Bab 262: 262
Episode 262: The Road to Destruction (4)
"Loaded!"
"Shoot!"
-Quaang!
A Challenger tank equipped with a 17-pounder rolled on a caterpillar track and spewed fire at the approaching Panther. One of its strengths was the recognized 17-pounder, so if it only hit the target, survival of the enemy could not be guaranteed.
however-
"shit! Unknown!"
When the tank commander saw the shell pass by the Panther, he cursed and gritted his teeth.
The accuracy of the 17-pounder was notorious. What if it has excellent penetrating power? If you don't hit the enemy, you're out of luck.
"Hurry to reload… … ."
Before the tank commander could finish his words, a 75mm shell penetrated the front of the Challenger's turret and exploded.
The fragments generated when the armor-piercing shell exploded mercilessly tore up the bodies of the crew members inside the turret, and the subsequent flames burned their bodies.
The driver, who was the only one to escape the fire, opened the hatch and escaped.
The Firefly, which added a 17-pounder to the Sherman, was less noticeable than the Challenger, but its defense was no different from the Sherman, so it had the same problem of being destroyed with one hit.
To defeat a Panther from the front with a 17-pounder, you had to accurately aim for the hull from a distance of 500 meters or aim for the front of the turret's mantlet, which was usually not difficult with the 17-pounder's poor accuracy.
In contrast, a skilled gunner could hit an enemy with a single hit from a distance of 2 km, and even if hit by a shell within 500 m, the Panther could deflect the shell depending on the angle of the vehicle body.
Above all, veteran drivers who fought on the Eastern Front were good at maximizing the advantage of sloped armor by adjusting the angle of the tank in advance.
However, the Tiger, which had vertical armor on both the front and sides of the hull, had many disadvantages over the Panther.
The Tiger's advantage was that the sides and rear were made up of 80mm armor plates, providing some degree of protection against attacks from the sides and rear, which was dangerous for the Panther. However, the 100mm vertical armor on the front of the car body had less protection than the Panther's 80mm sloped armor.
Fortunately, thanks to the fact that medium tanks such as the Sherman and Cromwell, which were no match for the Tiger, were the main forces of the Allied Forces, the Tiger was able to remain active on the battlefield today.
"Kramer. "Cromwell is at 10 o'clock."
"Just leave it to me. "Barreche!"
While Sergeant Barresch opened the hull, Kramer operated the lever to rotate the turret. As soon as Cromwell was in the line of sight, he pressed the trigger.
Brass-colored shells fell, Cromwell's turret armor, which looked like a miniature version of the Tiger, broke, and scarlet sparks poured out.
"Hahaha! "It's a hit!"
"good job. Another person appeared in front. "Reload!"
The Sherman's 76mm main gun knocked at the Tiger's frontal armor, but it ricocheted, leaving only a slight scratch on the front.
Sherman, whose attack failed, did not flee but continued to advance. It seemed like they were trying to get as close to the Tiger as possible and engage in close combat.
"Where!"
The Tiger's 88 burst into flames and drove an armor-piercing round into the Sherman's turret. The driver stopped the tank without realizing it due to the impact of the turret being penetrated.
Kramer drove an armor-piercing round into the car body and finished it off.
"This is already the fifth time. "I'm getting closer and closer to receiving the Knight's Cross of the White Leaf."
Kramer said happily. The Knight's Cross of White Leaves was the next goal of Carius, who received the Knight's Cross.
Carius smiled, recalling his meeting with the Fuhrer when he was still an infantryman.
Carius' father was furious when his son ignored his advice and entered the cavalry department. Was he crazy about wanting to die?
However, when he quietly said that it was a personal recommendation from His Excellency the President, he became completely speechless. Still, he grumbled that the armored class was too dangerous.
What would you say if you saw your son wearing the rank of lieutenant and the Knight's Cross around his neck?
I couldn't help but laugh as I thought about the surprised faces of my father with a dumb expression, my mother with a frown on her face, and the surprised faces of my neighborhood friends who had dismissed me as a little kid.
All enemies around have been eliminated.
The burned corpses of tank crews were as common as stones on the road, among the wreckage of tanks with holes in their hulls and blown turrets.
The infantry assigned to the tank company moved around and dealt with the British soldiers who were still alive.
Among the company's tanks, none were destroyed except for one that lost mobility due to a track hit during the battle and one that was deemed incapable of combat due to damage to its main gun.
Carius was delighted and ordered to advance.
However, Carius' 2nd Company soon encountered new resistance.
When attacked by an ambushed anti-tank gun, Karius's emotions were closer to irritation than surprise. Well, how far did it go before it was another ambush?
The 6-pounder's gunner fired a shell aimed at the Tiger's trajectory, but narrowly missed hitting the bottom of the hull. The result was a ricochet.
-Orange 1, I will handle it here.
"reception."
Before Karius could instruct Kramer to turn the turret, Kersher's No. 2 car fired a grenade in the direction from which the shell came.
