Chapter 523: Elegy (Update 2181)

Chapter 523 Elegy (Update 21/81)

Von List, commander of the 1st Armored Battalion of the 5th Armored Division of the Asgard Knights, was ordered to launch a counterattack.

His armored battalion had 91 Panzer III and 31 Panzer IV tanks ready for combat in the early morning of the 25th. However, only two hours after setting off from the station, half of the tanks broke down on the road.

It wasn't that the Proson tank was in poor readiness, but that the muddy weather in Ant was too harsh.

Before departure, von List ordered all tanks to be equipped with anti-skids on their tracks. This was a new piece of equipment specially developed to deal with the muddy season of 915.

It took them more than an hour to install the new equipment, and then another ten minutes to discover how gaudy it was.

If you think about it carefully, you will understand that in order to adapt to the bad terrain in China, the Anters specifically adopted wider tracks. The tracks of the T34 are 50 cm wide, and some models even reach 55 cm. As a result, a large number of tanks broke down when encountering mud.

The early tracks of the Panzer III tank were only 36 centimeters wide, but now the tracks of the H model have increased to 40 centimeters, which is far smaller than the width of the T34.

Not to mention the Panzer IV, which is heavier, but the track only increases from 36 cm to 38 cm.

Under such circumstances, it is indeed a bit fanciful to defeat the mud devil by relying solely on anti-skid equipment full of "fancy ideas" from the development department.

After marching to the position where the enemy is expected to encounter the enemy, when the first battalion began to deploy the attack formation, von List had only 19 long-barreled Panzer IV tanks available. The number of Panzer III tanks was larger, and the number of Panzer IV tanks was larger. Just formed the standard three to one ratio.

But everyone knows that the long-barreled No. 4 is now the main force in armored combat. Although some of the No. 3 tanks have been replaced with the longer 50-gun, the foundation of the 50-gun is here. Even if it is lengthened The barrel has a penetration similar to that of the Long-barrel No. 4, but the damage after penetration is still far less than that of the 75 gun.

So Liszt split the Panzer IV tank into countless two-vehicle squads and mixed them with the Panzer III tank.

The only lone Panzer IV tank served as his vehicle and the battalion command post.

The communication capability of the Changguan No. 4 with an improved radio system is not much worse than that of the command tank modified from the No. 3 tank.

After taking about twenty minutes to complete the formation, von List climbed into his new command tank - and the commander who had been occupied climbed into List's command tank.

After putting on the headphones, von List glanced around, took a deep breath, and ordered: "Tank, move forward!"

The roar of the engines on the grassland suddenly increased, and black smoke spewed out from the exhaust pipes of all the tanks.

In accordance with the tactical maneuvers, von List waited until all the troops had advanced a certain distance before ordering his tanks and the battalion headquarters following him to command the tank platoon to advance, so that he could see the entire attack formation from the rear and grasp the overall situation at any time.

Not long after von Liszt started, an exclamation came over the radio: "There seems to be an enemy tank ahead! The light rain made the field of vision very unclear, so I can't see clearly!"

Liszt immediately put the microphone close to his mouth: "We expect to encounter the enemy's tank troops and prepare to engage the enemy. Everyone stops and prepares to shoot!"

The Prosen tank force is more elite, the tank soldiers are well-trained, and the tank sights are more advanced. Now the Changguan No. 4 has advantages in penetration and damage, so Lister chose to use long-range shots to consume the Ant armored force.

Of course, even if a blind tank like the T34 is caught in close combat, Lister still has confidence in his armored soldiers and believes that they will achieve a good exchange ratio.

From last year to now, Proson's armored forces have been full of confidence because they have won every battle with Ant tanks.

After giving the order, Lister used the internal communication to shout to the driver: "Stop! Let's not go any further."

Long-tube No. 4 braked, causing Liszt, who was probing the top of the turret, to swing back and forth, looking like ears of wheat in the wind - even though the harvest season had long passed.

Von List stood up straight on the tank and adjusted the magnification of the telescope to its highest level.

Maybe it was because the rain was getting lighter, and the outline of the enemy in the distance was gradually becoming clearer.

Ant's tank, carrying infantry, was marching forward in the mud.

They had no intention of stopping at all, and they might not have discovered Lister's camp at all.

Lister recalled the time when the war just started last year. At that time, he was still in the infantry division and commanded the division's assault artillery battalion. The battalion was equipped with 71 No. 3 assault guns.

Not long after the division entered Ant territory, it encountered a counterattack by Ant armored forces.

As a result, Liszt's assault gun battalion was regarded as a tank by the Ant tank crew, and it stopped advancing and fired at the assault gun on the spot.

The result of that battle was that neither the assault gun nor the T34 could penetrate the opponent's front. In the end, the T34 ran out of ammunition and was picked up by the infantry troops.

From then on, Liszt looked down on Ant's armored forces, thinking that they were just a group of peasants stuffed into tanks. Compared with the conscripts, they only took a little longer to train - no, Liszt was very suspicious of the training of Ant's tank crews. Did it take longer than Ante's mobilization of troops?

Now, the contempt came to mind again.

Look at these enemy tanks, they look like they are drunk and wandering around unsuspectingly!

