Four Hundred and Thirty We Have Our Own Pride

If you ask the German army which unit is the most fascinating, some people may say that it is the armored unit that strikes with a heavy hammer; snipers.

Even if someone thought of the unknown infantry and artillery, they would never have imagined that in the German infantry division, there was such a group of people who used their obscurity to support the sky of the German infantry.

Unlike other countries that have a large number of infantry tanks scattered among the infantry units, German tanks from No. 3 to Leopard to Tiger are all tailor-made for the concentrated use of armored units. These tanks have never been assigned to infantry units. Because the German commanders thought it was a waste to do so.

Therefore, Germany's ordinary infantry units have always been World War I-level infantry lacking armored cover. All they can rely on is the gun in the palm of their hand. What changed this situation was the armored self-propelled artillery unit directly under the infantry division.

In the process of developing the No. 3 tank, Germany encountered the technical problem of lightweight artillery. Around 193, there was no way to install the short-barreled 75mm caliber cannon that Akado liked on the No. 3 tank, and the No. 3 tank with a turret The tank weight standard cannot meet the weight requirements for German tanks in the Anglo-German "New Versailles Peace Treaty".

So the No. 3 assault gun came into being. Because this armored self-propelled artillery has no turret and does not need to shoot from the side, it can withstand greater artillery recoil. It has a low profile and is equipped with the largest caliber 75mm tank gun in the world at that time, which is fully capable of supporting infantry operations. "Forward Support Artillery" role. This new type of tank improved by the cheap No. 3 tank without a turret was named the No. 3 assault gun by Yuan. In fact, it is also the first "tank" equipped on a large scale in the era of the National Defense Forces, replacing the No. 2 tank and becoming the backbone of the National Defense Forces armored forces.

It's just that with the service of the No. 3 tank, this cheap assault gun without a turret was gradually eliminated by the armored forces, but who would have thought that the Leopard tank would become the new favorite of the German armored forces, and the output of the No. 3 tank gradually declined, even approaching Production was discontinued, but the older No. 3 assault gun was replaced by vitality in the infantry unit.

Facts have proved that this assault gun can fully meet the task of covering infantry and providing close artillery support. As time went on, this old-fashioned equipment with low profile and strong firepower became the favorite weapon of infantry commanders because of its cheapness, rapid production technology, mature technology, reliability and durability.

Of course, the original 75mm caliber short-barreled artillery has been updated to a long-barreled 75mm caliber cannon. The original infantry support weapon has also gradually developed a multi-functional fire support platform. The annual output is even different from that of the Leopard tank. Comparable.

Manned by elite assault gun crews of the infantry, the weapon became a deadly killer, costing the German infantry's enemies dearly.

There is a famous saying in each army: "The recruits are afraid of guns,

Veterans are afraid of light machine guns. "It is said that although the shelling is fierce, the hidden light machine gun position that moves at any time is a more deadly threat. After the real confrontation with the German army, the British veterans found that compared with the German tanks and armored forces, the more common 3 The No. 1 assault gun is the more troublesome role.

At this moment, behind a pile of rubble, a No. 1 assault gun opened all the upper armor shields and leaked the entire combat compartment. The commander was standing on the hatch of the engine, looking into the distance with his binoculars. .

And this assault gun just fired a shell at a high elevation angle, hitting the British attack area about two kilometers away. The company commander defending that direction was on the radio reporting the results of the shelling.

"Hit the target! The enemy's infantry was repulsed." The news from the frontline defenders came from the headset: "The second shell hit the crowd of the opponent's attack. Some of the enemy soldiers were killed in battle. It was a beautiful shot."

"Correct 5 meters forward! The next shell will hit the corner of the building, and the next time it will probably kill a big fish." Looking through the binoculars and seeing the black smoke rising from his shelling, the commander looked at the cannon under his feet. Commanded loudly.

After he gave the order, he adjusted the channel and said to the infantry company headquarters on the front line: "Call Captain Kyle, the next time the opponent attacks the corner, give us a signal and we will fire!"

"That's no problem!" The other party in the headset said with a smile: "If you don't mind, you can fire now!"

"Fire!" The commander put down the binoculars and ordered loudly. "Boom!" The chariot under his feet trembled backwards, and the 75mm caliber cannon with a long barrel fired another shell. He spit out a mouthful of saliva.

