Steel Soviet Union

The changes to the internal equipment are very gratifying, and the changes to the external armor are equally exciting.

The original two-piece hull hand armor plate has now been replaced with a single piece of 120 mm homogeneous steel armor plate with a large defensive inclination of 60 degrees. When faced with full-caliber armor-piercing projectiles coming from horizontal trajectories, this solid and reliable upper armor plate on the front of the car body can provide an equivalent armor thickness of more than 220 mm.

Unfortunately, the armor plate on the front of the car body is not welded, but is an integral cast armor cast from a mold. It is integrated with the entire car body when it leaves the factory.

Integral cast armor has the advantages of cast armor. This type of manufacturing method can save a lot of costs and man-hours, eliminating the waste of solder and cutting leftovers needed to weld the armor. This corresponds to the Soviet Red Army's desire to simplify the manufacturing of technical equipment during the war. The theoretical spirit is in line with the core guiding ideology of using the red ocean to drown the enemy.

But compared to rolled homogeneous steel armor using welding technology, the biggest problem with overall cast armor is that the quality of the armor itself is unreliable.

Because the mold used for pouring forms the irregular shape of the armor itself, impurities and bubbles will inevitably be mixed into the one-time molded integral cast armor. The armor defense coefficient is not as reliable as the German tank armor of the same level made by cutting and welding. Given the technical level of the Patriotic War, this was an unavoidable situation.

This situation is obviously not good news for Malashenko, but considering that the physical thickness of the upper armor plate of the IS2 body reaches an astonishing 120 mm and is tilted at 60 degrees, let alone the German short 88 , even if the Black Panther and Tiger King came, they would never be able to penetrate this solid defensive armor with a large inclination. The so-called Unyielding Wall defense is basically like this.

All in all, due to the influence of Malashenko's enhanced butterfly effect, Kogin was able to rectify the 1944 mass-produced IS2 ahead of schedule this time. Moreover, as the production scale of the newly finalized 122mm tank gun continues to expand, the total output of IS2 will only get higher and higher. The IS1 heavy tank currently in mass production can only be regarded as an excessive model.

Kursk, the largest steel meat grinder bloody battle in the history of human war, is already very close to him. With the twin swords of Father No. 1 and Father No. 2, Malashenko asked himself that this time he could finally I have a strong psychological foundation and the capital to fight against the German Zoo.

After receiving the new car, the next work and things to do are straightforward and very simple.

The newly delivered 18 IS2 first batch production models, except for Malashenko himself and Lavrinenko each took one, the remaining 16 were all allocated to the 1st Battalion of Heavy Tanks as a sharp force. , including the command vehicle of Battalion Commander Kulbalov.

The remaining newly delivered IS1s, including the second-hand IS1s replaced by the first battalion, were all distributed in equal amounts to the remaining tank battalions, replacing those obsolete KV1 heavy tanks.

After completing the above things, Malashenko discovered from the technical equipment report handed over to him by Lavrinenko that the 1st Stalin Guards Heavy Tank Brigade now only has a very small number of KV1 heavy tanks left, and the IS1 The number of IS2 and IS2 heavy tanks has reached an absolute majority, which is undoubtedly very exciting news.

"What do you plan to do with the old KV1 that has been replaced? Should we keep it for ourselves, or do you have any other ideas?"

Facing Lavrinenko's question, Malashenko gave an answer after thinking for a while.

"Does our brigade have enough manpower now? I mean do we have enough crews to operate the tanks?"

Lavrinenko could probably guess what his old classmate was thinking, and after thinking for a while, he answered again.

"Excluding the newly arrived self-propelled howitzer battalion, our manpower is very sufficient, and it can even be said that there is a surplus."

"But now we are very short of manpower, and there are still a few SU152s that don't even have loaders, so we can only train with a mixed crew."

"If you want us to use all the remaining KV1 heavy tanks, the manpower is obviously not enough. What now? What are you going to do?"

As Lavrinenko guessed, Malashenko does intend to use all KV1 to expand its strength.

But a very real problem is that the tank crews approved by superiors have been used up. Malashenko needs to ask for another batch of tank troops, or give away this batch of old KV1 heavy tanks. make a choice between.

Assuming that these old KV1s are included, the total number of heavy tanks that can be directly used in combat under Malashenko's brigade structure will reach or even exceed 160 vehicles.

Having more tanks is certainly a good thing, but do we really need so many Iron Bastards? Or can these heavy tanks be used to their full potential in battle?

After thinking for a long time, Malashenko finally felt that biting off more than he could chew was not a good thing.

Starting from now on, the number of KV1s in your own army will only become smaller and smaller until it is completely eliminated by the Loving Father series.

In the upcoming battle of Kursk, the KV1 will be the last among the heavy tanks of both the enemy and ourselves. If it cannot beat the Tiger, even the Black Panther can knock the KV1 to the ground and beat it violently.

Malashenko felt that not only was it a waste of manpower and material resources to equip these KV1s, which were almost being swept into the garbage heap of history, with crews and supplies, but it would not be of much use when Kursk arrived, and would only serve Kara. Mov's logistics troops only increased the pressure and gave the Germans free kills to improve their results.

Thinking of this, Malashenko, who had made up his mind, quietly turned around again and asked Lavrinenko.

"Are there any friendly tank units around us?"

Malashenko's fierce question caught the unprepared Lavrinenko on the spot.

"Well, there should be some. I remember that the 64th Army seems to have a tank unit, but I don't know if those people drive T34 or KV1. What? Do you want to send it to them?"

Standing on the side of the training ground, Malashenko could see not far away the old KV1s who were being maintained and counted by Karamov's men. The scars of the brutal war were on the bodies of these steel behemoths. It's clearly visible on their bodies, and now it's time to find them a better home.

"Basically all the tanks sent to Stalingrad during this period have been replenished to us. It would be a big favor if we gave these KV1s away. Anyway, we don't need them now, so we will arrange for someone to contact us. Tell them to send someone to pick up the car."