Not to mention that it is invincible and invincible, at least the 1st Guards Mechanized Army, which is dominant at the level of armored operations, is in trouble. In the face of the tiger hunting that "does not enter the oil and salt", they seem helpless, they can neither fight nor bear, and they are almost helpless.

The 1st Guards Mechanized Army had to abandon the idea of an offensive and move to the defensive. And the battalion and regiment to which the old Hemstra belonged were also actively using their brains to figure out a way. It was clear that the enemy they were facing had extremely powerful firepower, capable of posing a lethal threat to the T-54 from a distance of two thousand meters, and was also able to block the T-54's attack, and according to the results of internal tests in the Red Army, the enemy's armor thickness was definitely more than 250 mm.

This is almost a desperate thickness, in the words of the later British, "with battleship-level defense", anyway, in terms of the anti-tank ammunition currently installed by the 1st Guards Mechanized Army, none of them can reach this level.

In other words, if you continue to attack from the front, I am afraid that the result will be thankless, and I am afraid that you will be beaten by the enemy. The 1st Guards Mechanized Army was not only brutal, but there were many ways to do it for the most experienced and thoughtful people in the whole army with the most experience and ideas about armored tactics.

For example, detours, such as artillery fire and air superiority, especially in the air force, the Il-2 has a very strong say in anti-tank, and almost no tank can block the air attack of the Il-2 (including the T-54).

However, none of these methods came in handy, not because of the Red Army, but because the Germans quickly took advantage of the situation to launch a counteroffensive, after all, they were the ones who were in a hurry to flee for their lives.

10 Panthers at the head, followed by 5 King Tigers. As for whether there were other German troops behind the Tiger King to provide cover. This is also self-explanatory. After all, it doesn't matter if it's a cheetah or a cheetah or Ferdinand. Its artillery is suitable for providing long-range support, especially the Tiger Hunt, this deadly PAK44128 mm cannon is not only anti-armor almost overkill, but also quite capable of fighting pillboxes. The animals also have mobility, much better than towed artillery.

"Prepare for battle!"

The No. 888 crew, which had just been withdrawn, rested for less than 15 minutes before entering the tank again to prepare for battle. However, unlike before, the big guy seemed so relaxed before, and felt that the battle would be very simple. And now the big guys all have a straight face, and the atmosphere is almost stagnant.

"Why don't you take the soy sauce bottle off your mouth and give it to Lao Tzu, isn't it just a hard bone? Isn't fighting a war just counting on this little fun, and it's not fun to kill enemies that are sloppy and muddy! Old Hemstra cheered up loudly.

"Besides, offense is offense, defense is defense. I don't believe that the Germans can toss flowers out of this muddy field. ”

The latter sentence is of great significance, because Zherelov and others immediately lit up, indeed, the hunting tiger's ability to resist attacks and combat effectiveness exceeded their expectations, and it can be regarded as very yellow and violent. But at the same time. Look at its volumetric weight, not to mention the muddy floor. Even in the ordinary wilderness, its mobility is also scum!

Indeed, the more the German World War II tank reached the later the more scumbag it was mobile, taking the famous Tiger King as an example, its 70-ton physique was only equipped with a 700-horsepower heart, and the unit power was only 10 horsepower/ton, and its gearbox design was also problematic. Anyway, according to the tests of the Red Army after the war, the actual mobility of the Tiger King is far from the maneuverability claimed on paper, and its mobility on paper is not brilliant in the first place, you think about what kind of state such a Tiger King is.

According to the Red Army's actual vehicle test in Kubinka, the maximum road speed of the King Tiger on paper is 38 km/h, but in fact there are only more than 20 subs, and the maximum off-road speed of 15 km/h (bicycle speed) on paper is actually only 7 km/h. The maximum driving range on paper is 140 km, but the real data in real tests is only a little more than half.

Let's put it this way, the huge Tiger King traded his incredible weight for better defense (which is a real waste of weight compared to Soviet tanks), but this physique puts a huge burden on its suspension, brakes, and transmission, because these parts are overwhelmed and the failure rate is alarming. As a result, the Tiger King is often discarded by his own people before he is destroyed by the enemy.

Especially considering that this is a rather muddy battlefield, and for the already lame Tiger King, it can almost only be used as a mobile battery. And the tiger hunting that comes from the same source as the Tiger King is naturally no better than the Tiger King, or even worse. Fortunately, it was originally an assault gun, and it was more used as a cover in offensive operations, and the PAK44 they were equipped with was quite powerful at a long distance.

The Germans went on the offensive, and it was neither the Tiger King nor the Panther, nor the Panther, nor the assault guns of the Tiger Hunting and Cheetah, but the inconspicuous Tank No. 4. Tank No. 4 may not have the same heavy armor and firepower as those of its more powerful juniors, but they are an indispensable military horse for the German Panzer Forces on the battlefield. Where other jackals, tigers and leopards can't go, they go flat. And when it comes to production, they're not picky at all. At least in the immediate part of the battlefield, they are more adaptable.

Of course, the only problem is that the technical performance gap between them and the T-54 is still too big, a year ago the T-54 had no way to hunt them at a long distance because of the problem of artillery, and now the T-54 has basically completed the replacement of guns and fire control, and repairing them is easy and pleasant.