Then he picked up the binoculars again and looked at the target in the distance. Sure enough, a puff of black smoke rose from the position he expected, and half of the buildings nearby also collapsed, and a huge rumbling sound came out. There was a loud bang, and more dust and smoke rose from the spot where the shell had landed, and it looked spectacular.

"Beautiful! Good fight!" In the earphones, the German company commander on the front line let out an admiration, accompanied by the roar of machine guns. The fighting on the front line seemed to be very intense, and the frequency of artillery support from their side It can be felt that the British seem to be trying their best to attack.

"Hey! Lard!" A dozen grenadiers with various weapons passed by the ruins. The dust on their bodies made them look a bit sloppy. The Germans stopped in front of the assault guns, and one of the platoon leaders climbed up the rubble and shouted to the commander standing on the car: "Is there any smoke? Give me two..."

"Go to the front line? Didn't you just withdraw?" asked Lard's driver, frowning, putting down the binoculars in his hand.

"No way, there is another problem with the 3rd company. The reserve team of the battalion headquarters has gone to the front, and we are the only ones left. Who else will go?" The platoon leader smiled wryly, and pointed behind him His subordinates: "If anyone of these people can come back, you can't refuse to give you cigarettes!"

"Okay!" The driver nodded his head, threw most of the pack of cigarettes to the young platoon leader, and replied loudly: "If you don't have any, come and ask for it. If you come, I will give you more!"

"Look at your luck! I heard that the British attacked there very fiercely. There are not many people left after fighting three times in a row." The platoon leader took the cigarette with a smile, shook it at the commander in his hand, and then He took one out and put it in his mouth, and waved his hand: "Goodbye!"

Not only was there not many people left after the beating, but when the young platoon leader rushed to the position smoking a cigarette, he realized how miserable the beating was. In the human company, there is no one alive now. The corpses of the last British soldiers are lying in disorder in front of the position, and there are actually two destroyed M3 tanks.

On a machine gun position not far away, a G42 machine gun was firing at a British machine gun position a meter away. The tracer bullets swept in a straight line on the breast wall piled up with mud, and the black soil was scattered and splashed.

"Corporal! Where is your company commander? I was ordered to bring someone to support him!" He found a grenadier shooting at the British in a bomb crater and asked.

"What are you talking about? Louder! My ears were damaged by shells! I can't hear clearly!" The other party shouted loudly.

"Me! Ask you! Where's your company commander?" The platoon leader continued to ask loudly.

"Behind! Do you see the collapsed villa? There is a bomb crater over there!" The corporal continued to fire with his G43 while answering loudly.

"Wells! You stay with someone to help! Cook! Follow me!" The young platoon leader shouted loudly, then jumped out of the crater, bent over and ran towards the position of the 3rd Company Headquarters, and Behind him, Cook, who hadn't run a few steps, was hit by a bullet and fell to the ground without moving.

Running all the way to the edge of the crater, the young platoon leader jumped into the crater with a slide...

Li, and then supported his steel helmet with his hands, and shouted loudly: "The 3rd Company?"

"Yes!" A second lieutenant company commander replied loudly: "I asked for reinforcements once, and the higher-ups finally sent you here alone?"

"My people have already started to fight back over there. Who said I was alone? Cook? Cook..." The young platoon leader shouted back, then poked his head out to look in the direction he was running from, and saw Dead bodies on the ground.

He retracted his head and regretfully said to the company commander of the third company beside him: "I brought 13 people here, and now there are 12 left."

"You take 5 people and go to the left flank in a while! The machine gun position over there has been destroyed, and they need help." The company commander pointed to a position not far away that was emitting black smoke, and said loudly: "A few They were hit by British artillery minutes ago!"

"No problem! I'll deal with it now! But you'd better think again!" The young platoon leader lying on the front line raised his eyebrows and said, "Are you sure you can fix that guy on the other side?"

Following his gaze, the company commander of the 3rd company saw a British tank approaching under the cover of infantry. It was not a huge number of American-made m3 tanks, but a British behemoth, a heavily armored Matilda tank.

"Anti-tank fighters! Get ready to fight!" The commander of the 3rd company shouted loudly: "British tanks! Be careful! The machine gun team... moved its position!"

"It's really not easy without the armored troops driving ahead." The young platoon leader sighed, grabbed his MP-44 assault rifle, and said with a wry smile, "Don't call for backup? Dealing with this is not that simple."

"You guys are already here, so that's pretty good." The company commander of the 3rd company said with a smile, "Besides, although we don't get noticed, we infantry still have our own pride!"