I asked you to escape, but you became a soldier in World War II

Chapter 120: Blitzkrieg Reappears

Lieutenant Sochilovsky was also very excited at this moment. In fact, at the beginning, he was still very dissatisfied with Lin Chen being the commander of the company, because he was originally the most promising successor, and he was also wounded many times in the battle and fought to the death.

However, he was very pleased when he saw that Lin Chen was able to reunite the remnants of the army that were on the verge of collapse into combat effectiveness in a very short period of time and receive new tasks.

There is military merit only if there is a mission!
The most important thing is that Lin Chen came over specially to toast. This is completely condescending. How can a superior toast to his subordinates first?

This is giving him enough face, he cannot be ungrateful.

In particular, Lin Chen whispered, "If this battle goes well, I will strongly recommend you to be the company commander."

It even made him feel that a man would die for his friend.

He was also very experienced in combat, and he immediately took charge of overhauling the only two remaining T60 light tanks. Although the attack power of these two tanks was very poor, their mobility was absolutely second to none, and they were very good as reconnaissance tanks.

The maximum off-road speed is up to 45 kilometers per hour, and it also has a range of 300 kilometers, making it extremely suitable for outdoor reconnaissance.

If you are smart, it is not easy to be destroyed.

After everyone had eaten and drunk their fill, they, led by Lieutenant Colonel Parosovich, headed eastward at full speed.

According to the pre-calculated combat plan, Lin Chen will lead the vanguard to the Soron Bridge in the east, then cross the Donets River and advance westward, capture the Rzhavec ferry and blow up the pontoon bridge before 6 o'clock tomorrow morning, and defend the ferry together with the main force of the brigade to encircle and annihilate the German th Armored Division.

Because Lin Chen's Second Company was the most mobile tank unit, Lin Chen chose to let Lieutenant Sochilovsky's T60 tank platoon go ahead and control the Soren Bridge first. In order to ensure that everything was foolproof, he also assigned him two T34/76 tanks.

The T34's advantages were clearly evident in this kind of long-distance raid, as its 50-centimeter track width gave it extraordinary off-road capabilities, and its terrifying range of more than 500 kilometers set a record throughout World War II.

Lin Chen drove in with the remaining three T70s and two T34s, two military truck soldiers, and a truck full of ammunition and supplies.

Lin Chen's order to Lieutenant Sochilovsky was very clear: it had to be sudden! The German army must not be alerted.

At this moment, the Sollon Bridge is still in the hands of the German army. However, since the bridge cannot withstand heavy equipment like Tiger tanks, and it is far away from the Prokhorovka battle zone, the situation of the German army has become very bad in the past few days, and the number of defenders has been reduced again and again. Now there are only a few veterans left to symbolically guard the bridge.

When Lieutenant Sochilovsky's T60 tank suddenly appeared at the bridgehead, the German army, lacking heavy weapons, could not resist very helplessly. After several people were killed, the rest only wished their parents had not given them two more legs, and fled madly.

Lieutenant Sochilovsky obviously had no time to pay attention to these "small fry" who had escaped the net. He left a few people on the tanks to guard the bridge and wait for the company commander's large force, while the other tanks all rushed westward.

In fact, this is very risky, because Lin Chen did not give him clear orders to let him raid the Lezavets ferry. There are many more German troops there than here, and the defense is much stronger.

But Lieutenant Sochilovsky believed that since it was a surprise attack, it had to be quick, time was life, and if the German army knew that the Sauron Bridge was lost, they would certainly strengthen the defense with all their strength, which would cost more and the gain would not outweigh the loss.

While marching at full speed, he reported the situation to Lin Chen via radio.

To his surprise, Lin Chen still supported his approach and only said, "Since you've done it, do it well! We'll be there soon!"

After two hours of continuous forced march, the four tanks finally arrived at the Rzhavec ferry.

Sochilovsky personally led several tank commanders to sneak to the front line for reconnaissance.

Although the German defense force at this ferry was not large and the defense was quite lax, the most worrying thing was the minefield. If the mines were triggered, not only would the losses be great, but our intentions would also be easily exposed.

"Comrade Second Lieutenant, I think our four tanks should charge directly from the west. Let as many of them as possible get through. As long as we get through, the tanks will still have a huge advantage, and we can quickly capture the ferry." A sergeant tank commander put forward his idea.

