Dragon 6880 PLA Gongchen Tank

Gongchen is the name of a Chinese medium tank (also known as light) from the post-war period. The first cars of this type appeared in the line at the end of 1945. The wagon length was 5.5 m, with a width of about 2.3 meters. Either the motor was the drive Mitsubishi SA12200VD 170 HP or - much less often - a 500 HP V-2 engine. The Gongchen tank was essentially a Chinese modernization of captured Japanese Type 97 Chi-Ha tanks, and more precisely its modernized version - the Type 97 ShiHoTo Chi-Ha. Tanks of this type were the first vehicles of this type in history in the Chinese communist armed forces. Compared to its Japanese predecessor, it differed mainly in the change of the profile of the front part of the fuselage, slight changes in the rear part of the fuselage and - in some vehicles - a different power unit with much more power. The Gongchen tanks were used extensively during the Chinese Civil War (1946-1949), including participating in the very important Battle of Jinzhou in 1948. The cars of this type were moved to training tasks in the early 1950s, and in 1959 they were completely withdrawn from the line.