Chapter 339 Encountering the Enemy

Yeisk, under the control of the Plosson Army.

In addition to Colonel Busey's battle group, a tank battalion and accompanying infantry arrived here yesterday evening.

Plosson's tank battalion is different from Ante's tank battalion. Ante's tank battalion and tank regiment are organized in the same organization, but with different names, with a total of 21 tanks.

Plosson's tank battalion is generally called an armored battalion, which is now configured with 3 No. 3 companies plus a No. 4 company, with 80 No. 3 and 28 No. 4 tanks.

Generally, Plosson's armored division will have two such armored battalions plus an armored grenadier battalion, as well as a large number of auxiliary troops.

So this is equivalent to half a division of armored forces arriving in Yeisk, plus the original armored forces of Busey's battle group, and two hundred tanks have filled all the open spaces in Yeisk.

As a city without railways, it is not easy for Yeisk to find so many open spaces - railways mean that there will be a large number of cargo yards, and cities with railways are generally more industrialized, with more cars and more parking lots.

In short, Yeisk is now full of tanks and armored vehicles.

So when Colonel Busey heard from the radio that Car 217 reported to Captain John that 24 four-engine heavy bombers were coming this way, his heart sank.

He threw down his headphones and shouted to the staff officer next to him: "Air defense alarm! Let the infantry release smoke to cover the tank assembly area!"

The staff officer immediately turned around and ran out.

Busey's battle group formed an air defense force, and Prosen's air defense force carried a hand-cranked air defense alarm. They regarded the alarm as part of the air defense operation.

Soon, the air defense alarm sounded throughout Yeisk.

After the staff came back, he said to Colonel Busse: "Why don't we set off now? Even if we are covered by smoke in the city, we will suffer heavy losses if we are covered, especially our infantry. High-altitude bombing has a poor effect on moving convoys."

Colonel Busse said seriously: "The armored battalion that just arrived yesterday is not in our original attack formation. If we set off hastily to avoid bombing, we will fall into chaos."

Colonel Busse's original plan was to set off to meet the stranded vanguard after breakfast and equipment inspection.

As the vanguard of the entire force, a platoon of the 333rd Motorized Reconnaissance Battalion has set off. This platoon has been reinforced with two Type 2 tanks, a total of 3 tricycles, 4 half-track vehicles and two Type 2 tanks.

Yesterday, the leading company reported that the enemy who ate the reconnaissance group did not have weapons exceeding 20 mm, and should be light infantry. The firepower of the motorized reconnaissance platoon is enough to deal with ordinary light infantry.

As for the other troops in the battle group, the staff has already arranged the departure order.

But the tank battalion that arrived last night was not in this departure queue. If they all left the city now, they would definitely fall into chaos.

So after a brief hesitation, Colonel Busey made the decision: "Don't attack, just defend the city. The city is so big that they may not be able to bomb our parking lot."

"After the bombing is over, we will set off according to the original departure order. The tank battalion that just arrived will decide the departure time after we all set off."

Chief of Staff: "Yes."

————

The first platoon of the third company of the 333rd Motorized Reconnaissance Battalion of Plossen, which had already set off, actually heard the communication between Captain John and Car No. 217.

When the platoon leader heard the news of 24 heavy bombers, he looked up at the sky.

They may have seen the contrail of high-altitude bombers.

The platoon leader was shocked: "This reminds me of when we entered Ant, when the bombers of the Plossen Air Force also flew to the heart of Ant in such a tidal wave. Things change. "

The sun was just rising from the east at that time, so the platoon leader could only squint his eyes when looking at the sky, so he did not see the fighter planes that were diving down - fighter planes loaded with bombs.

When he saw the fighter planes, it was too late.

"Enemy planes! Air raid!"

As the platoon leader shouted, the first diving fighter plane had already pulled up.

Then the platoon leader saw a bomb inserted into the road in front of the half-track vehicle he was riding.

The delayed fuse of the bomb prevented it from detonating immediately, so the platoon leader had time to shrink his body into the half-track vehicle, allowing the surrounding steel to provide a little protection - at least psychological protection.

The next moment he felt light and he immediately realized that the half-track vehicle was lifted into the air.

Before he could react, the vehicle hit the ground and the platoon leader fainted.

After the air raid, the sergeant in the No. 2 car following the platoon leader's car stuck his head out of the car and found that the platoon leader's car had overturned at first glance, so he shouted on the radio: "Deputy platoon leader, the platoon leader is in danger of life or death, it's your turn to command. ”

Plossen’s platoon usually has only one officer, and the deputy platoon leader is the sergeant major, who usually has a better relationship with the soldiers.

Sometimes the soldiers even prefer the sergeant major to command them.

The voice of the deputy platoon leader came from the radio: "It just flipped over, right? Open the tailgate to see if you can rescue the people. Don’t flip the car over directly, it may cause secondary injuries."

"Understood." The sergeant immediately ordered the big soldier in his squad, "Open the tailgate and rescue the people inside."

