Steel Soviet Union

The communication staff's report that poked his head out of the tent obviously caught the attention of Malashenko and Political Commissar Petrov. The two people who were having a conversation immediately turned back to look at the staff officer.

"Telegram from the Front Army Headquarters? Get it immediately, quickly!"

Political Commissar Petrov frowned immediately after he quickly read the telegram in front of him that still smelled of ink.

"The Front Command ordered us to continue to move forward to recover the entire Istria, and we must not allow the Germans to continue to get involved here. The Front Command is worried that Istria will become a breakthrough point for the Germans. If they continue to invest in this point, The situation will become difficult for the follow-up troops.”

After taking the telegram from Commissar Petrov, he read it visually while listening to the narrator beside him. From the words in front of him, he could almost see Zhukov's unmistakable stern command expression. For a moment, he couldn't tell what this meant. Malashenko, who was good or bad, made his decision very calmly.

"Since it is an order from the Front Army Headquarters, we will naturally obey it. This telegram directly orders us to continue to advance and recover the entire theater. It seems that the Front Army Headquarters already knows that we have captured the outer suburban positions of Istria. If nothing else, it should be the three Siberian infantry divisions behind who reported it."

After waving the telegram in his hand, he motioned Commissar Petrov to follow him into the tent and said that the biting cold wind, which was as low as more than 20 degrees below zero, had almost frozen Malashenko.

After entering the field command tent that had just been set up at the regiment headquarters, he immediately found a wooden box that contained grenades or something as a bench and sat down. The sudden details in the battle just now seemed to Malashenko that they were indeed necessary. Exchange opinions with Commissar Petrov.

"I have very unfortunate bad news, Comrade Political Commissar. Although the battle just did not last long, the Germans who were short of troops and did not have a firm foothold retreated quickly. But what is quite unexpected is that the Germans were in defensive positions The latest anti-tank gun is used, which is powerful enough to penetrate the KV1's body armor frontally at a distance of 100 meters. I think you should know better than me what this means."

Political Commissar Petrov, who was born in the same military service as Malashenko, naturally understood what he wanted to express. Political Commissar Petrov, who also had a good knowledge of tank equipment and tactics, spoke immediately without much thought.

"If this is the case, this is a very serious matter, Malashenko. Before this, I have never received news from other friendly forces that the Germans have invested in new anti-tank guns, although the German frontline is not known yet. How many of these have been obtained in the army, but don’t expect the T34 to be able to block the anti-tank gun that can’t even withstand the KV. I think we should inform the friendly forces of this news as soon as possible so that they can prepare in advance.”

What Political Commissar Petrov said is certainly true, but what Malashenko is really worried about right now is far more than that.

"Comrade Political Commissar, I will arrange the matter of contacting and informing friendly troops later. Let's put this aside for now."

"The primary problem before us now is that our KV1 armor is no longer enough to withstand the Germans' new anti-tank guns, and thick armor that cannot withstand enemy armor-piercing fire attacks can only be a burden! The current situation is very important to our It’s very embarrassing for the main equipment tank KV1. Although I don’t want to say this myself, those T34s are indeed much better than our KV in the current situation.”

It’s very simple to understand the literal meaning. Why are heavy tanks called heavy tanks? The first basic attribute it possesses is heavy armor defense. As for firepower, mobility, and third, these things are not as important as the defensive attributes for heavy tanks.

If your heavy tank of forty or fifty tons cannot withstand the enemy's anti-tank fire attack, it only means that this heavy armor defense is completely useless. It is better to drive such a "streaking" heavy tank. Driving a medium tank that also "streaks" but has higher mobility is the real troubling point in Malashenko's heart.

Regarding the urgency Malashenko said, Petrov, who had served as a political commissar in the Red Army tank unit for five or six years, did not understand this truth.

"I understand what you are saying, Malashenko. But the current situation is that the KV1 is already the best heavy tank we can get! You must know that this tank is a new tank that was only installed in batches last year. It only took one year to become obsolete. If this is the case, then the research and development efficiency of our Red Army's new heavy tanks will definitely not be able to keep up with this speed. "

Looking at the political commissar Petrov who had no choice but to keep shaking his head as he spoke, Malashenko, who sighed slowly in his heart, could only put all his treasures on the man who was dubbed the "Red Army Heavy Duty". On the man known as the "Father of Tanks".

"I wish you could give me some help, Kogin."

The emergence of Pak40 not only represents the German front-line anti-tank artillery unit. For the first time, it has the ability to destroy Soviet heavy tanks from the front within regular combat distances, without having to be helpless to call those in the air defense battalion to send 88 Artillery rushes to support.

What is even more landmark is the emergence of Pak40, which represents the Soviet Red Army's tank armor protection advantage that it has maintained since the beginning of the war, and it has begun to decline at a turning point.

Of course, this downhill path is only dwarfed by the increasingly abnormal and enhanced anti-tank firepower of the German army. It is not that there is any problem with the armor of the Soviet tanks themselves.

Since Pak40, Pak42, Pak43,

These are all familiar names to Malashenko, and no matter which one is selected, it is one of the best anti-tank guns of the era.

Even the IS2, which was put into actual combat at the end of 2043, could not withstand the frontal fire of Pak43, let alone the more powerful Pak44. Malashenko, who has been enjoying the "invincible golden bell" plug-in since the beginning of the war, is obviously very unhappy. Be willing to accept this cruel reality.

With a solemn look on his face, he stubbed out the cigarette butts that were almost burning to the flesh between his fingers on the wooden box beside him. Against the backdrop of the clouds and smoke, Malashenko was obviously thinking about something, a matter related to the tanks of the Soviet Red Army. How powerful tanks the army could produce in World War II was a fateful question.

"I risked my life to save my life! I have washed this guy Ke Jing's brain!"