It's just that there are other types of tanks that can replace this American-made light tank that has caused a lot of confusion. But there is no other tank on hand that can replace it, especially without armor and firepower, which is comparable to this American-made light tank.
The Kwantung Army knew the reason for this chaotic situation, but they could only bite the bullet and continue to leave this tank on the battlefield.
Although the M3 light tank is only equipped with a 37mm gun, among all the tanks equipped with the Anti-Japanese Alliance, the armor-piercing capability of this gun can only be compared with that of the Matilda II tank and the Crusader tank.
The two-pounder cannon is on par with the 50mm cannon on German-made tanks and the 45mm cannon on Soviet-made tanks, but it is the weakest. It is even more powerful than the T-34 tanks.
compared to the 76mm gun.
However, the power of this type of artillery is the best armor-piercing performance among all tank guns currently equipped by the Japanese army. Even the 57mm artillery equipped on the Type 97 tank and the latest Type 97 modified tank equipped by the Japanese army
, the 47mm rapid-fire cannon equipped is also slightly inferior in armor-piercing performance.
Most of the tanks lost by the Anti-Japanese Alliance in this battle were destroyed by tanks that were also equipped with the same equipment. Only a dozen of them were destroyed by the Japanese Type 97 tanks, and only the Type 97 tanks were destroyed.
Five Czech-made Type 38 T tanks and two Panzer III tanks were acquired.
Moreover, most of the tanks lost by the Anti-Japanese Alliance were lost in the melee at the beginning of the battle. Due to the lack of effective means of identifying friend and foe, they regarded this tank, which was also equipped by the Japanese army, as their own friendly forces. After being approached by this Japanese tank,
, using a 37mm artillery to destroy it within a distance of 300 meters.
Of course, this type of tank used by the Anti-Japanese Alliance also caused serious losses to the Japanese Type 95 and Type 97 tanks during the melee phase. Except for this American-made tank, all Japanese tanks pose the greatest threat to the Anti-Union.
Most of the Type 97 tanks that were targeted as key targets were destroyed on the first day. It was not just the Anti-Japanese Alliance that was confused in their identification.
Tanks in this era did not have friend or foe identifiers. The identification of enemy tanks by both sides relied entirely on the differences in the appearance of the tanks themselves. As for the difference in painting, on a chaotic battlefield, who has time to distinguish what is in front of them?
The painting on the tank with the same equipment as your own is whether it is your own or the enemy.
When two parties on the battlefield are equipped with the same type of tank, the consequences are tantamount to a disaster for both parties. Especially after the tank was captured by the Japanese army, they did not even have time to paint it on the body.
After replacement, it was put into the battlefield, and the original US military standard painting was still maintained on the body.
Because of the urgent need on the battlefield, the Anti-Japanese Alliance did not take the time to change the paint on these American-made tanks after they arrived. The paint on the bodies of both vehicles is the most basic American paint. The markings of their respective units are also in order to avoid exposure.
The targets were all painted very small, which undoubtedly aggravated the chaos. This disaster did not end until the Anti-Japanese Alliance removed the tanks they equipped from the battlefield.
The Anti-Japanese Alliance could selectively evacuate its own tanks of the same model, but because the number of tanks was insufficient, the Japanese army withdrew these dozens of tanks. The number of tanks participating in the war was at an absolute disadvantage. And the performance of the tank guns was at an absolute disadvantage.
Under the circumstances, even though they knew that their opponents were also equipped with the same type of tanks, they could only bite the bullet and leave these tanks equipped with the most powerful 37 tank guns among all their tanks on the battlefield.
In order to easily identify ourselves and the enemy, after the melee on the first day, we used our own tanks to fish in troubled waters and destroyed many anti-Union tanks. However, the Anti-Union tanks also fished in troubled waters and destroyed many of our own tanks. Knowing that this situation killed a thousand enemies, I
The Kwantung Army suffered a thousand battle losses, but the Kwantung Army corrected its mistakes after realizing it.
When it was too late to change the paint, Lieutenant General Hoshino Toshimoto, who was responsible for the front-line command of these armored units, simply made a decision that surprised everyone. On the battlefield with shrapnel flying everywhere, all equipment
For troops equipped with M-3 light tanks, the commander must expose his body outside the turret.
He used the Japanese-style tank uniform worn by the tank commander as a friend-or-enemy identification mark for tanks of the same type equipped by both armies on the battlefield. Although he knew exactly what consequences his decision would bring to these tank commanders, Hoshino
Li Yuan thought he had no choice.
The uniforms of the tank soldiers of the Anti-Japanese Alliance are all Soviet-style black jacket-style uniforms, and the tank caps they wear are also made of Soviet-style sponges. They clearly correspond to the Japanese uniforms, which are all khaki and wear leather tank caps. In the absence of means to identify ourselves and the enemy,
Under the circumstances, the difference in color and style of the tank soldiers' uniforms became the best way for the Japanese army to identify ourselves and the enemy.
At this time, we did not know that after the first day of fighting, due to the difficulty in identifying ourselves and the enemy, the Anti-Japanese Alliance evacuated all tanks equipped with the same model from the front-line battlefield. They were instead assigned to infantry to attack Japanese infantry positions.
Lieutenant General Hoshino Toshimoto, the front-line commander of the Kwantung Army, also made a helpless decision. There was no other way. This tactic of fishing in troubled waters allowed the Japanese army to take advantage of many advantages and at the same time suffer even more losses.
After the first day of fighting, an anti-alliance tank followed the retreating Japanese tank group inexplicably. After the anti-alliance tank retreated to the Japanese position, it was discovered that it had gone to the wrong place. The tank commander leading the team was very calm, and took advantage of the Japanese armored personnel to withdraw from the battle.
