Chapter 34 Soldier (Part 2)

The highly nervous Malashenko was currently turning the wide-angle periscope in his hand and looking around, trying to find the most threatening German 88mm anti-aircraft guns at any possible location so that he could kill them. Eliminate in time.

But maybe it's because the German army deliberately concealed it just right, or maybe the German army really didn't deploy 88mm anti-aircraft guns on the first defensive position.

All in all, Malashenko, who held the wide-angle periscope in his hand and scanned the entire German position facing the enemy several times, gained nothing.

The thick barrel and tall gun mount of the German 88mm anti-aircraft gun that was engraved in the depths of his memory were nowhere to be seen. This was for Malashenko, who did not believe that the Germans would not use the 88mm gun against him. Absolutely terrible bad news.

boom--

He slammed his fist hard on the cold gun bolt in front of him and gritted his teeth. This kind of battlefield situation where the enemy is in darkness and we are clear is the last thing any field commander wants to see.

"Damn it! These German guys are still using those 50mm small water pipes to test attacks. What are they planning on doing!?"

Just when the troubled Malashenko couldn't guess what the enemy's German defense forces were planning, he benefited from the large force of more than ten T34 tanks rushing at the forefront to cover the infantry accompanying the vehicles. Deliberately slowing down the speed, the four KV2 heavy tanks following the large force, which were very maneuverable due to their total combat weight of 52 tons, finally rushed up at this moment.

Facing the PAK38 50mm anti-tank guns that were still doing useless work on the German positions less than 300 meters away from our own, these tall, mighty and rather bulky KV2 heavy tanks slowly stopped and their heavy tanks After the body, the huge turret began to slowly rotate under the guidance of the steering machine.

Through the telescope in his hand, he saw the newly arrived Soviet monster tanks pointing the muzzle of their unknown main gun at him. One of them was directing his anti-tank gun team to fire continuously at the T34 tank. The German gunner couldn't help shaking his hands.

"Jesus, what the hell is that!?"

boom--

Before the German gunner, whose hands were shaking, could finish his words, the sound of the 152mm M-10T howitzer firing, which was enough to shock the entire battlefield, was completely overshadowed in the blink of an eye.

Amidst the roar of cannons, sand and rocks flew into chaos.

As the four KV2 heavy tanks fired almost simultaneously in a salvo, four 152mm high-explosive grenades with a projectile weight of 40 kilograms instantly hit not far away with a muzzle velocity of up to 530 meters per second. on top of the German position.

The single-shot projectile warhead is a 152mm high-explosive grenade filled with 8 kilograms of trinitrotoluene TNT high explosive. The powerful power it releases at the moment of explosion can only be described by words such as devastating the world.

The German anti-tank gun team, which originally insisted on the front line and continued to fire at Malashenko and his group of T34 tanks with their tenacious fighting will, suffered almost instantly.

The 152mm high-explosive shells that are enough to destroy light reinforced concrete military fortifications are completely overkill when used against targets such as anti-tank artillery groups. The deafening explosions are accompanied by a huge fireball that expands to the extreme in an instant, which will immediately affect everyone within the range. All German anti-tank gun groups were devoured.

The German 50mm anti-tank gun, which could barely leave a mess under the bombardment of the T34 tank's 76mm high-explosive bomb, this time disappeared from the position forever, including the man and the gun, and not even a single part was left. The four huge craters large enough for infantry to crouch in and serve as foxholes remained on the position.

The KV2 heavy tank's 152mm cannon is so powerful, but its relative cost is also extremely criticized.

In order to serve this 152mm giant gun, which is originally a towed howitzer for the army, the KV2 heavy tank not only built a huge square turret that resembled a toilet to accommodate it, but also equipped the turret with A four-man team including the gunner, commander and two loaders.

Yes, it is precisely because of this huge gun with a diameter of up to 152 mm that there is only one loader on an ordinary tank, but two loaders are needed on the KV2 heavy tank to serve this powerful gun. But even with two strong Slavic loaders, the loading process of the 152 mm shells of the KV2 heavy tank is still extremely cumbersome.

First of all, for KV2 heavy tanks that need to be reloaded after firing, the main loader must first open the breech, remove the separately launched warhead from the first ammunition rack at the rear of the turret, and then place it on the rear ammunition belt.

After that, the secondary loader is responsible for placing the propellant cartridge of the 152 mm shell on the ammunition belt immediately after the warhead. At this time, the main loader who has just completed the work of placing the warhead will use the time when the secondary loader is loading the propellant cartridge to remove the ejector rod next to him, and use manual push to push the propellant cartridge together with the warhead. Push it into the chamber, and after closing the breech, notify the gunner that the loading is complete and you can start shooting.

In actual combat, the 152mm split-type artillery shells with a single projectile weight of more than 40 kilograms require such a cumbersome manual manual loading process in a narrow turret, which undoubtedly greatly restricts the actual firepower projection efficiency of the KV2 heavy tank.

The loading time of the T34 tank, which can be completed in the hands of a skilled crew, only takes about six seconds. Even if it is placed on a KV2 heavy tank with an X2 loader, it will take about 30 seconds to complete. And this is theoretically the best situation without considering the interference of other additional factors.

Once multiple artillery shells are loaded in a continuous battle, the manpower decreases, or there is a lack of tacit cooperation such as insufficient teamwork. The loading time of the KV2 heavy tank will continue to be extended on this basis. In some extremely harsh battles, it even took two tired and panting loaders a full minute to fire a gun.

As these four giants, which had just finished the first wave of firepower, began to enter the long reloading time, although the German position that had withstood a wave of 152 religious baptisms was in a mess, you could see yourself through the telescope. After the thing he was waiting for finally fired, the German commander said something quite unexpectedly.

"Inform Schmeisser and the others that Ivan's giants are tired and it's time for them to take the field!"