Steel Soviet Union

After a flurry of scrambling and jumping up and down to put out the fire, Buckman's car was finally saved, but it came at a price. (audience)

The Maybach HL230 12-cylinder water-cooled gasoline engine was burned to the point of being completely scrapped, leaving only a black and empty frame. Without the heart of the maximum output power of 700 horsepower, the Black Panther simply collapsed on the spot and could not move. No.

"It's like walking down the street in Kisdorf and suddenly stepping on a piece of shit, Buckman! I'm not kidding, I'm serious! This is our new car, new car! Now it's actually covered by a little The Molotov Crash was incredible and hilarious!”

The harsh-tongued gunner Kirsten couldn't stop complaining and getting angry.

Buckman, with his hands on his hips and a frown on his face, looked at the poor Leopard Girl whose butt was smoked into a pure black color. He thought that the experience of his crew was already unlucky enough. If word spread about it, he would probably be laughed at. months or even longer.

But what Bachman didn't expect was that what happened next was obviously more dramatic and funny than he expected.

After the entire Kharkov Battle, among the 24 Panther Type D tanks equipped by the armored regiment of the SS Imperial Division, a total of 21 Panthers were in a state of being unable to move and awaiting repairs.

Of course, the Soviet army, whose tank quality was suddenly surpassed by a large margin, was unable to destroy 21 cutting-edge Panthers at once with the Imperial Division armored force that dominated the limelight.

These 21 beautiful leopard girls who are paralyzed in bed and unable to move have their own reasons for being bedridden.

The Buckman car that was set on fire by a Molotov cocktail was one of them. Another 13 Panther D models were destroyed because the drivers stepped on the accelerator and raced to cross-country speeds of more than 46 kilometers per hour. engine, causing spontaneous ignition and fire.

As for the remaining Panthers, some were caused by the outer road wheels that had inherent design defects causing the tracks to fall off. Some were caused by gearbox gears that were shattered on the spot during high-speed driving operations and were unable to move. Others were caused by poor technology. The driver forced the tank to operate on a ground that did not support in-situ steering. In a panic, the drive shaft broke and the tank was paralyzed on the spot.

After the Third Battle of Kharkov, there were only three Panthers left in the entire Imperial Division that could still run. Such a bad situation directly made the then Commander of the Imperial Division, General Walter Krueger, angry. Jumping around and scolding MAN, the idiots only know how to cheat money but cannot create practical good things.

The only good news is that none of the 21 immobile Panthers were completely lost. In addition, the rapidly advancing German army successfully won the third Battle of Kharkov, so these 21 Panthers were all damaged after the battle. One by one, they were recovered and awaiting repairs, including Buckman's blackened Panther.

"These problems have been discovered during the first batch of tank trial production, general. But the production task is imminent, and we simply don't have enough time to improve the design. The pressure is very huge. I don't mean that our company should shirk responsibility, we Of course, we will continue to upgrade and improve the Panzer V and be responsible for providing maintenance plans, but there are really objective reasons for all this!”

The representative sent by MAN was quite sincere.

Buckman, who happened to be on a business trip to the division headquarters, was lucky enough to hear part of the MAN representative's defense, but Admiral Kruger's subsequent reply obviously did not give this personable chief representative any face.

"Look at the iron garbage your company makes! After a battle, twenty of the latest tanks broke their legs and were paralyzed on the battlefield waiting for tow trucks to drag them away! Oh, I almost forgot to mention that the only one The car didn’t break its leg by itself, but it was destroyed by a small Russian Molotov cocktail! It was actually such a big Molotov cocktail!”

"Damn! It's unbelievable to say it! A glass bottle the size of Fanta destroyed a 45-ton German tank. Do you think this is normal? The Imperial Division is not the scum, we are Elites of the Führer, your junk tank is a disgrace to the honor of our division! Go and repair it immediately!”

Buckman, who was staying outside the door to eavesdrop for a while, saw that the situation was not good and quickly ran away. Only then did Buckman, whose heart was pounding, realize that among the 21 paralyzed Panther tanks, only his own car was considered safe. Killed by Russians.

The Black Panther, who entered actual combat earlier than ever before, was unable to escape the difficult fate that had been lingering around him.

And it seems that due to premature birth, these various problems that were already annoying in the existing history have become even worse now.

Of the 158 Panther D-type medium tanks affiliated to Army Group South, 137 were in a state of immobility awaiting repair after the Battle of Kharkov. This astonishing number even overshadowed the original support for new weapons. Manstein, who had high hopes, shook his head repeatedly.

"Report it truthfully and explain this unimaginable bad situation to Berlin."

"The new weapons units of Army Group South have basically lost their combat effectiveness. Most of the Type 5 Panther medium tanks and Ferdinand heavy tank destroyers need to be repaired. The situation of the Type 5 Tiger heavy tanks is slightly better but not very optimistic. "I cannot launch an offensive until these main combat forces are restored, and I request that we speed up the repair of equipment and provide more reliable supplementary forces."

Malashenko, who was ready to fight the Germans in advance, could never have imagined that the Germans, who had put new weapons into actual combat one battle ahead of time, would be hindered by the alarmingly high failure rate. No.

A rare large-scale plague broke out in the German zoos, which the head of state had given high hopes for. The German logistics and maintenance troops, who had encountered such a bad situation for the first time in history, quickly contacted for help. The bosses and capitalists of the companies in Germany behind the scenes were busy arguing. Talking shirking responsibility.

You said it was a problem with the raw materials, but I also said it was caused by your insufficient process technology! Don't rely on our company's supply of materials because of your own abilities. Everyone uses tanks made of German steel. Why is Henschel's Tiger more reliable than yours? Isn't it because your own level is not up to the mark?

Playing football with each other and shirk responsibilities is the innate skill of capitalists. The German military-industrial enterprises and front-line logistics and maintenance troops were in a state of chaos. In the end, they only got a piece of chicken feathers that had no practical significance.

The quarrel was over, and the blame was placed on the unlucky guy who was blamed by everyone. The person responsible for the punishment was also invited by the SS to have a cup of tea with Himmler for a heart-to-heart talk. The Führer's violent spitting star was about to destroy the office. It has been cleaned seven or eight times.

Now, it's finally time to discuss how to properly repair those broken-down steel behemoths and take action.

It's just that the time wasted in this quarrel is indeed wasted.

But who cares?

At least not the imperial military capitalists who have vested interests.