Steel Soviet Union

The 1st Stalin Guards Tank Division, which had just finished a battle, took a short rest. Malashenko learned the latest post-war situation from specific combat reports.

Judging from the compiled results, the battle just now caused very limited casualties to the fully equipped and powerful Stalin Guards 1st Tank Division.

Because Malashenko made timely tactical adjustments after the last battle, he used his strengths and circumvented his weaknesses to use the tank group that rushed to the high ground to unleash heavy direct fire on the enemy. It ensures that the precious tanks can cause effective damage and absolute suppression to any enemy targets within the field of vision at a safe distance, completely restraining the effective range of the German Iron Fist and its hip-drawing tanks.

In addition, the German troops in the defensive position were the remnants of a defeated Wehrmacht force, and many important technical equipment were abandoned or lost during the defeat in Kursk. There are no heavy artillery at all and very few anti-tank guns. Most of them are 50 and 75 mm anti-tank guns that are light but not powerful enough. There are only a few heavy heavy anti-tank guns like the PAK 43.

With reasonable and appropriate tactics coupled with the low combat effectiveness of the German army, the Stalin Guards 1st Tank Division not only easily won this battle, but also did not suffer too many losses in important technical equipment such as tanks.

According to the final statistics, only 8 medium tanks were destroyed, but only 3 of them were completely lost due to ammunition explosion. The remaining tanks can be re-entered the battlefield after repairing their armor and replacing important accessories. According to the rules of the Red Army, as long as such losses can be recovered on the battlefield, they will not be included in the total loss list.

The loss of heavy tanks was only two. One was an IS2 heavy tank that had been replaced by Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division and there were not many left. This IS2 was destroyed by the only two PAK 43s of the German army on the position. Armor-piercing projectiles broke through the front armor of its turret, penetrated into it, and then exploded, killing all the crew members in the vehicle. member.

Incidentally, it also detonated the ready-to-fire ammunition rack at the rear of the turret. A whole row of 122mm projectiles exploded instantly, and the flames shot into the sky. The head of the IS2 was blown away and fell to the ground.

If there was no ammunition and only dead people, then this IS2 might still be saved.

But after being beaten like this, his head was blown off and turned into a blazing steel coffin. Even if Karamov, the mechanical master of Stalin's 1st Guards Tank Division, came, in the final analysis, it could only be Expressing a wave of helplessness.

Another heavy tank lost on the battlefield was the newly mass-produced IS6. The IS6, which was supposed to be invincible from the front, encountered an extremely embarrassing misfortune.

A German 88mm hooded armor-piercing projectile penetrated the IS6 turret armor, and the location where it penetrated was the gunner's sight at the front of the IS6 turret. This is also the only place in the front projection of IS6 that can be effectively penetrated by Long 88. If we use any object to describe it specifically, it may only be a circle larger than a large shoe box.

Good luck on the battlefield does not never happen, and it was obviously good luck for the Germans to destroy this IS6 from the front.

The good news is that the 88mm capped armor-piercing projectile poured into the turret only killed all the crew members in the turret, and seriously injured the driver located at the front of the chassis from behind in the form of flying shrapnel.

The detonation point that was too close to the front of the turret failed to detonate the first ready-to-fire ammunition rack at the rear of the turret. The hot shrapnel flying in all directions accidentally avoided every projectile and failed to hit any of them. As long as a projectile explodes, the first ammunition rack, which instantly lifts the entire vehicle, was only burned by the flames of the explosion of the 88mm armor-piercing projectile, leaving some black marks.

Instead, the power compartment and fuel tank, which were fueled by safe, non-flammable diesel, did not catch fire. The driver, who was seriously injured in the back and had several shrapnel inserted into his back, even climbed out of the tank on his own and was rescued and saved his life.

After inspection, Karamov confirmed that this IS6 heavy tank can be recycled and repaired. As long as the damaged parts in the vehicle are slightly replaced and the blood stains are cleaned, the crew can be rearranged and put into the battlefield to continue participating in the battle.

Therefore, after this battle, not to mention the casualties and the loss of technical equipment, only 4 tanks of the Stalin Guards 1st Tank Division were completely wiped out.

It is no exaggeration to say that this is a very shocking and arrogant record, which even sounds incredible and unbelievable.

However, as long as the specific performance of both sides and the quality of personnel and equipment during the entire battle are considered, it is not completely impossible to achieve such a victory, and it can even be said to be reasonable.

Isn't this the final result of fighting the elite against the crippled?

It can be said that Malashenko doesn't even pay attention to such a small loss of equipment. For Malashenko, who has more than 200 tanks of various types, the actual damage caused is basically the same as cutting. It felt like I accidentally cut my nails and stung a little.

So for the opponent he had to deal with next, Malashenko just sorted out his troops, briefly cleaned the battlefield, and then immediately led his troops to set off. Rushing non-stop to the next battle, intending to end everything before the German forces in the entire area actually react.

By the way, the biggest gain from cleaning up the battlefield after this battle was not the Germans' broken guns and a pile of scrap metal, but the iron fists that were enough to supply a high-intensity battle. Armor-breaking bullets.

I don’t know why, but in the hands of the defeated German soldiers who were withdrawn from Kursk and thrown into this hellish place, although they lacked key heavy weapons and technical equipment, this Iron Fist rocket launcher, known as the "infantry artillery" However, the number of equipment is sufficient and completely sufficient.

When Malashenko first saw the list of seizures, his eyes widened in disbelief, because the number listed on the list was a full 1,200 iron fists! This number is really not an ordinary amount, but it is enough to make people jaw-dropping.

Malashenko recovered from his surprise and began to gradually settle down. The most important thing at the moment is not to guess why there are so many iron fists and where they come from, but how to make good use of them at critical moments. Very useful "infantry artillery".

This kind of simple tool that can be learned once is easy to understand, and the Stalin Guards 1st Tank Division, which has a very high proportion of veterans, can use it as soon as it is available. After careful consideration, Malashenko finally distributed all of them to Varosha's infantry regiment, requesting that Varosha be used by the main assault force according to the actual situation, while non-main infantry should be equipped with less or no equipment. .