Okay no offense, but you are probably one of the pettiest historian's I've seen on UA-cam. Like seriously, in every video you criticize every inaccuracy or mistake made in someone else's content. Still hate the sjw crap as much as the next guy but seriously, calm down dude.
The T-34/85 that got hit on the front with the Molotov is not the same T-34 that exploded right after. The T-34/85 that got hit with the Molotov has the number 10 on its turret but its also shown in the next scene when the Molotov is thrown at its side and the grenade bundle at its back. The T-34 that exploded most likely was hit by the AT gun.
@@donaldhysa4836 я тоже участвовал в этом жестоким войне и попал в плен у немцев и 16 лет прожил в Германии через Турецкий посольство вернулся домой в СССР и у меня есть много ордена и медали 🇦🇿🖐️
The Molotov was mostly used against Russian T34s in WW2 by Japan, as far as I'm aware. The Molotovs exploited one of the many T34s flaws. The T34 in of itself is a solid design, however its armour plates edges often did not meet each other and left holes for burning liquid to drip through, burning the crew and ammunition. Against, say, an M1 Abrams, it would do nothing except make the armoured murder-wagon annoyed at you Soldiers would aim the Molotovs at the vents on the back of the tank near where the engine is. At the very least this would wreck the engine and immobilize the tank and at worst it would catch the oil in the engine on fire and the fire would spread throughout the tank. As Ido mentioned there was no real storage protection for ammunition in older tanks and the fires could cause the ammunition to detonate and blow the tank to pieces Also. Actual German War Veterans were on set and helped with directing the movie. They have more knowledge about the things that happend in combat than any "historian" would.
No, T-34 were not produced before 1940, one year after the Japanese-Soviet conflict over Mongolia. The infamously flammable Soviet tanks of Khalkin Gol were the gasoline-powered BT5 and BT7. They were the T-34's early predecessors, using the same Christie suspension and sloped armor. As opposed to them, however, T-34 was much better armored and armed, and used diesel-powered engine.
@@Rachotilko Gasoline is less of a factor than people assume it is. The real issue is the engine deck and fuel tank design. Allowing burning fuel to even easily access the power plant in the first place. Much less have anything remain on fire. Maintenance procedure and proper stowage plays a particularly important role. Military History Visualized had an extensive video the subject.
Despite agreeing with you with the molotovs causing the tanks to explode, I think that the actual explosions come from the spare fuel tanks near the engine
Also Russian tank quality was very poor in theory good designs but the building process was pretty rough so the turret might not of been fully stead and some of it could’ve gotten inside the tanks fighting compartment
@I like Ships yup. Brilliant concept when you think about it. Unskilled and largely peasant population? Design a tank that can be pounded together and operated by a chimpanzee. Worked out rather well.
7:13 actually slightly wrong. The T-34/85 was in service come mid-late 1943 tho said versions were quite rushed and had problems that were sorted in the 1944 versions. Edit: 9:50 you keep referring to 9 tanks, however you will notice only 4 tanks actually turn off to face out small platoon of troops. The other 5 seem to be passing in the background towards other targets. As for infantry, these would likely be a Soviet Tank Rider platoon of this time which you are correct. Armed with PPSH-41s or PPD-40’s (depending on the logistics of the home unit) tho not depicted would likely be the units DP-27 gunners. Atleast 1-2 of these squads would be armed with such as to help lay down suppressive fire allowing the infantry to advance. Also the tanks actually wouldn’t use their main guns either while the riders were on incase of the blast from the main gun causing a bad effects on the riders - remember their is a lot of force going in several directions when a tanks main gun fires and said forces can have bad effects on men close to them as well as bad effects on one’s hearing and such. As such Soviet tankers were told not to use their main guns when men rode them into battle - tho not every unit followed this. In addition it was also standard for Soviet tanks in non-combat to have out turned commanders for better spotting + communication with their riders - as these men will have better ability to spot for the tank Commander too - usually the rider officer with binoculars. This also helped for the tankers to identify the enemy positions quickly and give an accurate assessment for when the riders should jump off/ gives them ability to coordinate an attack - some tank riders would have their tanks drive into the enemy trenches/fox hole positions and then jump out directly into them. This was extremely risky as it exposed them longer ontop of the tanks tho it also added to the additional fear factor + occasionally some found it better to have a fast but more dangerous advance on a tank vs the slower but safer advance across the floor.
Nope,T-34-85 D-5T variant also called mod.43 did not enter service before 1944. D-5T variant had really short production run at start of 1944,because D-5T was never meant to be used on T-34-85 but was made just to fill gap when Zis-53 variant Mod.44 was completed. D-5T was called mod.43 because plans and protypes were finished during 1943,but production didnt start until 1944. Zavod #112 completed first tanks most likely pre-production batch in december 1943 and they were used for training of guard battalion and didnt see combat.
From what i know, T34 were being used (and taken out) as early as operation barbarossa, 1941. the soviets having at least 2,000 of them by that time. AND AT THAT STAGE RUSSIAN TANKS WERE COMING UP AGAINST EARLY WAR PANZERS. Losing about half of their tanks to the supposedly underpowered German guns
@@n8zog584 we’re not talking about the T34/76 we’re talking about the T34/85 which was a mid-late war upgrade designed to give soviet tankers an upgrade against German heavy tanks - I.e. the Tiger and Elephant - while also making upgrades to equipment and crew (the T34/85 upgrading not just the gun but turret giving an extra seat for a 5th man allowing the crew commander to actually act as a commander vs gunner/commander.)
Yes!!! I like the point you make of the commanders: the visibility on the t34 was truly awful so it’s very accurate that a commander would peek out in dangerous combat scenarios
I wanted to mention that the men in Stalingrad in the beginning of the movie andren't standart infantry. They are part of a Sturmkompanie. Those are Sturmpioniere. Engineer brigade Elite Units.
After watching this movie in the cinema, many years ago, a German coworker told us that one of his neighbors when he still lived in Germany, was an old gentleman that fought against the Russians and he told my friend how he destroyed some Russian tanks by waiting until the tanks rolled over his foxhole and then attaching a magnetic charge to their hulls, just like we can see in the movie.
@@tihijpirat1- Он не был моим дедом. 2- Русские взяли Берлин... но когда русские еще «наслаждались» коммунизмом, жители Западного Берлина были уже богаты и свободны. 3- Афганцы быстро ускорили российские без особых усилий. 4- В настоящее время Россия даже не является заинтересованной державой. Путин может лаять, но не может кусаться. А половина ваших танков, самолетов и подводных лодок - только дерьмо. Россия? Вы можете сохранить его для себя, спасибо.
It must have been absolutely terrifying. I've just finished reading about a German soldier's experiences as MG 42 gunner in Stalingrad it was an incredible read
@@chrisholland7367 I think you are right. I've never the chance to talk to that gentleman directly but hearing what he told to my friend was really scary.
The T34-85 was used due to budget constraints. This movie was made in cooperation with Czechs so apart from having a lot of czech actors, it was relatively cheap to get the tanks from their army stocks along with OT810 which was used instead of the german halftrack at the start of the movie.
6:16 I actually heard that both soviets and germans did that to eliminate troops in foxholes and trenches. And when you said that the soviets are portraited like sadistic, well, both germans and soviets do horrible things in this movie (the soviets using a kid as a shield, the german firing squad scene)
the german granade bundle was mostly used to destroy the engine, they would also wrap the charges up with some sand in a sack so that once they threw it it wouldn't fall from the tank.
Old tanker here. Molotov cocktails can stop a tank by by burning the engine, but might not destroy it completely. And pivot steering on top of infantry is a real tactic to destroy fighting positions.
I read about german veterans giving their accounts of russian tanks pivoting to crush fox holes and shallow bunkers. It is mentioned in: -The forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer -Adventures in my youth by armin schieder baur -In Deadly Combat And I think Blood Red Snow -
Stalingrad is one of my favorite movies. I talk a lot with some people that return from Stalingrad and they said that movie is nothing compared with the reality. Real situations were more cruel than into the movie. The movie was studied after a deep consultation with veterans and basically can show a part of the truth. We don't have to smile about some situations because there lost life too people. Many german soldiers prefer to fight until the last moment or suicide themselves instead to finish prisoners. Do you know why? Try to imagine..
T-34/85 entered service in winter 1943 (first 300 tanks sent to combat units). They are used in movies just because original T-34 are kinda rare as a LOT of them were rearmed/reused for some other roles (SU-85/SU-100 rebuilds, rearmed to T-34/85 once cannons were avalible and so). Also keep in mind that Pak 38 had optic sights that were very often frozen in such conditions and also whole metal plate with manual sights shrinks and bend a lot in winter such as 1942 Stalingrad one... That can explain really poor aiming as they had no way to aim... + Whole aiming and adjusting mechanism would be frozen... True molotov is made with fuel and sulfuric acid 1:1 and rag soaked in Kalium Chlorate. It was sefigniting on impact and was really good for blowing T-34 up. True molotov is sticky and leaks to every hole. Soviet tanks were full of oil and grease with opened ammo racks so explosion wasnt that uncommon... :) Germans used Soviet guns (SMG mostly) because they were better, not just because of ammo. Because of loose tolerations at factories those guns didnt freeze (K98 and MP-40 did). Every german soldier at Stalingrad was told: You see dead Soviet? Take his shoes and SMG. Other tanks werent part of this group. They separated before battle. 4-5 tanks is a platoon => standard operation unit.
