Arc of Gunfire

Just as Colonel Busey was about to answer, he saw the commander of the new tank getting out of the tank: "By the way, I want to borrow a motorcycle from you."

Colonel Busey looked puzzled: "What?"

The commander pointed to the front: "The enemy is preparing for counter-artillery fire, right? When the artillery preparations are over, I want to go in and see the location of the crater."

Colonel Busse was also an armor commander and understood immediately: "Afraid of falling into a bomb crater?"

"Yes, the tracks of the new tank are very wide and can pass well on muddy ground. However, the weight of this thing is too great. If it gets into a hole, it will probably not be able to get out. You probably don't have a tractor that can drag such a heavy thing."

Colonel Busey's adjutant didn't know why he was a bit confrontational, so he said: "Our tractor can tow 40 tons!"

"This thing is fifty-six tons," the commander said.

The adjutant shut up.

The commander immediately comforted him: "Don't worry, we won't drive it into the pit. If you carefully check the ground ahead, you can start first."

Colonel Busey was confused: "What if we break through the enemy's defenses?"

"Then break through," the commander said, "just let us follow behind. If you encounter resistance, let us take action. If you are counterattacked by enemy armor, let us take action. We will take care of everything. ”

Colonel Busey: "So confident?"

"You have no idea how well this thing performs on the test track, I mean, apart from the failure rate. But new cars are inherently prone to failure, and you can't force this kind of thing."

Colonel Busey nodded. The young commander left a pretty good impression on him.

He asked: "What's your name?"

The young commander immediately replied: "My name is John Christopher. As you can see, I am a captain. I am happy to accept your command, colonel."

Colonel Busey: "You forgot to introduce yourself to your new superior, but you remembered to survey the road. I have a hunch that you are an excellent tanker."

"Thank you." John replied.

Colonel Busey looked at the rain of bullets that were still falling in front of him, and simply continued to ask: "Have you had any actual combat experience?"

"Yes, he participated in the Carolingian Battle and was injured." As he spoke, the young man showed off his Carolingian Battle ribbon and battle wound decoration.

Colonel Busse looked at the battle wound badge and asked doubtfully: "You were injured again. What happened?"

"Before the Battle of Melania, I jumped on a tank and slipped and broke my bones. It wasn't considered a battle injury at first, but my battalion commander at the time thought highly of me, so he gave me a battle injury. hurt."

Colonel Busey couldn't help laughing: "What a lucky guy."

This kind of injury that does not affect self-care ability and can be far away from the battlefield is regarded as a kind of luck, even in Proson, which has a military tradition.

John Christopher also laughed: "Indeed."

Colonel Busey asked again: "Does it have anything to do with becoming a new tank driver?"

"No, I saw an advertisement for a tank driver in the newspaper and submitted my resume. As a result, the Ministry of National Defense quickly transferred me to the test site and joined the experimental company. And now as you can see, I am here. "

Just as Colonel Busey was about to respond, the artillery shells that had been falling in front suddenly began to fire extended shots.

The colonel immediately jumped into the tank and put on the hatch cover.

The safety factor inside the tank is definitely better than outside.

It wasn't until he entered that he realized that John Christopher was still outside - wouldn't that guy have another battle wound patch on his shoulder?

The extended fire quickly passed the actual assembly area and moved further to the rear. Colonel Busey got out of the turret and saw John Christopher crawling out from under the chassis of the new tank. He patted the dust on his body and said: "The barrage of counter-fire preparations will continue to extend forward, learned."

Seeing that he was okay, Colonel Busey picked up the radio: "Attention all troops, start moving forward——"

"Report!" John Christopher raised his hand, "I suggest not to move forward for the time being. The Anters played a trick the first time, and they will play it a second time. When we thought the front was safe and swaggered through, they might There will be another rapid fire attack.”

After John finished speaking, the voice of the chief of staff came from Colonel Busey's earphone: "The extended barrage just now caught all units off guard and suffered considerable losses. If we set off immediately, the support team may not be able to catch up."

At this time, a lieutenant from the armored force came over and saluted: "Sir Colonel, the tracks of fifteen tanks have been damaged and they cannot attack."

Colonel Busey swore.

At this time, John Christopher said: "I happened to go to the front to conduct reconnaissance. After confirming the passable route, I can attack with you. You must have lost a lot of tanks, right?"

