Battle of the Third Reich

"There are no roads marked on the map. I think this **** is quite steep and it will be difficult to climb."

The company's deputy told the truth, Matilda II is an infantry tank, but it does not mean that it can go wherever the infantry can reach. Because of the suspension system and engine horsepower, climbing has always been a weakness of this tank. On the French front, this kind of tank not only can't climb slopes, but also has some difficulties in crossing trenches. For this reason, it also specially created the so-called French battlefield type, and added a barrel-shaped skid behind the tank's butt, so as not to fall into the rear. The trench could not climb up.

"It's really impossible. We can only go around. This mountain is three hundred feet high. What is the name of the place in front of it, Abbey Lake? There is a monastery there?" Turn on the light in the turret, and Philip held the map under the light View.

"I don't know, sir, you know I have never been here." Blanche replied in the headset.

"We detour to the other side of the hill, turn left at Arkham Road, there is a highway uphill, should allow heavy equipment to pass, speed up, those infantry may have been waiting."

"Understood, sir, I don't know what happened above. I contacted them by radio before, and there was no response." After the deputy responded, the first three Matildas in the first row increased their horsepower and started to speed up.

The headlights on the main armor hit the rear of the front tank, and the black smoke emitted from the engine exhaust pipe can be clearly seen, because the fuel is not fully burned. Because of the shortage of parts, the engines of these tanks are more or less minor, so they are usually used with great care. The driver has been avoiding running this precision machine at full power. They have lost the logistics repair unit and are getting new Before supplying the spare parts, you must carefully control and maintain them, and try to extend the use time.

Bypassing the Minnes Trail, the team turned to a path called the Cox Hill curve. This is a single-lane gravel road. It looks very old for a long time. From here, it was a long upward gentle slope. The tank must add some power.

The trail is surrounded by dense woods, and there are some dark and scary nights. The surrounding terrain is undulating, and the shrubs and trees are scattered. If you come during the day, it must be a wild scene. Major Philip couldn't help but sigh, no wonder someone built the monastery here in the dense suburbs of Dover. This is really a holy place for spiritual practice.

The tank dragged along a long line of troops, roaring slowly along the forest road, and vaguely saw a few dark buildings not far from the roadside in the gap between the trees. The commander thought that it might be The ancient monastery on that map is just now in the military and cannot be slacked off, otherwise he is very interested in exploring the past.

The woods blocked most of the skylight, and the only light source during the convoy was the two tank headlights, because no anti-aircraft shields were installed. So the bright light can shine far away. The tank even drove out of the woods quickly, and Major Philip was watching along the way, but he never found the lake marked on the map, so he felt a little regret. And make up your mind, and wait for leisure in the war, be sure to come here to take a good tour and appreciate the local monuments.

Major Philip found that his team was going downhill. This made him feel a little puzzled. He drilled into the turret and looked at the map again, and suddenly found that he might be going the wrong way.

"Captain Blanche. We may have passed our head. We should turn left before entering the woods. There is a path around Cox Hill.

"Oh, sir, didn't you say you walked from the monastery lake, from the map, we haven't reached that lake yet, what should we do now, do we turn around and go back?" Even Lieutenant was obviously annoyed, because according to the prescribed time , They are half an hour late.

"Forget it, let's move on. This road also intersects with Arkham Road. We just walked around three more miles. It's too late anyway. Just keep going like this."

The company continued to move forward, and soon Philip saw the lake he was looking for. There was an old stone bridge on the lake. The first tank did not go on the bridge, but stopped by the bridge with the front row.

"Is there any problem? Why not go through it." The major felt a little strange.

"Sir, this bridge has limited weight. Our tank is overweight by ten tons, and we can't pass here." The company's deputy's tank drove to the side of the company's coach, and the captain reported loudly to the commander.

"Damn it, there is no such restriction on the map. We are in trouble." The company commander took off his military cap and scratched the hair on his back.

"Okay, we are tanks. We can move forward without roads. We can cross the woodland. We can pass through this woodland. Less than two hundred feet were highways in the past. We have to speed up." Philip thinks this is the way, now here It's downhill, Matilda's off-road ability will not have much impact, it should be able to quickly cross this sparse woodland to reach the Arkham Highway.