Excellent points, friend. And sorry for the grave digging. I assume that the expose of the tank leaders is due to lacking of communication equipment in early T34-76s.
I really liked your reaction of the video and I also like this movie! Also where is the Call Of Duty 2 mission reaction? I really wanna see your opinion on it. 🙂
Scene of tank turning over foxhole: My mother remembers after the war a man visiting her parents' house whose hands were constantly trembling, even his body was shaking in an uncontrolled way. At the eastern front he had been completely buried by a tank turning around over his foxhole. He was dig out by his comrades later but suffered this long term nervous trauma (don't know which other injuries). She also remembers that he said "The Russian tanks used to do this". Terrifying story my mother didn't forget.
The shell hitting a man and severing him in half is the most terrifying war movie moment. And the author of the video is surprised that a tank would chase a wounded German to run him over: remember that Soviet soldiers knew of the inhuman atrocities commited by the Germans. Some might snap and in fury sadistically kill the hated foe. A great, grim, hard-to-watch movie.
The Red Army knew that the German Sixth Army was struggling by then and they would do just about anything to break them. The evacuation scene later on in the movie showed how grim things were for the German soldiers.
14:27 I once heard from a source, many years ago, saying that German soldiers often preferred their Soviet counterpart's winter boots because they're much thicker and better in quality than their winter boots. Idk if you watched one of the scenes from the Unknown Soldier 2017, where Antti Rokka too also removed one of the Soviet soldier's boots after ambushing them. Granted, I understand the scene shown is from the Finnish perspective, but, maybe perhaps this shows that the Soviet winter boots were better.
As mentioned by earlier replier, German boots had nails in them that were used for grip on slippery surfaces. However, those iron nails conducted the outside cold to the soldier's feet. Also, Germans believed that boots should be a perfect fit, while Soviet soldiers had more loosened footwear so they could stuff pieces of newspaper and other materials that helped isolate their shoes.
6:18 the Soviet tank drivers did that a lot, more than you’d think. In the book “Blood red snow” the author talks about the soviet tanks doing this to guys stuck in foxholes and trenches.
You shouldn't believe *everything* what people are saying, What tankers really avoid is to expose their tanks' flank. That Koschorrek confabulated a lot *. . .*
@@alexandersidorenko9568 yes in this situation they wouldn’t do that but if there were no AT guns they would do this a lot, multiple accounts of German veterans who saw this happen.
@@JKhyway many drivers will do it, however I read about soviet tank crew which by accident dropped their tank over German infantry hiding in big ditch. Casualties for Germans where high but both sides where demoralized and incapable to fight. Germans surrender and Russians return to camp and get drunk dead for couple days.
I agree with your critique, and also that it is best movie on Stalingrad battle, but if course only from the German perspective. One battle scene you might consider reviewing is the infantry attack on a factory early on, when the Germans seem to waste a lot of good soldiers when some tank, artillery or mortar would’ve been useful.
A war film can never be 100% historically accurate. There are other important factors, such as the atmosphere, a certain perception of the viewer's story, the psychology that seeks into the minds of soldiers. In short, it is not only possible to criticize historical authenticity, but it cannot be said that it is not important either. But even so, Stalingrad is the best war film I've ever seen. Maybe try to look at it yourself and then judge better. This is just one scene.
in the book "blood red snow" Günter K.Koschorrek describes how a t34 does roll over a fox hole during a battle though there were no anti tank wapons there at that particular moment.
During the Battle of the Bulge, a German tank rolled on top of an American foxhole. But it didn't grind over it, rotating in all directions. It simply sat there for a few minutes untill the fumes from its engine exhaust had suffocated the GIs under it.
@@AudieHolland that seems like a strange story to me. carbon monoxide is the most toxic gas in the engine exhaust but its lighter than oxygen so it would float upwards. I can't think of anything that would kill them in such a short time.
@@hankthegreatone It was cold, GIs were probably in a covered foxhole. German tank was probably right over the only ventilation hole and driver stepped on it. I read it in a book about the Battle of the Bulge, where the superior officer was in contact with the commander in the frontline. At one point the officer asked the other, where is it (the tank) right now? The other replied, "Right on top of me." And while up till then, this seemed like a humoristic skit, the narration continued saying that the German tank remained on top of the foxhole untill the occupants had been asphyxiated. In another incident, again a staff officer watched from his window as the Germans were infiltrating the town. He recognized an officer running right into a Panther tank and the tank fired its *main gun* at the lone officer. Fortunately he missed but the witness only saw the blast and probably had ducked for cover, thinking the officer had been exploded.
Despite your critics are all right, Stalingrad 93 is still one of the best War movies out there it is certainly by far the best movie about Stalingrad!
Before and at stalingrad the soviets lost tanks as fast as they could build them. Crew training was virually nonexistant. This can explain poor tank performance in the scene.
The T34´s are 85er´s because there are not really that many 76er around that are capable of driving on a level that is required for movie sets. The Soviet Union lost more or less 100% of their tank production of 1935-43. These were destroyed on the battlefield and the handfull of still existing T34-76 are museum pieces. To add to the PaK38 problem: they were already in very short supply of Pz.Gr.40 (toungsten cored APCR) for every caliber of gun and the Pz.Gr.39 of the PaK38 was only capable of reliably penetrating (damaging the external armor and inflicting spalling) the T34´s Hullfront on ranges below 500m, perforation (punching through into the fighting compartment) only below 250m. They had to hold their shots until the T34´s were more or less above them. Not only that they had very limited and rationed food supply and insuficient winter clothing, the average temperature on the outside was -15°C to -35°C. They had to hold positions like these foxholes for hours, resulting in casualties due to exposure. People simply froze to death waiting for the enemy to arrive. Here we can also see the negative effects of the cold, as the men were more or less incapable of finer work like tying knots or even turning the safety of their Kar98 from safe to fire due to cold induced reduction of external limb mobility. (your fingers just stop working and then they freeze off) Firing the T34´s maingun with the tank rider platoon on board would have a severe negative impact on the tank riders. The concussion without blastshield is pretty strong, resulting in nausea, loss of hearing or even falling off the tank. Throwing Molotow Cocktails on the Front or Engine Deck of a Tank was standart infantry anti tank tactics and in the manual and training. In case you dont have acess or supply of Nebelhandgranate (special smoke grenadess), wich are used to blind the tank or obscure its vision, prior to attacking with Hafthohlladung (magnetig shaped charges) and geballten Ladungen (bundled charges), you use improvised firebombs for similar effects, to allow the use of anti tank weapons
This was kinda a bad review man, you missed a lot of important details. And this movie does line up extremely well with first hand war accounts, like the tanks spinning over the foxholes, the molotovs, and the soviets trying to run over soldiers.
Wasn’t it common for the early soviet T-34s to have shoddy welding allowing for flammable antitank weapons and white phosphorus to damage the crew or components.
Stealing the boots is actually very realistic. There are very many reports about it, because the Russians wore felt boots that kept the feet from freezing. And he got them immediately before someone else steals the boots ^^
11:30 is exactly why the earlier t-34 drove a 360 over the other foxhole. To break the frozen ground and crush the soldier AND his foxhole. 13:00 they didn't tell them to retreat so he could through the molotow cocktail, he warned them that a Molotow was about to be thrown. So he placed the grenade down ( and seemingly pulled the chord off screen). The Molotov ignites on the right and the bundle grenade explodes on the le feft side of the tank, and the tank is knocked out. One of those or maybe the combination managed to do enough damage. Also that first Molotow hit wasn't too inaccurate, the t-34 exploded quite fast, but you can blow one up with a Molotow. The hatches and mg port aren't really air tight especially as the hull mg has a hole in the plate so you can look through to aim. It's quite small but the flames and gasoline would probably have gotten inside. So now you have burning gasoline probably a burning crewmember or two and whatever amount of oil, diesel vodka etc is in that tank that can and probably will catch fire which will after a while create enough heat to cook off the ammo. And if an explosion of a near miss of a 50mm of the cannon damaged a casing by overpressure or spalling, the chance of the molotow leading to such a damaged she'll being ignited is really not very slim.
