The tank troops coming along the road were the special tank battalion commanded by Major Bunch. This battalion was the only unit in the 4th Guards Tank Corps equipped with 12 T-34/85 tanks. Out of love for them,
Army commander General Polubyarov would make an exception to use them only in the most important battles.
This time, after receiving Sokov's order, after breaking through October Town, he continued to go south along the road, joined the troops who had detoured behind October Town, and then attacked the enemy who came for reinforcements. In order to ensure the victory of the battle, Polu
General Boyarov did not hesitate to order the battalion to serve as the forward force of the entire army to complete this glorious task.
The tank driving at the front was Major Bunch's command tank. As soon as he drove out of the forest, Bunch passed through the lookout hole and found that there seemed to be an ambush on both sides of the road dozens of meters ahead. He quickly shouted loudly:
"Stop, stop quickly!"
Although the tank driver didn't know what was going on, he still stepped on the brakes in time and stopped the tank. Seeing that the tank had stopped, Bunch turned and ordered his men: "There seem to be troops ambushing on both sides of the road ahead. All
Everyone is ready for battle."
After giving the instructions, Major Bunch stood up, pushed open the hatch cover, and leaned out to observe. Although he knew in his heart that if the ambushes on both sides of the road ahead were really German troops, he would become a target for snipers as soon as he went out.
There is no way, the field of view in the tank is too narrow, and the range of observation is limited. If you want to see the surrounding environment clearly, you can only venture out and take a look.
Leaning half out of the hatch, Major Bunch raised his telescope and looked at the road ahead. Sure enough, he found that there seemed to be an army ambushing in the bushes on both sides of the road. He quickly lowered his head and shouted into the car: "Aim a little closer.
Direction, be ready to fire."
The tank crew in the vehicle heard Major Bunch's instructions and quickly and slowly turned the turret, aiming the black muzzle at the unidentified bushes.
At this moment, two soldiers wearing Soviet uniforms suddenly emerged from the bushes, waving their hands and walking quickly towards the tank. Seeing someone appear, Major Bunch's first reaction was to observe the other person's body.
weapons to determine who the other party is.
Before setting off, Major Bunch received an order from General Polubyarov, telling them to pass through October Town and join forces with friendly forces who had arrived here first. The two people now appearing in the telescope lens, although wearing Soviet Union
They were wearing military uniforms, but who could guarantee that they were not Germans in disguise? The first thing he observed was the weapons on the other party, because he knew that some Germans often forgot to change their weapons after disguising themselves as Soviet soldiers, and still carried the weapons on their backs.
wearing their original German equipment.
After watching for a moment, Major Bunch recognized that the two men were carrying assault rifles owned only by the 27th Army. He quickly lowered his head and shouted into the tank: "Don't fire, the ones coming are our own."
After saying this, Major Bunch climbed out of the turret, jumped off the vehicle, and forced two Soviet commanders and fighters to run over.
When the two sides were five or six meters apart, they both stopped in unison. An officer coming from the opposite side first asked: "Are you from the 4th Guards Tank Corps?"
"Yes, I am Major Bunch, commander of the Special Tank Battalion of the 4th Guards Tank Corps." After Bunch revealed his identity, he asked: "Which unit are you in?"
"Hello, Comrade Major!" A captain on the opposite side said: "Captain Seryosha, the guard company commander of our group army, was ordered to detour back here."
After Major Bunch looked at Captain Seryosha, he asked with some surprise: "Comrade Captain, I would like to ask, what kind of mission is it that actually requires you to do it?"
Seryozha did not conceal the other party, but answered truthfully: "Comrade Major, our task is to bypass the enemy's rear and cut off their contact with the outside world. In other words, we must not only block the German reinforcements, but also
Stop the broken troops escaping from October Town."
"You are the only company?" Major Bunch asked in surprise, "Can you complete such an arduous task?"
"Who said we only have one company?" Seryosha quickly explained: "The superiors arranged a battalion to perform this task. Because they were short of troops, they temporarily transferred my guard company from the group army headquarters to strengthen it.
Their power."
"Where are the rest of them?"
Hearing Major Bunch's question, Seryosha quickly turned around and gestured towards the place where Guchakov was hiding, indicating that they could come out.
