artillery arc

Chapter 523: Elegy (Update 21/81)

Von List, commander of the 1st Armored Battalion of the 5th Armored Division of the Asgard Knights, was ordered to launch a counterattack.

His armored battalion had 25 Type 91 and 31 Type tanks ready for combat on the morning of the th, but just two hours after leaving the base, half of the tanks broke down on the road.

It wasn't that the Plossen tanks were in poor condition, but that the muddy weather in Ant was too bad.

Before departure, von List ordered that all tank tracks be equipped with anti-skid plates, a new equipment developed specifically for the muddy season of 915.

It took them more than an hour to install the new equipment, and then ten minutes to realize how flashy it was.

If you think about it carefully, you will understand that in order to adapt to the bad land in the country, the Ants specially adopted wider tracks. The tracks of T34 are 50 cm wide, and some models are even 55 cm wide. As a result, a large number of tanks broke down when encountering mud.

The track width of the early model of the Panzer III tank was only 36 cm, but now the H model has increased to 40 cm, which is also much smaller than the width of the T34.

Not to mention the Panzer IV, which was heavier, but the track was only increased from 36 cm to 38 cm.

In this situation, it is indeed a bit unrealistic to rely solely on anti-slip equipment that is full of "wonderful ideas" from the development department to defeat the muddy devil.

When they reached the position where they were expected to encounter the enemy and the First Battalion began to deploy its attack formation, von List had only 19 long-barreled Type tanks available. There were more Type tanks, which formed a standard three-to-one ratio with the Type tanks.

But everyone knows that the long-barreled Panzer IV is now the main force in armored warfare. Although some of the Panzer III tanks have been equipped with longer-barreled 50mm guns, the basic structure of the 50mm gun is there. Even if the penetration power is similar to that of the long-barreled Panzer IV by lengthening the barrel, the damage after penetration is still far less than that of the 75mm gun.

So List disassembled the Panzer IV into countless two-tank teams and mixed them with the Panzer III tanks.

The only remaining Type 4 tank served as his vehicle and also as the battalion command post.

The communication capability of the long-barreled Type 4 with an improved radio system is not much worse than that of the command tank modified from the Type 3 tank.

After completing the formation in about twenty minutes, von List climbed onto his new command tank - the commander who had been usurped got onto List's command tank.

After putting on the headphones, von List glanced around, took a deep breath, and ordered: "Tanks, move forward!"

The roar of engines on the grassland suddenly increased, and black smoke spewed out of the exhaust pipes of all the tanks.

According to the tactical manual, von List waited until all the troops had advanced a certain distance before ordering his tanks and the tank platoon following his battalion headquarters to advance. In this way, he could see the entire attack formation from the rear and grasp the overall situation at any time.

Not long after von List started, he heard an alarm on the radio: "There seems to be an enemy tank ahead! The light rain makes the vision very unclear, and it is hard to see clearly!"

Liszt immediately put the microphone close to his mouth: "We are expecting to encounter the enemy's tank troops, prepare to engage the enemy. Everyone stop the car and prepare to shoot!"

The Plossen tank unit is more elite, the tank soldiers are well-trained, and the tank sights are more advanced. Now the long-barreled Type 4 has advantages in penetration and damage, so Lister chose long-range shooting to consume the Ant armored forces.

Of course, even if a blind tank like the T34 gets into close combat, Lister has confidence in his armored soldiers and believes that they will achieve a good exchange ratio.

From last year to now, Plossen's armored forces have been full of confidence because they have won every battle with the Ant tanks.

After giving the order, Lister shouted to the driver via the intercom: "Stop! We should not move forward any further."

The long-barreled No. 4 braked, causing Lister, who was leaning on the top of the turret, to sway back and forth, looking like an ear of wheat in the wind - even though the harvest season had long passed.

Von List stood up straight on the tank and adjusted the magnification of the telescope to the highest level.

Perhaps the rain was getting lighter, and the outline of the enemy in the distance was gradually becoming clearer.

Ant's tanks, carrying infantry, were marching forward in the mud.

They had no intention of stopping and might not have noticed Lister's camp at all.

Lister thought back to the time when the war just broke out last year. At that time, he was still in the infantry division, commanding the division's assault gun battalion, which was equipped with 71 Type assault guns.

Not long after the division entered Ant's territory, it encountered a counterattack by Ant's armored forces.

As a result, Lister's assault gun battalion was mistaken for tanks by the Ant tank crew and actually stopped advancing and fired at the assault guns on the spot.

The result of that battle was that neither the assault guns nor the T34s could penetrate the enemy's front. In the end, the T34s ran out of ammunition and were completely destroyed by the infantry units.

From then on, Lister looked down on Ant's armored forces, thinking that they were just a group of farmers stuffed into tanks, whose training time was just slightly longer than that of the conscripted soldiers - no, Lister doubted whether the training time of Ant's tankmen was longer than that of Ant's conscripted soldiers.

Now, this contempt came to my mind again.

Look at these enemy tanks, they just look like they are wandering around drunk, completely unsuspecting!

If I can't beat a guy like this, I'll feel ashamed of all the years of military education.

