On the battlefield filled with artillery fire, the fierce tank fight began with the first ray of sunrise. With its numerical advantage, the Fifth Tank Army abandoned the coordination of the infantry and began a rapid attack, and within a short time, it would meet the enemy.
The German troops pushed back nearly a kilometer.
Correspondingly, the German army, after a brief panic, also began to rely on the cover of rivers and villages to carry out a desperate counterattack. And not long after, the German 8th Air Force also joined the battlefield with a roar!
These roaring fighter jets and dive bombers caused huge casualties to the attacking Soviet tanks, and also gave the compressed German tanks a chance to breathe. Even with the help of bombs dropped by those dive bombers, they actually
Start pushing the front towards the Soviet army!
On this tumultuous battlefield, the wreckage of tanks from both sides that had been discarded yesterday turned out to be a relatively safe place. Not only did the tanks on both sides not approach the tank ruins because they were worried about being blocked from firing, but even the dive bombers roaring overhead seemed to
No one is willing to waste artillery shells in these places.
On the contrary, stretcher bearers and medical soldiers from both sides of the Soviet Union and Germany used these wreckage as a temporary refuge from the flames of war.
Beside the smelly mud pond, the T-34 was squeezed between the battlefield wreckage of two German tanks, but it was not idle. Roman was using the German tank tracks that could be found around to thicken the front armor, obviously preparing to use this tank as a
Fixed artillery used.
Vajim was lying on the back of the T-34, repairing the engine seriously, obviously wanting it to run again. Not only that, he even found a small bottle of paint, and replaced the words on the turret that symbolized going home.
The slogan was refreshed.
Only Wei Ran was lying on the roof of the wreckage of the No. 3 assault gun, holding up a telescope and observing the surrounding situation vigilantly.
Amidst the rumbling sound of artillery fire and the sound of steel clashing, in the field of view of the telescope, Wei Ran could clearly see that not far away from the direction where their tank artillery was facing, several wounded people were hiding.
Behind the No. 4 tank, which was destroyed by Roman himself, was being treated by medics.
With a distance of less than a hundred meters, he could not only clearly see the blood spreading from the wounded. He could even recognize that the stretcher soldier who had just carried the wounded here was none other than Trot.
Political Commissar Sha!
However, before he could tell his two busy companions about this discovery, a Leopard tank rushed towards the Soviet position in the distance! Looking at the direction of the front of his car, it might pass through it soon.
The empty space between them and the wounded!
"Roman!"
Wei Ran shouted at the top of his lungs, and immediately after, Roman and Vajim dropped what they were busy doing and climbed into the tank turret in two steps at a time!
"boom!"
Almost at the same time that the Leopard tank dropped the shells around the wreckage of the No. 4 tank at close range, Roman, who had just jumped into the turret, looked at the sight and stamped on the firing pedal, firing the gun out of the barrel.
That long-awaited armor-piercing bullet!
I don’t know whether it was luck or misfortune. Although this hasty shell did not hit the armor on the side of the Panther, it luckily hit its right rear driving wheel!
Even Wei Ran, who was outside the tank, could see more clearly. The shell just broke not only one of the Leopard's legs, but even its engine made a conspicuous flame in the morning glow!
"Armor-piercing bullet!"
Roman shouted again, and then watched helplessly as the Panther in the scope began to rotate the turret. Then, he used the only intact track to rotate the heavy body, trying to aim the heavy frontal armor at the guard.
Ran et al.
The turret on its side rotates quickly and the body rotates slowly, but the situation on Roman's side is even more difficult. Not only does the turret rotate slowly by hand, but it can't even rotate the body at all.
At this time, the only competition between the two sides seems to be the speed of loading and aiming. But it is obvious that once the Panther turns the front of the car before the engine is turned off, it will be their death!
Roman could see this situation clearly, and Wei Ran, who was standing guard outside the tank, could see it even more clearly!
So this is the help in destroying a Panther mentioned in the return mission?
Wei Ran hesitated for less than a second, immediately jumped off the wreckage of the assault gun, and rushed towards the Leopard with a submachine gun in his hand!
At this moment, the two hostile tanks also completed loading and aiming!
"boom!"
Amidst the dull roar, the cannonball fired by the Panther hit the front of the T-34 tank.