Guchakov, who was hiding in the bushes, saw Seryosha giving him a signal, so he stood up from the bushes and led his two company commanders towards the location of Major Bunch.
Major Bunch, who was talking to Seryosha, saw several Germans standing up from the bushes. He was frightened and quickly pulled out his pistol. Seeing this, Seryosha quickly grabbed his hand and reminded him.
He said: "Comrade Major, don't be nervous, we are all our own people."
Hearing that the people coming were his own, Major Bunch still hesitated for a moment before he thought of the possibility that the friendly troops had deliberately put on German uniforms for the convenience of performing their missions. Seryozha continued: "For the sake of convenience, the friendly forces put on German uniforms.
In order to better carry out the mission of penetrating behind enemy lines, all of us put on German uniforms. I just took off the German uniform I was wearing to prevent misunderstandings."
Guchakov came to Major Bunch, introduced himself to him, and asked: "Comrade Major, how many tanks have you come here?"
"Our battalion only has twelve tanks, and they all came with me." Seeing the disappointed expression on Guchakov's face, Major Bunch quickly added: "Don't worry, we are all equipped with T-34/85
The tank is much stronger than the original T-34/76 tank, and it will not fall behind even against the German Panther tank."
Guchakov had seen the earliest T-34/85 tanks in the Battle of Stalingrad and how they dealt with German tanks. Naturally, he knew that the other party's statement was not an exaggeration. If an encounter occurred, just these 12 tanks
Tanks and their own troops can completely block German reinforcements.
"Comrade Major," Bunch glanced at the soldiers standing up from the bushes in the distance, and said with some contempt: "Are your troops just sitting here doing nothing?"
Before Guchakov said anything to Bunchi's words, the irritated Seryosha said first: "Comrade Major, if we hadn't gotten lost in the process of crossing, maybe some soldiers would have sneaked in by now.
We have arrived at October Town and are currently assisting the friendly forces in capturing October Town."
"Comrade Major," Guchakov said politely to Bunch after Seryosha finished speaking: "According to the orders from our superiors, when our battalion arrived here, except for leaving some troops to block the German reinforcements, the rest
The troops used their German uniforms to sneak into October Town, assist the friendly forces in the frontal attack, and liberate the entire town."
"Then why are you still here and not taking any action?"
"The reason is very simple." Guchakov replied: "Captain Seryosha just told you that we were lost in the forest. This is true. Because this attack started too hastily, we simply couldn't
There was no time to reconnoiter the road in the forest. As a result, we lost our way during the movement and missed the best time."
After figuring out the reason why Guchakov and the others did not start acting as planned, Bunch changed the subject in time: "Then what should we do next?"
Guchakov took out a map from his satchel, unfolded it and spread it on the ground, and said to Bunch: "Comrade Major, the mission of our battalion is to persist until the main force attacking October Town arrives, and then to reinforce the troops heading north.
The enemy counterattacks. After repelling the enemy, they should decisively pursue pursuit actions and follow the enemy into the territory they occupied..." At this point, Guchakov clicked on the position of Kazachya's compass with his finger, "
...Kazakia Compass Town, take this place and use it as our forward base."
After hearing this, Major Bunch nodded slightly and said: "Major Guchakov, after I received the order, I also cooperated with you to repel the German reinforcements, launched a counterattack, and then followed them to pursue them to capture the next one.
A town occupied by the enemy. However, judging from your current situation, it seems that the enemies who have reinforced October Town have not yet appeared."
"Yes, Major Bunch, you are right." Guchakov took out a pack of cigarettes and handed it to Bunch: "The enemy hasn't shown up yet, and I don't know if they haven't assembled their troops yet.
, I was still scared out of my wits and didn’t dare to come for reinforcements.”
"We can't wait here." Bunch took out a cigarette from the cigarette case and held it in his mouth, but did not light it immediately: "Major Guchakov, do you have any good suggestions?"
Before Guchakov could answer, a roar suddenly came from the distance. Bunch looked alertly in the direction of the sound and asked sharply: "What is that sound?"
"Comrade Major, that is the hovercraft that sent us here." Since the hovercraft had already appeared in the battle to liberate Belgorod, Guchakov did not hide it from Major Bunch: "They have completed their mission.