My grandpa told me, it was absolutly common that russian tanks rotated above fox holes. They buried the soldiers inside the hole alive. It was much saver for them then risking an attack from behind. Grandpa said, they called it a "crazy Ivan" And the thing with the boots its realistc. Mind most of the german soldiers were still wearing their summer uniform. Be the first to get some warm boots or keep on freezing
Hey, first off, I think you have great knowledge of the time period, material and military tactics that where used at the time by the respective factions. Me critizising some of your points doesn't mean that I want to disrespect you as a person :D And I hope you will read this and I'd like to hear your opinion! But I also believe you are going to harsh on that movie. For example, the wrong T34 model being used is anachronistic, yes, but it seems to bug you a lot more than it should. It has to be taken into account that this movie was shot decades after WW2. It is astonishing in its own right that they had multiple working WW2 tanks to use in a movie in the first place, being allowed to set them on fire etc. And they are T-34s, the right tank for the period, is awesome aswell - yes, not the exact same model, but no mockup tanks like dressed up shermans- and for this movie it isn't important at all, the scene is all about terror, not technology. Secondly, that there was no shelling by russian artillery prior to the attacks is because this skirmish isn't the main battle line - at the beginning you can see most of the tank collumn going on to the righthand side of the screen behind a forest. The handful of tanks that are attacking this position where likely send just after the defense line was spotted by the leading tanks. The T34s not firing in the beginning could have multiple reasons - from technical reasons, like the T34s used for filming simply not being able to use their cannons, not even for pyrotechnic, to explanations like shortage of ammunition or their crews trying to use the threatening presence of the tank to break the german resistance without wasting ammunition. Tha last one would also explain why that tank demolished that foxhole by driving over it and then rotating. It is horrible and kind of worked on at least one of the germans - also, that guy in the foxhole could have an hollow charge like the ones we see later. The driver knows he's there - he has to get rid of him. Molotov cocktails won't be able to blow up a tank. Thats a given. They could, however, ignite any fuel that is transported on the outside of the tank. Moreover, the burning liquid of the molotov could and, thats the intention, leak into the crew compartment through gaps in the crudely welded armour, aswell as engine ventilation shafts, posing a threat to the crew, ammunition and engine -> that is how molotovs kill tanks. That workes to some degree even to this day, because tanks always need ventilation systems. Tactical errors are human. Nobody can expect people to act in the best way the doctrine commands it. No plan survives first contact with the enemy. War is chaos, thats what you see in pretty much every action done in this scene by all sides. How the russians arrive for example, as I said before, or how the guys with that hollow charge abandon their attack for a comrade of them throwing a molotov, a by far less effective weapon. Or, most famously, by the german who gets up in the middle of the battle to loot boots off a dead russian. It shows how desperate that man became - he is so in need of new boots that would easy his situation that he gambits his life on it. Thats the irony of it all. We've just seen a traumatic event, an ultimately pointless battle, lifes being destroyed for nothing, they survived but if anything their situation is even worse than before. But this man is relieved: "Passt." (meaning "Fits" or "They fit.") because changing his boots was essential to him and one of the only things he could influence or change to better his situation. Thats not BS. Thats human. It is unbelievable, yes, it isn't undestandable to us, that we live in relative peace and harmony. It is desperate and human. And thats what this movie is all about. that's why it is so great. Thank you for your time
The reason why the tank commanders are unbuttoned is so they can observer their surroundings when approaching their objective on alert for a possible ambush instead of limiting their view, but the tanks being T-34s [many lacking radios] having all of them out not only helps them co-ordinate and move in formation but also to signal to each other tank commander and communicate with the infantry riding on the back. Also the T-34 tearing up the fox hole is an actual action to destroy a dug in fighting position.
Just no.. welding wasn't "poor"; some of the cuts were, and maybe some tanks made directly in Stalingrad had issues with welds, but you just add more welding material. Where the molotovs are great is engine decks. Lots of flammable material there, and it will go directly into the fighting compartment.
My two great-grandfathers, on my father's and mother's lines.fought in this war. Father's grandfather from 1941-1945 ended the war by destroying Berlin. Mother's grandfather from 1941-1944 died heroically in battle in East Prussia. all these actions that are shown in the film were used by both sides to destroy each other .
I think with the Pak38 they were trying to show how in the extreme cold it took a few rounds for the barrel to finally warm up and restore accuracy-or it simply might have been worn out and it was all they had. A survivor of Stalingrad said the worst thing to see was Russian tanks with infantry riding on the back. I'm currently reading a US Army Combat Studies manual on the German 'Elastic Defense' doctrine. The Germans felt infantry was to be dealt with first-and then deal with the tanks who they felt were really just a nuisance without infantry support that could be neutralized rather easily by stout hearted infantrymen.
On the topic of Molotov vs T34, if it hit the engine grate, I’m pretty sure it would immobilize/destroy the tank, and I’m pretty sure Finland abused this weakness in the Winter War. But I would agree that a direct Molotov to the frontal armor would have little effect on the tank itself.
The scene at 6:13 is exactly the thing that happened to a friend of my great grandfather. For what ive heared, he had nightmares about it for the rest of his live.
4:10 soviets had limited shells in their tanks and they usually just rolled over enemy positions letting the infantry do the shooting ofc later on in the war shells were easier to get so they fired more
I think a molotov could possibly explode a t34 if the tank had really bad spot wielding where there are major gaps in between the armor plates where the cocktail could maybe explode the tanks magazine.
When critiquing battle scenes in movies, more often than not, the decisions made were more from the point of view of what the director wanted, as opposed to tactical choices made by the troops
The tanks used in the movie are from I believe from old east german storages or eastern europe units in general. Even with the T-34/76 being more numerious in production, the 85 varrient and everything afterwards was just better, so they were phased out over the cold war, with the only T-34/76's still operational being those on landmarks, russian ceremonial divisons and North Korea, because of course North Korea has T-34/76's. So they likely didn't had any T-34/76 available to them. Also, you can clearly see the larger group of tanks in the background continuing on their path, with only 4 or 5 vehicles splitting of to deal with what probably was assumed to be a small resistence nest.
If you look closely when the tanks first appear, the t-34s are in the front (obviously) but in the very back has what I believe are t-44s(?) maybe t-55s?
I think they shot the tanks with the cannon right after blinding them with the molotov cocktails, so that the cannon wouldn't be located when up against several tanks. In the end you see only 4-5 dead tanks because the others didn't engage but marched on probably to attack somewhere else. If you look closely there was a movie making reason for it: The other tanks are actually T-54s & you don't want to show them closely for decent historical accuracy. Getting enough T-34s running for a movie is hard enough, let alone T-34-76. (Tanks regularly need spare parts & there were loads of unused cold-war surplus cheaply available in the 90s, WW2-era not so much) That said, mock-up 76 turrets would have been a nice touch.
Well, actually Molotov Cocktail can do the job against T-34s, T-34 variants. I dont have enough english knowledge to speak about that how, but if you search to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the "partisans" take out soviet tanks with Molotovs mostly... I know the "technic" is not the same like in the movie, because you have to aim to the backside of the tank, not the front of it, but the point is that possible :) .
I’ve read that rushed out of the factory T34 tanks had poorly welded seals where the flames liquid would leak through the tank and burn the crew members alive.
I liked it video. Molotov cocktails would be used to make black smoke to obscure the view for the crew though. Especially with some plastic substances inside. Budget was an issue with those films back in those days.
Not sure if you actually watched the whole film but the guy cut in half by the shell was nobody's friend and in the film's rather one dimensional characterizations was cast as a 'bad guy'. Stalingrad is an odd film, one of the first German films to address the Russian war. So while everything you see in this and elsewhere in the film was new to German audiences in 1993, the same scenes seem really clichéd to people like me who grew up in the UK reading Sven Hassel books!
Soviet Tanks and espacially the T34 where Rubbish. The Russians heat treated their steel to over 600 Brinell what made their steel hard but the Armor shattered like a Mirror even when the Armor itself wasn't penetrated. Means that not only the Tracks would be blown off by that Granade but the Tank would disassamble itself and would ship itself right back to Sender. Than: the Soviet Tanks don't shoot because they literally can't see anything out of a T34. For their scopes the Soviets didn't have Mirrors or Mirrored Glas. They had pollished Metal. Sometimes not even that. And only the Command T34's had a Radio so they couldn't communicate with eachother. So yeah it makes sense that the Tank Commanders looking out of the Tanks. And yeah i would doubt that a soviet tank would take his time but they literally can't see anything. The Driver most likely think that they are retreating from the Battlefield but doesn't know where is the Battlefield. And It's very likely a Molotoff Cocktail would destroy a T34. If just a Spark would get into the Engine the whole fucking thing would blow up. But It's more likely that not the Molotoff Cocktail was the Cause of the Destruction but that the Tank just randomly explodet by itself. But jokes aside the Finnish destroyed a Dozen Tanks with Molotoff Cocktails in the Winter war.
3:31 "That's another weapon" Wow, you think? It's only a hollow charge ATk grenade! You might be an "amateur historian" but you've never been a soldier. The entire scene is fundamentally flawed because the infantry would be dug in in the woods to either side. Trees stop tanks.
You're forgetting that the infantry were not the Soviet tanks' main objective. They were thrown in as a makeshift defense, or better, as improvised anti-tank obstacles that were disposable. If they were in the woods, the Soviets would simply let their infantry clear up those trees while the tanks provided covering fire. Or they would leave behind a force of infantry to deal with the few Germans and the main body of tanks would simply speed across the open plain towards their real objective. The infantry in this scene were not meant to stop the tanks, the anti-tank cannon was. But to give the anti-tank cannon a better chance, the German soldiers had to sacrifice themselves, in the hopes of slowing down the enemy advance. In the meantime, the anti-tank cannon better make sure the infantry's sacrifice was not in vain.
