Two Hundred and Ninety Nine End

Suddenly, a strange sound came from the sky overhead, a shell hit the wreckage of a destroyed French tank that had already been smoking thickly, and a piece of iron filings was splashed; A cannonball hit a big tree next to the father, blowing away countless branches in an instant; only about two seconds later, the densely packed ammunition poured one after another on the heads of the French troops piled up in the pass. On the ground, the sound of explosions continued one after another.

After some adjustments, various news and intelligence showed that the French army had indeed launched a large-scale attack at Xiaogong Pass, so the German army soon mobilized the most powerful weapon in their hands, the division of the 9th Motorized Infantry Division The Friedrich rockets covered the pass with intensive artillery fire.

Looking at the explosive fireballs one after another on the pass, listening to the explosion that seemed to hit the heart, de Gaulle couldn't say a word. He couldn't understand why his well-planned counterattack couldn't even take down a small pass. He couldn't understand how the opponent could mobilize such intensive artillery fire so quickly.

"General, listen to the artillery fire. The opponent has at least one regiment of large-caliber artillery. Otherwise, let the direct artillery fire?" The staff officer looked at the somewhat confused Charles de Gaulle, and suggested in a low voice, "Shall we also shell a round of German positions?"

"It's useless, there is no way to take it here." De Gaulle said dejectedly: "It won't be long before the German planes from the front-line airport will arrive. Our armored forces are so densely piled up here, it is no different from suicide .”

He waved his hand and said, "Contact the air force and cover our retreat as much as possible. All the troops will disperse and retreat, move in companies, and regroup after going 50 kilometers south."

Yes, there is no need to attack forcefully. Just as de Gaulle expected, five Stukas arrived late in a short while-after all, because of the advancing speed of the German army, the field airport had not yet been built. They took off from a farther place, so the speed is slower than that of the division rocket artillery unit.

The French army retreated, and the French 10th Armored Army, which had suffered huge losses, was bombarded by Stuka biting its tail after being covered and attacked by Friedrich rockets. A total of 49 tanks and more than a dozen armored vehicles were lost for equipment that was abandoned due to failures such as breakdowns. This accounted for almost one-fifth of all the power in de Gaulle's hands.

You must know that one of his main tasks is to prevent Guderian's 1st Armored Army from going south, so most of the troops cannot be drawn out to participate in the attack, so his failure this time basically means losing the ability to attack.

Ren sat on his tank, holding his gun and looking into the distance in a daze. On the side of the tank, a small pergola was improvised with a dusty white sheet. Andre was lying on a door panel, and the medics of the infantry company were simply bandaging him. There are still steaming bomb craters everywhere, and the intuitive impression left by the power of the Friedrich rocket launcher is overwhelming.

Bruce sat on the ground,

He lowered his head listlessly, being complained by Bowman. The rotten life of being a hero in Berlin made Bruce, a drunkard and pervert, hollow out his body. That's why he was out of breath just now when he loaded up stronger in the battle.

The two assault guns that came later had already driven out of the pass, and set up a security position on the periphery, and then truck after truck of infantry passed here, jumping off the truck at the side of the bomb crater temporarily filled with stones and broken bricks , removed the anti-tank guns, and established a more solid defense.

The grenadier company commander who stood here together came over and took a closer look at the No. 113 tank, which was like a god. The barrel was painted with white circles representing its previous exploits, but apart from the cannon the tank was virtually indistinguishable from the wreck.

The track on the right side has fallen off, and the guide wheel on the same side has also been broken into several pieces scattered not far away. The shell pierced the tank's side armor from here and hit the tank's electromechanical crew. Of course, the tank is also full of bullet marks in other places, and more than half of the plate skirts hanging on the sides have been blown away, leaving only a few pieces hanging on it, which are almost the same as sieves.

The entire turret was hit several times, and the hanging basket at the tail of the turret was destroyed. The original things on it have long since disappeared. The only thing that is still intact is the white one that has been used as the roof of the medical room. sheet.

A tank is neither big nor small, but on such a tank, even the exhaust pipe that was less than one-twentieth the size was blown away, and even the tank that was less than the size of a fist The headlights were all hit, so it's not hard to imagine how dense the tank was under attack.

The company commander of the grenadier leaned on the fender of Rennes's tank, handed the cigarette case to Rennes, and Rennes, who never smoked, took out one, held it in his mouth and borrowed it from the commander's hand. He lit the lighter, took a deep breath, but coughed from choking.

