Arc of Gunfire

As soon as Adel's order was given, someone on the radio was heard exclaiming: "The enemy has rushed through the smoke!"

"What?" Adel quickly picked up the telescope, and sure enough he saw a pot head rushing through the smoke that had just been released.

Obviously, the maneuverability of these Jarheads exceeds that of T34, and they gallop on the grassland like steel horses.

Then the Jarhead stopped under Adel's gaze.

He thought he was going to stop shooting suddenly, but the infantrymen on the vehicle got out of the car, and the tank stopped and fired, allowing other tanks to rush past.

Could it be that there was a mechanical failure due to pushing too hard?

————

"Sukabu!" The commander of the tank with tactical number 333 was cursing, "Why did it malfunction at this time! The Proscenians thought we were beaten!"

"I don't know either. It sounds like the traditional shaft is broken." The driver said angrily.

Gunner: "I heard that the Rokosov I also likes to break the drive shaft. Do tanks with this new configuration have this problem?"

Loader: "There must be traitors sabotaging production. The Inquisitor should be asked to shoot everyone who produces drive shafts!"

Commander: "Forget it, we are here as a fixed turret!"

He got out of the turret and said to the infantry on the vehicle: "Our transmission shaft is broken and we can't move. Now we are a fixed turret. You can get on other vehicles and rush to kill them! There must be infantry in other vehicles that have lost their numbers. Just go up and squeeze in." !”

"Okay." The sergeant commanding the squad waved his hand, "Get off the car. If we can get into other cars, we'll get on. If we can't, we'll attack on foot and kill the Prosen devils!"

The infantrymen jumped out of the car one by one and strode forward.

————

Adel looked at the stopped Jarhead. Because it stopped and became a fixed target, it was immediately targeted by several Prosen crews.

As a result, under the continuous attack of armor-piercing shells, the Ant tank crew fought back tenaciously three times. In the end, I don't know whether the turret seat ring was stuck or the sight was damaged. Anyway, the Ant tank crew abandoned the vehicle.

Before abandoning the vehicle, the commander also fired a smoke grenade, so Adel could not see the impact of the infantry machine gun firepower point.

Obviously, the Ant people are becoming more and more familiar with war, and they also have very good warriors. Proson's technical and tactical advantages are decreasing.

Adel felt very uncomfortable, but just as he was sighing, the voice of the chief of staff came over the radio: "General! The enemy tanks are about to cross the mountain, and we are about to lose terrain cover! We cannot defeat them with our maneuverability!"

Adel picked up the microphone: "I am Adel Schulz, all crew members driving the Panzer III tank, I order you to give up retreat and stop the enemy's offensive with impact!

"The enemy only has 30 vehicles, and we have the advantage in numbers!"

Yes, Adel would never have issued such an order in the past. He once taught his subordinates that the Ante tank driver's approach of ramming his car and killing both of them was commendable, but not worth learning. A qualified tank driver should use his firepower. Use artillery to destroy enemies.

But now, impact is the only method Adel can think of.

Use the lighter and faster No. 3 tank to collide under the cover of smoke, forcing the enemy's new tank to stop, and then the long-tube No. 4 to go around the side and take care of the other tanks of the Anters. This is what was just born in Adel. Plan in mind.

Even if there are only seven or eight No. 4 long-barreled vehicles left, Adel is confident of destroying dozens of T34Ws. The exact number depends on the inventory of artillery shells.

It's not that Adel was arrogant. On the front of Army Group Center, his Eighth Armored Division once achieved an exchange ratio of 5 to 200.

Of course, that is the exchange ratio of the entire division's 27 long-barreled No. 4 vehicles plus the same number of long-barreled No. 3 vehicles, but people sometimes overlook some key details intentionally or unintentionally.

Adel believed that his division could replicate the success of Army Group Center - provided that all Panzer III tanks were sacrificed to stop the enemy's scurrying new tanks.

————

Ant's side.

"The enemy wants to hit us!" the brigade commander shouted on the radio, "Everyone, attention, stop! Stop! Shoot the enemy where he is, don't let them hit us!"

"Brigadier! We only have one reverse gear, and the maximum reverse speed is only four kilometers per hour!"

The brigade commander was silent.

Because he was basically rushing around during training, he really forgot that there was only one reverse gear.

After a brief silence, the brigade commander cursed: "Sukabu! Isn't this just a close battle? The infantry on our backs have tubes, we're afraid! Come on!"

————

Fifteen minutes later, Adel realized that he had made a big mistake.

Ant's tank has armored cavalry, and the armored cavalry wields that new anti-tank weapon, which is very effective against the armor of the Panzer III tank.

After the No. 3 tank approaches the Jarhead, it has to take a round of infantry firepower first, and usually it will just lie down.

After fifteen minutes of exchange, the No. 3 tank had been completely destroyed, but Jarhead was still jumping around.

Although the remaining No. 4 long tubes took the time to go around, they did not have time to destroy several Jarheads.

My plan was completely ruined!

The Ant infantry even jumped off the tanks and began to clean up the infantry units of the 332nd Division.

