Chapter 1493: Step-Tank Synergy

  Chapter 1493 Bu Tan Synergy

   "Wait a minute, Comrade Major." Just as Major Bunch was about to turn around and leave, he was stopped by Belkin.

  He stopped, looked at Belkin with strange eyes, and asked curiously: "Comrade Colonel, do you have anything to add?"

   "Comrade Major, I found that you are impatient," Belkin said with a smile: "I haven't finished talking here, and you are in a hurry to leave."

   Hearing what Belkin said, Major Bunch scratched the back of his head and smiled embarrassedly.

After Major Bunch sat down again, Belkin began to introduce the situation ahead: "Comrade Major, the fort area in front of us was originally a permanent fortification used by our army to deal with the Germans, but it has not been used yet. It was occupied by the enemy. The walls of these bunkers are generally more than one meter thick reinforced concrete. If they are directly bombarded with tank guns, it may be difficult to penetrate them. Even if they are barely penetrated, the damage to the defenders inside will not be damaged. Big."

  Major Bunch originally thought that the fortifications blocking the road were hastily built by the German army. As long as his tanks drove up and two rounds of shelling would be enough to destroy all the fortifications blocking the way. Now that he knew that what he was about to face was the permanent fortification built by the Soviet army himself, the expression on his face became serious.

  He frowned and thought for a while, then looked up at Belkin and said: "Comrade Colonel, the task our brigade has received is to assist you in breaking through the German defenses. I will listen to you on how to fight next."

Belkin was very satisfied with the modest attitude shown by Major Bunch, and he did not hide his secrets. He said truthfully: "Our soldiers have already shot rockets through the shooting holes of the bunker to destroy the soldiers hiding in the bunker. The enemies inside. Judging from the current situation, the effect is not bad, as long as the rockets can hit in, basically all the enemies inside will be reimbursed."

"Oh, so that's the case." Hearing what Belkin said, Major Bunch's thoughts suddenly became clear: "As long as the enemy does not have strong anti-tank firepower, our tanks can even drive as far as 30 to 40 meters away from the bunker. Position shooting." He said confidently, "The commanders and fighters of the 37th Tank Brigade are all experienced in battle, shooting at such a short distance, there is no reason why they can't hit the target."

   While Major Bunch and Belkin were discussing the details of destroying the German bunker, a lieutenant colonel of tank soldiers walked in from the outside. As soon as he entered the door, he asked Major Bunch in a hurry: "Comrade Brigadier, when are we going to attack?"

   After seeing the person coming, Bunch smiled and introduced to Belgin: "Comrade Colonel, let me introduce you. This is my deputy brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Chukliko."

   "Hello, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel!" Belkin stretched out his hand to Chukliko and said friendlyly: "It's a pleasure to meet you, and we will be comrades in arms fighting side by side."

   "Hello, Comrade Colonel." Chukliko responded politely to Belkin, but his tone was polite and somewhat alienated: "It's a pleasure to fight side by side with you."

From Chukliko's attitude, Major Bunch noticed that he was a little indifferent to Belkin, and quickly added: "Comrade deputy brigade commander, I forgot to introduce you just now. Comrade commander is the commander of the 73rd infantry brigade. Colonel Belkin was his commissar at that time."

Chukliko was very surprised by Major Bunch's words: "Ah, Colonel Belkin used to be the political commissar of Comrade Commander?" How did a political commissar become a military chief now?

  Belkin saw Chukliko's doubts, and took the initiative to explain to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you think that I, a political worker, became a military chief officer?"

   Seeing Chukliko nod in affirmation, he continued: "Actually, I was a military chief before being transferred to serve as Sokov's political commissar, and now I'm just going back to my job."

After the three of them chatted for a while, Belkin urged the two of them: "Comrades, two commanders, time is running out, so I won't say more, I hope you will clear the German firepower in the fort area as soon as possible, and open up a passage for our infantry. "

   "Comrade Colonel, due to the special circumstances this time, you cannot send infantry to follow our tanks." Chukliko raised his concerns, "If we encounter German anti-tank fighters, our tanks may be in danger."

"You are right, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Belkin agreed with Chukliko's statement: "Although the German army in the fortress area does not have any anti-tank guns, it does not rule out that the enemy sees that our tanks have no infantry. If you cooperate, send anti-tank fighters to blow up your tanks with explosives or grenades."

