When the smoke overflowing from the muzzle quickly dissipated with a cold morning wind, the F-34 76.2 mm 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 watching 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 bomb, 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, aimed the muzzle at what Wittmann described in his mouth almost in one go.
direction.
"Good luck to you, Ivan."
Click——
A 75mm Sprgr.34 high-explosive round suddenly rushed out of the barrel and shot straight towards the target. This round came from the 24-caliber No. 3A assault gun commanded by Wittmann.
Although the high-explosive shell fired by the 75mm short-barreled howitzer has a muzzle velocity of only 550 meters per second, at the current shooting distance of less than 200 meters, it can be said that it is fleeting and hits immediately when fired.
There is 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 ammunition, we can't let this T34 slip away from us like this!"
Before Wittmann finished speaking, the communicator next to his ear suddenly heard the extremely bad words from Lieutenant Heizenauer.
"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? Retreat immediately and let the tanks and infantry take care of these Ivans! When I need fire support, I
I will call you, do you understand?"
"...."
After hearing the terrible curse that suddenly rang 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. I had a strong fighting spirit in my heart but had no choice but to do so.
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 in the center of the entire battle group immediately opened their doors under the command of Lieutenant Heizenauer. SS soldiers holding Mauser 98K and MP40 submachine guns immediately opened their doors.
Under the leadership of their respective squad leaders, they began to assume an attack posture, and followed the cover of their own tanks and personnel carriers to quickly rush 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 command to direct his crew members, the knowing Seryosha immediately pulled the joystick in his arms with all his strength and drove the 28-ton armored tank slowly towards the direction.
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 7.62mm DT light machine gun located on the front of the T34 tank body, and fired at those who were about to
The SS soldiers who came towards 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 open 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 look on his 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 ox pulling a broken car even if it uses 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 become worse.
Taking advantage of the golden opportunity of those Panzer III tanks whose turrets rotated slowly before they could completely turn 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.
"Try this! Hans!"
boom--
Another BR-350B hooded armor-piercing grenade instantly burst out in flames accompanied by Malashenko's low roar, but because the driver Seryosha was controlling the car body, it was reversing at full speed at 6 kilometers per hour.
Because of 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 this T34 tank was definitely not easy to deal with, Heizenauer immediately shouted and gave another order.
"Damn it, Wolfe! 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 will be! I know what to do, just let me focus on aiming, okay!?"
With the captain and gunner arguing and talking loudly, Wolff, who desperately shook the wheel steering wheel in his hand, finally aimed the black muzzle at the target.