EDIT: of course there no wounded after the battle ends. No *surviving* wounded soldiers that is. Remember the temperatures were as low as -34 degrees Celsius (-29 degrees Fahrenheit). Out in the open, you'd only survive if you had enough layers of clothing or special winter clothing. But once that isolation was destroyed by holes or tears in the fabric, any soldier would freeze to death, especially if they were wounded and couldn't quickly get to warmer places inside. Molotov cocktails were actually extremely effective, especially against Soviet WW2 era tanks. Those T-34s had terrible production finish, with crude welds and often slits and holes in the hull because of the bad production quality. So if a Molotov cocktail hit a WW2 T-34, it would certainly cause severe burns to the crew and if the burning liquid came into contact with ammo or fuel, the tank could of course explode. Post-war T-34s were of much better finish and quality and since these are the tanks we often see, we would think the same type would be impossible to hurt with only fire. But the WW2-era tanks were quite vulnerable. They were also produced in massive numbers, so the quantity made up for the quality.
Rushed out of the factory T34 tanks had a record of poorly sealed welding where Molotov cocktails were effective enough to leak through and burn the crew members alive.
Boots is not BS the German combat boots had steel spikes which makes a cold bridge in the boots ! The Russian felt boots look strange but are the best in cold weather
Boots are super valuable in this freezing weather that the Germans are not equipped for, the Russian boots were superior in this condition and highly valuable, that could increase the survival by an large, like avoiding frostbite, and that is not bullshit
Also on the misses on the AT gun at this stage of the battle a lot of the equipment had been in heavy use so barrel and sights might be in very poor condition.
There's a well done sequence with an enemy tank in "All the Young Men" on you-tube. Alan Ladd tries to set a North Korean tank on fire with some gas cans. It might work in a real battle situation.
I believe the Molotov cocktail can make the T-34 tank to burst into flames and then explode. First, it can ignite the tank's fuel. And once the tank is burning, ammo can explode. However, I believe the eventual sequence of events to be much more slow-paced. First, it takes time to heat the diesel fuel (used in T-34) to reach the flashpoint, especially in the winter conditions. Then, it takes time for fire to spread to where ammunition is stored. So - I don't believe in immediate-upon-impact explosion, as presented in the movie. In case of gasoline-powered tanks the timing of events could be much faster.
If I'm not mistaken, in the spring of 43, Jewish resistance fighters in the Warsaw ghetto took out more than one German tank with no more than hand-made Molitov cocktails.
8 rounds in their k98?? I owned a k98 and it fit's 5 rounds down in the mag, maybe one could be chambered as well with a full mag so 6 rounds at max. The mgs could have boxes of 50 rounds, and belts ranging 50 - 250 rounds. Oh you talking about the total amount ammo they had to fight with, alright, that's a crazy ride to experience something like that
The soviets did not fire at first because the movie director is German so he’s holding the fire himself 😂. Still good observation and comments. I thought the movie is a good portrayal of what went on during the battle.
10:30---Well I dunno, if you say a Molotov could injure a crewman then it means somehow its fiery liquid got inside. In which case it could also blow up any exposed rounds in the turret. But most likely it would be more effectively employed on the engine compartment or fuel tanks.
I think they made the German Soldiers destroy Soviet tanks with molotov cocktails becouse the Finnish army used molotov cocktails sticks and mud to destroy Soviet tanks and it worked
4:20 Soviet commanders often went into combat Unbuttoned for 2 reasons first was that vision was heavily impaired when buttoned up and two the early tanks had no radios wo coms between tanks was possible unbuttoned
15:45 its like you said at the start the Soviets did not know that German Position was there otherwise artillery would have been used to soften up the position
PLEASE you have to react on Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever? (in german : "Hunde wollt ihr ewig leben ?") Its a great movie like Stalingrad(1993). I wonder if you ever watched it ? It is worth it
the T34s in the column dd not all turn right to face the Germans, you can see the lead tank continue to the right. This group was a detachment of a larger tank unit, which would be hunting German armor or racing to close a pocket of Axis forces. As they had infantry riding the tanks, the detachment would arguably be strong enough to assault the position on its own without the entire battalion turning to fight a penal battalion. The Molotovs could really work against T-34s because of manufacturing lapses causing armor to have open seams in many spots- water and snow could easily fall into the tank at some points. The frontal armor was sealed well enough but the sides and rear grille were vulnerable to fire attack. The 'grinding' of the T34 on the poor guy in the foxhole was a real thing, especially at Stalingrad. The mowing down of vulnerable infantry was also a suitable strategy to save ammunition, especially by the Soviets. the tanks are not firing because they can't really see the Flak 88 cannon, and as far as they know it's just a bunch of infantry in foxholes. The tank mandate was normally to fire only when artillery is sighted (difficult in a T34) or when facing another tank. Given that their own infantry is wearing white, firing might result in friendly fire. Up close where there would only be Germans, they would be free to let rip. Germans not only scrounged Soviet ammunition and weapons but also that of their comrades. Hence a lot of guns jamming or overheating or freezing up. The boots were a prize for the average soldier- Germany never really got the hang of dedicated winter gear, and Soviet boots were great at keeping frostbite and cold out. 10 out of 25 is a very lucky number, normally it would be maybe 3 or 4 guys left and in bad shape.
14:03 a kar98k has 5 rounds in the magazin and a mp40 has 32 rounds in the magazin. If you say you are an expert than please do some research before you talk bullshit.
He is talking about the ammunition shortages in the pocket. Given that he is not a native English speaker, he probably meant that the men had 8 rounds for their rifle, not, as he said, in the rifle itself. Must agree though that he is sometimes saying rather not-so-correct things.
The guys with molotov cocktails should have thrown the cocktails into the engine compartments of the tanks. That way there would be a chance that they could have lit something on fire.
MP-40: 32 rd magazine, Kar 98k: 5rd internal magazine, shit his assistant gunner got two ammo cans probably 50rds each sooo I’d say 100rds for the MG 34 altogether🤷🏾♂️
T-34-85...with post war modifications (see wire cage around headlight), actually can be forgotten, considering they took the effort to make the scene with the amount of real tanks they've ended up using. I'm not even sure if that many 34-75 that can move under their own power are around. The Gun is a PaK-40, check the gun breech again. It's a nice touch that they use the early model of the 'Hafthohlladung'.
Yeah, the 38/97 had breech and barrel of the old, French 75 modèle 1897 with a rather obscure, German muzzle brake. Carriage and shield was from the Pak 38 *. . .*
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Yes there is it burned the bombs on the side
here are two movies for you , the bridge at remagen and , the blue max .
Okay no offense, but you are probably one of the pettiest historian's I've seen on UA-cam. Like seriously, in every video you criticize every inaccuracy or mistake made in someone else's content. Still hate the sjw crap as much as the next guy but seriously, calm down dude.
The T-34/85 that got hit on the front with the Molotov is not the same T-34 that exploded right after. The T-34/85 that got hit with the Molotov has the number 10 on its turret but its also shown in the next scene when the Molotov is thrown at its side and the grenade bundle at its back. The T-34 that exploded most likely was hit by the AT gun.
@@donaldhysa4836 Yes, its not edited well but that ultimately is what happended.
@@donaldhysa4836 я тоже участвовал в этом жестоким войне и попал в плен у немцев и 16 лет прожил в Германии через Турецкий посольство вернулся домой в СССР и у меня есть много ордена и медали 🇦🇿🖐️
@@aminmammadov8597 based
@@aminmammadov8597 🧢
@@aminmammadov8597 And then you woke up
The Molotov was mostly used against Russian T34s in WW2 by Japan, as far as I'm aware. The Molotovs exploited one of the many T34s flaws. The T34 in of itself is a solid design, however its armour plates edges often did not meet each other and left holes for burning liquid to drip through, burning the crew and ammunition. Against, say, an M1 Abrams, it would do nothing except make the armoured murder-wagon annoyed at you
Soldiers would aim the Molotovs at the vents on the back of the tank near where the engine is. At the very least this would wreck the engine and immobilize the tank and at worst it would catch the oil in the engine on fire and the fire would spread throughout the tank. As Ido mentioned there was no real storage protection for ammunition in older tanks and the fires could cause the ammunition to detonate and blow the tank to pieces
Also. Actual German War Veterans were on set and helped with directing the movie. They have more knowledge about the things that happend in combat than any "historian" would.
Yeah the driver position lacked glass paneling on the early T-34s. At most the first Molotov would have injured the diver.
@@KSmithwick1989 muff or scuba diver ?? lol
@@KSmithwick1989 ah the diver! Got it.
No, T-34 were not produced before 1940, one year after the Japanese-Soviet conflict over Mongolia. The infamously flammable Soviet tanks of Khalkin Gol were the gasoline-powered BT5 and BT7. They were the T-34's early predecessors, using the same Christie suspension and sloped armor. As opposed to them, however, T-34 was much better armored and armed, and used diesel-powered engine.
@@Rachotilko Gasoline is less of a factor than people assume it is. The real issue is the engine deck and fuel tank design. Allowing burning fuel to even easily access the power plant in the first place. Much less have anything remain on fire.
Maintenance procedure and proper stowage plays a particularly important role. Military History Visualized had an extensive video the subject.
