Steel Soviet Union

Chapter 431 Gunner and Loader

After such a long time, Malashenko felt a little strange when he returned to the T34 tank.

It was narrow, crowded, and cramped, almost making it difficult to breathe. Compared with the KV85 heavy tank, which had a much improved combat space after replacing the new turret, the T3457, which only replaced the T34 turret with a 57mm tank gun, did not change the turret at all.

"It doesn't feel good to be back here again, comrade commander, this place makes me feel like I'm lying in a coffin."

Putting the two Suomi submachine guns he took out of the car on the storage basket of the turret, Malashenko, who was noncommittal about Iushkin's words, now had another very important problem to be solved.

"Let's not talk about this, Iushkin, let's talk about business now."

"Business?"

Iushkin, who was surprised by Malashenko's abrupt words, almost drew a question mark on his face, and looked very confused at the moment.

"It's nothing serious. The main issue is the gunner and loader. Now Kirill is not here, and the turret can only accommodate two people. We have to decide who will be the loader and who will be the gunner. What are your plans?"

Iushkin, who was also a T34 tank commander when the Great Patriotic War just broke out, had never thought about this question before being asked by Malashenko. He couldn't help but fall silent after hearing this.

"I think I'd better be a loader, comrade commander. The gunner's position also has to serve as the commander's job. I think I may not be able to handle this position."

Iushkin, who is a bit stupid in his dealings with people, is not a fool after all. In the special situation of the T3457 medium tank with only four crews, it is obviously not appropriate to take on Malashenko's job by serving as the gunner and the commander.

"Well, if you say so"

With a slightly hesitant expression, he scratched his hair as if he was struggling with something. Malashenko, who did not give Iushkin a straightforward answer on the spot, finally raised his head and spoke a few seconds later.

"You should be the gunner, Iushkin. The commander's orders are also issued by you subjectively. I will interrupt and supplement when necessary. You only need to make your own battlefield judgment. After all, the wide-angle periscope and the main gun sight are in your hands."

Since Kirill was injured and retired from the battle, Malashenko, who has resumed his first job in this world as a "loader", did not think there was anything wrong with this. At least this position is indeed easier than the original commander's job in Malashenko's opinion. Besides, it is also a question whether Iushkin, who has not done the loader task for a long time, can get started right away.

Compared to any unexpected possible mutations, Malashenko prefers to accommodate all problems within his expected range, even if this decision may not be the best.

Iushkin was a little surprised by Malashenko's final decision, but after thinking about it for a while, he reacted and did not raise any objections or rejections. The tacit understanding of fighting side by side for a long time made Iushkin believe that any decision made by Malashenko must have its reasons. For Iushkin, who has always believed in Malashenko, this can be regarded as a matter of principle.

After dealing with the positions of gunner and loader with Iushkin, Malashenko changed the subject and continued to give orders to the driver Seryosha and the mechanic Nikolai in the chassis.

"Nikolai, debug the radio station and hand me the transmitter after confirming that there is no problem. Seryosha, check the operation problem and start the car and continue to move along the original route after confirming that there is no problem."

After receiving the order from Malashenko, Seryosha and Nikolai immediately started to get busy in their respective seats.

Seryosha, who was originally a T34 tank driver, naturally had no problem returning to his old job, but Nikolai, who returned to his old job as a T34 electromechanical operator, frowned.

Since this batch of T3457 medium tanks, produced by the Stalingrad Traction Vehicle Factory and the Ural Heavy Machinery Factory, were the first batch of production plan orders issued urgently after the war broke out in July 1941 based on the ZIS-4 57mm anti-tank gun that had just passed the test, this was basically the first batch of trial-produced T3457 tanks.

Many of the original design defects on the T34 tanks were not solved in time due to the rush of time. In order to pursue the tank's stable actual combat performance as much as possible and not to cause any major problems that would lead to the above being held accountable, the project design team required the two T3457 manufacturers to maintain the maximum commonality between the vehicle and the T3476 as much as possible.

In this way, the unparalleled reliable tank combat performance of the original T3476 should be inherited by the basically intact T3457. Although this is obviously lacking in innovation and outdated, it does ensure the combat performance of the first batch of new T3457 tanks to the greatest extent possible from a relatively conservative starting point.

This situation should be a good thing for Malashenko, who has just taken over this batch of T3457. Malashenko, who has worked his way up from the position of gunner and commander of T3476, should not feel too unfamiliar with the new tank.

But the bad thing is that the T3457, which was designed to be safe, inherited all the original equipment intact, including the anti-human design command vehicle communication radio that Malashenko has always criticized.

This radio design, which may have been made by the designer after drinking too much vodka, is extremely anti-human. It needs to be debugged by the electromechanical operator Nikolai at his position first, and then the transmitter connected in series by wired connection on the radio will be handed over to Malashenko in the turret.

Recalling the scene when he always had to bend down and lean out to take the transmitter from Nikolai in this extremely lame way when fighting in the T3476, Malashenko, who felt increasingly depressed, felt that smoke was coming out of his forehead.

"I have no objection to ensuring the maximum commonality between the new tank and the old tank, but can't this anti-human vehicle radio design be changed?"

The KV85 prototype heavy tank seat newly configured for Malashenko has been replaced with a turret with a wider internal space, so the vehicle radio originally placed next to the mechanic Nikolai has been moved to the side of Malashenko, the commander.

When Malashenko needs to give orders in battle, he only needs to grab the transmitter and shout from where he can reach. Compared with the current "bitter and sweet" anti-human design vehicle radio, it is simply a world of difference.

Chapter 423/3254
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