A 7.92mm Mauser bullet fired from a co-axial machine gun flew toward the flames created when the grenade exploded.
At the site of the explosion, the dismembered body parts of the 6-pounders and anti-tank gunners, all crushed and with flesh stuck to each other, were lying around haphazardly.
When Karius, who confirmed that the anti-tank gun had been destroyed, was about to order another advance, this time a shell flew in from the direction opposite to the direction from which the shell had just come.
"An anti-tank gun again?"
How many of them are hiding? Karius was dumbfounded.
And if you're going to shoot, you should have shot at the same time the other guy shot a while ago. What kind of strategy is it to shoot only after your colleague is hit?
However, this time, Karius' prediction was wrong.
When Karius took out his binoculars to find the source of the shell, the shell was fired again and hit his tank commander, Sergeant Bauer's Tiger.
-Orange 4 hit! I will escape!
"Fuck, I guess it's a different guy this time?"
When Sergeant Bauer's Tiger was defeated with one blow, Karius intuitively realized that this was a different opponent.
The shell that hit the lower part of Bauer's Tiger hull destroyed the transmission, instantly killing the driver and operator, and inflicting shrapnel injuries to the crew inside the turret.
As Sergeant Bauer was helping the crew escape from the tank, a second shell flew and hit the front of the Tiger.
A fire broke out in the Tiger, and soon it was completely engulfed in flames and burned down. The tank crews who escaped stayed as far away from the tank as possible in preparation for the explosion.
-This is Orange 3, enemy tank found! The enemy is at 1 o'clock and 2 o'clock!
Sergeant Goering of Car 3 discovered the enemy tank and reported its location. Soon, Karius and Kersher could see them as well.
"Isn't it Churchill?"
Kramer asked after checking the enemy through the scope. The silhouette of the ambushed tank resembled Churchill.
But wouldn't it be impossible to defeat the Tiger at this distance with the Churchill's main gun, the 6-pounder?
"That guy is not Churchill. "It's Tommy's new tank."
Karius, who noticed that the enemy tank's main gun was incomparably longer than a 6-pounder and that the turret was larger than Churchill, cried out in a sigh.
The distance to the enemy is about 680m. At this distance, there was no gun other than the 17-pounder that could pierce the front of the Tiger with a single blow.
"shooting!"
Once the enemy's location was confirmed, there was nothing left to do but shoot. The three Tigers fired their main guns, and the shells flew straight and hit the enemy's armor.
But the tiger's teeth did not work on Tommy's new tank.
"It bounced!"
The 152mm frontal armor of the Black Prince heavy tank was able to easily deflect even an 88 fired from a distance of 500m.
In return, it was hindered by a weight approaching 51 tons and mobility that was slow enough to be compared to that of a turtle, but the Black Prince's armor was quite effective in defensive battles like the current one, rather than mobile warfare.
"Load light armor-piercing bullets!"
"load!"
While Bareshu was opening the hull, the ammunition manager pushed a Type 40 armor-piercing round, or light armor-piercing round, into the chamber.
Type 39 armor-piercing shells only penetrate 139 mm at 1 km and 150 mm at 500 m (of course, these are extremely high figures), but Type 40 armor-piercing shells were capable of penetrating 170 mm at 1 km.
As such, the penetrating power alone was extremely good, but Germany, which was short on resources, did not have enough tungsten to make light armor-piercing shells and spread them all over the front line.
As a result, tankers did not often use light armor-piercing rounds except in very rare cases (of course, there were many cases where the enemy was able to suppress the opponent with only armor-piercing rounds).
So, in this situation, it was time to take out the light armor-piercing ammunition that I had been saving up for a while. No matter how precious your body is, it is something that was made to be used, so it shines only when you use it.
"Loaded!"
"Aim accurately. "Because it's not usually too expensive to just throw away."
"Just leave it to me. Should I take a shot or two?"
Kramer aimed at the exact center of the Black Prince's hull. The Black Prince, who had finished loading in that moment, fired, but hit the slanted car body and fell to the ground, leaving a long bullet mark on the car body.
"launch!"
-bang!
The effectiveness of light armor-piercing bullets was clear. The light armor-piercing bullet pierced the Black Prince's frontal armor in one go at a distance that would have been difficult for an armor-piercing round.
A light armor-piercing round penetrated the armor, killed the machine gunner and driver, and severed the gunner's leg.
"Hit!"
"It works!"
Karius was delighted when he noticed smoke coming from the Black Prince that had been hit by a light armor-piercing bullet.
It's definitely worth the price. Kerscher and Goering also fired light armor-piercing shells, hitting one each into the Black Prince's turret and hull.
The shell that hit the gun mantlet did not completely penetrate and stopped in the middle, but the shell that hit the driver's visibility hatch on the front succeeded in penetrating.
To put an end to this more clearly, Carius ordered fire again.
This time, the Type 39 armor-piercing shell was fired into the hole created when the shell just hit the target.
