Panzer II [SEP] service entry
-Benz. Design work on the Panzer II began on 27 January 1934. The first experimental model was ready in February 1935. The final design was based on the Panzer I, but larger, and with a turret mounting a 20 mm anti-tank gun. Production began in 1935, but it took another eighteen months for the first combat-ready tank to be delivered.
Design.
Design Armor.
The Panzer II was designed before the experience of the Spanish Civil War of 1936–39 showed that protection against
actively attempted to sabotage the German defenses and to aid the entry of the Red Army.
The only major German force facing the Soviet attackers was the German II SS Panzer Corps of the 6th SS Panzer Army, along with ad hoc forces made up of garrison and anti-aircraft units. Declared a defensive region, Vienna's defense was commanded by General Rudolf von Bünau, with the II SS Panzer Corps units under the command of SS General Wilhelm Bittrich.
The battle for the Austrian capital was characterized in some cases