Steel Soviet Union

The German armored group, which was running fast and did not have the ability to fire accurately, passively gave the Soviet army, which was parking on the spot, the opportunity to run first. Malashenko, who knew that the battlefield opportunity was fleeting, had no reason to let this great opportunity pass. Passed quietly from one's own hands.

"Each crew! Aim at the iron coffins of those Germans and fire at will until they have no cars left to move!"

"Iushkin, do what you have to do, let those Germans know whose land they are running wild on!"

The almost roaring command in the loud voice resounded throughout the entire interior of the turret. Iushkin, who put his right eye firmly next to the main gun sight, almost gritted his teeth and spoke word by word.

"I know what to do, Comrade Commander!"

哢达——

boom--

With the simple fire control device of an old tank from World War II, it is not easy to hit a moving target more than 800 meters away without correction, even if you have a considerable degree of superb gunnery skills. The confident Iushkin did not dare to pat his chest and make a promise.

The 85mm BR-365 hooded armor-piercing projectile with a muzzle velocity of up to 790 meters per second not only has a higher flight speed among full-caliber armor-piercing projectiles, but also has a longer barrel diameter inherited from the M1939 85mm anti-aircraft gun. The excellent ballistics with excellent performance, combined with the excellent penetration that can still effectively penetrate 110 mm vertical homogeneous steel armor at a distance of one kilometer, is the 85 mm D-5T tank gun equipped on Malashenko's vehicle. It is undoubtedly a magical weapon suitable for long-distance combat.

The ballistic flight distance of 800 meters away was fleeting. After flying in the air with a very small trajectory for more than a second, the 85mm BR-365 hooded armor-piercing projectile was estimated and hit with a relatively accurate lead time. The location accurately focused on a Panzer III tank located at the outermost edge of the cluster.

Since it is very difficult to accurately estimate the advance of a moving target that is moving at high speed over a long distance, you must not only calculate the relevant data in your mind, but also control the turret steering gear and the launch pedal under your feet for simultaneous operation. .

Faced with such a situation, Iushkin no longer had the time or extra effort to accurately aim at the weak points of the German tanks. Not seeking to kill with one hit but to be able to hit was already what Iushkin had set for his gun. at the lowest limit.

The vertical side armor of the car body and engine compartment, which was only 30 millimeters physically thick, could not withstand such a fierce attack. The advance estimate that was originally planned to be accurately poured into the central fighting room of the car body from the side armor parts of the car body was deviated.

Some 85mm hooded armor-piercing bullets that were accidentally fired directly tore through the vertical armor with overwhelming ferocity and poured into the engine compartment. However, a scene that the German crew who was hit and even Malashenko himself did not expect appeared immediately. , which is as shocking as someone telling Malashenko that everything you have experienced so far is just a dream.

After penetrating the vertically homogeneous steel armor with a physical thickness of 30 millimeters, the armor-piercing delay fuse that should have been successfully triggered unexpectedly malfunctioned with a very low probability.

A full 160 grams of TNT high-explosive charge wrapped in the warhead of the projectile misfired and failed to detonate smoothly. In short, this 85 mm BR-365 hooded armor-piercing projectile with a projectile mass of 9 kg can be understood as a piece of A solid lump of iron carrying high-speed kinetic energy can only cause subsequent damage in two ways: "hard smashing" and "collapse of armor fragments".

The German commander, who had thought that he was certain to be dead amid the terrible collapse sound of the armor being torn apart, did not hear any explosions after a fleeting two or three seconds, suddenly came to his senses.

"I'm still alive? Didn't it explode? Did the Russian cannonball misfire?"

Regardless of whether the Russian shells really misfired, the Panzer III tank, which had torn off the side armor of the engine compartment and smashed a big hole in the entire engine, was the first to fire.

The supposed result of directly detonating the gasoline engine and its fuel tank at the moment when the projectile charge detonated was obviously changed. The gasoline flowing out from the pierced internal combustion chamber and destroyed fuel supply pipeline was instantly hit by the high-temperature armor fragments. ignite.

The fire that failed to cause an instant-kill explosion quickly spread from the entire engine compartment to the interior of the car in an attempt to devour everything. The surviving German crew who had just escaped and were faced with another disaster immediately shouted that something was wrong.

"It's on fire! Get out quickly, Ozil, open the hatch and escape! Quick!"

"Ahem, hell! I told you that this damn gasoline engine is unreliable. Who is that idiot who came up with the idea to install this thing on our tanks? Those Russian diesel engines don't have such problems at all. Ahem! "

Several German armored soldiers who were shouting and complaining unbridledly had just passed through the escape hatches on the side of the turret and the roof of the vehicle and hurriedly abandoned the vehicle to escape. The fierce fire completely ignited the Panzer III tank with a half-full fuel tank. A violent ammunition explosion occurred.

The fiery flames, like violently shaking champagne, forced the turret open and shot straight into the sky. The explosion of huge ammunition that followed instantly almost tore the entire tank chassis into pieces. Tens of people had just escaped while stumbling along the way. Several German armored soldiers in Buyuan were immediately blown away by the flames and blasts of wind, and they fell headlong into the cold snow like rag dolls discarded by urchins. Their life and death were unknown.

"Damn it! This is a dumb bomb, Comrade Commander! How could it have such an effect if it hits the engine compartment and explodes directly? Those Germans should have been torn into pieces by the explosion."

While he was complaining, he was constantly shaking the turret steering gear driven by pure manpower in his hand to aim at the next target. After the shell was ejected, Kirill, who knew what he should do, turned around and turned from himself. He took out another armor-piercing round from the first ammunition rack built into the turret behind him and held it in his arms. Malashenko, who had witnessed everything just briefly with his hand on the commander's periscope, spoke in a calm tone.

"Don't expect too much from the artillery shells and main guns that were rushed out. It's good enough that they didn't explode. The problem of unreliable warhead fuzes is not new. Haven't you adapted to it after the war?"

Just as Malashenko said, the problem of unreliable warhead fuze sensitivity has been a persistent problem with the Soviet tank troops since the beginning of the war.

Investigating its fundamentals, the fundamental guiding ideology of the Soviet tank force to win through quantity is the basic premise of this issue.

When most of the industrial areas were either destroyed and occupied by the Germans or were urgently transferred to the rear, it was difficult to guarantee the reliability of hand-made and installed warhead fuzes that only prioritized quantity.