Editing T-26 (section)

==IRL==
The T-26 started as a spin off of the Vickers 6-ton tank, an influential 1930s tank design. The T-26 was originally built with a twin turret design with several machine guns. Later variants had a single turret that were built with a 45mm anti-tank cannon, though a machine gun was retained coaxial.

The T-26 was first blooded in the Spanish Civil War and the battle of Khalkin Gol in Spain and Manchuria respectively. The T-26 unsurprisingly wiped the floor with Italian and German tanks, having superior armament and armor for the time period. There were very few weapons available in the 1930s that could reliably penetrate and kill a T-26. The success would encourage Soviet command to ramp up production, and largely concluded in 1941. They made up a bulk of lend-lease aide to China, much to the chagrin of the Japanese.

The T-26 had a litany of good features: decent speed, good armor, a solid gun, and enough room for upgrades like a radio set and other features, including gun stabilizers and other features that would later benefit a tank commander. The T-26 was among one of the best light tanks on Earth at the time, and certainly spurred German weapons development into high gear. 

However, there were a plethora of other problems that became more apparent: the armor and overall design was not able to hold against later developments of anti-tank weapons, to the point that the Finns were able to gun down scores of them with "mere" 20mm ammo. Additionally, the boxy design left little room for sloped armor, meaning that the likelihood of penetration upon a hit was high. This did come with a minor side benefit in that rotating the tank allowed the vehicle to gain marginal protection through sloping, but not much else.

The T-26 became a bulk export post war to nearby and friendly nations, but Finland actually liked the T-26 and used the 200 they captured as part of their standing army until as late as the 1960s, though mostly as artillery tugs and less in a frontline combat role after the war. While there were plenty of very interesting variants, limited production run models, and experiments, the singular best part about the T-26 was its ability to take flamethrowers. After all, why lose comrades assaulting a bunker when you could roast them out with a cute little flamey boi? If nothing else it was at least faster than [[Churchill|Churchill crocodiles]]


{{Soviet Forces in Flames of War}}
{{Finnish Forces in Flames of War}}