  Seeing that Belkin was also aware of this problem, Chukliko asked tentatively: "Then what can be done to deal with the German anti-tank fighters?"

"Lieutenant Colonel Chukliko, I think about it this way." Belkin said to Chukliko: "I will deploy some sharpshooters to hide in those already occupied fortifications. Once the enemy's anti-tank fighters appear, they can be eliminated. them."

   "It's just a sharpshooter?" Hearing Belkin say this, Chukliko couldn't help but feel a little disappointed: "Don't you have any snipers?" It is also a sniper kill, and the marksmanship of a sharpshooter is obviously not comparable to that of a sniper.

Belkin shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Lieutenant Colonel Chukliko, my regiment used to have snipers, but they died in the battle. The superiors have not added snipers to us, so I can only Draw out fighters with good marksmanship to provide cover for your tanks."

  As the tanks of the 37th Tank Brigade entered the battlefield, the commanders and fighters of the 258th Regiment stopped attacking, but hid in the occupied fortifications, preparing to wait for the tanks to clear the German bunkers before continuing to advance towards the Melliefa Fortress.

  Soviet tanks approached the German bunkers alternately in a group of two. The tank soldiers followed the instructions of Bunch and Chukliko and aimed at the shooting holes of the bunkers. The shells were shot through the firing holes, and soon there was an explosion sound from inside, and then a large piece of concrete flew into the air.

   Seeing that the shelling was so effective, the tank soldiers couldn't help cheering. But they were not complacent, restarted the tank, and moved towards the next goal.

  Since tanks have thick armor, they don’t have to worry about the bullets fired from the bunkers. Their speed of destroying enemy bunkers is naturally much faster than that of infantry. In less than 20 minutes, nearly 30 bunkers were destroyed by Soviet tanks.

  The German commander saw that the bunkers were pulled out one by one by the Soviet tanks, and he couldn't help but feel anxious. In order to prevent the entire army from being wiped out, he decided to take a risk. He called the pillboxes he could still reach and ordered them to send anti-tank fighters to destroy the Soviet tanks without infantry cover.

  As for the tankers of the Soviet army, it may be because the progress was too smooth after entering the battle, so they inevitably felt a little underestimated. In order to speed up the removal of the German bunkers, they changed the tactic of two tanks forming a group and covering each other. Five or six tanks crowded in front of the enemy's bunkers, scrambling to shoot at the firing holes of the bunkers.

   But none of them found out that before these bunkers were destroyed, the defenders inside all withdrew first and hid in the ditch next to the bunkers. The patience of these German soldiers was very good. When the bunker was destroyed by the Soviet tanks, they lay there motionless as if nothing happened. When the Soviet tanks passed in front of them, they rushed out of hiding and threw explosive charges or anti-tank grenades at the tanks.

   This tactic of the German soldiers was very effective. After the explosions sounded one after another, more than ten tanks were destroyed in the first battalion serving as the vanguard.

But when the first battalion commander reported the news to Major Bunch, Bunch immediately exploded: "First battalion commander, what did you do? Didn't you let your two tanks form a group and cover alternately? Who told you five or six There are two tanks crowded together, and they are driving so slowly, isn't this a target for the Germans?"

The commander of the first battalion, who was scolded by Bunche, dared not speak back. Finally, after Bunche’s words came to an end, the commander of the first battalion timidly said: “Comrade brigade commander, nearly half of our battalion’s tanks have been lost. You have to find a way to fight back.” Ah, otherwise sooner or later the whole army will be wiped out."

   Don't see Bunch scolding the first battalion commander bloody, but as the tank brigade commander, how could he watch one of his battalions be wiped out by the German army? He quickly said into the microphone: "First Battalion Commander, you stop advancing immediately, retreat 200 meters, rearrange your formation, and then attack the enemy."

   "But, comrade brigade commander." The first battalion commander said anxiously: "The enemy's anti-tank fighters are everywhere. I am worried that I will be attacked by them when I retreat."

   "Don't worry, I will find a way to deal with the German anti-tank fighters."

  After finishing the call with the first battalion commander, Bunch turned his head and said to Chukliko: "Comrade deputy brigade commander, please contact Colonel Belkin. I think we need their help now."

"Okay, Comrade Brigadier." Although Chukliko is now the deputy brigade commander, those tank soldiers who are bleeding and dying on the battlefield are all his old subordinates. When he heard the news of their sacrifice, he felt very sad. Sad, hearing Bunch's order at this moment, he quickly replied: "I will contact Colonel Belkin immediately and ask him to send someone to assist us in fighting."

