The $12 Weapon That Crippled Germany's Entire Tank Fleet

Описание: #ww2history #wwii #militaryhistory

In June 1941, the Soviet Union lost over 20,000 armored vehicles in six months — more than six tanks for every German Panzer committed to the invasion. With its anti-tank networks systematically dismantled, Moscow gave a 57-year-old weapons designer an impossible deadline: build a man-portable armor killer in 30 days. What emerged was a five-component, bolt-action rifle that cost less than a pair of binoculars — and forced Germany to retrofit its entire Eastern Front armored fleet in response. This is the story of how industrial math defeated engineering perfection.

Welcome to ‪@ww2.cauldron‬, where we uncover the grit, logistics, and forgotten operations of the Eastern Front. We strip away the mythology to reveal the brutal arithmetic of World War II.

In this video, you'll learn how the catastrophic loss of Soviet anti-tank battalions during the 1941 encirclements created a doctrinal crisis, how Vasily Degtyaryov's PTRD-41 was designed and mass-produced under siege conditions, the ambush tactics that turned two-man teams into armored column killers, the economic asymmetry that forced Germany to spend 630 metric tons of steel plate defending against a 150-ruble weapon, and how the 14.5mm cartridge outlived its platform to see combat from Korea to Ukraine 81 years later.

Chapters
▶ 0:00 - Operation Barbarossa and the Soviet Anti-Tank Crisis of 1941
▶ 3:03 - Degtyaryov's Impossible Deadline: Designing the PTRD-41
▶ 5:47 - Mass Production Under Siege: 184,000 Rifles in One Year
▶ 8:13 - Germany's Costly Response: The Schürzen Armor Retrofit
▶ 9:45 - From Stalingrad to Bagration: Shifting to Logistics Warfare
▶ 11:35 - Legacy: The 14.5mm Cartridge From 1941 to 2022

Topics Covered
The collapse of Soviet anti-tank defense networks during the 1941 encirclements at Minsk and Kiev
Degtyaryov's design philosophy of radical simplification under wartime constraints
Soviet dispersed manufacturing using converted agricultural workshops in the Urals
Winter ambush doctrine and two-man anti-tank team deployment tactics
The economic asymmetry between German armor retrofitting and Soviet mass production
How the PTRD shifted from tank engagement to logistics interdiction after 1943
The 14.5×114mm cartridge's continued operational use across eight decades of conflict

History is written by the victors. We read the footnotes.

#EasternFront #WW2 #SovietUnion #PTRD41 #AntiTankWarfare #OperationBarbarossa #MilitaryHistory #ArmoredWarfare #WW2Documentary #RedArmy

Keywords
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