In order to achieve the armored strength required by Army Group A in the "Scythe Harvest Plan", the 1st SS Panzer Division was assigned to Rundstadt's Army Group.
In the attack position near southern Belgium, more and more personnel and tanks arrived one after another. As part of the troops provided by the SS to Army Group A, Wittmann's 111th vehicle crew also arrived as early as a week ago.
Arriving at the attack position.
Wittmann's 1st SS Armored Division had just upgraded to the latest Panzer V tanks two months ago, and was now in a state of great success and high morale. Wittmann, who had just returned from a meeting at the battalion headquarters
I am also convinced that the day when they put this tank named "Panther" on the battlefield will not be too far away.
Although it is called a Panther tank, the current Panzer V tank has undergone major changes compared to the historical one.
With the accumulated technology of the T3 tank as a transitional product, the new version of the Panther tank adopts 55° inclined armor, which increases the possibility of ricocheting from incoming shells.
In addition, the L/70 Kwk42 75mm main gun used by the Panther tank is more powerful than in history due to better shells.
After all, with the addition of Austrian tungsten to the ammunition types, a large number of hard-core armor-piercing bullets can be used. Therefore, the First SS Armored Division selectively canceled armor-piercing grenades when configuring ammunition to optimize logistics and reduce logistics pressure.
In particular, the new version of the Panther has only four crew members. That is, Lucas is the driver, Leo is the gunner, Licht is the loader, and Wittmann is the commander. And there are less
The historical machine gunner was eliminated, and the historical version of the first machine gun was also cancelled.
The new version of the Panther's machine gun firepower is equipped with a 7.92mm coaxial machine gun, and the commander's machine gun on the roof is a 20mm machine gun (97.16 times caliber, about 2 meters long).
The standard ammunition for the 20mm machine gun is 550 bullets, and the ammunition chain is configured for hard-core armor-piercing bullets, high-explosive bullets, and armor-piercing incendiary tracer bullets. Its firepower is better than the historical 7.92mm machine gun in suppressing or killing infantry.
Much.
As for the suspension system, the Panther tank uses five pairs of large-diameter road wheels to reduce the original cost. The height of the vehicle is 30 centimeters lower than in history, only 2.7 meters high. After all, the actual battlefield engagement distance during World War II was basically 800 meters
Within meters, what can be seen with a 5x gun scope at this distance is already very small. Lowering the height of the vehicle can further reduce the probability of being hit.
On the other hand, if you use a 20mm cannon, 800 meters is just enough range, so you can make the most of it.
Then there are 20mm thick side skirts installed on the side of the Panther tank to increase its defense.
For the French campaign, the 20mm machine gun used in the current version of the Panther tank's roof machine gun also has great targeted lethality against the French-equipped tank Renault FT17.
Due to changes in the suspension system and a reduction in body height, the weight of the Leopard has been reduced to 42 tons. The thrust ratio is 16.67 hp/ton, the top speed is 56km/h, and the engine is equipped with 700 horsepower. Although the body height is reduced,
However, the engine compartment cannot be lowered by as much as 30 centimeters, so the engine compartment is raised, which is extremely ugly.
No matter how it looks, you still have a better tank after all.
But the task Wittmann and his team received did not become more difficult.
Unlike the last attack on Poland, the various offensive tasks assigned by the battalion headquarters were different. This time, it seemed that more arrangements were made to pave the road.
Yes, just paving the way, the task is that simple.
The task assigned to Wittmann and his crew was to operate the tank and knock them down when they encountered some small trees. Using the latest Panther tank as a bulldozer was a safe task, but it made people laugh and cry.
When he heard the news brought back by Wittmann, Lucas immediately shook his head like a rattle: "No, you can't do this kind of mission. It's too stupid to drive a tank into an obstacle."
Already."
"Does this feel stupid?" Wittmann smiled slightly and continued: "If you knew the mission that Vick and his crew No. 112 received, maybe you wouldn't feel that the current mission is stupid."
"What is the mission of Car Crew 112?" Lucas cast his eyes at Wittmann curiously.
"Install the towing rope, pull away the trees we knocked down, and clear the road." Wittmann said slowly.
"Oh my God, driving a Panther tank as a cleaner actually has such a task schedule." Lucas looked incredulous.
In addition to the tasks assigned to Car Group 111 and Car Group 112, other units of the 1st SS Armored Division are also assigned similar tasks. As the vanguard of Army Group A, their biggest enemy is not the British Expeditionary Force, nor the British Expeditionary Force.
The French garrison, nor the Belgian Army, but the poor traffic situation in the Ardennes Forest.
"Let's forget it." After listening to the mission arrangements of the 112th crew, Lucas suddenly felt that his mission was not so unacceptable: "Let's just complete the current mission with peace of mind."
"Speaking of it, our mission is completely different from the last war." Leo, the gunner on the side, patted Licht on the shoulder and smiled maliciously: "Licht, you didn't learn from your uncle.
Can we get some gossip there and find out why we are going into a dense forest?"
Rolling his eyes at Leo, Licht shook his head and sighed: "How could I ask for such a secret? Even if I asked, my uncle might not be able to tell."
As the nephew of Lieutenant General Guderian, the most famous armor master of the Third Reich, Leicht has always been a well-informed celebrity in the battalion headquarters. Like the good news that the 1st Armored Division can be replaced with Panzer V tanks, Leicht
Hitt issued a notice to the battalion headquarters two weeks in advance.
In addition, this time the 1st SS Armored Division happened to be temporarily incorporated into the 19th Armored Corps under Guderian. All combat tasks were directly arranged by Guderian. Therefore, many people were counting on Leicht.
I can get some future combat strategies from my uncle.
"Leo, you are still being embarrassed by Licht." Wittmann came to Licht's rescue in time: "Do what we should do, and after a while, when all the results come out, we will naturally know that now we
Why did you go into the forest? If you ask these questions now, you are trying to spy on military intelligence and leak military secrets."
Wittmann is still good at talking. In the past few days, many people from the battalion headquarters and even the regiment headquarters have made a special trip to see Leicht quietly. Their purpose is the same, they all want to use Leicht, Guderian.
My nephew, let’s see if we can understand the strategic purpose of the 1st Armored Division heading into the forest.
For those battalion commanders, deputy regiments, and staff officers who brought biscuits, cans, and cigarettes, Leicht remembered that his hair was about to grow gray. He could only keep saying that he didn't know, but the other party just didn't believe it. What's more, Leicht The more Hit said he didn't know, the more the other party thought he knew.
Why didn't I think of putting a high hat on military secrets? In that case, who would dare to ask?
