Chapter 63 The Fox and the Hound (Part 1)

When the smoke overflowing from the muzzle quickly dissipated with a cold morning wind, the F-34 2mm tank gun protruding from a seemingly inconspicuous dilapidated stable at the end of the village was filled with black holes. The muzzle of the gun finally appeared in the eyes of Wittmann, who had been staring closely.

"Found it! Klink, in the dilapidated stable at the end of the village two hundred meters away at one o'clock, there is what looks like a Soviet tank. Load high-explosive bombs and blast him out of the bunker!"

"As you wish, boss."

"One high-explosive round, load it up!"

Accompanied by a loud roar from the loader from the rear of the crew, Klink, who quickly turned the main gun steering gear and the height adjustment wheel in his hand, almost in one go, aimed the muzzle at what Wittmann described. direction.

"Good luck, Ivan."

Click——

In the soft whisper, a 75mm Type 34 high-explosive round suddenly rushed out of the barrel and shot straight towards the target. This round came from the 24 times caliber 75mm on the Type 3A assault gun commanded by Wittmann. Although the high-explosive shells fired by the short-barreled howitzers only have a muzzle velocity of 550 meters per second, at the current shooting distance of less than 200 meters, it can be said that they are fleeting and hit immediately when fired. It's nothing to worry about.

boom--

The 75mm grenade containing 680 grams of TNT high-explosive charge in the warhead was immediately blown away by a burst of fire and the entire dilapidated stable was blown away. Along with the burning withered grass that the flames could not completely burn out, slowly rose from the mid-air. Falling down, a T3476 medium tank numbered 177 was completely exposed on the battlefield after losing the cover of the stable.

"Nice shot, Klink! Prepare armor-piercing rounds, we can't let this T34 slip away from us like this!"

Before Wittmann finished speaking, the extremely bad words from Lieutenant Heizenauer suddenly rang out from the communicator next to his ear.

"Damn it, Sergeant Michel! I told you that your assault gun platoon should not open fire and enter the battle without my order, don't you understand!? Fall back immediately and let the tanks and infantry take care of these Ivans! When I need fire support, I I'll call you, do you understand?"

""

After hearing the terrible curse that suddenly sounded in my ears, I felt speechless for a while. I never thought that my order to fire would disrupt the battle plan that Lieutenant Heizenauer had already formulated. He had a strong fighting spirit in his heart but had to do it. After forcibly suppressing it, Wittmann had no choice but to obey the order.

"Understood, Lieutenant, I will do as you are told."

"Attention, assault artillery platoon, stop firing and stay put, pay attention to make way for the infantry!"

The four No. 3A assault guns located at the rear of the entire mechanized battle group stopped advancing immediately under Wittmann's order.

At the same time, the SDKFZ251 half-track personnel carriers located in the center of the entire battle group immediately opened their doors under Lieutenant Heizenauer's order. The SS soldiers holding Mauser 98K and MP40 submachine guns immediately began to assume an attack posture under the leadership of their respective squad leaders, following the cover of their own tanks and personnel carriers and rushing towards the small village that was already within easy reach. .

"Armored company, armor-piercing bullets suppress that Soviet T34 tank! Aim at its tracks and try to paralyze this guy in place!"

Lieutenant Heizenauer, who is in charge of leading the attack here, wants to paralyze the enemy T34 tank that has scored the first kill, but Malashenko, who is currently in the commander's command position in the turret, also understands the tank The importance of mobility.

"Seryozha, reverse the car! Back up at full speed and get us out of here!"

"Nicolai, the machine guns are suppressing the German infantry. Try to keep them behind the tanks and don't let them rush over and move around!"

Da da da--

Following Malashenko's order to direct his crew members, the knowing Seryosha immediately used all his strength to pull the joystick in his arms and drove the 28-ton armored tank slowly towards the Back away.

At the same time, Nikolai, the electromechanical technician who also received the order from Malashenko, also began to pull the trigger in his hand, manipulating the 62mm DT light machine gun located at the front of the T34 tank body, and fired at those who were about to The SS soldiers who approached this lonely T34 tank returned the favor.

"What are you doing!? Wolf! That damn Ivan tank is reversing and escaping to beat our infantry. If you don't fire, how long are you waiting for!?"

As Lieutenant Heizenauer from the commander's position asked loudly, the gunner who was struggling to shake the turret steering gear in his hand to rotate the turret immediately responded with a tense face.

"He's reversing! Heizenauer! I've tried my best, but it's not easy to aim at a moving target. Give me some more time!"

The Panzer III tank's turret steering gear, which relies solely on manpower for manual driving, is driven as fast as an old cow pulling a broken car even if it is used with all its strength. The Panzer III tank itself, which does not have a dual-flow transmission system, does not support the in-situ hull. The steering is used to assist in accelerating the rotation of the turret. The Panzer III tank is relatively fast when aiming at a stationary target. Once it hits a moving target and wants to accurately aim, it will undoubtedly make things worse.

Taking advantage of the golden opportunity of those Panzer III tanks with slowly rotating turrets that had not yet completely turned their muzzles, Malashenko, who had already pointed the muzzles at the Germans due to launching a sneak attack from the dark, immediately after Kirill finished loading, Then he stepped on the launch pedal again.

"Taste this! Hans!"

boom--

Another BR-350B hooded armor-piercing grenade came out instantly with flames accompanied by Malashenko's low roar, but because the driver Seryosha was controlling the car body, it reversed at full speed at 6 kilometers per hour. Due to the lack of future high-tech equipment such as the main gun's two-way stabilizer, the main gun followed the car body when reversing off-road and kept shaking. Malashenko, who missed the first time, could not be as accurate as before. hit the target.

Ding-ding——

The shell grazed the outer armor of the turret and finally ricocheted and hit the ground, raising dust. The huge sound echoed in the narrow turret like a bell ringing in the ears. I realized that I had just walked through the sea in front of the gate of hell. Lieutenant Zenauer couldn't help but his heart skipped a beat. Realizing that the gunner operating the T34 tank was definitely difficult to deal with, Heizenauer immediately shouted and gave another order.

"Damn it, Wolf! If you don't fire, I'll do it! Those Ivans have put the sickle of death on our necks!"

"Shut up! Don't push! The more you push, the more chaotic it becomes! I know what to do, just let me focus on aiming, okay!?"

Accompanied by the loud and quarrelsome conversation between the commander and the gunner, Wolff, who desperately shook the wheel steering wheel in his hand, finally aimed the black muzzle at the target.