As soon as Katukov returned to the headquarters, he excitedly patted Shulka on the shoulder and said: "Well done, Comrade Shulka, you brought us a 'treasure'. It's unbelievable that it can penetrate
100mm of armor! How did you know they had this?"
"I don't know, Colonel!" Shulka replied, "I just thought we needed something like this, and coincidentally they have it!"
"Yes, what a coincidence!" Katukov said, rubbing his hands: "It appeared at the right time. However, we can't be too drastic, understand? I'm worried that the Americans will regret it!"
"Yes, Comrade Colonel!" Shulka replied.
It seems that Shulka is not the only one who has such an idea, but now it seems that even if the Americans go back on their word, it will not help. Skinny "contributed" all the drawings... This means that the "Bazooka" rocket launcher will be equipped first
It would be the Soviet Union, not the United States.
This doesn't seem to matter much from a national level, because this is not a high-tech gadget. On the contrary, its structure is extremely simple and easy to copy... The Germans only captured a few "Bazookas" and then quickly
Has its own "rpzb" (anti-tank rocket rifle).
But this is not the case for the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, because without the "Bazooka", the 1st Tank Brigade may be vulnerable when facing the German army.
"This is a miracle, Shulka!" Katukov said while hitting his hand with his fist: "Although we don't know whether it can be mass-produced, and we are not sure whether it can play a role on the battlefield in the future. But
, I think this may be a revolution, an unprecedented revolution in tank warfare... Individual weapons can effectively destroy tanks, and this weapon can be mass-produced quickly, which will be a nightmare for the enemy's armored forces.
!”
As an armored force expert, Katukov certainly knew the importance of rocket launchers, but at the same time, Katukov had a hint of worry in his eyes.
Shulka knew what Katukov was worried about. If the structure of the rocket launchers was so simple and the power was so terrifying, then it wouldn't be long before... they would soon become equipment used by the enemy to deal with Soviet tanks.
"We should be prepared, Comrade Shulka!" At this time Katukov stopped.
"Prepare?"
"Yes!" Katukov replied: "First of all, we must develop a set of feasible tactics and be prepared to accept rocket launchers and put them into the battlefield. Secondly, we cannot let them fall into the hands of the enemy.
That means keeping it strictly confidential!”
"Yes, Colonel!" Shulka replied.
Regarding the former, Shurka fully agrees, because this is a new type of equipment, and new equipment means that it requires a more scientific and reasonable firepower configuration to play its role.
As for the latter, to be honest Shurka doesn't have much confidence.
If it is something like a tank or an airplane, it seems not difficult to keep it secret, but it can be used as an individual weapon and it is also equipment that is put into the army in large quantities... It is almost impossible to keep it secret. In offensive or defensive warfare,
There will always be a few of them falling into the hands of the enemy.
But even so, it can be kept secret as long as it can.
At this time, what Shulka and Katukov need to consider is the training and organization of the troops.
This seems simple, as if it is enough to equip the troops with rocket launchers and even distribute them evenly, but in fact there is a series of complex arguments that even require exercises to solve.
Otherwise, once you train with the wrong organization and tactics and then go to the battlefield, you will regret it.
"Its optimal range is 70 meters!" Katukov said: "This means we have to fight the enemy in close combat!"
"Yes!" Shulka replied: "So we should put 'Matilda' at the front!"
Katukov opened the drawer and searched inside for a while, then pulled out a piece of information, flipped it over and compared it for a while, then shook his head and said: "No, it's not enough! The 'No. 3' tank gun can fire at a distance of 250 meters.
It wears 88mm of vertical armor, while the frontal armor of 'Matilda' is only 78mm, which means... the enemy may be able to penetrate 'Matilda' at about 200 meters!"
"We can strengthen its armor thickness!" Shulka said: "Shorten the combat distance to 100 meters!"
Katukov nodded: "We need to add at least 15mm of additional armor to it!"
"Then we can use the M3 tank to pose a threat to the enemy!" Shulka said: "It has a 75mm gun and can destroy enemy tanks at long distances!"
"Yes, although its range of fire is not accurate enough, it can put psychological pressure on the Germans and make them want to use their mobility to engage in close combat with our army!"
So the tank sequence was basically decided, with "Matilda" as a shield and "General Grant" as a spear, forcing the German armored forces to engage in close combat with the Soviet army.
The most useless among them is the "Valentine"... Its armor is not as thick as the "Matilda", and its artillery is not as powerful as the "General Grant". It can be said that it is in an awkward position between the two.
Facts also proved that the "Valentin" tank performed poorly on the battlefield.
The main reason for this is that its tracks cannot adapt to the snow in the Soviet Union. The gaps in the tracks are easily filled with ice and snow and then slip on the snow.
On the other hand, there is a fairly large vertical seat ring under the turret... Generally, tanks are designed to be tilted, but the "Valentin" tank is designed to be vertical, so this part is almost a target for German attacks.
The bullseye.
There are many other shortcomings, such as the rigid British who did not equip the "Valentin" with high-explosive grenades.
Originally, the Soviet Union thought that the British army forgot to equip the "Valentin" with high-explosive grenades. Later, when they asked, they found out that the British did not have their own "Valentin" tanks. The reason was that the British believed that tanks only needed machine guns to deal with infantry.
Enough, tank guns should deal with tanks.
In addition, there are openings on the top and body of the "Valentine" tank, and there is a completely redundant 50mm caliber smoke launcher... What is strange is that this smoke launcher can only fire smoke grenades, even though the British army has 50mm mortars
They didn't know how to use the cannon to fire mortar shells to fill the gap in artillery fire against the infantry.
As for smoke grenades, they are rarely used on the battlefield. Even if they are used sometimes, the infantry can do it for them.
The consequence of this design is that the "Valentin" tank has no resistance to incendiary bottles from any direction.
When the Soviet army used Molotov cocktails to blow up German tanks, they had to be thrown at the engine, but the Germans could attack the "Valentin" tank from any direction... because the burning gasoline would seep into the cab from the openings and gaps in the tank.