Arc of Gunfire

Troops of the 55th Tank Corps quickly passed through the village of Vosonka, which was intended to be the assembly point for tank crews.

The Plosen Army defending the village paid no attention to the passing tank troops and did not even fire their anti-tank guns.

If Prosen's observation post hadn't been keeping an eye on it, the 55th Army might have thought that the village had been abandoned and sent accompanying infantry to occupy it.

Now that the Plosen garrison was discovered, the village was naturally handed over to the follow-up infantry troops. According to the plan, the infantry will capture this small village at noon on the 25th.

After passing through Vosonka, the 55th Army went straight to Pochaev.

According to prior investigation, the troops defending here are the first section of the 332nd Infantry Division and the 11th Armored Division Motorized Reconnaissance Battalion, and there may be an assault artillery battalion.

Even if this assault artillery battalion is present, the weak force is not enough to stop the 55th Tank Corps.

After all, the degree of integration of Ant's tank units has been greatly improved. In addition to the three armored brigades, the 55th Army has also integrated many infantry and self-propelled artillery units. It is far from the "tofu tanks" when the war just started a few years ago. military".

Although most of the tank crews of the 55th Army have no combat experience.

Alexander's battalion encountered an enemy assault artillery battalion north of Pochayev at noon on the 25th.

Five minutes before encountering the enemy.

All the hatches of the Alexander were open, and the loader simply got out of the turret and stood on the tank's radiator grille with the infantry.

The driver Qiulin was shouting: "Can you please stop sitting on the grille? Isn't it hot? Someone sit in front of the tank! It's such a hot day, you are almost overheating the tank engine!"

The gunner smiled and said: "You should thank the infantry brothers for blocking the direct sunlight! If the infantry brothers get out of the way, maybe your engine will be hotter!"

"What about my engine? It's like you don't want to ride in this tank!"

Just as Alexander was about to join the conversation, he heard someone shouting on the radio: "Semyon Semyon! Why is your tank smoking?"

Immediately, Semyon's cursing voice penetrated Alexander's ears: "Damn it! It's too hot! The oil is on fire! I have to stop to put out the fire! You go first!"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone reported again: "My gearbox seems to be stuck, maintenance camp! Where is the maintenance camp?"

"Don't make any noise! ​​We are troubleshooting car No. 404! Stop where you are and see if you can solve it yourself!" said the radio operator of the maintenance camp. After all, the maintenance camp has a lower battle damage rate than the armored force and has more veterans. Some veterans were transferred to the maintenance camp after being disabled on the battlefield.

The battalion commander's voice came immediately after the veterans of the maintenance camp: "Each vehicle reported the situation. I'll confirm how many people broke down."

So everyone on the radio started counting.

A few minutes later, the battalion commander's staggering voice came through the radio: "There are only 12 T34s left running. This failure rate is a bit high! We haven't encountered a battle yet!"

As if echoing the battalion commander's words, suddenly a light flashed across Alexander's field of vision.

Alexander, who was on the battlefield for the first time, was in a state of shock and did not realize what the light was.

Veteran Pietro shouted on the radio: "Armor-piercing bullet! The enemy missed the target! We were ambushed!"

The atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Alexander patted the top of the turret: "Prepare for battle, prepare for battle!"

The gunner retracted into the turret first, and the loader followed immediately, sliding into the turret like an acrobatic, but ended up touching his buttocks while drilling.

"Ouch!" he shouted, and his movement into the turret was interrupted.

The gunner shouted: "Don't stop! Your fucking ass is dangling in front of me now!"

Loader: "Don't rush! My shit is about to be knocked out!"

Alexander forced the loader into the turret: "Then you just pull it into the turret!"

The driver and the electromechanical crew both screamed in horror: "Don't! If you guys in the turret pull out, they will fall to the floor of the carriage, and it will be us who get the stink!"

Loader: "You might as well worry about the shells on the floor being wet with shit!"

In anticipation of a long battle, Alexander's tanks were packed with extra shells, which were all piled on the floor of the tank body.

While they, a group of inexperienced recruits, were struggling, more than a dozen armor-piercing bullets flew in. Two T34Ws were hit by bullets and caught fire. One of them burned for a minute before a big explosion occurred, and parts of the turret and people flew high into the air. .

Alexander stared at the turret spinning in the air with wide eyes.

He suddenly realized that sending more shells seemed to be a bad idea. When his car exploded, the turret would probably fly higher than everyone else.

The radio was already buzzing with "sokas" and someone was screaming: "Where are the enemies? I can't see anything but the smoke from the fire!"

"It's the enemy's new tank destroyer! It's a new tank destroyer!"

The battalion commander was also shouting: "Don't panic! According to the intelligence, it may be the enemy's assault gun battalion that is attacking us. Proson's assault gun is not as low as our destroyer, so you can definitely see it!"

Pietro: "No, we should fire smoke bombs in the direction of the smoke from the fire!"

