Carl

Late Birthday Post
Alt History
Sturmgeschutz/Panzerjager VI Ausf. H
Tank Destroyer/ Assault Gun

"It's been a rule of law that scumbag regimes produce similarly scummy people, and for all its worth the Nazis are not only part of the rule, they are the "gold standard". People like Hermann Goring, Heinrich Himmler, Ferdinand Porsche, and all others including the Third Reich's Austrian head honcho himself have shown utter disregard for decency and it is undeniable thanks to the many atrocities committed by this row of murderers on people of other lands and even their own. One was the head of the Henschel and Sohn company, whose avarice and desire for Hitler's full support as well as the gargantuan ego boost gained from being the company whose design for the most infamous tank in history would be greenlighted, because the other was just too damn complicated drivetrain-wise and would make the former's mechanical problems and excessive fuel consumption look solvable and sustainable in comparison.

So, to essentially gain more favor from Hitler, the bastard took it upon himself to design what was initially an assault gun which would house a 10.5cm leFH to replace the Sturmgeschutz III, as the latter was facing significant challenges destroying KV-1s and T-34s (Well, the early StuGs, anyway."

Hitler, being Hitler, refused.

Believing he had failed senpai once, he then looked at reports from the Eastern front of these new machines on the steppes of Eastern Europe which, after Kursk and especially after Bagration, was gradually being gobbled up by the Soviet horde of tanks and infantry. Two of these machines fighting on the Ostfront were the Jagdpanther (hunting panther) and Ferdinand, both sporting the new and more powerful Kwk 43 gun which would later be used on Tiger II. So he drew, copying the superstructure of the Ferdinand, and naming it the Carl (after Georg Christian Carl Henschel, the founder of Henschel and Son), placing it on the front of the Tiger I hull and showing it to Hitler and Speer one lazy March 7, 1944 at 3:00 in the afternoon. Speer, being the somewhat most realistic guy in the Third Reich, actively tried to convince the Fuhrer that this would be more practical than just spending more needed resources on... you know, the 69.3 metric ton heavy tank that would replace the Tiger I.

Hitler reluctantly signed the order, and within a few weeks, alongside the new Tiger IIs, they would see use in successfully routing a Soviet attack on Görlitz, and their heavy armor combined with the same 88s used on the Tiger I would have a devastating effect on the enemy. However, soon enough, the supply line barely supplying the German resistance would vanish, and the crews would soon slowly retreat to Berlin, burning several damaged Carls, Panthers, Tigers, Panzer IVs, Panzer IIIs, and King Tigers so the Soviets couldn't capture them. On the west side, one ran into a British camp where all the crew were mercilessly executed via Scotsman with claymore in hand. After the Battle of Berlin, only one Carl was captured by the Soviets and the others melted down for scrap to rebuild East Berlin. It's in Kubinka, obviously. The one captured by the British was taken to some Scottish noble's manor before he sold it to the Tank Museum in Bovington."