Steel Soviet Union

Even though the number of opponents was only a quarter of that of our own tanks, the commanders of the German armored forces, who knew that they were at an absolute disadvantage in terms of the quality of tank equipment, still did not dare to take it lightly. Whether they are KV1 or T34, these Soviet tanks that are approaching after identifying their own intentions are powerful opponents enough to make the German armored forces feel like they are facing a formidable enemy.

"All tank crews, load armor-piercing shells and prepare to fight! The target is the flank of the Soviet tank column. They can only be destroyed from the flank. Attack in a roundabout formation!"

Even though the vertical armor arrangement was adopted to give a larger internal space to the vehicle body, thereby improving the human-machine efficiency advantage, the inside of the fighting room and turret were still not very comfortable. The pungent smell of gasoline volatilization permeated the entire tank with turbid air. The interior of the space is long-lasting.

The radio communication command from the superior command vehicle transmitted from the headset heralded the beginning of a brutal head-to-head armored battle. The driver, who had already accelerated the engine to combat gear, followed the large troops and rushed forward. He spoke without looking back.

"What are your plans, Bolt, running right into those Russian tanks or something?"

Words that are not too loud can still be clearly transmitted among the crew members with noisy engines thanks to the throat sound generator and headphones. The calm expression of the German commander, named Bolt, who was holding the commander's periscope in his hand, seemed to others to be as calm and calm as if he was doing a drill.

"Relax, Derek. You just heard Raquel's order, to outflank the flanks of those Ivan tanks. We must use our numerical advantage to make them ignore each other."

Even with Bolt's calm and calm demeanor as an example, the young driver, who had had many encounters with Soviet tank troops and was well aware of their horrors, still couldn't hide his panic. The T34 with sparks and ricochet all the way and the KV1 that seemed to be invincible really shocked this young heart.

"The great Reich Minister of Propaganda, Dr. Goebbels, kept repeating the same old tune on the radio all day long, saying that our heroic German soldiers are using the best weapons in the world to expand the territory of the Reich. Hmm, I hope he can personally Come to the front and see Ivan’s tank before you make a conclusion. This damn little Panzer IV is like a baby rocker in front of Ivan’s monsters.”

Turning a deaf ear to the sarcastic chants from the gunner next to him, Boult immediately issued the order after visually judging that the leading enemy tank was less than 600 meters away from his own vehicle.

"At twelve o'clock, the leading Soviet T34 tank aims at the joint between the turret and the body and fires!"

"You have the final say, boss."

Although the gunner kept complaining, he had actually adjusted the position of the main gun and aimed it with both hands.

Being able to sight the gun scope with the naked eye while simultaneously operating the hand-cranked main gun elevation and turret steering gear to complete the aiming of the main gun. This exquisite and difficult skill is obviously not something that a fledgling gunner can possess. .

The reason why he ordered the gunner to aim at the joint between the turret and the body of the Soviet T34 medium tank was that Bolt had a very simple plan in mind.

The T34 medium tank, which uses 45 mm rolled homogeneous steel armor and arranges the front armor of the body at a 60-degree angle, can provide an armor defense with an equivalent thickness of more than 90 mm when faced with artillery shells that are level with the body. .

And because of the large angle of the sloping armor, there is also a huge chance of ricocheting, which is obviously not something that the 24-times-caliber short-barreled 75mm gun equipped with the early Type IV tanks can penetrate.

But even the most powerful weapons are by no means invincible. Since the beginning of Operation Barbarossa, the German armored soldiers, who have fought against Soviet tank troops many times, relied on their rich combat experience to gradually sum up some skills that can barely deal with the Soviet T34 tank and cause it deadly trouble.

The T34 tank turret, which has a very small frontal projection area, has a very conspicuous "neck" exposed on the front of the tank at the connection point with the hull below. The turret rotation direction machine of the T34 medium tank is placed between this neck. Inside.

If both luck and shooting accuracy are good enough, the German armored soldiers who hit the vulnerable neck part of the T34 tank with an armor-piercing projectile will have a chance of sending shrapnel into the steering machine in the neck of the T34 tank, causing its mechanical failure to paralyze. and cannot rotate.

The T34 tank with its immobile turret almost lost its combat effectiveness in the face of the highly maneuverable German tanks. The German tanks that could not pose a threat to their frontal armor could take this opportunity to outflank the Soviet tanks with relatively weak armor. Attack from the side and rear.

The T34 tank, which has lost the ability to rotate the turret, is almost like a fish to be slaughtered by a knife in this situation. It can be said that there is no room for fighting back.

This kind of response method, which can hardly be called an effective method, can be said to be a temporary emergency work devised by the German armored forces due to their inability to change the disadvantages of existing equipment.

The early Type IV tank equipped with the KWK37-L24 short-barreled 75mm tank gun had a short main gun barrel, which severely restricted the acceleration of the exiting shell in the barrel.

Not only does the muzzle velocity of the armor-piercing projectiles it fires is only a pitiful 410 meters per second, but the flight trajectory of the entire projectile is also like a parabola, which is unacceptable. The aiming accuracy of the main gun is also greatly reduced due to the influence of the shorter barrel. It's like a "piss cannon".

The No. 4 tank, which was moving forward at a low speed in combat gear, was still not sure that it could hit the fragile but projected T34 tank, even if it was close to a relatively close shooting distance of less than 600 meters. The small area of ​​​​the neck area is the first hit.

The 75mm capped armor-piercing projectile that escaped from the barrel still dropped seriously even though it had a flight distance of less than 600 meters.

The armor-piercing projectile, whose accuracy was greatly reduced due to this, finally hit the lower part of the armor on the front of the fast-moving T34 tank and was instantly bounced away by the ricochet. This was a reasonable and extremely frustrating result. On the spot, the gunner of Bolt's car punched the breech block next to him and cursed loudly.

"This is the so-called good equipment in the hands of our German soldiers! Why not modify this damn shabby car and use it for the Berlin fire brigade to put out fires? This kind of terrible rags will only make the Soviets opposite us laugh at us even more reason!”