Chapter three hundred and thirty fourth hand-to-hand combat
One thing Shulka and others did not expect was that although the German Panzer III tanks could only reach a speed of 15 kilometers per hour in the snow, they were determined to fight a close battle with the Soviet army. It took only one minute to advance from the smoke at full speed.
broke into the Soviet tank formation.
So gunshots and artillery sounds soon started. The German tanks' machine guns fired wildly. At the same time, the main guns turned towards the side armor of the "Matilda" tank and destroyed it with a "bang"... This is
The quality of the German tank crews, each of them performed their own duties and allowed the tank to deal with infantry and enemy tanks at the same time without panicking at all.
From this aspect, the German army is still correct in adopting close combat tactics, if the Soviet army really only has "Matilda" and "M3 medium" tanks at this time.
Because the only one that can penetrate the 47mm armor of the "Type III" is the 75mm gun of the M3 medium tank. The other main gun of the M3 medium tank is only 37mm, which is not even as good as the main gun of the "Matilda".
However, the medium-sized 75mm gun of the M3 has a narrow range of fire, making it almost ineffective in close combat.
Therefore, the victory of the German army at this time should have been determined by reaching this point.
Major General von Funke thought so too, so he shouted excitedly on the walkie-talkie: "Well done! Soldiers, they are finished!"
But before he finished speaking, several German tanks were destroyed immediately after several explosions.
Major General Feng Funke felt a little strange at this time.
As he said before, if the enemy used artillery fire to destroy the German tanks, then the enemy's and our tanks are now mixed together, and the artillery fire should have no effect.
This also means...it may not be artillery fire that works!
What could it be?
Tank gun?
"What's going on?" Major General von Funk asked: "Can their tanks destroy our tanks?"
"General!" Colonel Jonas, who was commanding the battle from the front, replied: "I didn't see the enemy tank gun fire!"
"What is that?" Major General von Funk asked loudly: "What destroyed our tanks?!"
"I don't know!" Colonel Jonas replied: "But they can... Our tanks are under attack!"
The difference between rocket launchers and artillery fire is that they can still be effective when enemy and friendly tanks are mixed together.
Because for infantry, large tanks are very easy to identify, especially the German tanks with a black "cross" printed on the side.
"The black 'cross' is simply a bull's-eye!" Cossack said after the war: "It gives us a target mark, but you'd better not aim at the 'cross', but aim below it!"
The Cossack had been promoted to platoon leader by this time.
This is what Shulka meant, although many people opposed his appointment as platoon leader, including the instructor.
"Comrade Captain!" the instructor said: "We all know what kind of person Kuzya is. He forms cliques and bullies the weak. If he is allowed to be the platoon leader... the Cossack gang will probably take advantage of other people in the platoon!
None of the soldiers here think this is a good idea!"
"I know, Comrade Pukarev!" Shulka replied: "But isn't the Cossack gang a kind of organizational and uniting ability?"
"What?"
"The Cossacks only follow his lead, right?"
"Yes!"
"His fighting qualities are pretty good, right?"
"Yes!"
"The Cossack gang also fought well under his command, right?"
"Yes, but..."
"That's enough!" Shulka said: "We need such a platoon leader!"
"But he can't convince the crowd!" the instructor said: "Many people in the platoon have been bullied by him and the Cossack gang!"
"If he can't do it, I can replace him with someone else!" Shulka said.
"Okay!" The instructor spread his hands.
However, it can be seen from the instructor's expression that he does not agree with Shulka's promotion.
Shulka also asked the Cossacks about this.
"There are many people who disagree with you becoming a platoon leader because they think you will continue to let the Cossack gang bully others!" Shulka asked directly: "Will you?"
"No, I won't!" The Cossack replied simply: "Because if I am the platoon leader, it means that they have all joined the Cossack Gang, and I will lead them to bully others, especially the Germans!"
Shulka couldn't help but laugh, this was the effect he wanted.
Sure enough, after Cossack became the platoon leader, the Cossack gang no longer bullied others.
The Cossack seemed to regard himself as the gang leader, and his subordinates as the younger brothers, and matters between the younger brothers should be dealt with impartially.
As for the people outside the platoon... In fact, every platoon commander, every company commander, and even Shulka himself are used to protecting others. After all, they are his brothers who have been through life and death. If he doesn't protect them, who can he protect?
Therefore, many times we should consider it from the other side.
Not long ago Shulka had made up his mind to remove Cossack as squad leader. Unexpectedly, instead of removing him, he was promoted instead.
As a platoon leader, the Cossack was supposed to lead the troops in battle, but he seemed to have a natural affinity for the "Bazooka", so he carried one on his back.
Facts have proved that his idea is correct. Cossacks can use the feel of the bazooka to fire... This may be something he has learned from using submachine guns for a long time. He often relies on the feel of the submachine gun because it has poor accuracy and is sometimes held in his hand.
strafing.
The same thing happened to the Cossack after switching to a rocket launcher. I felt its weight on my back and imagined the trajectory of its escape. Then I pulled the trigger, and with a "chirp" sound, the rocket went straight to the target.
In this battle, the Cossack killed three tanks one after another.
This would have been impossible before...one infantryman killed three tanks and was still alive.
However, with the rocket launcher and still in the tank melee, the impossible became possible.
At this time, the German Colonel Jonas seemed to have discovered the problem.
"I see it, General!" said Colonel Jonas. "That's a man-made weapon!"
"What?" Major General Feng Funke didn't understand, or he understood but couldn't believe it.
"The thing that destroyed our tanks!" Colonel Jonas said: "It wasn't the artillery, it wasn't the tank gun... it was an individual weapon, the artillery they carried on their shoulders and fired!"
"Individual weapons? Are you sure? They can destroy our tanks?"
"Yes, General!" Colonel Jonas replied: "I'm sure it looks like a rocket launcher because there is a very obvious..."
"Boom!" There was a sound, and there was no sound from the other end of the walkie-talkie.
"Colonel, Colonel..." Von Funk shouted several times without hearing any reply, and then he understood what had happened.