Fortunately, not only was there no one in the cab at this time, but Roman had also hung several layers of tracks as additional armor not long ago, so this shot not only made the two people in the tank howl with splitting headaches, but also
No actual damage was done.
With a grin on his face, Roman raised his eyes to the sight. After seeing the Weilian running towards the Panther, Roman immediately shouted and used gestures to direct Vajim to continue to rotate the turret and aim at the target.
The heading machine gun on the front side of the Panther!
"boom!"
The moment Roman stepped on the pedal, the second armor-piercing bullet quickly flew over a distance of less than a hundred meters and hit the shield of the directional machine gun hard.
"Armor-piercing bullets! Go faster!" Roman shouted and urged.
Almost at the same time that Vajim stuffed the armor-piercing shell into the gun barrel, the Panther fired another shell.
However, whether it was out of retaliation for the shell that had just been hit or the impact of the burning engine, this shell hit the mantlet of the directional machine gun as well!
However, although this shot did not hit the inside of the tank along the weak opening due to the angle of incidence, the flying machine gun fragments enveloped Roman and Vajim!
Vajim, who was shaking the turret to turn, trembled. He looked down at the two-centimeter-long wound on his right hip, and then touched his lower back. Before he could see the blood on his hand, there was a pop of blood.
Sit on the floor!
Looking back at Roman, his chest was stained red with blood, and there was even a machine gun fragment embedded in his neck!
With a "pop" sound, Roman slid down from the hanging seat, and while uttering the syllable "ho ho", he stretched his hand towards the fire pedal.
Seeing this, Vajim also crawled over, pressed Roman's hand with his blood-stained hand, and the two of them pressed the fire pedal together.
"boom!"
After the last shell flew over a distance of just over a hundred meters, it hit the front of the Panther tank's turret hard!
On the battlefield outside the tank, the guard was only thirty or forty meters away from the stalled Panther.
At this time, he could clearly see the thick smoke coming out of the opened hatch cover, as well as the German tank soldiers fleeing in the thick smoke! Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately stopped and raised the Bobo in his hand.
Sha then started shooting!
Almost at the same time that he suppressed the newly emerged German tank soldiers back inside the tank, a figure dyed golden by the morning glow jumped onto the burning Panther tank, stepped on the flames from the engine grille, and threw a grenade into the tank.
It had just been pushed out of the shell loading and unloading port.
"boom!"
The hatch that was fastened by the figure who jumped out of the tank was opened again due to the explosion of the grenade. Immediately afterwards, the tank that was already on fire also exploded!
After a while, Wei Ran got up again and trotted towards the blown-up Panther tank.
With just one glance, he saw Commissar Trosha leaning on the other side of the wreckage of the No. 4 tank and giggling, and beside him, there were several mutilated corpses.
"Commissar Trosha, are you okay?" Wei Ran asked in a high voice.
"it's okay no problem!"
Trosha stood up unsteadily, "You are indeed still alive. Were you the ones who fired the shell just now?"
"It's us." Wei Ran looked behind him, "I want to go see Roman and the others first."
Trosha glanced at the wounded around him, bent down to pick up his own pistol and said, "I'll go with you."
"You discovered us last night?" Wei Ran asked as he ran back.
"I guess you will survive."
Trocha responded, "I often encounter tank soldiers like this. They will not give up their tanks easily. Some even deliberately pretend to be destroyed and ambush to perform secret ambush missions. Which one do you belong to?"
"the former"
Wei Ran shook his head, "We were busy last night, but until the battle started this morning, the engine couldn't start."
Hearing this, Trosha looked up at the fighter jets that kept whizzing by. After hesitating for a moment, he said, "Come back to the rear with me later. I can't promise to help you get a tank right away, but since you caught
For the sake of the returning prisoners, I can at least ensure that you two will not be separated."
"Thank you then. This is probably the best news." Wei Ran said, speeding up his pace again.
When the two of them rushed back to the tank, they frowned indiscriminately.
"Roman?" Wei Ran shouted, "Vajm? Are you okay?"
Seeing no one responded, the two people immediately jumped on the tank and opened the hatch. Then they found Roman and Vajim lying on the ground, pressing the fire pedal together.
"Are you guys OK?"
Regardless of the small space, Wei Ran immediately got in and tried the breathing of the two of them, "Help carry Vajim out! He is still alive!"
