Time Slip Reiwa Japan

040 - Spanish Civil War - 1

While a fierce war was raging in the east of the Eurasian continent, a civil war was breaking out in Spain, the western tip of the continent. Spain, whose domestic situation had worsened after the World War, was divided into two factions, the Republicans and the Nationalists, and plunged into a bloody civil war.

The international community was unable to take a proactive response to this situation. By all accounts, the Spanish government's ability to govern itself was failing, but if the Nationalist's banner was National Socialism in the vein of Germany and Italy, France, the self-proclaimed administrator of the G4 in Europe, did not want to actively support it. In addition, since it was a purely domestic issue, it was difficult for the League of Nations to get involved.

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Germany

There was one country that openly supported the Nationalists in the Spanish Civil War, which the international community looked at as if it were a tumor. This was Germany. As a fellow adherent of fascism, it declared that it would cooperate in overthrowing the oppressive rulers and dispatched a large volunteer force, including armored and aviation units, as well as funds and supplies. *1

As for the armored units, unlike the units sent to the Soviet Union, they included various experimental tanks and armored vehicles. The troops sent to the Spanish Civil War were also used for demonstrations and operational tests of new weapons. The mainstay of the tank was the 25-ton Panzer III, which could be said to be the newest and most advanced. In order to compete with the S34 tank, which was the mainstay of France, it had adopted sloped armor and a long-barreled 7,5 cm tank gun, and the Germans were proud to say that it was the best tank in Europe at the moment.

However, it was not powerful enough to compete with the Japanese Type 31 tanks that France was to introduce as the J36. The J36 was a heavy tank with a 40-ton hull and a 105 mm cannon. The German army judged that the J36 was slow and heavy due to its weight, so it would be possible to get around the rear of the tank if it was maneuvered, and if so, it would be possible to destroy it. However, there was one person who angrily rejected that judgment: Hitler.

He made a speech saying that no matter how much technological superiority they may have a hundred years from now, it is unacceptable for the products of Europeans and Aryans to be inferior to those of Orientals. He then ordered the development of a tank that could destroy the J36 head-on.

The result of Hitler's supreme mission was included in the Spanish Volunteer Corps. It was the VK65, an experimental tank destroyer with a combat weight of 70 tons. It is officially known as VK6505(P). The main gun was a long-barreled 12,8 cm cannon, and in numerical terms it was a monster, far surpassing the J36. It was spectacularly introduced at the formation ceremony of the volunteer corps in Germany, and shocked the world.

However, the fact that it was completed not as a tank, but as a tank destroyer without a turret, was a technical limitation of Germany. The chassis and engine were so delicate that they required heavy maintenance before they had moved more than 10 kilometers, and were not something that could be standardized by the military. This was the reason why it was called VK65, an abbreviation of the planned name VK6505(P), without being officially named. *2 The German Army had no intention of adopting such a vehicle with major operational problems, no matter how powerful it was, but was included in the volunteer corps because it had been ordered by Hitler.

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Italy

Although Italy was a fascist country along with Germany, its national strength was such that the armored units sent to the Soviet Union were the best it could do as volunteers, so Italy declared that it would dispatch volunteer units in rivalry with Germany, but they were mainly infantry.