The huge and crisp sound of the armor-piercing warhead colliding with the armor plate was like a death knell from hell, sounding suddenly in the T34 tank with a small body space. Facing this shell that was successfully resisted by his own vehicle again, he took the lead.
Malashenko, who rushed to the front of the Soviet 20th Tank Division, immediately shook his face, which was almost half red from the wound at the corner of his eye, and spoke loudly to Kirill, who was on his right.
"Armor-piercing bullets, Kirill! Quick!"
"yes!"
Taking advantage of the few seconds when Kirill bent down to take out another armor-piercing bullet from the ammunition rack on the chassis of the vehicle, he struggled to open his right eye, which was covered in blood and scabs, to the main gun sight in front of him.
Malashenko, who felt as if his right eye had been sprinkled with gunpowder and then ignited and burning, gritted his teeth and stepped on the launch pedal.
boom--
Along with a BR-350B hooded armor-piercing grenade that had been ready in the barrel, it instantly escaped from the barrel. The German Panzer III tank, which had been firing at Malashenko's car just a moment ago,
Immediately afterwards, a fist-sized hole was punched in the armor on the front of the vehicle.
After the armor-piercing delay fuse was successfully activated, the BR-350B hooded armor-piercing grenade exploded within the fragile chassis of the Panzer III tank. Although the damage caused by the explosion of the 76mm armor-piercing grenade failed to destroy the vehicle,
The Panzer III tank carried a small amount of remaining ammunition.
But those scattered shrapnel still killed almost all the crew members instantly in the narrow vehicle body. The hot and high-temperature shrapnel directly ignited the gasoline stored in the tank chassis after penetrating it, and the bullet was fired from the tank.
The tongues of fire shooting straight out of the hole turned the entire tank into a blazing steel coffin in almost the blink of an eye.
He was severely injured but still barely conscious. The commander of the German Panzer III tank, the last surviving member of the five-man crew, used his last strength to lift the shrapnel-stricken tank in the scorching flames.
He wounded his arm to open the hatch above his head and escape.
"Damn bastard, open it, call me quickly..."
boom--
Before he finished speaking, a dazzling loud noise shot straight into the sky. The No. 3 tank turret, which was blown away by the explosion caused by the flames of the ammunition on the vehicle body, even rushed to a height of more than ten meters in the air before it started.
Desperately fallen.
Inside the turret, which was enveloped in the burning flames and black scorch marks of the remaining gasoline, only the large scarlet mark remained, which could barely prove that there had been a person who tried to make a last-ditch effort for his own life.
Scenes like this are by no means unique on the battlefield.
As the leading Soviet T34 tank group rushed forward at full speed with full throttle, galloping across the vast grassland, some of the Soviet T34 tank crews rushing at the front began to behave like Malashenko was currently doing.
They did the same thing, and after aiming the black muzzle of the main gun at the German tanks within sight, they started the first wave of firing attacks.
The German Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks that were heavily equipped in the early stages of the Soviet-German war not only had a qualitative gap with the T34 tank in terms of firepower, but also lacked the systematic arrangement of inclined armor like the Soviet T34 tank. The German Panzer III and IV tanks not only
The armor is weak and has a 90-degree vertical armor arrangement.
It is self-evident that such a weak tank defense would have terrible consequences when it encountered direct fire from the Soviet T34 tank's 76.2mm main gun.
As for the German 35T, 38T and No. 1 and 2 light tanks, which are seriously behind the times in terms of armor protection and firepower output, it is simply unreasonable for the Germans to expect these little ones to be effective in the face of the powerful Soviet armored forces.
It's a fantasy that I don't even dare to dream about. It's simply a suicidal act to send these light tanks, which are barely adequate for reconnaissance missions, to the front line of armored confrontation on a group scale.
Facing the ferocious direct firepower of the Soviet forward T34 tank group, it gradually became unable to withstand the fierce direct firepower and was on the verge of collapse. However, these Soviet T34 tanks that stopped and fought still continued to advance at a constant speed while inflicting heavy blows to the German armored forces.
The German armored forces, which were already severely lacking in armor-piercing firepower and unbalanced in attack and defense, were about to be unable to stop these Soviet tanks rolling forward. Dietrich realized that the current situation might be worse than he expected.
Then he frowned.
"These Soviet bastards are just wasting their wealth with such good tanks! No, we can't go on like this. If these Soviet tanks rush up to fight in close combat, our armored forces will be completely destroyed!"
Silently muttering to himself about the conclusion he had reached at the moment, Dietrich rolled his eyes. Dietrich, who had never lacked the determination and courage a qualified commander should have, then took a deep breath and looked towards the person next to him.
The adjutant gave the order again.
"Contact Fernando in the sky and ask them to use all the remaining ammunition towards the Soviet armored forces! Even those 50-kilogram gadgets can break the tracks of the Soviet tanks and stop them from moving forward.
, I won’t object to whatever Fernando wants to do!”
Holding a pen in his hand, he quickly recorded every order from Dietrich's mouth on the note board in front of him. After the young adjutant had recorded all of them and confirmed that they were correct, he immediately turned to the communication station not far away from him.
The staff officer ran quickly.
In fact, despite knowing the powerful combat effectiveness of the T34 tanks and KV series heavy tanks in the hands of the Soviets, he still sent his own armored troops to confront them head-on. It was not because Dietrich was crazy or crazy.
Tracing back to the source, the reason why Dietrich issued such seemingly crazy orders was ultimately due to his sense of honor in his mission as a member of the Führer's Guards Corps.
The Führer Guard Division, which carries the No. 1 sign in the entire Waffen-SS system, did not even dare to send out its armored units to have a real contest with Soviet tanks during the counterattack, just out of fear.
Those Soviet armored forces were too powerful.
Not to mention the fact that Dietrich, the commander of the First Division and a confidant of the Führer, could not keep such rumors on his face. Those under the banner of the Guards Division were already preparing for a head-on confrontation with the Soviet armored forces, and the troops had a sense of honor.
The extremely powerful SS armored soldiers were naturally reluctant.
But even so, Dietrich, who satisfied the desire of the high-spirited armored boys under his command to fight, was once again directly slapped in the face by the ruthless reality.
The combat effectiveness of the powerful T34 tanks and KV series heavy tanks in the hands of the Soviets is not based on human willpower but exists in fact. Even if the officers and soldiers of the German armored forces have rich combat experience and superb tactical skills,
However, it is still impossible to rely on personal ability to make up for the lack of overall equipment quality in such a large-scale military-level battle.
Although somewhat helpless and feeling shameless, Dietrich had no choice but to turn to the German war eagles who were still hovering over the battlefield to end this doomed battle.