Chapter 51: Armored Duel 2

  It's not just Lieutenant Colonel Michail and Weitmann who came from Germany. A transfer order from Field Marshal Keitel, the Chief of Staff of the Supreme Command of the Three Armies, directly transferred nearly 400 tank instructors from various armored officer academies and army armored training camps. They followed the special train with ammunition and took action. Their basic task was to serve as commanders of the No. 5 tank. Among them, there were 100 people who were specially equipped for the No. 6 tank, with two people per vehicle, one as the commander and the other as the driver and maintenance engineer. There were also 20 reserve officers who rotated personnel for these 40 No. 6 tanks at any time. In this way, each new-style tank had at least one experienced tank commander.

  These people are not like the ordinary armored division's tank commanders. These people are usually expert-level figures, and they are very particular about driving tanks, maintaining tanks, tank marches, and tank combat operations. Moreover, other members of their tank crew are basically their former students, making it easier for them to work together seamlessly.

  Among these people, Lieutenant Michele Wittmann was just an ordinary role. So he was assigned to a No. 5 tank as the commander. Lieutenant Michele Wittmann's teaching time was also very short, so basically no one knew him. Of course, due to the short teaching time, Lieutenant Michele Wittmann had not been truly accepted by these instructors as one of their own.

  But all this did not prevent Lieutenant Colonel Michael Wittmann from commanding, and the temperament gained in combat quickly made him one with his tank crew members. Unlike other expert and professor-level tank commanders who only believed in data and science.

  Lieutenant Michelle Wittmann trusts her instincts and experience.

  In the desert, two tank clusters met unexpectedly, and both sides' tanks raised dust far away. Michel and Weitmann couldn't see anything in the periscope of the car, so they put on goggles, opened the hatch, and half of their bodies were outside the tank turret. At this time, it was all relying on visual observation to observe the enemy's tanks. Michel and Weitmann saw that the British tanks were about 3 kilometers away from their own tanks, just entering the theoretical maximum range of the No. 5 tank. Michel and Weitmann directly ordered "Turret at maximum elevation angle, high-explosive shell ready."

  The loader of the tank replied quickly and neatly "Completed".

  "Separate and launch." Michelle Weitman said.

  As a seasoned tank commander, Michael Wittmann would not have fired his cannon while moving as depicted in the film. The damage to the engine and transmission would be fatal, and after one battle, the engine could probably be sent directly to the scrapyard. Only a novice would make such a mistake, and even armor textbooks do not mention this point, only experienced tank commanders understand this.

  The driver hastily pressed the clutch, and the tank stopped instantly. The gunner didn't pull the trigger of the 75mm tank gun until the vehicle came to a complete stop. The recoil of the shell suddenly pushed the tank hard, causing the entire ground to tremble violently.

  A shell flew in a curve directly towards the British tank formation. The shell took 3 seconds to travel the 3000 meters, landing right in the middle of the British tanks' advance. Although it didn't score a direct hit, shrapnel from the explosion still rocked several nearby Sherman IV tanks that were moving forward. A British tank commander who was observing from outside was struck in the head by shrapnel and died instantly, falling onto the outside of the tank with blood flowing down the turret.

  Other British tank commanders, seeing this situation, hastily retreated into their tanks and were too afraid to stick their heads out again.

  Michelle and Wittmann observed through binoculars from outside the vehicle that no tanks were hit together with the explosion, knowing they had not been hit. However, Michelle and Wittmann did not lose hope.

  The German army's other expert-level tank commanders fought entirely based on the effective range of their tanks. Moreover, they had to guarantee the highest hit rate, so they would not fire at a distance of 3000 meters, and would only open fire within 2000 meters. But Michel Wittmann was different.

  Michelle, Weitman is also a seasoned veteran on the Eastern Front battlefield. He knows that in an encounter battle, the side that fires first usually gains victory, while the side that fires later often suffers defeat. Firing first has a significant impact on both sides, and the morale of the side that fires first can be greatly boosted.

  So Michell, Weitman's shot to the British army did not pose a great threat and did not touch the hearts of those German tank commanders. But for other tank members, wireless operators, gunners, loaders, drivers, it was very meaningful. At least let the grassroots officers and soldiers no longer feel so tense, and quickly enter the combat state.

  Michelle, Weitmann did not order the re-loading of the file, but ordered the loader to continue loading high-explosive howitzer shells, one after another, at the maximum angle of fire towards the British tanks. Moreover, all the shells fired were high-explosive shells. The recoil of each shell slightly changed the firing angle of the tank, and these angles became magnified over a distance of 3000 meters, causing the shells to explode in different locations.

