Chapter 861: Derogatory Invincibility
Commanding the troops to launch a fierce attack on the third and last defensive position, Malashenko, holding the transmitter in his hand, soon received the news that a tank unit composed of Germans and Romanian lackeys was approaching him.
Of course, according to Malashenko's usual style of commanding battles.
Even if Vatutin did not order the defeat of this tank group, Malashenko, who would never allow the duck to fly away, would definitely order the elimination of this group of arrogant enemies. Those bastards who dared to ruin their own good deeds must be punished.
At this point in the battle, there was only one last effort left to break through the third defensive position.
Malashenko, who was weighing the pros and cons in his mind, did have a flash of the idea of retreating, but this short-lived idea was quickly replaced by a strong desire to win.
Wouldn't it be better to seize the Romanians' position and use their defense line to deal with the Germans than to retreat to a safe area first? There is no better thing in war than to treat the enemy with the same method.
"Let me test how loyal you are to your master, lackeys."
Malashenko hung the transmitter back to its original position and did not issue any update orders.
An hour may not be enough, but it is enough to cross the final attack distance of less than 300 meters.
The IS1 heavy tanks continued to rush forward at full speed with full throttle. The Romanian troops stationed on the position had tried every means to mobilize all anti-tank firepower, but even so, it was still a drop in the bucket in front of those powerful opponents.
"Tanks, quickly destroy those Russian tanks, they are rushing over!"
"Damn it! Damn it! This broken anti-tank gun of the Germans doesn't work at all. Which bastard invented this!?"
"Fire! Fire! Fire quickly!"
Malashenko, who led the infantry behind him to launch an assault, was orderly, but the Romanian army on the position had reached the last moment before collapse.
Boom——
Ding-bang——
Swoosh——
They tried both full-caliber armor-piercing shells and sub-caliber tungsten core armor-piercing shells, but no matter which shells hit the monster tanks of the Soviet army, the result was all kinds of dazzling sparks in vain. It was not even enough to tickle those steel behemoths, which really pissed off the Romanian soldiers who were unwilling to work for the Germans.
They wanted the horse to run but didn't give it good grass to eat. They only used those broken grasses that would cause diarrhea. The Germans did this very unfairly from the beginning, and of course they didn't expect to get any good results from it.
"Damn it, retreat! Retreat! The Russian tanks are rushing up, quickly cover the retreat!"
Most people would choose to flee timidly under the pressure of absolutely real sensory impact. This is one of the primitive instincts of human beings, just like eating and sleeping. Imagine if primitive people in ancient times were stupid enough to fight back and not run away when they encountered saber-toothed tigers and forest fires, I'm afraid humans would not have survived in the prehistoric era when beasts were kings until they dominated the planet.
Malashenko had already anticipated that these Romanians would choose to retreat under great psychological pressure, because normal people would choose to do so under normal circumstances, and those Romanians were obviously among the normal people.
After trying all calibers of German anti-tank guns, 37, 50, 75, only one IS1 heavy tank was destroyed, and two more were paralyzed by broken tracks and broken legs.
And the only IS1 heavy tank that was destroyed head-on was extremely unlucky to be hit by a sub-caliber tungsten core armor-piercing bullet from a 75mm PAK40 anti-tank gun, which hit the bull's eye and penetrated the 100mm physical thickness of the gun shield armor on the front of the turret.
After the tungsten alloy bullet core penetrated the gun shield armor, it continued to move forward with the impact fragments that were lifted up, forming a terrible metal storm in the turret, killing the gunner and loader and seriously injuring the commander.
The driver, who was not injured at all, climbed into the turret and moved away the bodies of two comrades, dragging the bloody and unconscious commander out of the escape hatch at the bottom of the tank. The IS1 heavy tank, which failed to trigger the ammunition explosion, tilted its turret and became a zombie tank parked on the battlefield.
Of course, this level of combat loss cannot be counted as a complete loss of tanks for the Soviet army.
The final result of this battle will inevitably end with the final victory of the Soviet army, and after that, all paralyzed tanks and zombie tanks abandoned on the battlefield will be properly handled and recycled.
These recovered tanks can be refitted and sent back to the battlefield after a little processing. Such tanks cannot be considered as completely lost tanks. This is why the number of destroyed tanks reported by the German army is always quite different from the number of lost tanks reported by the Soviet army.
It is not that the Soviet army deliberately concealed the good news but not the bad news. It is not too difficult to just repair a "tractor" in the Germans' words and put it into the battlefield again.
The destroyed IS1 heavy tank also made Malashenko realize that this new heavy tank with excellent performance and balanced offense and defense is by no means invincible.
The area in the center of the entire gun shield without large arc protection has only 100 mm physical thickness armor protection. If the incident angle of this armor protection is really right, even the sub-caliber tungsten core armor-piercing projectile fired by the 50 mm small water pipe of PAK38 may penetrate it.
Although the real battlefield is not like a game, the anti-tank guns under great psychological pressure are mostly not accurately aimed and are directly put on and fired. The IS1 heavy tank in motion will not stop there stupidly and be slaughtered. The natural enemies of tanks and anti-tank guns will fight each other desperately from the moment they discover each other until one side is killed first.
But in the final analysis, this situation is also a side reminder to Malashenko, who just got a new car.
IS1 heavy tanks are not absolutely invincible in the face of enemy anti-tank firepower. If they get close to the enemy, they may be penetrated by the Germans' sub-caliber tungsten core armor-piercing bullets. When the armor protection is not 100% invincible, it is still necessary to be highly cautious and prioritize the elimination of those small water-tube anti-tank guns.
Just as Malashenko was reflecting on the battle situation, the leading IS1 heavy tanks in the front had already climbed onto the position, showing their domineering and majestic bodies to face and intimidate the timid and fleeing enemies.
Malashenko was about to pick up the transmitter to update the order, but before he could take actual action, a burst of fire and light exploded and then rose straight up from the ground within the visible distance of the naked eye.