Iron Cross

After hearing the name and looking at the object, Major Rudel had a preliminary judgment of this new gadget, but he had no idea what the actual situation was. Seeing that he was skeptical, the engineer simply pulled him onto the "bulldozer". A professional sergeant skillfully turned on the device. After a moment, he suddenly found a clear and blurry shadow of a tank in the distance on the screen. From an intuitive point of view, it was a Type 4 tank.

It is clear because the outline and shape can be seen very clearly, especially in the dark, it is simply a bright target; it is blurry because the image seen on the screen always feels a bit strange, and it does not conform to daily cognition like direct visual observation.

"You can jump out of the car and take a look. Can you still see us 200 meters away?"

Rudel shook his head. The bulldozer did not leak any light. In addition to relying on the engine sound to vaguely judge that there is a tank 200 meters away, it is not clear without lighting.

"The maximum detection distance of this vehicle is about 2,000 meters, which is exactly the limit of the Tiger tank gun's accurate hit." The engineer said proudly, "We think this thing is a perfect match for the Tiger. With it, the night is no longer an insurmountable challenge for tanks."

Rüdel was excited. Since the advent of tanks, there has been no shortage of tactical ideas about night battles, but tanks have poor observation capabilities. If they carry a searchlight at night, they will be even brighter targets. Therefore, night battles can only be imagined in the mind at most. If they can really engage in night battles as the engineer said, it will be very helpful for German armored troops.

The engineer was not bragging at all. The code-named "Owl" is the latest infrared night vision device developed by Germany. Germany has been systematically exploring night vision devices since the early 1930s and actively preparing to put them into the battlefield. In 1936, the Sixth Experimental Section of the German Weapons Bureau and AEG Company discussed the development of infrared night vision technology for reconnaissance and sighting optical instruments for drivers and reached a consensus: Since the reflection characteristics of infrared light are no different from ordinary visible light, it was decided to use infrared light for irradiation and convert the reflected infrared light waves into visible light through special devices - its academic basis is basically the same as radar.

The whole set of equipment mainly includes two devices: one is a searchlight with a filter device to emit infrared light; the other is an image display that receives infrared light and converts infrared light into visible light. The vehicle equipped with a high-power searchlight is called an irradiation vehicle. At the beginning, the sdkfz.251 half-track armored vehicle was used, equipped with a 60 cm diameter arc searchlight with an infrared filter and a corresponding high-voltage electrical device, which is equivalent to a powerful infrared irradiator. The scout can operate the irradiator for 360-degree irradiation, and it can be conveniently folded in the vehicle during daytime marches to make it look less ostentatious. When using the maximum power, the irradiator has a 10-fold magnification and a search distance of 1,500 meters.

Since Germany modified a large number of Sherman tanks to serve as service vehicles, a logistics officer habitually muttered: "Since this thing requires a lot of electricity, why don't you install it on a more powerful bulldozer?" This awakened the dreamer, and technical experts immediately followed suit and installed this equipment on the Sherman. Compared with the 251 half-track vehicle, the irradiation vehicle modified by the Sherman is slightly inferior in speed, but it is far superior in terms of defense, interior space, and power. Experts use two 800-watt incandescent lamps as projectors instead of arc lamps, and the working voltage is reduced to 36 volts. The new facility after the modification has a 14-fold magnification and a maximum detection distance of 2,000 meters. Coupled with the Sherman's 500-horsepower engine (the HL42TRKM engine used in the half-track armored vehicle is usually only 100 horsepower), it can maintain continuous operation even without installing batteries.

The receiver is installed in front of the vehicle, with a windshield-like protective device to prevent damage to the equipment. The cathode ray tube converts the received infrared image into a visible image under the action of high voltage (working voltage up to 17,000 volts). What Ruedel saw was only a single receiver, which can only provide images for the commander alone. The engineer told him that they are currently studying a one-to-three or one-to-four transformer to provide energy for multiple receivers, so that the driver, machine gunner and other members can also see the surrounding situation at night like the commander.

This night vision device was put into small-scale trial at the Fallin Post Tank Military Academy half a year ago and received unanimous praise. It has been improved many times based on practical opinions. Not only can the commander use the night vision device for 360-degree reconnaissance, but the device also has a aiming function and can be used directly for firing. Originally, this device could be put into actual combat more quickly, but a major general with a Junker background and a broken brain in the Supreme Command said: "We don't need this kind of thing. Our soldiers will win this war with fair chivalry." The actual use was postponed for more than a month.

