O-I / Mi-To SuperHeavy Tank - Origins
The reason why multiple turrets were chosen in the early 1930s by designers around the world was to enable the "breakthrough" tanks to withstand the enemy's infantry attacks without the presence of supporting friendly infantry. At the same time, in order to attack the enemy's machine gun firepower points, the equipment was equipped with a caliber howitzer. However, the armor of the European multi-turret heavy tanks of the 1930s was too thin compared to the assigned tasks. The ultra-heavy tanks imagined by the Japanese Army were simple and rude. They are suppressing or destroying enemy anti-tank guns. They were neither to support infantry assaults nor engage in tank-on-tank battles.
From 1939-1941, Hideo Iwakuro, then a colonel, was Chief of Army Affairs Section in the Military Affairs Bureau, where his primary task was military procurement. Active mainly in Army intelligence, and a member of the Sakura Kai ultranationalist secret society, in 1932 he was transferred to Manchuria and assigned to the Kwantung Army. Unlike many in the Japanese Army, Iwakuro was against war with the Soviet Union (Hokushin-ron), and conversely was a proponent of the Nanshin-ron [strike south] strategy of the Imperial Japanese Navy. Under the Tripartite Alliance, Iwakuro pressed Nazi Germany to share military technologies, particularly armor and aviation.
Iwakuro obtained information from Manchuria about the T-35 multi-turret tank through "special channels". In order to counter this, in early 1940, Iwakuro ordered the Army Engineering Division to develop a new super heavy tank. Colonel Iwakuro required that the new tank be at least twic the size of the current Type 95 Heavy Tank (26 tons). The proposed 100 ton prototype was to be equipped with a Type 92 105 mm cannon for its main gun. The general outer appearance design was not dissimilar to the Type 95 Heavy Tank.
In February 1939, he became the military commander of the Military Affairs Bureau of the Army. He also led the establishment of the boarding institute responsible for the development of various special weapons and the printing of counterfeit banknotes. At the time a military person could serve in any field. After the opening of the Pacific War ( Great East Asia War ), Iwakuro became the commander of the Southern Army and became engaged in operations south. He fought in the Operation in Malay as the 5th Guards Infantry Commander. At the time of Singapore's capture, he served as the head of the Indo Independent Cooperation Agency (commonly known as "Iwasu Agency"), and was involved in the organization of the Indian National Army (INA) and the establishment of a free India provisional government. In 1943, he was promoted to major general. He later served as the head of various spy agencies. By the later stages of the war, Iwakuro was attached to Army Ordnance Administrative Headquarters in 1945. He died on November 22, 1970.
In the second half of 1939 after the Nomonhan incident, the Continental Fortress Research Committee, located in the Army Department, studied the breakthrough of the vertical position in the battle against the Soviet Union. In the research report, the super heavy tank is placed in front of the deep defense position, the special vehicle in the second row, and the middle tank in the third row. Super heavy tanks were required to destroy the heavily defended anti-tank guns of the Soviet Union built deep vertical position. After destroying the antitank gun, special vehicles eliminate obstacles such as antitank and iron wire nets, and the enlightenment causes the middle tank to invade the position. Here, the super heavy tank was required to have a large-caliber gun capable of destroying heavy armor to withstand bombardment and an anti-tank gun.
In an era of scarce data, Japan’s ultra-heavy tanks developed during World War II were once thought by the history community as having two types – the 100-ton type known as “Mi-To” and the so-called “OI”, the 120-ton model. But with the publication of the original research and development materials for the "production of overweight combat vehicles", the contents contain the trial production process and the drawings of appearance and structure, and finally understand that they are actually one kind of tank. The 100 tons is actually only the weight of the car body during the trial production, and the final weight will reach 150 tons.
Over the years, several Mi-To projects were created. The evolutionary chain turned out in total, each of the links of which exceeded the previous one in terms of the power of weapons and armor. Accordingly, each subsequent project became larger. The lightest of the entire Mi-To family weighed about 100 tons, and the heaviest was 140–150 tons.
The name Mi-To is short for Mitsubishi Tokyo, the factory that designed the prospective tank in the atmosphere of the strictest secrecy. In the documents of the military, it is also known as "O-I". Engineer Shigeo Otaka, who participated in the development, recalled that the design team worked in a barracks, in a small room, separated from the outside world by a double door. This was supposed to minimize the chance that a person who accidentally peered through the door would see what was going on inside. The various units of Mitsubishi were engaged in work on individual parts of the tank and did not know what exactly they were designing. Designers from the "secret room" collected this technical mosaic together.
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