Steel Soviet Union

"Go to hell, na"

boom--

The huge explosion of ammunition and the flames that soared into the sky lifted the head of the No. 3 tank directly into the sky like a bottle of champagne. After a moment of shock, I was convinced that Iushkin, who had not yet stepped on the pedal, had entered his brain. Short circuit blinding state.

How could this German tank explode on its own without any problems?

Without asking himself, Iushkin found a reasonably possible outcome. A mass-produced KV1 heavy tank with an ordinary shape then smashed through a small wooden house and ran over the debris, followed by a third Soviet heavy tank. The way the tank entered the battlefield, the lingering smoke from the muzzle hinted that the shot just now was caused by this ordinary KV1 heavy tank.

Malashenko, who also did not feel the force of the vehicle body at the moment of firing, also realized the problem, but the scene he saw from the commander's periscope immediately afterward made Malashenko freeze as if struck by lightning. on the spot.

"Damn it! Nikolai! I asked you to follow the large army to the end of the village and take the Germans' retreat. Why did you enter the village!?"

The commander of this heavy tank with turret number 133 is none other than Nikolai, the former electromechanical operator and hull heading machine gunner who was just transferred from Malashenko's crew.

Due to the major changes in the shape of the body and chassis of the IS1 heavy tank, only one driving position is reserved for the driver at the front end of the body, and the electromechanical position has been eliminated.

Nikolai, an electromechanical worker who was forced to be "laid off" due to this problem, was sad for a long time, so much so that Malashenko, out of helplessness and empathy, drank seven or eight bottles of vodka with Nikolai. , and after several hours of good words, I finally managed to persuade this young electromechanical worker, who was several months younger than Malashenko.

Nikolai, who separated from the glorious and legendary No. 177 crew and has been following Malashenko in the war for almost a year, has already seen and heard too many of Malashenko's command skills. Even now, No matter how stupid he is, he has basically learned what a tank commander should and shouldn't do. Even if Nikolai is an infantry machine gunner, he is still qualified to become a qualified tank commander.

With almost no objections from anyone, Malashenko took it upon himself to promote Nikolai's rank to second lieutenant, and assigned a newly arrived KV1 heavy tank to Nikolai's command.

However, considering that Nikolai was promoted quickly from electromechanical officer to tank commander, to be on the safe side Malashenko did not assign Nikolai to command other subordinate tanks, but just let Nikolai try it out. He wanted to command a tank to prove himself and become familiar with the process. The only thing he didn't expect was that Nikolai was so brave that he disobeyed Malashenko's order in the first battle.

"I heard a lot of gunfire in the village, Comrade Commander, so I came over with the tank!"

Nikolai, who couldn't even tell a lie, blurted out what was on his mind straightforwardly and straightforwardly. Malashenko, who was left helpless in this situation, even felt a little temperless when he got angry. This person who has been following him all the time The electromechanical personnel under his command still refer to themselves as "comrade commander" even when they become vehicle commanders.

"Concentrate your firepower to destroy those German tanks, attack the ones that can move first! Then take care of those rabbit-like Germans! Let me see what you have learned, Nikolai!"

"Yes, Comrade Commander!"

The slaughter of the two steel behemoths has now turned into three bears traveling together. The turrets are all painted with the Guards logo and the bear-biting Iron Cross symbol. This is a common feature of the three tanks. They are never stingy in showing themselves. Malashenko, who is a member of the glorious Guards, is convinced that doing so will scare the Germans even more.

The German armored soldiers who were swept into a hornet's nest and fell to the ground in the mud would never have the chance to stand up again, but those living German armored soldiers completely remembered the red and white bear-headed figure with the Iron Cross in his mouth. logo.

In the next few decades, this logo will always hang over the heads of the NATO armored forces that are separated from East Germany by just one wall. It will appear in turn on the constantly updated T54, T62, T64, and T80 main battle tanks like a nightmare. All the frightened NATO armored soldiers shouted out in their nightmares was the name of the 1st Guards Tank Corps.

But no matter what, the firepower that three tanks can exert is still too limited.

As time continued to pass amid explosions and flames, more and more German tanks began to launch and fight back against Malashenko and his party. Realizing that if this continued, three of our own tanks were likely to be dumped by Malashenko. Coe began to order a retreat.

"Back off! Nikolai, Lavry! Back off to join the other regiment tanks and then take advantage of these Germans!"

Convinced that the Germans had no reason not to pursue them, Malashenko led the two tanks and began to retreat at full speed. The sound of explosions and firefights not far behind indicated that the remaining regimental tanks should have been fired by German anti-tank guns. He was entangled with the infantry, otherwise according to the original order, there was no reason why the tanks directly under the regiment headquarters had not arrived to support him until now.

The facts were exactly as Malashenko had guessed. Almost all of the remaining anti-tank guns of the German army were deployed along both sides of the main road in the village, stalling the pace of the remaining regimental tanks.

These regiment tanks, led by a captain named Valolev, were trying their best to break through the blockade. However, those German anti-tank guns not only had 37 stepping stones and 50 small water pipes, but also the latest Four Pak40 75mm anti-tank guns were also deployed. It was these four 75mm anti-tank guns deployed in crossfire that destroyed a regimental prototype tank.

The huge steel corpse after the armor was penetrated and the vehicle was abandoned lay in the middle of the village's main road, which was not spacious. It made it difficult for the following tanks that were blocked to make any substantial progress and were extremely anxious.

But what is certain is that the good times of these German infantry and anti-tank guns are over.

The three heavy tanks, which had fought their way back from the center of the village in the direction where the gunfire came from, smashed and crushed all obstacles along the way like a mad bull rushing into a glass shop.

A battery of Pak40 75mm anti-tank guns that was hiding in a wooden house and firing continuously felt the ground beneath their feet shaking violently like an earthquake.

Before the frightened German anti-tank gun crews could turn around, a Soviet heavy tank with the white number 177 painted on the armor on the front of the vehicle crashed through the wooden house and rushed in. The German soldiers, whose eyes were bigger than cow eggs and had expressions of shock and fear on their faces, together with the anti-tank gun, crushed them into a plate of iron-clad human meat slices that had just come out of the pot.