Chapter 554 Chrysanthemum Spews Fire

I have already failed once, so I will never fail again!

With such a firm belief in his heart, Klink was fully focused. In order to ensure that he could kill with one shot, he aimed the gun scope at the center of his field of view at the side armor of the T34 tank. The loaded 88mm capped armor-piercing shell immediately shook and rushed out with flames.

Almost at the same time as Klink fired.

The T34 tank, which was running at full speed, also shook and sprayed flames at the last moment of life and death. The 76mm capped armor-piercing shell rushed out at a high speed from the flames and smoke and hit the Tiger tank accurately at an angle of 30 degrees. An unexpected but actually common sense scene happened immediately afterwards.

The 76mm capped armor-piercing projectile, which had a small angle of incidence and therefore failed to ricochet, failed to completely penetrate the 82mm physically thick rolled homogeneous steel armor of the Tiger tank, and was embedded in the armor in a semi-penetrated posture like a toy dart.

The armor-piercing delay fuse that was successfully triggered exploded before the human brain nerves could fully react. The warhead of the projectile with a TNT equivalent of less than 100 grams could not penetrate the thick armor of the Tiger tank, but it had no problem igniting the engine compartment full of volatile gasoline like a gunpowder barrel.

The fuel tank was stuffed into the rear of the Tiger tank with the engine and began to catch fire on the spot. The Soviet gunner who saw this scene clearly in the main gun sight raised his mouth and a trace of upward arc appeared.

But before the excited words came out, the 88mm capped armor-piercing projectile fired by Wittmann's car had already followed with the roar of death.

It only takes a moment to break the front armor of the hull and pour death into the tank. The T34 medium tank, which had not yet stopped, was destroyed on the spot while maintaining its high speed.

The small turret was pushed out more than ten meters away by the flames of the explosion, like a salute with a hat removed. The hull, which maintained a full-speed charge, rushed forward for a long distance in the form of a ghost tank before it barely stopped the brakes. Klink, who used two shots to eliminate the last Soviet tank, finally felt relieved.

"Huh, I killed him! Michel! It's all over!"

Before the words of a big stone fell to the ground, Wittmann poured a basin of cold water on him.

"Turn the turret, Klink! The Russian infantry is rushing up!"

"What?"

Taking advantage of the short time of the tank encounter just now, the Soviet infantry who suffered some casualties did not choose to retreat but surrounded the four Tigers from all directions.

However, these Soviet infantrymen, who only had light weapons and lacked anti-tank equipment, seemed to be at a loss for a moment. The PPSh submachine guns and Mosin-Nagant rifles made the armor of the Tiger tanks clang and sparks fly. Some brave Soviet soldiers raised their cluster grenades and tried to get close to blow up these Tiger tanks.

At this moment, the situation for the four Tigers was even more pitiful.

The five members of the crew of the Tiger whose rear was on fire had already jumped out of the tank shouting, but these SS armored soldiers who were still conscientious did not abandon the precious Tiger directly, but held the fire extinguisher taken out from the car and sprayed it on the burning rear of the Tiger.

The Germans were anxious to put out the fire for their wives, and the Soviet infantry naturally refused to do so when they saw this scene.

Seeing the five Hans running around the burning Tiger tank, the Soviet infantrymen immediately fired a barrage of bullets at them. The mixed firepower network composed of PPSh submachine guns and Mosin-Nagant rifles instantly crackled around the Tiger tank.

Two of the five SS armored soldiers who were anxious to rescue their wives fell down instantly. Seeing the critical situation, the remaining three immediately dropped the fire extinguisher in their hands and dragged their injured comrades who fell to the ground and their lives were unknown, and moved to the side of the Tiger tank that was not covered by the Soviet infantry firepower to seek cover.

Only three of the four Tigers can fight now, and there are no infantry cover around.

Logically speaking, Wittmann should have ordered a retreat at this time. After all, the goal of destroying all Soviet tanks has been achieved, and the task of testing the performance of the Tiger tank has also been completed. The remaining dozens of Soviet infantry are completely a bonus and there is no need to continue to entangle.

But Wittmann's considerations at this moment of bullets flying are obviously more than that.

The Tiger tank that had been on fire had a fatal problem with its transmission system and could not move. The crew only had three people left, which was basically scrapped.

The five people could still squeeze into the other three Tiger tanks to take them away. After all, the Tiger tank with a wide body space could only squeeze two people in at most, but how to take this 57-ton Tiger away became a big headache.

The new tank that was put into actual combat for the first time was left on the battlefield and captured by the Russians. This was an intolerable result for Wittmann.

In addition, Wittmann could choose to destroy the Tiger tank with a single shot and turn it into a pile of debris, and then lead the team to retreat boldly.

But this idea flashed through Wittmann's mind for a moment and was instantly dispelled. This was not only because the Tiger tank was expensive, it was a pity to destroy it. At the same time, Wittmann did not want to make such an embarrassing joke when he led the team to attack for the first time, which would have some significant impact on his future promotion and honor.

After weighing the pros and cons, Wittmann decided to gather three Tiger tanks to kill these dozens of daring Soviet infantry.

The reason why he dared to do so was not because Wittmann was reckless, but because this batch of fully equipped Tiger tanks, as the first batch of factory prototypes, were also equipped with a secret anti-infantry weapon: Nahverteidigungswaffe (close combat defense weapon), which was later called S mine launcher by Allied soldiers on the Western Front.

After a year of arduous and arduous fighting in 1941, he had fully realized the power of the Russian Ura charge.

He was shocked that his opponent dared to use such a dense infantry charge during the Second World War when automatic weapons were so advanced. Some Soviet infantrymen who jumped onto tanks during local counterattacks pried open the hatches and threw grenades into the destroyed tanks, which triggered the German tank design team to think about it.

Is it possible to install an anti-infantry weapon that is more effective than a machine gun on a bulky tank with a narrow and limited field of view?

The answer is yes, and the S-torpedo launcher came into being on the Tiger tank.