At dusk, in the wilderness on the east bank of the Haraha River, a unit with olive green as the main color is advancing smoothly in combat formation. The forward was the main chariot C-35, which was currently in service in the Soviet Army. Its design drew on the main structure of the "Celtic Knight" and the power system of the American "Rangers", and it won the reputation of "Steel Cossack" with its excellent comprehensive performance.

The fast light chariots that the Soviet army particularly praised in the mid-to-earth 1930s. These chariots with small-caliber artillery as their main weapon have defects such as weak firepower and thin armor, but they are very suitable for rapid interspersed operations in large depths. In the initial offensive operation of the Second Battle of Halaha, they showed unparalleled maneuverability.

In addition to the C-35, BC-3 and BC-4 chariots, C-30 and KV-1 can also be seen in this Soviet armored force. These two chariots were classified as "heavy chariots" in the equipment division of the Soviet army. However, according to the standards of Western allies, the C-30 can only be regarded as a medium-sized chariot, and the 40-ton KV-1 was an absolute steel heavy cavalry. By the spring of 1942, more than 400 such successful heavy chariots were equipped with Soviet troops, and the second Battle of Halaha was their first appearance on the battlefield.

Following the chariot troops, dozens of armored vehicles of various models and trucks were loaded with Soviet infantry wearing khaki combat uniforms. Such "mechanization" is still a certain distance from real mechanized combat, but compared with the pure infantry combat mode during the last war, it has been a very impressive progress. Many armored vehicles and trucks are towed artillery of various caliber behind them, especially the Soviet Army, which has not been equipped with assault guns and self-propelled artillery on a large scale, needs to rely on these old and strong artillery in field battles and in tough battles.

Unlike the situation of the first Battle of Halaha, the Soviet Russian Air Force launched a large-scale operation and took only half a day to basically clear the aviation power of the Japanese and Manchu troops around Hailar, thus firmly grasping the battlefield air supremacy and giving strong support to its own ground forces.

However, the extension of combat distance and the extension of combat time obviously affected the operational efficiency of the Soviet Air Force. In the afternoon, the two sides launched an extremely fierce offensive and defensive battle. Although the Soviet Air Force frequently dispatched supportive troops to support the attacking forces, it failed to achieve the ideal effect. In the evening, half of the city of Alshan was still guarded by the Japanese army. The 1st Mechanized Army repeatedly attacked with more than 200 chariots and tens of thousands of infantrymen. As a result, it was like a hammer hitting a rock. It took so much effort but progressed slowly.

As night gradually descended, the Soviet armored troops that were conducting roundabout operations on the east side of Alshan were getting closer and closer to their destination. Suddenly, the whistling shells fell into the marching queue like raindrops. This unpredictable strike caused them to lose vehicles and personnel. Under the command of the officers, the troops finally retreated beyond the range of enemy artillery. At this moment, hundreds of Japanese soldiers suddenly launched attacks from the flanks with the support of combat vehicles and armored cars, and the battlefield situation immediately developed in a direction that was not conducive to the Soviet army. Amid the loud sound of tracks, the Type 97 chariot equipped with 57mm cannons kept spitting out the blazing red flames, and several chariots and armored vehicles painted with red five-star logos were beaten into fireballs in a blink of an eye!

At the critical moment, the Soviet infantry entered defensive operations and used anti-war cannons of different calibers, such as 37mm, 45mm and 57mm, to fire from a slightly longer distance. For Japanese tanks that were not as thick as the KV series, the Soviet gunners could still play a certain role in curbing the Japanese tanks, but when the two sides were fiercely fighting fire, dozens of Type 94 light combat vehicles rushed towards the full speed, and in a blink of an eye, they rushed into the left wing of the Soviet army, stirring the firepower that the Russians had finally organized into a paste...

The flares rose and fell, and the flames rose and fell one after another. In this dark and bright wilderness, Matsutaro Ishihara poked half of his body out of the hatch of the chariot, staring anxiously at the front, while praying uneasily that his driver, Kojiro Hirano, could eliminate the mechanical failure of the chariot as soon as possible.

Hahahahahahaha…

For Japanese officers and soldiers, the sound of the three-year-old heavy machine gun in Taisho is very familiar. This infantry machine gun team is lying less than twenty meters away from them. In most battles in the war of aggression against China, Japanese chariots were destroyed by the infantry of the Chinese defenders. Because of this, Japanese infantry developed the habit of closely cooperating with the chariot troops. As long as two legs can keep up, the infantry almost always stayed with their own chariots, but few people fought directly on chariots like the Russians.