Despite agreeing with you with the molotovs causing the tanks to explode, I think that the actual explosions come from the spare fuel tanks near the engine
Or some fuel could of gotten to a lot of dangerous places like the engine causing the tank to catch into flames
I have read plenty of accounts by survivors of the Eastern Front and the danger of a Molotov was very real.
Also Russian tank quality was very poor in theory good designs but the building process was pretty rough so the turret might not of been fully stead and some of it could’ve gotten inside the tanks fighting compartment
@I like Ships yup. Brilliant concept when you think about it. Unskilled and largely peasant population? Design a tank that can be pounded together and operated by a chimpanzee. Worked out rather well.
It is not the tank that blows up it is the gas in the bottle.
7:13 actually slightly wrong. The T-34/85 was in service come mid-late 1943 tho said versions were quite rushed and had problems that were sorted in the 1944 versions.
Edit:
9:50 you keep referring to 9 tanks, however you will notice only 4 tanks actually turn off to face out small platoon of troops.
The other 5 seem to be passing in the background towards other targets.
As for infantry, these would likely be a Soviet Tank Rider platoon of this time which you are correct. Armed with PPSH-41s or PPD-40’s (depending on the logistics of the home unit) tho not depicted would likely be the units DP-27 gunners. Atleast 1-2 of these squads would be armed with such as to help lay down suppressive fire allowing the infantry to advance.
Also the tanks actually wouldn’t use their main guns either while the riders were on incase of the blast from the main gun causing a bad effects on the riders - remember their is a lot of force going in several directions when a tanks main gun fires and said forces can have bad effects on men close to them as well as bad effects on one’s hearing and such.
As such Soviet tankers were told not to use their main guns when men rode them into battle - tho not every unit followed this.
In addition it was also standard for Soviet tanks in non-combat to have out turned commanders for better spotting + communication with their riders - as these men will have better ability to spot for the tank Commander too - usually the rider officer with binoculars. This also helped for the tankers to identify the enemy positions quickly and give an accurate assessment for when the riders should jump off/ gives them ability to coordinate an attack - some tank riders would have their tanks drive into the enemy trenches/fox hole positions and then jump out directly into them.
This was extremely risky as it exposed them longer ontop of the tanks tho it also added to the additional fear factor + occasionally some found it better to have a fast but more dangerous advance on a tank vs the slower but safer advance across the floor.
At 4:48 you can see one of the tank commanders button up once they take contact and the infantry dismount.
Nope,T-34-85 D-5T variant also called mod.43 did not enter service before 1944. D-5T variant had really short production run at start of 1944,because D-5T was never meant to be used on T-34-85 but was made just to fill gap when Zis-53 variant Mod.44 was completed. D-5T was called mod.43 because plans and protypes were finished during 1943,but production didnt start until 1944.
Zavod #112 completed first tanks most likely pre-production batch in december 1943 and they were used for training of guard battalion and didnt see combat.
From what i know, T34 were being used (and taken out) as early as operation barbarossa, 1941. the soviets having at least 2,000 of them by that time. AND AT THAT STAGE RUSSIAN TANKS WERE COMING UP AGAINST EARLY WAR PANZERS. Losing about half of their tanks to the supposedly underpowered German guns
@@n8zog584 we’re not talking about the T34/76 we’re talking about the T34/85 which was a mid-late war upgrade designed to give soviet tankers an upgrade against German heavy tanks - I.e. the Tiger and Elephant - while also making upgrades to equipment and crew (the T34/85 upgrading not just the gun but turret giving an extra seat for a 5th man allowing the crew commander to actually act as a commander vs gunner/commander.)
Yes!!! I like the point you make of the commanders: the visibility on the t34 was truly awful so it’s very accurate that a commander would peek out in dangerous combat scenarios
I wanted to mention that the men in Stalingrad in the beginning of the movie andren't standart infantry.
They are part of a Sturmkompanie.
Those are Sturmpioniere.
Engineer brigade Elite Units.
After watching this movie in the cinema, many years ago, a German coworker told us that one of his neighbors when he still lived in Germany, was an old gentleman that fought against the Russians and he told my friend how he destroyed some Russian tanks by waiting until the tanks rolled over his foxhole and then attaching a magnetic charge to their hulls, just like we can see in the movie.
So he was a lucky one. Many of those grenades were ineffective, because mud was so thick sometimes and Soviet soldiers were covering their tanks
@@tihijpirat1- Он не был моим дедом.
2- Русские взяли Берлин... но когда русские еще «наслаждались» коммунизмом, жители Западного Берлина были уже богаты и свободны.
3- Афганцы быстро ускорили российские без особых усилий.
4- В настоящее время Россия даже не является заинтересованной державой. Путин может лаять, но не может кусаться. А половина ваших танков, самолетов и подводных лодок - только дерьмо.
Россия? Вы можете сохранить его для себя, спасибо.
It must have been absolutely terrifying. I've just finished reading about a German soldier's experiences as MG 42 gunner in Stalingrad it was an incredible read
@@chrisholland7367 I think you are right. I've never the chance to talk to that gentleman directly but hearing what he told to my friend was really scary.
@@chrisholland7367 “blood red snow”
By chance?
An amazing tale.
The T34-85 was used due to budget constraints. This movie was made in cooperation with Czechs so apart from having a lot of czech actors, it was relatively cheap to get the tanks from their army stocks along with OT810 which was used instead of the german halftrack at the start of the movie.
6:16 I actually heard that both soviets and germans did that to eliminate troops in foxholes and trenches.
And when you said that the soviets are portraited like sadistic, well, both germans and soviets do horrible things in this movie (the soviets using a kid as a shield, the german firing squad scene)
the german granade bundle was mostly used to destroy the engine, they would also wrap the charges up with some sand in a sack so that once they threw it it wouldn't fall from the tank.
Old tanker here. Molotov cocktails can stop a tank by by burning the engine, but might not destroy it completely. And pivot steering on top of infantry is a real tactic to destroy fighting positions.
I read about german veterans giving their accounts of russian tanks pivoting to crush fox holes and shallow bunkers.
It is mentioned in:
-The forgotten Soldier by Guy Sajer
-Adventures in my youth by armin schieder baur
-In Deadly Combat
And I think Blood Red Snow
-
Stalingrad is one of my favorite movies. I talk a lot with some people that return from Stalingrad and they said that movie is nothing compared with the reality. Real situations were more cruel than into the movie. The movie was studied after a deep consultation with veterans and basically can show a part of the truth. We don't have to smile about some situations because there lost life too people. Many german soldiers prefer to fight until the last moment or suicide themselves instead to finish prisoners. Do you know why? Try to imagine..
T-34/85 entered service in winter 1943 (first 300 tanks sent to combat units). They are used in movies just because original T-34 are kinda rare as a LOT of them were rearmed/reused for some other roles (SU-85/SU-100 rebuilds, rearmed to T-34/85 once cannons were avalible and so).
Also keep in mind that Pak 38 had optic sights that were very often frozen in such conditions and also whole metal plate with manual sights shrinks and bend a lot in winter such as 1942 Stalingrad one... That can explain really poor aiming as they had no way to aim... + Whole aiming and adjusting mechanism would be frozen...
True molotov is made with fuel and sulfuric acid 1:1 and rag soaked in Kalium Chlorate. It was sefigniting on impact and was really good for blowing T-34 up. True molotov is sticky and leaks to every hole. Soviet tanks were full of oil and grease with opened ammo racks so explosion wasnt that uncommon... :)
Germans used Soviet guns (SMG mostly) because they were better, not just because of ammo. Because of loose tolerations at factories those guns didnt freeze (K98 and MP-40 did). Every german soldier at Stalingrad was told: You see dead Soviet? Take his shoes and SMG.
Other tanks werent part of this group. They separated before battle. 4-5 tanks is a platoon => standard operation unit.
Excellent points, friend. And sorry for the grave digging. I assume that the expose of the tank leaders is due to lacking of communication equipment in early T34-76s.
I really liked your reaction of the video and I also like this movie! Also where is the Call Of Duty 2 mission reaction? I really wanna see your opinion on it. 🙂
Scene of tank turning over foxhole: My mother remembers after the war a man visiting her parents' house whose hands were constantly trembling, even his body was shaking in an uncontrolled way. At the eastern front he had been completely buried by a tank turning around over his foxhole. He was dig out by his comrades later but suffered this long term nervous trauma (don't know which other injuries). She also remembers that he said "The Russian tanks used to do this". Terrifying story my mother didn't forget.
The shell hitting a man and severing him in half is the most terrifying war movie moment. And the author of the video is surprised that a tank would chase a wounded German to run him over: remember that Soviet soldiers knew of the inhuman atrocities commited by the Germans. Some might snap and in fury sadistically kill the hated foe. A great, grim, hard-to-watch movie.
The Red Army knew that the German Sixth Army was struggling by then and they would do just about anything to break them. The evacuation scene later on in the movie showed how grim things were for the German soldiers.
14:27 I once heard from a source, many years ago, saying that German soldiers often preferred their Soviet counterpart's winter boots because they're much thicker and better in quality than their winter boots.
