Steel Soviet Union

Not only Malashenko's car, but also the IS6 heavy tanks guarding the surrounding area were firing with all their strength, blocking the enemy's armored units trying to get closer to support.

The self-propelled artillery unit, which moves a little slower, but can still keep up with the large troops in terms of overall speed, has already entered the battlefield, entered the fighting position, and is ready to shoot.

Those huge ISU-152A self-propelled artillery are the vanguard at the forefront. They are faster and more maneuverable than the previous-generation old guns behind them, that is, the ISU-152, which was modified from the IS2 heavy tank body chassis. As fast as the wind.

These armored behemoths holding up the 152mm justice cannon are extremely tall. It is precisely because of this large 152 howitzer that its combat chamber, which is fixed and welded on the car body, is destined to be unusually wide and conspicuous, far better than The IS6 heavy tank built with the same model body chassis has a very high battlefield recognition.

The German troops on the battlefield were not blind. These "tall and mighty" armored behemoths had just entered the battlefield and had not had time to officially join the battle. They had already been spotted by the sharp-eyed German troops and included in the shooting range.

Relying on the advantage of entering the battlefield first and firing first before the enemy stops, German armored vehicles holding various 75-inch and 88-meter-long German armored vehicles took the lead in firing.

These are not tanks, but a turret-less army composed of Panzer IV tank destroyers, Jaguar tank destroyers, and a large number of Santuzi. They do have generally quite good firepower output and low appearance. It is short, has a small frontal area to be bombarded, has high concealment, and has very good defense. At least the ordinary Red Army tank troops would have a real headache when encountering such bastards.

But that was limited to ordinary Red Army tank units, and it was well known that the Leader Division was anything but ordinary. Those Germans who think that the leadership division belongs to the "general" definition have already been sent to two places by Malashenko and his comrades: another world or a prisoner of war camp.

The Germans, who have "short hair and short knowledge", are not very sure about these armored monsters that look like IS6, but have no turret and carry a huge cannon of unknown caliber, but definitely larger than the 122 Heirloom. What kind of thing are they? At least I have never seen them before, let alone played against them to become familiar with their performance.

To be precise, now that the mass production of the second batch of standard IS6 heavy tanks has been fully launched, frontline troops who have a huge demand for the upgrading of heavy tanks are basically impatiently waiting to receive new vehicles. .

Comrade Ke Jing's desk drawer was almost filled to the brim with overflowing orders and notifications from the equipment department to urge labor.

Even the work on expanding the IS6 heavy tank factory and adding production lines is already in progress, and certain results have been achieved in increasing production capacity.

However, the current production speed still cannot catch up with the peak speed of the previous production of IS2 heavy tanks. The IS6 heavy tank with more powerful performance is of course simple to build and requires little work. The turret is cast in one piece and the body armor can be easily completed by cutting out and welding a few large steel plates.

But this is only relative after all

Yes, it saves time and effort compared to the previous generation of Guards-specific IS4 heavy tanks and the new generation of Guards-specific IS7 vehicles, but compared to the old IS2 heavy tanks, it is a completely different story. , which is relatively time-consuming and laborious.

More powerful performance comes at a price. On the premise that the technology is similar but heavier and more expensive, it is impossible to expect the IS6 to be built faster than the IS2. After all, it is a vehicle that combines defense in order to enhance protection. A new heavy tank with a more complex configuration than the IS2.

It can only be said that the man-hours required for construction are longer. If the performance is stronger, more materials are used, the technology is similar, and the cost is higher, and the construction time is shorter, then it is really called "Slavic development" "Check-in", if the German guy opposite has this ability, it is not impossible for him to give you twice the number of valuables in the zoo.

So in this case, don't count on how much spare body and chassis the IS6, which has huge frontline demand and is time-consuming to build and whose output is not as good as the IS2, can free up for you to use for the ISU-152A.