At this time, the machine gunner of the half-track vehicle suddenly said: "Look! There is smoke and dust ahead!"

The sergeant looked forward and saw a lot of smoke and dust.

He stood up and picked up the telescope to observe-Plossen’s squad leader usually had to command the machine gun, so he would be equipped with a telescope.

In the telescope, only the enemy's leading car can be seen, and the marching column behind is completely blocked by smoke and dust.

The sergeant has never seen the leading car, it may be the equipment of the United States.

"Damn it." The sergeant cursed, picked up the radio microphone and shouted: "The enemy's large force is approaching! The enemy's large force is approaching!"

The deputy platoon leader was very calm: "Don't panic, it may be the enemy's light infantry, No. 137, No. 138, you spread out to the left and right wings!"

"Understood."

The two Type 2 tanks immediately spread out to the left and right wings, so the main marching column of the platoon and the two tanks parked on the road formed a division sign.

But the tank commander was the first to get scared: "With such a lot of smoke and dust, it must be the enemy's tank unit? My 20mm gun can only polish the T34!"

At this time, the small car in the front began to shoot this side with the vehicle-mounted machine gun.

The tank commander: "The enemy dares to rush towards the tank. This is definitely Ant's tank unit! Release the smoke and retreat quickly!"

The deputy platoon leader hesitated for a second and ordered: "Release the smoke and retreat!"

At this time, the sergeant of the No. 2 tank asked: "What about the platoon leader? He may still be alive!"

"Don't worry about it, retreat quickly."

The No. 2 tank has already started the smoke canister and fired the smoke bomb.

Although the sergeant of the No. 2 tank wanted to say something, he still followed the order and operated the smoke bomb launcher of the half-track vehicle to fire.

————

Wang Zhong suddenly received a call from one of the two deception troops: "Khwarazm calls Genghis Khan, Khwarazm calls Genghis Khan. The enemy in front of my team releases smoke, repeat, the enemy in front of my team releases smoke."

Wang Zhong responded while switching the perspective, and sure enough, he saw the enemy's smoke in front of the Willys Jeep of the deception team.

Then Wang Zhong discovered one thing. Although the field of view shared by the troops was not highlighted, this field of view would not be blocked by smoke.

As long as the enemy did not hide in the smoke, he could see it.

Of course, the dust from the enemy's vehicles would still interfere with his vision, but he would not be completely blind.

The Willys Jeep was dragging a broom behind it, so the dust was too heavy to see clearly.

In short, Wang Zhong clearly saw that the Prosons in front of the jeep convoy had two Type 2 tanks, and these two Type 2 tanks could beat the jeep convoy to death.

But now that the enemy started running, it was different.

The armor of the Type 2 tank was actually just that, and the armor on the side and rear could be penetrated by the M2 heavy machine gun.

The most important thing was that the enemy escaped. If the deceiving troops did not chase, the enemy might react and come back, which would be dangerous.

So Wang Zhong ordered: "Continue to pursue and strive to annihilate the enemy."

According to the code words agreed upon before departure, striving to annihilate the enemy means: "Keep in contact with the enemy and give enough pressure."

Even if the Prosons eavesdropped on radio communications, there would be no problem!

"Understood!" The deception unit probably didn't know that the enemy had a No. 2, so they answered very firmly, "Try to annihilate the enemy!"

————

Colonel Busey's brows twisted into a knot: "Were we attacked by air?"

"Yes, and we also encountered the enemy's tank unit." The chief of staff said seriously, "The life and death of the platoon leader of the reconnaissance platoon is unknown, and the remaining troops are retreating to Yeisk under the leadership of the deputy platoon leader."

Captain John: "This must be one of the two armored units reported by vehicle No. 217."

Colonel Busey nodded: "Is the new tank ready to move?"

Captain John looked embarrassed: "Not yet, the fault has just been eliminated, and the technicians of the maintenance camp are installing the road wheels, and it will take some time."

"How long is one hour? Captain, you should know that such vague words should not be used on the battlefield."

Captain John: "Yes! At most eight hours, colonel."

"Eight hours to install a wheel?" The colonel was shocked.

Captain John: "At most. If it's fast, it can be completed in five hours."

Colonel: "Are you proud of five hours?"

Captain John spread his hands and said helplessly: "There is no way. In order to ensure the best walking ability, the new tank uses double-row road wheels. Each disassembly and assembly takes one to two days. The maintenance battalion has done its best."

Colonel Busey was shocked: "So you can't participate in the next defensive operations? It seems that the guys with long-barreled No. 4 can only get some cross badges."

Captain John also smiled: "Of course there is no problem."

At this time, the air defense alarm sounded outside again, and Colonel Busey and others immediately lay down.

However, after waiting for a long time, no bombs fell.

The door of the headquarters suddenly opened, and a staff officer came in to report: "The air defense battalion requested to lift the air defense alarm. The enemy's heavy bombers are not here to bomb us."

Colonel Busey stood up and cursed: "How much unreliable intelligence will we receive this morning?"