Amidst the screams of the rocket launchers, the Japanese tanks were destroyed one after another, including Type 97 and Type 95 tanks.
The destruction of the Type 95 was still expected by Tomijiro. The front armor of this tank was only 12 mm. Even if it was hung with sandbags, it would be difficult to defend against rockets with an armor penetration of about 20 mm.
But the Type 97's frontal armor is 25 mm, and with the addition of sandbags, it should be more than enough to defend against rockets.
Therefore, when seeing the Type 97s being destroyed, Tomijiro couldn't believe his eyes.
Could it be that...the Eighth Route Army used high explosives to improve its armor-breaking capabilities?
This is the only thing Tomijiro can think of.
At this time, the hollow charge technology was not yet popular. Although Takajima had purchased the patent, it had not yet been applied to the battlefield in batches. It was common sense that Tomijiro did not know about it.
If the Japanese win this battle and examine these destroyed tanks, Tomijiro will know that it is not the cause of "high explosives".
The tank crews who were destroyed by hollow charges died in extremely tragic circumstances...
Hollow charges rely on high-temperature and high-pressure metal jets to penetrate armor, which also means that what penetrates the tank is also high-temperature metal jets, along with molten steel from the tank armor.
This stuff was spraying everywhere in the closed and narrow tank cabin. It is not difficult to imagine what the tank crew inside was like.
After the war, the soldiers were cleaning the battlefield. As soon as they opened the hatch cover, there was a burning aroma, and some faint hot steam came out... Although it was a "burning aroma", it was disgusting because the soldiers knew its source.
When the soldiers endured the discomfort and dragged out the corpses, they found that none of them were humanoid. Some were burnt in large pieces, like roasted pigs. Some had a small hole pierced by the jet, which was very ugly.
The strange thing was that there wasn't much blood. Later I found out that it was because the high-temperature jet burned the wound into hard flesh and acted as a "stop bleeding".
Tomijiro swallowed his saliva with a "Gulu" sound, and he realized that this battle was hopeless.
The Eighth Route Army's rocket launchers and tanks formed a short, long, large, and small anti-tank firepower, and they were all effective anti-tank firepower, which put the tank regiment in a comprehensive passive position without the ability to fight back.
Tomijiro can only place his hope on Shimizu Nobutake's cavalry regiment. Perhaps their artillery fire and grenade launchers can suppress the enemy infantry...
The battlefield is often like this. If one piece of equipment suppresses the enemy, it can expand the local advantage to the global advantage and finally win the victory.
For example, Tomijiro's previous plan was to use grenades to suppress enemy anti-tank guns, and then use tanks to suppress enemy infantry to win.
Who would have thought that the Eighth Route Army would have so much anti-tank equipment, so the tanks not only failed to suppress the enemy but were suppressed by the enemy... As a result, the hope of victory could only be pinned on the grenades of the infantry.
However, a quick look revealed that the cavalry regiment was not much better.
To be precise, it's not "not much better", but it's as miserable as the tank regiment.
The firepower of the Eighth Route Army equipped with "Citi Central Official" has been qualitatively improved. Especially the Eighth Route Army is still hiding in the trenches while the Japanese are exposed on the ground, so the bullets are fired, and the Japanese grenade shooters have not had time to fire the shells.
As soon as they went out, they were shot to death one by one.
In addition, the Eighth Route Army also has 50 small artillery, especially a considerable part of these 50 small artillery used incendiary bombs... Several incendiary bombs immediately erupted into flames, which illuminated the Japanese in the smoke.
The bright light made it more obvious and caused a large-scale riot among the Japanese. Some people even secretly retreated to the trenches to hide.
At this time, Androvich was a little unhappy. He didn't like playing downwind in such a rigid manner, especially because he believed that this style of play could not take advantage of the high mobility of T34...or it was not in line with his nature.
It's unclear who is right and who is wrong, or whether both are correct.
Gangzi's style of fighting is tank guerrilla warfare, taking advantage of the enemy's lack of penetration to attack steadily, which is suitable for the under-trained tank soldiers of the Eighth Route Army.
Androvich also advocates flexible and mobile combat. He believes that only when tanks move can they be less likely to be hit by the enemy, and can they go around the sides and rear of enemy tanks to attack their weak points... This is actually not necessary when facing Japanese tanks.
, because the T34 can easily penetrate the Type 97 from a thousand meters away, and there is no difference between the front armor and the side and rear armor.
However, if you fight Hans, you really have to fight on the move.
Mobile combat further tests the quality and cooperation of the tank crew, and only Androvich, the tank crew, can handle it well.
Androvich reported on the radio: "Car Zero is requesting an attack, Car Zero is requesting an attack!"
At this time, Androvich showed the qualities that a soldier should have. Although he was an instructor and had full confidence in the tank and the crew, he still did not act on his own but reported to Gangzi before taking action.
Gangzi thought for a moment and replied: "Attention No. 0, the main force may not be able to reinforce you!"
This is certain. If Androvic is trapped, it is impossible for other tanks to disrupt the entire formation and rhythm because of one tank. This may lose the advantage already obtained and cause a crisis.
"Zero understands!" Androvich replied.
With that said, Androvich ordered: "Let's go, boys! The show is about to begin!"
The tank crew cheered and got ready one by one as if they were on fire.
Under Androvich's command, the driver stepped on the accelerator to the bottom, and the T34 circled an arc like a tiger going down the mountain towards the flank of the Japanese tank...
There is a reason for turning in an arc to the enemy's flank.
First of all, the T34 side armor is also 45mm, so there is no problem of weak sides.
Secondly, the T34 has a maximum speed of 55 kilometers per hour, which is one level higher than the 38 kilometers per hour of the Type 97. This speed advantage allows the T34 to even turn faster than the enemy's turret when it is diagonally inserted at full speed... so the enemy cannot actually aim.
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But if facing a straight front line, even with the T34's excellent armor defense, it will still be penetrated by enemy anti-tank guns at close range.
Androvich knew this, so he chose an arc and diagonal insertion.
Sure enough, just as Androvich thought, when its tanks rushed towards the group of Japanese tanks, several 97 tanks immediately stopped to take aim at the uninvited guest.
But the embarrassing thing is that no matter how these 97 mid-range fighters rotate the turret, they are always one step slower than the T34, and the barrel keeps rotating at the tail of the T34... The closer the target is to the target, the greater the angle the turret needs to rotate.
It can be aimed even by turning a small angle.
At this time, the situation of t34 is the former.
Therefore, the Japanese could only watch helplessly as the tank turned into the flank of the tank group with a cloud of dust.
At this time Androvich made another cool move. He directly commanded the T34 to rush into the Japanese tank group...