Getting ready to return home."
"Oh oh oh, it turns out to be a hovercraft." Bunchi looked at the forest where the sound came from, trying his best to see the shape of the hovercraft clearly, but due to the obstruction of the trees, he couldn't see anything clearly, so he could only say regretfully: "
I've heard of this kind of thing, but unfortunately I've never seen it."
"There will be a chance to meet, Major Bunch." Guchakov said: "Let's discuss now how to complete the task assigned to us by our superiors."
"Please tell me, Major Guchakov." Bunch nodded, and then said: "My tank battalion will fully cooperate with your actions."
"Since the enemy has not appeared yet, we might as well advance south along the highway." Guchakov pointed to the map and said to Bunch: "Choose a location relatively close to the Compass Town of Kazachya, set up an ambush, and wait for the enemy's attack.
As soon as the reinforcements arrived, we caught them off guard. While the enemy was in chaos, we launched a counterattack and drove the enemy back towards the town of Kazachya Compass."
"I agree with your style of play." Major Bunch replied with a smile: "We chased the enemy behind and rushed forward. The enemy who held the position was worried about accidentally hurting his own people and did not dare to shoot easily. In this way, we
You can easily rush into the town of Kazachia Compass and eliminate the defenders in the town."
After the two battalion commanders formulated a detailed combat plan, they joined forces and advanced southward.
Since the bodies of the T-34/85 tanks were equipped with telephones according to Sokov's original design, they could communicate inside and outside the tank. Therefore, after the two troops were back on the road, the troops riding in the tanks would use the telephone installed on the tank.
The phone on the tank reports the situation along the way to the tank crew in the tank.
When the tanks were still five or six kilometers away from the town, the infantryman standing on the first tank suddenly noticed dust rising on the road in the distance, and quickly reported to Major Bunch on the phone.
After receiving the report, Major Bunch quickly ordered the tank to stop. He leaned out of the turret again, raised his binoculars and looked into the distance. Although he could not clearly see the number of enemies due to the obstruction of the forest, he could not see clearly from the distance.
From the height of the dust and the speed of movement, he could still judge the size of the German reinforcements.
He quickly turned to the soldier standing behind the turret: "Comrade soldier, find your battalion commander quickly. I have important matters to discuss with him."
When the soldiers jumped off the tank and ran towards the rear of the team, preparing to find Guchakov, Major Bunch used a throat microphone to inform his men: "All attention! All attention!! I am the battalion commander Bunch.
Major, German reinforcements have been spotted ahead, please prepare for battle."
Guchakov, who was walking in the middle of the team, guessed that something big might happen as soon as he saw the accompanying tanks stop. He said to the soldier standing on a tank next to him: "Comrade soldier, please let the tank soldiers contact you."
Major Bunch, what happened ahead and why did we stop advancing?"
The soldier agreed, picked up the phone hanging on the tank body, and was about to talk to the tank soldier when he saw a soldier running from the front. As the other person ran, he asked loudly: "Comrade Battalion Commander, Comrade Battalion Commander"
Where?"
When Guchakov heard the shouting, he quickly took a few steps forward and shouted to the soldier: "What happened here?"
"Report to Comrade Battalion Commander." Although the lead car was only more than 300 meters away from here, the soldiers were running too fast and were out of breath when speaking: "Major Bunch asked me... let me report to you.
Report, he has something important to discuss with you, please rush to him as soon as possible."
Under the leadership of the soldier, Guchakov came to the position of the lead vehicle, raised his head and asked Bunchi who leaned out of the turret: "Comrade Major, have you noticed the enemy's movement?"
"Yes, Major Guchakov." Bunch lowered his head and said to Guchakov: "There is a lot of dust rising in the distance. According to my experience, the enemy has at least two infantry battalions and one tank battalion.
"
When Guchakov heard this, he immediately became happy: "That's great. The more troops the enemy brings, the more chaotic it will be when they are attacked by us later. We can then take advantage of the troubled waters to fish in troubled waters and catch up.
Let them escape back to the town. Major, now take your tank and hide on the side of the road, wait for the enemy to appear, and then catch them by surprise."
