Steel Soviet Union

Chapter 1774 The Howling Vulture

When the Stukas with black and white iron cross symbols painted on their wings dived straight down from the sky, Malashenko guessed that his battle, which was about to be completed today, might have some new problems.

"Disperse! Don't crowd together! Withdraw first, and all crews disperse immediately! Keep your distance, quickly!"

It might be possible to launch a charge under the bombardment. After all, large-caliber shells with poor accuracy and power for steel armor can hardly cause any substantial obstacles to the armored clusters that are advancing rapidly unless they hit directly. But it would be another matter if it was an air strike.

Although there is no large-scale popularization of precision-guided weapons on the front line these days, it does not mean that precision bombing does not exist. Dive bombing that uses altitude to exchange for accuracy can still accurately drop iron bombs on the top of a tank's forehead. Especially for those experienced German Stuka pilots who are all veterans, this is almost not a difficult task.

But what was a little surprising was that the thing whizzing down from the iron wing was not the expected iron bomb, but a 37mm sub-caliber tungsten core armor-piercing projectile that burst out of the barrel with a high-speed scream.

Just like the sub-caliber tungsten core armor-piercing projectile fired by the German 37mm anti-tank on the ground, but because of the dive, it was given an extremely fast initial speed. These armor-piercing projectiles falling straight down from the sky have a muzzle velocity that is slightly faster than that fired from the ground.

The IS6 heavy tank with strong armor and powerful guns can completely ignore the tickling firepower of the German 37mm anti-tank and charge hard against the direct fire, but this is limited to the main armor belt or side armor area on the front.

Every tank has its own weaknesses, and there is no invincible tank from beginning to end.

The Stuka dived straight down from the sky, put the crosshairs on the Soviet tank on the ground, pulled the trigger instantly, and roared and fired. The high-speed armor-piercing bullets with flames flew out of the barrel one after another, and the final part of the attack was exactly the top of the Soviet tank's head. It was easy to break the fragile top armor defense.

Soon, the IS6 heavy tanks that received the order from the division commander to maintain a high-speed retreat suffered visible casualties.

Boom-boom-boom-

Those IS6 heavy tanks that only caused casualties to the crew members after the armor was penetrated were lucky. Perhaps there were one or two crew members who were not dead but could abandon the vehicle and escape.

But those IS6s that were unfortunately hit by the ammunition rack were not so lucky. After penetrating the top armor, the tungsten core armor-piercing warheads still had extremely high residual kinetic energy and continued to move along the ballistic track inside the vehicle. The instant high temperature and kinetic energy impact when they hit the ammunition rack were enough to detonate the gunpowder and cause a secondary explosion.

The head was moved and the body was torn into pieces. The powerful 122mm projectile and its propelling cartridge have now become the death warrant of the IS6 heavy tanks whose armor has been penetrated. The powerful weapon against the enemy can also cause great harm to its own people. Every IS6 heavy tank that has its ammunition exploded has a very miserable death.

The flying head is just a normal operation at this time. In the combat state, the tank with the hatch closed has no way to relieve the pressure inside. The mighty chemical energy explosion is enough to lift the huge and heavy flat turret off the chassis of the vehicle body. The Red Army tank crew has no chance of escape and is absolutely dead.

"Fuck! These bastards are all using cannon birds!"

Compared with the official name, Malashenko is more accustomed to calling these Stukas with dual 37mm gun pods "cannon birds".

Compared with the Stuka carrying traditional iron bombs, the Cannon Bird Stuka is more targeted and has greater anti-armor power. It is a ground-licking model that is specially improved for enemy armored targets.

Maybe this thing is not good for infantry. The 37-kilogram gun pod with a very limited ammunition capacity is like a cannon hitting a mosquito when it is used to attack infantry. It is not as effective as hanging a 50-kilogram iron bomb.

But if it encounters a highly mechanized heavy armored unit like the Stalin Guards 1st Tank Division, the Cannon Bird Stuka is like coming to heaven and finding the most suitable stage for itself. The two 37-kilogram gun pods under the wings are specially born for this.

There is no explosion sound caused by the bombs falling one after another, but only the residual power of the blast wave set off by the Soviet army's own heavy tanks in the continuous strong ammunition detonation.

At this moment, Malashenko is under great pressure, seeing the huge losses suffered by the troops in his eyes and worrying in his heart.

It is not entirely true that Malashenko was completely unprepared for the German air raid. From the moment he received the latest news from Vatutin, Malashenko had already felt that the Germans were probably going to send some flies to disgust him.

After all, if there was no air raid support even in the main attack direction, what were the German planes doing? It was impossible that they were all dead, so could they be sleeping on the rear airport? This kind of thing is just a casual thought, don't take it seriously.

But the only thing Malashenko didn't expect was that this group of flies from the Germans could come to attack him at such a coincidental time, when he was about to complete the task and take the victory into his pocket, and smashed the game that he was about to win in an instant, forcing Lavrinenko and Kurbarov's coordinated attack forces to suspend the attack and retreat.

Even so, Lavrinenko and Kurbalov immediately began to organize the troops to retreat and disperse as soon as they received the order.

But the dense attack formation that originally concentrated its forces to launch the final fierce attack could not be dispersed immediately.

The Stukas who seized the opportunity to bite hard would not let go. After a round of dive, they immediately pulled up their noses, climbed and turned, re-entered the attack channel and then dived again.

The dense 37mm shells hit the IS6 heavy tank and sparks flew. The thick and reliable armor plates around the body can indeed withstand most attacks with less abnormal accuracy. But for the extremely fragile body top armor and turret dome armor that can be penetrated by a single shot in front of the 37 gun, even if one shell penetrates, there is a high probability that the IS6 will be forced to withdraw from the battle.

The 37mm sub-caliber tungsten core armor-piercing projectile is not charged, but this does not mean that its killing effect is not fatal.

The armor fragments and the shattered tungsten core armor-piercing body were mixed together at the moment of penetration, ricocheting in the vehicle like a metal storm. The flesh and blood caught in it would only end up with a miserable end of being devastated and beaten like a sieve.

Being forced to withdraw from the battle is the final result of most IS6 heavy tanks. Not every tank can easily continue to fight despite the loss of crew members.

Chapter 1772/3254
54.46%
Steel Soviet UnionCh.1772/3254 [54.46%]