The Black Prince, a decisive battle weapon against the Tiger developed by British engineers, became a roast pig and burned with fierce momentum.
Eventually, the fire spread to the ammunition inside the vehicle body, the hatch was completely blown away, and flames spewed out from the main gun.
"Tommies are running away!"
Kramer reported seeing enemy infantry coming out of their trenches and running away. When all the tanks they trusted were defeated, the British infantry gave up the fight and chose to flee.
However, the Germans, who had no intention of letting them go smoothly, fired machine guns and fired grenades at the fleeing British troops, harassing them.
"Tanks advance! At full speed!"
"All right!"
The obstructionist was eliminated, and now there was nothing to stop Tigger. The three Tigers rushed forward and fired machine guns in all directions.
Every time the turret rotated and sprayed bullets, the British troops fell like leaves in a cold wind. Infantrymen also ran behind the tanks, spraying bullets diligently.
"Just watch me run away!"
"WAHAHAHAHA!!!"
The exhilarating feeling of winning a battle. And with the hallucinations and excitement brought about by the Morel pills added, the German soldiers could not see anything.
They fired assault rifles as if they were hunting rabbits, not people.
When the bullets ran out, the magazine was replaced, and when the magazine ran out, the dead enemy soldier's gun was lifted and fired.
Karius, who was busy advancing, received a radio call from the battalion commander, Major Yede.
The entire battalion and two infantry regiments were going that way right now, so they told us not to advance too far and to advance while considering the situation.
"Received."
Soon, Major Yede appeared, leading the entire battalion and two infantry regiments.
Although several tanks were driven out of formation by ambushed anti-tank guns and bazookas fired by enemy infantry, there were still 26 Tigers remaining in the battalion.
The attack of two German regiments, led by the 502nd Heavy Tank Battalion, created a hole in the British army's encirclement, and soon halftracks and tanks carrying infantry poured into the hole like a flood.
The drizzle has now turned into a heavy rain, pouring down forcefully onto the ground.
***
Upon hearing the news that the southern defense line had been breached, Montgomery stood up without realizing it.
There was a loud noise as the chair fell to the floor, but no one at headquarters paid any attention.
"Insert the 33rd Infantry Division. Right Now!"
Montgomery shouted, his face turning blue.
With the weather like this, I was confident that the Germans, who could not receive air force support, would still be able to stop it, but in the end, it broke through.
"The 27th Infantry Division is also being deployed. Request support from the Free French Army and Czechoslovak Army!"
To deliver Montgomery's orders, the staff members moved around as if their bodies were on fire. Damn it. Montgomery gritted his teeth and glared at the map.
Those pathetic Yankees are still holding on well, so why... … !
Of course, the most important priority now was to prevent the German troops who had broken through the front line from pushing into the rear rather than fighting with the U.S. military.
However, Montgomery could not help but be shocked by the answer that came back.
"The 27th Infantry Division is currently engaged in combat with the enemy! "The Free French Army and the Czechoslovak Army also say they don't have enough troops!"
"Are you kidding me? If this place gets breached, all of my guys will be surrounded too! "If you know that, you should come out right away!"
"Well, they can't move because they're in the middle of fighting the Germans."
Montgomery shook his head desperately.
"Other than the 33rd Infantry Division, what other troops are there that can move?"
"There are two battalions of the Home Guard, one company of the Belgian army and one company of the Dutch army. But both of them have poor mobility and poor power, so-"
"Are we now in a position to choose between cold and hot food? "Tell them to deploy immediately!"
This too was insufficient power to stop the German army, which was led by a heavy tank battalion.
He had no choice but to go to the U.S. military to request support. Luckily, the other person picked up the phone right away.
"This is Lieutenant General Montgomery. "Change Lieutenant General Patton immediately."
After a while, the voice Montgomery hated most reached his ears.
-What's going on, General Montgomery? If you're calling just to confirm, you're wasting your time... … .
"General Patton. Our front line has just been breached by the Jerrys. More than one division's worth of troops are already flooding into the rear. "One o'clock is urgent."
Even before Patton finished speaking, Montgomery began speaking rapidly. However, it was not to screw up Patton, but because the British military's situation was urgent.
"They're advancing with their damn Tiger tanks. so-"
-I have a general idea of what the situation is. We are not in a very good position, but we will send reinforcements for now. But because of the distance, it will take some time.
"Thank you."
Fortunately, Patton quickly accepted Montgomery's request for assistance.
Personal feelings aside, even if the U.S. military succeeded in holding on to its current position, if the British army collapsed, it would have to withdraw or be surrounded by the German army.
So Patton ignored his feelings for Montgomery and accepted his request for help.
It was a cold night in Montgomery, but it was still too early to feel at ease. He instructed his men to prepare to relocate their headquarters just in case.
"Put all important documents, including maps, in the vehicle right now. Armed all of them, including the cooks, and stood by. "You never know when the Jerrys might come storming in here."
"Yes, Your Excellency!"
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone