Between tanks and anti-tank guns, most people's first reaction, like the instructor's, is to choose to attack the tank first instead of the anti-tank gun behind it.
There is usually nothing wrong with this choice, as tanks are always a threat to larger equipment.
But this is not the case now:
The tanks of both the enemy and ours are powerless against each other, which means that the tanks are no longer the biggest threat. On the contrary, the biggest threat is the anti-tank guns hiding behind them.
If you attack the tank first as the instructor said...even if the tank has been destroyed, the subsequent anti-tank guns can still be manually maneuvered to attack using the tank wreckage as a cover. Even at this time, it is difficult for the rocket launcher to accurately hit the target due to the smoke.
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But this is not the case now. The bazooka shooter only needs to aim at the tank and wait for it to get out of the way.
Sure enough, after waiting for a few more seconds, the "No. 3" tank "clacked" and gave up its gun position, and a thick and long anti-tank gun barrel was exposed.
The German artillerymen were even ready to fire. They only needed to slightly adjust the muzzle to aim at the "Matilda" tank before firing.
But they were still a step too late.
"Fire!" Shulka ordered.
With a few "swish" sounds, a total of four rockets from both sides of the street went straight towards the anti-tank guns with whistling sounds.
The rocket launcher shooters are only about 70 meters away from the anti-tank gun. The key point is that they hide in the building and are condescending. They also mount the rocket launcher on fixed points such as sandbags and launch on the windowsill. This is essentially the same as launching from the shoulder on a tense battlefield.
the difference.
So two of the four rockets hit.
The rocket hit the mantlet of the anti-tank gun. From the front, the anti-tank gun was the mantlet except for the barrel, so the hit could only hit the mantlet.
The thickness of the gun mantlet is usually only a dozen millimeters, and it is used to protect against bullets and shrapnel. Of course, it cannot stop armor-piercing projectiles that can penetrate hundreds of millimeters of tank armor.
Just two "boom" sounds were heard, and then screams followed... The high-temperature and high-pressure jet of the rocket penetrated the gun mantlet and sprayed towards the German anti-tank gunners gathered in a pile behind.
Needless to say, someone among them must have been penetrated by the jet or burned.
After the war, Sulka saw their miserable scene, and his whole body looked like it was rotten, with patches of black here and there.
Of course, that's not really "bad", but the high-temperature and high-pressure jets spread out like a fountain after passing through the gun mantlet... This is like a faucet being blocked. If you slowly increase the water pressure, it will become blocked.
If the faucet plug cannot withstand the pressure and suddenly pops open, water will rush out and splash everywhere irregularly.
The only difference was that the German soldiers endured high temperatures and high-pressure metal jets, and the smell of the metal jets splashing on their bodies was not pleasant. What was even more painful was that quite a few of them struggled for a while before dying because their vital organs were not hit.
The two rockets that failed to hit flew straight to the corner and exploded, causing fragments and rubble to injure several German soldiers.
But these are not important. What is important is that the anti-tank gun can no longer be used.
The Panzer III tank didn't feel the danger until then, and it quickly adjusted its muzzle to find the target.
If the "Type III" tank could find the target accurately and quickly and launch grenades, to be honest, it could still cause certain casualties to the Soviet troops in the building.
The problem is that it is difficult to do. The tank only has one observation hole to observe the outside world. It is difficult to find anti-tank guns in an open battlefield, let alone in a city with buildings blocking it everywhere and blind spots everywhere.
It clumsily adjusted its muzzle and fired a shell in a hurry, blowing up a building and causing shrapnel to fly everywhere.
However, Shulka knew that the Panzer III tank had never found its target because the building it attacked had only two observers.
The Panzer III tank adjusted its muzzle and continued to attack, but it was already too late.
After several whistles, the "No. 3" tank emitted a cloud of black smoke... The black smoke came from the tank cabin, which was a sign that the tank had been penetrated.
Once the tanks and anti-tank guns were destroyed, the German attack was blocked.
The Germans tried several infantry charges, but there was no doubt that any charge was meaningless with the enemy on both sides of the street and tanks in the middle.
Similar battles were going on in other directions in Tver, but they were similar. In some places, the German Pak40 succeeded. That is, they used this method to destroy the "Matilda" tank blocking the middle of the street.
But the "Matilda" tank is not the point.
The German army tried to use the cover of tanks to launch strong attacks, but every strong attack ended with the tank being destroyed by a rocket launcher... Rocket launchers are impossible to defend against in street fighting. Houses, ruins, and even a crater or a wall can become its hiding place.
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It only requires the cooperation of two people to run around. If you see a tank at any time, you can destroy it within a minute and move it immediately after the battle. It is very flexible.
Tanks, on the other hand, have to move along the streets, awkwardly looking for targets, and even taller buildings cannot be attacked outside their shooting angle.
Only then did Lucas, commander of the 6th Armored Division, understand the crux of the problem.
"Your Excellency Lieutenant General!" Lucas reported to Kubiler: "This is not a problem with the enemy's tanks. I even believe that they can block our attack even without tanks... This new enemy equipment is too terrifying.
Our tank is like a target in front of them, a moving target. Our tank crews can't even feel their presence!"
"What's the meaning?"
"The tank crew was hit and died before they could find them!"
"No matter what, find a way to deal with it!" Kubil ordered: "You know the importance of the Tver Bridge!"
After saying that, he couldn't help but hang up the phone.
This is obviously a problem for Major General Lucas.
Of course, the rocket launcher is not omnipotent. It also has shortcomings, namely short range and poor accuracy.
Based on this shortcoming, armored units should fight with them in open fields with good visibility, and street fighting just makes up for this shortcoming.
Therefore, Kubiler's order to "find a way to deal with it" makes no sense... because the way to deal with it is not to engage in street fighting with it. If you insist on using tanks and rocket launchers to engage in street fighting, it is almost impossible to solve it. That's why
One's shortcomings attack the other's strengths.
But of course, Kubiler doesn't need to think about this issue.
Lucas held an emergency meeting and discussed it with his subordinates, but no one found a solution.
In desperation, Lucas could only say: "We can only try to launch an attack after the sky darkens. We hope that the enemy's new equipment will not be able to exert such terrifying combat effectiveness at night!"