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TL;DR: A T-34-85 (1946) experimentally equipped with 12 TPO-50 flamethrowers.
History:
As soon as the T-34-85 hit the production lines, several upgrade projects got underway. The first major, of which, was swapping out the clunky 85mm D-5T cannon for the much more streamlined 85mm ZiS-S-53. This came with a redesigned turret among other improvements. It wouldn’t stop there, however. In 1945, as the war was nearing its close, another upgrade for the T-34-85 was rolled out. This upgrade gave the tank revised electric turret traverse system (which required the addition of a bulge on the side of the turret), a single-piece commander hatch, and access to the MDSh smoke system. This 1945 upgrade would become the new standard until after the war when it was superseded in 1946 by a new upgrade that revised the turret ventilation by moving the outtake vent to be above the cannon breach, keeping the intake vent at the rear of the turret roof. The turret casting was also revised (eliminating the aforementioned bulge) and the V-2-34 500hp engine would be switched out for the V-2-34M 520hp engine. With the close of WW2, the Chinese PLA began going about organizing their ranks and the aforementioned war had made one thing very clear. Tanks were very important. Unfortunately, all the PLA had were swathes of captured Japanese armor, with a few American vehicles on the side. Not only were these tanks outdated, maintaining them would be very difficult for obvious reasons. Still desperate for tanks, the PLA would turn to their fellow communist neighbor for assistance. Over the span of five years, the Soviet Union would supply China with over 3000 vehicles, over 1800 of those being T-34-85s. While the numbers of this transfer are well known and documented, what variants of T-34-85 the Soviet Union sent over are less so, however, photographic evidence confirms that the T-34-85s sent were of many different variants. One of these variants was the aforementioned 1946 model. Unfortunately, it is unknown if the Chinese used the MDSh smoke system, however, there is no evidence to suggest that they didn’t. In November of 1955, the PLA decided to test their combat capabilities regarding amphibious landings. As a result, a field exercise was organized at the Liaodong Peninsula. During this exercise, it was discovered that their T-34-85s could not adequately deal with bunkers. A Soviet advisor offered to sell the PLA OT-34-85s, however, this would be rejected by Defence Minister Peng Dehuai. Instead, the PLA decided that they’d take matters into their own hands and produce their own flamethrowing T-34-85. The design they came up with, at first glance, seems overkill as it featured 12 TPO-50 flamethrowers , six on either side of the turret, however, the decision to mount 12 TPO-50s makes more sense when you learn that once you pull the trigger on a TPO-50, you dump all of your fuel. This meant that 12 TPO-50s equals 12 individual bursts of flame and not 12 combined, controllable, streams of of flame. The design supposedly passed trials, however, was still ultimately rejected and the single prototype remains in Oriental Oasis Park in Shanghai to this day.
Place In Game:
The addition of the Churchill Crocodile has definitively opened the doors when it comes to flamethrower equipped vehicles that still retain their main armament. Combining this with the confirmation that more flamethrower tanks will be added in the future, it’s only fair that every nation gets at least one, if possible. This, frankly, absolutely insane looking variant of the T-34-85, exclusive to China, should be China’s entry. In fact, it might be their only possible entry. While its gameplay would be fairly unique, it has no place in the tech tree due to its nature as a flamethrower tank and should either come in as an event reward or a battlepass vehicle. Playstyle would be fairly similar to any regular old T-34-85 with the only exception being that you now have the ability to delete any open topped vehicle you come across as long as it’s within 200 meters.
Specifications:
Armament: 85mm ZiS-S-53 cannon, 1x 7.62mm MG, and 12x TPO-50 Flamethrowers
Dimensions: 6.10m, 3.00m, 2.72m (L,W,H)
Weight: 32000~kg
Armor: Same as T-34-85 (S-53) in-game.
Crew: 5
Ammunition: Same as T-34-85 (S-53) in-game.
Speed: 55kph
Horsepower: 520hp
Pictures:
3/4th View:Another 3/4th View:
Sources:
https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/394452996
Type 58 and T-34-85 in Chinese Service - Tank Encyclopedia
TPO-50 Heavy Infantry Flamethrower : Russia / Soviet Union (RUS / SOV)