Red Moscow

  Chapter 571 Bad omen

  According to the idea of ​​the German tank commander, it is entirely possible for his tank to fire another shell before the Soviet spherical tank stops and fires. Unexpectedly, something unexpected happened, the opponent actually fired while marching. The tank commander only felt his tank vibrate twice, and then he didn't know anything. His last thought in life was: How could the strange tank of the Russians have two guns?

  The ball tank bypassed the burning German tank and continued to charge forward. Tanks in this era need to stop before they can fire, but spherical tanks can fire on the move, which gives them a lot of advantages. In addition, it has two tank guns, that is to say, it and the German tank fire at the same time, and the chance of hitting is twice as high as that of the other side.

  Although the distance between the two sides was only fifty or sixty meters, the armor-piercing projectiles fired by the German army at the ball tanks either missed or ricocheted. On the contrary, the two guns of the ball tank fire at the same target at the same time, even if one of the armor-piercing shells misses, the other can hit the target.

  Ball tanks, like wolves rushing into a flock of sheep, carried out a unilateral massacre of German tanks. When the German army was fully dealing with the difficult ball tanks, the two T-34s serving as cover missions also lost no time in firing at the German tanks from the side, destroying one tank after another like a target.

   A few minutes later, the tank squad that rushed into the school while taking advantage of the smoke was completely wiped out. The dozen or so tanks that were destroyed were parked and burned in the open space in front of the teaching building. Seeing that the situation was not good, the German infantry following the tank turned around and ran back wherever they dared to stay. Lieutenant Valenra saw that all the German tanks had been destroyed, how could he easily let go of the enemy's infantry, so he rushed up with full power.

  The spherical tank had two side-by-side machine guns on the front and one machine gun on each side. After it quickly rushed into the German infantry formation, it began to shoot wildly. The strange tanks that can't even be destroyed by tank guns, and the German soldiers with only light weapons, how can they cope with it?

  Seeing the ball tanks showing their prowess, a company of soldiers rushed out of the fortifications of the teaching building and the main entrance of the school, followed the T-34 tanks coming from elsewhere, and launched a countercharge towards the enemy.

   This battle without any suspense will soon end. Except for a dozen clever German soldiers who hid in the bomb crater when the situation was not good, and raised their hands to surrender as soon as the Soviet soldiers rushed up, the rest were either killed by random guns or crushed into meat sauce by the tracks.

   After destroying the invading enemy, the soldiers surrounded the ball tank one after another, and carefully looked at this strange tank that had made great achievements. Some soldiers said with emotion: "If we can have a hundred of these tanks, we will definitely be able to wipe out all the enemies who attack Stalingrad."

   As soon as his voice fell, it caused laughter from the surrounding soldiers. The company commander walked up to him, raised his hand and slapped his helmet, and said angrily: "Think about these useless things, clean up the battlefield quickly, and collect all the weapons that can be used." Then , he turned to face the onlookers, and shouted, "And you, don't dawdle, clean up the battlefield quickly, or the German shelling will start again later."

  While the commanders and fighters of the first company were cleaning the battlefield, Vanya, who finished counting the battle results, immediately called Sokov and reported emotionally: "Comrade Brigadier Commander, our battle results have been counted."

  When the ball tanks were fighting, because there was still a lot of smoke covering the school, Sokov, who was standing on the rooftop of the club, couldn't see the battle clearly at all. Hearing the call from Vanya at this moment, I felt a little uneasy: "Comrade Captain, tell me quickly, how is our victory?"

  "In the just-concluded battle, our army destroyed a total of nine German tanks, killed between 140 and 170 German soldiers, and captured 15 people..."

   "Wait a minute, Comrade Captain." Hearing this, Sokov couldn't help interjecting and asked, "Why isn't there an accurate number of German soldiers killed?"

Hearing Sokov's question, Vanya gave a wry smile, and then said: "Comrade Brigadier, you don't know that many German soldiers were crushed by our tanks, so we couldn't count the exact numbers. number."

   "Okay, I see." Sokov said: "Continue to report, what is the casualty situation of our army?"

"There are no casualties in our army." After Vanya blurted out, he may feel that his expression was not accurate enough, and added: "If there are no casualties, it is not necessarily true. A T-34 tank was destroyed by the enemy, and all members of the tank crew died. In addition, that strange tank was hit seven or eight times by German armor-piercing shells, leaving several dents..."

