To put it bluntly, these covering troops are "cannon fodder", rushing to the front to die. They have almost no hope of coming back alive.
Even so, their superiors still gave them some tasks and told them how to die...
But Shulka had to admit that Major Zahakavich's order was correct.
If the tank wreckage is not close enough to the front, it means that the lurking troops cannot move forward to lurk either.
If tank debris blocks the bridge deck, it means that lurking tanks cannot pass.
The troops advanced slowly in a long snake formation.
This is originally a marching formation that is not suitable for attacking, but because the attack is on the bridge, it can only be done this way.
The tanks pushed forward with the sound of motors. Several tanks in front had already driven onto the bridge, and then they accelerated... As mentioned before, they wanted to get as close to the front as possible.
But the Germans obviously would not let them get what they wanted. Several illumination bombs rose into the air, and then there was a burst of "bang" and a tank was destroyed immediately.
It was a terrifying scene. The tank of Shulka and others then passed by the wreckage of the tank, and saw a hole in its front armor that was almost as big as a soup bowl... It still didn't look much damaged on the outside, but
The inside was already a bloody mess and was beaten to pieces.
The tank continued to move forward, illumination bombs rose into the sky one after another, and the terrifying sound of anti-aircraft guns could not be heard.
Perhaps because of nervousness, all the tanks seemed to start scurrying around. They had already ignored the infantry behind them and stepped on the accelerator to charge forward as fast as possible... This was actually planned before the war. The tanks should indeed
It is possible to rush into the enemy's defense line by leaving behind the infantry.
Otherwise, advancing while covering the infantry will only allow the anti-aircraft guns to destroy them one after another on the road.
It is not necessary to cover the infantry at the same time. In fact, the remains of tanks can serve as cover for the infantry.
But of course, it would be difficult for a tank charge to successfully cross the bridge, because there are not only anti-aircraft guns but also many anti-tank gun positions on the opposite side.
Major Michael, who was on the armored train on the other side, started to get excited.
"Everyone move!" Major Michael ordered loudly with a microphone.
The equipment on the armored train is very advanced. For example, Major Michael's orders can be transmitted to each car through a microphone and amplified like a speaker.
Of course, if necessary, Major Michael can also issue orders for certain compartments such as the anti-aircraft gun compartment.
"Those Ivans have launched an attack!" Major Michael said: "They plan to use dense tanks to break through our defense line. You must hold steady and pay attention to your goals!"
For an engineer battalion commander, Major Michael's command was quite good.
He even refused orders given to him by his superiors.
Colonel Finn ordered Major Michael to place the armored train across the bridge during every battle.
"This way we can fire four guns at the same time!" Colonel Finn said: "And we are facing the enemy tank's larger and weakly armored side!"
"No, Colonel!" Major Michael replied: "I don't think this is a good option. Because we know that the Volga Bridge has guardrails, so although we can indeed face part of the tank side, the guardrails will reduce this effect.
, these guardrails may even cause our artillery shells to deviate from the target! In addition, the 88mm anti-aircraft gun can penetrate the frontal armor of the enemy tank at a longer distance, so we do not need to face the enemy's side armor at all!"
Colonel Fane was speechless and felt a little embarrassed because he found that the engineer battalion commander in front of him did not seem to know anything about the war as he thought.
"So, how do you think we should face the enemy?" Colonel Fane asked, "Drive your armored train into the enemy?"
The officers around him couldn't help but laugh.
"No, Colonel!" Major Michael replied, "Our armored trains will be moving back and forth across the bridge!"
As he spoke, Major Michael took out his pen and used it as an armored train, moving back and forth on the rails in front of the Volga River Bridge and continued: "We have four anti-aircraft guns, two on the left and two on the right. The train can move back and forth.
Let them fire alternately, which can prevent the armored train from being covered by artillery fire from the enemy's position, and it is also easier to control and block the bridge deck with artillery fire from the front!"
The conference room suddenly became quiet.
Facts have proved that Major Michael is right. This tactic can block the bridge deck more efficiently and is safer, but it is a test for the coordination of the armored train units... For example, when the gunner is aiming at the target, the armored train cannot move.
suitable.
But this doesn't seem to be a problem. The engineering battalions use the communication equipment in the armored train to communicate with each other and coordinate well. This makes the armored train act like a whole, wandering on both sides of the bridge and between the two bridges, constantly killing people.
Enemy tanks.
Even the flares were shot out by the armored train, along with machine guns and mortars... The entire armored train was equivalent to a weapons arsenal.
Major Michael looked through the periscope at the Russian tanks rushing up one after another on the bridge and shouted excitedly: "That's it, boys, a good fight! Let them see that we are not just an engineer battalion, we are
It’s not just the guerrillas that can be dealt with…”
Finally, the battlefield became quiet again, and the Soviet troops retreated like a tide, leaving only pieces of corpses and the remains of tanks with different postures.
One of the surviving tanks tried to turn around and escape, but was quickly blown into a ball of fire under the orders of Major Michael.
This fireball was right next to Shulka's lurking position. The flames from the explosion of the engine even ignited around him. One of the lurking soldiers was ignited and couldn't help but scream and roll around, but no one could save him.
Get him, the flame is still burning in him...
Soon, he finally stopped moving and fell down a few meters away from Shulka. Shulka could even see his fingers that were pressing hard against the bridge deck because of pain, and several nails had been broken off.
"This idiot!" Shulka couldn't help but cursed in his heart.
He was scolding the commander of the tank.
It was a tank performing a cover mission. He obviously got timid at the last moment, or realized that there was no point in continuing to charge as the only tank left... He was right, there was indeed no point in continuing to charge, because at this time
The lurking tank has already lurked.
However, he should not run away.
He should have parked on the spot and pretended to be a destroyed tank.
Obviously, he stubbornly thought that he was performing a cover mission and did not expect that he could be transformed into a lurking member.