Matilda tank company started to turn on the road, climbed down the roadbed and ran across the lawn, and drove towards the road in the distance. This piece of woodland, strictly speaking, is a lawn with shrubs and individual trees sparsely growing on it. There is no obstacle for Matilda tanks, and they can even clearly see the mountains across the road.

"That is Mount Arkham. There is a beautiful villa on the mountain, and its owner built it like a palace."

The major raised his head and looked at the black hill, which was seventy feet taller than Cox Hill on the other side. It is strange why the Army did not occupy the hill. That was the commanding height of the valley on both sides. As long as an artillery and a battalion of infantry were placed on it, the surrounding area of ​​three or four miles could be blocked. The terrain was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and he began to worry about the military skills of the Dover Garrison.

"Crossing this mountain is the town of Temple Uell, where the seventh queen private cavalry was annihilated by the whole army, sir." Lien Li specially reminded him on the radio.

"The whole company stays vigilant. The Germans may be in this neighborhood. We may encounter them at any time." Philip issued an order to the whole company by radio.

He now began to regret some secretly, knowing that he should turn around and withdraw, and reached the position around the footpath of Cox Mountain. With the support of the regular position, they would be much safer.

Now, because of his greed for convenience, he took the troops to this wilderness. Only then did he realize how close this position was to the place where the Germans appeared in the report. The major began to rejuvenate and carefully observed the surrounding situation. Maybe they were hiding from the German paratroopers in the dark bushes, maybe they are now aiming at themselves with rifles, ready to shoot deadly bullets at any time.

Thinking of this, Philip felt a bit cold in the back of the head. He bent down and drilled into the turret, preparing to take his helmet from the turret. It was this action that saved his life. Just as he stooped down into the turret, a string of tracer fired from the **** of Mount Arkham, dragging a white tracer machine gun ammunition on his car Matilda's turret hit a spark, and two of the bullets hit the captain's open cockpit directly, where Philip just stood.

"Alarm! Watch all! Enemy machine guns!" Philip slipped on the floor of the turret. He picked up the radio microphone in front of his chest and sounded a combat alert loudly.

"Fight back! Kill the machine gun!" Even the deputy responded quickly. As the first car in the leader row, his Matilda started to turn the turret, before firing the artillery, he used a coaxial machine gun to hit the place where the tracer was emitted A burst of blue and white tracer trajectories struck the arc on the hillside, and even the assistant judged that it should be a bush.

"The loading is complete!" the gunner shouted loudly.

"Fire." Blanche gave the fire command without hesitation.

The gunner's shoulder pressed the shoulder support of the two-pound gun, adjusted the angle slightly, aimed at the position where the tracer fell, and slammed the firing wrench.

After a roar, a 40mm grenade shot at the dark hill. The deputy company commander's judgment was correct. There was indeed a bush, the shells exploded in the bushes, a beautiful white fireball lit up on the hillside, and the unburnt gunpowder and inflaming agent were arced towards Scattered all around, lit the dry grass on the ground, the flame started to burn, illuminating the nearby bushes and bushes.

What disappointed the British was that the shell did not seem to hit the target they were expecting. The British did not get any results except for a bushlight.

But as the British gunner continued to search for the target in the sight, suddenly a bright flame lit up in his lens. Under the firelight, the gunner faintly saw the object behind the flame. He believed that it was a A tank, although the shell was dyed orange with fire, he was sure it was a tank.

This is the last thought in the British gunner’s mind. One second later, a high-speed armor-piercing projectile hit Mattilda’s body in the front. It penetrated from the position below the driver’s observation window and penetrated easily. The 75mm steel plate shattered the driver's body, and then flew into the bottom of the turret, exploding on the ammunition rack between the gunner's legs.

With a loud noise, Matilda's turret was lifted from the seat ring, resting on the opening of the car body diagonally, and in the gap between the turret and the seat ring, an orange flame screamed out crazy Jetting, the machine gun ammunition of the car bombs began to explode one after another. A forty millimeter warhead rolled and ejected from the turret exit, and a beautiful firework exploded on the lawn. (To be continued...)