.Minsk, German Front Command.

After learning that the Model Rapid Armored Brigade had exchanged fire with the Russian army in the suburbs of Smolensk, Oli hurried to the combat hall of the command center. Only three minutes later, Chen Tian, ​​wearing a simple outfit, also came.

Seeing Oli changing his sights back and forth between the small map on the table and the large map on the wall, Chen Tian approached and said:

"Have our troops been ambushed by Russian troops?"

"Yes, your majesty, and it is very likely that the ambushing us is a Russian tank unit!"

Oli turned around, without much anxiety or anxiety on his face. After giving a serious military salute, his eyes returned to the map.

"Can it be the Third Armored Division of the Russian Army?" Chen Tian raised his head. The place near Smolensk on the large map had long been occupied by various arrows and circles. The battle took place at the tip of one of the arrows.

"Impossible!" Oli shook his head, "General Guderian's advance troops have discovered the trace of the Russian armored force! Unless the Russians divide the last armored division in their hands into two, there is almost no benefit in this way..."

In connection with the information we received before, Chen Tian asked again: "Then what we encountered was most likely those independent armored regiments formed by the Russian army in the Far East?"

Ao replied in a speculative tone: "It is very likely, and there is more than one independent armored regiment! According to the latest battle reports sent back from the front line, the artillery fire encountered by our rapid armored brigade is very fierce. So far, tanks equivalent to one tank company have lost their combat effectiveness!"

"Including the IV tank?" Chen Tian asked closely.

"I'm afraid yes!" Oli said helplessly, "It seems that the Russians have a considerable understanding of our deep-seated combat, so they deployed heavy troops at that position! But judging from the current situation, those Russian tanks have not received support from a large number of infantrymen, which is good news for us!"

Chen Tian frowned and thought for a while, "Have you ordered the Air Force to go out?"

"Yes!" Ollie replied, "two fighter squadrons and one bomber squadron were dispatched, but at night we were restricted in horizontal bombing and normal dive bombing. The effect of the air strike is probably undesirable! In addition, the terrain there is relatively complex, and the moonlight and starlight are not bright tonight!"

"Now it's dawn..." Chen Tian looked at his watch, "There are at least 6 hours left!"

"Time is more beneficial to the Russian army!" Oli added.

"How about using signal flares to supplement the incendiary bomb attack?" Chen Tian asked, standing beside him.

Oli's tone was a bit tactful, "As far as we were doing the exercise, the effect of using it at night was very unsatisfactory, and it greatly increased the chance of accidentally hurting one's own place! Overall, the effect of the aviation force's night support to the ground is still a technical difficulty!"

Chen Tian thought about it again, "That's the case... by the way! The Russian army avoided our air force by covering the night. Then our infantry and assault guns can also approach their tanks through the night, so that infantry anti-tank detachments carrying anti-tank weapons can exert their power!"

Ollie stood up straight, "Your Majesty, if our frontline commander is qualified enough, I think he has done so!"

Chen Tian nodded, feeling a little happy and a little embarrassed. Although his talent in commanding the troops on the battlefield is recognized, he has not personally been on the front line to command the troops for many years after ascending the throne. As the king of a country, he cannot always pay attention to the latest tactical details of the grassroots troops. Therefore, the questions he asked seem a little novice. It is no wonder that the highest commander in history interferes with the decisions of grassroots commanders at the same time, sometimes causing some ridiculous things. He even turns victory into a draw, a draw into failure, and even directly turns a win that is within his reach into a "miraculous" major reversal, because they are not grassroots commanders. Many times they don't understand the specific situations that occur on the battlefield at all.

Chen Tian then remembered that the main purpose of his visit to the front line was to visit and comfort the generals and soldiers on the front line, rather than "support" the command and judgment of the generals. Perhaps just now, he was a little excited when he heard the sudden appearance of the Russian armored troops. Thinking of this, Chen Tianan sat down quietly and asked the attendant to get him a cup of coffee, and then watched Oli and his staff busy.