The 332nd Division is relatively low in the Plosen organization system and is full of miscellaneous fish. It cannot defeat the cloaked Ant Guards at all.

In fact, when he was in Army Group Center, Adel discovered that the infantry divisions after the eighth wave would only be ravaged when they encountered Ant's cloaked infantry.

In fact, this is similar to the situation at the beginning of the war. At that time, the Plosson infantry was a veteran, and the Ante infantry were all rookies. A Plosson veteran could calmly kill seven or eight Ante infantry and survive.

Now it is the experienced Cape Guards who slaughter the Plosson infantry, and because the Ante Guards either use PPSh or the more terrible thread cutter, the Plosson recruits die in large numbers and quickly.

Adel saw that the morale of the 332nd Division infantry collapsed, and they broke away from their positions and began to run back.

At this time, he suddenly heard the sound of machine guns shooting next to him.

Turning his head, he saw that it was the machine guns of the military police, and the target of the shooting was the 332nd Division infantry who fled from the battlefield.

Adel hesitated for a moment, did not speak, but continued to pay attention to his troops being chased by the pot-covered tanks.

The less than 100 tanks in his hands were the last remaining strength of the entire 48th Armored Corps.

The Central Army Group controlled most of the battlefields where tanks were fighting. A certain number of tanks should be able to be repaired from the battlefield tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, but these tanks will not be delivered to Shepetovka until at least the day after tomorrow.

Adel realized something very serious. After the "Schultz Battle Group" under his command was killed, there was no organized armored force on the entire defense line that could stop the Ants.

His scalp was numb.

I don't know how many armored units the Ants still have. If the Ants still have more than a hundred tanks, the battlefield might collapse.

After all, there is only one first-wave infantry division to resist Rokossov's Khazaria Front, and the rest are all troops of the quality of the 332nd Division.

The stronger Greyhound Division is resisting the Shepetovka Front in the east.

Disaster is about to befall the Southern Army Group!

Adel Schultz shouted: "Signalman! Send a telegram to the Southern Army Group Headquarters immediately! The situation here is very bad! The front line is in danger of collapse! The original plan is no longer applicable. We need to mobilize strong and useful troops to stop Rokosov!"

"Yes!"

At the same time as the signalman answered, the chief of staff reminded: "General, you can't use plain language to explain such an important thing on the radio! You can send a messenger!"

Adel: "Look at the battle situation! The enemy is about to rush to me! It's too late if I don't send a telegram!"

After speaking, Adel threw down the radio microphone and ordered his command tank on the intercom: "The enemy's pot-covered head in front of the target-"

"General," the gunner reminded, "the command tank only has a short-barreled 50 gun, we can only scratch the enemy's paint."

Adel was stunned for a moment before realizing that the gunner was right.

The pot-covered head had already rushed over. The commander of the turret, Ante, turned the anti-aircraft machine gun towards Adel and shouted: "Surrender your weapons and we will not kill you!"

————

Pochayev village, the headquarters of the 332nd Infantry Division of Proson.

Only one regiment of the 332nd Division and its affiliated troops defended Pochayev and the surrounding areas, but the headquarters of this division was always placed here.

Next to the headquarters was the garrison of the 11th Armored Reconnaissance Battalion. The motorized armored reconnaissance troops were also elite infantry, and together with the divisional guards, they built a fairly solid position.

But everyone knew that such a position was not enough to stop Ante's attacking force.

The commander of the 332nd Division placed his hope of defending Pochayev on the Schultz group that launched a counterattack against the Ante people through the right wing of the position.

According to general experience, where the Proson armored forces launched a counterattack, Ante's attack would at least be delayed.

Previously in Oboyang, the encirclement of the Ants was almost ruined by the Proson armored forces, but unfortunately the Proson armored forces were exhausted in the end, and the enemy had some armored forces left.

So the Southern Army Group had to retreat to Shepetovka.

On the other hand, as long as the armored forces were not exhausted, the Ants could not advance smoothly.

The commander of the 332nd Division personally went to the observation post of the outer position to watch the Schulz Group launch a counterattack. The group had at least 70 tanks. Although a considerable number of them used the Type 3 tank with a 50mm gun, it was still a very powerful armored force.

Such an armored force would definitely kill a large number of Ants until the Southern Army Group could mobilize reinforcements.

The commander of the 332nd Division knew that the Southern Army Group was retreating, but he was full of confidence that he had to hold the line of defense before he could retreat calmly.

In short, everything was left to the armored forces. The 332nd Division only needed to use machine guns to eliminate some Ant infantry to complete the task-the commander thought so.

So when the observation post reported that the enemy armored forces appeared outside the village, he did not believe it.

Then the 76mm self-propelled artillery accompanied by the Ante armored forces began to bombard the village.

The chief of staff asked: "What should we do now, general?"

The commander of the 332nd Division straightened his uniform: "Give me a submachine gun. The empire needs everyone to do their duty."

At 2200 that day, Pochayev was liberated.

Of course, from the perspective of the Prosen people, this is called a loss.