Red Moscow

A German Panzer No. 3 tank on the left side of the Bely tank opened fire. Even though it was equipped with only a 37mm cannon, the German tank soldiers in the car felt that they were completely sure to penetrate the opponent's tank by firing at a distance of more than 40 meters. Side armor, and they've had it before.

However, what happened next made the smiles of the German tank soldiers froze. After the armor-piercing shells fired concentrated on the side armor of the Soviet tanks, they turned into ricochets, leaving only a white mark on the armor plate.

The German commander carefully observed the concentrated place through the lookout ahead, and found that there was only a small white pit there. He murmured, "My God, firing at such a close range can't penetrate the side armor of a Russian tank."

Bely, who was sitting in the car, said to his gunner: "First kill the No. 3 tank that fired at us, and then deal with the other German tanks."

After completing the rapid reloading, the gunner opened fire on the German Panzer III. The armor-piercing projectile hit the turret accurately, and a hole was pierced in the middle of the turret instantly. The metal jet formed by the armor-piercing projectile produced a splash effect after penetrating the armor, and splashed around the tank body, killing the tank crew inside one by one. .

Seeing that the tank had stopped moving, Bely commanded the tank to select a new target and continue the attack. Although Bely's tanks were constantly being shot during the attack, the German Panzer III and Panzer IV could cause limited damage. On the contrary, as long as Bely's tank selects a target and fires, it can instantly destroy the enemy's tank.

Aritai on the side was not to be outdone, he commanded his subordinates and successfully destroyed three tanks, thereby narrowing the gap in the number of tanks between the enemy and us.

The German commander saw more than a dozen tanks under his command. Except for destroying one Soviet T-34 tank at the beginning, the rest of the time, although he had a numerical advantage, he couldn't do anything to the remaining two tanks. tank. On the contrary, nine of our own tanks were destroyed.

Thinking of the fifteen tanks he had brought out, and now less than half of the tanks were left, the commander was a little impatient, and he quickly ordered his subordinates through the radio, "Rush up, rush up, stick to the Russian tanks and fire, I don't believe that at a distance of two or three meters, it is impossible to penetrate the armor of Russian tanks."

However, just as the remaining German tanks rushed towards Bely and Alitai's tanks, trying to carry out a personal attack, a No. 4 tank that was moving exploded from the inside. A tank soldier covered in flames climbed out, screamed and jumped down, fell to the snow and rolled desperately, trying to extinguish the flames on his body. However, his efforts were unsuccessful. After rolling for a long time, he finally lay motionless on the ground.

The German commander who commanded at the back saw seven or eight Soviet T-34s approaching in the distance, and knew that it would be a dead end if he continued to fight, so he quickly sent an order to his subordinates: "Retreat, retreat quickly. !"

Tank engagements are different from infantry engagements in that the retreating side will be pursued by the winning side. Seeing that the German tanks began to retreat, the Soviet tanks launched a pursuit, stopping from time to time to fire at the German tanks.

After some contests, among the fifteen tanks that invaded, only the German commander and another No. 4 tank escaped, and the rest were destroyed by Soviet tanks on the edge of the forest.

Seeing the German tanks being repulsed, Bely climbed out of the tanks and inspected them carefully. I don't know if I don't see it, but I was shocked when I saw it. There were fifteen places on the body of the tank that were hit by bullets. It was destroyed fifteen times.

Seeing this, Bie Lei felt lucky. If he and Alitai were not driving the new T-34/85, but the old-fashioned T-34, they would have been destroyed by the German army at this moment. Now that the German tank units have been repulsed, who knows if they will make a comeback again, and he feels the need to report this to Sokov.

When Bely came to Sokov's headquarters, Sokov, who was talking to Vitkov and Lunev, was taken aback. He came to Bely and asked in surprise: "Comrade Colonel, what happened, why do you look so embarrassed?"

Beley raised his hand and wiped his face, not only did not clean his face, but it looked even dirtier. He smiled wryly and said, "When I went out on patrol today, I encountered a German tank."

Hearing what Bely said, Vitkov immediately asked nervously: "How many tanks do the Germans have?"

"15 cars."

"What about us?"

"3 cars."

"What, our three tanks are against fifteen German tanks?" Lunev asked in surprise, "Comrade Colonel, I want to ask, how did you escape?"

"Comrade Military Commissar," Bely replied, "When we encountered German tanks, one T-34/76 was destroyed. Fortunately, the remaining two were T-34/85 tanks, which were tilted at 49 degrees. The 45mm side armor of the horn is equivalent to 100mm, and the enemy's Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks can't hit us at all. And we can easily destroy the enemy's tanks as long as we fire the gun."

Sokov noticed that Lunev was looking at him and knew that he was not familiar with the model of the tank, so he explained to him: "Comrade Military Commissar, the earliest T-34 tanks were equipped with 76mm guns, and the latest tanks The equipment is equipped with 85mm caliber artillery, and the armor has also been strengthened. Therefore, when facing the enemy's Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks, the chances of our tanks' survival have been greatly improved."

After listening to Sokov's explanation, Lunev finally understood what was going on. He nodded and said, "Not only that, you used three tanks against the Germans' fifteen tanks. This is an amazing victory." , I think it should be reported to the superior immediately."

"Comrade Military Commissar, I don't think there is any need to report such a small victory to the superior." Sokov did not quite agree with Lunev's statement, so he said euphemistically: "I think it is better to wait for us to achieve the victory." It is not too late to report to the higher-ups after achieving a greater victory."

Sokov turned to Bely: "Comrade Colonel, do you think we should take any measures recently?"