If you can't defeat such a guy, you will be ashamed of your years of military education.

Lister recalled the width of the Ant T34 and estimated the distance of the enemy tanks based on the density of the telescope. When the enemy approached 1,600 meters, Lister put the microphone to his mouth again: "Fire!"

His armored battalion fired a volley.

The armor-piercing shells were fired at the target that had been selected long ago. In the blink of an eye, several fireballs rose in the Ant's offensive formation. They were the fireworks of the tanks' self-detonation.

The Ant people didn't react at all. It seemed that they didn't realize that they were attacked at all. They just rushed forward at the same speed as before.

Lister urged: "Quick, reload, fire! As long as we don't put the enemy in front of us, the situation will be our unilateral crushing! Fire!"

The second wave of shells passed through the rain curtain, and more Ant tanks exploded and caught fire.

At this time, the Ant people finally realized that they were being attacked. Lister could see the turrets of the Ant tanks turning.

He thought that they had discovered their own tanks and would stop and shoot in the next moment.

However, the T34 did not stop and continued to move forward.

Lister finally understood that the reason for turning the turret was that the two-man turret of the T34 did not have a separate commander, and the commander who also served as the gunner had to observe the target through the gun mirror - it was too time-consuming and laborious to stand up and observe through the gap of the commander's turret.

The third and fourth waves of shells passed through the rain curtain, and more than a dozen T34s stopped.

The T34s hit by the 50mm gun of the Panzer III usually just stopped, and it was not known whether they were "killed" at all, so the tankers had to continue to replenish the wreckage until the wreckage began to burn, or the tankers who were still alive in the tank climbed out.

The T34s hit by the long 75mm gun of the Panzer IV basically turned into torches in the rain, and the light could be seen several kilometers away.

The tank that caught fire at the beginning had burned out the fuel in the car, and the open fire gradually extinguished in the heavy rain.

The Ante tankers were still charging, and it seemed that the heavy rain had a great impact on their sighting - of course, it could also be that the sighting equipment equipped by these T34s was too bad.

In March this year, the Plossen armored and anti-tank units began to report that some of Ant's T34s had shocking quality problems. At that time, the command judged that these quality problems were due to Ant's blind expansion of production.

Now, Lister felt that he had witnessed the results of blindly expanding production and shoddy production.

He was extremely grateful that Plossen's factory was famous for its precision workmanship.

The enemy tanks were seven hundred meters away!

The one thousand meters that the Ants had just run through were full of burning wreckage.

The total number of remaining T34s was less than that of Lister's battalion, but they still rushed over fearlessly, as if they had no idea that their troops had been severely damaged in just a few minutes.

Lister saw a T34 numbered 333 being hit, and flames came out of the turret ring.

The infantry jumped off the tank first, and then the tankmen jumped out of the tank one after another, rolling out of the tank with the help of the infantry to put out the fire on their bodies.

Lister was about to turn the telescope away when he suddenly saw an Ant tankman climbing back onto the tank.

The tank driver had medals on his body, he might be a combat hero, and he seemed to have a military rank on his shoulders.

The man climbed into the driver's seat, and the next moment, the tank with the seat ring on fire began to move forward.

Lister immediately realized what the brave Ant tank commander was going to do: he was going to hit the Proson tank with his tank!

He slowly put down the telescope, then slowly took off his headphones, and then took off his big hat.

Even if it was an enemy, such a fighting spirit was admirable.

Lister looked down on Ant's armored forces.

But at this time, he suddenly felt that maybe Proson was going to lose the war.

————

The reason why Alexei Podolskov returned to the tank was because he finally found the Proson tank formation that destroyed countless brother troops.

So he planned to use this T34 to at least achieve a victory.

If he went to see St. Andrew, and the old man asked "How much did you exchange with the enemy", it would be too sad if he could only answer "zero" on his side.

So at least, at least get a victory!

Alexey Podolskoff stepped on the accelerator to the limit. He didn't pray, because he knew in his heart that this tank would run until the last moment.

Because the engine and gearbox were maintained by the whole crew, they were in excellent condition when they set out today.

Through the driver's periscope, he could see a Proson IV tank.

He saw the long barrel emitting flashes.

The armor-piercing shell seemed to have hit, and the shock wave from behind hit Podolskoff's back like a heavy hammer.

It seemed that something hot and wet flowed down his spine.

As he lost blood, Podolskoff's consciousness floated up, and only the last bit of will was attached to his body.

He held the joystick with all his strength and let out a final roar.

The IV fired again, and this time the shell went straight to the cockpit.

At that moment, Podolskoff seemed to see the moment when the Proson armor-piercing shell penetrated the armor.

His consciousness stopped here.

————

Liszt did not use a telescope, because the T34 was close enough to be seen by the naked eye.

He was silent for a long time until the gunner patted his thigh.

"What's wrong?" he asked with his head down.

The gunner gestured to his ear: "Calling you, battalion commander."

Lister hurriedly put on his headphones and just happened to hear the report from the company commander in charge of the front-line command: "All T34s have been destroyed, and our army has no losses. Should we start chasing the remaining enemies?"

Lister hesitated for a moment and regained his spirit: "Chase the remaining enemies! Eliminate all the escaped tankers!"