Steel Soviet Union

"What the hell! The efficiency is still not high enough. The destruction rate of this round of fire cannot even reach 20%! It still doesn't work!"

The long reloading time of the 122 main gun determines that it takes almost 10 high-explosive rounds to force a King Tiger to be seriously damaged and forced to withdraw from the battle. The killing efficiency is simply unqualified.

If this style of play continues, Malashenko estimates that he won't lose many King Tigers until the Germans are all on his face.

Once the Germans tear open the defense position, the situation may get out of control at any time.

Who knows how many troops the Germans later mobilized to continuously fill this bottomless pit of battle for positions that devour lives. Hand-to-hand fighting with numbers is the situation Malashenko tries his best to avoid.

The bad situation doesn't stop there. The suspected Ferdinand heavy tank destroyer covering the King Tiger's attack in the far rear has also advanced to a position sufficient to launch precise shooting while exchanging fire and providing uninterrupted support firepower. km distance begins to pose a serious threat.

Relying on the extremely excellent ballistic performance of the Chang 88 and the blessing of German ancestral precision optical sighting equipment.

Even at a shooting distance of one kilometer, those steel rags suspected of being Ferdinand were able to send a barrage of artillery shells to the Red Army's positions with a shooting accuracy that fully met the needs of combat, causing damage.

The vast majority of incoming artillery shells are armor-piercing, but there are still a small number of incoming artillery shells that are high-explosive.

This kind of long-distance precision shooting of mixed projectiles is not a blind shot. Those high-explosive projectiles roaring towards the position are basically directed at the few anti-tank gun fire points on the position, with extremely strong targeting. sex.

The shooting distance of one kilometer was a bit inaccurate, but it still couldn't withstand the Germans' repeated intensive firing. Soon, the Red Army's anti-tank guns were bombed into the sky one after another by people and cannons.

The anti-tank guns suffered a setback, but the Stalin heavy tanks with armor protection did not fare well either.

The Chang 88 cannot effectively penetrate most of the frontal main armor belt of the IS6 heavy tank at a distance of one kilometer, but the continuous incoming shells have indeed had a great impact on the combat rhythm of the Red Army tank soldiers.

Not only were there problems with the mood swings and communication among the crew members, but these annoying mosquito-buzzing armor-piercing bullets also gradually began to have some actual killing effects in the continuous high-intensity attacks.

For example, an armor-piercing projectile flying from nowhere hit the bullseye and directly hit the connection between the turret and the body of an IS6 heavy tank. It erupted with fierce sparks and a harsh metal impact sound, killing one end of the tank. After the kinetic energy was completely exhausted, serious armor edge deformation occurred.

The turret steering gear that was firmly protected could operate normally without any problems, but what made people want to vomit blood was that the armor at the edge of the turret and the body that was hit by a shot became an obstacle. The combination of the two , staggered jamming, directly preventing the turret of this IS6 heavy tank from turning left or right. No matter how hard the gunner who was anxious to get angry tried, he still could not move.

"Comrade Commander, the turret steering is out of order! I don't know what went wrong. We can't turn the turret!"

The anxious and sweating gunner couldn't tell what went wrong for a while. People in the car couldn't see to what extent the armor on the edge of the turret outside the car was deformed. He could only report the current thorny problem first. Let's talk to the commander.

"Keep fighting, we will not abandon the vehicle! Comrades, stick to your posts! The driver will use the steering of the vehicle body to assist in aiming. If the high and low aircraft can still be used, we will continue to fight!"

The experienced veteran commander does not lack the courage to fight to the death, but the bad situation of changing from a tank with a turret to a "tank destroyer without a turret" really stumps those who engage in such a ridiculous operation for the first time. driver.

To complete the lateral aiming of the main gun without relying on the steering of the turret and the left and right swing close to the heading of the car body, this requires a very high degree of tacit cooperation between the gunner and the driver, and there is no difference in the slightest.

The cruel real battlefield is not a computer game of waving a mouse. Such extremely difficult operations make this IS6 heavy tank, which constantly changes its course and twists and turns, look like a heavy steel giant worm. The ground was crawling back and forth.

Not to mention the armor-piercing projectiles that require precise targeting of weak points, the aiming requirements are much lower, and the high-explosive projectiles that are basically put on and fired are unimaginably difficult.

This situation is not unique, but the damage to almost every IS6 heavy tank is different.

Some had their tracks broken and were unable to move, while others were hit by continuous kinetic energy of armor-piercing projectiles, repeatedly hitting the same small area of ​​armor, which caused severe armor fatigue, resulting in cracks in the armor and a significant decrease in defense. At any time, there is a risk that the next armor-piercing bullet will hit somewhere.

But even so, as long as the guns can still be used, the crews still persist in fighting and never abandon their vehicles.

Every Red Army tank soldier who sticks to his position knows very well that they are the only core anti-armor firepower pillar that can be relied on on the position at the moment. For every vehicle abandoned, the available anti-armor firepower decreases by one unit, and the hope of holding the position decreases by another point.

A strong sense of collective honor lingers in the hearts of every tank soldier. How could the elite Stalin Guards 1st Tank Division be defeated and surrendered in front of this group of Wehrmacht trash?

I swear to the Supreme Leader, Comrade Stalin, and stake my reputation as the most elite tank division of the Red Army. In today's battle, these crazy Germans must be beaten to their knees and surrender!

The heavy tanks of the Red Army that stood firm and fought to the death did not cause much shock to the German armored forces that continued to attack. Those heavy and huge King Tigers, like moving mountains, were still spraying black smoke and moving forward slowly. go ahead.

"Almost, that's the distance!"

Malashenko, who had been waiting for the decisive moment to reveal his trump card, pressed the call button with the microphone already firmly in his hand, and the roaring command immediately blurted out and spread throughout the radio channel. .

"Each vehicle crew switches ammunition and reloads armor-piercing shelling shells! Use the maximum firepower and don't worry about consumption. Give priority to smashing all those King Tigers! I can't do this!!!"

Malashenko's roaring orders ended with "smash them all," and he released the call button. The last half of his elegant and easy-going words shouted in Chinese did not actually echo on the radio channel, except for Iushkin. No one heard it except a few brothers.

Of course, Iushkin didn't care what the commander comrade who often shouted "strange curses" shouted this time. Anyway, he couldn't understand whatever he shouted every time, so it didn't matter. He thought it was "Suka" "Brute" is over, because judging from the tone alone, it is definitely not a good word.