Lister recalled the width of the Ante T34 and estimated the distance of the enemy tank based on the density of the telescope. When the enemy approached to 1600 meters, Lister put the microphone to his mouth again: "Fire!"

His armored battalion fired a volley.

The armor-piercing bullets were fired at the target that had been selected long ago. In the blink of an eye, several fireballs rose up in Ant's attack formation. Those were the fireworks from the tank explosions.

The Ants didn't react at all, as if they didn't realize they were attacked at all. They just kept rushing forward at the same speed as before.

Liszt urged, "Quick, reload, fire! As long as we don't let the enemy get in front of us, we will be the only one to crush them! Fire!"

A second wave of shells pierced the rain, and more Ante tanks exploded and caught fire.

At this time, the Ant people finally realized that they were being attacked, and Lister could see the turret of an Ant tank turning.

He thought that his own tank had been spotted, and was about to stop and fire. However, the T34 did not stop and continued to move forward.

Lister finally understood that the turret could be turned only because the T34's two-person turret did not have a separate commander, and the commander who also served as the gunner had to observe the target through the gun scope - standing up and observing through the gap in the commander's turret was too time-consuming and laborious.

The third and fourth waves of shells pierced through the rain, and more than a dozen T34s stopped.

A T50 hit by the 34mm gun of the Panzer III tank would usually just stop, and there was no way to tell whether it was "killed" or not, so the tank crew had to keep firing at the wreckage until it started to burn or the tank crew still alive in the tank climbed out.

The T75s hit by the Long 34mm gun of the Panzer IV tank were basically turned into torches in the rain, and the light could be seen from several kilometers away.

The tank that caught fire first had burned out the fuel inside the vehicle, and the flames gradually went out in the heavy rain.

The Ante tankers are still charging, and it seems that the heavy rain has a very big impact on their sights and observations - of course, it may also be that the sights and observation equipment equipped on these T34s are too lousy.

In March of this year, the Plossen armored and anti-tank units began to report that some of Ant's T34s had shocking quality problems. At that time, the high command judged that these quality problems were caused by Ant's blind expansion of production.

Now, Lister felt that he had witnessed with his own eyes the consequences of blindly expanding production and shoddy products.

He was extremely grateful that Plosson's factory was famous for its fine craftsmanship.

The enemy tank is seven hundred meters away!
The one thousand meter distance that the Ants had just run through was littered with burning debris.

The total number of remaining T34s was already less than that of Lister's battalion, but they still rushed forward fearlessly, as if they had no idea that their troops had suffered heavy losses in just a few minutes.

Lister saw a T333 with the number 34 being hit, with flames coming out of the turret ring.

The infantry jumped off the tank first, followed by the tankmen one after another, rolling over to put out the fire on their bodies with the help of the infantry.

Just as Lister was about to turn the telescope away, he suddenly saw an Ante tanker climbing back onto the tank.

The tank driver had medals on him, probably a combat hero, and he also seemed to have a military rank on his shoulders.

The man climbed into the driver's seat, and the next moment, the tank, with its rims blazing, began to move forward.

Lister immediately realized what the brave tank commander Ante was going to do: he was going to use his tank to ram the Plossen tank!
He slowly put down the telescope, then slowly took off his headphones and then his cap.

Even if they are enemies, such fighting spirit is admirable.

Lister looked down on Ant's armored forces.

But at this moment, he suddenly felt that perhaps Proson was going to lose the war.

----

Alexei Podolskov returned to the tank because he finally discovered the Proshen tank formation that had destroyed countless brother units.

So he planned to use this T34 to at least achieve one victory.

It would be very sad if you go to see St. Andrew and he asks you "How much did you exchange with the enemy?" and you can only answer "zero".

So at least, we have to achieve a result!
Alexey Podolskov stepped on the accelerator to the limit. He did not pray, because he knew in his heart that the tank would run until the last moment.

Because both the engine and the gearbox were maintained by the entire crew together, they were in excellent condition when we set off today.

Through the driver's periscope he could see one of Plossen's Panzer IV tanks.

He saw the flash of light coming from the long barrel.

The armor-piercing bullet seemed to hit, and the shock wave from behind hit Podolskov's back like a sledgehammer.

It felt like something hot and wet was running down my spine.

As he lost blood, Podolskov's consciousness floated away, with only the last bit of willpower clinging to his body.

He gripped the joystick with all his strength and let out a final roar.

Number Four opened fire again, this time the shells went straight for the cockpit.

At that moment, Podolskov seemed to see the moment when the Prosen armor-piercing bullet penetrated the armor.

His consciousness stopped here.

----

Lister did not use a telescope because the T34 was already close enough to be seen with the naked eye.

He was silent for a long moment, until the gunner patted his thigh.

"What's wrong?" he asked, looking down.

The gunner gestured to his ear: "Calling you, Captain."

Lister quickly put on his headphones and just in time heard the report from the company commander in charge of the frontline command: "All T34s have been destroyed, and our army has no losses. Should we start chasing the remaining enemies?"

Liszt hesitated for a moment, then regained his spirit: "Chase the remaining enemies! Eliminate all the tankmen who escaped!"

(End of this chapter)