Chapter 720: 720 Panther tank
Chapter 720 720 Panther Tank
Liu Guozhu sat in his seat, feeling the comfort that the new tank brought to him: Although the staggered road wheels are not very friendly to logistics support, they are an artifact for the entire tank crew. .
If we purely discuss comfort, this staggered road wheel may be superior to modern tanks. It's just that after choosing other performances, similar designs were completely abandoned.
Tang Mo’s idea is actually similar to that of the German designers: he plans to use Tang’s own leading industrial capabilities to give this lead to all frontline warriors.
The Panther tank is an outstanding work of this idea: before the next generation of tank technology was born, it was the best and most powerful existence.
Comparing with overall performance, it is superior to all other tanks of the same era. Even the most famous T-34 tank is completely incomparable to the Panther tank in all indicators.
Wide tracks and staggered road wheels make the Panther tank very stable when crossing obstacles, with almost no bumps.
This makes it possible for the Panther tank to aim and reload while moving. The short-stop shooting tactic allows the Panther tank to fire enough shells in a short engagement.
At the same time, its wide body can carry 80 rounds of artillery shells, which is equivalent to the number of Panzer IV tanks. Therefore, the Panther tank does not sacrifice its continuous combat capability because of the increase in shells.
However, for the gunner and loader, this brand-new tank is not without its shortcomings: in order to increase the protection of the tank, the hatch on the side of the turret for them to enter and exit has been cancelled.
So they were unable to stick their heads and upper bodies out of the car while driving, and they could not enjoy the scenery outside. The ventilation must be much worse, but the thickness of the armor on their sides is not comparable to that of the No. 4 tank.
At the same time, the observation window in front of the driver was also directly eliminated and replaced by a periscope—this directly enhanced the defensive capabilities of the armor on the front of the car body, but it did affect the driver's driving experience while marching.
The alternative is to raise the driver's seat so that they can stick their heads out of the vehicle body and drive the tank directly.
There are also disadvantages. If it catches up with the rainy days of the past few days, it will be much more troublesome to drive the tank.
In short, this was a willing exchange. The gunner and loader lost ventilation in exchange for better protection and a more powerful gun. The driver and wireless operator also received stronger armor.
The captain was the most comfortable, so Liu Guozhu’s experience was the most enjoyable. He could reveal half of his body and watch the villages passing by that were still smoking.
This is a small village in Dahua. There are only a few houses. There are straw piles behind the houses. Outside the fence that has been knocked down half of the time, there are some cultivated land that no one cares about. The soldiers of the Tang Army occupied this place. The villagers no longer know where to go. Where did it go?
“Soon this will become a battlefield.” The driver saw an open space not far away, and a Camel biplane fighter that was shot down and crashed here at an unknown time.
Looking at the white five-pointed star paint on the fuselage, it is obvious that this is a fighter jet of the Dahua Empire. Judging from the damage to the aircraft, the pilot is probably injured rather than killed.
When the troops of the Tang Army entered here, they did not encounter resistance from the Dahua troops. The other party quickly evacuated here without even setting a fire before leaving.
"Yes! According to the news from the battalion headquarters, an armored unit of the Dahua Force was found nearby, otherwise we wouldn't have been sent here." Liu Guozhu pressed the intercom and said to his driver.
Because it has been replaced with a more reliable design, the quality of the communicator in the car is quite good. The noise during the call is not too loud and the sound is quite clear.
The loader in the turret could only listen to the conversation of his commander and driver in tragedy, because now he had no place to take a look at the outside world.
Across the artillery chamber, the gunner on the other side can at least use the sight to see the distant scene, but compared to the past, his field of vision really cannot be described as good.
The diesel engine modified from the Panther tank roared cheerfully, driving the tank to smoothly cross the obstacles in front.
In the village, a group of Tang grenadiers were gathering together to talk. The leading commander pointed to some locations in the distance and discussed with the soldiers how to set up positions here.
A truck was parked behind the village, and the Type 113 armored vehicle covering the truck could also be seen. There was only one machine gun installed on that armored vehicle, which looked naive and had no lethality.
"Just one of our tanks is here, isn't it a little too small?" the gunner finally asked as he looked at the open space in front of his sight.
Liu Guozhu didn't take it seriously: "The other tanks in the platoon are on the flanks. We only need to block the enemies trying to enter the village. There is no problem! The terrain here is favorable to us."
