Steel Soviet Union

The defeat happened so fast that the German frontline command headquarters in the rear did not even have time to react.

The top command of the German army did not expect to be able to withstand the Soviet offensive with the outermost line of defense. This is not only whimsical, but also impossible.

However, from the end of the artillery preparations to the time when the Soviet tanks rolled onto the position, it actually only took a little over ten minutes. This is outrageous and simply unbelievable!

The top brass of the German army had long expected and made adequate preparations for the Soviet large-scale attack. In the past few months of preparation, a large number of anti-tank guns were added to the front-line positions. A considerable part of these are the latest production of heavy anti-tank guns, which are very powerful and can deal with any known Soviet tank target, that is, the PAK 43 Chang 88, which has high hopes.

How did the position be lost so quickly? Are those anti-tank guns really useless at all? Or did the Russian artillery shells have eyes and kill all the German soldiers on the position during the preparation stage of the artillery fire?

No one knew the reason or the truth, and the entire command headquarters fell into a brief, terrifying silence.

The German division commander, who was holding the disconnected microphone that could no longer be reached, almost trembled all over and gritted his teeth to squeeze out the vicious order.

"Contact headquarters and inform us of the situation here! Just say that the Russians have invested an unimaginably powerful offensive force. We are constantly losing positions, but we will continue to hold on. We need rapid support from all technical equipment and arms, preferably Right away!"

The German command post in the rear was thrown into disarray by the sudden situation that was completely beyond expectations. On the front line, Malashenko, who had just breached the German position, was in a completely different situation.

From the moment Malashenko's No. 177 IS4 heavy tank took the lead in rushing into the position, the German army's defeat was actually a doomed outcome.

The tank cavalry accompanying the attack of the heavy tank cluster quickly poured into the position. The German army, which was firmly suppressed by the powerful direct firepower of the heavy tank, could not raise its head at all. Any machine gun fire point that could effectively intercept the infantry cluster charge only needed a moment. As soon as it appears, the barrage of Deshka heavy machine guns will hit them like water in an instant.

The MG42, which relies on its rate of fire, is simply not good enough in front of Deshka, who can tear apart even light armor at will. The unreasonable 7mm warhead can not only break flesh, but even the frozen soil of the trench where the German machine gunners used it for cover. They were able to penetrate all of them and cut most of the German machine gunners in the trenches into two pieces on the spot.

Some unbelieving German machine gunners even retaliated at first, trying to eliminate the enemy tank soldiers who were operating heavy machine guns on the tank turrets.

But such behavior often leads to more violent retaliation. Once a German machine gunner dares to try this, what awaits him next is not only the dark red heavy machine gun tracer barrage, but also 122mm high-explosive grenades. Immediately afterwards, there will be a slap in the face, an instant explosion, and everything will be completely annihilated in a burst of flying sand and rocks.

After several rounds of direct fire between machine guns and tank guns, there was almost no remaining German machine gun firepower on the position that dared to show up.

Red Army soldiers armed with bayonets, Mosin Nagants and Bobosha submachine guns continued to pour into the trenches. They relied on the cover of the terrain to move forward step by step and steadily, clearing away any enemies and resistance that refused to surrender within their field of vision.

Outnumbered, there was no hope of escape. The actual control range of the position that was still in their hands was shrinking, and the number of casualties that kept rising exponentially was almost despairing.

At the 23rd minute after the artillery preparations ended, the remaining German troops on the position finally couldn't stand it any longer and chose to surrender. The French flag and French military salute without any artistic rendering were immediately followed.

"We have laid down our weapons and demand reasonable treatment as prisoners of war. Please stop shooting at us."

At Malashenko's suggestion, the new IS4 heavy tank further optimized the gunner's sighting system. In addition to the original high-magnification, narrow-field main gun sight, an additional low-magnification, wide-field sight was added. wide-angle sighting system.

And this second set of gunner's wide-angle sighting system is mechanically linked to Malashenko's commander's periscope.

As long as Malashenko controls his commander's periscope to point in a certain direction, Iushkin's gunner's wide-angle periscope will also be guided to the same direction and see the same field of view and scenery. However, it is limited to the approximately 120-degree sector field of vision directly in front of the turret. Beyond this area is the blind spot of the gunner's wide-angle periscope, which can only be seen by Malashenko's own commander's periscope.

Although it has limited functions and is not an independent observation tower with a 360-degree view like that of later generations, it still plays an extremely important role in communication, collaboration and cooperation in battle. It is an inconspicuous tower that may seem inconspicuous but has great significance. Details improved.

Part of Yu Kojing's design inspiration came from the Tiger tanks captured earlier. In the end, under the guidance of Malashenko's suggestions, he made a more complete upgrade and improvement.

Of course, if necessary, Iushkin can also adjust the field of view of the wide-angle periscope to see what he wants to see, and can make real-time changes according to different battlefield conditions.

This set of knowledge sounds like a high-end linkage optical sighting system, which will naturally increase the cost. However, since Kejing’s initial positioning of the IS4 heavy tank was already “high-end and high-end,” in terms of hardware equipment It is a matter of course that it is better than the mass-produced IS6 heavy tank in terms of configuration and comprehensive combat power.

This is like the ceramic ball composite armor used by the T80U main battle tank, which is more advanced than the rubber sandwich composite armor used by the T72. Cost is one thing, but the positioning of the tank itself is the main problem. There is no problem in using better equipment and materials on more advanced and high-end tanks. Malashenko also agrees with Kotin in making such a bold attempt.

Now, Iushkin, who controlled the wide-angle periscope by himself, could see very clearly that the German soldiers who were gibbering and shouting some nonsense had walked out of the trench one by one in dejection, with their hands raised high and clasped in their hands. The little white flag looks so ironic and funny.

"Is this what these Germans are capable of? I thought they would fight tooth and nail for a longer time. Those SS scum are at least much stronger than the Wehrmacht's rubbish in this respect."