USSR 1941

Captain Walter made the right choice, or the right choice in his circumstances.

But the battlefield is often like this. If you miss it once, you can never make up for it, no matter whether the decisions and judgments made after that are correct.

Just when Captain Walter commanded the two tanks to retreat... Reversing is much more difficult than advancing, because the driver cannot observe the rear, and the commander must poke his head out while observing and commanding.

Then, Captain Walter saw figures everywhere in the direction of the bridgehead, and at the same time gunshots and explosions rang out.

At this time, Captain Walter was once again in an embarrassing situation.

If the infantry at the bridgehead can't make it to the tanks, then the tanks falling back is equivalent to throwing themselves into a trap.

But Captain Walter couldn't just give up on the mission.

This was not because of the order. Captain Walter believed that in this case, even if he refused to carry out the order, he would not be held accountable. After all, he was in command of the "Number Six" tank.

The problem is that this is desertion, because of fear of possible danger, abandoning one's own friendly forces and fleeing, which insults the honor of an imperial soldier.

Thus, Captain Walter decided to continue the retreat.

He picked up the walkie-talkie and tried to contact the infantry, but there was no voice from Captain Weiss.

"I think we should retreat, Captain!" The commander of No. 7 Car and Captain Walter's subordinate suggested: "They are finished!"

"No!" Captain Weiss replied, "Did you hear the gunfire? The position is still in our hands!"

"But we can't fight!" The commander of No. 7 car said: "Our turret can't even rotate!"

What the commander said was right, because the steel girders of the railway bridge blocked the tanks, so the tanks could only keep their turrets forward... In other words, they didn't even have basic combat effectiveness.

Looking ahead with the binoculars, Walter found a turning point in the light of the flares.

"See the gap ahead?" Walter asked.

"What gap?"

"Steel girders blown apart by shells!" Walter replied: "We can rotate the turret there!"

"yes,

Captain! "The captain replied:" Very good idea! "

Really good idea, as it would at least allow tank guns and side-by-side machine guns to work.

It could be heard, however, that the commander didn't like the idea.

This is not because this idea is bad, but because this idea allows the two "Tigers" to fight together, that is, it is possible to reinforce the bridgehead and even help the German army stabilize the bridgehead position, so the commander can no longer find a "retreat". excuse.

"Speed ​​up!" Captain Walter ordered.

There is no great technical difficulty in reversing the tank, because the railway bridge is straight, as long as the direction is stable, there will generally be no major problems.

The problem is that tank crews always have a worry, what if something goes wrong? At that time, the tanks will be stuck here and unable to move, but the order from their superiors is that they must fight until the last moment, that is, they have almost no choice but to wait to die.

"Flare!" Captain Walter ordered.

With two sounds of "Teng Teng", two flares were shot out from the launching device on the tank, and the bright light instantly illuminated the entire bridgehead.

The scene that appeared surprised Walter and the commander of the No. 7 car, because the Soviet army had already started hand-to-hand combat with the German soldiers, and people in different uniforms were wrestling together everywhere.

To be exact, there were many others in the same uniform who were struggling together, and they didn't separate until the flares rose into the air.

"Captain!" The captain of No. 7 car yelled through the walkie-talkie: "We can't help them, please retreat! Please retreat!"

This request is understandable, because both the enemy and the enemy have reached the point of hand-to-hand combat, which means that the tank's artillery and machine guns cannot function, just like the previous tank turrets that cannot be turned around.

But Captain Walter refused without thinking: "If you want to retreat, then you can retreat!"

The driver of No. 7 car couldn't help being speechless for a while, Walter's No. 6 car blocked behind him, which meant that he couldn't withdraw if Walter didn't withdraw.

"Why, Captain?" asked the captain of No. 7 car, "I want to know the reason!"

"Because of the railway bridge, Hann!" Walter replied, "We don't need to capture the bridge head, we just need to control the railway bridge with firepower! But if we leave like this, the enemy will occupy the bridge head and blow it up!"

"But it doesn't matter if we stay here!" Hann said: "They will still do it, the difference is that they blow up with us!"

"Delay time!" Walter ordered: "Eliminate anyone who is close to the railway bridge, and hold on until the reinforcements arrive, understand?"

"Yes, Captain!" Although Hann did not support this, there was no other way to go at this time.

It should be said that Walter's series of judgments are correct, and this is the best choice in terms of the current situation.

First of all, the bridgehead position is very important. There is no doubt about this. The German army in the north relies on this railway line for supplies.

Therefore, Walter believes that there will definitely be reinforcements to reinforce the bridgehead, and reinforcements may even be on the way.

Secondly, the railway bridge is very narrow and flat, and the tank's machine guns and artillery can prevent anyone from approaching the railway bridge, which means that the enemy cannot bomb the bridge, at least until the ammunition is exhausted.

Again, when reinforcements arrive, tanks can flank the enemy and take back the bridgehead.

Out of this consideration, Captain Walter looked at the distance, and ordered Han En through the walkie-talkie: "Stop, we will stay here! Get ready to fight! Pay attention, to destroy any enemies who try to approach! "

Walter was very smart. The position where the tank stopped was 100 meters from the bridge head, which was the furthest range of the Soviet bazooka.

In fact, the rockets on the railway bridge can hardly hit the target more than a hundred meters away, even though the target is a huge tank.

The reason is that there is wind on the railway bridge, and it is not small.

The farthest range of 100 meters for rockets can only be achieved in a windless room. At the same time, the wind deflection rate of this thing is still very high. In addition, the wind force and direction are irregular. Launching in this environment will be like Doing irregular curved movements like kicking feet.

This is not what a sharpshooter or experience can make up for. If you want to hit it, you must either shorten the distance or have good luck.

So the problem quickly turned to the side of the Soviet army.

In particular, the two tanks were placed one behind the other on the railway bridge. It can be said that one man is in charge of the other. A few soldiers from the Soviet Naval Infantry Battalion charged up with rocket launchers and grenades, and were shot by the Germans with just one shuttle. The tank fell in a pool of blood.