The tank battalion hidden in the small village, although there is no combat mission, is still a busy scene. After Bie Lei conveyed the breakout deployment, he said to the tank soldiers: "Comrades, whether the main force can break through the German defense quickly depends on whether we can quickly break through the German defense and tear a hole in their defense."
When the second company commander Ivanzov learned that the troops were about to break through, he was eager to try. As soon as Bere finished speaking, he couldn't wait to express his opinion: "Comrade Colonel, we have seven tanks in the company. When breaking through, let our company take on the main attack mission. I promise you that we can break through the enemy's defense in the shortest time and open up a channel for our main force."
As soon as Ivanzov finished speaking, Lieutenant Varenra stood up and said to Bere: "Comrade Colonel, if we can add some ammunition to us, I think our tanks will be competent for the main attack mission."
When Ivanzov asked for his order, he considered that the number of tanks he had in his second company was more than the other two companies combined. If he proposed to take on the main attack mission, no one would compete with him. Unexpectedly, when he thought that this mission was almost certain, Cheng Yaojin appeared halfway, and Lieutenant Varianla actually wanted to compete with him for the main attack mission.
Everyone has seen the performance of the ball tank in the past two days. On the battlefield, one can support at least five T-34 tanks. Just as Varenra said, as long as they are supplemented with some ammunition and send two T-34s as cover, it is fully capable of breaking through the enemy's defense line in one fell swoop.
Just when Ivanzov was nervous and thought the mission would fall, he heard Bere saying, "Lieutenant Varenra, in this breakout, the ball tank you drove will not participate in the battle."
Ivanzov couldn't help but feel ecstatic when he heard that Bere did not hand over the main attack mission to the ball tank. But soon he frowned again. He knew very well that if it was really a ball tank with two T-34s to attack the enemy's position, the effect would be better for one seven T-34 tanks in a row. Why didn't Colonel Bere let the ball tank participate in the battle?
When Ivanzov turned his puzzled eyes to Bielei, he found that everyone was like him and looked at Bielei with confusion. Bielei coughed gently and said, "Comrades, it is the decision of the brigade commander to not allow ball tanks to participate in the battle. Because our tanks are seriously insufficient ammunition and fuel, after breaking through the German defense line, all the tanks may be blown up on the spot. The ball tank is a new tank newly developed by our army, and even the wreckage cannot fall into the hands of the enemy. Therefore, the brigade commander ordered us to find a way to hide this tank."
"What, do you want to blow up all the tanks?" Ivanzov suddenly jumped out of his seat when he heard this and asked Bere excitedly: "Comrade Colonel, if you blow up all the tanks, what else do we tank soldiers do?"
"Yes, comrade Colonel." Several other commanders also echoed Ivanzov's words: "Tanks are our tank soldiers' companions, so they must not be blown up."
Bi Lei raised his hand and pressed down, signaling everyone to be quiet. After the house calmed down, he spoke, "Comrades, I am also a tank soldier. My feelings for tanks are not worse than you at all. But no, our tanks are not enough fuel and ammunition. After breaking through the enemy's defense line, we can only abandon them. If we don't blow up, are you going to leave these tanks for the Germans to attack us?"
Several commanders had a lot of opinions on blowing up the tanks, but when they heard Bereth say this, they thought about it carefully, and it was really the case. The ammunition and fuel carried by the remaining tanks were barely enough for an attack. Once the fuel was exhausted and the ammunition was exhausted, the tanks were of no use. If they were not blown up, they would definitely be captured by the German army, and then they could use these tanks to attack Stalingrad, which was absolutely not allowed.
After a while, Varianla stood up and asked, "Comrade Colonel, then how should we deal with the ball tank? Can't we blow it up too?"
Hearing this question from Vulenra, Bere replied with some amusement and laughter: "Lieutenant Vulenra, have you not heard what I just said? The ball tank is a new tank developed by our army. It would be a pity if it was blown up. I will give you a task now, which is to find a place to hide the ball tank. Remember, after hiding it, you must erase all the traces and never let the Germans discover it. When we return to Orlovka, we will continue to use ball tanks to attack the enemy."
"Don't worry, comrade Colonel." Varrenla quickly replied, "I will definitely hide the ball tank and will never let the Germans discover it."
