The PzKpfw III (Panzerkampfwagen III) was a German medium tank from the Second World War. The first prototypes of the vehicle were made in 1936, and serial production continued in the period 1937-1943, ending with the production of about 5,800 vehicles. The tank in the E version was powered by a single Maybach HL 120 TRM engine with a capacity of 300 HP. It was armed with one 37mm KwK 35/36 cannon and two 7.92mm MG 34 machine guns. placed in the tower.
PzKpfw III was the "workhorse" of the German armored forces during World War II and one of the most intensively developed and modernized Wehrmacht tanks. Its serial production started in 1936, and many variants of this tank were created in its course. Chronologically, the first version was the A version, armed with a 37mm gun and a 230hp engine. However, already in December 1938, the E version was created, which was the first version produced in large series. It had a new, significantly more powerful engine, a completely new suspension and stronger armor in the front part of the turret and hull. Later (from December 1940) it was also armed with a more powerful 50mm cannon. In March 1940, the G version began to be produced, in which the rear hull and turret armor was reinforced. Soon after, in October 1940, the production of the H version started, which from the very beginning was armed with the 50mm KwK 38 L / 42 gun and had reinforced frontal armor. One of the most produced was the J version, which had armor up to 50 mm thick (later reinforced with aplique plates), and after the experience gained from the clashes with the T-34 and KW-1 vehicles - it was intensively rearmed for the KwK 39 L / 60 cannon. cal. 50 mm. The last development version was the N version, which was to be a support tank for armored grenadiers and was armed with a 75mm KwK 37 L / 24 short-barreled cannon. Numerous other vehicles were built on the chassis of the PzKpfw III, such as the StuG III assault gun. PzKpfw III tanks were used on almost all fronts of World War II - from the September campaign in 1939, through the campaign in France in 1940, operations Barbarossa and Typhoon in 1941, the Battle of Kursk in 1943, to the last operations of the German army against The USSR and the Western Allies in 1944-1945.
The decisive influence on the shaping of the organization and tactics of the German infantry before the outbreak of World War II was, on the one hand, the experience of the previous World War, but also theoretical works created in the 1920s and 1930s, which often emphasized the need to perceive the German infantry as a tool waging an offensive war. This affected both the equipment and the organization of the German infantry division, which during the September campaign of 1939 consisted of 3 infantry regiments, each of which was divided into 3 infantry battalions, an artillery company and an anti-tank company. In addition, there were numerous support units, including: an artillery regiment with 4 artillery squadrons (including one heavy), an anti-tank battalion, a sapper battalion and a communications battalion. In total, the so-called infantry division In the first mobilization wave, there were approximately 17,700 people and had a significant artillery component, but also was abundantly equipped with machine guns. It also had modern and efficient - for those times - means of communication and command. In the course of the war, infantry divisions underwent transformation - in 1943 some of them were transformed into armored grenadier divisions. However, from 1943, the standard division of the "traditional" infantry consisted of approx. 12,500 men (and not approx. 17,700 as in 1939), and its artillery component - especially heavy artillery - was also reduced in it, while its anti-tank defense was significantly improved. It is assumed that during the entire Second World War, about 350 infantry divisions served in the Wehrmacht.