Chapter 370: To Live

What Malashenko had been pursuing from the beginning to the end of this cruel war was actually very simple, that is, to stay alive.

In order to stay alive, Malashenko could risk his life and fight the Germans to the death.

In order to stay alive, Malashenko would use the things stored in his brain from the future to compile routines, so that he could show his skills in front of Zhukov and his father Stalin and leave a deep impression, laying a solid foundation for his future rapid rise.

In order to stay alive, Malashenko did not hesitate to risk the unpredictable butterfly effect to interfere with the Red Army's tank development plan in advance, so that the KV85, which was originally expected to appear in the Soviet counterattack in 1943, was hastily launched at the end of 1941.

Kotin, who was originally full of confidence in history, is now a little guilty because of Malashenko. To be honest, even he himself has no idea how these 85-gun heavy tanks equipped with prototype turrets are. Kotin has never done a tank research and development project with such a limited time in the past.

When the German army's latest Pak40 anti-tank gun finally showed its true colors on the battlefield and officially came out, Malashenko, who had always felt that he was relatively safe in the KV1, immediately felt an unprecedented strong sense of crisis.

The armor of his vehicle was no longer invincible against the German army.

In today's battle, although the 75mm full-caliber capped armor-piercing shell fired by the German Pak40 did not penetrate the armor, Malashenko, who got off the vehicle and carefully observed the situation after the battle, immediately made a terrifying discovery that made his hair stand on end.

A fist-sized crater, as deep as a moon crater, appeared on the double-layer front armor of his vehicle. The 25mm inclined armor plate attached to the outermost layer by welding had been completely penetrated and even partially broken, just like a three-ply wood board shot through by a shotgun, which was shocking.

The more terrible thing is still to come. The 75mm rolled homogeneous steel armor plate on the front of the vehicle, which is protected by the 25mm welded additional armor plate, is also as terrible as the 25mm welded additional armor.

The impact crater, which is enough to fill half a fist, almost completely penetrated the 75mm front armor of the vehicle. He asked the driver Seryosha to cooperate with the knocking test by one person inside and one person outside the car. The result that Malashenko finally came to was that the double-layer armor on the front of his vehicle would be completely penetrated if it was ten millimeters at most.

In other words, the Pak40 that failed to penetrate Malashenko's vehicle in the battle today was probably because the shooting angle was not right. If it was an armor-piercing bullet shot from a position parallel to the vehicle's heading, it would be hard to say whether Malashenko's vehicle would be a pile of burning scrap metal or the complete appearance it is now.

Thinking that the best heavy tank he could have at this stage had been bullied into this state by the Germans, Malashenko, who felt that his life was forced to the brink of life and death by the Germans, finally stopped hesitating. In Malashenko's opinion, the truth of "you do the first day of the month and I do the fifteenth day" has come to be sacrificed.

"Pak40, right? I want to see what it will be like when the IS2 that can be built in 42 years rides on your face."

Malashenko, who had such thoughts in his heart, did not know that in the coming 1942, he himself did not drive this powerful fatherly heavy tank, and as for what he drove, he probably had to wait until Malashenko himself experienced it.

Malashenko, who had made up his mind to give Kotin some more "powerful seasoning", made a simple decision that he must provide Kotin with some "follow-up inspiration" in the subsequent specific report on the prototype tank.

My life has been forced to this point, so there is no need to hide it anymore. Even if there is a flood after my death, the only thing Malashenko can do is to do his best to accelerate the development of the Red Army tanks while he is still alive, so that the IS3 and even the more powerful Stalin models can be put into World War II to save his life.

As for what kind of changes and possible results will the huge butterfly effect of all his actions bring to the entire World War II process if he dies on the battlefield before that day, let me put it in Malashenko's own words

Sorry, it has nothing to do with me? I don't belong to this era, thank you.

In the final analysis, even if Malashenko, who came from the future, has experienced several brutal wars and has been influenced by the people and things around him, it is impossible for him to completely become the same as the indigenous humans of this era.

If I have to give an example, the strong desire to survive and the willingness to use any means and even risk danger to forcibly change history for this purpose are probably the biggest differences between Malashenko, a future traveler, and the indigenous humans of this era.

The telegram from the front headquarters did not give Malashenko enough time to prepare for the attack. Malashenko did not have the time to write a "research and development strategy" for Kotin, so he had to come to his car first. Captain Karamov, who had been promoted to commander of the field maintenance battalion, was commanding a maintenance team to provide emergency treatment for Malashenko's damaged car.

Looking at Captain Karamov directing the soldiers of the maintenance team around him to work non-stop, Malashenko took a step forward and asked Karamov, who was already sweating on his forehead in the cold winter.

"What's the situation? Can the damaged upper armor be repaired?"

Yu had just seen Malashenko coming with the corner of his eye. Karamov, who had been busy, signaled his subordinates to keep working and then walked towards Malashenko.

"Although the situation is a bit bad, it is not beyond repair. The 25mm additional armor plate on the front of the vehicle has been broken because the hit position is close to the edge. If possible, I would like to help you cut off the whole piece and replace it with a new one, but since time does not allow it, I have to give up."

"The repair plan for you now is to fill the damaged position of the armor with two pieces of rolled homogeneous steel ingots, and then use the welding method to melt them in to repair the damaged armor. Although this will reduce the defense power compared to the original whole piece of rolled armor, it is the best solution under the current time constraints. It is better than you going to the battlefield with injuries."