Arc of Gunfire

The white smoke that exploded on Karl's position immediately stunned him.

His first reaction was that the enemy was firing a cannon, but he immediately realized that blocking his vision now would do no good to the enemy.

If that Rokossov was really as famous as the rumors say, he would not make such a mistake.

This must be friendly supporting fire.

He immediately picked up the microphone and shouted: "This is friendly fire, friendly forces are supporting us! After the enemy's long-range fire is blocked, prepare to destroy the advancing enemy tank troops!"

Yes, even in such an environment, Major General Carr still believed that he could destroy the approaching T34 - provided that the long-range firepower of the enemy's assault gun was blocked.

The battalion commander of the armored battalion responded: "Understood, General! We still have 17 long-tube No. 4s, which is enough to take care of these T34s!"

Just as he finished speaking, Major General Karl saw a T34 being hit. When the shell penetrated the front armor of the vehicle, it caused sparks. The next moment, the tank burst into flames, and the Ant tank soldier, covered in fire, jumped out of the tank. , rolling on the ground.

Major General Karl was overjoyed: "Destroy them! Quick!"

————

Kosikov was in his tank, frowning.

The 40th Tank Army was different from Rokossov's First Mobile Army. It had very few radio equipment. In this environment where the battlefield was obscured by smoke, Kosikov had no idea what his troops had encountered and what the situation was.

He could only try to figure out the battlefield situation from the communication of the platoon command tank.

Suddenly a clear voice came from the earphones, and Kosikov recognized it as the commander of the 1st Battalion of the 41st Tank Regiment: "The enemy only has a dozen Long-Tube No. 4s, only a dozen or so! Rush up, and if it doesn't work, hit them!"

Kosikov frowned. It sounded like something was wrong?

how so?

Only then did he notice that the rumble of fire from the destroyer had disappeared.

He looked at the destroyer positions with confusion and found that they were moving.

Then Kosykov finally noticed that the enemy's smoke obscuration had strengthened and the destroyer's view was blocked.

He immediately turned to look at the high ground where the commanders of the First Mobile Army were, and saw Yegorov giving orders.

Kosykov picked up the microphone, adjusted the frequency, and called loudly: "Koshikov calls Yegorov, Kosykov calls Yegorov!"

He saw the communications soldier handing the walkie-talkie to Yegorov, and the next moment the division commander of the Guards looked over.

"I am Yegorov, tell me."

"The situation of my troops is not good. The enemy seems to be attacking my soldiers! Think of a way!"

Yegorov's answer came immediately from the earphones: "Let them release the smoke."

"We are not equipped with smoke grenades!"

Yegorov was silent for a few seconds and said: "Then how do you solve the enemy's advantage in long-range firepower?"

"If you don't solve it, you will actually know if you have driven a T34. During the impact, we often cannot see where the enemy is. Even if smoke is needed, it is provided by the artillery!"

Yegorov: "Don't worry, order your troops to retreat back into the smoke. We can outflank the enemy and kill the enemy."

Kosikov looked livid: "We don't have enough radio equipment. Repeat, we don't have enough radio equipment. In this kind of melee, we can't have all the tanks execute the retreat order uniformly!"

Yegorov's Antguo scolding came over the radio: "Sukar! Why haven't radios been distributed to every vehicle yet? How many long-range No. 4s do the enemy have?"

Obviously Yegorov also knows very well that only the Long-barreled No. 4 can completely offset the armor advantage of the T34.

"I don't know, it's said to be more than a dozen. My battalion commander ordered the ramming of these Prosen tanks! But I don't know the effect!"

Yegorov was silent for a few more seconds before replying: "Then I wish you good luck."

Kosykov pursed his lips and looked serious. He was about to answer when Yegorov suddenly said: "Wait a minute, the reinforcements sent to us by the Army Group Headquarters have arrived!"

Kosikov turned around and saw a lot of smoke and dust on the Eastern Highway. It was obvious that a group of tanks was advancing.

Yegorov continued: "It is a battle group composed of tank troops directly under the army and repaired tanks led by Lieutenant Colonel Zinov. They are all veterans! And there are smoke bombs! There must be smoke bombs!"

Korsikov was overjoyed. Although he could only see the smoke raised by the tank as it drove in, he still slammed the turret of the command tank and shouted: "Great! Let them go into battle!"

"I will order them to come forward! Let your troops hold on!"

————

Car No. 40233 commanded by Captain Semyon was hit.

After the dizziness caused by the impact ended, he felt hot wind behind him, and when he turned around, he saw a fire burning in the turret.

The loader sat on the fire, completely lifeless. The smell of burnt human flesh went straight to Captain Semyon's nostrils.

At this time Semyon heard the sound of the driver opening the hatch. Apparently the driver was still alive and had made a correct judgment on the tank's condition.