On the other hand, the battle was still going on. The German pioneer tank battalion, which suffered heavy losses due to the sudden and fierce artillery fire of the Russian army, has stabilized. More than a dozen destroyed tanks and assault guns are still burning in the highways and nearby fields. The remaining IV tanks of the battalion either found piles, trees or ditches to cover them. Or they were far away from their thickest front armor towards the other side, so even if Russian artillery shells landed near them or hit them directly, they were not easily injured, let alone destroyed!

There are more than a dozen equally obvious fires in the fields of about 500 to 1,500 meters ahead of these IV tanks. Those were Russian tanks that were trying to rush to the highway from their own positions not long ago. Unfortunately, once they left the previously hidden positions, they were soon exposed to the flames of German flares. What followed was the fierce artillery fire of German tanks and assault guns. The facts prove that although the firepower of the tanks jointly manufactured by Russia and Japan is worthy of praise, the defense is still hopelessly poor. Russia's backward industry is combined with Japan, which lacks original interest in tanks and has a steel performance urgently needs to be strengthened. The technical content of its tanks is even less than the United States 264 years ago. The best heavy tanks in the United States actually made the German 75mm gun unable to penetrate its armor from the front 500 meters away. Now, Russian and Japanese tanks can only rely on the terrain to avoid German shells 800 meters away!

Russian tanks temporarily retreated to the position, but the firing between the two sides was still fierce. Under the cover of the firepower of the Deleted Tank, the weaker armored tanks and assault guns were able to retreat to safer places to continue firing. At the same time, six howitzers companies pulled by trucks in the Rapid Armored Brigade began to use their 105mm howitzers to fire at the Russian positions after completing the launch preparations. The German artillery fire momentum was greatly strengthened!

The situation stabilized slightly, but Model did not intend to retreat with his troops. He knew that his troops were responsible for quickly interspersing to cut off the retreat of Smolensk defenders. He must not give up because of this small blow. So while studying the opponent's situation, he began to organize a counterattack.

The scattered infantry troops did not find any trace of the Russian army elsewhere around, which made Model feel at ease to draw the IV tanks in the middle of the four tank companies to the front. Immediately afterwards, he assigned tasks to the III tanks, assault guns and anti-tank infantry of the vanguard tank battalion and the four tank companies in the middle of the middle of the tanks, and half of the assault guns were left to provide fire support to the IV tanks.

The other half, together with some of the iii tanks and some infantry units, detoured to the Russian flanks, and more than 20 iii tanks were left as mobile reserves.

Next, the iii tank, assault guns and infantry were grouped more detailed under the arrangement of officers. Three iii tanks formed an armored cover group, three assault guns and four semi-tracked armored vehicle guns formed a special armored anti-tank team, an anti-tank infantry platoon plus an ordinary infantry platoon formed an infantry anti-tank team. After the marshalling, these groups surrounded the two wings of the woods where the Russian army was located in the dark.

Although it was not his first combat operation, Sergeant Thomas Oakman, who stretched out half of his body to the hatch of the top of the assault gun, still felt an unstoppable excitement. As a veteran, he participated in the German-US war 964 years ago and also witnessed the transformation of the German Army's anti-tank weapons after that war. In 1924, the German Army's anti-tank weapons included 37mm light anti-tank guns, 75mm medium anti-tank guns, assault guns, anti-tank grenades and anti-tank explosive packages. These weapons were of a certain amount in the German armored troops and infantry units.

The disadvantages of the 57mm anti-tank gun were poor, the 75mm anti-tank gun was too bulky, and the anti-tank grenade and explosive package had relatively high requirements for infantry were exposed one by one. After summarizing the previous battles in the war, the German Army decisively canceled the two special anti-tank guns, 37mm and 75mm guns, the 57mm gun was converted into light anti-aircraft guns, and the 75mm gun was incorporated into the infantry field artillery company as firepower support weapons. Only assault guns with the best combat effectiveness and portable anti-tank grenades were retained.

By early 1928, the total number of assault guns equipped in the German Army had reached 17,000, of which about 4,000 were equipped as auxiliary vehicles of the tank company to each front-line armored unit. The other 10,000 Type 1918 and the improved Type 1926 became standard fire support vehicles for infantry battalions or above units. Their 75mm guns can not only deal with enemy tanks, but also effectively attack bunkers, machine gun positions, anti-tank gun positions and other obstacles. In addition, the advantages of low cost, short labor hours, rapid movement, and strong firepower are favored by army officers and soldiers.

