Steel Soviet Union

"How about it, Lavery, do you see what kind of cannon this is?"

After hearing the question from Malashenko's mouth, Lavrinenko shook his head and swore that it was his first time to see this new type of German anti-tank gun. Lavrinenko then spoke softly.

"It's strange that I have never seen this kind of German anti-tank gun before. Although the general structure and design are not much different, the caliber of this gun is far better than those of the previous 50mm small water pipes, and the barrel is twice as long The diameter ratio is also longer, and the armor-piercing capability must be improved to the next level. If I guess correctly, the initiator who destroyed our tank just now should be this thing. "

In a series of previous battles, Malashenko and his troops, who had fought many battles with German infantry units, had captured German anti-tank guns more than once. The relatively complex models ranged from the PAK36 to the 37mm small There are everything from water pipes to the PAK38 50mm main anti-tank gun.

But this time, the anti-tank guns newly captured by Malashenko after capturing the position were very different from before.

The slender barrel lays a solid foundation for greater penetration than the PAK38, and the further enlargement of the caliber provides a guarantee for the larger launch cartridge volume of the custom-fitted integrated artillery shell. The powerful combination between the two Finally, an artifact that can destroy KV1 head-on at a distance of 100 meters was created - the PAK40 75mm anti-tank gun.

This type of anti-tank gun originated from a contract between Rheinmetall and Krupp to jointly develop a new tank gun. It was mainly due to the heavy tanks of the British and French forces that appeared on the Western Front battlefield that caused a considerable impact on the German army. At that time, it was the main force The PAK36 and PAK38, which are widely equipped in the German front-line infantry divisions, are difficult to cause any substantial damage to the British Matilda and French B1.

Realizing that their own infantry divisions urgently needed a new anti-tank gun, the German military leaders issued a research and development bidding plan, but when the two German arms giants Krupp and Rheinmetall came together to come up with a design plan.

The slow and cumbersome heavy tank units in the hands of the British and French allied forces have long been divided and surrounded by German armored forces and eliminated one by one. Almost all the stubborn resisters were called out by 88mm anti-aircraft guns. Even the Soviet KV series heavy tanks can directly kill these 88mm guns. The Anglo-French Allied Forces were able to defeat the Iron King with ease. As a result, the PAK40 lost the meaning of its existence from the beginning of the project.

The smooth progress of the war caused the German military leaders to shelve the PAK40 plan for the time being. The German army, which had not done enough preliminary intelligence preparations, did not experience the power of the Soviet T34 and KV series for the first time until Operation Barbarossa was launched. at.

The small water pipe anti-tank gun used as the main anti-tank weapon in the hand can't do anything to these Soviet tanks, let alone the 37mm PAK36, which is a stepping stone. Even the best PAK38 in the hands of the German army has no armor defense compared to the KV1. Even the weak T34 could not be worn. This result deeply shocked the German military leaders and immediately thought of the PAK40 plan that had been temporarily shelved due to no actual demand.

As if grasping a life-saving straw, the German top brass immediately listed the PAK40 program as the highest priority for production and execution. The design specifications jointly submitted by Rheinmetall and Krupp engineers showed that this type of anti-tank gun has the ability to fire at a shooting range of one thousand meters. The ability to penetrate a 108 mm vertically homogeneous steel armor target plate is a test result obtained by using a hooded armor-piercing projectile with balanced properties.

If the Type 40 tungsten-core armor-piercing projectile with greater vertical penetration power is used, the PAK40 can penetrate a vertical homogeneous steel armor target plate at a distance of one thousand meters to an astonishing 127 mm.

Although the paper data of the 40 tungsten-core armor-piercing projectile is very bluffing, the Soviet tank armor protection design is basically all four-two-pound tilted armor, which will not give it a good chance to perform. Therefore, in most cases, this The actual armor-piercing data of the latest anti-tank guns will still be based on hooded armor-piercing bullets.

After circling around the almost intact brand-new anti-tank gun for several times, Malashenko, who had never figured out what it was, finally realized when he thought of the distinctive feature of an enlarged caliber.

The next standard tank gun on German tanks after the 50mm tank gun is the 75 on the Chang No. 4. Looking at it this way, based on the theory that there is great versatility between German tank guns and anti-tank guns, this one is The true identity of the anti-tank gun was naturally revealed.

"If you guessed it right, this should be the PAK40 of the Germans. Historically, this thing was put into the front line to test actual combat at the end of 1941. However, there should only be a very few units produced to test actual combat data and feedback effects. This thing It wasn’t until 1942 that large-scale mass production could begin. How come I was so unlucky to encounter just a few of them?”

The barrel length of the new PAK40 anti-tank gun with a caliber of 75 mm has reached a relatively outstanding 46 times the caliber. The combination of the longer barrel diameter and the larger caliber made it in the hands of the German front-line battlefield infantry divisions in 1942. The premier anti-tank Optimus Prime, let alone the T34, can destroy the KV1 with ease.

The emergence of this type of anti-tank gun may have unclear meaning to others, but for Malashenko it is very clear in his heart.

The emergence of PAK40 represents the soaring and becoming more powerful of German anti-tank gun technology. It also means that the "invincible" armor protection advantage that has been retained by Soviet tanks since the beginning of the war no longer exists, and the German infantry will be able to heal. It is easy to deal with these T34 medium tanks and even KV1 heavy tanks. There is no need to use heavy and complicated things like the 88 gun to spend a lot of time.

The more important point is that the KV1, which has been ignored for its frontal armor protection, is now in an embarrassing situation. When the thick armor protection is not enough to withstand the frontal attack of the enemy's anti-tank firepower, then this heavy armor defense will not be able to withstand the enemy's anti-tank firepower. It has no use anymore, it is just a drag on the tank's mobility and a near-cumbersome thing used to withstand the bullets of the small water pipe machine gun.

Standing next to this intact PAK40 and staring at several PAK40s that had been bombarded into parts in the surrounding snow, Malashenko made a rough estimate and came up with the approximate number of the new German 75mm PAK40 anti-tank guns participating in this battle. There are 4 doors, 2 of which have been blown up during the battle and only two are left intact.

A mere 4 anti-tank guns may not seem like many. At best, they only destroyed 2 Soviet KV1 heavy tanks and injured 3. The casualties seemed small, but Malashenko was really worried about much more than that. These.