After all, the battalion commander had not been involved in the war for as long as Captain Pietro. As soon as he heard Pietro's suggestion, he immediately changed his order: "Load smoke bombs on all vehicles! Fire them in the direction where I am firing!"

Immediately afterwards, the battalion commander's command vehicle opened fire first, and a smoke grenade exploded in the direction of the enemy's armor-piercing projectile.

Pietro's car also opened fire, and a second cloud of smoke exploded not far from the first.

The Prossen's armor-piercing shells passed through the smoke and continued to fire.

Alexander: "Smoke grenade loading! Turn the turret 30 degrees to the left!"

The loader complained loudly: "How to load the smoke grenade! I don't think this thing is used, it is not placed in a convenient position! Wait a minute and let me look for it... Damn it, there is no light in the tank. I can't see it. Where are the smoke bombs?"

Gunner: "Don't worry about it for now! It's enough to install a high-explosive bomb. If I hit it on the ground and explode the dirt, it's still smoke!"

"Found it!" the loader interrupted the gunner, "Load the smoke grenade!"

The gunner fires immediately!

Alexander saw his tank's smoke grenade getting into the wall of smoke that had formed, and he didn't know if it had any effect.

A new order came: "Everyone turn 30 degrees to the left, without adjusting the formation, and advance towards the enemy's assault gun position! Proson's assault gun is not as maneuverable as ours, and it is different from the vortex! They can't escape!"

Alexander repeated the battalion commander's order: "Qiulin (driver), turn 30 degrees to the left! Rush towards the wall of smoke! Behind is Prosen's assault gun position!"

"Okay!"

T34 turned immediately, and the violent bumps during the turning process caused everyone in the car to bump their heads.

After completing the turn, Alexander heard the roar of the engine and the scream of the gearbox.

Alexander: "The sound of the gearbox is wrong! Qiulin, what are you doing?"

"I'm squeezing its last potential. Don't worry about the commander, the loyal tank will not break down at this time!"

At this time, the entire tank battalion formed an oblique formation and charged toward the smoke wall in a mighty manner.

Alexander's tank rushed into the smoke and bumped violently not long after driving. Two infantrymen who had lost their grip fell directly from the tank.

The corporal leading the team slapped Alexander on the shoulder: "My man fell!"

Alexander: "How could I stop the car in the smoke? What if the tank behind didn't see us hitting us? The person who fell in can only ask for luck!"

The infantry corporal cursed: "Sukabu!"

After advancing through the smoke for another minute, Alexander's vision suddenly opened up.

His sharp eyes saw an assault gun covered with camouflaged grass, and he shouted: "Turn the turret 5 degrees to the left, the enemy assault gun! That grass is the assault gun! Load armor-piercing shells!"

Loader: "Loading completed!"

The gunner shouted "Fire" while pressing the firing button on the sole of his foot.

The main gun spewed out a cloud of smoke, and the armor-piercing projectile turned into a ball of light and hit the "haystack." A second later, several people jumped out of the haystack. It was obvious that the gun just penetrated the armor of the assault gun. Commander Prosen issued an order Got the order to abandon the car.

Alexander: "Hit! We hit! The enemy abandoned the vehicle!"

Gunner: "Should we keep attacking this vehicle to make sure it catches fire?"

Alexander: "No! Turn the turret fifteen degrees to the right, new target! We will control the battlefield. Even if this thing doesn't catch fire, the Proscenians will have no chance to repair it!"

Loader: "Armor-piercing bullet, okay!"

The gunner did not wait for Alexander's order and fired directly.

As a result, this time the shell was directly deflected.

"Reload!"

At the same time as Alexander shouted, the enemy fired back. The armor-piercing bullet hit the side of Alexander's car, slid over the body of the car, and flew into the air!

The first round of shooting with the second target both sides scratched each other's paint!

Loader: "Armor-piercing projectile, over!"

The gunner opened fire immediately, and Alexander saw the ball of light flying past and hitting the grass ball.

The next moment, the grass ball was on fire. A Prossen tanker got out of the grass ball and rolled on the ground to put out the fire.

At this time, the infantrymen on the back of the tank remembered that they should attack the Prosen tanker who jumped out of the vehicle, and started shooting with wave sand.

Alexander patted the corporal on the shoulder: "Poposa can't shoot accurately from such a distance! You guys use anti-aircraft machine guns!"

Corporal: "Yes!"

He then leveled the anti-aircraft machine gun, grabbed the handle at the end, and fired at the burning Prossen assault gun.

Loader: "Armor-piercing bullet, okay!"

Gunner: "Commander, indicate the target!"

Alexander then ordered: "Turn the turret 5 degrees to the right, enemy half-track vehicle! Load high-explosive shells!"

"Wait a minute, I'll take out the shells right now!" the loader replied.

"It's too late, I'll fire first!" The gunner said and opened fire.

The armor-piercing round hit the half-track, but did not explode. Instead, it penetrated and hit the ground behind the half-track.

Then the half-track spewed fire.

Alexander: "Okay! Next target -"

Suddenly an exclamation came over the radio: "Enemy tanks! Enemy tanks have appeared!"