Chapter 42 Death Vulture (Part 2)
The nightmare scene like purgatory has just begun and is far from over.
When Colonel Fernando completed another wave of ground attacks, he climbed head-on again and quickly pulled the plane upwards. The Stukas who were following Colonel Fernando because they were slightly slower than the BF109E3 fighter jets finally followed at this moment. And arrived.
As the first wave of three JU87B-2 Stuka dive bombers dived straight down from high altitude, they roared the iconic death scream again, and the weight of three 250-kilogram heavy aerial bombs hit them again. The pound combination immediately rushed straight towards the chaotic Soviet formation from the three-point bombing position in the shape of a letter.
Boom boom boom——
After three dull and loud noises like thunder, the offensive array of two armored regiments and one mechanized infantry regiment under the Soviet 20th Tank Division, which suffered another disaster, was already bombed to pieces and was miserable.
The lighter BT series fast tanks and T26 light tanks were directly knocked to the ground by the powerful shock wave that followed even though they were far away from the center of the blast. Those that were hit hard by the German Stuka dive bomber pilots The KV2 heavy tanks being cared for were blasted with dozens of 152mm shells and 250kg aerial bombs. The smoke and flames that rose during the explosion even shot up to an astonishing height of more than 30 meters in the air. .
Under the sudden and violent German air attack, he was like a lonely boat in the sea, chasing the waves in the strong explosion shock wave. He felt that his ears were about to be deafened and bleeding. His vision was blurred and Malashenko did not even have time to turn around. Suddenly, a burst of fierce artillery fire from our left flank came suddenly at this most critical moment.
Boom boom boom——
Wittmann, who confirmed the results of the first wave of test firing artillery fire through the commander's wide-angle periscope held tightly in his hand, clearly observed every detail from the firing of the gun to the hit of the Soviet tank, then turned towards the tank directly in front of his seat. Gunner Klink said.
"This shot was fired a little too high, Klink! The side armor of those T34 tanks is also sloped! Lower the barrel depression angle by one degree and shoot toward the side tracks of those Soviet T34 tanks! There is no slope there. Armored!"
"Got it, I know what to do!"
"Armor-piercing bullets are good!"
After holding the main gun height adjustment wheel and performing the second firing calibration according to Wittmann's order, the gunner Klink, who heard the loader's loud report, immediately fired the first shot at the T34 tanks that were already close at hand. Two 75mm armor-piercing rounds.
Before the Soviet-German War in which Operation Barbarossa was launched, the anti-armor combat mission had not reached the level that it is now when facing the Soviet T34 medium tanks and KV series heavy tanks. The German armored forces were only using No. 3 The assault gun is positioned as a frontline fire support weapon and is only equipped with a StuK37 75mm short-barreled gun with a 24-caliber barrel.
It is absolutely impossible for such a short and weak little guy to hit the Soviet T34 tank head-on. Because of this, Wittmann, who knew that the tank in his hands was not as powerful as his opponent, chose a cautious flank ambush. tactics, and still waited for the opportunity to come. When the Soviet army was in chaos and was already confused, it gave the order to let go and fight.
But even so, the 75mm full-caliber capped armor-piercing projectile fired by the 24-time caliber 75mm short-barreled gun of the Type 3A assault gun can only penetrate a 50mm vertical angle at a distance of 500 meters. of homogeneous steel armor.
Therefore, even in the case of a flank ambush and sneak attack, the Type 3A assault gun commanded by Michel Wittmann still failed to penetrate the equivalent 60 mm thickness of the side of the T34 tank body after its launch. The tilted armor only left a shallow crater on the armor plate, and then it was shot straight away to an unknown place.
Since he had seen the sloping armor equipped by the Soviet T34 tanks in the previous days of fighting, Michel Wittmann, who had studied the wreckage of the Soviet tanks, was already on the right side. From his own professional perspective, he roughly understood the specific working principle of tilted equivalent armor.
On this basis, as an experienced hunter who had participated in the previous German blitzkrieg in Europe, Wittmann knew that his assault gun could not pose a threat to the sloped armor area on the front or even the sides of the Soviet T34 body. Naturally, Wittmann Choosing to attack its weak point, the vertical armor area behind the tracks under the inclined armor area on the side of the T34 tank body became the absolute weak point most likely to be penetrated in Wittmann's eyes.
In fact, it is exactly as Wittmann guessed now. For the T34 tank, which systematically arranges comprehensive sloped armor in pursuit of ultimate defense, the vertical armor areas on the sides of the body behind the tracks and at the suspension mechanism are not only There is no inclination angle at all, and the physical thickness of the armor plate itself is only 45 mm.
And with such armor defense, for the Wittmann crew, which had shortened the attack distance to less than 300 meters and suddenly launched a sneak attack, the No. 3A assault gun under its command was at a distance of 500 meters. The penetration power that can penetrate 50 mm vertical homogeneous steel armor is indeed capable of penetrating it.
boom--
Accompanied by another firing attack by gunner Klink after calibrating the target, a 75mm armor-piercing shell accurately hit the side armor of the nearest T34 tank with a decent nearly vertical angle of incidence.
With a vertical armor thickness of only 45mm, it was completely unable to resist the fierce attack of the Type 3A assault gun that could penetrate 50mm vertical homogeneous steel armor at a distance of 500 meters.
This 75mm armor-piercing shell successfully triggered the warhead delay fuse after penetrating the armor and exploded in the chassis of the T34 tank, hitting the ammunition rack of the T34 tank body exactly.
Dozens of 76mm shells of various types were ignited almost instantly by the explosion, and in less than a moment, they eventually turned into a terrible ammunition explosion. The Soviet T34 tank commander and loader, who had just opened the heavy turret cover and were preparing to escape by chance, did not even have time to put their legs on the turret. Under the strong impact of the primitive power in the vehicle body, they were lifted into the air by the strong explosion power.
After seeing that the attack plan he had carefully arranged and analyzed was successful, Michel Wittmann, who could not hide his excitement, immediately opened the communication channel of the communicator beside him and spoke loudly to the commanders of the other Type 3A assault guns under his command.