  To be honest, these high-explosive howitzer shells posed little threat to the sturdy American-made 'Sherman' tanks. In terms of protection, the Sherman tank's front and side armor were 50mm thick, with a 47-degree angle on the front, equivalent to 70mm, while the sides had no angle. The turret's front armor was 88mm thick. It can be said that no high-explosive shell could penetrate this armor.

  However, the Sherman tank was equipped with a gasoline engine and was extremely prone to catching fire and exploding. This flaw earned the Sherman tank the nickname "Ronson lighter" because of the company's advertising slogan "lights first time, every time."

  What most troubled the British Army was the Sherman tank's 75mm main gun with a barrel diameter of 40 times, which was good at firing high-explosive shells against infantry but had little effect on tanks. The short-barreled defect also made the Sherman M4 mediocre in firing armor-piercing projectiles. Within 1000 meters, it could only penetrate 60mm thick flat armor.

  Of course, against those old and broken German tanks No. 1, 2, 3, and all the Italian standard tanks with thick filling and thin skin, 'Sherman' still performed very well. But it was a bit difficult to deal with the German army's mainstay, the No. 4 tank.

  Now Sherman is facing not those old-fashioned tanks, but the latest German 5th tank that suddenly appeared. The 5th tank may be unknown to everyone, but if it's said that the German Leopard tank, I estimate no one will be unfamiliar.

  The No. 6 tank doesn't need any introduction, people all over the world know that it's another name for the 'Tiger' tank. The No. 5 tank is equipped with a 75mm gun of 70 caliber, and shells fired from such a long barrel can penetrate 100mm armor at a distance of more than 2000 meters. Such a long barrel was originally intended to counter those T-34 tanks that were rampant on the Eastern Front in the Soviet Union. The British would never have expected that these killers, which should have appeared on the Russian battlefield, would appear here.

  Very soon, Michelle and Weitman's non-aimed fire yielded its first result. A shell directly hit the armor near the engine of a British Sherman tank and exploded. The gasoline in the thin-skinned engine also ignited, causing a second explosion, and the flames from the explosion rushed into the driver's compartment and command room.

  The British troops driving the tank in front were instantly roasted by flames and blast waves, and torn to pieces. Several British soldiers in the command room also fainted for a moment due to the shock of the explosion.

  The entire British tank was roasted in the flames, and the tank commander was scalded awake. As he woke up, he found that the inside of the tank had become a hell on earth, and the merciless flame was caressing the stored cannonballs like a lover. The awakened British soldier suddenly shouted out, struggling to climb out of the tank. But accompanied by his loud cry, the tank's cannonballs, which were also ignited by the flames, also burst forth in protest.

  The third explosion happened like this, the explosive tank cannonball produced an explosion that blew a big hole in the bottom of the tank, flames spouted out from the bottom of the tank, under the force of large amounts of gas, the tank was blown up into the air by the power of the jet to as high as 3 meters. If Liu Qi were here he would definitely exclaim "Jet Tank".

  It's not over yet, the turret of that tank in the air was no longer constrained by the body, swinging its more than 2-meter-long barrel flying tens of meters, and smashing into the track load wheel of another 'Sherman M4' tank. At that time, it also smashed another 'Sherman' tank to scrap on the spot, while the load wheel that was hit flew like a frisbee, making a whistling sound directly onto the machine gun of an armored personnel carrier behind, smashing the machine gun into something like a postmodern art piece, before struggling to fall onto the sandy soil on one side.

  The result of this rare and wonderful scene made the British army behind frightened out of their wits.

  At this time, there was no concept of movie special effects, let alone a live-action realistic performance.

  The British army's morale was as limp as a frost-bitten eggplant. The explosion was also seen by the German Panther tank commanders more than 2,000 meters away, and those high-ranking tank commanders couldn't help but secretly envy Michael Wittmann's good luck.

  The first spoils of this battle were actually obtained by this guy. I'm afraid an armored assault medal is unavoidable. This guy already got one in Russia, and this time it's likely to be the first again.

  This result was a huge boost to the German tank crews. A 3,000-meter long-range shot was simply an impossible task that had never happened before, but the British tanks burning like torches stood there, and the morale of the German soldiers was instantly boosted.

  The soldiers all roared like little tigers, eager to immediately defeat the British like Michell and Wittmann's tanks.

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