Although Speer has dominated the production of armaments, if the military does not adopt the products produced, he has no choice but to complain angrily to Hoffman, because he knows that the Führer has always been very interested in new technologies. . Unexpectedly, the latter's reaction was even more violent than his. In a rage, he called Keitel over and trained him for more than half an hour, scolding him till he was bloody and afraid to say anything. This unlucky major general was fired from his post the next day by the outraged Chief of General Staff and was thrown into the reserve force. No one expected that the matter would not end like this - Bowman heard the news from some unknown source. Thinking that this guy was suspected of "collaborating with the enemy", he was taken away directly for investigation. It took two weeks before he was released due to lack of evidence.

When the engineer told this experience to Guderian, he couldn't help but nod his head: "Some officers have rotten minds and outdated ideas. This was the same behavior when we were studying tank warfare. It's really time to rectify it..."

He told Ruedel: "I will give you one night to study the tactics and get them in place. Have a good rest during the day tomorrow, and attack the Americans at night to catch them by surprise."

Taking into account the tacit understanding of cooperation, Rudel did not choose the 4 vehicles with the best results, but chose a platoon of 5 Tiger tanks. The technical sergeants moved very quickly, not only modifying 2 bulldozers on the spot, but also Without the Tiger's muzzle and smoke exhaust device, the flash after firing cannot be seen from a distance, greatly reducing the probability of being discovered by the enemy.

The engineer told Ruedel that in addition to special illumination vehicles like the Owl, technical experts are also studying and trial-producing the "Sparrowhawk" FG1250 night vision device, preparing to install infrared headlights directly on the tank to avoid the need for a special illumination vehicle. However, due to power limitations, the night vision range of this system is less than 400 meters, and the field of view does not exceed 100 meters during high-speed maneuvers. Its practicality is relatively poor. It is almost useless except for night marches, which is of some value. In actual combat.

By understanding the characteristics of the Owl, the 501st Battalion quickly formulated targeted tactics: the bulldozer equipped with the Owl will remotely guide and indicate the target for the Tiger tank, and then the Tiger will conduct blind fire, and only need to ensure that it follows the bulldozer for 10- A distance of 15 meters is enough.

The next night, the platoon of Tiger tanks that everyone expected moved out, and the tracks rumbled. The five tanks under the platoon leader, Second Lieutenant Link, formed two columns, following two Owls respectively. When the driver was driving, he saw three lights wrapped in cloth behind the bulldozer, which were used to remind him of the direction. The coaxial machine gun observation port had also locked the direction in advance: only when all three lights were seen at the same time was it in front of the bulldozer. The car keeps a straight line. If he can only see 2 lights on the left, it means he is veering to the left. If he can only see 2 lights on the right, he is veering to the right.

Although there are some inconveniences in use, compared to the previous night battle scenes where his eyes were completely black, Link feels that he is completely confident now.

More than 2 hours later, the German tanks were less than 2,000 meters away from the US position.

"1 o'clock, 1,700 meters, one tank..." Owl 1 passed the message to the tank behind it through the radio.

Following closely behind, the No. 1 car, commanded by Link himself, automatically added a 15-meter distance to itself. The gunner who had been prepared immediately fired a shell. After a while, the message came back, "To the right. 10 meters\

,"The No. 2 vehicle following behind immediately re-fired based on the revised ballistics. This time the shell accurately hit the enemy tank. A Sherman was pierced by an 88mm armor-piercing projectile, causing a fire that quickly lit up the surrounding area.

The American soldiers on guard in the trenches on the opposite position began to get nervous. How did the Germans destroy the tanks in the circular defensive position from such a long distance? They also thought that German infantry had touched it at close range, because the several Panzerfaust anti-tank weapons that Germany had put into use were very difficult to deal with. Both the British and Americans had suffered enough. In comparison, the United States had obtained The bazooka in the African battlefield is not that easy to use.

Intense fire began to pour in all directions, and even the Browning machine guns began to pour fire.

"Directly ahead, 1650 meters, one high-explosive bomb..." Owl No. 2 issued the command, and Car No. 4 immediately executed it. After a "bang", the whole world became clear.

Some unwilling American soldiers tried to turn on their searchlights to see what was going on, but they didn't see anything. The bright target was directly blown to pieces by artillery shells flying from a distance.

In just 2 minutes, Link's tank platoon destroyed a sudden position. This undoubtedly stirred up a large hornet's nest, and immediately caused the US military's deep positions to begin to riot as a whole. Various artillery fires were fired forward sparsely at first, and then became more and more intensive, as if they were free of charge, they fired at will, but within their field of vision It was completely pitch black inside, and any action of firing had no effect except exposing its own target - the nearest shell was more than 200 meters away from the German tank.

After a night of fierce fighting, Link obtained 6 tanks, 4 armored vehicles, 3 anti-tank guns, 4 machine gun fire points, and about 100 infantrymen. He suffered no losses and did not even have a record of being hit - —The whole process is as easy as shooting at night.

Guderian smiled when he heard the news and was very satisfied with it. He seemed to see the new tactics slowly opening the door in front of him...