Steel Soviet Union

The heavy howitzer on KV2, which is designed to cause devastating blows to the enemy's permanent defenses and then break through the enemy's front line, can be said to be unusually powerful.

The weight of the high-explosive shell fired by this M-10T 152mm howitzer reaches an astonishing 40 kilograms. Its warhead warhead contains 8 kilograms of TNT charge, which can attack enemy defenses with a muzzle velocity of 530 meters per second. Aim and shoot at close range.

In terms of shell weight and explosive power alone, the high-explosive shells fired by the KV2 heavy tanks at this time can be said to be not much different from the modern mainstream 155mm self-propelled howitzers. In the early days of World War II when mainstream tanks around the world were still using 75- and 76-caliber small water tube tank guns, the 152mm giant gun of KV2 was definitely an extremely "just" existence.

In addition, considering that the enemy's permanent defenses may be protected by thick concrete and armor plates, and the KV2 heavy tank may encounter individual situations when the enemy's heavy armored units are encountered.

At this time, if we use pure high-explosive bombs to attack the enemy's heavily protected targets, the effect is likely to be unsatisfactory. In order to solve this problem, the KV2 design team also specially invited another 152mm heavy howitzer. There are two types of shells to choose from - G-530 concrete-destroying projectile and PB-35 hooded armor-piercing projectile.

As you can tell from its name, the former is a type of artillery shell specially designed to break through the thick concrete layer of enemy defenses.

According to a series of data from artillery direct-aiming shooting tests, the G-530 concrete-destroying projectile has extremely excellent destructive power against military-grade concrete fortifications.

The huge caliber of up to 152 mm brings outrageously high exit kinetic energy to this specialized concrete destructor projectile. The penetrating warhead warhead weighing 40 kg contains 5 kg of TNT charge. It can penetrate up to 7 meters of military-grade concrete fortifications and use the warhead charge explosion to secondary damage 3-meter concrete fortifications. In total, it can effectively damage military-grade concrete fortifications with a thickness of one meter.

The latter is the PB-35 152mm capped armor-piercing projectile. This large-caliber armor-piercing projectile with a capped positive effect is not actually a product made by the Soviet Army, but directly follows the Red Navy's 152 mm naval gun armor-piercing projectile.

Therefore, although the M-10T heavy howitzer of the KV2 heavy tank was not originally built for the purpose of firing armor-piercing projectiles and has a short barrel, it is theoretically not suitable for use as an anti-tank gun to fire armor-piercing projectiles, but it benefits from the high 152 mm The huge caliber and the amazing amount of propellant in the chamber.

This PB-35 naval gun armor-piercing projectile, originally used by the Soviet Navy, is still able to penetrate 120 mm of homogeneous ammunition at a 90-degree vertical angle at a distance of 500 meters even if it is fired from the short-barreled howitzer of the KV2 heavy tank. Steel armor, in the early days of World War II when heavy tanks were not yet developed, was absolutely capable of killing everything instantly.

It is worth mentioning that although the KV2 heavy tank was rarely produced due to inherent shortcomings in its design and only more than 500 were produced, there were still a small number of KV2 heavy tanks that survived the early days of the Great Patriotic War and survived until the German army after 1943. Has been put into the middle stage of Tiger and Leopard tanks.

But even the 100 mm thick upper front area of ​​the Tiger tank's homogeneous steel armor is equivalent to the 130 mm upper front armor area of ​​the Leopard tank's 80 mm thick armor area tilted 55 degrees horizontally.

When faced with these new German tanks with full defensive capabilities, KV2 still refuses to accept any comer. As long as the 152mm capped armor-piercing bullet hits accurately, it will definitely be fired one at a time, without any bargaining.

The Soviet army, inspired by the 152 cult, subsequently developed the SU-152 and ISU-152 heavy tank destroyers. The powerful 152 heavy anti-tank gun blasted the German Tiger and Leopard tanks to pieces. It brought great spirit and morale encouragement to the frontline Red Army soldiers, and was affectionately called the "Zoo Killer" by the Red Army soldiers.

In terms of protection, the design of Soviet tanks before the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War always followed the design idea of ​​comprehensive protection. That is to say, the side armor protection effect of the tank is required to be no less than the front armor protection effect, and the side armor defense weight of the tank is directly equated with the front armor defense weight.

Under the influence of this design idea, the powerful KV2 heavy tank, whether it has a tall turret or a low body, has a physical armor thickness of 75 mm in the four directions, front, rear, left and right.

The armor in the upper area of ​​​​the car body also has a 31-degree inclination angle, which can provide 85 mm of equivalent armor defense on the horizontal ballistic attack route. The tall turret also has a mantlet with a thickness of 90 mm of homogeneous steel armor, which can provide sufficient additional defense capabilities on the turret with the highest probability of being hit.

In terms of mobility, it can be said that the only shortcoming of the KV2 tank, which pursues all-round and powerful defense without blind spots, is the shortcoming.

Although the KV2 heavy tank was equipped with a 12-cylinder V-2 diesel engine that was quite powerful for that era, with a maximum power output of 520 horsepower.

However, the heavy weight of 52 tons brought at the cost of pursuing comprehensive defense made the diesel engine loaded on the KV2 overwhelmed. Its theoretical maximum speed was only 26 kilometers per hour, making it a veritable "vehicle" among the entire Soviet Red Army. "Iron Bastard".

In addition, the KV2 heavy tank's overly heavy and tall turret not only makes it difficult to turn and slow to react in battle, but the high turret center of gravity also makes the center of gravity of the entire tank unstable. It is very easy to roll over when going up and down slopes and on rough roads, so many Soviet tank crews driving KV2 heavy tanks even have to be cautious and take detours even in small gullies.

Although the performance of the KV2 heavy tank in all aspects can be said to be mixed, its reliable protection performance and powerful main gun firepower can undoubtedly bring extremely powerful offensive assistance to Malashenko's assault company.

Therefore, Malashenko, who can't wait to see the performance of the 152 cult in actual combat, is naturally happy to see these big guys added to his armored company.

After sitting quietly in the gunner and commander's position in the turret of his vehicle and waiting for half an hour, the thunderous artillery fire from behind gradually subsided. Malashenko realized that he had finally waited for that moment, and then he heard the familiar voice of the division commander Chernyaev on the radio beside his ear.

"Captain Malashenko, the time has come to serve the motherland! Start the attack! Tear up those fierce invaders and win honor for our 20th Tank Division!"