Chapter 228 "Wolf King"
If the heavy losses of the German tanks before had foreseen their ultimate failure, then the destruction of Major Raquel's command vehicle completely sounded the death knell for the destruction of the German tank group.
The 76mm armor-piercing grenade detonated inside the turret instantly swept everything around after being hit by a shot from Malashenko's vehicle at a super close shooting distance of 50 meters. The scorching hot flames and the broken metal shrapnel like a death storm turned all the three members of the turret, including Major Raquel, into bloody human fragments.
The powerful shock wave of the armor-piercing grenade explosion lifted the top cover of Major Raquel's vehicle turret, and the flames gushing out from the inside of the tank exuded a temperature that was enough to burn human souls.
At the moment of the armor-piercing grenade detonation, the German driver and the mechanic who were the only ones left in the crew had just opened the top cover of their heads and wanted to abandon the vehicle to escape. The fire in the gasoline tank ignited by the explosion of the armor-piercing grenade had already reached the peak critical point. The ammunition rack on the chassis of the vehicle, which was burned by the boiling gasoline flames like the devil's tongue, immediately burst into a dazzling light.
Boom--
More than 70 50mm shells of various types exploded at the same time, which was as powerful as the explosion of a small arsenal.
The wreckage of the Type 3 tank, which had already turned into a burning steel crematorium, could not withstand such destructive power. The destructive ammunition explosion instantly tore the entire wreckage of the Type 3 tank into pieces like a child's toy car.
Burning armor fragments and twisted parts stained with residual gasoline were like falling stars from the sky. Under the powerful force of the explosion, they flew everywhere from the center of the explosion, and there was no trace of a complete tank.
The two German armored soldiers who had just escaped halfway after opening the turret cover were even more unlucky.
The fragile human body, which was not born for war, turned into countless blood fragments in a moment in the strong ammunition explosion. The fragmented human limbs even splashed on the turret of a German tank 20 meters away, leaving the shocking scarlet marks before stopping.
As the saying goes, shoot the horse first to shoot a man, and capture the king first to capture a thief.
Malashenko, who accidentally destroyed the German tank command vehicle, immediately reaped unexpected and amazing results.
The sudden death of Major Raquel made the German armored forces, which had already suffered heavy losses and were on the verge of collapse, unable to hold on any longer. The mood of collapse and screaming words of retreat immediately spread like a plague throughout the communication channel.
"Raquel's car was destroyed! Does anyone know what we should do now? Who will take over the command!?"
"Ah, damn it! If it weren't for Raquel, we should have retreated long ago. It's not too late now! If you don't want to die here!"
"Ivan's tanks are all those monster-like heavy tanks. Our attack is simply suicide! We need to retreat, now!"
Major Raquel, who has always been strict with himself in the armored forces under his command and strictly required himself to set a good example for his soldiers, is recognized and loved by his subordinates, but there is also fear and fear of his personal prestige and harsh methods.
When Major Raquel, the battlefield commander, was still alive, his prestige and the aura of a superior could still play a leading role in stabilizing the overall situation, allowing his subordinates, who had already been on the verge of nervous and emotional collapse due to heavy casualties, to reluctantly execute orders and continue fighting.
But when Major Raquel, who played the role of a stabilizing force, suddenly died in battle, the despair and collapse that had been firmly suppressed in his palms suddenly burst out in panic from the radio communication channels of the surviving vehicle groups like a flood.
But it would be too arbitrary to make a derogatory characterization of the combat effectiveness of the German armored forces led by Major Raquel based on this alone.
The weight of the single vehicle has an overwhelming absolute advantage over all types of tanks on the side, and it is on the same starting line as the side, and it is also equipped with radio stations for inter-vehicle communication, so the communication is flexible and the cooperation is tacit. In addition, there is a commander who travels from the future to personally command and lead the team in battle.
Under such unfavorable objective factors, relying on the numerical advantage in hand that could not play a decisive role, the powerful Soviet heavy tank unit was killed and wounded more than half, almost forcing Malashenko to a dead end.
If Major Rakel had died half a minute later, it would be unknown who would win the battle.
But there is no if in a cruel war. After paying a heavy price of destroying two-thirds of the participating tanks, the last ten or so German tanks finally began to retreat under the drive of fear and collapse.
He saw the last few remaining Soviet heavy tanks in his commander's periscope, and guarded the KV1 heavy tank with a slightly different appearance painted with white paint and numbered 177 in a relatively safe position in the middle.
This special model KV1, which is obviously different from other Soviet KV1 heavy tanks, was then firmly engraved in Bolt's mind, who was sweating and almost exhausted.
"Since the war began, I have never seen such a capable Ivan. This guy is just like the wolf king! It seems that as long as he is there, the other Ivans will not collapse or give up, and will always unite around him to protect and obey him. What kind of terrible guy is this!?"
It was this special KV1 painted with the number 177 that rushed into the German tank group in the battle just now like a tiger rushing into a flock of sheep.
Bolt, who had a keen battlefield intuition, soon discovered the special features of this KV1 heavy tank No. 177, which was obviously different from other Soviet heavy tanks.
Bolt realized that this was most likely the Soviet field commander's car and decided to take the initiative to kill the Soviet tank commander to win the victory for his side. The multiple armor-piercing shells that Malashenko encountered during the collision and stagnation just now all came from Bolt's car without exception.
Unfortunately, the Panzer IV commanded by Bolt, equipped with a 24-caliber shorter 75mm main gun, was inferior to the German Panzer III in terms of anti-armor capability.
When facing the armor protection performance of Malashenko's vehicle, which was already a step higher than the original KV1, it was simply like a mouse pulling a tortoise.
One shot was fired, and it was just a noise. This was the only "substantial damage" caused by Bolt's vehicle's several armor-piercing shells to Malashenko's vehicle.