Chapter 1436 Medium Tank Vs. Medium Tank

The final result of both sides refusing to give in is that the battle becomes more and more brutal, just like a pot of cold soup heated by a big fire, which quickly heats up and boils.

The German army, which dares not continue to waste time with the Russians, is really scared now. One after another, continuous air strikes come in a line to blow the German army to pieces, causing heavy casualties. The two waves of troops hanging at the end of the team have now been eaten up by the Russians. It is estimated that the group of Russians who are chasing after them are more numerous and must be difficult to deal with.

The German army, which was too lazy to even do a fire test, showed its trump card and showed its true ability right from the start. The only remaining complete armored unit, the Viking Division, just joined the battle and a main armored regiment rushed up frantically.

As the elite armored unit of the SS, the Viking Division's hardware indicators are naturally not covered. In addition to the majority of Panther 2 medium tanks, this main armored regiment is even equipped with a company of 9 Tiger King heavy tanks and put into the battlefield.

The organized heavy tank unit independent of the heavy armored battalion is one of the privileges of the Viking Division, which is an elite SS unit.

The Panther 2s, which were blessed by the King Tiger, had a more fierce offensive momentum and were unstoppable. The T3485s, which were equipped with the new 85mm D-5T tank guns, were not to be outdone. Facing such a strong enemy, in the case of difficulty in penetrating the opponent's frontal armor, a full 70 or 80 T3485 medium tanks directly blasted the throttle and rushed up at full speed to prepare for close combat.

After the fierce exchange of fire between the tank units of both sides and around four weeks, the infantry of the Soviet and German armies also launched a charge with the tanks.

The mutual firing of light weapons was accompanied by the roar of the tank main guns and the dazzling fire. No matter what the result, this was the final battle where both sides of the war had gambled everything. Going all out was the absolute will that existed in the entire battlefield since the beginning.

Facing the Panther 2 whose entire frontal part was absolutely immune to the 85mm gun, the T3485s, who had tried many times but still failed to achieve a satisfactory shooting effect, began to aim and shoot again after getting very close to the Panther 2.

If you can't penetrate the frontal part, aim at the German turret and shoot it in the face. This is a basic skill that can be learned without any instruction. Instead of firing again at the frontal part of the vehicle that might still make a noise after hitting it, it is better to pin your hopes on different attempts and try different paths.

When the main gun roared again, the 85mm wind cap armor-piercing shells that came out of the barrel once again rushed towards the target that was already within reach with a shrill wind-breaking whistle.

The head of the Panther 2, which uses an enlarged version of the F-type turret, is not very strong. At best, it can only be considered slightly harder than the Panther 1. Then the embarrassment of the reflected ricochet of the lower part of the semi-arc gun shield, which caused the shell nest area, and the shells shot vertically downward into the vehicle body, causing a leopard death on the spot, was completely avoided.

It cannot be said that there are no improvements. There are indeed related improvements, but they are not strong enough to allow the Panther 2 to withstand the direct fire of the 85mm gun at a very close distance.

The Panther 2 turret, which has almost no tilted defense equivalent on the front of the turret, does not have the ability to ricochet, and the 85mm wind cap armor-piercing projectile hits it head-on without any suspense and hits the bull's eye.

The remaining armor-piercing kinetic energy when firing at a distance of less than 200 meters and reaching the target is enough to send the 85mm wind cap armor-piercing projectile into the head of the Panther 2 and penetrate the front armor of the turret.

Although it paid a huge sacrifice on the way to the charge, the Panther 2's super-long 75mm fishing rod main gun can easily penetrate the front main armor belt of the T34 at a regular combat distance. All along the way, the road to the charge was full of burning or dismembered bodies, or motionless, and the wreckage of the T3485 became a zombie car after all the members died.

But the final result was undoubtedly worth it. After a series of violent explosions, one after another Panther 2 was blown to pieces and its body was separated. It was directly set on fire and spiraled up in the strong explosion of ammunition and fuel.

"Success! The firing turret is effective! Keep firing, comrades! Hurray!!!"

Before replacing the 85mm main gun, the Red Army's medium tank troops had suffered too many unimaginable losses when fighting with the German armored forces.

It is difficult for people who have not seen the scene to imagine what it feels like for the heroic T34 tank group to rush to the zero-distance shooting position face to face and fire at the German Tiger and Panther but still fail to penetrate the armor.

The 76 gun with a maximum armor penetration depth of less than 100 mm is a difficult task to complete against the Tiger and Panther. The Red Army tank soldiers had no choice but to launch a group charge again and again, which was tantamount to collective death in the eyes of the Germans.

Either you rush forward and go around the side, and fight in close combat with the relatively clumsy and insensitive German tanks, or you step on the accelerator to the bottom and directly crash into the German tanks, playing bumper car tactics.

Although the latter sounds extreme, it is really done quite often.

At least after you step on the accelerator and crash into it, the German tank will be either dead or damaged, and there is basically no possibility of it continuing to move. Those delicate German machines can hardly withstand such brutal and violent collisions. In most cases, exchanging a T34 for a Tiger and Panther is a sure win.

Besides, the sturdy and durable T34 may not be destroyed on the spot. There are also T34s that can still be driven after a loud bang. There have been more than one such incident in Kursk.

After experiencing such a painful and unbearable battle, the Red Army tank soldiers now have only very simple hopes and requirements.

It doesn't matter if they can't penetrate the German armor at a conventional combat distance. As long as they shoot at close range in close combat, they can penetrate the front armor of the German turret, so as not to force people to rush to the face to go around the side, and then hit the Germans directly with a kick of the accelerator.

For these Red Army medium tank soldiers who have gone through too many hardships to get to where they are today, this is enough.

The performance of the Red Army tank soldiers is overjoyed, while the enemy Viking Division has a look of despair on their faces.

Although almost all SS armored soldiers knew that the Russian T34 had replaced the new main gun, it was the first time that the Panther 2 was killed on the spot by being shot through the front armor of the turret at close range in actual combat.

The armor protection that was originally thought to be indestructible proved to be not an absolute wall of sighs. After losing the advantage of the favorable combat distance, the German armored forces must now be more cautious and bear more inevitable casualties.