Chapter 31 Iron Will (Part 2)
As a main medium tank with both anti-armor combat missions and front-line fire support, high-explosive bombs, a common type of ammunition, are naturally among the optional configurations of the T34 medium tank.
The OF-350M HE high-explosive anti-personnel grenade it launches has a full-caliber 76 mm diameter, and the warhead warhead contains 620 grams of trinitrotoluene TNT high explosive.
When fired from the F34 2mm tank gun on the T34 medium tank, its muzzle velocity can reach 680 meters per second, which is far superior to the 420 meters per second high-explosive muzzle of the German Type IV C tank, the main force of the same period. muzzle velocity.
To deal with positional anti-tank guns, which lack effective armor protection and are light and soft targets with exposed gun crew members, high-explosive shells with surface-based killing effects have naturally become Malashenko's best choice at the moment.
Although he had only received some basic simple loader training and lacked experience and skills before officially taking up the post, Kirill still did his best after receiving Malashenko's order and worked in a rather narrow position. He quickly leaned down in the turret of the T34 tank, bent over and pulled out a high-explosive shell with distinguishing marks from the ammunition rack of the vehicle body at his feet, and took it into his arms.
Ding-ding——
Click——
With the crisp mechanical collision sound of the breech opening reverberating in the narrow turret, Kirill, who bent down with both hands to hold a 76mm high-explosive shell, immediately pushed it into the chamber with his right hand.
"Loading completed!"
Chi la——
A large amount of turf and mud was rolled up by a rapid sound of tracks scraping the ground. The No. 177 T34 tank, which driver Seryosha slammed on the brakes to stabilize the gun body, immediately came to a stop with an exaggerated attitude that was almost like drifting. .
"Say goodbye, Spicy!"
Almost at the same time that the vehicle body stopped shaking violently, he stepped on the firing pedal under his feet, and the firing needle located at the bottom of the breech immediately fired the primer of the 76mm high-explosive shell that was ready to go.
The high-explosive warhead, caused by the rapid combustion and expansion of the propellant in the gun barrel, immediately carried blazing flames and rushed straight towards the German position that was already close at hand at a speed of up to 680 meters per second.
boom--
It only took less than a second of flying time for the lightning to hit the intended target.
The high-explosive warhead with a warhead collision fuse sensitivity of only 1 mm deep into the homogeneous steel armor quickly turned into a blazing flame the moment it happened to come into contact with the barrel of the PAK38 anti-tank gun.
The strong explosion was accompanied by death flames and scattered shrapnel, sweeping everything around like a harvester in an autumn wheat field. The PAK38 50mm anti-tank gun had a gun shield of only five millimeters of homogeneous steel armor. The attack on infantry light weapons is still objective, but when it comes to the OF-350M high-explosive anti-personnel grenade from the main gun of the T3476 tank, it can only be regarded as a younger brother.
Including the gunner who was crouching on one side of the position holding a telescope high in his hand to observe the enemy situation and correct the target, the four-man German anti-tank gun team responsible for serving the PAK38 50mm anti-tank gun was immediately violently exploded. The bodies were torn apart by scattered shrapnel and were covered in blood and flesh.
He kept the sight of the gun scope in his hand locked and stared at the German position where the artillery shells were rushing towards him. Among the rising explosion flames and hot firelight, he could even see a big, bloody head wearing a helmet. Malashenko, who looked up to the sky with a cold smile on his lips, then took his right eye away from the gun scope in front of him.
"The first crispy head is here, keep up the good work, guys!"
After dealing with the German anti-tank gun group that was the first to fire at him, Malashenko, who knew very clearly that this was just the beginning, immediately stretched out his left leg and pointed towards the driver who was directly in front of his seat. Member Seryozha lightly kicked him in the middle of his back.
After receiving Malashenko's hint, the driver Seryosha naturally knew what it meant, and then he used all his strength to push the gear in his hand with an almost ferocious expression. joystick.
For the early T34 tanks that lacked wireless communication radios for inter-vehicle communication, it was naturally impossible for crew members to communicate with each other through a series of electronic devices such as throat sounders and headsets, as Allied and German armored forces did at the same time. Possible things.
During the daily march, you can still use the primitive method of shouting loudly to communicate with each other. But once you enter the combat state, the noisy battlefield noise and the sound of firing and explosions are mixed with the power of the T34 tank. After the powerful diesel engine operating noise, it is undoubtedly extremely difficult and easy to be misheard to communicate among vehicle crew members through the most basic communication between mouth and ears.
Faced with such a terrible problem, the Soviet armored soldiers, who did not have the hardware foundation to solve it, finally came up with a more violent and direct but effective method - using their feet.
For example, if the commander wants the driver to stop to stabilize the cannon and launch a fire attack, he can simply lift his leg and give the driver a kick in the center of the back according to the pre-agreed signal.
On the other hand, if you want the driver to turn left, lift your legs and lift the driver's left shoulder. If you want the driver to turn right, lift your right shoulder.
The driver and commander of the Soviet T34 tank, sitting in tandem one behind the other along the side of the tank, almost used this method to communicate effectively in battle.
It sounds silly and crude, but it is indeed effective in actual combat.
This is the typical Soviet furry bear style.
Furthermore, the allusion that the driver of the T34 tank was a strong man is not groundless, but it was the actual situation at the time.
As early as when the Soviet T34 tank first started to project and draft the design plan, in order to keep the height of the vehicle body as low as possible to reduce the front projection area of the vehicle body and thus reduce the chance of the tank being shot in actual combat, the Soviet engineer team combined all the previously traditional tank structures. The front-mounted design of the transmission mechanism used was boldly changed, and the transmission mechanism of the entire T34 tank was rear-mounted in the engine compartment at the rear of the vehicle body.
As a result, at the beginning of the design of the advanced T34 tank, the long drive shaft on the traditional tank that was used to transmit the power of the engine in the rear compartment of the body to the front transmission mechanism of the body was discarded, thereby saving money. A certain amount of space inside the car body and thereby reducing the height of the car body.
However, the design structure of this kind of rear transmission is not absolutely perfect.
Since the entire transmission mechanism has been completely moved to the engine compartment at the rear of the vehicle, if the driver of the T34 tank located at the front of the vehicle wants to operate the transmission mechanism to perform a series of operations such as shifting gears, he will inevitably have to pass several wires through the vehicle. It is completed by connecting the operating lever all the way to the engine room in the rear compartment of the car body.
In that era that lacked auxiliary means such as hydraulic assist, it was undoubtedly extremely difficult for the driver of the T34 tank to complete this set of gear shifting operations that relied solely on the power and friction of the mechanical structure. Even with the support of the Soviet pilot's sturdy unicorn arm, he was often sweating and complaining from being tired of this stiff mechanical joystick.