  After listening to Vanya's report, Sokov said to Bely who was standing aside: "Comrade Colonel, please inform Lieutenant Valenra to withdraw the ball tank immediately."

"Withdraw?!" Bely asked with some puzzlement: "Comrade Brigadier, the ball tank has just achieved such a great result, it can stay in the school and continue to deal with the invading German tanks, why should it be withdrawn?" Come?"

"One of the enemy's assault troops has been wiped out, do you think the enemy will have no reaction?" Seeing that Bely did not understand what he meant, Sokov explained to him: "They will definitely use heavy artillery bombardment, or send out planes. Bombing. A ball tank may be able to stop armor-piercing shells fired by enemy tanks, but can it withstand heavy artillery and aircraft bombardment?"

"Uh, that doesn't seem to be possible." When Bely thought that the ball tank might be destroyed by the enemy's shelling or bombing, he couldn't stay any longer, turned around and walked towards the radio operator, and at the same time said, "I'll notify you immediately. Lieutenant Valerie withdrew."

While Bely was in contact with Lieutenant Valenra, Sokov said into the microphone: "Comrade Lieutenant, in order to prevent possible German retaliation, the ball tanks will be withdrawn soon. To stick to the mission of the school, just It can be done with a company and a platoon of tanks, you understand?"

From the just-concluded battle, Vanya has seen the power of the ball tank, and understands that once the Germans know the existence of this big killer, they will definitely find a way to destroy it, so it is the most sensible to withdraw it at this moment Choice, he quickly replied: "I understand."

"Also," Sokov continued to exhort: "Let the soldiers hurry up and clean up the battlefield and collect as many weapons and ammunition as possible. After all, our brigade has a lot of German equipment and cannot get supplies from the rear. It can be replenished by means of seizure.”

   Regardless of the fierce fighting in other areas, Cuikov is always worried about the Red October Factory. Once the German army breaks through the factory, it only takes a few minutes for the tanks to rush to his command department, so he called Sokov as soon as he was free, and asked straight to the point: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, where are you going?" How is the situation? Is the line of defense stable?"

"Yes, Comrade Commander." From Chuikov's tone of voice, Sokov guessed that today's counterattack was not going well, and felt that it was necessary to report the victory he had just won to the other party so that Chuikov would not be defeated. The mood is too depressed: "We just smashed the German attack on the school and destroyed nine German tanks and a company of infantry."

   "What, wiped out nine German tanks and a company of infantry?" After listening to Sokov's report, Chuikov felt unbelievable. But he thought about it again, Sokov used more than forty T-34 tanks in the Red October factory, and he sent him an excellent tank commander like Colonel Bely. It is also reasonable to achieve such a victory Regarding the matter in the middle, he nodded and asked casually: "How about the casualties of our army?"

  "A T-34 tank was destroyed by an enemy tank, and all the crew members died." Sokov said sadly: "Otherwise, we would have won completely."

  Chuikov was stunned, and after a long silence, he asked tentatively: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, what do you mean to say that you only lost one tank after achieving such a great result?"

   "Yes," Sokov replied affirmatively: "If this tank is not lost, I can proudly say that we wiped out the incoming enemy without any casualties."

  Through Sokov's report, Chuikov suddenly had a new idea. Since other offensive areas are not going well, if Sokov's troops are put into battle, can the situation be reversed? Thinking of this, he tentatively asked: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, if I order your troops to attack the enemy's defensive position immediately, do you think it will work?"

  The smile on Sokov's face gradually disappeared. He knew what Chuikov's words meant. If he heard Chuikov's question during the final counteroffensive in Stalingrad, he would definitely agree without hesitation. But the counter-offensive that is going on right now is an attack that is destined to end in failure. If he throws his troops in, he will only lose his troops in vain. Before the counter-offensive day came, I could only take the remnants of the infantry brigade and stand on the Mamayev post to watch the friendly troops make contributions.

   Seeing Sokov’s delay in replying, Chuikov couldn’t help feeling dissatisfied with him, so he coughed heavily and asked in a stern tone: “How is it, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov? Do you think you can carry out this task?”

   This has already been said, if Sokov continues to shirk, maybe Cuikov will change his generals in a fit of anger, and he will have no good end. So he could only bite the bullet and ask: "Comrade Commander, I wonder where you plan to let our troops attack?"

  (end of this chapter)