"Alarm, air strike sir!" As soon as Varenra finished speaking, a hoarse shout suddenly came from outside the house, with a burst of rapid footsteps from far to near, and then an infantry soldier appeared at the door and shouted breathlessly: "Comrades Commander, air strike sir, several enemy planes are coming towards us."
Be Lei recognized the soldiers who reported the news, and was the soldiers of the guard battalion who followed him to the small village. He felt that the other party would not lie about military information, so he stood up and asked his subordinates: "Are the tanks hidden?"
"It's better to hide." Everyone replied in unison.
Belei knew that the remaining dozen tanks were hidden in the woods outside the village, but for the sake of safety, he asked this question. After getting the expected answer, he waved his hand at everyone and said, "This place will be bombed by enemy planes soon. Everyone should find a place to hide."
When Belei walked out of the village, he saw four enemy aircraft appearing in the sky. Based on his experience, he recognized it at a glance that this was a JU87 dive bomber. When this Stuka bomber dives, its unique sounding device will make a harsh and scream, forming psychological intimidation to the soldiers on the ground to achieve the effect of strengthening the attack.
When the Tank Battalion entered the small village, Be Lei knew in his heart that their hiding place would sooner or later be discovered by the enemy, and he might be bombarded or bombed. Therefore, he ordered his subordinates to dig a large number of bullet-proof trenches in and outside the village, and now they can be used.
After four enemy planes arrived above the village, they began to lower the height and dived and dropped bombs and strafed into the village. The bombs fell one after another and exploded. The houses hit by the bomb turned into ruins in the loud bang, and then burned wildly, and the rising smoke enveloped the entire village.
The enemy planes bombed the village for a quarter of an hour. When they saw the entire village being covered by smoke, the enemy turned around and flew back. When they were staying outside the village, they saw the enemy planes leaving, and quickly stood up and said to the correspondents next to them: "Go and tell the company commanders of each company, and let them count the casualties immediately to see what kind of losses the enemy has caused to us."
Varianla, who was squatting in the same bulletproof trench as Bele, glanced at the burning wooden house in the village, and asked tentatively: "Comrade Colonel, do we need to organize soldiers to put out the fire?"
Bi Lei shook his head and said, "Lieutenant Varianla, there is no need to put out the fire. With such a big fire, let alone such a few people, even if a professional fire brigade comes, we cannot control the fire. Our tanks are still hidden outside the village, and even if the entire village is burned out, it will have no effect on us."
When the small village was bombed, Sokov felt nervous when he saw the thick smoke rising there. You must know that whether the troops could break through successfully depends on Colonel Bere's tank battalion. The small village where the tank battalion is hiding is being bombed by enemy planes. It would be strange if Sokov was not in a hurry.
Sokov quickly ordered the radio operator: "Runner, call Colonel Bere immediately and ask him how it is going there."
When the radio operator started calling, Sokov was praying silently in his heart: "The tank hidden in the village must not have any problems. If there is no tank cooperation and his troops break north, they will hit the stone with eggs. They will be in front of the German strong defense line and will be bleeding."
When Yakov saw Sokov's nervousness, he quickly comforted him and said, "Don't worry, Colonel Misha, and Colonel Bere is also an experienced commander. He knows how to avoid air strikes from enemy planes. If I guess correctly, his tanks should not be stopped in the village. Even if the enemy planes razed the village to the ground, he would not lose anything."
"I hope so," Sokov looked at the village where black smoke rose in the distance, and said absent-mindedly: "If something unexpected happens to the Tank Battalion, our breakthrough plan will need to be adjusted. Otherwise, it would be a daydream to break through the German defense with hundreds of infantry alone."
The enemy planes that bombed the village flew away, but the radio operator had not contacted Beret yet, so Sokov couldn't help but feel a little angry: "Hey, why did Colonel Beret have not called back yet? Is there really something wrong with the Tank Battalion?"
Speaking of this, he turned around and shouted at Guchakov who was standing not far away, "Guchakov, rush to the small village immediately to see how the losses there are."
Guchakov agreed and turned around and ran down the hill, but was stopped by Yakov. Yakov said to Sokov: "Misha, don't worry. Maybe Colonel Blade and his team were bombed and the antenna was blown up, so they could not talk to you. Wait a little longer, maybe Colonel Blade will take the initiative to contact you."
"Comrade Brigade Commander," the two were talking, when the radio operator suddenly shouted in surprise: "Contact Colonel Bere, he wants to call you."
Chapter completed!