The Eighth Route Army's new tanks stopped one after another after finding a suitable position... The reason why they had to find a suitable position was because the tanks of this era did not have a bi-stable system. If they wanted to engage in a tank battle, they had to stop on a level ground as much as possible.
The tracks on the left and right sides must not run over objects and cause imbalance. Simply put, keep the vehicle body level, otherwise the rotating turret will be misaligned when aiming at the target.
The Japanese "Tiger" took the lead in this regard. After receiving the warning from the infantry, they took the first step to seize the position and prepare for aiming. Some even had armor-piercing ammunition loaded.
Based on his own judgment, Major Fukada directly gave detailed orders to his subordinates: "The target is about 850 meters away, and all units can shoot freely!"
"Boom!" There was a burst of artillery, and the "Tiger" fired a shell at the Eighth Route Army tank first.
In tank battles, the one who fires first usually takes advantage, because if the first shot can hit the target, it means that one's side will immediately lose several threats. Even if the first shot misses, the second shot can be adjusted in advance according to the deflection of the first shot.
By correcting the amount, the second shot will be much more accurate than the enemy's first shot.
If this fight continues round after round, the side that fires first will definitely have an advantage.
However, what surprised Major Fukada was that after the smoke from the shells passed, he found that all the enemy tanks were safe and sound!
"What's going on?" Major Fukada observed the target carefully in the telescope, and said to himself in an incredible tone while looking: "This is impossible, these tanks... are medium tanks at most, and their armor
Can it actually withstand the Tiger 88 gun?"
It wasn't until Major Fukada saw an armor-piercing bullet with its tail blown into a chrysanthemum embedded in the front of the armor of one of the tanks that he had no choice but to believe it.
In fact, even the "Tiger" tungsten core armor-piercing projectile may not be able to penetrate the thickened armor T44 at this distance, let alone the Japs' armor-piercing blasting projectiles... The Japs have an obsession with this kind of armor-piercing projectiles. They
It is always hoped that the armor-piercing projectile will kill the enemy tank crew after penetrating the target armor, although this is meaningless.
If this kind of armor-piercing blasting projectile can penetrate the target, its lethality will be quite large... It will not make much difference to the tank, because after the solid armor-piercing projectile penetrates the tank armor, the debris generated is enough to kill the occupants inside, even if they are lucky
Debris did not enter the cockpit due to the impact site, but would an immobile tank still be a threat on the battlefield? Wouldn't the tank crew be a target for the infantry after climbing out?
If it cannot penetrate, this kind of armor-piercing explosive shell is meaningless, and it will even reduce the armor-piercing ability.
This kind of artillery shell is only useful in one situation: attacking enemy gun towers or bunkers.
Because gun towers and bunkers are easily penetrated, solid armor-piercing projectiles cannot cause heavy casualties to enemies hiding in them, but this is not the case with armor-piercing blasting projectiles.
However, it was the Japanese themselves who owned more gun towers and bunkers.
At this time, this kind of shell could only barely penetrate half of the T44's armor, even though the distance between them was only more than 800 meters.
The distance of more than 800 meters was carefully calculated and analyzed by the tank battalion commander Xia Zhijian.
This is what he told Wang Xuexin: "If we have a laser rangefinder that can accurately measure the target distance, we should avoid the distance to the target being an integer!"
Wang Xuexin agreed without thinking.
The reason is obvious. Even if the distance is not an integer, the laser rangefinder can still accurately calculate the distance to the target and improve the first hit rate of our tanks. However, the enemy tank has difficulties in estimating the distance because the distance is not an integer.
Therefore, it was wrong for Wang Xuexin to propose a distance of about 1,000 meters from the enemy in the combat plan...Wang Xuexin simply believed that at this distance the enemy could not penetrate our tanks but our army could. Isn't that a sure win?
But Wang Xuexin did not consider one thing: even if the armor-piercing projectile fails to penetrate the tank, its vibration and energy transmission are enough to cause injury, temporary deafness or even death to the tank crew inside. Even if the tank crew can withstand it, can the T44 withstand it?
Does it not malfunction? And can the newly developed laser rangefinder withstand it?
Therefore, we cannot simply think about whether it can be penetrated, but we should also consider whether the enemy can hit it.
Xia Zhijian then analyzed: "There are scattered residential buildings in Shagou Town. Due to this, it is difficult to have a battlefield more than 1,000 meters away, so it can only be less than 1,000 meters. After an on-site inspection, I think more than 800 meters is feasible!"
Xia Zhijian's suggestion is certainly correct.
The main reason is that the Eighth Route Army does not know the penetration data of the Japanese "Tiger", so it is worried that it will be penetrated within 800 meters. If this happens, it will be very uneconomical.
At the same time, Wang Xuexin also realized something: his command only looked at data, which was a bit divorced from the actual battlefield situation. In the future, he would need to communicate more with frontline troops to understand the environment better.
Xia Zhijian's suggestion played a great role, because although the Japanese "Tiger" fired ahead of the Eighth Route Army, only 3 of the 23 rounds hit, and these 3 rounds failed to penetrate.
Major Fukada realized the seriousness of the problem at this time: If this new type of tank of the Eighth Route Army cannot even penetrate the "Tiger", does that mean that its artillery has also been upgraded and can penetrate the "Tiger" with confidence? Otherwise?
,Why did the Eighth Route Army tanks stop at this distance?
Thinking of this, Major Fukada grabbed the microphone and shouted: "Go forward, go ahead at full speed! Now!"
Major Fukada's order was correct. In a head-on confrontation between tanks, there was actually not much room for retreat.
Because it needs to turn around to retreat, this process will expose the weak and large side armor to the enemy's gun muzzle, followed by the rear armor.
Therefore, the real retreat should be to advance at full speed towards the enemy tank.
In this way, on the one hand, you can bayonet with enemy tanks at close range so that your own armor-piercing bullets can penetrate enemy tanks; on the other hand, you can stagger with enemy tanks and then find opportunities to withdraw from the battlefield.
However it was too late...
As soon as the "Tiger" body moved, the Eighth Route Army tanks emitted a burst of "boom", and Major Fukada heard a crisp "clang" sound very clearly.
Major Fukada immediately knew something was wrong. It was the sound of an armor-piercing bullet hitting the "Tiger".
Let's not talk about whether the enemy's armor-piercing bullets can penetrate the "Tiger". Just relying on this hit rate can give the Imperial tank soldiers a drink.
Taking another closer look, Major Fukada's originally hopeful heart immediately cooled down... Looking around, there were already eight "Tiger" vehicles stuck in place, unable to move. It was not clear whether they were penetrated or due to malfunctions.
.
But judging from the faint black smoke coming out of their tank hatches, they were probably penetrated.
"What kind of tank is that?" Major Fukada's face suddenly turned pale: "It can not only block the Tiger's 88-meter gun, but it can also penetrate the Tiger's armor!"