The captain immediately pushed open the turret roof and tried to climb out of the tank, but suddenly found that his lower body could not use any strength.

He lowered his head and saw blood all over his pants.

At this moment, Captain Semyon knew that he could not get out.

He looked at the scope in front of him, and the photos of his wife and daughter were inserted into the gaps in the scope. Both were smiling at him.

At that moment, the captain made up his mind.

He struggled to climb into the driver's seat with both hands and pushed the joystick hard.

Although the turret was on fire, the engine and gearbox responded to Captain Semyon's operation.

He put his eyes on the driver's observation window and tried to find the firing Proson tank-

Then he rushed over with the burning tank.

The engine and gearbox roared, and the T34 seemed to have become a part of Captain Semyon, and it also came back to life.

Captain Semyon shouted the name of St. Andrew, hoping to get the guidance of divine power and let the tank's engine work for a while.

Suddenly, the target he chose turned the cannon around.

The next moment, vehicle No. 40233 was hit again.

It was not known whether it was the engine or the gearbox that made a very bad sound, but Captain Semyon, who was not familiar with the driving position, did not know what it meant.

He could only shout: "General Rokosov! Protect me! Mother Ant, protect me!"

The engine's abnormal noise became louder, but the tank was still moving forward!

It seemed that something was really responding to Captain Semyon's prayers.

Just a little bit more!

However, the enemy tank engaged reverse gear and began to retreat.

At that moment, Captain Semyon was seized by despair.

With a loud and clear sound, the gearbox of the tank finally couldn't hold on, and No. 40233 slowly stopped, and Captain Semyon also leaned forward on the two joysticks.

His eyes were still glued to the observation window, and he could see the enemy tank gradually pulling away.

The enemy's gun muzzle was aimed at the position of the cab.

In a flash, the shells flying from the side hit the enemy, and the enemy tank suddenly stopped retreating in the sparks.

Then, Captain Semyon saw the Proson tank driver climb out of the tank skillfully and was about to jump into the bushes to hide.

The machine gun swept over.

Semyon saw the enemy driver was shot in the foot and fell into the bushes like a head-over-heels onion.

He also saw the electromechanical operator get off the car and run behind the tank, but was hit in the back by a bullet.

The loader who came out of the side door of the turret was shivering in the shadow of the tank, while the gunner who came out of the other side of the turret was not so lucky, and his shoulder was directly broken by the machine gun.

Then, the second shell hit the No. 4 tank, which directly caused the tank to burst into flames. The tank commander of Proson did not have time to climb out of the tank and screamed on the turret.

Captain Semyon was speechless. He stared at the burning No. 4 with a slight smile on his face.

He left with a smile, and did not see the scene where Lieutenant Colonel Zinov's command tank rushed to the enemy tank, used the wreckage as a cover, and fired continuously.

————

Major General Karl heard someone shouting on the radio: "Enemy reinforcements are coming! Enemy reinforcements!"

He quickly put the microphone close to his mouth: "What's going on? How many reinforcements have arrived?"

"I don't know!" The battalion commander who had just patted his chest and guaranteed that he could destroy the tanks that were rushing forward was shaken, "Our long-barreled Type 4 is almost gone! Retreat, General! If you don't retreat, it will be terrible when the enemy surrounds us. You can't beat those assault guns with only Type 3!"

Major General Karl was shocked: "Okay, retreat immediately, repeat, retreat immediately!"

At this time, as if guided by God's will, Major General Karl suddenly turned his head to look at the flank.

He saw smoke and dust.

And that patch of grass was relatively low, so he clearly saw a low-profile assault gun galloping in the shallow grass.

Then, all the assault guns turned in unison, and one could tell from this action that they all had radios.

At that moment, Major General Karl's heart skipped a beat, but he still comforted himself: these assault guns were almost two kilometers away from him, and they should not be able to directly hit the tanks of the division headquarters--

Major General Karl saw the flash.

This scene reminded him of the scene of the 88 guns of the anti-aircraft battalion firing in unison.

Before the sound of the guns came, the armor-piercing shells whizzed in.

The wing car of Major General Karl's command vehicle suddenly burst into flames, and the tankers covered in flames jumped out of the tank, rolling on the ground and screaming.

The major general was sweating coldly, and his scalp was numb.

It's over, the enemy's assault guns can penetrate the No. 3 at a distance of two kilometers!

No, even the new tanks that were highly expected would be penetrated by this thing at a distance of more than one kilometer, and it was not surprising that the No. 3 was penetrated-especially the base of the No. 3 commander was originally an old model.

Major General Karl finally realized that he should run now, but the second wave of flashes had already lit up in his vision.

Major General Karl's consciousness stopped at this moment.

He felt no pain, nor could he hear the adjutant's screams.

When the adjutant dragged him out of the burning tank, most of his body had been burnt, and even the cross badge he was so proud of was burnt black.