"What if we can't get through? Then our four tanks will become targets. Once the German reinforcements arrive, we'll be finished. Even Captain Lin's troops and the brigade commander's troops will be finished!" Sochilovsky obviously did not agree with this reckless method.

"What should we do? Are we going to wait here until dawn?" The other driver didn't have any good ideas either. They were not well educated and were willing to fight to the death, but they were not good at working smartly.

Sochilovsky glanced at these people, then looked at the lights of the German convoys coming and going in the distance, and a plan came to him.

"You see, there are definitely no mines in the direction where the German convoys come in and out. As long as we can bypass them and rush in along the route where the German trucks come in and out, with the T34s in the front, as long as the Germans don't have heavy anti-tank guns, there won't be much of a problem!"

It was almost 1 a.m., and Sochilovsky couldn't believe that the Germans didn't sleep.

They acted immediately. After circling a long circle, the four tanks finally approached the rear of the ferry. After observing for a while, Lieutenant Sochilovsky took the lead and led the other tanks to rush towards the ferry at full speed like a tiger descending from the mountain.

The German troops at the outpost were in the most difficult time. When the rumbling sound of tank engines was heard, everyone's first reaction was whether the German army was going to make a big move and send more troops to the front line?
By the time they saw clearly that the approaching tank was the Soviet T34, it was already very close. They fired desperately, and then watched helplessly as the T34's huge steel body crushed them to pieces.

After passing the sentry post, Lieutenant Sochilovsky immediately ordered his troops to closely observe the German anti-tank guns. The firepower of his own T60 tank was acceptable, but in terms of defense, it was the worst of the worst.

Finally, a T34 sent a signal and shouted excitedly on the radio,

"At 10 o'clock, the Germans have two anti-tank guns!"

"Received!" Sochilovsky immediately opened fire at the designated target. The high-explosive shell fired by the tank gun destroyed one of the guns with just one shot, and the remaining gun was also hit hard by the machine gun fire of another T60 tank, with flesh and blood flying everywhere.

"Boom!" Suddenly a T34 in the rear was blown up. The poor T34 tank's turret was blown away and the entire vehicle was destroyed beyond recognition.

It's bad. The German army has heavy firepower, or there is a Tiger tank. Otherwise, it is impossible for them to have such terrible power. If there really is a Tiger tank, I can only escape, there is no other way.

"Comrade Second Lieutenant, there is a German 3mm anti-aircraft gun at the 88 o'clock direction!" Finally, with the reminder of his teammates, he discovered this German firepower point.

What kind of bullshit reconnaissance is this, and they say there is no heavy firepower?
"Drive at maximum speed, separate and encircle him, and make sure to kill him!" Sochilovsky ordered loudly. Fortunately, the opponent only had one gun. If there were two, then they obviously would not have the spare energy to kill it.

The Soviet tanks' machine guns fired wildly, and they attacked from both sides at the same time. In the eyes of the 88mm anti-aircraft guns, the T34 on the right wing was obviously more dangerous, so they decisively pointed their guns at the T34. After two consecutive shots missed, finally, another armor-piercing shell hit the side armor of the T34.

The powerful firepower tore the T34 to pieces. Needless to say, all the Soviet tank soldiers inside were finished.

The two T60 light tanks here took advantage of their mobility, but one of them suddenly broke down and was forced to stop where it was, desperately covering Sochilovsky with machine guns.

Sochilovsky's tank approached the position of the 88mm anti-aircraft gun. He suddenly had an idea and did not choose to attack with artillery. Instead, he used his machine gun to ruthlessly fire at the German army.

Although this anti-aircraft gun is invincible when firing horizontally, its defense is extremely poor once the enemy gets close.

The 7.62mm machine guns shot the German soldiers in the position until they were crying for help and their flesh and blood were flying everywhere.

After eliminating the most threatening German anti-aircraft artillery position, Lieutenant Sochilovsky's T60 tank began to rampage in the German crossing position, shelling and strafing all the way, and soon the German defense collapsed.

After completely taking over the ferry position, Sochilovsky immediately got out of the tank and directed everyone to operate the German anti-aircraft gun.

