory. This is quite understandable since its design philosophy is focused on strong firepower and high protection, which is somewhat similar to a bear.

Of course, bears are among the more formidable wildlife throughout Australasia's territory (with the Alaska brown bear within the Alaskan Territory).

For this reason, when assigning a codename to the tank, the Alaska brown bear was given priority consideration, and the T-31A heavy main battle tank was honored as the first tank in Australasian tank history to have a codename.

Honestly, Arthur was very curious about this heavy tank that the Ministry of Defense was so satisfied with.

After seeing the detailed design data submitted by the Ministry of Defense, Arthur finally understood why those generals were so satisfied.

The T-31A heavy main battle tank measured 8.41 meters in length, 3.45 meters in width, and approximately 2.93 meters in height.

This was the largest tank in Australasia at the moment, with a conventional weight of 37 tons, reaching up to 45 tons when fully loaded for combat.

Simply in terms of weight, it already had an overwhelming advantage over tanks of its era. The reason for such an exaggerated weight was largely due to the special steel armor covering the T-31A heavy main battle tank and a fully upgraded firepower system.

The entire tank could essentially be said to have no defensive flaws. The previously less-attended bottom of the vehicle was now also fully covered with steel armor exceeding 25 millimeters.

At the areas where the tank was most likely to be hit, the armor was up to 102 millimeters at the thickest points and 82 millimeters at the thinnest, which indicated a focused area of protection.

Other parts of the tank were still covered with armor ranging from 40 to 82 millimeters in thickness. Depending on the differing degrees of potential explosive damage, the thickness of the armor varied accordingly.

But, it was certain that the protective capabilities of the T-31A heavy main battle tank had increased by at least several times compared to the previous generation of tanks, and even compared to the T-31 medium tank.

In terms of firepower, the T-31A heavy main battle tank was equipped with an 88-millimeter rapid-firing gun designed specifically for it by the Royal Military Factory, boasting a firing rate of about 12 rounds per minute, which balanced power and firepower.

Of course, general tanks would not waste ammunition so recklessly. After all, the number of shells the tank could carry and whether the base of the tank could withstand such a high level of recoil limited the firing rate of the tank's guns.

Three types of shells were allocated for this 88-millimeter gun: The 88-millimeter prv5 armor-piercing shell, specifically designed to shatter the armor of enemy tanks.

The second type focused on lethality—88-millimeter high-explosive shells filled internally with an abundance of shrapnel and ball bearings, causing extensive damage upon explosion.

The third type consisted of conventional 88-millimeter shells with balanced armor-piercing and killing power, and a generally higher applicability overall.

With these three different types of shells, the killing power of the T-31A heavy main battle tank was greatly enhanced.

Moreover, with the great additional carrying capacity of the heavy tank, just the 88-millimeter shell reserve had reached 72 rounds, allowing this heavy tank to kill the enemy on the battlefield without any concerns for ammunition.

In terms of secondary weaponry, the T-31A heavy main battle tank had a completely different configuration from previous tanks.

Most main battle tanks previously selected a combination of firearms and machine guns, but the T-31A heavy main battle tank not only included a secondary gun on this basis but also increased the number of machine guns.

Located at the rear of the tank was a 20-millimeter machine gun that could rotate 180 degrees. This gun was the main weapon of the Cromwell I type tank, which already proved the formidable firepower of the T-31A heavy main battle tank.

Of course, the ammunition for this 20-millimeter machine gun was limited to 45 rounds. The design of the machine gun at the rear of the tank was to allow for preemptive fire coverage when the main gun couldn't respond in time, preventing some specific dangerous situations.

Additionally, this machine gun could compensate for some of the lighter firepower deficiencies of the T-31A heavy main battle tank, enhancing its lethality against infantry troops.

Apart from the large and small guns, the T-31A heavy main battle tank had a total of 3 machine guns, 2 in front and 1 at the rear, further enhancing its ability to kill infantry troops.

The reserve of machine gun bullets had been significantly increased compared to all previous tanks, totaling 5200 rounds.

With these weapons and ammunition reserves, theT-31A heavy main battle tank could be considered the most well-armed tank at the moment, not only easily destroying the enemy's tanks but also causing terrifying damage to other enemy troops.

The Ministry of Defense was unceasing in its praise for the T-31A heavy main battle tank, assuredly due not only to its outstanding design specifications but also to the convincing results of its prototype testing.

