Chapter 221 Iron and Steel Confrontation
Just as the gunner of Bolt's tank roared in anger because of his failed shot, the other German Type 3 and Type 4 tanks that were charging forward in a row a few meters away also began to fire and attack.
However, before the application of the epoch-making equipment such as the two-way stabilizer, the tank main gun was as difficult as a person running non-stop trying to use a single-shot bolt-action rifle to accurately hit a long-distance target.
Even if the first gear was maintained and the vehicle body was moving forward at a low and uniform speed to minimize the shaking amplitude of the vehicle body, the gunners of the German tank crews aimed their guns at the field of view, but they still shook constantly because of the rugged off-road road as if they had Parkinson's syndrome. The shooting accuracy in this state is not an exaggeration even if it is described in a metaphysical way as "half of it is destined by heaven".
Half of the armor-piercing shells fired in a round of moving salvos missed the target on the spot, and the remaining armor-piercing shells that hit the front armor of the Soviet tanks were not much better.
It was a fluke to be able to hit a moving target while moving. The German tank gunners who had tried their best to aim at the weaknesses of the Soviet tanks did not get a very good report. A T34 tank that was paralyzed on the spot by an armor-piercing shell that broke its tracks was the only reward for the German tanks after this round of firing.
It was exactly the opposite of the bad situation faced by the German tank crews.
With the excellent quality of the tanks with strong armor and powerful guns as a blessing, advancing to the shooting distance of 600 meters was able to ensure accuracy while ensuring penetration of all types of German tanks. Malashenko, who was familiar with the thickness and defense of the armor of all types of German tanks in 1941, immediately ordered to stop advancing.
"All crews of the company stop moving forward and immediately fire at the German tanks! Stop their intentions and don't let them surround us!"
After receiving the order, the Soviet tanks that stopped their vehicles immediately began to turn their turrets and fire. The Soviet KV1 heavy tanks and T34 medium tanks, which were uniformly equipped with 76mm main guns, were more than enough to destroy the German tanks with vertical armor at a shooting distance of less than 600 meters.
As the Soviet tanks that had stopped their vehicles and turned their guns for precise shooting continued to fire, the German anti-armor main force No. 3 tank, whose turret and front armor thickness were only 50mm vertically rolled homogeneous steel armor, could not withstand the fierce attack of the Soviet tanks.
At a distance of 600 meters, it was still able to ensure that the 80mm thick vertical armor was penetrated. The 76mm BR-350B wind cap armor-piercing grenades that continued to fire and hit easily pierced the fragile vertical armor defense of the German tanks.
The 76mm armor-piercing grenade that exploded inside the vehicle or in the turret released amazing power in the narrow tank space.
Most of the German tank crews whose armor was penetrated from the front without any suspense were completely scrapped due to the explosion of ammunition on the spot, and few German crews who were lucky enough to survive after being hit abandoned their vehicles and escaped.
The TNT explosion equivalent of a full 94 grams of armor-piercing grenade is obviously unbearable for the fragile human body, not to mention the additional damage caused by the projectile fragments that were triggered by the warhead charge and bounced around inside the tank.
Looking at the enemy German tanks in front of him through his own commander's periscope, they were hit three times in a row and exploded and burned immediately. Malashenko, who was gradually making up for the disadvantage in numbers, soon realized a new problem.
Although the KV1 heavy tank equipped with the first ready-to-fire ammunition rack in the turret has improved the loading speed to a certain extent, it only takes about five seconds from the firing of the main gun to the ejection of the breech block to the completion of loading under the operation of a skilled loader.
However, the re-searching after destroying the target and the adjustment of the turret steering machine and the main gun elevation machine could not keep up with such a fast firing rate. It took at least half a minute from the discovery of the enemy to the destruction of a German tank and the locking of the next target.
There was also a certain degree of ricochet and off-target shooting probability caused by the small angle of incidence, which was definitely not good news for the 10 Soviet tanks led by Malashenko, who were at an absolute numerical disadvantage.
Just as Malashenko was thinking about countermeasures, the German armored forces, which had paid the price of several tanks being destroyed, had already adopted a high-speed advance method to advance to the last distance sufficient to perform the two-wing flanking tactics.
The German army, which was divided into two routes like a fork in a river, instantly divided into two equal armored battle groups and began to flanke left and right at the same time.
Several 38T light tanks with fast and flexible mobility rushed to the front of the German armored team. These small guys had excellent high-speed mobility in 1941.
The KWK38 37mm tank gun it was equipped with could hardly cause any substantial damage to the frontal armor or even the sides of the thick-skinned KV1 heavy tank.
But if these German small tanks that ran faster than rabbits successfully bypassed and backed up behind them, the feeling of being bullied would be so disastrous that even if he thought about it with his feet, Malashenko knew the disastrous consequences.
After seeing this, Malashenko was forced to make another compromise by dividing his troops. It was undoubtedly the top priority to get rid of these 38T light tanks that were rushing towards his back like rats.
"T34 No. 104, 105, and 108 should immediately destroy those German light tanks. We can't let them outflank and back us! Heavy tanks cover them and focus fire on the German tanks that fired at the T34!"
As the saying goes, the only martial arts in the world that cannot be broken is fast.
Faced with these 38T light tanks that are extremely maneuverable and difficult to hit while running wildly on the undulating cross-country terrain, the KV1 heavy tank with a combat weight of nearly fifty tons is too bulky and obviously not good at dealing with these brisk opponents. Use The T34, which has good maneuverability and is basically close to the maneuverability of the 38T light tank, is obviously the best choice at the moment to use it to quickly control the enemy.
After receiving Malashenko's order, the three T34 tanks immediately started to move, and from behind the cover of the heavy tanks' huge bodies, they intercepted the German 38T light tanks that were quickly outflanking the roundabouts on both wings.
Realizing that the Soviet tanks in front of them had reacted, the German tank force also did not sit idly by. The T34 tank, which had its entire hull and turret sides exposed due to its sideways interception of the 38T tank, became one of these slightly slower tanks. Some large groups of German tanks focused fire on the target.
"Stop those T34s, don't let them intercept the 38Ts! Fire, quick!"
The loud orders echoing in the headset urged Bolt to reach out and pat the gunner in front of him on the back. The gunner who felt an obvious force on his shoulder then shook the turret steering gear in his hand frantically, turning the black hole. The muzzle of the gun was aimed at the T34 tanks that were galloping horizontally.