Chapter 552: The Road of the Tiger (Part 1)
The powerful tank explosion almost instantly tore the unfortunate KV1 heavy tank into pieces. Eight Soviet tanks were killed on the spot within less than a minute after the battle started. The overjoyed victory made Klink, the gunner of Wittmann's crew, grin almost to his ears.
"This is great! Michel, those Russian tractors are not even a match! The 88 gun will easily destroy them!"
Before the joyful shouts were finished, the wind-breaking whistling sound suddenly followed.
Ding-bang--
Dong--
The 76mm wind cap armor-piercing shell hit the 102mm thick front armor plate of the Tiger tank, making a muffled sound. Even without the radio station configuration, the Soviet tank soldiers, who were still very experienced in actual combat, immediately counterattacked. However, the 76mm main gun that had been invincible against the previous Type 3 and Type 4 tanks was jaw-dropping at this moment.
The Tiger tank, which had a shallow dent on the front armor plate, was unscathed. Standing still like an unyielding wall, the Tiger tank slowly turned its 11-ton turret. The black muzzle of the 88mm main gun looked like a bloody mouth in the eyes of the Soviet gunner who missed the target.
"Damn Nazis!"
Boom --
Before the terrible curse that came out of his mouth instantly fell, the Tiger tank fired again and directly hit him with an 88mm capped armor-piercing shell. A hole larger than a fist was left on the front armor plate of the vehicle. The T34 medium tank that was so majestic a moment ago is now just a burning steel coffin.
"The third one, well done! Klink!"
"There will be more, boss, just watch!"
Having witnessed with their own eyes that the armor-piercing shell just now had no effect on the German tanks, the remaining Soviet tank soldiers who did not believe in evil attributed the responsibility to the large angle of incidence and prepared to open fire again.
"The Russian tanks are rushing towards us! All crews, maintain maximum firepower and completely eliminate these Russians!"
On the real battlefield, it is not only the Soviet infantry who will launch the Ura charge, but the tough Soviet tank soldiers are also fierce characters who will directly Ura charge at a disagreement.
In previous battles, ricochets did occur due to the long combat distance and the problem of incorrect angle of incidence. The Soviet wind cap armor-piercing grenades that were not equipped with the cap of the turn-on cap sometimes had ricochets when hitting the Type 3 and Type 4 tanks.
When a similar situation happened again, the surviving Soviet tank soldiers resolutely decided to launch a charge, shortening the engagement distance and correcting the angle of incidence in close combat in order to destroy the German "Panzer IV".
The T34 medium tanks, which were running at full speed from a distance of 800 meters, soon noticed something wrong as the engagement distance between the two sides continued to shorten.
The overall outline of these German tanks, which could already be clearly seen, was more than one circle larger than the average Panzer IV tank, and the sturdy and powerful cannon equipped with a muzzle brake was not at all like the improved Panzer IV tanks that had been encountered recently.
The Tiger tanks that stopped in place and kept spewing muzzle flames were like beasts from hell, terrible and extremely deadly.
Although in theory communists are staunch atheists, there seems to be no better way to describe these German tanks in front of them except the word "hell beast".
"Great Comrade Stalin! This is simply a monster!"
The absent-minded words from a Soviet radio operator fully represent the deep shock in the hearts of all Soviet tank soldiers at the moment.
Huge, mighty, powerful, and almost indestructible!
The last four T34 medium tanks, which were already close to a distance of 300 meters, fired multiple shots at this extreme distance, but the Tiger tank, whose entire frontal armor had no physical weakness of less than 100 mm thickness, still stood firm.
The 76mm capped armor-piercing shells that kept bouncing off the table tennis ball splashed in the muddy ground, and the roaring Maybach HL230 gasoline engine drove the 57-ton tiger body slowly forward with 650 horsepower.
The German armored soldiers, who were almost certain to win the battle at this point, no longer fought conservatively, and chose to kill the last four Soviet T34 medium tanks in the most passionate close combat method.
Although the combat weight of the whole vehicle is as high as an unprecedented 57 tons, the Tiger tank can still achieve a power-to-weight ratio of more than 11 without being too slow.
Before the engine speed governor was installed, the early Tiger tank could reach a maximum road speed of 45 kilometers per hour. Among the heavy tanks of the same period, it was the absolute fastest legend in the world. At present, Wittmann and his four SS armored vehicle crews were driving this early Tiger tank without an engine speed governor.
The four brave and fearless T34 medium tanks approached the Tiger tank less than 100 meters away and fired again. The 76mm capped armor-piercing shells rushed out at high speed with the muzzle fire shaking and accurately hit the side of the Tiger tank's turret, but it was incredible that even in this situation, the result of firing was still the horrifying result of ricocheting on the spot.
"What kind of monster did these Nazis create!?"
The Tiger tank's irregular turret side armor with a physical thickness of 82 mm once again made it immune to enemy attacks. Wittmann, who knew all the performance parameters of the Tiger tank in advance, was not surprised at all and remained calm, driving the engine The generator then drives the hydraulic turret steering gear, and the muzzle of the main gun is quickly aligned with the target.
"Well done, Bolsheviks."
boom--
The powerful 88mm tank gun opened fire again, killing the T34 tank that had stopped and fired before it could start running again. Wittmann, who had six heads in his hands in just a few minutes, had no intention of stopping. .
"Koldenhoff, stop! Turn the car's course! Klink, aim at the T34 in the one o'clock direction and kill it!"
It is a big challenge to use the Tiger tank's unique dual-flow transmission system on wet and loose mud off-road roads. A little carelessness may cause the drive shaft to break or the gearbox gear to fly, causing the tank to be paralyzed. dire consequences.
However, Wittmann, who was a talented and courageous man, seemed to ignore all of this and forcibly issued the order. The driver Koldenhoff, who unconditionally carried out the commander's order, then started to operate with less than skillful techniques. The Tiger tank, which weighs 57 tons of combat weight, uses a dual-stream transmission method with one crawler track forward and one crawler track reversed, allowing it to turn the vehicle's course on the spot with great flexibility.