Indeed, long before the T-31A heavy main battle tank's design was reported to Arthur's desk, the Ministry of Defense had already conducted experiments with the tank in collaboration with the Royal Military Factory.

However, at the time, Arthur was preoccupied with other matters and did not participate in the tank's testing, nor did he witness the moments when the tank displayed its excellent capabilities.

After all, considering its powerful firearm and thick armor, it was impossible for the T-31A heavy main battle tank not to excel in testing.

If there was any potential issue, it might have been whether the T-31A heavy main battle tank's power system could enable the entire tank to advance steadily.

But given that the enterprise supplying engines for the tanks built by the Royal Military Factory also had the capability to build aviation engines—the Diesel Engine Research Room—the answer was affirmatively clear: it absolutely could.

Of course, as mentioned before, the tank was designed with a departure from the previous pursuit of speed.

This resulted in the T-31A heavy main battle tank being the slowest among the new generation of tanks and even somewhat inferior to the preceding generation of main battle tanks.

According to design data and forecasts provided by the Royal Military Factory, the T-31A heavy main battle tank's maximum speed could reach 30 kilometers per hour, with a consistent travel speed of only 20 kilometers per hour.

In the initial testing phase, the maximum speed indeed reached 30 kilometers per hour and even hit 32 kilometers per hour several times on exceptionally flat roads.

However, during the consistent speed testing phase, the T-31A heavy main battle tank's performance was somewhat below expectations.

The data had predicted a steady travel speed of 20 kilometers per hour, yet this figure was only occasionally seen on relatively flat roads.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.

On simulated battlefield environments and uneven roads, the T-31A heavy main battle tank's steady travel speed fell to 15 kilometers per hour and 18 kilometers per hour, respectively, a gap from the design figures.

This was actually normal. After all, there's a significant difference between flat highways and simulated battlefield environments. Cars travel at different speeds on various roads, not to mention even larger and heavier tanks.

Moreover, considering the T-31A heavy main battle tank's formidable firepower and impressive armor defense capabilities, its minor shortcomings in speed could be overlooked.

For Australasia, the main battlefields of future wars might be two places: One is Europe, the historically calamitous site of World War II's genesis.

The other is certainly the only contender in the Pacific Ocean, also a Power with a severe imbalance in military strength—an Island Nation.

There's no need to delve into detail about the Island Nation. The battlefields against the Island Nation would either be on Pacific islands or the Native Land of the Island Nation.

Most of the time, tanks play a limited role, and more reliance is placed on the royal navy's formidable firepower and the air force's aerial support.

Australasia's main tank battlefields still lie in Europe. With the most complete infrastructure in place, both Western and Central Europe boast an extensive and sophisticated highway system—the ideal flat terrains.

Once the T-31A heavy main battle tank arrives in Europe, it can utilize these highways to hasten its journey, greatly reducing the time spent on the road.

This could compensate for some of the T-31A heavy main battle tank's deficiencies in speed. Due to these various reasons, the T-31A heavy main battle tank was already fully able to meet the expectations of both the Ministry of Defense and Arthur for a heavy main battle tank, and Arthur naturally approved the Ministry of Defense's procurement plan for these tanks.

Returning to the point, as it was already the second half of 1931, Arthur envisioned that war was nearing.

There's no assurance of how many more years there might be, but it's highly likely that Australasia will not have time to develop the next generation of tanks before the war commences.

In other words, through the outbreak of World War II and possibly even the mid-war period, Australasia would likely rely on this generation of three different styles of tanks.

It is for this reason that the Ministry of Defense's order for these three types of tanks is quite substantial.

In the tank purchase order signed by Arthur, the Ministry of Defense has ordered a total of 1025 tanks.

Among these, there are 153 Cromwell I tanks. These 153 light tanks will be distributed among three Tank Divisions, forming the reconnaissance tank units of each division.

As the backbone of the tank force, 637 T-31 medium tanks will be procured by the Ministry of Defense, mostly to reequip the already visibly outdated main battle tanks of the first and second Tank Divisions, with a small reserve kept in storage.

As for the T-31A heavy main battle tanks, the Ministry of Defense has placed an order for 235 units. According to plans provided by Defense Minister Thomas, the majority of these 235 tanks will replace equipment in the Tank Division 3, transforming it into Australasia's heavy tank unit.

This tank unit will primarily be responsible for attacking and exterminating enemy tanks and assaulting strategic enemy defense points during times of war and so forth.

The remaining few heavy tanks will serve as warehouse reserves to facilitate timely replacement should any significant issues arise with tanks in the military.