Large-caliber heavy self-propelled artillery is very important, but it has lower-level substitutes that can be used improvised. The 152 towed howitzer, or even small guns such as SU-100, SU-85, and SU-76, can be used improvised. , anyway, the functional positioning is somewhat overlapping and similar.

If you have any difficulties, just overcome them. Who can have no difficulties during the war years?

But if you want to talk about the importance of heavy tanks, then I'm sorry, they are really irreplaceable.

Attacking cities and advancing and breaking through key strategic areas are inseparable from these big guys. The mission can indeed be completed by investing in medium tank troops.

However, actual combat feedback after frontline troops successively adopted IS6 shows that if medium tank units are used to replace heavy tank units in similar large-scale offensive battles, and T3485 or even the latest T43 is used to replace IS6, the loss of the former will The rate is basically three times or even more than the latter.

In terms of available motorization hours, mean time between failures, maintenance difficulty, strategic mileage with full fuel and overall equipment readiness rate, IS6 is indeed inferior to T3485 and T43.

It weighs 50 tons, far exceeding the weight of the previous generation IS2. The IS6 must bear the negative impact of these problems, but this still does not change that it is a machine that plays an irreplaceable role in the battle of siege and fortification. The role it brings cannot change its popularity which is highly praised by frontline tank soldiers.

The importance and production priority of heavy tanks is definitely higher than that of self-propelled artillery.

With the ISU-152A, you can more smoothly cover the IS6 to attack cities and seize territory. You can still do it even without the ISU-152A, but it's just a little more troublesome. But without IS6, even if you have ISU-152A, you will face a huge number of problems.

How to attack the key defensive section of German stick? How to block the counterattack of the enemy's heavy armored troops?

Both offensive and defensive operations will face a huge number of attendant problems. In terms of performance, it is similar to the prototype of later generations of main battle tanks that take into account the three elements of "mobility, protection, and firepower." It is so excellent and irreplaceable.

It is so good that even if the frontline tank troops are willing to wait longer for the ISU-152A and receive it later, they still want the IS6 heavy tank built on the same chassis first.

Speaking of which, some comrades of the Guards Tank Division, excluding bosses like Malashenko who can "choose equipment" of course, those ordinary division commanders actually encountered a choice problem.

The number of IS6 chassis that can be refitted for your division is fixed, and the blessing of the Guard title can give you a certain right to choose. Do you want these body and chassis quotas to create IS6? Or is it caused by ISU-152A? If you can't get it this month, you can place a pre-order first. Maybe it will be delivered according to your intention next month.

Multiple-choice questions like this have left many Guards division commanders scratching their heads and feeling very confused.

It is impossible to replace all the new equipment for you at once. The quota is only so small. It is up to you to choose the car you want. It is impossible to say that IS6 and ISU-152A will be replaced for you all at once. These two cars have First come, first served. As for how to allocate and prioritize what can increase combat effectiveness as quickly as possible, that is your division commander's own business. You can just think about it yourself and then draft a letter of intent and submit it. The people in the equipment department cannot give you guidance.

But in the end, the vast majority of division commanders and comrades did choose the IS6 heavy tank instead of the ISU-152A.

After all, the former can fight hard and bad battles, while the latter can at best make you more comfortable in fighting. If you want to talk about the positions that cannot be stormed and the German armored units that cannot be defeated, to be honest, even if you replace them with the ISU-152A, there is a high probability that they will be in vain.

But it’s different after switching to IS6. It can really produce a qualitative change. The famous leader relied on what equipment to sweep around in the first place, and the shit that was beaten by the German stick was sprayed out from the sphincter, and it was stuffed back again. What built that fierceness is basically clear to all the comrades of the Guards division commanders who have studied the history of the leader's divisions, tactics and tactics, and the organization structure of the troops, and who have the internal reference materials of the Red Army in their hands.

As for what to choose in the end, that’s something that basically doesn’t need to be said. Everyone can make the corresponding choice in their mind.

As for the grand statement "Children make choices, I want them all", just think about it, don't think too much.

After all, your name is not Malashenko, right?