Roaring and shaking, dazzling, in the surging summer rain, there was a sudden continuous roar like thunder. A No. 3 reconnaissance vehicle in front of it suddenly shook, and a dark hole in the front of the body of the car appeared, thick black smoke billowed out, and I don't know how many lines and equipment were burned and torn.

German tank sergeant Kalius poked his head out of the cabin and braved the rain to observe the situation around him. In the muddy field, a faint gray shadow is slowly rolling towards him; Although the other party was still more than 2,000 meters away from him, and it was impossible to see it under the rain curtain, he could already conclude that this must be the armored force of the French!

Looking around, their own tank units also rumbled together in a deep roar; The broad Tiger led the way, while the latest IV-H tank served as the wings, surrounded by wedge-shaped arrows. From a distance, these chariots looked like moving steel castles, and the thick armor and cold main guns made Karius's young heart jump with blood. Today's spectacular scene of these giant beasts marching in clusters in the rain is a little more exciting than the usual exercise march; Soon, the armor forces of both sides will come head-on, and this will become a gorgeous stage for steel and artillery shells to compete fiercely!

After a while, Kalius also received an order from Shangguan to advance. Driven by a 450-horsepower diesel engine, the cross-country mobility of the Type IV tank, with a total combat weight of 28 tons, was also quite satisfactory; Through Guò's on-board radio, the tank under his command soon integrated into the queue and became a member of the German steel torrent. Inside a slightly cramped turret. The loader shoves a slender armor-piercing round into the chamber. Always ready to shoot at the gradually clear gray shadow in the scope: after more than 5 years of continuous improvement. The Type IV tank, which had been designed with redundancy from the beginning, was equipped with an 88 mm L50 gun, and with its high penetration depth and unusually straight ballistics, the tank's anti-armor capabilities were undoubtedly a qualitative leap over the prototype with the 75 mm L30 gun.

"Spot the target at 11 o'clock, stop immediately, shoot!" Kalius slammed his foot on the back of the driver in front of him and shouted at the gunner beside him. The gunner, who still had a few bruises on his face, immediately began to quickly turn the handle to drive the cast turret in the shape of a pig's head at the target: in order to reduce the cost and improve the small internal space provided by the replacement of the large gun, the Type IV tank eliminated the special hydraulic device for driving the turret. Switching to manpower to achieve this goal. It turns out that for a turret weighing no more than 7 tons, the manpower drive is also fully capable of coping with the situation on the battlefield.

"Boom!" A loud bang suddenly filled the entire tank. The Kaliuston Guò gunner's mirror looked eagerly, only to see that an orange-red spark had exploded from the front of the hull of the target tank, and the short barrel hung down weakly, and the whole tank immediately billowed smoke from the hole. Seeing this, Kalius couldn't help but clench his fists excitedly, it seemed that the opponent's tank did not have the same thick frontal armor as his own, and his own 88mm guns could effectively destroy it. After the victory, Kalius's confidence was greatly increased, and he was under his command. The tank rumbled again and headed towards the main French tank force in the rear.

The wind is faint. The rain began to fall, and soon, a large group of French tanks appeared in Kalius's field of vision. They both have two slender tracks that rise above the hull, and their chassis type is more like a tractor than a tank; The front of the hull also has a certain inclination, but it does not reach the 60-degree angle of its own tank. The most striking thing is their turrets, which are tall and boxy like buildings on the hull, and to Kalius's eyes, the opposing tank also has a long-barreled gun, which means that its armor-piercing power is very likely to pose a threat to his own tank!

"Boom! Rumble! Before I could think about it, the German tank queue was filled with the roar of fire; 105-mm and 88-mm shells fired vertically and horizontally, galloping towards distant targets. The orange light burst and the steel armor tore as far as Kalius could see, as several French tanks with over-the-top tracks were destroyed. However, only a moment later, the cannon muzzle of the French tank also burst into a dazzling orange-red light, and Kalius, who was closely attached to the gun mirror to observe the surrounding situation, suddenly seemed to be hit by a speeding train in the face, and hit his head on the steel wall of the tank in a huge shock shock. There seemed to be a warm liquid slowly flowing down his cheeks, and a familiar salty sensation appeared at the corners of his mouth, and Kalius reached out to touch it, only to find that his palms were full of his own blood!