   Fortunately, before the offensive began, Chukliko was extra careful and asked the communications corps to lead a telephone line between the tank brigade headquarters and Belkin's command post to facilitate communication between the two sides. At this moment, Chukliko's precautions came in handy.

  As soon as Belgin’s voice came out of the receiver, Chukliko said hastily: “Hello, Comrade Colonel, I am Lieutenant Colonel Chukliko, deputy brigade commander of the tank brigade.”

"Hello, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Hearing that it was Chukliko calling him, Belkin said with a smile: "I heard from my subordinates that you fought well and destroyed 30 German troops in less than 20 minutes." Multiple bunkers."

   "Yes, more than 30 bunkers were indeed destroyed by our tank soldiers." After confirming the results of the battle, Chukliko continued: "But we are in some trouble now and need your help."

   "Trouble?" Belkin asked nervously, "What trouble?"

"The first battalion of tanks was advancing deep into the fort area, and was attacked by German anti-tank fighters, and lost a dozen tanks." Chukliko asked Belgin nervously: "Comrade colonel, can you help us eliminate the German army?" anti-tank fighter?"

  Belkin did not expect that the German anti-tank fighters would be so rampant, and they would kill ten friendly tanks in such a short period of time. If I don't care about it and let it develop, I'm afraid the entire tank brigade will be in the fortress area.

After a little thought, he replied: "Lieutenant Colonel Chukliko, it seems that it is not enough to send sharpshooters to cooperate with you. You must send more infantry to ensure that your tanks will not be attacked by anti-tank fighters." s attack."

  After Belkin put down the phone, he called a communications soldier and told him: "You immediately find a battalion commander and tell him to send troops to act with the tanks. You must not let the enemy's anti-tank fighters approach our tanks."

   After a loud yes, the communications soldier turned around and ran out of the command post.

  Shortly after the communicator left, Belkin received a call from the division commander Fomenko: "My deputy division commander, comrade, how is the progress there?"

"Report to Comrade Commander," Belkin maintained enough respect for Fomenko: "With the cooperation of the tank brigade, we have already destroyed half of the bunkers. If all goes well, the entire bunker will be cleared in at most another hour Enemy of the district."

"Good job, Comrade Deputy Division Commander." Fomenko originally didn't want the Belkin Regiment to perform this task, and even made preparations for the 254th Regiment to take over from them, but at this moment it is said that half of the bunkers have been destroyed I was very surprised: "I heard from the head of the 252nd regiment that the walls of the bunker are all reinforced concrete with a thickness of more than one meter. How do you penetrate such a thick wall?"

"I knew that the walls of the bunker were too thick for the shells to penetrate, so I chose to drive the shells through the shooting holes of the bunker. The shell exploded in the bunker, which not only killed the enemy, but also caused the ammunition to explode. According to my experience The subordinates report that they have not found a living person in the bunkers they have occupied."

  Knowing that the front is progressing smoothly, Fomenko began to redeploy troops and prepare to wait for Belkin's troops to completely eliminate the enemies in the fortress area, and then the whole division will continue to move forward.

  The 1st Battalion of Tanks fighting in the fortress area, after receiving the support of the infantry, launched an attack on the enemy's bunker again. The Germans tried to blow up more tanks again, but this time the infantry following the tanks made their plan come to nothing. The anti-tank fighters rushing out from various places, before they could get close to the tank, were either headshot by the sharpshooter hiding in the distance, or were smashed into a sieve by the infantry behind the tank.

  When the German commander found that his anti-tank fighters could not approach the Soviet tanks at all, he was a little panicked. Looking at the bunkers in the fort area, they were destroyed one by one under the attack of Soviet tanks, and they fell into despair.

   However, as a commander, he did not choose to retreat or surrender to the Soviet army, but called the commander of the fortress to report the situation here to him. Finally, he said in a pleading tone: "Your Excellency, the fortress area can't last long. I beg you to order the artillery to shoot at me. Even if our entire army is wiped out, I will drag a bunch of Russians to be buried with me."

  The fortress commander hesitated for a moment when he heard his subordinate's request, and then said: "Okay, I will immediately order the artillery to fire at the fort area, destroy the Russians who rushed inside, and resolve the crisis for you."

  (end of this chapter)