Chapter 857: Conspiracy

The Romanians on the second defensive position were more tenacious than Malashenko expected.

These German lackeys, the Imperial Army, may not be as brave and aggressive as their masters, but what Malashenko saw in his tank commander's periscope were all Romanian soldiers who were holding their positions and firing at their own side with all their weapons.

It is not appropriate to describe these Romanian soldiers as crazy, but they did fulfill the obligations of a soldier and met the standards.

Obviously, compared with those puppet soldiers who are currently working for the Imperial Army in the Celestial Empire and are obedient on the surface but actually "in Cao's camp but in Han's heart", these Romanians are simply not a little bit stronger and are comparable to elites!

"Keep the pressure and continue the attack! Each crew covers the infantry, and the main gun fires to put some pressure on those Romanian lackeys, don't let them have too comfortable!"

The Romanians' resistance is tenacious, but unfortunately they do not have weapons and equipment that match this tenacity. Those small water pipe knocking brick anti-tank guns hit the solid front armor of the IS1 heavy tank, which was in vain again and again.

"Seryosha, switch to second gear and move forward! Kirill, high-explosive bombs! Iushkin knock down a few of those damn anti-tank guns and teach those Romanian ghosts a lesson!"

The heavy tank operated by the four-member team was like a precise war machine, cooperating seamlessly.

Seryosha, who switched the forward gear to second gear, slowed down the violent shaking of the tank as it moved forward at the fastest speed. The 85mm fixed high-explosive bombs in Kirill's hands were almost stuffed into the breech block at the same time. Iushkin, who held the steering machine in one hand and the elevation machine in the other hand and operated with both hands, locked the target at the fastest speed.

"Your God is waving to you, damn lackey!"

Boom——

The 8mm artillery shield, which can only withstand direct fire from light weapons, was directly blown to pieces by the 85mm high-explosive bomb that hit the bull's eye and scattered all over the ground.

The gun barrels and parts that were lifted into the sky by the shock wave of the explosion fell to the ground like rain, and the traction wheel tires caught fire and rolled more than 30 meters away like the wind and fire wheels under Nezha's feet.

As for the Romanian gun crew hiding behind the gun shield and loading the gun to prepare for the next shot, Malashenko only saw arms, legs and human body parts flying out in the smoke of the explosion. If there are still undead survivors in this situation, they should really apply for the Guinness World Record, provided that they can really apply.

As early as the period of the First Guards Heavy Tank Breakthrough Regiment, Iushkin was recognized as the best gunner in the entire regiment by his comrades around him and even the deputy commander Lavrinenko, who was nicknamed "Sniper's Eye".

"Your gunnery skills are better than mine, Iushkin. I'm serious. I'm not kidding you. I haven't seen many people who can operate the steering and elevation control at the same time. This is a unique skill. I think you should take the time to hold a training course to teach everyone and pass on your experience. I will also take the course to learn from you."

To be praised by Lavrinenko himself, to be honest, Iushkin's door-blocking skills are destined not to be mastered by all gunners.

Iushkin's real strength lies not only in his super high aiming efficiency, powerful dynamic vision and keen perception of battlefield situation, which enables him to remember any target he scans in a short time. For a gunner who only has a high-magnification, narrow-angle gun scope, it is simply an outrageous ultimate passive skill.

There are many IS1 heavy tanks firing on the move, but there are very few crews who can cooperate tacitly and hit the first shot like Iushkin.

Most of the shells hit the snowdrifts in front of the positions, or flew over the positions and hit the rear positions.

The actual casualties caused by these direct-fire artillery fire on the move were quite limited, but the huge psychological pressure brought about by this really lingered over the heads of all Romanian soldiers.

When a person sees his companions who have been with him day and night being blown into bloody fragments by a cannon less than a few dozen meters away, the negative psychological emotion called fear will soon fill his trembling heart.

After several rounds of direct-fire bombardment, it can be clearly felt that the anti-tank firepower on the position has been weakened a lot.

Before Malashenko saw that his suppression tactics had taken effect, he had no time to feel happy, and a deafening explosion at a very close distance broke through the soil and shook it.

Boom——

"Fuck! What the hell is going on!"

No matter how accustomed a person is to the sound of gunfire and explosions on the battlefield, the sudden explosion at a close distance will scare him instantly.

This has nothing to do with a person's combat experience, it is purely a subconscious reaction.

Before Malashenko's inner shouting and cursing fell, two loud noises came from the left and right sides of his car at the same time.

Boom——

Boom——

"Damn it! What happened? Answer from all the crews!"

Malashenko did not hear any whistling of shells and bombs. The continuous explosions at a close distance were too weird, but the answer that came later made Malashenko, who was holding the transmitter, furious.

"Anti-tank mines! Malashenko, these bastard Romanian ghosts have laid anti-tank mines! The tracks of vehicles 122 and 124 were blown off, and the tracks of vehicle 121 were damaged but still able to move and drive back to the starting position by itself!"

Malashenko had encountered anti-tank mines in previous battles, but the number of times that they actually caused trouble was really few and far between.

The entire battle of 1942 was almost all about the Soviet army retreating step by step and being chased by the Germans. In this case, it would be strange if you could be disgusted by the Germans' anti-tank mines.

It is impossible for the Germans to go around your escape route and lay anti-tank mines in advance, and then go around and wait for you to step on them obediently. Even if they are confusing behaviors, there is no such weird confusing method.

So suddenly being tricked by an anti-tank mine really surprised Malashenko and made him angry and annoyed.

Malashenko had countless thoughts flashing through his mind, but he finally resisted the urge to charge forward. Commanding a whole tank unit to charge into the minefield without knowing the situation was simply a suicidal act.

"Retreat! Retreat first, cover the retreat and regroup for the next wave of attacks, quick!"