Chapter 725: Face-to-Face Confrontation

"Comrade tank commander, I succeeded! It's moving, we can fight!"

""

To Iushkin's surprise, Malashenko, who was "full of flesh and aggressive", did not smile as he expected.

On the contrary, Malashenko, with two eyes bigger than cow eggs, walked forward without saying a word, and slapped Iushkin on the forehead without saying a word, almost knocking the poor gunner out on the spot.

"If it weren't for you getting the tank back on track, I would send you to the political commissar right now! If the engine problem was bigger, or if Seryosha hadn't reacted quickly and retracted his head, he would have been stuck in the engine compartment by now!"

""

Iushkin, who had just woken up from a dream, realized that he seemed to have forgotten to notify Seryosha, who was still half in the engine compartment, when he went to start the engine just now.

Strictly speaking, Malashenko's reprimand was not alarmist.

If the engine, which has already traveled nearly a thousand kilometers, had a little problem and a part flew off or even exploded on the spot, it is self-evident what would happen to Seryosha's head.

Although the probability is small, this possibility does exist objectively. There is no doubt that Iushkin was not thoughtful in this matter. Of course, it also has a lot to do with Malashenko's momentary forgetfulness to remind and stop Iushkin in time.

It takes two to tango. Iushkin made a big mistake and Malashenko made a small mistake.

At the critical moment when the war was about to begin, this matter was just a chapter.

After installing the engine compartment tail cover and closing the top heat dissipation window at the fastest speed, Seryosha, who didn't even bother to wipe his hands after a busy day, immediately returned to his post at the fastest speed.

The operation method, which was much more dexterous and swift than Iushkin, took less than three seconds to make the whole tank surge up, spewing out a puff of engine black smoke and roaring forward.

In the turret, Malashenko held the commander's periscope in front of him with one hand and grabbed the transmitter with the other hand and pressed the button. Lavrinenko, who led the team ahead, should have entered the combat state by now.

"Lavri, report the situation, how is your side?"

After a short burst of radio noise, a fierce sound that sounded like artillery fire came from the other end of the transmitter.

"Armor-piercing shells are good!"

"Right, straighten the car body, two o'clock! Kill that No. 3!"

"Machine gun! Coaxial machine gun! The German infantry is throwing cluster grenades!"

"I can hear it! Malashenko! The battle here is tight, the Germans have mobilized at least two battalions of broken cars to rush over! Just a hundred meters in front of me!"

Lavrinenko, who was holding a microphone and shouting at Malashenko, had not finished speaking when a 75mm full-caliber capped armor-piercing shell fired from a Chang 75 No. 4 tank hit the turret directly, making a dull metal collision sound.

Dingdang——

"Comrade commander, we were hit again!"

This castrated version of the KV220 heavy tank that accompanied Lavrinenko in several battlefields was no longer brand new when it was just shipped out of the factory.

Countless shallow pits and scratches left by unpenetrating armor-piercing shells were all over the front, side and front armor of the tank's turret. The Guards emblem and the emblem of the First Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment painted on the side of the turret, like Malashenko's car, were scratched by the unpenetrating German armor-piercing shells, and they were like real battle-damaged emblems.

Under the repeated attempts of the German armor-piercing shells, the semi-arc gun shield that originally belonged to the absolute domain in front of the German tanks had been broken into a whole piece, leaving only about 70% of the gun shield still playing its final role.

The armor fatigue caused by repeated direct shooting of armor-piercing shells was fully exposed on Lavrinenko's car. To be honest, this battle-scarred castrated version of the KV220 heavy tank has basically reached the limit of its mission. Lavrinenko and his entire crew are now facing the risk of vehicle destruction and death at any time. The actual defensive effect of those armors with metal fatigue has long been greatly reduced.

After a sound of death ringing the death knell but failing to take away the soul.

Knowing the status of his vehicle after being hit by hundreds of German armor-piercing shells, Lavrinenko, with a firm look in his eyes, did not flinch at all. The commander's periscope, which had cracked lenses, quickly aimed at the next target with his trembling hands.

"Next target! At one o'clock, less than a hundred meters, the German assault gun, smash it!"

Lavrinenko's vehicle, which was obviously different from other Soviet tanks, was the only one left among the batch of prototypes that Kotin had provided to Malashenko earlier. Other prototypes with different characteristics and shapes were either destroyed by German air raids or killed by German tanks with flank attacks. Even the prototype selected by Malashenko himself was not spared.

The strange-looking Lavrinenko's vehicle fought bravely on the battlefield. Every roar of its 55-caliber 85mm tank gun was almost certain to take out a German armored vehicle, and in most cases they were the more threatening and valuable long-barreled Type 4 tanks and Type 3 assault guns. This situation soon attracted the attention of the German armored troops that were surging in.

"122, 124, 125, 126, do you see that big Russian? 11 o'clock! Concentrate firepower to kill it! Quick!"

The German armored commander in the center used his car radio to give orders to the tanks in the front.

Several German tanks with their own exclusive numbers immediately moved, and a total of four 75mm tank guns, three long and one short, stopped the car while shaking, and pointed the black muzzle at the target that was not pointed at the turret.

"I'm going to penetrate your side armor! Ivan!"

Swish——

Boom——

Before the cold and grim voice with a grim smile could finish, an 85mm hooded armor-piercing grenade that came at high speed with a shrill scream through the air forcibly interrupted everything. Just like a red-hot bone-breaking razor stabbed into a piece of fat skin in a charcoal fire, it easily penetrated the 50mm thick front armor plate of the vehicle body, along with the external track plate used to increase defense.

The 85mm capped armor-piercing grenade with a full charge successfully triggered the armor-piercing delay fuse. The scattered explosion and high-temperature fragments in the center ignited the fuel tank and detonated the ammunition, and the remains of five German armored soldiers who turned into a pool of minced meat before they could feel the pain rushed straight into the sky.

"Kirill, armor-piercing bullets! Iushkin, cover Lavri! Smash all the German rubbish!"