The decisive battle against the Third Reich

In order to boost morale, Pavelkin kept shouting in the walkie-talkie: "Keep the formation, keep calm! Comrade Stalin is watching us, the Soviet people are watching us, they will give us courage, once you see the enemy... don't be soft-hearted, think about what these invaders have done on our land, we have enough reason to wipe them all out..." In fact, there is another reason why Pavelkin kept shouting like this, that is, to vent his inner fear. This is actually not surprising, nor shameful, because as long as you are a person, you have enough reason to be afraid in this situation... The sky is full of enemy fighters and bombers, whether it is machine guns or bombs falling from the sky, these things coming from the top can easily penetrate the armor of the tank and then beat the people inside into a bloody mess. However, Major General Pavelkin cannot be afraid, not only because he is a Soviet soldier, but also because he is a major general, a model who has won the Medal of Defense of Moscow, and he cannot show the slightest cowardice in front of his subordinates. The German defense line was getting closer and closer. Through the observation hole of the tank, Major General Pavelkin could even see the Germans running in the trench.

Pavelkin couldn't help but give another order: "Slow down when you are 300 meters away and wait for the infantry to catch up!"

This order was of course correct, because tanks needed infantry cover, especially since the Germans still had rocket launchers with a range of 160 meters.

However, at this moment, the tank suddenly slowed down.

"What's going on?" Major General Pavelkin asked: "I'm not talking about now!"

"I don't know, Comrade Pavelkin!" The driver replied: "I didn't slow down, but I don't know why the tank slowed down! It's like... it was tripped by something!"

"You fool!" Pavelkin cursed loudly: "What can trip up the tank? Speed ​​up for me!"

"I've already accelerated!" The driver replied innocently.

At this time, a report from his subordinates suddenly came from the walkie-talkie: "Enemy tanks on the left!"

"Enemy tanks on the right!"

"Comrade Pavelkin, we are surrounded!"

...

Pavelkin was shocked when he heard this. He no longer cared about the danger. He opened the hatch and stuck his head out to observe with a telescope. Sure enough, he saw enemy tanks one kilometer away on both sides of the tank.

"The enemy is still far away from us!" Pavelkin shouted: "Speed ​​up, we can break through the defense line before them, and then we can enter Stalingrad..."

Pavelkin's plan was correct, because their main purpose of this battle was to get in touch with Stalingrad.

Now in this situation of being ambushed by the German army, it is obviously impossible to split the German army in two, and it is impossible to retreat... Let's not talk about whether he can retreat back, Order No. 227 does not allow him to do so.

So rushing to Stalingrad is the best choice. After all, this is not considered running away, and it can even be described as bravely breaking through the enemy's defense line to reinforce Stalingrad.

However, his hope was soon dashed, because the tank engines roared but the speed could not be increased. It was not until a tank stopped and the crew jumped out to check that they found that the wheat field was full of water.

Obviously, the water was a trick played by the Germans.

It must be said that this trick was very clever, because the front half of the wheat field was not soaked in water, so the Soviet army did not notice anything unusual, and the back half was soaked in water but covered by wheat straw, so it could not be seen.

If the infantry followed closely behind the tank, the infantry might be able to find it, because the tank tracks would bring up a series of water splashes, but the problem was that the tank was driven by the fighter plane to speed up...

What's more serious is that only middle and senior officers in the Soviet tank unit have two-way communication walkie-talkies, and ordinary tanks have only one antenna, which means that they can only passively receive information but not send information.

Therefore, even if some tanks found problems or were stuck in the paddy field, they could not warn other tanks, and could only watch those tanks continue to move into the paddy field.

Until Pavelkin's tank got stuck in the paddy field and couldn't move.

After discovering the reason, Pavelkin was horrified and immediately ordered: "All tanks, divide into two teams to fight on the spot!"

It should be said that all the orders issued by Pavelkin were appropriate.

Because in this situation of being stuck in the paddy field, it is impossible to retreat or advance, so the best way is to turn around and fight on the left and right, so that the front armor of the T34 can still fight the enemy tank troops for a while.

But it was too late to realize this at this time.

The water in the wheat field is the water in the irrigation ditch, which has been soaked in the wheat field for several hours.

The mud in the wheat field has a characteristic, that is, it is very dry and hard when there is no water, and once it is soaked in water, it will soon become soft and sticky.

Of course, because they have not been soaked in water for a long time, they are not so soft that they will immediately trap the tank.

But if the tank turns, it will be different... The tank turns with one track fixed and the other track rotating, so the side with the fixed track will form a spiral to dig deep down.

So, it would have been fine if the tanks didn't turn, but once they turned, they were stuck in place and unable to move.

What's worse is that the Soviet driver, eager to escape, will naturally activate the tracks on both sides. As a result, the side that is trapped will sink deeper and deeper. The entire center of gravity will tilt to one side, and the tank body will also tilt to one side. .

The result of this is that...the tank guns of the Soviet tanks cannot aim at the target at all, and they can only watch the German tanks gradually approaching from the left and right wings.

It was the 21st Armored Division approaching from both wings.

The 21st Armored Division did not go to rescue Yeltsovka at all, but circled back and hid shortly after leaving the state farm.

Needless to say, the method of hiding is to dig a hole that a tank can drive into, just like in the desert, and then cover it with branches and the like.

As for the tanks that reinforce Yerzovka, they are tanks from the German infantry division and motorized infantry division in the Kotluban area, as well as tanks that were put in Kotluban for repair due to malfunctions... Put together, there are only There were more than thirty vehicles, but they still frightened the Soviets.

Looking at the staggering Soviet tanks trapped in the paddy field in front of him through the telescope, General Strike ordered with high spirits: "Gentlemen, the season of abundance is here. Who said that only wheat and vegetables can grow on the farm?" ?”

The German officers couldn't help laughing.