Steel Soviet Union

When those Stukas with black and white iron cross symbols painted on their iron wings swooped down from the sky, Malashenko guessed that today's battle was about to be completed at a glance. Something new went wrong.

"Disperse! Don't get crowded together! Get out first, and the crews will disperse immediately! Keep the distance between them, quickly!"

It may be possible to launch a charge against the shelling. After all, the accuracy is quite poor, and the power of large-caliber shells is only that much for steel armor. If it does not hit directly, it is almost impossible to cause any substantial damage to the rapidly advancing armored cluster. It would be a hindrance, but if it were an air strike, it would be a different story.

Although there are no large-scale popularization of precision-guided weapons on the front line these days, this does not mean that precision bombing does not exist. Dive bombing that trades height for accuracy can still accurately drop iron bombs on the top of a tank's forehead. Especially for those experienced German Stuka pilots who are all veterans, this is hardly a difficult task.

But what is a little surprising is that the things that whizzed down from the iron wings were not the expected iron bombs, but 37mm sub-caliber 37mm sub-caliber weapons that screamed at high speed and burst out of the barrel. Tungsten core armor-piercing bullet.

Just like the sub-caliber tungsten core armor-piercing projectiles fired by the German 37 anti-tank artillery on the ground, but because they swoop down, they are given an extremely fast initial speed. These armor-piercing projectiles falling straight down from high altitudes have The muzzle velocity is slightly faster than ground firing.

The IS6 heavy tank with strong armor and sharp guns can completely ignore the tickling firepower of the German 37 anti-tank guns and charge forward with direct fire, but this is limited to the main front armor belt or the side armor area.

Every tank has its own weaknesses, and there is no such thing as an invincible tank.

The Stuka, which swooped down from the sky, set its sight on the Soviet tank on the ground, instantly pulled the trigger and roared to fire. The high-speed armor-piercing bullets that came out with fierce flames were unbiased, and the final part of their attack happened to be the head of the Soviet tank. It was easy to break through the fragile top armor defense.

Soon, after receiving the order from the division commander, the IS6 heavy tanks that were retreating at high speed suffered visible casualties.

Boom—Boom—

Those IS6 heavy tanks that only caused casualties to the crew members after being penetrated through the armor were considered lucky. There may be one or two crew members who were not killed but were able to abandon the vehicle and escape.

But those IS6s that were unfortunate enough to be hit by ammunition racks were not so lucky. After penetrating the top armor, the tungsten-core armor-piercing warhead still had extremely high residual kinetic energy and continued to advance along the ballistic track inside the vehicle, crashing head-on. The instantaneous high temperature and kinetic energy impact of loading the ammunition rack are enough to detonate the gunpowder and cause a fatal explosion.

With their heads moved and their bodies torn apart, the powerful 122mm projectiles and their propellant cartridges have now become a talisman for the IS6 heavy tanks whose armor has been penetrated. Weapons that are extremely powerful for the enemy can also cause considerable damage to one's own people. Every IS6 heavy tank that suffers an ammunition explosion will die in an extremely miserable manner.

The flying head is just operating normally at this time. There is no way to release the pressure inside the tank with the hatch closed in combat mode. The powerful chemical energy blast is completely enough to forcefully lift the huge and heavy flat turret from the chassis. The Red Army tank crews that were thrown away and had no chance of escape were absolutely dead.

"Fuck! These bastards are using cannon birds!"

Instead of the official name, Malashenko is more accustomed to calling these Stukas with dual 37mm gun pods "Cannon Birds".

Compared with the Stuka that carries traditional iron bombs, the Cannon Bird Stuka is more targeted and has greater anti-armor power. It is a ground-licking model that is specially improved to target enemy armored targets.

Maybe this thing is not useful against infantry. The 37-gun pod with a very limited ammunition capacity is just like a cannon to fight mosquitoes when used against infantry. It is not as effective as hanging a 50-kilogram iron bomb.

But if it encounters a highly mechanized heavy armored unit like the Stalin Guards 1st Tank Division, the Cannon Bird Stuka is simply like coming to heaven and finding the most suitable stage for its performance. The two 37-gun pods under the wings It is specially made for this.

There was no explosion sound caused by the bombs falling one after another. There was only the residual power of the wave of explosions set off by the Soviet army's own heavy tanks in the continuous explosion of powerful ammunition.

At this moment, Malashenko is under tremendous pressure, seeing and worrying about the huge losses suffered by his troops.

It is not entirely true to say that Malashenko had no expectations for the German air strikes. From the moment he received the latest news from Vatutin, Malashenko had a faint feeling that the Germans were probably going to catch some flies again. Disgusting myself.

After all, if you can't even get airstrike support in the main direction of attack, then what are the German planes doing? It is naturally impossible to die, so is it possible to lie down and sleep on the airport behind? You can only think about this kind of thing casually, but don't take it seriously.

But the only thing Malashenko didn't expect was that the German flies would come and attack him at such a chance, when he was about to finish the job and win the victory. This victory was shattered in an instant, forcing the coordinated offensive forces of Lavrinenko and Kulbalov to suspend the attack and retreat.

Even so, Lavrinenko and Kulbalov immediately began to organize their troops to retreat and disperse as soon as they received the order.

However, the intensive attack formation that originally concentrated the troops to launch the final fierce attack could not be dispersed immediately after a while.

The Stukas seized the opportunity and bitten fiercely without relenting. After one dive, they immediately pulled up the nose, climbed and turned, re-entered the attack channel, and then started a new dive.

Dense 37mm shells hit the IS6 heavy tank, causing sparks to fly. The thick and reliable armor plates around the body can indeed withstand most attacks that are not so accurate. But for the extremely fragile car body roof armor and turret dome armor that can be penetrated in front of the 37 gun, even if one shell penetrates, there is a high probability that the IS6 will be forced to withdraw from the battle.

The 37mm sub-caliber tungsten core armor-piercing bullet does not have a charge, but this does not mean that its killing effect is not fatal.

The armor fragments brought up at the moment of penetration and the broken tungsten core armor-piercing body were wrapped together, splashing and bouncing around the car, like a metal storm. The flesh-and-blood bodies involved in it will only end up being devastated and beaten into a sieve.

Being forced to withdraw from the battle is the final result of most IS6 heavy tanks. It is not easy for every tank to continue fighting despite the reduction of crew numbers.