The company commander of the Grenadier was obviously taken aback, and then laughed: "Smoking for the first time?"

"Cough cough. Yes, it's my first time smoking." Ren nodded, held the cigarette between his fingers unskillfully, exhaled the smoke and said, "How are you doing?"

"More than 60 people died, almost half." The company commander sighed desolately, and with a bit of pride, he said in a cynical tone: "At first we wanted to retreat, but seeing that you were still fighting, we didn't Let's go. The soldiers under my command are more or less shameless, and they haven't left their comrades in the habit of running on their own."

"You are all good soldiers, and so is Clark." Ren took another puff of the cigarette, choked up tears again, but still swallowed stubbornly: "This cigarette is really spicy, and it hurts your throat even after taking a puff. .”

"Tobacco from a small German factory, the shredded tobacco is not handled carefully, and even the filter tip is cut corners, which naturally chokes people." The company commander smiled, touched the outer packaging of half a pack of cigarettes with his fingers, and looked up at the car that had been completely scrapped The tank: "We got an order to withdraw to Stone to rest in half an hour and wait for replenishment. What about you? When will you withdraw?"

"I don't know either. I'm waiting for my troops. I don't know when they will arrive. My radio is broken..." Speaking of which, he thought of the soldier with round eyes again.

When they met for the first time, Company Commander Carter pointed to this person and introduced: "This is Private First Class Clark, he is the electromechanical officer, and of course he is in charge of your front machine gun."

Ryan remembered that he was different from others at that time, and he immediately stood at attention and returned the salute, which looked very standard. Carter also added a sentence of praise for him: "He is the most normal soldier in this dormitory! The technical level is quite excellent."

It's just that now, neither Captain Carter who led Ryan into the small dormitory, nor Clark, whom Carter described as the most normal soldier, are gone. They just became a memory, and if the entire company or even the entire battalion disappeared, who would prove that they existed?

"If you are not afraid of trouble, I can help you notify the regiment headquarters, and then let the infantry over there tell your men to come over." The grenadier company commander was very enthusiastic to help while smoking a cigarette.

The army is a very strange place. People here are cold-blooded enough to kill and fight without blinking an eye; people here are indifferent enough that veterans usually don’t remember the names of new recruits; people here are loyal enough , for a soldier, honor and friendship can even outweigh life.

Although they are indifferent and cold-blooded, they worship the strong from the bottom of their hearts. When they recognize the person they admire, they will not change easily throughout their lives. What is even more puzzling is that this sentiment has continued from the time of Caesar in Rome to the present, and it has not changed at all. So it is not difficult for you to understand why some soldiers can't even borrow a cigarette, and some soldiers borrow a truck and are delivered with a smile.

Ren smiled and shook his head, then took another puff of the cigarette, still coughing non-stop: "Ahem, no need, they should already be here...

up. "

Yes, the infantry has caught up, the defense line has been reinforced, and one anti-tank gun after another has reinforced the porous defense line, making the defense line in the area south of Stone impenetrable, and it will never happen again. This kind of battle for the pass is as fierce as the battle.

"It's my honor to be able to fight side by side with you." As an old smoker, the speed of smoking is obviously much faster than that of Rennes. The grenadier company commander threw the cigarette butt he was holding into the soil, crushed it out with his leather boots, and exhaled the last puff of smoke and said, "You are welcome to come to the 1st company anytime as a guest. What's next? What are your plans?"

"Kill the French until they realize how miserable it is to be my enemy." Ren looked at the cigarette burning between his fingers, smiled softly and said, "Next time, I will kill 20 tanks unscathed !"

"Hahahaha! Take care!" The grenadier company commander was taken aback for a moment, then laughed loudly, before continuing: "I hope to see you again."

Then the grenadier company commander turned around and left, and Ryan also took the last cigarette, threw the cigarette butt aside, and shouted to the frustrated Bruce and Bowman: "Come and help, take the still usable Move things out."

So I climbed into the tank and started working, and moved the remaining shells out of the tank one by one, and piled them aside to form a trapezoid. Then there are the drums for the machine gun, the toolbox in the corner, and the small mirror and the coaxial machine gun. Of course with a leather hose and empty gasoline cans, they also scraped the tanks.

After they moved all these things out, Marcus rushed over with two other tanks, divided the ammunition and fuel, put Andre on a tank, and then the others sat in a tank. After detonating the No. 113 Leopard tank that was no different from being scrapped, they were ordered to return to Stone.