As a low-level artillery officer of the Rapid Armor Brigade of the 2nd Armored Army, Thomas Oakman commanded a six-man anti-tank gun team before 1924. As these artillery left the German anti-tank weapon sequence one after another, Oakman chose to become an assault gun commander. The Type 1926 under his command is the latest and best assault gun of the German Army. It weighs 18 tons in total and weighs the same as the improved model of the iii tank. However, it is equipped with a 43-diameter 75mm gun with a stronger firepower, and the car is only 2 meters high.

In general, the low profile of the assault guns made them difficult to capture targets and dangerous opponents. The 1918 assault gun, which was slightly inferior to the Type 1926, destroyed no less than 100 US tanks and armored vehicles in the Battle of Oklahoma alone. In the Battle of Dallas, this number even reached an astonishing 337, equivalent to the overall record of the Iii tank and the IV tank.

However, Oakman was worried at this time that the sound of the engine of his assault gun would attract the attention of the Russians. Although the diesel engine has various benefits, the concealment disadvantages are very prominent. The front armor of this assault gun is only as high as that of the iii tank, the armor at the key parts of the side, top and rear are even weaker, and getting shelled is obviously not their strength.

Thinking of this, Oakman couldn't help looking left and back. Two other assault guns and four half-track armored vehicles incorporated into this group were also rumbled forward. In the open carriages on the half-track armored vehicles, they could also see heads wearing steel helmets. In addition to the most basic weapons, each platoon also received two boxes of 24 p2 magnetic anti-tank grenades from the ammunition supply truck to support the "Iron Fist I" type anti-tank grenade launchers. Although this 80mm anti-tank grenade launcher was only equipped with troops at the beginning of the year, in just three months, almost every German infantry was taught how to use this weapon, and a considerable number of people have also launched live ammunition. Most of the soldiers praised this simple and easy-to-operate weapon.

Oakman saw the team commander sitting on another assault gun making a "continue" gesture, so he turned his attention to the front again. At this time, the moon was obscured by a thick cloud, and the starlight was very dim. Only the black outline of a forest could be seen blurredly in front of him, but the distance was impossible to determine. The continuous sound of cannons sounded as far away and very close, and with the noise of the engine and tracks, the ears were filled with these close and distant sounds.

In this case, the German and Russian border troops, which were very close, were unable to find each other as soon as possible, until the distance between the two sides narrowed to the terrible 500 meters!

The first thing that fired was a Russian tank that might feel something was wrong. The Russian army fired another flare, and the dazzling light shone the vast wilderness pale, and the officers and soldiers on both sides were really surprised at this time - this wide field was full of tanks and armored vehicles! The camouflaged German tanks were more like stones hidden in the fields, while the yellow-green Russian tanks were like beetles with indescribable shapes in the grass. In this way, a melee began!

The flares rose into the air one after another, and there was no need to investigate which one was fired by who fired it. In this empty field, neither side had the advantage of geographical advantages. When the distance was close enough, the difference between the artillery between the two sides was largely offset. As long as they could hit the target, the 47mm cannon, 50mm cannon, 57mm cannon and 75mm cannon can all knock the opponent back to the part state. At this time, the two sides were comparing artillery, tactics, calmness, cooperation, etc., and the German side obviously had the advantage of quantity and infantry.

As early as after the Russian army fired the first shot, Oakman got into the cabin, but in this bad light, the effect of finding targets through observation holes and periscopes was not good, so he took the risk again and again to stick his head out of the cabin. The painted colors of the two vehicles were easily confused in the dark, but the appearance of the tanks and armored vehicles on both sides were very different. Any compact tanks were mostly German iii tanks, and those without turrets were definitely German assault guns and armored vehicles. The tall and small tanks of the Russian tanks were both funny and easy to identify. Oakman kept urging the loader to maintain rapid loading, because every gun went down to hit those "beetles".
Chapter completed!