"Leon! Luca! Jonas! Fern! Kalius endured the bone-chilling pain in his head, and cried out with all his might; It was not long before four frightened or weak voices rang out inside the tank, and the words of reporting to Kalius that he was safe were full of luck for the rest of his life. Looking out of the car, two Type IV tanks had stopped moving weakly, and one of them was thrown off the turret in the explosion of ammunition, and it was clear that none of the five members inside the tank would survive!

"Damn, these French tanks can actually penetrate our armor!" Kalius, tensely bandaged, hissed and roared, his words filled with disbelief and rage. Although the Type IV tank has only 50 mm of front armor, its bullet resistance is excellent with the inclination bonus; Even if it is equipped with its own main gun, it must be approached to a distance of less than 800 meters to penetrate it in the right position. I thought that this protection would be enough in battle, but I didn't expect that the French would also equip their tanks with powerful cannons; It is very likely that the shell that hit his car just now jumped because of its own angle, otherwise he would have gone to heaven to report by now.

In the loud roar of Kalius, the crew immediately launched a counterattack; The gunner, Leon, pinpointed the position and distance of his target, and then fired three shots at full speed in the bursting reload of Luca the loader. Soon, the target tank was enveloped in smoke and flames, which did not weaken even in the pouring rain. At this time, Kalius realized that the French tank group that collided head-on with his side was not all the kind of big guys armed with long-barreled cannons. Behind them, a large number of smaller tanks were emerging from the rain curtain one after another: not only were they slow, but their guns were also short and weak, and the first tank they had just destroyed was the same kind of weak firepower.

"It seems that like our Tiger tanks, the number of elite tanks of the French is quite limited and cannot be used as the main force for most of them!" Knowing this, Kalius was perked up again, and his turquoise eyes had a little more confidence in them. The big ones with long pipes were left to their own Tiger tanks, and Kalius was convinced that the opponent's firepower could not penetrate the 80 mm 60-degree inclined armor on the front of the Tiger. The wolf pack, made up of Type IV tanks, can strike from both flanks and quickly sweep away ordinary French tanks that are not very combat-ready. Judging by the appearance of the tanks' main guns alone, Kalius could definitely conclude that they could not pose a threat to the frontal protection of his Type IV tanks, and that a single round of assault would have resulted in a decisive victory.

Soon, the battalion headquarters was heard on the radio in the car, and the core tactical ideas were the same as those envisioned by Kalius. After a short period of adjustment, the German tank group soon began to move in a step-by-step manner. Each Tiger tank company has expanded its coverage and gradually become the mainstay of the battlefield front; The Type IV tank, on the other hand, roared out of both flanks with its mobility, focusing on the light tanks of the French army. The shells whistled, the machinery hissed, and a new round of fighting between the two sides began.

Kalius's judgment was not erroneous.

Due to the unprecedented expansion of German armor in this plane, the French military felt tremendous pressure, and in 1935, the French military industry developed a BGR-G1B heavy tank with a total combat weight of 40 tons. It is armed with a 90 mm L50 gun, which was born out of the navy, and it undoubtedly has a very good performance in the field of armor piercing. However, the tank's performance in other areas is lackluster, and its suspension and maneuverability can even be described as terrible: its top speed is only 24 km/h, and its narrow track design above the hull makes its off-road performance miserable. It was not uncommon for tanks to break down due to breakdowns, and it was only recently improved that they were alleviated. Even the armor on the front of the hull is not reassuring, and once the opponent is allowed to find it from a distance through its huge turret, it is very likely that it will be taken away directly by a burst of artillery fire!

Due to the various shortcomings of this type of tank, the French military was already disappointed in it, and as a heavy tank, it was even less interested in the number of hours and costs. At present, among the two French tank divisions participating in the counteroffensive, there are only two battalions of heavy tanks, with a total of only 90 vehicles; Combined with the loss of breakdowns along the way during the previous march, only 73 vehicles actually participated in the battle. In addition to these few heavy firepower vehicles, the most powerful tank of the French army was the 28-ton B1 type; Although it weighed about the same size as the German IV, the short-barreled 75mm gun it was equipped with was no match for the latter! (To be continued......)

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