BXBX NOVEL Chapter 448: emergency equipment
It was originally planned to enter service on April 20th... which is Hitler's birthday, and it will show Hitler its performance and honor him in a birthday ceremony on that day.
However, the situation on the Eastern Front prevented Hitler from waiting for that day any longer.
He roared to his subordinates: "Our equipment is used for fighting. If we have already lost the war, why do we need these equipment? So, now is the time to need them, now!"
The head of state's stubbornness is unshakable, so despite the opposition of many people, because it still has many problems that have not been resolved, the "Tiger" tank was finally secretly transported to the Eastern Front in an emergency.
Manstein originally intended to use them on the Kerch peninsula offensive.
After all, it is its first time to participate in the war and strictly speaking, it is still in the experimental stage. It is not very well prepared, so it is not suitable for participating in too intense battles (Manstein believed that the victory of the Kerch Peninsula was determined at the time).
I didn't expect the situation to change so quickly, and the "Tiger" was lost before reaching its destination, the Kerch Peninsula.
Not only that, the Russian army even went straight to Zhankoy in an attempt to block the German army that surrounded and entered the Crimean Peninsula.
Therefore, Manstein could only urgently order the "Tiger" tank battalion to deploy in Zhankoy.
"What kind of tank is that?" Sponeck asked the tank battalion commander, Major Merkel.
"Actually, I don't know, General!" Major Merkel replied: "We have only had this tank for fifteen days now!"
"Fifteen days?"
"Yes!" Major Merkel replied: "Including on the way to transport, we used model training before that!"
What Major Merkel did not say was that due to time constraints, the "Tiger" tank was still welding parts on the flatbed truck transported here. It is necessary to replace the narrow track when getting on the flatbed, and replace the original track after getting off the car.
"Can it deal with the enemy's T34?" Sponek asked again.
Major Merkel hesitated for a moment, and then replied: "If you look at the data...it can, General. Because it has an 88MM caliber tank gun, it can destroy enemy tanks at a distance of one thousand meters, and the enemy tanks can be destroyed within two hundred meters. It may not even be able to penetrate its front armor!"
"Then what are you hesitating about?" Sponek noticed Major Merkel's unnatural expression: "Is there any problem with it?"
"The failure rate is high, General!" Melk replied very simply: "Especially when it is started, after all, it is an immature new tank!"
Sponek nodded, and said while looking at the behemoth in front of him: "Maybe, we can avoid this at all!"
Lieutenant General Sponeck's approach is to try to keep the tank from starting... If it starts to break down easily, this is indeed a good way.
Because it is obvious that if it only stays in the tank bunker and aims at the target, all it needs to do is adjust the gun tank, and the functions used are only part of it. Of course, the probability of failure can be reduced exponentially.
Lieutenant General Sponek did just that.
He even organized personnel to build a few rails and then used a flatbed truck to transport the Tiger tank into the tank bunker.
The "Tiger" tank at this time can't even be called a tank, because it actually relies on rails to maneuver.
Lieutenant General Sponek told the maintenance personnel who came with the tank: "You just need to ensure that it can still aim, and the rest will wait until the battle is over!"
Then, Lieutenant General Sponek ordered mines, barbed wire, and roadblocks to be laid in front of the trenches.
The most important thing is the anti-tank trench.
The anti-tank trench seems to have little effect and cannot stop the T34 from advancing, but its purpose is to slow down the T34 and provide accurate distance for the "Tiger" gunners to aim... They can measure the tank bunkers and anti-tank tanks in advance. The distance of the tank trenches, coupled with the fact that the "Tiger" uses the Carl Zeiss TZF9b sight, which is known for its precision, allows them to have a high hit rate on the battlefield.
As expected, the four "Tigers" showed their prowess on the battlefield, and one after another destroyed the Soviet T34s near the anti-tank trenches. In this charge alone, 16 T34s were destroyed.
The point is not the question of how many vehicles were destroyed, but the question of the T34 tank's helplessness.
That is to say, if you continue to fight like this, this situation will still recur.
"The trouble is that it's a tank!" Lieutenant Colonel Zakhakovic said, "If it's an anti-tank gun or an anti-aircraft gun, we can destroy it with a mortar or even with a tank!"
Shulka and Katukov could understand what Lieutenant Colonel Zakharvich said.
Anti-tank guns or anti-aircraft guns only have gun mantlets in the front, and the top is open, so that mortar shells can pass over the gun mantles to kill people behind them. In addition, the mantlets usually cannot block the direct fire of tank guns.
But the tank is different. It is all-round protection, and the front can withstand T34 armor-piercing projectiles, so it can be said to be almost invincible.
If there is anything that can destroy it, one is a direct hit by a large-caliber howitzer, and the other is an aircraft.
But it is dark at this time, and the target is still hiding in the tank bunker, so the probability of a direct hit is very small.
As for aircraft, it is difficult to find a tank that blends in with the snow even during the day.
"Can we bypass Zhankoy?" Lieutenant Colonel Gavrilov proposed a plan: "I mean...attack the Perekop Isthmus!"
This seems to be a solution, because the Perekop Isthmus is the channel connecting the Crimea and the Ukrainian mainland, and directly sealing the Isthmus means that the strategic goal of blocking the Crimea can also be achieved.
However, there are some things that seem to work strategically but not tactically.
Colonel Katukov shook his head, pointed to the map and said: "Zhankoy is on the east side of the isthmus, and it is a transportation hub. If we bypass it and directly attack the isthmus... we will expose our flanks to Zhankoy. In front of us, when the enemy reinforcements arrive tomorrow and cut off our retreat, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade will be surrounded and alone!"
This is the mutual encirclement of the two armies. Although the Soviet army can surround the German army from a large area, the German army can encircle the 1st Guards Tank Brigade at the isthmus.
It is obvious that the 1st Guards Tank Brigade will be wiped out first.
It would be different if Zhankoi was occupied. The Soviet army could reinforce Zhankoi from Feodosia and at the same time deliver supplies to Zhankoi from the Sea of Azov.
That is to say, Zhankoy is a city that cannot be bypassed.
(end of this chapter)