Idk if you watched one of the scenes from the Unknown Soldier 2017, where Antti Rokka too also removed one of the Soviet soldier's boots after ambushing them. Granted, I understand the scene shown is from the Finnish perspective, but, maybe perhaps this shows that the Soviet winter boots were better.
Those hobnailed leather boots would have awful in that cold.
He could change this shoe because it torn him, and if he lost his shoe his foot would freeze.
As mentioned by earlier replier, German boots had nails in them that were used for grip on slippery surfaces. However, those iron nails conducted the outside cold to the soldier's feet. Also, Germans believed that boots should be a perfect fit, while Soviet soldiers had more loosened footwear so they could stuff pieces of newspaper and other materials that helped isolate their shoes.
6:18 the Soviet tank drivers did that a lot, more than you’d think. In the book “Blood red snow” the author talks about the soviet tanks doing this to guys stuck in foxholes and trenches.
You shouldn't believe *everything* what people are saying, What tankers really avoid is to expose their tanks' flank. That Koschorrek confabulated a lot *. . .*
Not before destroying Paks . You have to be an idiot to turn your side armor just in front of the Pak
@@alexandersidorenko9568 That's what I tried to say *. . .*
@@alexandersidorenko9568 yes in this situation they wouldn’t do that but if there were no AT guns they would do this a lot, multiple accounts of German veterans who saw this happen.
@@JKhyway many drivers will do it, however I read about soviet tank crew which by accident dropped their tank over German infantry hiding in big ditch. Casualties for Germans where high but both sides where demoralized and incapable to fight. Germans surrender and Russians return to camp and get drunk dead for couple days.
I agree with your critique, and also that it is best movie on Stalingrad battle, but if course only from the German perspective. One battle scene you might consider reviewing is the infantry attack on a factory early on, when the Germans seem to waste a lot of good soldiers when some tank, artillery or mortar would’ve been useful.
I already did a few months ago ;)
A war film can never be 100% historically accurate. There are other important factors, such as the atmosphere, a certain perception of the viewer's story, the psychology that seeks into the minds of soldiers. In short, it is not only possible to criticize historical authenticity, but it cannot be said that it is not important either. But even so, Stalingrad is the best war film I've ever seen. Maybe try to look at it yourself and then judge better. This is just one scene.
in the book "blood red snow" Günter K.Koschorrek describes how a t34 does roll over a fox hole during a battle though there were no anti tank wapons there at that particular moment.
sajer reports it too in "the forgotten soldier"
@@Arnor2207 good book enjoyed reading it
During the Battle of the Bulge, a German tank rolled on top of an American foxhole. But it didn't grind over it, rotating in all directions.
It simply sat there for a few minutes untill the fumes from its engine exhaust had suffocated the GIs under it.
@@AudieHolland that seems like a strange story to me. carbon monoxide is the most toxic gas in the engine exhaust but its lighter than oxygen so it would float upwards. I can't think of anything that would kill them in such a short time.
@@hankthegreatone It was cold, GIs were probably in a covered foxhole. German tank was probably right over the only ventilation hole and driver stepped on it.
I read it in a book about the Battle of the Bulge, where the superior officer was in contact with the commander in the frontline. At one point the officer asked the other, where is it (the tank) right now?
The other replied, "Right on top of me."
And while up till then, this seemed like a humoristic skit, the narration continued saying that the German tank remained on top of the foxhole untill the occupants had been asphyxiated.
In another incident, again a staff officer watched from his window as the Germans were infiltrating the town. He recognized an officer running right into a Panther tank and the tank fired its *main gun* at the lone officer. Fortunately he missed but the witness only saw the blast and probably had ducked for cover, thinking the officer had been exploded.
For an German movie 1993 pretty good, it Shows how Bad it was there... Peaceful greetings from Germany, great Video 😎👍🖖
Could you do a reaction to some of the unknown soldier battle scenes. That would be cool to see.
Despite your critics are all right, Stalingrad 93 is still one of the best War movies out there it is certainly by far the best movie about Stalingrad!
Before and at stalingrad the soviets lost tanks as fast as they could build them.
Crew training was virually nonexistant.
This can explain poor tank performance in the scene.
Sometimes factory workers would just jump in the tank they just built and drive to the front, with no optic and no camo paint
@@flip849 Yes, but that was in the city of Stalingrad. These are meant to be fresh troops of the Uranus operation.
When he says, "what!? Omg!" He sounds like he's watching a soccer game😂
The T34´s are 85er´s because there are not really that many 76er around that are capable of driving on a level that is required for movie sets.
The Soviet Union lost more or less 100% of their tank production of 1935-43. These were destroyed on the battlefield and the handfull of still existing T34-76 are museum pieces.
To add to the PaK38 problem: they were already in very short supply of Pz.Gr.40 (toungsten cored APCR) for every caliber of gun and the Pz.Gr.39 of the PaK38 was only capable of reliably penetrating (damaging the external armor and inflicting spalling) the T34´s Hullfront on ranges below 500m, perforation (punching through into the fighting compartment) only below 250m.
They had to hold their shots until the T34´s were more or less above them.
Not only that they had very limited and rationed food supply and insuficient winter clothing, the average temperature on the outside was -15°C to -35°C. They had to hold positions like these foxholes for hours, resulting in casualties due to exposure. People simply froze to death waiting for the enemy to arrive.
Here we can also see the negative effects of the cold, as the men were more or less incapable of finer work like tying knots or even turning the safety of their Kar98 from safe to fire due to cold induced reduction of external limb mobility. (your fingers just stop working and then they freeze off)
Firing the T34´s maingun with the tank rider platoon on board would have a severe negative impact on the tank riders.
The concussion without blastshield is pretty strong, resulting in nausea, loss of hearing or even falling off the tank.
Throwing Molotow Cocktails on the Front or Engine Deck of a Tank was standart infantry anti tank tactics and in the manual and training.
In case you dont have acess or supply of Nebelhandgranate (special smoke grenadess), wich are used to blind the tank or obscure its vision, prior to attacking with Hafthohlladung (magnetig shaped charges) and geballten Ladungen (bundled charges), you use improvised firebombs for similar effects, to allow the use of anti tank weapons
This was kinda a bad review man, you missed a lot of important details. And this movie does line up extremely well with first hand war accounts, like the tanks spinning over the foxholes, the molotovs, and the soviets trying to run over soldiers.
Wasn’t it common for the early soviet T-34s to have shoddy welding allowing for flammable antitank weapons and white phosphorus to damage the crew or components.
Stealing the boots is actually very realistic. There are very many reports about it, because the Russians wore felt boots that kept the feet from freezing. And he got them immediately before someone else steals the boots ^^
11:30 is exactly why the earlier t-34 drove a 360 over the other foxhole. To break the frozen ground and crush the soldier AND his foxhole.
13:00 they didn't tell them to retreat so he could through the molotow cocktail, he warned them that a Molotow was about to be thrown. So he placed the grenade down ( and seemingly pulled the chord off screen). The Molotov ignites on the right and the bundle grenade explodes on the le feft side of the tank, and the tank is knocked out. One of those or maybe the combination managed to do enough damage. Also that first Molotow hit wasn't too inaccurate, the t-34 exploded quite fast, but you can blow one up with a Molotow. The hatches and mg port aren't really air tight especially as the hull mg has a hole in the plate so you can look through to aim. It's quite small but the flames and gasoline would probably have gotten inside. So now you have burning gasoline probably a burning crewmember or two and whatever amount of oil, diesel vodka etc is in that tank that can and probably will catch fire which will after a while create enough heat to cook off the ammo. And if an explosion of a near miss of a 50mm of the cannon damaged a casing by overpressure or spalling, the chance of the molotow leading to such a damaged she'll being ignited is really not very slim.
My grandpa told me, it was absolutly common that russian tanks rotated above fox holes. They buried the soldiers inside the hole alive. It was much saver for them then risking an attack from behind. Grandpa said, they called it a "crazy Ivan"
And the thing with the boots its realistc. Mind most of the german soldiers were still wearing their summer uniform. Be the first to get some warm boots or keep on freezing
Hey,
first off, I think you have great knowledge of the time period, material and military tactics that where used at the time by the respective factions. Me critizising some of your points doesn't mean that I want to disrespect you as a person :D
And I hope you will read this and I'd like to hear your opinion!
But I also believe you are going to harsh on that movie. For example, the wrong T34 model being used is anachronistic, yes, but it seems to bug you a lot more than it should. It has to be taken into account that this movie was shot decades after WW2. It is astonishing in its own right that they had multiple working WW2 tanks to use in a movie in the first place, being allowed to set them on fire etc. And they are T-34s, the right tank for the period, is awesome aswell - yes, not the exact same model, but no mockup tanks like dressed up shermans- and for this movie it isn't important at all, the scene is all about terror, not technology.
