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

Chapter 30 Encountering the Enemy Vanguard

When Lin Chen left the building with more than a dozen soldiers, they quickly joined the reinforcements heading south.

The troops, numbering about two hundred people in total, formed a temporary reinforced company and marched to the front line on foot.

The team was led by a deputy battalion commander named Chekov, and a lieutenant instructor named Chakkin.

They had all heard of Lin Chen's deeds, but that was all.

During the long Battle of Stalingrad, countless heroic fighters emerged. Compared with them, Lin Chen was not too outstanding, especially since he was a Chinese soldier.

The two men divided the troops into three platoons. Lin Chen and the soldiers he brought were assigned to the platoon with the strongest combat effectiveness. The platoon leader was Sergeant Gudnov (Warrant Officer).

Gudnov was quite talkative, but he was not very interested in Lin Chen. He felt that Lin Chen was not the kind of strong man like the Russians, and was most likely a "master" packaged by the army for battlefield propaganda. Therefore, he was rather cold towards him and only asked them to follow at the back of the team.

Hunt, who came with Lin Chen, was a little annoyed and even wanted to argue with the great master. Why did he look down on others?
But he was dissuaded by Lin Chen.
The reason is simple. Respect is something that is earned on the battlefield, not spoken.

Because the fighting was intense, the troops marched very quickly, and by the evening they arrived at the assembly point of the blocking troops.

Verkhovy-Kumsky is a village located 60 km northeast of Kotelnikovo, Stalingrad Oblast, Soviet Union.

This is actually an inconspicuous little place in the Soviet Union. But now it has become the focus of competition between the Soviet Union and Germany because of the Battle of Stalingrad.

Many people arrived here, but since they were all temporary teams, the management and coordination were extremely chaotic. It was not until after eight o'clock in the evening that Lin Chen and his troops received a small amount of supplies. Dinner was just a few simple potatoes and a glass of not-too-ice cold water.

During the war, we ate whatever we could get, and when we were done we would quickly find a shabby house and rest around the fire.

In such cold weather, it is very pleasant to have such conditions.

After breakfast the next morning, Captain Chekov conveyed the order from his superiors that they were to reinforce the "7" collective farm located kilometers west of Verkhovny Kumsky.

After the order was given, the troops quickly assembled and then advanced towards the target in battle formation.

Under the heavy snow, the troops had great difficulty in advancing. They only approached their destination at noon, by which time the sound of German artillery fire could be clearly heard.

The thick smoke rising from the farm seemed to announce that a desperate battle was taking place there.

There was no time to connect, so Captain Chekov gave the order to enter the village for reinforcement.

When they rushed into the village, they actually found three German Type 3 tanks, followed by probably a company of German soldiers.

Under the cover of tanks, the German attack was extremely swift. The Soviet army could not withstand it at all and suffered heavy casualties, but they still tried their best to resist.

When instructor Chakzin shouted "Ura" with his TT pistol and counterattacked the German army, the morale of the remaining Soviet troops in the village was immediately boosted.

It was also the first time that Lin Chen witnessed the unstoppable force of the Soviet army's charge. All the soldiers, led by their instructors, charged forward fearlessly.

The Germans did not know how many Soviet troops were there, so they thought they were a large force. They retreated after a slight resistance, probably because they were frightened by the powerful offensive of the Soviets in recent times.

One tank even panicked and got stuck in a ditch beside the village. Even though the tank's transmission wheels were screaming desperately, the tracks could not move the tank body out.

The tank driver was forced to give up after several attempts, but threw a grenade into the tank before leaving.

The victorious defenders and the reinforcements hugged each other tightly, and they managed to escape death.

However, when they learned that the reinforcement force was only more than 200 people, they still felt a little scared.

If the German army fought more resolutely, their small number of people might not be able to stop them, after all, the enemy had tanks.

The two sides exchanged information.
The attacking force just now was the vanguard of the German 17th Armored Division. It is said that this is a rescue force that has just been deployed to the battlefield, and the large force behind it should still be some distance away.

They were not aware of the arrival of reinforcements on their side, mainly because the Soviet army's radio equipment was not adequate, and the command and deployment on the battlefield were rather chaotic.

But after discussion, both sides decided to use the existing fortifications to hold out and wait for help.

The fortifications of this farm were built hastily and crudely. In addition, digging trenches in the freezing cold weather was very time-consuming and laborious, making defense extremely difficult.

"Comrade Captain, can I have a few minutes of your time?"

When Chekov saw that it was Lin Chen who was asking him questions, he was a little puzzled. "Corporal Lin, why don't you take your men to dig trenches? I just saw you studying that damn German tank. Now is not the time to visit German tanks!"

Instructor Chakjin was also a little dissatisfied. "Corporal Lin, you must understand that we don't know when the Germans will launch an attack. We are in a hurry! We must do everything we can to strengthen our fortifications."

"Please allow me to express my opinion, okay?" Lin Chen explained patiently, "It is extremely unwise for us to defend against the German armored forces in this open area. Only God knows how many German tanks there are. But our anti-tank guns are all M1937 45mm light artillery, and it seems that there are only four of them in total. In addition to a few anti-tank rifles and limited anti-tank grenades, it is difficult to defend the farm with these!"

Lin Chen spoke Russian very quickly and fluently, so much so that the two officers, who were impatient at first, were attracted by his words.

"Could you drive a German tank?" Chakjin recalled Lin Chen's initial question and suddenly wondered whether he could drive a tank.

"I know a little bit, but the internal driving system of that Type 3 tank was destroyed by their grenades. We don't have the equipment and spare parts here, so we can't repair it."

"What's the use?" Chekov was a little discouraged. He had thought he could drive a tank, what a talent! But then he heard him say that the tank was broken, which was a false alarm.

"I just checked carefully. Although the driving system is broken, the turret's rotation device and fire control equipment are both usable. Most importantly, the machine gun bullets in that tank are plenty."

"And then?" Chekov understood something, but still found it unbelievable.

This young man can actually drive a German tank and operate the tank gun? What kind of genius is this?
"I have a bold idea! But I need you two leaders to cooperate with me. If the German troops are not too large, we can definitely inflict heavy damage on the enemy and buy enough time for the arrival of subsequent reinforcements."

(End of this chapter)