As Germany pierced through the Soviet Union’s Eastern Front in an ambitious attempt to take Moscow in the summer of 1941, it suddenly found itself in a significant crisis: the thinly spread Wehrmacht was being severely crippled by the powerful T-34 Soviet tanks.
German anti-tank armament was proving worthless against the enemy’s armor, and their own vehicles were struggling when put up against the Soviet medium tanks. If the Germans did not come up with a solution soon, their entire operation would be jeopardized.
Thus, the Heereswaffenamt commissioned the immediate development of a new tank destroyer. However, Germany's military manufacturing industry was depleted, and if they were to build a new tank hunter, it would have to come out of what they already had.
General Heinz Guderian, a pioneer of the blitzkrieg tactics and the father of the Panzer Division, fervently opposed the idea. But despite his disapproval, the Germans would use the hulls of the old Panzer IVs to build the Jagdpanzer IV tank destroyer.
Time was running out, and as the hastily developed Jagdpanzer IV entered the battlefield, the world waited to see if the unique-looking vehicle would be able to tackle the mighty Soviet behemoth…