Colonel Busey replied: "Yes, most of the tracks were blown off."

Captain John smiled and said: "Then it is crucial for you that we can join the attack. After all, if we can't occupy the battlefield tonight and start rescuing those tanks with damaged tracks immediately, they may have to go on the offensive tomorrow. The list of permanent losses."

Colonel Busey could only nod: "I'm afraid that's true."

John: "What about my motorcycle? To help you, I have to conduct reconnaissance first, otherwise I won't be able to drive the tank to the front of the enemy's position."

Colonel Busey: "Didn't you say that the Ants might be cunning again? I also think we should wait another fifteen minutes to make sure that the Ants will not continue to fire before taking action."

"Yes," John Christopher said, "but when the bombardment comes, it's easy for me to hide alone. It's okay. They won't use such a terrible artillery group to embarrass a scout like me."

Colonel Busey made a gesture, and the adjutant immediately said to Captain John: "Come with me, I will borrow a car from the motorized reconnaissance regiment for you, using personal connections."

When the two left, the crew with damaged tracks had just removed the track pieces fixed on the tank.

It is very embarrassing to have the tracks blown off. You say it is insignificant, but it can indeed make a tank withdraw from the current operation.

Most of them say it is very useful. Most of the broken tracks can be repaired later. If the crew brings spare tracks, even the crew can repair the tracks themselves-the cost is more than ten hours.

But it is better than abandoning the car directly after the tracks are broken.

So more and more old tank crews in Plossen began to put the tank tracks on the outer armor of the tank as additional protection, so that once the tracks are broken, they can quickly get off the car to replace the tracks and troubleshoot.

Of course, sometimes the car will break down right in front of the enemy's position, with machine guns and hundreds of Ants staring at the wreckage of the tank on the battlefield day and night. At that time, you can only play dead in the tank and find a chance to get out.

While Colonel Busey was thinking endlessly, John set off on a motorcycle.

About thirty minutes later, the bombardment did not come, and John came back on a motorcycle: "Okay, I have a rough idea in my mind, let's take the lead! The new tank has far more protection than the No. 3 and No. 4, let us show you!"

Colonel: "Approve your request, and ride as much as you can."

"Yes."

John Christopher climbed onto the tank carefully, as if he was afraid of repeating the same mistakes as before.

When he got into the tank, accompanied by an order, the giant beast roared, rushed forward a little, and then the roar gradually stabilized, and the tank passed in front of Colonel Busey.

It doesn't look bulky, and it should be said that as a heavy tank, its mobility is unexpectedly good. Colonel Busse's troops had tested captured Ante heavy tanks, and their bulkiness left a deep impression on Colonel Busse.

Today, the mobility of this square new tank also opened Colonel Busse's eyes.

They roared forward, and the other two new tanks followed behind it.

Yes, two, and one was broken in the shelling just now.

Colonel Busse is still not sure whether he will be satisfied with the new tank, but he knows that the logistics department, especially the masters of the field auto repair shop, must be very fond of this new tank.

————

John Christopher drove his beloved tank along the route he had just explored.

Soon, the tank passed a painted tree trunk, and Christopher realized that it was the enemy's target and he had entered the enemy's firepower range.

In a flash, an armor-piercing shell came from a distance, leaving a string of sparks on the front gun shield of the new tank, but the shell disappeared.

Christopher heard someone join in the headset and asked hurriedly: "Who is injured? Is the injury serious?"

"It's okay. I don't know where the armor collapsed. It scratched a shallow scar on my face. Only a little blood flowed."

Christopher didn't think much and picked up the telescope to look for the enemy's gun position.

In order to ensure the advantageous combat distance, he issued the first command after joining the battle: "Stop the car, we will be on guard at the spot."

The vehicle stopped suddenly.

In the shaking of the sudden stop, Christopher suddenly found that there was a flash on the 414 high ground by the river.

The second shot fell next to Christopher's car.

Christopher: "Turn the turret 30 degrees left, on the high ground, wait for it to fire for the third time."

The turret just turned around and hit the third time.

However, the new tank did not move at all, but the shell passed by the place where it was hit, leaving a large scratch, scratching the tactical number on the vehicle and the logo of the armored unit to which it belonged.

Christopher: "Gunner! Did you see the flash? The flash just now!"