They deliberately chose to deploy their defense line here because the terrain here is relatively narrow: there are mountains to the south, and the enemy's tanks cannot deploy. If the opponent only attacks with infantry, the Tang Army's grenadiers will repel them.
If the Dahua armored force comes from the north, the woodland there will slow down their attack speed, and then the other three tanks of the 1st platoon participating in the battle in a relatively more open area will kill all the enemies. Only when attacking this village from the west does Liu Guozhu's crew need to intercept. On this fighting surface, the suppressive power of a Leopard tank is obviously very terrifying.
As for why there are only 4 tanks in a tank platoon, it is because one of them broke down on the road - for complex weapons and equipment like tanks, the failure rate has always been high.
"Don't worry! There is a Lion armored reconnaissance vehicle in front of us! It will be enough when it withdraws." As he spoke, Liu Guozhu picked up the telescope hanging on his chest and looked at the sky in the distance.
There, there was a fighter jet that looked like the Great China Empire was circling, its wings were very clear.
The Tang Kingdom’s air force has not used biplanes for a long time: even reconnaissance aircraft do not use similar biplane designs.
On the contrary, the Dahua Empire often uses backward and very slow Camel fighter jets to perform reconnaissance missions: This is indeed a good choice, at least providing valuable intelligence to the ground forces of the Dahua Empire.
After all, the Dahua Empire has thousands of Camel fighter jets. Although they are outdated and cannot be used as air superiority fighters, they can still be used as waste.
"I guess they already know that we are here." Liu Guozhu said casually, putting down his binoculars and looking at the huge national flag laid on the ground by the infantry next to him.
Because there was not much space on the top of the Panther tank, the identification friend or foe painting previously used on the top of the No. 4 tank was basically cancelled.
In order to avoid accidental damage, the task of laying anti-aircraft identification marks was handed over to the infantry. The grenadiers spread the national flag on the roofs and the ground wherever they went. It has become a habit.
Despite this, friendly fire accidents still occur frequently. The Army is quite critical of this, and the Air Force often holds meetings to discuss this issue.
There is no way around this. Even during the Gulf War, American planes blew up British armored vehicles. This kind of thing has happened in any era.
"Hello? Hello! Yes, I am! Got it!" After receiving the communication from the platoon leader, Liu Guozhu took off his earphones and got out of the tank: "Come out and show off! News from the reconnaissance camp, the enemy The army's tanks and infantry appear nearby, and the battle may start at any time. Take a breather!"
The gunner and loader both got out of the tank and took out food from the luggage compartment on the side of the tank turret.
The steel plate on the outside of the Leopard tank trunk can withstand machine gun bullets at close range, so some food, clothes and socks can be stored.
Anyway, if you encounter a cannonball that can really penetrate that layer of steel plate, losing some clothes and food is not unbearable.
After several people ate two canned fruits, the Lion armored reconnaissance vehicle that retreated from the front stopped on the other side of the village.
The commander of the reconnaissance vehicle brought back news about the enemy: about seventy or eighty tanks, as well as a large number of infantry.
It seems that the Dahua Empire has really made great efforts to recapture Wangchun City. It is not easy to be able to assemble a large-scale force under the interference of the Tang Air Force.
Sure enough, in less than half an hour, soldiers from the Dahua Army appeared in the Tang Army's field of vision. The atmosphere suddenly became solemn, and Liu Guozhu's crew members also entered the tank and began to make final preparations.
“Load armor-piercing bullets!” Liu Guozhu gave the order while looking through his binoculars at the Dahua troops beginning to gather at the end of the open space in the distance.
"Armor-piercing bullet!" the loader repeated loudly as he pulled out a shell from the most awkward position, pushed it into the barrel, closed the breech bolt.
This kind of artillery shell is specially designed to attack the opponent's tanks, which can ensure that the high-pressure 75mm gun can easily penetrate the front armor of enemy tanks at a distance of one thousand meters.
Most of the body of Liu Guozhu's tank is hidden behind a small reverse slope, with only the turret and a small part of the body exposed.
Coupled with the bushes blocking their way, it was not easy to find a tank hidden here. This is an important part of the Tang Army's tank teaching course. The tank commander must keep in mind the various conditions for choosing a position.
As the enemy approached, Liu Guozhu gave the order to fire: "Aim at the Dahua tank at the front and fire when you are sure!"
"Boom!" Before he could finish the word "fire", the gunner stepped on the firing pedal, and an armor-piercing shell flew out of the muzzle of the Panther tank with a muzzle and rushed towards the man seeking death in the distance. The goal!
(End of this chapter)