Chapter 846 Maintaining the Advantage

Compared to the previous generation KV1 heavy tanks and even the improved vehicles and prototypes that have been accepted in the past, the reason why IS1 has made Malashenko and Lavrinenko look forward to it for a long time is very simple: this is a new vehicle that has a qualitative leap compared to all previous Soviet heavy tanks. ơɱ

The newly designed larger turret reserves space for the possible replacement of new main guns in the future. Of course, it also brings a larger internal space of the turret to improve the man-machine efficiency and indirectly increase the combat effectiveness of the whole vehicle.

The physical thickness of the front armor of the turret is not less than 100 mm. In addition to the excellent equivalent armor protection that increases linearly on the curved gun shield and the left and right front faces of the turret, it also comes with a great chance of ricocheting.

The real battlefield is different from the game. Malashenko has almost never encountered the situation where the enemy is as focused as a sniper and withstands the pressure to aim at the subtle weaknesses of the front main armor belt. The absolute majority of situations on the battlefield are to shoot as soon as they are put on. It is almost impossible to aim at the weaknesses at a slightly longer distance.

The newly designed vehicle body has even more exaggerated defense. If the trajectory of the horizontal direct bullet is taken into consideration, the equivalent armor thickness is not less than 120 mm.

The actual combat effect brought by this strong defense is that it is immune to almost all the anti-tank weapons of the German army. If the distance is far enough, even the 88 gun can receive one or two shots. The armor protection effect of the IS1 heavy tank can be said to be far above the German square shoe box such as the Tiger.

The tilted armor arranged by the system not only brings equivalent armor with different defense weights, but also the probability of various ricochets firmly attached to the tank like additional magic cannot be ignored. This is what Malashenko thinks is the biggest improvement in the protection arrangement of the IS1 heavy tank compared to the KV1.

The KV1, which has a relatively simple defense structure design, has a much smaller chance of ricochets in actual combat than his previous IS1 prototype. This is the most intuitive feeling of Malashenko, who has driven various magic modified KV1 and IS1 prototypes.

Although this more complex defense structure design compresses the internal space of the vehicle and reduces the human-machine efficiency, it is all worth it compared to the powerful protection effect brought by it.

Before really confronting the German Tiger, he already had a good car in his hand that was not inferior to the Tiger in terms of mobility, firepower, and protection, and even better in some indicators.

This was the initial idea that Malashenko had since he came here in 1941, and all his efforts were for this ultimate goal.

Seeing that this goal that he had worked hard for more than a year finally came to fruition, Malashenko, who was quite moved, walked to the IS1 that Lavrinenko greatly admired, and began to circle around the precious car that he had "brought into being" with his own hands. The expression on his face was like seeing a person clearly. The more he looked at it, the more he smiled.

Seeing that Malashenko had walked around the car like a walk for three full circles and had no intention of stopping, Lavrinenko, who had already come out and sat on the turret, finally couldn't help asking questions and complaining.

"Stop turning around, I'm dizzy! What have you been looking at for so long?"

After hearing Lavrinenko's complaints, Malashenko stopped beside the upper front armor of the vehicle, reached out and touched the inclined armor plate on the upper front of the vehicle, and couldn't help but praise it.

"We did it, Lavrinenko. The advantage in equipment quality will continue next year! Those new heavy tanks of the Germans have no advantages since birth, and we are ready for the future."

Raising his hand and patting the upper front armor plate of the vehicle with a physical thickness of 60 mm and an inclination of 74 degrees, Lavrinenko could see that Malashenko's expression was not joking at all.

"What's the situation inside the tank? How do you feel after seeing it?"

Seeing Malashenko handing the right to speak back to him, Lavrinenko, who had already held a cigarette in his mouth, lit the fire and took a deep breath before speaking.

"Didn't I tell you all that just now? It's pretty good."

"The gun is the same 85mm gun used in our previous batch of vehicles and your prototype. The model and details are exactly the same. I guess our satisfactory feedback report has been clearly known to the design team at the rear."

"The internal space of the turret is similar to my original KV, which is much more spacious than the ordinary KV1. The first ready-to-fire ammunition rack is built into the turret, and the reserve ammunition rack is on the chassis."

"In general, I think it is mainly an improvement in defense. This armor protection layout is much better than the original KV1. I feel that the turret may have borrowed a little from the design of the T34. I always feel that it looks a bit similar, but I can't tell exactly where it is similar."

Whether it is Lavrinenko's description of the situation inside the vehicle or the final result of his own look around the outside of the vehicle, Malashenko found that the mass-produced IS1 heavy tank is almost exactly the same as his original IS1 prototype.

The only difference is that the mass-produced IS1 heavy tank has two fuel tank brackets welded on the side of the body, and two external fuel tank barrels are tied to the brackets, while the prototype IS1 heavy tank does not have this design. This should be a special adjustment made on the mass-produced vehicle to increase the overall strategic range of the tank.

Tanks with short legs and short running distance do not exist in the Soviet tank forces. The Soviet tanks, which attach great importance to overall strategic mobility, are not only tough and durable, but also carry enough fuel to run far.

The IS1, which has a full tank of 820 liters of fuel, can also hang an additional 360-liter external fuel tank on the outside of the tank. The total strategic range of the two combined exceeds 300 kilometers, which is more than twice as strong as the short-legged and fuel-guzzling tank with a 110-kilometer off-road range.

Of course, another important reason for daring to do this is that the fuel used by the Soviet tanks is non-flammable diesel. Even if it is hung outside the tank, there is no problem even if it is damaged in battle, at most it will leak oil.

But if such a rough and heroic external fuel tank is put on the German tank, the German tank running around with several large gasoline barrels hanging on it is beautiful just to think about it. Malashenko, who was complaining in his heart, shook his head and couldn't help thinking with some evil taste.

"We now have people, equipment, and enough new tanks, and more support comrades and equipment are on the way."

Lavrinenko, muttering in his mouth, flicked the half ash on the cigarette butt and took a deep puff. After flicking the cigarette butt away with his hand, he continued to speak.

"I can't wait to fight back, Malashenko. You want to crush those Germans in Stalingrad and make them pay for their stupidity and arrogance, right?"

Malashenko, who almost jumped out of the car at the same time as Lavrinenko, took out a cigarette and lit it for himself, and then smiled in agreement.

"That's right, but we have to wait for a while for the stars in the night sky to twinkle. We just need to wait patiently for a while."