Arc of Gunfire

West of Upper Penier, Prosen tanks passed through a smoke barrier created by mortars.

At this time, the enemy infantry artillery bombardment stopped, probably because they were worried that the smoke would interfere with the tank's direct firepower.

After the tanks broke out of the smoke, the Prossen skirmisher line also appeared.

At this time, in addition to the roar of engines, the only sound on the battlefield was the sound of machine gun fire coming from the east end of the village.

This distant sound only highlighted the silence of the battlefield.

There was no machine gun fire and the village was quiet.

The shelling of the mountain artillery just now created seven or eight smoke columns, and it is unknown how many casualties it caused.

The tank stopped advancing when it approached 200 meters, probably not wanting to enter the effective range of the anti-tank gun.

The coaxial machine gun opened fire first, targeting the second-story window of the house. This type of shooting is called deterrence shooting, which uses violent firepower to scare defenders hiding in buildings and fortifications, so that timid defenders do not dare to stand up and shoot.

This kind of shooting also has the effect of causing overly nervous people to fire reflexively, thereby revealing their position.

However, the deterrence shots of the Prosen people had no effect, and Haupenier Village was still like a dead snail, lying in the sunset waiting for the sun to evaporate the water in its body.

Prosen's infantry approached the village cautiously.

Suddenly, a small window on the first floor burst into flames, and tracer bullets tore through the afterglow of the setting sun, knocking down three Prosen soldiers in the blink of an eye.

The next moment, the tank's coaxial machine gun fired at the small window, and then the tank gun arrived, and the small window was flooded with smoke and dust.

More windows began to burst into flames, and a hail of bullets was fired at the enemies in the field.

————

Yegorov said to the messenger: "Let a battalion stop fighting. The enemy's tanks have the advantage of direct firepower. If you entangle the enemy on the outer defense line, the casualties will be huge. Once you kill a wave of enemies, immediately withdraw and let the enemies enter the village."

The messenger nodded, turned around and ran away.

Chief of Staff Pavlov said: "Didn't they all assign tasks to them and say they would leave after a wave?"

"Just in case. The first battalion commander has a stubborn temper and will ignore it when he gets angry. We need to remind him." Yegorov said.

He knew the tempers of his officers very well, after all, they drank a lot together.

Yegorov continued to observe the west, but after the enemy approached within two hundred meters, he lost sight and could only see the enemy tanks stuck at a distance of two hundred meters.

This is because the west side of the village is a gentle slope, and it is downhill all the way from the west hill to the village. If it were normal flat ground, Yegorov's view from the third floor of the manor would be even worse.

This third floor can only ensure that the northwest entrance can be seen. If a machine gun is set up at the window where Yegorov is standing, the northwest road into the village can be completely blocked.

Of course, at that time, this window will also be taken care of by the tank's direct firepower.

The good news is that Count Rokossov said conclusively that the enemy does not have any No. 4 infantry tanks.

The enemy's Panzer III tank main gun has a caliber of only 50 millimeters, and some older models even have only 37 millimeters. The grenades from this gun can only kill the machine gunner if they are accurately fired through the window. It is unlikely that they will be able to blow up even if they hit around the window. This thick stone wall.

So Yegorov prepared seven or eight groups of machine gunners in the huge room behind the window, and also prepared several spare machine guns, waiting for the enemy to launch an attack from the northwest street.

Of course, before the enemy appears, this window still serves as the commander's observation window. After all, the field of view is so good.

While Yegorov was observing, he suddenly saw a violent explosion in the west of the village. The black thing was blown up into the sky, even beyond the cover of a number of two-story buildings.

"What's going on?" As soon as he said this, he saw flames suddenly spurting out of the window of a house on Southwest Street. A submachine gunner covered in fire jumped out of the window from the second floor and fell to the ground motionless.

Yegorov exclaimed: "Flamethrowers, combat engineers! The enemy's combat engineers have entered the battle!"

————

Yegorov couldn't see what happened, but Wang Zhong saw it clearly.

