The ancient Thermopylae has always been the gateway to Greece. Countless foreigners who tried to conquer Greece were defeated by the Greeks here, ruining their ambitions to conquer Greece, but there were also winners. But Thermopylae has always been Greece.
Strong points in the human heart.
The terrain of Thermopylae with cliffs on one side and the sea on the other has indeed helped the Greeks resist countless enemies. However, in modern times, with the retreat of the coastline, one kilometer of land has now appeared outside Thermopylae. However, this still cannot prevent it from becoming
Strategic location of Greece.
And today, a battle concerning the life and death of Greece is happening here again.
"Enemy tanks, prepare to fire."
The officer's roaring voice made Maraka pay more attention. He was operating a new 40mm anti-tank gun (British: two-pound anti-tank gun) that was less than three days old and was aiming at an incoming Romanian tank.
He had seen this tank in the identification picture, and it was called the R20 medium tank. Its main features were its sloped armor and the huge mantlet that could be used as the front armor of the turret. It is said that the tank weighed more than 30 tons, and the front armor was very thick.
He had no confidence in whether the 40mm anti-tank gun in his hand could penetrate its armor. This was because he heard that in Poland, the 37mm anti-tank gun it was equipped with could not penetrate its equipment.
It's just that there are only this kind of anti-tank guns in the army at present. I heard that they were urgently transported from Egypt. I heard that hundreds of them were shipped at that time, but they were intercepted by the Romanian Navy at sea and lost a lot. When they were sent to Greece, only a few were left.
Ten of them. I heard that this is the latest anti-tank gun of the British Army. I hope it can stop the Romanian tanks.
And the troops they were sent to garrison at Hot Spring Pass were divided into more than fifty gates. It can be said that they were given quite generously.
Can you not be happy? Now the Greek troops have basically been annihilated in the Battle of Thessaly. The Greek military now has less than 250,000 troops under its control, excluding the island defenders and the troops in Epirus.
The Greek government currently has only about 100,000 troops under its control, including the defenders of Crete.
Therefore, the Greek government also has high hopes for Thermopylae.
It's just that the British and French are not optimistic about this. They are already persuading the Greek government to evacuate to Crete as soon as possible (currently, the Romanian fleet mainly intercepts British transport ships off the coast of Crete and attacks those in the inland sea of Crete.
The island did not intercept due to aircraft reasons).
But these have nothing to do with Maraka, who is responsible for commanding the 40mm anti-tank gun. He can't control it now. For him, destroying the tank in front of him and maintaining his position are the most important things now.
He and his team members were well hidden. The dense bushes hid them and the anti-tank gun well. The Romanian aircraft and artillery attacks failed to detect him, but many of his comrades were not so aware.
Fortunately, they suffered a lot of losses due to various reasons.
Malaika couldn't control any of this. Now he was just waiting for the R20 tank in front of him to reveal its side or get closer to him.
"Closer, closer."
Malaka was lying on the ground, mumbling incessantly, as if a parent was waiting for the return of a child playing outside.
As if his words were magical, the R20 started to drive upwards along the gentle slope again, and the strong horsepower drove the tracks forward slowly through the power wheels.
Seeing that the R20 tank was approaching more than 200 meters, and even the figure of the person in the observation hole could be seen. Malaca felt that this was the best opportunity and immediately gave the order. "Get ready!"
He lassoed the tank with a crosshair and pulled the gun rope.
"Bang!"
The 40mm armor-piercing projectile ejected from the muzzle directly hit the front slope armor plate of the R20 tank. The huge impact force made a hole in the armor, but the shell with exhausted kinetic energy did not penetrate the armor.
Although the shell failed to penetrate the R20 tank, the huge kinetic energy still caused it to shut down.
"good chance!"
Seeing this R20 tank being beaten and stopped on the spot, Maraka naturally wouldn't let it go. One shell wouldn't do it, so how many more?
So taking advantage of the moment when the R20 tank in front of him was shut down, Malaka and his team exerted their maximum potential and fired nearly 30 shells in just two minutes. So many shells knocked the R20 tank in front of them.
It made a loud noise, but not a single shell penetrated its armor.
This result made Maraka's face very ugly. When he saw the tank that was constantly being attacked began to rumble again, he secretly said something bad in his heart. The tank that has recovered now will definitely find its target to attack, and because of the previous
The smoke from the continuous shooting could not dissipate for a long time. Isn't this an obvious target?
Seeing that the tank's turret had turned around, Malaka knew that nothing could be done and quickly shouted, "Run!" After that, he ran out.
"boom!"
The grenade fired from the 75mm main gun of the R20 tank destroyed the 40mm anti-tank gun, and Maraka, who ran first, survived. However, although he ran fast, he had already hit the R20 tank here.
But he was unwilling to give up. A burst of vehicle-mounted machine gunfire rang out, and Malaka's eyesight went dark and he didn't know anything.
The battle conditions at the Thermopylae position were similar. The Romanian army relied on its armor and air superiority to make the defending Greek army extremely uncomfortable.
The 1st Armored Division of the Armored Corps and the 54th Motorized Division are Romania's elite troops. They are also equipped with many tanks and self-propelled artillery.
Hot Spring Pass is not as dangerous as it was in ancient times. Moreover, it is just as dangerous as in ancient times. However, due to the cooperation between ground and air and the impact of modernization, its terrain advantages have been greatly reduced.
Faced with this situation, General Hippok, as the commander of the garrison, felt that the battle situation was very difficult. The reason was very simple. He lacked air defense and anti-armor means and had no good way to deal with it. Instead, he relied on soldiers to resist enemy attacks.
, which will greatly damage their morale.
When it comes to anti-tank means, Hippok is very angry. The 40mm anti-tank sent by the British, apart from being able to penetrate the Romanian R10 tank head-on at medium and short range, is completely powerless against the R20 tank equipped with it.
Earlier, an officer came to report that several anti-tank guns fired almost all of their shells at an R20 tank. The tank continued to press towards the position as if nothing was wrong.
At present, this tank has become the inner demon of soldiers. Wherever this kind of tank appears, the soldiers' combat consciousness will drop rapidly. Because they have no countermeasures and can only use the most primitive manpower blasting method.
It's just that this method is too demoralizing and will make the already low morale of the Greek defenders even lower. This is completely a vicious circle. Hippok himself knows it, but what can he do?
He lacks everything and has nothing to give him, so he can only use the lives of his soldiers to consume the enemy. But he only has less than 20,000 officers and soldiers in his hands. How many people are willing to face this situation calmly?