Opportunity to drive to a restaurant.
Suddenly start your own tank, reverse it back to your position at high speed, and use precise tank firepower to use the extremely high rate of fire of this Sanqi tank gun to continuously destroy it like a target at a distance that is almost unnecessary to aim.
He captured seven Japanese tanks. Then he broke away from the Japanese defense line as quickly as possible and quickly withdrew to his position.
This kind of loss is unforgettable for Hoshino Toshimoto and his men. There are many tanks in the Anti-Japanese Alliance, so they don't care about this loss. However, the Kwantung Army, which tried its best to collect more than 300 tanks,
But he absolutely couldn't afford too much loss. The change in the situation forced Lieutenant General Hoshino Toshimoto to use his subordinates as living targets to serve as the identification mark between friend and foe.
One such loss is enough to make me unforgettable. If it happens once, or even several times, the tanks that the Kwantung Army scraped together will not be enough to become the trophies of the enemy's sneak attack. However, this Anti-Union tank has
This move made Hoshino Toshimoto feel distressed, but it also gave him an idea.
He decided to do the same thing in the next day's battle. He would destroy as many anti-Union tanks as possible and create more results for his armored forces. Anyway, in the chaos, who could
It can tell immediately whether the tank belongs to our own people or the enemy's.
When it was discovered the next day that the tank of the Anti-Japanese Alliance had not participated in the battle, not only the Japanese commanders of these M-3 light tanks had suffered the most casualties. Compared with the crew members who had a chance of surviving after other tanks were destroyed.
These brave commanders who exposed their bodies outside the turret as a mark of identification between ourselves and the enemy were almost 100% killed in battle.
Hoshino Toshimoto's plan to fish in troubled waters was shattered because the Anti-Japanese Alliance moved all the M-3 light tanks on the battlefield the night before. Not only did his plan fail to come true, but it became even more intense the next day.
In the tank battle, almost all of his participating troops were wiped out.
Although Hoshino Toshimoto, the tank commander of the Kwantung Army, and all his men have tried their best on the battlefield, this 37mm tank has the strongest armor-piercing capability among all the tank guns equipped by the Japanese army.
The gun was still powerless against the heavy armor of the Matilda II tanks newly invested by the Anti-Japanese Alliance.
This tank gun was inferior to the 50mm gun equipped on the German Panzer III tank in terms of range and power. When the tank battle ended the next day, Hoshino Toshimoto, who was trying to defeat his opponent in one go, devoted himself to
Dozens of M3 light tanks and more than a hundred Type 97 and Type 95 tanks.
In a full day of tank battles, all the remaining 200 tanks excluding the losses on the first day were destroyed. Along with the three motorized infantry regiments and two field artillery regiments that participated in the battle, they were also completely destroyed. In just two days,
In the tank battle, the Kwantung Army and the Japanese base camp tried their best to collect more than 300 tanks, plus the attached motorized infantry regiments, all of which were wiped out. The sharpest part of the Kwantung Army's claws in the Xinjing battlefield were completely destroyed.
break.
However, although the Anti-Japanese Alliance relied on the excellent armor-piercing ability of the 50mm gun of the German Panzer III tank in this battle, the Matilda II tank's almost abnormal defensive ability completely defeated the five tank regiments invested by the Japanese army on the battlefield.
.However, the level of elite training of Japanese tank crews still exceeds that of the Anti-Alliance armored forces.
Although these Japanese armored units have not received American-made tanks for a long time, the shooting accuracy of the Japanese tank crews and the reaction speed on the battlefield exceeded those of the Anti-Alliance tank units. The Japanese army lost this battle not in tactics and equipment, but in
It was lost to the tank troops themselves.
After this battle, the Japanese army completely stopped the production of the Type 95 light tank and the so-called Type 97 medium tank. Instead, it focused on producing the Type 97 modified medium tank and accelerated the development of new tanks. It also tried every means to obtain information from the Germans.
The production technology of fifty-millimeter anti-tank guns and tank guns was acquired.
The Anti-League devoted all its efforts to training, focusing on the shooting accuracy on the battlefield and the battlefield command and response capabilities of front-line armored commanders. Based on the performance of their own equipment, they researched a large number of new tactics. After this battle, the Anti-League tanks
The army has truly embarked on a rapid development track.
It was not only the Kwantung Army and the Anti-Japanese Alliance who learned lessons from this battle, but also another cold-eyed bystander, the Americans, who also learned a lot of experience and lessons. After receiving Pearson's message about the M-3 light tank, it was completely
After the report that it was not the opponent of the German-made Panzer III and IV tanks.
The U.S. military, which responded extremely quickly, immediately put this type of tank from reservation to the front-line troops fighting in North Africa. All of them were dismantled and converted into M-3 medium tanks and the latest M-4 tanks. The M-3 light tanks were no longer available.
As main combat equipment, they will all be converted to reconnaissance use. Based on the M-3 light tank, the development of new light tanks will be accelerated.
However, although both the enemy and ourselves were equipped with the same type of tanks, there was considerable confusion on the battlefield, which also brought a lot of avoidable losses. But on the scale of this battle, it can be said that so far, it is the largest battlefield in China.
In the largest tank battle, the Anti-Japanese Alliance took advantage of the absolute superiority of its own tanks in terms of performance, at the expense of more than 60 tanks being destroyed and more than a hundred tanks being damaged.
They destroyed more than 300 tanks and more than 200 trucks from the five tank regiments invested by the Japanese army. They also completely annihilated the three motorized infantry regiments of the Japanese army. In the end, they achieved an almost one-sided victory. There were people everywhere on the battlefield.
They were the wreckage of destroyed tanks on both sides, as well as the bodies of fallen Japanese soldiers.