XT heavy tank series
| XT Heavy Tank | |
|---|---|
 The last surviving XT-43 in Quenmin, 2009 | |
| Type | Heavy tank |
| Place of origin |  Empire of Quenmin |
| Service history | |
| Used by | Empire of Quenmin |
| Wars | |
| Production history | |
| Designed | 1939 |
| Produced | XT-41: 1940-1945 XT-44:1943-1945 |
| No. built |
|
| Specifications | |
| Weight | 43 tonnes (47 short tons; 42 long tons) |
| Length | 9.90 m (32 ft 6 in) |
| Width | 3.09 m (10 ft 2 in) |
| Height | 2.73 m (8 ft 11 in) |
| Crew | 4 |
| Armor | 100mm maximum |
Main armament | 75 mm gun (XT41) 88 mm gun (XT-43) |
Secondary armament | 3 7.62mm Machine guns 1 37 mm gun (XT-43) |
| Engine | 12-cyl. diesel model V-2 600 hp (450 kW) |
| Power/weight | 13 hp/tonne |
| Suspension | torsion bar |
| Fuel capacity | 820 l (180 imp gal; 220 US gal) |
Operational range | 240 km (150 mi) |
| Speed | 37 km/h (23 mph) |
The XT heavy tank series were a line of heavy tanks developed and produced in Quenmin during the Second Europan War. It was perceived to counter the threat that the Gallian P26 Adamant heavy tank and the Lucian Comet tank. Initially perceived by the Quenminese as a universal tank, it was wholly outclassed in 1941, when it saw combat against the more advanced Centurion tank during the Second Battle of Seleucia. Quenminese engineers upgraded the existing design into a more larger tank and was christened as the XT-43 and saw action in late 1943. By the time it was out for service, the Lucians had already fitted their Centurions with the 105mm Royal Ordnance L7A1 gun while the Gallians fitted the 90mm T15 rifled gun in the P26 Adamant.
Inspired by several Imperial tank designs such as the Panzer IV Typ 3, Panther G tank and the heavy Tiger I tank and Tiger II tank, the tank itself was the only heavy tank produced by Quenmin and was considered to be the best tank that the Quenminese had but there was not enough of the tanks to produce a significant outcome. By late 1944, Most of the tanks were used for the defence of Quenmin.
History and development
The plan for a Quenminese started in 1934, when Quenminese engineers planned out a series of tanks that fitted the demands of the High Command for its massive campaigns that involved invading the whole of Asianna, Middle East, and possibly the Africanna continent. The Quenminese only came up with designs such as the XN-33 Hình-Ba, XN-38 Anh-bon, XHT-36 Trung-Ba, and XHT-40 Trung-Ba-Cai; most of which were light and conceived as infantry support tanks. Quenminese Army Doctrine also found that tank warfare would be considered irrelevant. However, Marshal Count Thạch Hung Sõn Chiến had made a point that if the Quenminese were to fight a winning war, they would have to develop larger tanks similar to their East Europan counterparts. In 1937, Marshal Chiến met up with Imperial Grand Marshal Bernard Gregor, who masterminded the Tiger heavy tank project and served as an adviser to the Quenminese engineers in producing a tank. In October 1937, the Quenminese had came up with the and XH-38, which proved to be a more slightly stronger design than the previous tank designs conceived and Marshal Chiến promptly ordered its mass production. Still demanding far superior designs in hopes of surpassing Allied tanks, and even Imperial tanks, Marshal Chiến decided that it was time for Quenmin to create its own Heavy tanks. Once again supervised by Gregor, the Quenminese came up with the prototype called the XT-39. It had an armour thickness of 75mm, armed with a long barrelled 75mm gun, and was powered by a supercharged V12 diesel engine. Marshal Chiến enthusiastically pushed for its mass production and hoped to use it in time for the Battle of Sania but it was too late as the production had only started in early 1940, by the time that the Quenminese had started to lose its Middle Eastern possessions. A total of 3,150 XT-41s were produced from 1940 to 1945.
Coinciding the development was the X-O Super heavy tank project that was based after the Super heavy tank projects from the Imperials. With monsterous tanks that weighed 120 tons, armed with 150mm guns and had 200mm of maximum armour effectiveness, Marshal Chiến, with approval from Prime Minister Lý Học Thao Viên pushed for the project.
When the Quenminese faced the Centurion during the Second Battle of Seleucia, the High Command were shocked and never expected that the Lucians had came up with a tank design that surpassed every Imperial tanks. Marshal Chiến expressed his disappointment and had felt that the current tank design was redundant. Returning back to developing a new tank, the Quenminese took photographs of the Centurion and attempted to estimate the armour thickness and the armament that it had possessed. By this time, the Quenminese were slowly running out of resources and given its hard experience in subjecting the enitre Lorican countryside for more land and resources, the requirements for developing a new technologies were somehow limited. For a new heavy tank to be developed, requirements were devised such that it can save more resources for other use such that the weight of the tank was only limited under 40 tons. Marshal Chiến had initially refused to abandon the super heavy tank project but after a series of debates in the Quenminese High Command, he eventually had no choice but to abandon the X-O Super heavy tank project in favour of further developing the XT-41.
The XT-41 was later developed further into the XT-43, which had an armour thickness of 100mm, armed with an 88mm gun, and was powered by a V12 diesel engine. In tests, it proved to have a greater chance of survival, and had good cross country performance. However, it never achieved the accuracy that was found on most Lucian and East Europan gun. It first saw service in 1943, by the time that Allied forces had already reached the borders of Southeast Asianna.