The BR-50B hooded armor-piercing grenade, with a muzzle flight velocity of up to 650 meters per second, instantly made a scorching hole the size of a bowl at the edge of the hill without any suspense.
After penetrating a full 40 centimeters of wet and soft soil, the hooded armor-piercing grenade did not trigger the armor-piercing delay fuse and detonate the warhead charge as Malashenko expected. The flight speed dropped sharply to 500 meters.
Even though the hood of the armor-piercing grenade of less than one second has been shattered and the flight resistance has greatly increased, the remaining kinetic energy of the projectile from the chamber is still pushing the projectile to continue flying straight forward.
Bang——
Accompanied by the huge impact of a 76mm armor-piercing projectile colliding with the hydraulic lift machine on the upper part of the 88 gun breech, the German 88 gun crew, which was still busy reloading at the gun position, instantly became aware of the impact.
For a moment, it was almost self-evident what this dull impact of shells meant.
"Keep reloading the ricochet bombs! Hurry! The Russian cannonballs have ricocheted, don't be afraid! Kill them before they fire next time! Hurry!"
The fragmentation of the warhead hood and the force and compression of the soil layer itself caused the hood armor-piercing grenade to slightly change its original straight ballistic flight path after it penetrated the soil layer.
The 76mm BR-50B hooded armor-piercing grenade that was supposed to accurately hit the barrel of the German 88 gun unfortunately missed it. The armor-piercing projectile flying at high speed only hit the upper part of the barrel of the German 88 gun.
The hydraulic lifter produced a string of sparks and was instantly bounced away. The too narrow incident angle of the artillery shells made the gun steel, whose defense coefficient is far inferior to that of homogeneous steel armor, naturally produce a ricochet effect.
In his commander's periscope sight, he saw his own armor-piercing projectile trailing a silver-white tracer and bounced straight into the air behind the hill.
Malashenko, who realized that the armor-piercing projectile attack did not cause any substantial damage but ricocheted, was not discouraged.
On the contrary, such a result just shows that Malashenko's plan is feasible. The hooded armor-piercing grenade that penetrates through the weak soil layer on the edge of the hill can indeed be used without triggering the armor-piercing delay fuse.
Injuring the main body of the German 88 gun that was hidden later, this result was enough for Malashenko at the moment.
"Kirill, reload armor-piercing rounds! Continue!"
"Iushkin, adjust the gun scope to the right two degrees, the same breakdown point! Another shot!"
"I understand, Comrade Commander!"
After gently shaking the turret steering gear adjustment wheel in the palm of his hand, the main gun was recalibrated. The black 76mm muzzle immediately burst out with a burst of blazing fire after Lieutenant Iushkin lightly stepped on the firing pedal.
After passing through the soil again, the 76mm hooded armor-piercing grenade has calibrated the bombardment direction based on the previous test firing effect. At this critical moment that is about to determine life and death, another armor-piercing grenade is also sent through manual loading.
After entering the breech, the German 88 gun crew also fired again.
"One o'clock direction, Soviet heavy tanks! Fire!"
boom--
The two armor-piercing projectiles of different calibers, which almost passed by each other in mid-air, were immediately carried by the blast wind and flew towards their respective targets.
After once again passing through the soil, the 76mm hooded armor-piercing grenade finally accurately hit the gun mount of the German 88 gun. The 80 cm thick gun steel on the gun mount had already exceeded the capacity of the BR-50b hooded armor-piercing grenade.
The triggering thickness of the armor-piercing time-delay fuze.
The 76mm hooded armor-piercing grenade instantly exploded at the 88th gun emplacement after penetrating the gun mount. It immediately blew away all the German 88th gun crew members within a few meters. They suffered such a close explosion.
The subsequent No. 88 guns also had their breechblocks severely damaged and distorted. Even if another gun crew was replaced, it would be of no avail.
At the same time, the PZGR hooded armor-piercing bullet fired by the German 88 gun at the last moment before it was destroyed also hit its target. This large and majestic appearance is obviously different from other heavy KV1s around it.
The tank is Malashenko’s improved KV1 command seat numbered 177!
The 88 mm armor-piercing projectile, which is enough to tear through the vertical homogeneous steel armor with a maximum thickness of 145 mm at a shooting distance of less than 100 meters, hit the upper armor plate of Malashenko's vehicle like a heavy hammer.
.
The 88mm armor-piercing hood that came into contact with the 25mm additional armor on the front of Malashenko's car was the first to crack and shatter. The positive effect provided by the second layer of hoods perfectly played its due role.
After avoiding the ricochet and offsetting the 1-degree inclination of the armor on the front of Malashenko's car, the 88mm armor-piercing projectile began its own real armor-piercing process.
The outermost 25mm additional armor attached to the upper part of the vehicle body was penetrated first. The 88mm armor-piercing projectile, which still had kinetic energy and had no intention of stopping, continued to penetrate forward. The 75mm main armor of the KV1 heavy tank itself
The real test soon came.
Ding-ding——
"Fuck! I still got hit!"
The huge impact of the shells was like covering the whole person in a big bell. It echoed continuously and endlessly. In an instant, Malashenko felt that his vision and consciousness began to blur, and he shook his forehead vigorously.
After making sure that he was not injured in any way, Malashenko immediately raised his almost deaf head and blurted out.
"Everyone, please report the situation! Immediately!"
The waiting time of just a few seconds for tinnitus seemed to be as long as a century to Malashenko at this moment. Fortunately, the crew members who were injured because the car did not undergo substantial breakdown quickly rushed towards the car.
Malashenko responded.
"Pilot Seryozha, I'm fine!"
"Nicolai, you are not injured!"
"Kiril is okay!"
"Iushkin is fine. It seems that the Germans failed to penetrate us, comrade commander."
The armor on the front of the car body was hit by an 88-gun armor-piercing round without being damaged. This result seemed incredible to Malashenko.
You must know that the 88 gun used by the Tiger tank, which is the most famous heavy tank in the history of human warfare, is actually a slightly modified version of the 88 anti-aircraft gun. In addition to the new armor-piercing projectiles newly developed specifically for the Tiger tank, these two guns
The kinetic energy of the launch itself and the muzzle velocity are almost the same.
When I thought that I actually used the 1941 improved KV1 heavy tank to receive an 88 anti-aircraft gun armor-piercing round from the front, which was almost as powerful as the Tiger tank, without being damaged, I didn't understand the reason for this situation.
Malashenko had a burst of doubt in his heart.
“Are these German shells laced with sand, or is my armor consecrated by Stalin, my loving father?”