Secondly, that there was no shelling by russian artillery prior to the attacks is because this skirmish isn't the main battle line - at the beginning you can see most of the tank collumn going on to the righthand side of the screen behind a forest. The handful of tanks that are attacking this position where likely send just after the defense line was spotted by the leading tanks. The T34s not firing in the beginning could have multiple reasons - from technical reasons, like the T34s used for filming simply not being able to use their cannons, not even for pyrotechnic, to explanations like shortage of ammunition or their crews trying to use the threatening presence of the tank to break the german resistance without wasting ammunition. Tha last one would also explain why that tank demolished that foxhole by driving over it and then rotating. It is horrible and kind of worked on at least one of the germans - also, that guy in the foxhole could have an hollow charge like the ones we see later. The driver knows he's there - he has to get rid of him.
Molotov cocktails won't be able to blow up a tank. Thats a given. They could, however, ignite any fuel that is transported on the outside of the tank. Moreover, the burning liquid of the molotov could and, thats the intention, leak into the crew compartment through gaps in the crudely welded armour, aswell as engine ventilation shafts, posing a threat to the crew, ammunition and engine -> that is how molotovs kill tanks. That workes to some degree even to this day, because tanks always need ventilation systems.
Tactical errors are human. Nobody can expect people to act in the best way the doctrine commands it. No plan survives first contact with the enemy.
War is chaos, thats what you see in pretty much every action done in this scene by all sides.
How the russians arrive for example, as I said before, or how the guys with that hollow charge abandon their attack for a comrade of them throwing a molotov, a by far less effective weapon.
Or, most famously, by the german who gets up in the middle of the battle to loot boots off a dead russian. It shows how desperate that man became - he is so in need of new boots that would easy his situation that he gambits his life on it.
Thats the irony of it all. We've just seen a traumatic event, an ultimately pointless battle, lifes being destroyed for nothing, they survived but if anything their situation is even worse than before. But this man is relieved: "Passt." (meaning "Fits" or "They fit.") because changing his boots was essential to him and one of the only things he could influence or change to better his situation.
Thats not BS. Thats human.
It is unbelievable, yes, it isn't undestandable to us, that we live in relative peace and harmony.
It is desperate and human.
And thats what this movie is all about. that's why it is so great.
Thank you for your time
The reason why the tank commanders are unbuttoned is so they can observer their surroundings when approaching their objective on alert for a possible ambush instead of limiting their view, but the tanks being T-34s [many lacking radios] having all of them out not only helps them co-ordinate and move in formation but also to signal to each other tank commander and communicate with the infantry riding on the back.
Also the T-34 tearing up the fox hole is an actual action to destroy a dug in fighting position.
Wow! This is the best depicted battle scene of this movie.
Im German and i watched this Movie with my Father
Love that Movie
🇩🇪💪🏻
the molotovs where effective against soviet armour because of poor welding in the soviet factories so burning fuel enters really everywhere
Just no.. welding wasn't "poor"; some of the cuts were, and maybe some tanks made directly in Stalingrad had issues with welds, but you just add more welding material. Where the molotovs are great is engine decks. Lots of flammable material there, and it will go directly into the fighting compartment.
My two great-grandfathers, on my father's and mother's lines.fought in this war. Father's grandfather from 1941-1945 ended the war by destroying Berlin. Mother's grandfather from 1941-1944 died heroically in battle in East Prussia. all these actions that are shown in the film were used by both sides to destroy each other .
I think with the Pak38 they were trying to show how in the extreme cold it took a few rounds for the barrel to finally warm up and restore accuracy-or it simply might have been worn out and it was all they had. A survivor of Stalingrad said the worst thing to see was Russian tanks with infantry riding on the back. I'm currently reading a US Army Combat Studies manual on the German 'Elastic Defense' doctrine. The Germans felt infantry was to be dealt with first-and then deal with the tanks who they felt were really just a nuisance without infantry support that could be neutralized rather easily by stout hearted infantrymen.
really enjoy your videos 👍
On the topic of Molotov vs T34, if it hit the engine grate, I’m pretty sure it would immobilize/destroy the tank, and I’m pretty sure Finland abused this weakness in the Winter War. But I would agree that a direct Molotov to the frontal armor would have little effect on the tank itself.
The scene at 6:13 is exactly the thing that happened to a friend of my great grandfather.
For what ive heared, he had nightmares about it for the rest of his live.
4:10 soviets had limited shells in their tanks and they usually just rolled over enemy positions letting the infantry do the shooting ofc later on in the war shells were easier to get so they fired more
15:00 The other Tanks pass buy as you can see in the beginning. 4 Tanks drive the the German positions and the other 5 go to another battle or so.
I think a molotov could possibly explode a t34 if the tank had really bad spot wielding where there are major gaps in between the armor plates where the cocktail could maybe explode the tanks magazine.
When critiquing battle scenes in movies, more often than not, the decisions made were more from the point of view of what the director wanted, as opposed to tactical choices made by the troops
but its still better then fury
The tanks used in the movie are from I believe from old east german storages or eastern europe units in general. Even with the T-34/76 being more numerious in production, the 85 varrient and everything afterwards was just better, so they were phased out over the cold war, with the only T-34/76's still operational being those on landmarks, russian ceremonial divisons and North Korea, because of course North Korea has T-34/76's. So they likely didn't had any T-34/76 available to them. Also, you can clearly see the larger group of tanks in the background continuing on their path, with only 4 or 5 vehicles splitting of to deal with what probably was assumed to be a small resistence nest.
If you look closely when the tanks first appear, the t-34s are in the front (obviously) but in the very back has what I believe are t-44s(?) maybe t-55s?
I think they shot the tanks with the cannon right after blinding them with the molotov cocktails, so that the cannon wouldn't be located when up against several tanks. In the end you see only 4-5 dead tanks because the others didn't engage but marched on probably to attack somewhere else. If you look closely there was a movie making reason for it: The other tanks are actually T-54s & you don't want to show them closely for decent historical accuracy. Getting enough T-34s running for a movie is hard enough, let alone T-34-76. (Tanks regularly need spare parts & there were loads of unused cold-war surplus cheaply available in the 90s, WW2-era not so much)
That said, mock-up 76 turrets would have been a nice touch.
Well, actually Molotov Cocktail can do the job against T-34s, T-34 variants. I dont have enough english knowledge to speak about that how, but if you search to the Hungarian Revolution of 1956, the "partisans" take out soviet tanks with Molotovs mostly... I know the "technic" is not the same like in the movie, because you have to aim to the backside of the tank, not the front of it, but the point is that possible :) .
I’ve read that rushed out of the factory T34 tanks had poorly welded seals where the flames liquid would leak through the tank and burn the crew members alive.
I am not an expert but I would throw a Molotowcocktail on the engine deck of the t34
Yes. My father fought in Budapest in '56, and the key was to hit the Russian tanks in the rear with the Molotov Cocktail.
@@tmatkovits Be proud.
@@griz312 That was only true of the earliest ones far as I know, once factories became established in the safety of the rear quality improved.
I liked it video. Molotov cocktails would be used to make black smoke to obscure the view for the crew though. Especially with some plastic substances inside. Budget was an issue with those films back in those days.
I don't know much about the Molotov thing, but it would be more realistic if they had simply blinded the driver since the fire wouldn't let him see.
8mm mg belts were solid 50rd lengths. K98 5 round magazine and mp40 32rd magazine
he's talking about the average total ammunition a soldier had with him at that point
No one had 8 rounds in their K98
Realy good Video.
kind regards from germany ✌🇩🇪🦊
Not sure if you actually watched the whole film but the guy cut in half by the shell was nobody's friend and in the film's rather one dimensional characterizations was cast as a 'bad guy'. Stalingrad is an odd film, one of the first German films to address the Russian war. So while everything you see in this and elsewhere in the film was new to German audiences in 1993, the same scenes seem really clichéd to people like me who grew up in the UK reading Sven Hassel books!
Sure, he was no friend of the protagonists. And still they were shocked and traumatized when they saw him being cut in half by a cannon shot.
At some point the missing Shots of the anti tank gun looks like ricochets.
Those molotov cocktails could've easily beat the white walkers 😂
Soviet Tanks and espacially the T34 where Rubbish.
The Russians heat treated their steel to over 600 Brinell what made their steel hard but the Armor shattered like a Mirror even when the Armor itself wasn't penetrated. Means that not only the Tracks would be blown off by that Granade but the Tank would disassamble itself and would ship itself right back to Sender.
Than: the Soviet Tanks don't shoot because they literally can't see anything out of a T34.
For their scopes the Soviets didn't have Mirrors or Mirrored Glas. They had pollished Metal. Sometimes not even that.
And only the Command T34's had a Radio so they couldn't communicate with eachother. So yeah it makes sense that the Tank Commanders looking out of the Tanks.
And yeah i would doubt that a soviet tank would take his time but they literally can't see anything. The Driver most likely think that they are retreating from the Battlefield but doesn't know where is the Battlefield.
And It's very likely a Molotoff Cocktail would destroy a T34. If just a Spark would get into the Engine the whole fucking thing would blow up. But It's more likely that not the Molotoff Cocktail was the Cause of the Destruction but that the Tank just randomly explodet by itself.
But jokes aside the Finnish destroyed a Dozen Tanks with Molotoff Cocktails in the Winter war.
3:31 "That's another weapon" Wow, you think? It's only a hollow charge ATk grenade!