Fortunately, some of his subordinates had experienced using the 85mm Soviet-made anti-aircraft gun, and using similar principles, they actually figured out the general method of use.

After turning the gun muzzle, they fired several shots at the pontoon bridge. The pontoon bridge, which was built with boats, was blown to pieces, and the German troops on the opposite bridgehead who tried to rush over to reinforce also fell into the river.

The German army's retreat was completely cut off.

But Sochilovsky also suffered heavy losses. Two T34 tanks were written off and one T60 tank also broke down. Fortunately, they finally captured the ferry.

How can there not be casualties in a war?

After capturing a few unlucky prisoners and interrogating them, we finally figured out the German minefield.

Sure enough, the German army had buried a lot of mines in the east. If we rashly use tanks to charge forward, we would probably die here.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little scared. One still needs to use his brain when fighting a war, otherwise he will only learn a lesson with his life.

To be on the safe side, he personally led the prisoners to wade through what they called a minefield. As a result, two of them obviously refused to do so and claimed to be protesting against Sochilovsky's inhumane practices.

This made Sochilovsky laugh. What did you invaders say to me about this being inhumane?
He immediately took out his pistol, taught the two men a lesson with bullets, and then turned around to look at the remaining German prisoners.

Sure enough, now several people reached a high degree of consensus and immediately walked towards the minefield obediently.

Just kidding, there might be a small chance of survival if they walked through the minefield, but if they didn't go, this Soviet second lieutenant would immediately send them back home.

After a burst of explosions, only two of the prisoners who were slightly injured escaped. Sochilovsky naturally did not show any courtesy. With the war imminent, who had the time to care about the prisoners?
After killing the German army with two bullets, he sent out continuous signals via radio, two long and one short!
This means the ferry is completely in my hands!

The follow-up troops led by Lin Chen also quickly arrived at the ferry, and under the guidance of Sochilovsky, they successfully bypassed the minefield and entered the ferry position.

Seeing Sochilovsky and others working hard to reinforce the southern defense positions despite their fatigue, Lin Chen was still very moved. However, when he saw that only one T60 was available, he still felt a little painful.

There is no way, my capital is too little.

"Why is the loss so heavy?" Lin Chen looked at Sochilovsky with a hint of blame in his eyes. He obviously didn't know the actual situation. There were four tanks, including two T34s, while the German army had less than a company and no heavy weapons.

The raid did not seem too difficult to him.

"The intelligence is very inaccurate, Captain.

The Germans had a reinforced company, an anti-tank gun position, and most importantly, an 88mm anti-aircraft gun. We were almost finished!"

Lin Chen immediately understood how difficult it was for the soldiers! It was already very difficult to complete the mission when the German army had superior numbers and firepower. Lin Chen looked at his brothers who were pale due to continuous fighting with distress, and his heart was in turmoil.

"Comrades, you have all worked hard! Have all the comrades who died been buried?"

"They were all smashed to pieces. There were no bodies at all. They were hit directly at close range by the 88mm anti-aircraft gun. The armor of the T34 tank could not withstand it at all." Sochilovsky answered sadly.

"How did you blow up the pontoon bridge? Without explosives, it would not work with a light tank gun." Lin Chen deliberately changed the subject to divert this heavy topic. On the battlefield, no one wants to talk about life and death all the time.

"We used the German anti-aircraft guns to do this, Captain. You know what, the German artillery is really amazing!"

"88mm anti-aircraft gun? Still good?" Lin Chen's eyes immediately lit up.

Sochilovsky immediately took him to the 88mm anti-aircraft gun.

Lin Chen walked forward and looked carefully for a long time, "There are still so many shells! Sochilovsky, you have made a great contribution this time!"

"Ah?" Sochilovsky obviously didn't understand the great role of this gun.

"Our next mission is to defend the ferry. The Germans will definitely counterattack. If they send out heavy tanks, our brigade's main force will not be able to withstand it. But with him, it will be different!"

After saying this, Lin Chen glanced across the ferry.
"The other side probably doesn't have anti-aircraft guns, otherwise the Germans would have fired at us long ago. The gun has a long range, enough to cover several kilometers around. You're really lucky, otherwise even if you had four tanks, it wouldn't be enough to hit you."

(End of this chapter)