Arc of Gunfire

Position of the 504th Independent Tank Destroyer Battalion in Plossen.

Major Hausen, the battalion commander, saw Ant's T34 tanks crossing the river from the shallows through the telescope.

"No strange pot-covered head, no strange turtle shell, damn, we are facing the T34!"

Although the Type 4 tank destroyer equipped by the 504th Battalion is an emergency product, the 75mm long gun with a 70-caliber is one of the few weapons in the hands of the Plossen Armored Forces that can deal with Ant's new tanks. Now they have to fight the T34 that can be easily destroyed by the Plossen Armored Forces. It is undoubtedly a waste.

But the armored soldiers of the 504th Battalion were unaware of the battalion commander's worries. They were cheering:

"It's the T34! We can penetrate them at a distance of 2,000 meters or even farther!"

"It's time to compete in design technology! Let's compete!"

"This is unfair. The tank destroyer has no turret. Who can hunt more depends on the position in the entire formation and the number of enemies faced!"

"Ah, I'm already beginning to miss my No. 4 G."

Captain Hausen sighed quietly, picked up the microphone and ordered on the radio: "Everyone pay attention, free fire!"

Someone fired the moment the order was issued. Even the vision of an old-fashioned captain like Hausen did not catch the trajectory of the shells. He only saw that the T34 that had just passed the 2,250-meter mark in the distance was on fire.

An excited voice came from the radio: "Vehicle No. 405 took the lead!"

Others were not to be outdone and started shooting.

T34s caught fire one after another.

The hunt lasted less than three minutes, and the Ants began to release smoke.

The smoke bomb fired by the T34 exploded in front of the position of the 504th Battalion, and another smoke appeared in front of the Ante tank attack formation.

Through the telescope, Major Hausen saw that the smoke was released by the "armored cavalry" riding on the back of the tank.

As a veteran, Major Hausen fought on the Eastern Front for a year and a half before taking office in the 504th Battalion. When facing the superior firepower of Proson, the tank soldiers of Ante should have approached desperately and tried to counter Proson's shooting skills with close-range fire.

Like this, releasing smoke just after contact and before the loss exceeded 30% was far beyond Major Hausen's cognition.

He keenly realized that the Ante people might have changed the basic principles of armored warfare.

So he immediately called the battalion communications battalion by radio: "Communications battalion, I'm the battalion commander, send a telegram to the army group headquarters immediately, tell them that the Ants have changed their armored combat strategy, and the T34 troops may start to avoid contact with our armored forces!"

At the same time, the tankers of the 504th Battalion complained on the radio: "The Panzer IV is good in every way, but it has no turret and cannot be mobile! If we were driving an ordinary Panzer IV, we would have rushed out of the bunker and started to chase and destroy the enemy armored forces!"

"Have the Ants suddenly lost their courage? In the past, they would rush over desperately, and then be destroyed by us 1,000 meters away."

Major Hausen was about to remind his subordinates not to be too arrogant and despise the Ants, but suddenly realized something.

The sound of the tank engine was far away, but the sound of other things' engines had not yet gone away, but was drowned out by the tank engine sound.

"Everyone, pay attention. The enemy's half-track vehicles and light armor have not retreated! The enemy's mechanized infantry is still approaching!"

As soon as the voice fell, a Proson half-track vehicle with the Ant logo rushed out of the smoke, followed by Ant's infantry.

The half-track vehicle immediately released new smoke and rushed to the infantry position guarding the 504th Battalion's position with the infantry.

To make matters worse, a large number of smoke bombs fired by 76mm or even 105mm guns fell from the sky. Both the 504th Battalion's position and the infantry position covering them were covered by white smoke.

Major Hausen was experienced and immediately ordered: "Exit the bunker! Exit the bunker! Retreat! We don't have a turret and can't fight close to the infantry! We will suffer!"

His own car was the first to exit the bunker and reversed backwards, leaving clear traces on the soft ground.

Because of the smoke, he couldn't see the movements of other vehicles, nor did he know the situation behind.

The enemy's smoke also restricted the retreat of the 504th Battalion!

But Major Hausen had already ordered the commanders of the troops to confirm the ground conditions behind them in advance to ensure that they could withdraw from the bunker smoothly.

Now he was extremely glad that he did not cancel the order because of his subordinates' complaints when he arrived.

The more preparations you make in advance, the greater the chance of survival. This iron rule has been fulfilled again!

Major Hausen's car retreated all the way and finally left the smoke range. He saw that many of his vehicles had also successfully withdrawn.

"Attention everyone! Occupy the reserve position and continue to snipe the enemy!" After saying that, he switched the frequency and called the 340th Infantry Division for cooperation. "Pelican Pelican! Wolf calling Pelican!"

The Pelican is the emblem of the 340th Division, so it is also used as the radio call sign of the division headquarters.

"This is Pelican, Wolf, please speak."

"My troops will occupy the No. 2 reserve position."