The 1st Battalion dropped a barrage of fire and withdrew.

Then a group of combat engineers wearing gray armor came up on half-tracks.

There was something like a trebuchet on the half-track, and Wang Zhong just watched this thing throw an explosive bag over the stone wall.

What a heartless mechanical powered version of the cannon!

Next, let alone the stone wall, the huts behind the stone wall were blown into the sky.

Then the enemy's combat engineers very skillfully knocked down the remaining stone wall, filled the pit, and entered the yard through the feces.

The submachine gun ambushed in the house opened fire, only to hit the armor of the combat engineer with a series of sparks.

Obviously, pistol bullets fired from submachine guns are not effective against iron armor.

The submachine gunner was either panicked or had never seen the heavy armor of a combat engineer. Anyway, he did not attack the enemy's unprotected parts at all.

Combat Engineer flat-end flamethrower, pull the trigger.

Flames came in through the window and then shot out of the window on the other side.

The submachine gunner covered in flames roared out of the window and fell to the ground motionless.

Wang Zhong was shocked. Wearing heavy iron armor, using submachine guns and flamethrowers, and carrying explosive bags, aren't these elite combat engineers Mao Zi's signature unit?

As a result, German combat engineers in this time and space are also heavily armored?

Wang Zhong watched as the enemy's combat engineers used flamethrowers to clear an entire house, then used explosives to blow open the partition wall between the two houses, and continued to clear the second house.

No, we have to find a way to eliminate this group of combat engineers.

Wang Zhong raised his sight.

The enemy tanks were parked 200 meters away from the village, with a good shooting range. This time, the detour method from the outside did not work.

You have to find a way to set up an ambush in the village and eliminate the combat engineer squad with tank grenades and machine gun fire.

Wang Zhong observed the enemy's advancing direction, and a plan initially took shape.

He once again looked at the enemies who were retreating from the east. After confirming that there were only about 20 stragglers left, he patted Su Fang on the shoulder who was changing bullets: "Okay, don't fight after changing. We still have missions. We need to These bullets. The other machine guns also stopped firing!"

The two strafing turrets in front of the tank stopped firing, and then the main gun's coaxial machine gun also stopped firing.

Wang Zhong: "Driver! Turn left and drive back to the road along the edge of the village."

Pilot: "Understood! Wait a minute, do we ignore these enemies? There may be a lot of them left, but they are just lying on the ground and using the wheat fields to hide themselves!"

Wang Zhong thought to himself, don't worry. This guy is cheating. Not only can he see clearly from the bird's eye view, but it also has highlights. The company behind the enemy now only has about twenty active men left.

But he couldn't say it directly: "There was a lot of gunfire from the front. Obviously the battle situation is stalemate. They need us. Let's go."

The tank started, turned left, and moved quickly along the field ridges beside the village.

Su Fang whispered: "You actually explain why when you give an order, I have never seen a nobleman - no, I have never seen an officer do this.

"The officers give orders, and the people below have no choice but to carry them out. If they have any questions, they will be scolded, like 'you bunch of pigs' and the like."

Wang Zhong: "You pigs! Follow my orders! Is that so?"

I don’t know why, but the tank crews in the car laughed so loudly.

The gunner said: "If the company's chief of staff yells at people like this, then no recruit will be afraid of him."

The loader added: "That was the gentlest scolding we've ever heard - I don't know if it counts as a scolding."

Wang Zhong scratched his head. At this time, the tank arrived at the entrance of the village, so he took the opportunity to change the subject: "Stop! I want to talk to the machine gunner."

After the tank stopped, Wang Zhong shouted to the machine gun that was temporarily on fire: "Who is commanding?"

Sergeant Major Gregory stuck his head out: "It's me, Count."

Wang Zhong: "The enemy has been almost wiped out. The rest is left to you to keep an eye on our rear. I'm going to join the battle head-on."

The sergeant major saluted Wang Zhong: "I wish you good luck, Lord Count!"