"Don't be complacent about our current technological advantage. As old imperialist nations, the British possess formidable industrial strength — especially their accumulated foundation in basic sciences, which can fairly be called the world's best! The reason the Panda tank has been such a success is simply that we thought to use higher design standards before the British did."

"If we can build the Panda, the British and Americans can too — and quickly! In less than two years, perhaps not even one, we'll see opponents with comparable performance appearing on the battlefield."

"Whatever we have, the enemy will certainly have too! As tank designers, you must set your sights further ahead! War is the catalyst of technological progress! In tank design, we must maintain the mindset of staying one step ahead of our adversaries. The Panda tank will soon be obsolete, so we must immediately develop a more advanced next-generation main battle tank."

Chen Ke's speech to the Armored Forces Committee's internal meeting on March 8, 1939 — regarding the Cloud Leopard development program — was later recognized as a key reason why Chinese armor maintained its performance edge over Britain and America throughout WWII.

1940 was indisputably the Year of the Panda.

On the Asian fronts in India and Australia, the Panda tank was peerless.

On the Western European front, its German brother — the Panzer IV — was equally untouchable.

Against the Panda, every British and French tank in service or in development became a laughable relic. Upon learning of the Panda and Panzer IV, the Americans dismissed the M3 Grant — then entering service — as worthless, and accelerated M4 development.

After April 1941, when the first 200 Cloud Leopards appeared on the Indian front, the British Cromwell tank — urgently developed and just entering mass service in response to the "Panda Crisis" — along with the 57mm six-pounder gun, immediately became obsolete. Even the large-scale infusion of American M4 tanks by year's end couldn't escape the fate of being systematically picked off by 90mm guns at a thousand meters.

The ensuing 1942 was the era of the Chinese Leopard's unbridled rampage. Only the British development of the 17-pounder gun — which could pose a grave threat to Cloud Leopards within 700 meters — ended the "near-invincible" myth.

In June 1942, when the 17-pounder-armed Firefly tank destroyer and the American M36 tank destroyer with its 90mm gun appeared on the battlefield, the Cloud Leopard's golden age of ground dominance ended.

Though Chinese armored forces still maintained significant battlefield superiority, astute observers understood that the ideal of balanced firepower-protection-mobility was over. Some "extreme" designs were now necessary.

"Extreme" thinking was not unfamiliar to Chinese armored forces — the terrifyingly powerful yet fragile Hellhound self-propelled anti-tank gun was one such example.

The other "extreme" path was following the German Tiger's approach: heavy firepower, heavy protection, accepting low speed. The heavy tank route.

By late 1941, requirements for a 40-ton tank design were already on the table. Considering changing battlefield conditions and "worst-case" estimates of future enemy anti-armor capabilities and new tanks, the new tank's design standards were raised dramatically.

The design standard was simple. Defense: front armor must effectively resist the 90mm Thor VII tank gun at 700 meters (the Armored Forces Committee's requirement). Firepower: no additional immediate demands, but turret design must include ample growth space for future upgrades. Mobility: "balanced three dimensions" no longer required — acceptable as long as mobility wasn't abysmal.

Operational doctrine from the Armored Forces Committee: a breakthrough assault tank capable of charging through enemy fire into fortified positions during brutal positional warfare.

Chen Ke, attending the meeting, offered his characteristically blunt assessment: "Simply put — a thick-skinned damage sponge at the front, tanking aggro!"

Initially, the approach was to directly thicken the Cloud Leopard's armor. But the Cloud Leopard — designed for balanced performance — had only a 10% weight margin. With frontal hull armor increased to 80mm/60° and turret to 90mm/60°, its empty weight hit 37 tons — the absolute chassis limit.

A new chassis was unavoidable, and new road wheels were mandatory. After discussion and consultation with numerous designers, the Armored Forces Committee agreed to let both design bureaus' engineers start fresh.

Ultimately, Guangzhou Second Bureau's Lin Pingzhi won approval with the "Elephant," while the front-engine-obsessed Gao Bupang suffered yet another crushing defeat.

In fewer than three years, the Elephant spawned three full generations.

**Elephant Generation I** — empty weight 45 tons, armed with a new 90mm/L60 Thor VIII anti-tank gun, offering marginally improved firepower over the Cloud Leopard.

In terms of protection, Lin Pingzhi made bold innovations — especially after exchanges with Soviet designers. After examining several T-34 samples sent by the Soviets and conferring with the renowned designer Kotin, the Elephant's protection bore heavy Soviet tank design influence: emphasis on shell-deflection rates, with armor angles increased from the previous 60° to 55°. Hull front: 100mm/55°; turret: 120mm/55°.

Though the Elephant I prototype was planned for the 90mm/L60 Thor VIII, its ammunition was incompatible with the existing 90mm/L50 Thor VII — the military's standard anti-tank gun. The military refused to open new production lines for marginal firepower gains. This was canceled in favor of a newly designed 105mm/L50 Thor IX anti-tank gun.

The powerplant was the Taihang VI — a four-stroke, 600-horsepower diesel designed for tropical environments. Compared to the Cloud Leopard's equivalent-power two-stroke engine, the Taihang offered significantly improved fuel economy and service life, better suited for tropical theaters. Its sole drawback was larger physical dimensions, consuming more internal space and reducing ammunition stowage to 34 rounds — compared to the Cloud Leopard's 65 rounds, just barely sufficient.

Wartime development prioritized speed and simplicity. Project initiated late 1941; prototype for competitive evaluation in May 1942; selected as the Elephant in July; production drawings completed September; first twenty Elephant I tanks rolled off the production line in November. By January 1943, the 13th Guards Armored Division on the Indian front received 45 Elephants to form a heavy tank battalion. Chen Ke gave it a curious designation: 8341.

Like the British and American Centurion and M26 — both rushed into service — the Elephant debuted with significant design flaws and mechanical troubles. The newly deployed Elephants barged across battlefields near-invincibly thanks to thick armor, but breakdowns were endemic. Reliability was terrible; being stranded was routine. Its greatest enemy was itself, not the opposition. Fortunately, Chinese armored forces maintained strategic offensive posture throughout the war — tanks disabled by mechanical failure on the battlefield could be recovered and repaired afterward.

Fighting while designing, improving while maintaining, adjusting production lines during combat — the Elephant stumbled into 1943 without waiting for perfection. Despite its many problems, its thick armor and powerful gun earned it as much praise as criticism.

As rear-area designers continued breakthrough efforts and the Elephant endured combat tempering, the design steadily improved. By September 1943's Elephant I-B production, failure rates had dropped to acceptable levels and sortie rates tripled.

**Elephant Generation II** was an exceptionally interesting and ahead-of-its-time design. Constrained by technical limitations, the Elephant I was initially plagued by weight-bearing problems. The perfectionist Lin Pingzhi refused to accept the Elephant's imbalanced "three dimensions" and obsessed over improving its mobility.

After holding multiple "brainstorming sessions" within the design team and absorbing input from many quarters, Lin Pingzhi stared at the Elephant's enormous turret and had a flash of inspiration: "Constantly thickening armor is producing these massive turrets, making tanks heavier and heavier. Why not reverse the approach — stake turret defense on the enemy not being able to hit it, and create an 'unarmored' turret?"

Thus was born what later generations called the "father of the unmanned turret school" — the Elephant Generation II.