4,000 people operate a cannon at the same time, a shell of 7 tons, how fierce is the German Super Cannon "Dora" during World War II?
Hitler ruled Germany into a veritable war power, and many of the ideas that now seem ahead of their time were already a reality in Germany in the '40s. And what is the Gustav long-range railgun, an unprecedented super-cannon, one of Germany's most powerful practices? In fact, the Gustav cannon was originally developed to break through the Maginot Line in France. At the end of World War I, France spent 5 billion francs to build the most spectacular but useless superline of defense in history. The Maginot Line was a sturdy reinforced concrete structure, and the entire line was filled with firing points and bunkers. The construction of this line of defense took 12 years. The French are confident in this line, believing that it is the strongest line of defense in the world, and that no country can easily break through it. Although it is true that the French are a bit self-righteous, the Maginot Line is really strong from the traditional conception of war. It was definitely not an easy task for the Germans to break through it. After Hitler came to power, Germany's development line once again advanced rapidly in the direction of hegemony, and the first goal of his grand plan was to conquer the whole of Europe. However, this also meant that the Germans had to face the formidable obstacle of the Maginot Line head-on.
February** Dynamic Incentive Program Hitler personally participated in the First World War and deeply felt the power of the Maginot Line. However, unable to find the weakness of the Maginot Line, Hitler had to order the development of a giant artillery capable of destroying the Maginot Line. At that time, the Krupp Arsenal was the world's leading artillery manufacturer. As soon as they confirmed their cooperation with Hitler, they sent people to carefully study the Maginot Line, and found that reinforced concrete buildings were indeed hard bones, and only large-caliber guns could pose a threat to them. After they reported to Hitler, Hitler directly ordered the design specifications of the giant cannon to be raised to 800 mm caliber. To this day, this super cannon remains the largest caliber artillery in the world.
How powerful was the German World War II super-cannon "Dora"?
A single shell weighs 7 tons and can blow up a deep crater the size of a football field. After Krupp submitted the prototype of the artillery design to the Ministry of Defense, the details of the super gun were formalized. However, there is always a gap between reality and ideals. When this one-of-a-kind design was put into production, it was difficult to get the production plan back and forth. While the design engineers of the artillery could be patient, Hitler and the army command could not sit idly by. Unable to realize the plan to destroy the Maginot Line with super artillery in a short time, they decided to go on another route and start the offensive from the Belgian side. Fortunately, this unprecedented cannon finally came out in the spring of 1942. The Krupp plant was so pleased with their results that it named the gun Gustav under the family name. Then they went on to create a new artillery, this time named after Dora, the wife of the artillery designer. It can be said that the Gustav cannon is by far the largest artillery designed by mankind and officially equipped with the army. It is capable of maintaining a high degree of accuracy at a range of 50 km. Due to the long range of the artillery, the side being shelled could not determine the direction of the artillery's firing at all, and could only stand and be beaten.
Of course, it is not an easy task to operate such a terrible war machine. The mobility of the Gustav artillery was very limited and could only be moved by rail. In order to ensure that the artillery could fire normally, a special team of engineers was also needed to build two auxiliary railways. In addition, in order to ensure the operation of the artillery and its protection, a minimum of 4,000 soldiers were needed to escort it. Hitler had high expectations for this super gun, and he personally went to the Kruber factory to observe the test firing of the cannon. The great power and extreme accuracy displayed by Gustav's cannon made Hitler's blood boil. On the day of the test launch, he immediately ordered the Gustav cannon to be transported to the Eastern Front, preparing to let the Soviet army taste the cannon first.
How powerful is the unprecedented German super-cannon?
A single shot can blow up a deep pit the size of a football field. Unfortunately, before the advent of Gustav's artillery, the Germans used lightning tactics to skillfully bypass the Maginot Line and successfully occupy all of Europe. However, Hitler did not intend to leave the cannon idle, but decided to continue to exert its might in the Soviet-German war. In the summer of 1942, the offensive and defensive battle of the Sevastubol fortress was the debut of Gustav's artillery. At that time, the Soviet army was no longer able to engage in a frontal confrontation with the Germans in the field, so they had to withdraw all the remaining troops to the east bank of the Don River and start a full-scale strategic defense. In order to stop the German offensive, a full 100,000 Soviet soldiers were stationed around the fortress of Sevasturol early in the morning. The ammunition and supplies stored in the entire fortress were enough for the Soviet army to fight continuously for several years. The fort's buildings were as strong as the Maginot Line, mostly made of reinforced concrete, while the ammunition depot was safely buried 30 meters underground.
In June 1942, just when the Soviets thought they were winning, the Germans had already secretly transported Gustav artillery to the front. At that time, 800-mm high-explosive shells fired by the Germans directly destroyed the fortifications around the fortress, and the Soviets did not anticipate this raid at all. Then, the Gustav cannon was replaced with armor-piercing shells and began to bombard the center of the fortress fiercely. The fortress of Sevastupol, the pride of the Soviet Union, was destroyed in an instant under the heavy bombardment of Gustav's artillery. The attack of only six shells completely destroyed the main structure of the fortress, and at the same time blew up the ammunition depot below, resulting in the death of all Soviet officers and soldiers in a completely defenseless state. After the fortress was blown up, the Germans took the opportunity to capture the Soviet positions, and the Gustav cannon became a legend on the battlefield with its great power. Fortunately, the Doomsday ** atomic bomb was not developed by Germany, otherwise world history might have been a different story.