The shape of the T-54 was already very low, and then hiding in specially dug fortifications, almost only the turret was exposed, which was a nightmare for the Germans, the target was short and small, it was naturally difficult to hit, and for the fourth tank, it was no fun to hit, and the armor of the T-54 was completely immune to its attack.

"Three o'clock direction, tank four, aim!"

Old Hemsstra commanded the battle with a calm and relaxed attitude. On the battlefield, the commander's main job is to decide on the direction of the tank's march and notify the commander of the most threatening targets, who will fight according to the commander's schedule. In other words, the commander is the soul of a tank.

This situation remained the same until the third generation of the command ceremony fire control system was born, and the commander was responsible for searching and identifying targets. Then give it to the artillery commander for a precision strike. Even some high-end trans fire control systems have strengthened the commander's sighting system. Night vision devices and other fire control equipment were also added to the commander's sighting device. Gives the commander the ability to overtake the gun commander in an emergency and mobilize artillery for direct fire. Of course, the most awesome thing is the dual-command ceremonial fire control system, the commander and the gun commander have a full set of observation and sighting equipment, which can identify and strike targets in dual channels, which can be regarded as a dual-core system.

Of course, this was not possible in World War II, so the commander's job was to identify the threat target and then notify the gun commander to destroy it. This is also a key reason why commanders of that era generally liked to lean out of the turret to direct operations. The person's field of view is still much larger than the lens, and it is safe to nest in the turret. But the perception of the battlefield has dropped by several orders of magnitude, which is too slow to react to the rapidly changing battlefield environment.

In the case of Old Hemsstra, he is also accustomed to leaning out of the turret to direct the battle, and he can directly understand the situation on the battlefield, so that he can decide which target to attack first.

According to the old man's command, Zherelov quickly moved the turret, and after a while, the figure of tank No. 4 appeared in his sight. The guy was bouncing in the mud step by step, bouncing around like a naughty child. But Zherelov had no mercy, and it was good for him that these damned bear children were dead.

Old program. Divide the simple distance with the scope scale first, and then staple the ruler. Shoot with a rangefinder machine gun, and if it misses, it will continue to be revised, and when it is almost done, it will be fired. Zherelov is already familiar with this set, and a skilled artillery commander like him can handle all this in more than ten seconds.

With a bang, the cannon burst into the chamber and hit the rear of the No. 4 tank about two meters behind, kicking up a cloud of dirt. Zherelov knew that his speed was becoming more conservative, so he corrected the advance and shot again.

In less than thirty seconds, its turret flew into the sky with a roar, and only two crew members escaped from the iron coffin before the explosion.

With no joy or sorrow, Zherelov followed the instructions of the elder Hemstra and aimed at the second tank No. 4, and a few minutes later, the bouncing bear child also died. It was not only the No. 888 car group that achieved the results, but also the other two remaining T-54 modifications in the company and the T-54 modifications of friendly troops also showed their skills, telling the Germans with bloody facts that this road is not working!

The Germans also realized this, and they quickly stopped using the No. 4 tank to carry out this senseless test, and the Haw Par Corps, which was pressing behind them, immediately pressed up with great momentum, and while slowly and leisurely moving forward, the Germans opened heavy fire, as if trying to suppress the resistance of the Red Army with heavy firepower.

However, this seemed to old Hemstra to be meaningless, and shooting in these years was basically a matter of luck, and it was too difficult to count on the accurate destruction of the target in this way. You don't see that in the tank competition of a certain big country in later generations, the T-72 equipped with the third-generation fire control system is still smiling and generous, not to mention the era of World War II.

In the words of the old man: "This is the sound of listening!" Scare people! ”

However, no Red Army will be intimidated by such botched tactics, the Guards are joking, they have not experienced the brutal battle of the mountains of corpses and the sea of blood, what are the Guards. Are you scared when you are a guard?

Anyway, the fierce artillery bombardment of the German army achieved few results, except for a few unlucky unlucky ghosts who were unfortunately stunned by the shells, and the vast majority of the Red Army soldiers responded calmly, just waiting for the German devils to approach.

Zherelov did not open fire blindly, the distance of about two thousand meters is not the best distance for cheetahs to slaughter tigers, and they must be brought closer, so that they can hunt happily at that time.

The Germans did not know this, and they were a little proud when they pressed down on the Russians and did not put up a stubborn resistance. Yes, in the previous defensive battles, the wonderful performance of the Tiger Hunt allowed them to get rid of the T-54 phobia they had always had - we in Germany finally have a weapon that can hang the T-54, and we can finally let the Russians taste the power too!

The Germans were excited at this time, thinking that with the help of the Tiger Hunter, they would be able to rush the Russians to a screech, and there would be no doubt about victory. And now the Russians are so "scared" that they can't raise their heads, and they are so "scared" that they don't dare to fight, which undoubtedly makes them very happy!

The Germans were scrappy. I can't wait to rush forward and crush the Red Army on the opposite side into slag. But soon they found out. That's impossible. It's not that the reaction of the Red Army discourages them, it's that the car under their crotch is too weak.