Almost silently, a flare appeared in the air dozens of meters. When it shone through the wilderness with its blazing light, its eyes used to darkness suddenly lost its previous keenness. However, as an "old driver" with 10 years of experience, the Japanese Army Chariot Teaching Brigade's best technical sergeant, Matsutaro Ishihara keenly sensed that the danger was approaching. When the first ignorant black shadow appeared in his sight, he quickly loaded a 57mm armor-piercing projectile into the barrel chamber. According to the standard test results of the technical department, the main gun of the Type 97 tank was able to penetrate 50mm high-quality armor at a distance of 1,200 meters when using the Type 2 armor-piercing projectile, which was enough to kill all Soviet tanks except kv-1.

The Soviet tanks appearing on the right side were less than 100 meters away. Almost as the flames ejected from the muzzle, the flying shells accurately hit its turret. After the first explosion, the Soviet chariot in front of him had a second explosion in an instant, and the huge fireball seemed to ignite a large powder barrel. The rising flames not only turned the Soviet chariot into a burning fireball, but also illuminated a large area around. The Soviet soldiers wearing steel helmets and holding rifles were immediately visible.

As Japanese machine guns and rifle bullets flew from several directions like raindrops, screams suddenly appeared in the crowd.

Ishihara suppressed the excitement in his heart. Because the battle scene here was quite chaotic, even the Soviet soldiers who were close at hand might not realize that the shells were fired from this hidden position, so he decided to continue to "wait for the rabbit" here. Sure enough, the Soviet chariot in front was still burning, and a black shadow suddenly appeared in his sight. Without time to identify its model, Ishihara loaded and aimed again, and then fired decisively!

Accompanied by a dull sound, the Type 97 chariot shook slightly backwards, and the dark red shell hit the target at high speed. The naked eye could fully judge its hit, but the explosions that followed were expected did not appear. The dark red shell actually changed its direction and exploded from a distance after a while!

"Damn..." Ishihara secretly exclaimed. Judging from the huge outline of the black shadow, he might have encountered the legendary Russian heavy chariot, which is said to be an ordinary artillery that has no choice but to do anything about it.

At this gate, the vanishing tank suddenly roared clearly, and Ishihara hurriedly shouted at the driver: "Quick, go back! Go back!"

Amid the familiar roar, the chariot trembled twice, and quickly retreated with the clanging sound of track friction. The Soviet chariot in front was driving past his burning companion. Then, the huge body stopped and the huge turret began to turn.

"Stop!" Ishihara roared. After a moment of adjustment, his 57mm cannon burst out with a ball of flame again, which also exposed the direction of the chariot to the opponent's gunner.

Boom! Boom!

This time, after the shells flew out, they exploded directly while hitting the target, and a fire ball was set off to make the attackers excited. However, in a blink of an eye, they found that the guy's turret was still moving slowly...

"Forward! Forward!" Ishihara hurriedly issued instructions to the driver. Based on the instinct of escape, the driver had actually made the activation operation, but it seemed too late, and a deadly flame suddenly burst out from the huge gun mouth.

Although it is not certain how big the caliber of the opponent's tank gun is, the armor of the Type 97 chariot is simply unable to withstand such a close-range attack, even if the opponent is loading a howitzer. Out of his instinct in despair, Ishihara hurried to close the hatch, and his hand stretched out suddenly felt a storm, and his head suddenly flashed: the enemy's shells were hit by a miss!

A moment later, the shells fired by the Soviet Russian chariot straited the artillery and made a deafening explosion sound in the rear. The Type 97 chariot that survived from death rushed forward wildly. Ishihara's idea was not to follow the other party to the bull, but to go around to a relatively weak position behind it, such as the engine at the rear of the car.

Running into the open and platform wasteland, the 97-type tank quickly exceeded 30 kilometers per hour. Although it is far inferior to the 50+ enemy BC-4 light tank, compared with the opponent in front of it, this speed is enough for it to perform bold interweaving maneuvers.

In the night battle environment, gunfire, cannons, explosions and shouts of killing, all kinds of sounds mixed in a mess, dark red shells flew around, and the air was filled with the breath of death. The effect of finding targets through observation holes and periscopes was not good, so Ishihara still took the risk of sticking his head out of the cabin. He was concentrating on the surroundings, but was stunned by the sudden series of "jingle" sounds. The sparks caused by the collision between the two were more than ten centimeters away. Although he was not sure whether this was a stray bullet or a targeted attack, his heart still skipped a beat. If the bullet's trajectory was a little bit off, his head would probably have turned into a rotten melon!

Before Ishihara could breathe a sigh of relief, driver Kojiro Hirano exclaimed: "There is a chariot in front!"

Ishihara quickly turned his eyes to the observation hole. The painted colors of the chariots on both sides were easily confused in the darkness, and in this encounter, it was already the case that you had me and I had you.

He was either his own or his enemy. Ishihara didn't dare to take his luck. He quickly adjusted his turret and aimed his muzzle at the black shadow in front of him, ready to fire the armor-piercing bomb at any time.
Chapter completed!