"Don't go to the No. 2 reserve position. The assault artillery battalion that was reinforced last night is there. Please go to the No. 4 reserve position. We are--"

Suddenly, the radio signal was cut off.

————

Colonel Hoffman, the commander of the 340th Division, looked at the receiver in his hand, confirmed that there was no problem, and continued to call: "Run Wolf, Run Wolf, Pelican calling! Run Wolf, Run Wolf!"

At this time, the commander of the division's communications company rushed in: "The radio antenna was damaged by a stray bullet."

"Then fix it quickly!"

"yes!"

The division commander dropped the radio receiver and turned to the phone: "Is the phone still open?"

"Yes, but the 504th Battalion has left the position and there is no way to contact them by phone."

The teacher cursed and as soon as he let go of the phone receiver, the phone rang.

He picked it up: "I'm Hoffman, speak!"

"Division Commander! This is Highland 201! We can't hold it anymore! Ant infantry is everywhere, Ant infantry is everywhere! We have fired 20,000 rounds of ammunition, 20,000 rounds! We need reinforcements!"

Hoffman: "I will ask the divisional security company to reinforce you! Now, immediately! Hold on!"

Without waiting for a reply, he tapped the receiver on the landline.

But as soon as he took the photo, the bell rang again.

Hoffman picked up the receiver and said, "I'm Hoffman! Speak!"

"This is the beachhead, this is the beachhead! We can't hold it anymore! We need reinforcements!"

"There are no reinforcements. The only ones left are the division staff and me!"

"That's okay too!"

"Hold it! Hold it!" After speaking, Hoffman hung up the phone.

As soon as he put down the phone, it rang again. He simply unplugged the phone cord from the back of the phone and threw the phone and receiver to the ground: "That's enough! I can't create more reserves!"

The 340th Division was originally the division at the back of the wave, also commonly known as the line-filling division. After it was withdrawn from the front line at the end of July, it did not receive much reinforcement. It was already highly understaffed. Now it is impossible to expect them to be able to withstand the focus of the assault. .

The division chief of staff said: "We should not be allowed to defend such an important shoal."

Hoffmann: "This is not to blame at the Army Group Headquarters. Other units have more important areas to defend. With such a long front, the enemy can always find weak points to break through - especially when we are far from retreating from July. When recovering."

"Yes." The chief of staff sighed, "I will organize the staff and the troops directly under the division headquarters to go to the front line to provide support. It will have some effect."

Hoffman was silent for a few seconds before saying: "Please. I know that you have received so much military education not to go to the front line and do the work of a big soldier, but the matter has come to this, and you can only do your duty."

After saying that, he also put on his hat: "Give me a submachine gun, and I'll go with you."

Chief of Staff: "You should go and join the 504th Battalion——"

"My troops are here and I will fight with you until the end," Hoffman said.

————

Major Howson called many times and was finally convinced that he had lost contact with the 340th Division headquarters.

He switched back to the troop communication frequency: "Everyone, we may have lost the covering infantry! The situation has become complicated. The enemy infantry may come out of the grass to attack us. We should fight and move away, and join up with the Loktov city defense troops. .The enemy will definitely attack Loktov, and we will be useful there!

"The enemy's Urban siege assault guns need to be dealt with by us, otherwise they will blow up the defenders and bunkers into the sky!"

As soon as he finished speaking, someone among his subordinates said: "Didn't you say that the Urban assault gun can be handed over to the Land Stuka?"

"An extra means is not a bad thing!"

At this time, a strange voice broke into the communication: "We are the commander of the 144th Assault Artillery Battalion. We have 91 No. 3 assault guns that are still usable. Do you want to retreat?"

Major Hausen: "We have to retreat! Come with us, whether it's a destroyer or an assault gun. It's too dangerous to fight without infantry cover."

"You're right."

At this time, Major Howson came to his senses and said clearly on the radio that this violated the principle of confidentiality.

It will definitely be reviewed afterwards.

He couldn't care less: "Retreat to Loktov!"

————

Agsukov, headquarters of the 1st Khazalia Front.

Wang Zhong looked at the series of breakthrough marks on the map with satisfaction.

"As we expected, the enemy's defense line was riddled with holes." Pavlov concluded, "Although in some areas, the elite Ploson troops put up resolute and effective resistance, which brought huge losses to our crossing troops. casualties, but we were still making progress against their weaker forces."

Wang Zhong: "General Gorky's tactics are indeed effective, but we should be careful not to suffer as many casualties as he did."

Pavlov: "Don't worry, we have set up a pontoon bridge with materials prepared in advance, and the cavalry and armored units are crossing the river. Soon the enemy's defenses will collapse and we will surround Loktov."

Wang Zhong: "Lotov, I am so missed."

At this time, the communications staff reported loudly: "Comrade Marshal, the 1st Guards Heavy Breakthrough Tank Regiment encountered enemy armored forces!"

Wang Zhong: "Is it the 29 outfit?"

"The troops failed to see the enemy's markings. A firefight is underway."