It was originally scheduled to enter service on April 20th... which is Hitler's birthday, and it will demonstrate its performance to Hitler on that day and pay tribute to him at the birthday ceremony.
However, the war situation on the Eastern Front made it impossible for Hitler to wait for that day any longer.
He roared to his men: "Our equipment is used to fight. If we have lost the war, what do we need these equipment for? So, now is the time we need them, now!"
The head of state's stubbornness could not be shaken, so despite the opposition of many people because there were still many unresolved problems, the "Tiger" tanks were secretly and urgently transported to the Eastern Front.
Manstein originally planned to use them in the attack on the Kerch Peninsula.
After all, this was its first time participating in the war and strictly speaking it was still in the experimental stage. It was not fully prepared so it was not suitable for participating in a battle that was too intense (at that time, Manstein believed that the victory of the Kerch Peninsula was already determined).
Unexpectedly, the situation changed so quickly, and the "Tiger" was lost before it reached its destination, the Kerch Peninsula.
Not only that, the Russian army even went straight to Zhankoy in an attempt to block and encircle the German troops entering the Crimean Peninsula.
Therefore, Manstein could only urgently order the "Tiger" tank battalion to be deployed in Chamkoy.
"What kind of tank is that?" Spanek asked the tank battalion commander, Major Merkel.
"Actually, I don't know, General!" Major Merkel replied: "We have only had this tank for fifteen days!"
"Fifteen days?"
"Yes!" Major Merkle replied: "Including on the way here, we used model training before that!"
What Major Merkel did not say is that due to time constraints, the "Tiger" tank was even welding parts on the flatbed truck that was transported here, and the first debugging was performed only after replacing the tracks and getting off the vehicle... The "Tiger" tank was too wide because of its body.
, you need to replace the narrower track when getting on the flatbed truck, and then replace the original track after getting off the truck.
"Can it deal with the enemy's T34?" Spanek asked again.
Major Merkel hesitated for a moment, and then replied: "If you look at the data...it can, General. Because it has an 88mm caliber tank gun, which can destroy enemy tanks at a distance of one thousand meters, and enemy tanks can destroy enemy tanks at a distance of two hundred meters."
Minedu may not be able to penetrate its front armor!"
"Then what are you hesitating about?" Spanek noticed Major Merkle's unnatural expression: "Is there anything wrong with it?"
"The failure rate is high, General!" Melk replied simply: "Especially when it is started. After all, it is an immature new tank!"
Sponneck nodded and said while looking at the huge creature in front of him: "Maybe we can avoid this at all!"
Lieutenant General Sponneck's method is to try to keep the tank from moving... If it is prone to malfunctioning if it does move, this is indeed a good idea.
Because obviously, if it just stays in the tank bunker and aims towards the target, all it has to do is adjust the tank, and only use part of the functions. Of course, it can reduce the probability of failure exponentially.
That's what Lieutenant General Sponneck did.
He even organized personnel to build several railway tracks and then used flatbed trucks to transport the Tiger tanks into the tank shelter.
At this time, the "Tiger" tank can no longer even be called a tank, because it actually relies on rails to maneuver.
Lieutenant General Sponneck told the maintenance personnel who came with the tank: "You just need to ensure that it can still aim. The rest will wait until after this battle is over!"
Then, Lieutenant General Sponneck ordered people to lay mines, barbed wire, and roadblocks in front of the trenches.
The most important thing is the anti-tank trench.
The anti-tank trench seems to have little effect in preventing the T34 from advancing, but its purpose is actually to slow down the T34 and provide a precise distance for the "Tiger" gunner's aiming... They can measure the distance between the tank bunker and the tank in advance. The distance of the anti-tank trench, coupled with the "Tiger"'s use of the Carl Zeiss tzf9b sight, which is famous for its precision, allows them to have a high hit rate on the battlefield.
As expected, the four "Tiger"s showed their prowess on the battlefield, destroying the Soviet T34s near the anti-tank trenches one after another. In just this charge, 16 T34s were destroyed.
The point is not how many vehicles were destroyed, but the problem that the T34 tanks were helpless against.
In other words, if we continue to fight like this, this situation will still happen again.
"The trouble is that it's a tank!" Lieutenant Colonel Zahakavich said: "If it's an anti-tank gun or anti-aircraft gun, we can destroy it with mortars or even tanks!"
Shulka and Katukov could understand the meaning of Lieutenant Colonel Zakharvich's words.
Anti-tank guns or anti-aircraft guns only have a mantlet in front, and the top is open, so that mortar shells can pass over the mantlet and kill people behind it. In addition, the mantlet usually cannot block direct fire from tank guns.
But the tank is different. It has all-round protection, and the front can withstand T34 armor-piercing bullets, so it can be said to be almost invincible.
If there is anything that can destroy it, one is a direct hit from a large-caliber howitzer, and the other is an aircraft.
But it was dark at this time, and the target was still hiding in a tank bunker, so the probability of a direct hit was very low.
As for the aircraft, it is difficult to find a tank that blends in with the snow even during the day.
"Can we bypass Zhankoy?" Lieutenant Colonel Gavrilov proposed a plan: "I mean...attack the Perekop Isthmus!"
This seems to be a solution, because the Perekop Isthmus is the channel connecting Crimea to the Ukrainian mainland. Directly sealing the isthmus means that the strategic purpose of sealing Crimea can also be achieved.
However, there are some things that may seem feasible strategically but not tactically.
Colonel Katukov shook his head, pointed to the map and said: "Zhankoi is to the east of the isthmus and is a transportation hub. If we bypass it and attack the isthmus directly... we will expose our flanks to Zhankoi. In front of Iraq, when the enemy reinforcements arrive tomorrow and cut off our retreat, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade will become a lone army surrounded!"
This is a situation where the two armies are encircling each other. Although the Soviet army can encircle the German army from a large area, the German army can encircle the 1st Guards Tank Brigade at the isthmus.
It is obvious that the 1st Guards Tank Brigade will be wiped out first.
It would be different if Zhankoy was captured. The Soviet army could reinforce Zhankoy from Feodosia and at the same time transport supplies to Zhankoy from the Sea of Azov.
In other words, Chamkoy is a city that cannot be bypassed.