Gunner reported: "No! We are observing the enemy position with the highest magnification."

"No!" Christopher said decisively, "Use the lens with the smallest magnification, so that you can ensure that you can see the flash! If you see the flash, you will find the position of the enemy's anti-tank gun!"

As soon as he finished speaking, there was another flash.

The gunner almost immediately returned fire, and a puff of white smoke immediately rose from the position on the high ground where the shell had just been fired, like a fat enoki mushroom.

Christopher shouted: "Come again!"

At this time, he suddenly saw a flash in front of him.

"Attention, there are enemies in front of the vehicle. Fire a shot at the gun position on the 414 high ground, and then turn the gun immediately."

As soon as he finished speaking, the wingman next to him opened fire, and the target was the target Christopher found.

The next moment, an explosion occurred, and the turret flew into the sky.

Christopher was shocked: "Is it a tank? Is this the kind of tank bunker that buries the body of the tank?"

Another shell was fired from the front, and there were tracer bullets from the machine gun.

But now the new tank had just passed the first target and was obviously still far away from the position. The tracer bullets from the machine guns made a "peeing trajectory" and did not urinate on Christopher.

Suddenly, the enemy opened fire again.

This time, the gunner opened fire without waiting for the tank commander Christopher to indicate the target. The shell hit the object behind the camouflage, and thick smoke immediately rose from behind the haystack.

It was obviously another enemy tank.

At this time, Christopher heard the roar of the engine from the opposite side. It seemed that the enemy tanks found that they could not penetrate the new tanks and decided to close the distance.

The next moment, several KV tanks rushed through the cover of the bushes.

Then more than ten T34s appeared.

Christopher shouted excitedly: "The enemy took the initiative to deliver it to our door! If they continue to hide, we may not be able to find them! Fire!"

The three new tanks lined up in a row and fired continuously.

The scene was a one-sided massacre, and Ant's tanks were blown into fireworks one after another.

Finally, Ant's tank turned around and gave the vulnerable rear to the three new tanks.

Then Christopher and his comrades happily sent these escaped tanks into the sky.

Christopher: "Forward! Crush the enemy's position."

The engine of the new tank roared again, and it moved forward quickly under the surging power.

Ante's other anti-tank weapons may have panicked and kept firing from a long distance, and were called out one by one by Christopher's crew.

When Christopher's car approached Ant's trench, several Ant soldiers jumped out of the trench.

Christopher thought they were here to attack the tank, and hurriedly shouted: "The body machine gun! Sweep them down!"

But these people turned around and ran away.

Obviously, the new tank, like a god of war, scared these Ant people!

After the initial collapse, the Ant people's battle line was like an avalanche, and soon everyone in the entire trench began to run back!

————

At ten o'clock in the morning on July 10, Wang Zhong had just arrived at the city defense headquarters when the phone rang.

Wang Zhong picked up the phone, and the voice on the other end was Belinsky's: "There seems to be a problem on the Sukhaveli front."

Wang Zhong: "No way, the news I heard last night was 'understanding the situation on the front line', and wasn't the aerial reconnaissance normal?"

Belinsky: "There is no way to understand the situation on the front line because several divisions near the breakthrough point have collapsed. Only today have the scattered deserters run to the rear and were caught by the troops of the Inquisition."

Wang Zhong: "Is the situation very bad?"

"It's really bad. A sergeant who escaped said, 'It's like June 22 last year.' In addition, the Inquisitor got information from different people: the square Plossen tank was found, which looks bigger than all the tanks encountered before."

Wang Zhong was squinting his eyes and looked a little lazy, but when he heard this, his eyes opened completely: " A square new tank? Does it have wide tracks? "

"Yes."

Wang Zhong: "Finally, you are here. Let's see which new tank is better!"

Belinsky: "In short, be prepared to attack. Although Turgenev still has at least six newly formed armies, I think he also wants to verify whether your army building ideas can be used. After all, you only have one infantry regiment in a division, and Yebao is saying that you are a vacancies. "

Wang Zhong laughed dumbly: "A vacancies?"

Vasily next to him said: "Don't you know? Last time the mobile army organization table was announced, a lot of people laughed at us!"

Wang Zhong: "Is it true?"

"Really," Belinsky said, "In short, prove it to them! Prove it to us, to everyone! Over!"

He hung up the phone.