Chapter 621 The Most Critical Day (Part 2)

The commander's periscope magnification was not enough to see clearly that the Matilda II, which was originally made in the UK, had its main gun replaced. The German armored soldiers who still treated it as a 40-meter small water pipe tank with only defensive power soon paid the price for it.

The Matilda II tank slowly shook its head and aimed the brand-new Soviet main gun at the German tank. The turret was already narrow and crowded, and the larger 76mm breech block made it almost impossible to fight sideways. However, this was nothing to the Soviet tank soldiers who had long been accustomed to the cramped combat space of the T34 tank.

"German tank, 750 meters away, aim at his turret, fire!"

Boom--

The orange-yellow shells ejected from the breech block hit the inner armor plate at the rear of the turret, making a clanging sound. The F-34 2mm main gun, whose armor-piercing power far exceeded that of the British 2-pound gun, burst into a fiery muzzle fire. The wind cap armor-piercing shells that spiraled out of the barrel stably crossed a distance of more than 700 meters and hit the junction of the turret and the body of the German tank, piercing the armor.

Boom--

The ammunition explosion that shocked the German commander on the spot came so unexpectedly and shockingly. It is estimated that the German commander, who was estimated to be able to withstand the direct fire of the British rubbish 2-pound gun armor-piercing shells at a distance of 750 meters, was stunned on the spot.

Not only did a shot penetrate the front armor of the tank, but it also caused an ammunition explosion. Is this still the broken iron lump armor-piercing shells used by the British John Bull? How can this scene be exactly the same as being penetrated by the Russian T34?

On a battlefield where every second counts, a commander's thinking time will not be much longer than his reaction time.

Just as the German armored commander's brain was offline and he was confused and thinking about what was going on, another Chang 75 No. 4 tank with its front upper armor plate penetrated was blown off its head on the spot. The strong ammunition explosion was only four or five meters away from the German commander's car and was deafening.

"Damn it! These bastard Russians tampered with the British tanks! This is not the Matilda like those farm tools!"

A tank was destroyed and it could be explained away by the Russians' good luck to hit some tricky weaknesses. In less than ten seconds, another tank's head was blown off, which was not a fluke at all. Those British Matilda tanks that seemed to have no changes from the front projection had big problems in the hands of the Russians!

After two tanks were destroyed, the German tanks on the move also stopped a step slower and started firing at the Soviet army.

Compared to the few tanks when Malashenko first saw the Chang 75 Panzer IV F2 tanks a few months ago, the urgent need to effectively deal with Soviet tanks on the front line has led to a sharp increase in the production of the Panzer IV F2 medium tank. The German armored regiment that appeared in front of Malashenko had 18 of the latest tanks, which had been officially named Panzer IV G.

Both sides stopped and started to fire at a distance of 700 meters. The powerful firepower of the German Chang 75 Panzer IV, which was no less than that of the Soviet tanks, was immediately displayed.

The Matilda, which was still able to lord it over the battlefield in France and frightened the German armored soldiers into shouting monsters, was no longer usable. The armor defense with a physical thickness of 75 mm and almost no inclination was not enough to resist the aiming and direct shooting of the Chang 75 Panzer IV at a distance of 700 meters.

After only two rounds of shooting in the table tennis game, as many as 8 British-made Matildas and Valentines were destroyed on the spot.

The German army, realizing that these strange British tanks, like the T34, could threaten their own tanks at a distance of 700 meters, changed their tactics as quickly as possible. Under the same enemy firepower threat, it was the best choice to destroy more tanks in the shortest possible time. It was natural to attack these British tanks that could be killed in one shot first.

The skillful tactical coordination and fast reaction speed of the German armored troops accelerated the bankruptcy of Malashenko's plan.

Malashenko, who originally planned to let these British tanks with changed guns play pigs and eat tigers to output two more waves, looked a little solemn, worried that the rookie tank soldiers who had just graduated from school would not be able to withstand such pressure and collapse.

He patted Ivushkin's shoulder, who was sitting side by side with him on the other side of the breech block, twice to signal him to search for the enemy and fight autonomously. Malashenko, who grabbed the transmitter beside him, decided to say something to stabilize the morale of these rookies who were facing a bloody battle on the battlefield for the first time.

"Stop those son-of-a-bitch Germans! Don't let them take a step forward! I'll fight alongside you, comrades! Destroy them!"

It was only after this group of new recruits arrived that Malashenko realized that he had been written into the latest edition of the Tank Academy textbook as a model and role model.

The teachers of the school, who were learning and applying what they learned, even used the raid on Nibotrikaya Village that they had just fought a few months ago as a classic example, and vividly described in class how Malashenko kicked the Germans in the ass and poked their buttocks.

Malashenko, who was surrounded by this group of freshly graduated rookies and asked questions, realized that he had become a campus star. With the admiration of the group of school students, Malashenko had reason to believe that his encouragement would play a significant role.

Just as Malashenko was shouting loudly into the radio channel, the destroyed Matilda and Valentine tanks began to move.

The German-made 75mm hooded armor-piercing projectile, which is equivalent to less than thirty grams of TNT warhead charge, is slightly less powerful.

Although it can basically make the members injured and lose combat effectiveness after penetrating the armor, if you want to use this small amount of charge and an unstable number of projectile fragments without fragmentation slots to cause the ammunition to explode and the entire vehicle to die, it is not always possible. It is as powerful as the Soviet armor-piercing grenade with a large amount of powder.

The tanks sent by the British are not only equipped with the basic British configuration of MK19 vehicle-mounted wireless communication radios, but the relative safety of diesel engines also does not make these poorly armored British tanks like German gasoline tanks after being penetrated. A fire broke out on the spot, and objectively speaking, there was enough time left for the surviving crew members to escape.

Many of the surviving tank soldiers who opened the tank hatch cover above their heads and abandoned the vehicle to escape were injured to varying degrees. As soon as they climbed out of the tank, they fell to the ground along the armor like a rolling ball.

Seeing this, the workers and militiamen immediately jumped out of their positions without saying a word and dragged these injured Red Army soldiers back to the trenches at the risk of a hail of bullets.

Beside them, the roaring steel behemoths were still trying their best to protect this extremely important tank factory behind them.