"Pass it to me!" Trocha immediately put his hand into the turret.
Just when Wei Ran was struggling to help Vajim up, he woke up.
Looking at Wei Ran who looked anxious, and then looking up at Commissar Trosha who had leaned most of his body into the turret, Vajim touched the wound that penetrated his abdomen, and an ugly smile appeared on his young face.
But then, dark red blood flowed down the corner of his mouth.
"Let me...let me stay here, I...I'm dying, I...I can't even feel my legs..."
Vajim said tiredly, "Victor, do you still have... any more wine?"
"Yes! Yes!" Wei Ran hurriedly took out the wine bottle from the metal book, unscrewed the lid and handed it to the other party's mouth.
Taking a sip of the little gin left in the flask, Vajim seemed to be in better spirits, "Just...just let me stay here. Just now...Roman said that he didn't want to leave the car either."
tank...
Victor, Comrade Comrade... help me... help me find something... that can prove that I am... a tanker. Wait... wait until we take back... take back Kharkov
When the time comes, send it back to Valentina. Her address... is in mine, in my tank hat. The vodka there... remember to drink it, promise me... until then, keep it from her.
, our child is about to be born...my identity..."
"I promise you," Wei Ran solemnly promised, "When Harqif is recaptured, we will..."
Before he could finish his words, Vajim had already closed his eyes, and the wine bottle in Wei Ran's hand hit the shell shell at his feet with a clang.
Trosha, who had been leaning his upper body into the turret, sighed, took off the hat on his head, and exited the turret with his upper body.
Inside the tank, which was filled with the smell of blood, Wei Yan took Vajim's body back to the driver's seat with difficulty, sat down, and then took off his tank cap.
In this tank hat, a small canvas pocket was sewn by hand. What was inside the pocket was just a photo of Vadim and young Valentina. In their hands, they even held a small bag.
Box of vodka.
Turning over the back of the photo, there were several addresses written on it in blue pen.
The address in the first line at the top is in Kharkiv, the second line is in Belgorod, the third line is in Voronezh, and the last line is in Kirov.
However, apart from this photo, Weiran never found any personal items from Vajim's body except for the trophy necklace and the German flashlight hanging around his neck.
There were no military medals, no soldier ID cards, no identity capsules, no cash, not even tobacco, cigarette paper and lighters.
Sighing, Weiran found a pencil from the tank, then found some pieces of cigarette paper from Roman's body, copied all the addresses on the back of the photo, and removed the tank's firing pin, along with the one hanging on the tile.
The string of gold and silver rings around Jim's neck was put into his pocket.
Finally, after placing Roman's body straight and wiping the blood on the two military medals on his chest, Wei Ran put away his wine bottle, took the hatch wrench and left the tank.
After carefully locking all the car hatches, Wei Ran found Trosha who was standing at the front of the car.
"The last one should be the address of Vadim's wife, and the rest are places where they used to live. Vadim even left a box of vodka buried at those addresses."
Wei Ran handed the cigarette paper with the address written on it to Trosha, and then took out the firing pin of the artillery that had just been removed and handed it to the other party, "If possible, after Kharkov is defeated, please find an opportunity to
Send this back to his wife."
Trosha hesitated for a moment, took these things and asked, "Doesn't he have a soldier's ID card or anything else?"
Wei Ran shook his head, briefly told Vajim's identity, and then took out the string of gold and silver rings from his pocket, "Let's find a way to convert these things into money and send them back to his wife."
"Is there anything else I can do?" Trosha asked as he put away the things.
"Where is Ajiafon's body?" Wei Ran asked after hesitating for a moment.
"It's in the mass graveyard in the rear camp," Trocha responded.
"Comrade Political Commissar, the bodies of Roman and Vadim..."
"Just do what Vajim said."
Trosha sighed, "After the war is over, if I am still alive, I will bring their family members here to pick them up."
"Roman's family died in Kiev in 1941." Wei Ran told another bloody fact almost in a babble.
"Just like it says on the turret"
Trosha slowly raised his right arm and saluted the tank that turned into a coffin while saying sonorously, "To take back Soviet Ukraine!"
"To recapture Soviet Ukraine..." Wei Ran muttered to himself, and at the same time, intense white light filled his field of vision.
