Since the advent of tanks on the battlefield in 1916, this steel behemoth has quickly dominated the land battlefield because of its strong advantages in protection, firepower and mobility. The original army was only destroyed in front of them. In response to this new situation, a variety of anti-tank weapons and tactics have emerged.
There are such as: armor-piercing shells, armor-breaking bullets, hollow charge technology and armor-breaking bullets, gun grenades, anti-tank bazookas, anti-tank mines and so on. The most special anti-tank weapon is relative to a variety of dazzling high-tech weapons, which can no longer be simple - Molotov cocktails. This weapon is famous, as a relatively primitive and simple weapon, it is used to deal with high-tech army beasts on the modern battlefield, and this contrast alone can arouse people's infinite reverie.
In this article, we will explore how effective the Molotov cocktail is under its legend?
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="2" > History of Molotov cocktails</h1>
The Molotov cocktail is a very simple weapon, and the materials for making it are readily available, which is its biggest feature.
Molotov cocktails first appeared in the Spanish Civil War, and the reason for this was that Franco's army, a stopgap response weapon used by Franco's army, when facing the tank columns of the Soviet-backed civil war rivals, the Republican Army, due to the lack of equivalent heavy weapons. It can be said that its activation is a helpless choice in the case of last resort.
The initial use did not attract much attention, until the Soviet-Finnish War of the Soviet invasion of Finland, facing soviet tanks, the Finnish army again used this rudimentary weapon, but the result was a huge loss to the Soviet tank troops. The Finnish army, under the name of Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov, jokingly called the Molotov cocktail, prepared to welcome Soviet tanks. This weapon became famous after the Soviet-Finnish War with the nickname of the Molotov cocktail.
By World War II, the position was transposed, and the Soviets were defeated on the battlefield in the face of the blows of the German Blitzkrieg. At this time they remembered the weapons that had made them suffer greatly on the Finnish battlefield, so the Soviets followed the example of the Finnish army and began to use this simple weapon on a large scale against German tanks. (Especially in urban street battles, Molotov cocktails become a headache for enemy tank troops.) ）
Therefore, during the boom of anti-tank tactics in World War II, Molotov cocktails were widely used by all countries, not only militias and guerrillas, but also infantry on the frontal battlefield were equipped with standard Molotov cocktails.
After World War II, the existence of Molotov cocktails was not only widely known on the battlefield, but also because of its civilian nature, it was even used by many armed and protest acts of the people, and it can still be seen in many street protests abroad to this day.
This is the emergence and development of the Molotov cocktail as a weapon, so what is the specific composition of this simple and readily available weapon? In fact, from the nickname cocktail, some clues have been revealed.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="4" > two: the construction of the Molotov cocktail</h1>
Although the title of Molotov cocktail is a joke about Molotov by Finns, it is also quite graphic in terms of the composition of the Molotov. It is characterized by the use of hand-pickled bottles filled with a mixture of several materials.
The earliest Molotov cocktails, naturally the simplest, use gasoline (or alcohol) as an incendiary agent, mix thickeners such as tar, rubber, etc., fill the bottle with wine, stuff a strip of burlap cloth soaked with gasoline at the mouth of the bottle, and light the burlap strip and throw it at the enemy tank with your hand or trebuchet. After the bottle is broken on the target tank, these thickening substances will enhance the adhesion of the gasoline, preventing it from flowing rapidly to the ground, allowing the gasoline to attach to the tank's armor for continuous combustion. This is the most basic principle of use of molotov cocktails.
Because this bottle mouth is stuffed with a cloth strip, the picture of burning flames flying towards the enemy army has a more visual impact, and in subsequent film and television works, the Molotov cocktail has always been this shape. In fact, in World War II, because the Molotov cocktails have been introduced into the standard weapons of the army, they have long been out of this primitive form.
Modified Molotov cocktails, such as ignition, were replaced by a glass test tube with concentrated sulfuric acid on the neck, from the original use of burlap as the ignition. Since concentrated sulfuric acid and incendiary agent are mixed, a large amount of heat is generated and spontaneously combusted, so there is no need to ignite the flask before throwing.
In appearance, for example, the Germans used small bottles with a length of 10 cm and a diameter of 8 cm, making the Molotov cocktails easier to carry and throw with the same power.
In terms of fuel composition, in the original incendiary agent, a high-temperature admixture is usually added, so that the temperature of the flaming flask can reach 800 to 1000 degrees Celsius after hitting the target and start burning, and continue to burn for more than half an hour.
This is the usual molotov cocktail used by the army at the beginning of World War II. Although it is still a very simple weapon, its power has been fully developed.
<h1 class="pgc-h-center-line" data-track="6" > three: the power of the Molotov cocktail</h1>
Many people believe that a nearly primitive weapon like the Molotov cocktail is unlikely to pose a threat to tanks on the battlefield. But in fact, this simple weapon has always been able to effectively damage tanks on the battlefield.
Taking World War II as an example, the Soviet Union counted its war after World War 2: during the entire war, the German army destroyed a total of 2429 tanks and armored vehicles with Molotov cocktails by the Soviet Army (this is only a record of tanks, in addition to the destruction of such as 1189 strongholds and rock masses, 2547 fortifications of various types, etc.). ）。 In fact, the effectiveness of the battle is beyond doubt.
How can a simple weapon have such a destructive power against a tank equipped with thick armor? This is actually related to the structure of the tank itself or its own weaknesses. Although the armor of the tank has a strong defensive ability against the guns, the hull is equipped with many parts that are afraid of high temperatures, which is the key point of the Anti-Tank Operation of the Molotov cocktail.
Weaknesses of these tanks include that the tracks of the tank are mostly elastic suspension, and the high temperature combustion of the Molotov cocktail will make it lose its elasticity, thus destroying its ability to move.
The second is that the early tanks were cast in riveted structures, the hull was poorly closed, and as long as the Molotov cocktail could hit the top of the hull, the incendiary agent would penetrate into the body along the gap, causing the cockpit to catch fire.
And because there will be some grease inside the tank, these greases sometimes penetrate the surface of the tank, will be ignited by molotov cocktails, and in severe cases, it can cause the body to explode.
Finally, because the engine needs space for airflow, it usually has an air outlet. Once the Molotov cocktail is thrown at the air outlet, the continued heat can cause the engine to be scrapped.
These four points are the main attack method of Molotov cocktail anti-tank, simple and low-cost materials, so that this weapon can be mass-produced anytime, anywhere. In the battle, a situation did form that gave the tank troops a headache. Tank units, on the other hand, also had the means to deal with it: avoiding street battles in cities that favored the use of Molotov cocktails as much as possible, or using the weakness of the Molotov cocktail throwing distance to keep the enemy infantry as far away as possible. But judging from the statistics of the large number of tanks destroyed after the war, it is not easy to completely avoid their attack.
Although we cannot say that the Molotov cocktail is the protagonist of the battlefield, it is only an auxiliary means of infantry anti-tank combat after all. But its flexible tactical use of restraint on tanks and the use of civilian equipment against high technology provide a rather interesting demonstration in modern high-tech warfare.
Text/Da Fei
Resources:
1. "World War II Infantry Anti-Tank Weapons", Liu Kun
2. "Deadly Cocktail - Improvised Molotov cocktail", Xiaoxiao
3, "Molotov cocktails really useless? Tanks cried when they heard this."