"Comrade Commander, in order to prevent the enemy from passing through the trail by the forest and launching a sneak attack on our army, I think anti-tank forces should be deployed in that direction."

"Anti-tank forces?" Sokov asked with interest: "Comrade Colonel, what are you going to do?"

"I think in addition to placing a tank company there, we also need to deploy at least two groups of anti-tank fighters." Bely said confidently: "There are them there, and if the enemy tanks want to sneak in like this again, there is no So easy."

"In addition to tanks and anti-tank fighters, I think anti-tank mines should also be placed," interjected Vitkov. "If possible, even anti-tank tripods should be installed."

Regarding Vitkov's proposal, Sokov smiled and shook his head and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, I think Colonel Bely's arrangement is very reasonable. If we really set up minefields there and set up an anti-tank triangle A stand means we have to put our infantry there for defense."

"There is very little time for the enemy to come out from that direction. I don't think it is necessary to deploy infantry for defense." Vitkov insisted on his point of view: "I think it is enough to lay mines and place anti-tank tripods."

"Chief of Staff, that's not okay." Sokov shook his head and said to Witkov: "If we don't deploy infantry nearby for defense in areas where mines or obstacles are laid, then the Germans can send their engineers. Take your time and get out the mines we planted, remove the tripods that are in the way, and open a path for their tanks to pass."

"Comrade Commander makes sense." Lunev agreed with Sokov's statement: "I think that after tanks and anti-tank fighters are deployed there, there is no need to lay mines or place anti-tank fighters." Tank tripods. Because these things hinder the enemy's advance, but also cause inconvenience to our actions."

"Comrade Military Comrade is right." Bely echoed, "If minefields are set up, it will limit our range of activities. In this way, our defense will become a passive defense."

"Okay." Seeing his own opinion, he was opposed by everyone. While feeling disappointed, Vitkov could only choose to compromise: "Then I will arrange two groups of anti-tank fighters there to be on duty day and night." Turning to Bely, he said, "Comrade Colonel, you will be responsible for how many tanks are placed there."

After Bely left, Lunev asked Sokov: "Comrade commander, tell me, will the Germans bypass our army's defense line by that secret road and rush directly to the headquarters? "

"Comrade Military Commissar," King Sokov Kholunev said, "There is such a possibility. The Germans found that attacking from the front is not easy to succeed, so they will definitely choose other ways to try to bypass our army's defense line and sneak attack on us." behind."

Knowing that there might be an attack by the German army, Lunev was terrified. He quickly said to Sokov: "Comrade commander, do you think we should strengthen the defense work near the division headquarters?"

"It stands to reason that it is understandable to deploy troops to strengthen the defense of the headquarters. But the current situation is confusing, and it is unknown how long we will stay here." Ding Rong explained to Lunev: "If we spend a lot of Manpower and material resources have been used to build fortifications near the headquarters. But if they are useless, they must be transferred to other places. Isn’t this a waste? I have no right to let my soldiers and residents of the city do such useless work. "

…………

Just as Sokov and the members of the Army Group Headquarters were discussing whether to deploy the necessary defensive measures near the headquarters, Hausser received a call from Etling, the commander of the 17th Armored Division: "Your Excellency, I have I have some bad news for you. I sent a fast column of 15 tanks to try to get around the Russian lines from the forest. Unfortunately, when they came out of the forest, they met the Russian tanks. Encountered."

"How many tanks do the Russians have?"

"3 cars."

"3?" After hearing the number of Soviet tanks, Hausser showed a smug smile on his face: "Our army has 15 tanks, while the Russians only have 3, which is equivalent to five tanks against one of them. But that's really weird."

"Your Excellency, we lost." Etling said timidly: "And after some fighting, only two tanks escaped back, and the rest were destroyed by the Russians."

"What?" Hearing this news, Hausser couldn't help being taken aback: "What are you talking about, we had 15 tanks against the Russians' 3 tanks, and only two escaped back. What's going on?"

Etling quickly explained: "Your Excellency, we dispatched the No. 3 and No. 4 tanks. During the battle, our heroic tank crew successfully destroyed a T-34 tank, but the remaining two tanks were not only You can't destroy it. I think the Russians must have introduced a new tank."

Knowing that the Soviet army might have introduced new tanks, Hausser's expression became serious, and he asked cautiously, "General Etling, do you know what kind of tanks the Russians use?"

"Listen to my subordinates," Etling replied: "From the outside, it looks similar to the original T-34 tank. At that time, the caliber of the artillery became larger. I guess it is an improved version of the T-34 tank. Due to our The Panzer III and Panzer IV, equipped with 37mm and 57mm enemy guns, had a hard time penetrating the armor of the Russian tanks, while they could destroy our tanks with just one shot."

"Then is there any way to deal with them?"

Knowing that the new Soviet tanks are so powerful, Hausser seemed a little flustered.

"Don't we have Tiger tanks?" Etling replied, "I think with Tiger tanks, it is possible to destroy Russian tanks at a long distance."

"Okay, General," Hausser replied, "I will immediately report this to Marshal Manstein and ask him to send Tiger tanks to your division to deal with the new Russian tanks."

After explaining the call with Etling, Hausser did not call Manstein. Instead, he called Simon, the acting commander of the Skeleton Division: "Mr. Colonel, now I have a task for you."

"General Hausser," Colonel Simon asked respectfully upon hearing Hausser's words, "I wonder what mission you plan to assign us?"

"General Etling's 17th Armored Division's tentative attack on the Red Army Village has ended in failure. I now order you to immediately send a small team to the Red Army Village for reconnaissance and find out the Russians' defense situation as soon as possible. .”

"Understood, General Hausser, I will arrange it immediately."