Hank, a German panzer, recalled: "Not to mention the cross-country speed of the Tiger King, we almost rubbed forward step by step, and walked for five or six minutes at a distance of 100 meters, this snail-like speed is really unsatisfactory!" ”

The Red Army was also not satisfied, and the elder Hemstra was particularly dissatisfied with the procrastination of the Germans, in his opinion: "The German Panzers were inferior to the next generation, and in 1941 they dared to charge forward in a daze, in the dilapidated tanks No. 2 and No. 3." In Romania, they drove fifty or sixty tons of well-defended tanks with strong firepower, but they climbed forward like turtles. It's disgusting! ”

It took half an hour for the Tiger and Leopard to climb within the effective range of the T-54, and just when the Germans were bothered by the poor terrain and endless mechanical failures, the Red Army artillery fired.

"We're going to target the big Tiger Kings first," Zherelov said, "The Tiger King's KWK43 tank guns are still a certain threat to us, and within 1,500 meters, we can make sure that we can penetrate each other, so knock them out first, and wait until they're finished." The panther is a dish. ”

Zherelov was right, and the crew of the King Tiger tank suddenly found that the pressure was high. The tank guns and anti-tank guns of the Red Army were all aimed at them, and they were almost impossible to avoid in their tall and powerful but faltering steps.

Hank recalled: "In one minute, we were hit at least five times! ”

Hank did not say anything about the damage to his car, for it was hard to talk about it, because his Tiger King was paralyzed on the spot, the gun commander and loader were killed on the spot, and finally he and the radioman almost crawled together to escape from the already burning Tiger King.

Zherelov also recalled: "It was not difficult to hit the Tiger King, they were the most obvious target on the battlefield because they were obvious and slow. ”

What made the Germans feel gloomy was Zherelov's words later: "When the tanks and assault guns on the first line began to shoot at the Tiger, the SU-122 in charge of supporting us on the second line also began to bombard the German tank cluster...... A King Tiger was soon surrounded by artillery fire, and in the accumulation of 122-mm grenades, its armor began to collapse in a large area, like a landslide, and its armor collapsed! ”

Such a scene made both sides on the battlefield dumbfounded, and Ivan and Hans couldn't figure out why the armor of the Tiger King was so watery, it was simply a tofu scum project!

Hank later admitted: "King Tiger's armor is extremely susceptible to shattering in the face of direct fire from large-caliber grenades...... This is a heavy blow to the morale of the armored troops! ”

After this round of fierce bullet rain baptism, the Tiger King was quickly defeated. Well, that's a misword. Because half of the Tiger King was directly blown up, and the other half broke down on the battlefield because of the rough maneuvers of the German armored troops when they were in a hurry to retreat. None of the King Tigers who participated in the battle were not able to be towed back, and at least two were captured intact by the Red Army and sent to Kubinka for testing.

In fact, when it comes to this part, the Germans' attack is no longer playful, and the remaining Black Panthers are not the opponents of the T-54 at all, and staying on the battlefield is also sending them to death. But the Germans did not give up, they pinned all their hopes on the tiger hunt.

The seventy-ton monster began to rumble in, not to mention, it was quite oppressive, especially when the Red Army's anti-tank ammunition hit its armor and was bounced off one by one.

"Hold your breath, maneuver quickly, go around to the side!"

The Red Army tankmen were quickly instructed by their superiors that no armored vehicle could withstand the same beatings on the side as it did on the front. Especially for tank destroyers with fixed turrets, the range of fire from the main gun is limited, as long as it can go around to the side, things are generally simple.

However, on the battlefield, things are never so simple, the Germans will not be stupid to send the Tiger Hunter to fight alone, and another group of Cheetahs and Tiger Kings will fall behind their flanks to take cover, supplementing the limited shortcomings of the Tiger Hunting range.

Zherelov later recalled: "Our tanks rarely stopped at one point, and every short stop was a test, and once hit by a hunting tiger, it basically meant death." ”

In this charge, the T-54's good maneuverability was unmistakably demonstrated, and when the T-54 moved quickly on the battlefield, the Germans' hit rate naturally dropped greatly.

The distance between the two sides is getting closer and closer, and the tanks are constantly being destroyed, and the explosions continue to be heard one after another. In order to cover the forward assault of the T-54, the Red Army support artillery of the second line again began to fire fiercely, and 122-mm, 130-mm and 152-mm grenades rained down on the Germans.

"The smoke from the shelling deteriorated the field of view," Zherelov said, "and the jolts in our rapid leap made aiming even harder." Fortunately, the T-54 was equipped with a two-way stabilizer instead, otherwise the situation would have been much worse! ”

With a squeak, T-888 T-54 came to a sharp brake, and Zherelov quickly adjusted his gun and fired a shot at a speed that was racing against time...... The shell got into the side of the Hunting Tiger, and then Zherelov felt a shock to the turret, and he felt a warm liquid stay above his head, obscuring his vision, and after that the old Hemstra shouted: "Vasily, you are wounded?!" (To be continued.) )

PS: Bow and thank you baby pandas, Comrade Juventus!