Chapter 386 Death in battle

The driver suffered severe injuries and lost consciousness. His life or death is unknown. This is the worst news on a fierce battlefield where fierce armored confrontations broke out.

In principle, the driver of a tank can be regarded as the top priority of a five-man crew as he is solely responsible for the driving and steering of the entire tank.

After losing the commander, he could still manage to fight without being paralyzed on the spot by relying on the tacit cooperation accumulated in daily life. The death of the loader could also allow the commander to temporarily take over the responsibility of loading artillery shells and continue to maintain the basic firing ability. Even if the gunner died, the commander could still maintain the basic fire ability. The driver reacted immediately and reversed to retreat to avoid the impact. It was no big deal that the machine gunner in the co-pilot position died.

But the worst case scenario is that the driver dies on the spot.

A group of wild dogs in a fierce fight on the African savannah will not show mercy just because you have lost your legs and lost the ability to move. Lieutenant Colonel Walter's vehicle, which has no mobility at all, is now a fixed fort that cannot move. Walter, who knew how serious the situation was, shouted immediately without even thinking about it.

"Move him to your position and replace him, Nestor! Leave him alone for now! You will be responsible for driving the tank, do you understand what I mean!?"

I almost didn't expect that Lieutenant Colonel Walter, who usually talked and laughed like a brother to the entire armored regiment, would give such a loud and roaring order with a straight face.

With those cold and ruthless words echoing in his ears, Machine Gunner Nester looked at Walter's face, whose face was as warm as the words. The violent explosions and the roar of the main gun that were still coming from outside the car seemed to have drifted out of the sky without a trace.

"But Cook just passed out. He is not dead yet and needs to be rescued. I can't do this. I can't watch him die like this."

"Damn it! It's nothing, Sergeant! If you don't follow my orders, everyone in the car will die, including you!"

Compared to Machine Gunner Nest, who had a blank expression full of personal emotions, Lieutenant Colonel Walter, who had a rigid face and was about to eat the person in front of him alive, was almost crazy.

"I am the chief and you are the subordinate. I have given you an order now and you need to carry it out! If you can't do it, I will find someone else to do it. The premise is that you immediately lift the cover above your head and get out of your position. ! I don’t want to hear you use your seven-week machine gunner training course to make any excuses in front of me, tell me the answer with your actual actions within five seconds!”

Looking at the ferocious expression of Lieutenant Colonel Walter who was about to pull out a gun and kill him, the young machine gunner who was completely stunned and could not imagine what would happen if he refused could not help but swallowed subconsciously. His strong desire to survive was only worthy of his death. The code of obedience drove the stiff body to reach out to his comrades whose life or death was uncertain.

"I will save you. I will definitely find a way to save you, Cook! Before that, you must hold on. I really don't mean to ignore you. You have to believe that I really do."

He muttered words that he could hardly hear clearly, and moved the completely unconscious heavy body away from his arms. He placed this fellow comrade who also came from his hometown in Bavaria tremblingly in his original position. The young machine gunner who took over the joystick stained with warm blood seemed to be electrocuted and did not dare to hold it tightly in his hand.

"Do something now, Sergeant! You know what to do, don't let me remind you, now!"

Lieutenant Colonel Walter managed to reconnect the disconnected brain nerves with his still angry and loud rebuke. With trembling cheeks, he subconsciously raised his head and looked out the driver's window as he had learned in the previous training course. Nest's field of vision was filled with dark red viscous objects, and he was once again at a loss as to what to do.

"Damn it! Is your arm broken? You can wear any clothes or sleeves. Wipe what is in front of your eyes and see clearly the group of Russians who are firing at us on the opposite side. If you don't let me talk nonsense to you anymore, then open the hatch yourself. Get out!"

call out--

Boom——

The angry Lieutenant Colonel Walter's words were once again interrupted by a violent explosion.

In just ten seconds, I couldn't count how many times this was the loud explosion of a tank beside me. I don't know if it was caused by the impact just now or for some other reason. My eyes were filled with bright red bloodshot eyes, almost crazy, and I had already moved. Lieutenant Colonel Walter, who had murderous thoughts, gradually came up with the plan to drive the tank himself.

"Yeah me, I just didn't think about it that much, I'll just wipe it off"

He reluctantly raised his right hand, which was still shaking violently, and wiped away the scarlet substance on the driver's window in front of him with the cloth of his cuff. The narrow and limited field of vision with just a gap finally appeared in front of him again. As a co-pilot machine gunner, he had received basic tank training. Nister, who was taking the driving training course, finally regained a trace of the unfamiliar feeling he had once had.

"The gear lever, the accelerator pedal, the direction lever, this, that, yes, that's what it looks like."

With the vague feeling that he was not sure whether what he was doing was correct, he began to try to get himself into the state. The stiff movement of gently pushing the driving joystick in his hand and pressing the accelerator pedal made No. 3, who had been in deathly silence, rush forward again to confirm. Lieutenant Colonel Walter, who found that the tank's mobility was still intact and did not suffer any serious injuries, immediately spoke again.

"Okay, that's it, stop now! Keep the tank stationary, Koch fires at those Russians, Bolt is ready to fire armor-piercing rounds, and you, Nester, are ready to operate the tank at my command!"

The brief chaos that sounded long but actually only lasted for more than 20 seconds finally came to an end. Walter's car, which was missing one crew member, finally returned to combat status. Like Iushkin, he simultaneously controlled the turret steering gear and the steering wheel in his hand. The gunner of the main gun high and low machine immediately pulled the trigger.

"Go to hell, you dirty Bolsheviks!"

boom--

call out--

The sharp Type 40 tungsten-core armor-piercing projectile, accompanied by a muzzle blast of flames and a screaming sound, hit the front mantlet armor of Lavrinenko's vehicle with extremely precise hit accuracy.

The German gunner, who was vindictive and wanted to avenge his comrades, then saw a scene in his magnifying glass that was simply incomprehensible to him.

The Type 40 tungsten core armor-piercing bullet that successfully hit the armor without producing any ricochet was indeed effective, but the scene of it being nailed to the target like a toy dart made it even more ironic and merciless slap in the face.