You might be an "amateur historian" but you've never been a soldier. The entire scene is fundamentally flawed because the infantry would be dug in in the woods to either side. Trees stop tanks.
You're forgetting that the infantry were not the Soviet tanks' main objective. They were thrown in as a makeshift defense, or better, as improvised anti-tank obstacles that were disposable. If they were in the woods, the Soviets would simply let their infantry clear up those trees while the tanks provided covering fire. Or they would leave behind a force of infantry to deal with the few Germans and the main body of tanks would simply speed across the open plain towards their real objective.
The infantry in this scene were not meant to stop the tanks, the anti-tank cannon was.
But to give the anti-tank cannon a better chance, the German soldiers had to sacrifice themselves, in the hopes of slowing down the enemy advance. In the meantime, the anti-tank cannon better make sure the infantry's sacrifice was not in vain.
I love the way you say OMG is so funny 😂
EDIT: of course there no wounded after the battle ends. No *surviving* wounded soldiers that is. Remember the temperatures were as low as -34 degrees Celsius (-29 degrees Fahrenheit). Out in the open, you'd only survive if you had enough layers of clothing or special winter clothing.
But once that isolation was destroyed by holes or tears in the fabric, any soldier would freeze to death, especially if they were wounded and couldn't quickly get to warmer places inside.
Molotov cocktails were actually extremely effective, especially against Soviet WW2 era tanks.
Those T-34s had terrible production finish, with crude welds and often slits and holes in the hull because of the bad production quality.
So if a Molotov cocktail hit a WW2 T-34, it would certainly cause severe burns to the crew and if the burning liquid came into contact with ammo or fuel, the tank could of course explode.
Post-war T-34s were of much better finish and quality and since these are the tanks we often see, we would think the same type would be impossible to hurt with only fire. But the WW2-era tanks were quite vulnerable. They were also produced in massive numbers, so the quantity made up for the quality.
1956 a lot of Soviet tanks exploded because the molotov's even JS-3's were killed with this check the pictures its interesting.
Rushed out of the factory T34 tanks had a record of poorly sealed welding where Molotov cocktails were effective enough to leak through and burn the crew members alive.
Boots is not BS the German combat boots had steel spikes which makes a cold bridge in the boots ! The Russian felt boots look strange but are the best in cold weather
Boots are super valuable in this freezing weather that the Germans are not equipped for, the Russian boots were superior in this condition and highly valuable, that could increase the survival by an large, like avoiding frostbite, and that is not bullshit
Also on the misses on the AT gun at this stage of the battle a lot of the equipment had been in heavy use so barrel and sights might be in very poor condition.
Now you must do reaction on Panfilov's 28
4:30 t44 tanks in the background
Oh yes
There's a well done sequence with an enemy tank in "All the Young Men" on you-tube. Alan Ladd tries to set a North Korean tank on fire with some gas cans. It might work in a real battle situation.
I believe the Molotov cocktail can make the T-34 tank to burst into flames and then explode. First, it can ignite the tank's fuel. And once the tank is burning, ammo can explode. However, I believe the eventual sequence of events to be much more slow-paced. First, it takes time to heat the diesel fuel (used in T-34) to reach the flashpoint, especially in the winter conditions. Then, it takes time for fire to spread to where ammunition is stored. So - I don't believe in immediate-upon-impact explosion, as presented in the movie.
In case of gasoline-powered tanks the timing of events could be much faster.
Good to know that in this movie they used atomic Molotov cocktails.
The men on the cannon aren’t from penal battalions they are officers
If I'm not mistaken, in the spring of 43, Jewish resistance fighters in the Warsaw ghetto took out more than one German tank with no more than hand-made Molitov cocktails.
T34-85 in 1942, it's unreal.
14:26 if your feet were freezing off with frostbite due to holes in your boots as they say the infantry marches on its feet
8 rounds in their k98?? I owned a k98 and it fit's 5 rounds down in the mag, maybe one could be chambered as well with a full mag so 6 rounds at max. The mgs could have boxes of 50 rounds, and belts ranging 50 - 250 rounds.
Oh you talking about the total amount ammo they had to fight with, alright, that's a crazy ride to experience something like that
Fun fact: This scene was filmed in Finland
The soviets did not fire at first because the movie director is German so he’s holding the fire himself 😂. Still good observation and comments. I thought the movie is a good portrayal of what went on during the battle.
10:30---Well I dunno, if you say a Molotov could injure a crewman then it means somehow its fiery liquid got inside. In which case it could also blow up any exposed rounds in the turret. But most likely it would be more effectively employed on the engine compartment or fuel tanks.
I think they made the German Soldiers destroy Soviet tanks with molotov cocktails becouse the Finnish army used molotov cocktails sticks and mud to destroy Soviet tanks and it worked
Not all the tanks rolled at the squads
But did you notice the T-55 T-34-76 mockups behind the 85s
This scene was filmed in Finland
My question is why would these tanks advance so slowly and wait for Germans to use their mines?
14:54 go back and look at the start only 4-5 tanks peeled off from the main attack
4:20 Soviet commanders often went into combat Unbuttoned for 2 reasons first was that vision was heavily impaired when buttoned up and two the early tanks had no radios wo coms between tanks was possible unbuttoned
15:45 its like you said at the start the Soviets did not know that German Position was there otherwise artillery would have been used to soften up the position
PLEASE you have to react on Stalingrad: Dogs, Do You Want to Live Forever? (in german : "Hunde wollt ihr ewig leben ?") Its a great movie like Stalingrad(1993). I wonder if you ever watched it ? It is worth it
10:00 i think right now, i know why in men of arms assault squad 2, the molotovs are classified as anti tank weapon
He took, like many German soldiers in winter, not the boots, but wool over boots that isolated feet from frozen soil.
the T34s in the column dd not all turn right to face the Germans, you can see the lead tank continue to the right. This group was a detachment of a larger tank unit, which would be hunting German armor or racing to close a pocket of Axis forces. As they had infantry riding the tanks, the detachment would arguably be strong enough to assault the position on its own without the entire battalion turning to fight a penal battalion.
The Molotovs could really work against T-34s because of manufacturing lapses causing armor to have open seams in many spots- water and snow could easily fall into the tank at some points. The frontal armor was sealed well enough but the sides and rear grille were vulnerable to fire attack.
The 'grinding' of the T34 on the poor guy in the foxhole was a real thing, especially at Stalingrad. The mowing down of vulnerable infantry was also a suitable strategy to save ammunition, especially by the Soviets.
the tanks are not firing because they can't really see the Flak 88 cannon, and as far as they know it's just a bunch of infantry in foxholes. The tank mandate was normally to fire only when artillery is sighted (difficult in a T34) or when facing another tank. Given that their own infantry is wearing white, firing might result in friendly fire. Up close where there would only be Germans, they would be free to let rip.
Germans not only scrounged Soviet ammunition and weapons but also that of their comrades. Hence a lot of guns jamming or overheating or freezing up. The boots were a prize for the average soldier- Germany never really got the hang of dedicated winter gear, and Soviet boots were great at keeping frostbite and cold out.
10 out of 25 is a very lucky number, normally it would be maybe 3 or 4 guys left and in bad shape.
"PAK 38 should be able..." Yeah, but movie plot it needs to miss at point blank a lot or this would have been over too quick
Also they dont fire because theres soldiers on top of the tank that could lose their hearing or fly off the tank
The number 1 enemy of Tanks is the Infantry in close quarters
They weren't a penal battalion initially though.
I was told that it never blow the tank up put if it landed on the engine then the engine will stop working
14:03 a kar98k has 5 rounds in the magazin and a mp40 has 32 rounds in the magazin. If you say you are an expert than please do some research before you talk bullshit.
He is talking about the ammunition shortages in the pocket. Given that he is not a native English speaker, he probably meant that the men had 8 rounds for their rifle, not, as he said, in the rifle itself.
Must agree though that he is sometimes saying rather not-so-correct things.
dont need to insult
The guys with molotov cocktails should have thrown the cocktails into the engine compartments of the tanks. That way there would be a chance that they could have lit something on fire.
MP-40: 32 rd magazine, Kar 98k: 5rd internal magazine, shit his assistant gunner got two ammo cans probably 50rds each sooo I’d say 100rds for the MG 34 altogether🤷🏾♂️
I’m assuming the anti tank gun took out the tank from the side it it looked like the Molotov.
T-34-85...with post war modifications (see wire cage around headlight), actually can be forgotten, considering they took the effort to make the scene with the amount of real tanks they've ended up using. I'm not even sure if that many 34-75 that can move under their own power are around. The Gun is a PaK-40, check the gun breech again. It's a nice touch that they use the early model of the 'Hafthohlladung'.
Did you check the muzzle and the shield, too?
@@letoubib21 You've got the point! I took Pak-38 for Pak 38/97. My wrong. 5 cm Pak 38 muzzle brake on scene.
@@letoubib21 You've got the point! I took Pak-38 for Pak 38/97. My wrong. 5 cm Pak 38 muzzle brake on scene.
Yeah, the 38/97 had breech and barrel of the old, French 75 modèle 1897 with a rather obscure, German muzzle brake. Carriage and shield was from the Pak 38 *. . .*