USSR 1941

The battlefield gradually fell silent, and the gunpowder smoke gradually dissipated, leaving only a few ignited tanks on the bridge still blazing, which looked very dazzling in the dark night.

"How's the situation?" Major Gavrilov asked nervously.

"I don't know, Comrade Gavrilov!" Major Zakhakovic put away the binoculars and replied: "They do look destroyed!"

This sentence has two meanings:

One is very similar to the camouflage of Soviet tanks.

The other is that these lurking tanks seem to have really been destroyed.

In fact, there is indeed such a situation. A tank that was originally performing a latent mission rushed forward in the chaos and was destroyed by an anti-tank gun... Destroyed by an anti-tank gun, which meant that the forward rushed into a range of 100 meters.

This can be said to be a success, but the price paid is also very heavy: nine tanks of the Soviet army were destroyed on the bridge deck. You must know that these are T34s, which are in short supply by the Soviet army and can walk sideways in front of the German armored forces. . (Note: "walking sideways" here is just a description)

After hesitating for a while, Major Zakhakovic poked his head out and raised his binoculars to observe for a while, then retracted his head and said, "The good news is that the wreckage of the tank did not block the bridge deck, which means the road is clear!"

"Then, it's time to act!" Major Gavrilov.

Major Zahakavic nodded, and said to the signal soldier beside him: "Notify the second battalion, attack!"

"attack!"

At one command, the 2nd Tank Battalion at the "No. 2" bridge launched an attack, and the battle broke out again.

Colonel Fein on the other side of the river contacted the armored train command immediately.

"Another bridge has been attacked, what are you waiting for?"

"Colonel!" Major Michael felt something was wrong: "Why don't they attack both bridges at the same time? This will make it difficult for us to take care of both ends..."

This may be a loophole in Shulka's plan or a doubtful point.

But Colonel Fein didn't suspect anything, he shouted on the phone: "How can I know what those Ivans are thinking? Maybe you should use the cannon on the armored train to ask!"

Without any choice,

Major Michael ordered the armored train to move to another bridge.

A few minutes later, a skeptical Major Michael was watching another position through the periscope in the armored train.

Looking at it, Major Michael is even more strange... The group of enemy tanks in front of him seems to be in no rush to attack. Up to now, only two tanks have driven on the bridge, and the distance between them is still wide.

"Major, the 'No. 7' compartment is ready!"

The "Number 7" car is the anti-aircraft gun platform, and this is the gunner reporting to Major Michael, that is, ready to fire at any time.

"Fire!" Major Michael ordered.

"Boom!" Two cannons sounded, and the tank driving at the front was destroyed.

The anti-aircraft guns were facing the bridge deck, they were long and straight, and two guns hit one target, so it was not difficult to hit.

But Major Michael soon realized that he had been fooled, because at this moment, there was a strange howl sounded from the other side. He turned his periscope to the direction of the sound and saw bright lines streaking across the darkness. From the north bank of the Volga to the south bank.

Major Michael immediately dropped the periscope in his hand, grabbed the microphone, and shouted: "Quick, go back right away!"

But it was too late to wake up...

"Bridge No. 1".

In the unique whistling sound of the "Katyusha" rocket launcher, the dense rockets jumped over the lurking troops and smashed hard on the enemy's bridgehead defense line. The entire bridgehead defense line was instantly enveloped in a cloud of flames and thick smoke, like a The volcano erupted, like a petrol barrel on fire, and some rockets hit the bridge, causing waves of vibrations.

Then, three red flares rose into the air, and the sound of the tank's motor rumbled.

If the German army could see this scene, they would definitely be surprised... Those tanks with "bullet holes" and even black smoke started to move one by one, and those soldiers with blood on their faces also got up from the ground. It's an army from hell.

But the Germans couldn't see this scene, because in front of them was a wall of fire blasted by rockets, and the wall of fire, that is, their bridgehead defense line, was blown to pieces in an instant and there was no trace of it.

After more than ten seconds, the bombing finally stopped, but the lingering sound of the explosion was still "booming" in the ears of the German soldiers.

Colonel Fein jumped out of the trench and waved at the German soldiers, shouting something, but the German soldiers could not hear anything... The violent explosion made them temporarily deaf.

Colonel Finn was no exception, but he knew what was going on.

Although he still doesn't know what tricks the enemy is playing at this time, he knows that there is a gap in the defense of the bridgehead at this time... The armored train was transferred away, and the defense line of the bridgehead was blown up. Of course, he has combat experience and knows that he must make up for it as soon as possible. the gap.

Fortunately, the quality of the German army is excellent. They reacted quickly and charged forward with weapons and anti-tank guns. They almost spontaneously organized another line of defense, because quite a few people did not hear Colonel Fein's order. .

But they are still too late.

A huge figure suddenly appeared in the darkness and thick smoke, and the German soldier who had just recovered a little hearing immediately heard the "rumbling" sound again, but it was not the sound of cannons but the sound of tank motors.

"T34, it's T34!" Colonel Fein looked in surprise at the tanks that ran over the bridge defense line before the Germans, and he opened his mouth for a long time without understanding what was going on.

"How do they do it?"

"How was it possible to drive across the Volga Bridge in such a short time?"

...

These questions are lingering in Colonel Finn's mind, and he can't do anything except think about these questions. He can only watch those tanks shoot bullets, knocking down the German soldiers rushing forward. on the ground.

Then, when Colonel Fein saw a "bullet hole" in the tank's armor in the light of the flare, he suddenly understood: these tanks, and the Russian soldiers who followed them, had never left The Volga Bridge, they were right under their noses, while they diverted the armored train in the other direction.

Watching my subordinates fall in pieces under the firepower of enemy tanks and machine guns, watching more and more tanks and enemies rushing up in the dark, watching the enemy's follow-up troops on the other side of the river also launch an attack...

Colonel Finn suddenly felt hopeless.

In the next second, he raised the pistol to his temple and pulled the trigger.