Time Slip Reiwa Japan

023 - Type 31 Tank Shock

Although Europe was enjoying peace and quiet compared to East Asia, the footsteps of war were sounding little by little.

. . .

Poland

The development of heavy industry supported by France since the 1920s was getting on track. Plant facilities were being modernized by importing equipment from Britain, which was in the process of updating its facilities. The result was the 10TP, *1 a domestically produced tank completed in 1932.

Of course, the completion of the 10TP did not mean that Poland was now able to possess mechanized forces in a single leap. As Poland was still a middle-ranking country in Europe, infantry was the mainstay of its forces, and transport units were mainly horse-drawn. However, this was not only the case in Poland, but in other European countries as well. Only Britain and France, inspired by Japan, were able to push for motorization.

Politically, they succeeded in concluding a non-aggression pact with the Soviet Union on the premise that it would be against Germany. From information received from the Japanese embassy in Japan, they were aware that the Soviet Union would attack them if they showed an opening, but they calculated that if they hit Germany first along with France and other neighboring countries, they would be able to resist at all costs.

. . .

Soviet Union

The Soviet Union was succeeding in building up its national strength through the Five-Year Plan. However, the starvation from exports of agricultural products to fund the Five-Year Plan had left the breadbasket of Ukraine in ruins. The people of Siberia were fleeing due to the reckless increase in taxes, and the region was also being eroded by Japan and the United States. Still, the Soviet Union grew in strength.

With the help of Germany and Italy, heavy industry was able to develop at a rapid pace. The Soviet Union developed equipment based on the plowing and heavy civil engineering machinery used by Japan in Manchuria and Primorsky Krai, and introduced it to Ukraine, where the population was declining, to supplement its production capacity. The development of Siberia was also going well, even though it was in the interest of Japan and the United States.

The conclusion of the non-aggression pact with Poland and the fact that they were able to keep their military budget under control helped to create this virtuous cycle. Despite the restraint on military spending, Stalin had not forgotten the humiliation of the Soviet-Japanese War. He had vowed to retaliate against Japan and was determined to increase his military power and expel Japan from Soviet soil in the next ten years. If he did so, all the profits from the coastal provinces developed by Japan would belong to Russia. At the same time, if the US was expelled, the Soviet Union would be able to obtain golden Siberia. This is why they are developing heavy industry and fostering science and technology. Small countries such as Poland, which had signed a non-aggression pact, were determined to be destroyed after Siberia was recovered.

However, when Stalin found out about the actual war potential of the Japanese military (SDF) during the Shanghai Incident, he changed his tune. *2 He was horrified by the fact that the SDF had the strength to overturn a force ratio of more than ten times. In particular, Stalin, who loved large-caliber artillery, was jealous of the Type 31 tanks, heavy tanks equipped with large-caliber artillery that far surpassed his own tanks. At the same time, he was furious that his own tanks could not match the Type 31. From this point on, the development of a heavy tank that could surpass the Type 31 tank was ordered.

. . .

Germany

The fall of South China was an opportunity for Germany to expand its commercial opportunities, selling replacements for the tanks destroyed in Shanghai. The threat of helicopters was an opportunity to sell aircraft, and the threat of more tanks was an opportunity to sell heavy industrial plants. It was a great deal of business, and in return, the colony of Qingdao was returned to Germany as a lease. For the Nazi party, which had just come to power, this was an unexpected reward. The approval ratings of the Nazi party and Adolf Hitler soared to new heights. However, this was as far as they could go.