Captain Walter made the right choice, or the right choice under the circumstances.
But the battlefield is often like this. If you miss it once, you can never make up for it, no matter whether the decisions and judgments made after it are correct or not.
Just when Captain Walter was commanding the two tanks to retreat...reversing was much more difficult than moving forward, because the driver could not observe the rear, and the commander had to stick his head out to observe and direct at the same time.
Then, Captain Walter saw figures everywhere in the direction of the bridgehead, and at the same time, gunshots and explosions were heard.
At this time, Captain Walter was once again in a dilemma.
If the infantry at the bridgehead cannot hold up until the tanks arrive, then the tanks falling back is equivalent to throwing themselves into a trap.
But Captain Walter couldn't give up on the mission just like that.
This was not because of the order. Captain Walter believed that in this case, even if he refused to carry out the order, he would not be held accountable. After all, he was commanding the Panzer No. 6.
The problem is that this is a desertion, abandoning one's own friendly forces and fleeing because of fear of possible danger. This is an insult to the honor of an imperial soldier.
Therefore, Captain Walter decided to continue retreating.
He picked up the walkie-talkie and tried to contact the infantry, but there was no sound from Captain Weiss.
"I think we should retreat, Captain!" the No. 7 car commander and Captain Walter's subordinate suggested: "They are finished!"
"No!" Captain Weiss replied: "Did you hear the gunfire? The position is still in our hands!"
"But we can't fight!" said the commander of the No. 7 car: "Our turret can't rotate!"
The commander was right. Because of the obstruction of the steel beams of the railway bridge, the tanks could only keep the turret forward... In other words, they did not even have basic combat effectiveness.
Looking ahead with a telescope, Walter found a chance of turning in the light of the flare.
"Do you see the gap ahead?" Walter asked.
"What gap?"
"Steel beams blown apart by shells!" Walter replied: "We can rotate the turret there!"
"Yes, Captain!" the commander replied: "What a great idea!"
It is indeed a good idea, because at least it allows tank guns and parallel machine guns to be used.
But it could be heard that the commander didn't like this idea.
This is not because this idea is bad, but because this idea allows two "Tiger" vehicles to fight together, which means it is possible to reinforce the bridgehead and even help the Germans stabilize the bridgehead position, so the commander can no longer find a way to "retreat."
excuse.
"Speed up!" Captain Walter ordered.
There is no technical difficulty in reversing a tank because the railway bridge is straight, so as long as the direction is stable, there will generally be no major problems.
The problem is that tank crews are always worried about what to do if something breaks down. The tanks will then be stuck here and unable to move, but their superiors' orders to them are that they must fight until the last moment, which means they almost have only one option: waiting to die.
"Flare!" Captain Walter ordered.
With two "Teng Teng" sounds, two illumination bombs were fired from the launcher on the tank, and the bright light illuminated the entire bridge head in an instant.
The scene that appeared surprised Walter and the commander of the No. 7 car, because the Soviet army had started a close-quarters fight with the German soldiers, and there were people wearing different military uniforms fighting each other everywhere.
To be precise, there were many people in the same military uniforms who were fighting together, and they did not separate until the flares rose into the air.
"Captain!" the commander of the No. 7 car shouted through the walkie-talkie: "We can't help them, please retreat! Please retreat!"
This request is understandable, because the enemy and we have reached the level of hand-to-hand combat, which means that the tank's artillery and machine guns cannot function, just like the previous tank turret that could not rotate.
But Captain Walter refused without thinking: "If you want to retreat, then you can retreat!"
The commander of the No. 7 car was speechless after hearing this. Walter's No. 6 car was blocking his rear, which meant that he could not withdraw if Walter did not withdraw.
"Why, Captain?" asked the commander of Car No. 7, "I want to know the reason!"
"Because of the railway bridge, Hann!" Walter replied: "We don't need to occupy the bridge head, we only need to control the railway bridge with firepower! But if we leave like this, the enemy will occupy the bridge head and blow it up!"
"But it makes no difference if we stay here!" Hann said: "They will still do it, the only difference is that they blow us up together!"
"Delay for time!" Walter ordered: "Destroy anyone approaching the railway bridge and hold on until reinforcements arrive. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Captain!" Although Hann did not support this, there was no other way to go at this time.
It should be said that Walter's series of judgments are all correct. From the current situation, this is the best choice.
First of all, the bridgehead position is very important. There is no doubt about this. The German army in the north relies entirely on this railway line for supplies.
Therefore, Walter believes that there will definitely be reinforcements to reinforce the bridge, and reinforcements may even be on the way.
Secondly, the railway bridge is very narrow and flat with no cover. The tank's machine guns and artillery can prevent anyone from approaching the railway bridge, which means that the enemy cannot blow up the bridge, at least until the ammunition is used up.
Again, when reinforcements arrive, the tanks can attack the enemy from both sides and recapture the bridgehead.
Out of this consideration, Captain Walter looked at the distance and ordered Han En through the walkie-talkie: "Stop, we stay here! Get ready for battle! Pay attention to destroy any enemy who tries to get close!
"
Walter was very smart. The tank stopped one hundred meters away from the bridge, which was the longest range of the Soviet rocket launcher.
In fact, a rocket on a railway bridge could hardly hit a target a hundred meters away, even though the target was a huge tank.
The reason is that there is wind on the railway bridge, and it is quite strong.
The maximum range of a rocket of 100 meters can only be achieved indoors without wind. At the same time, the wind deflection rate of this thing is very large. In addition, the wind force and direction are irregular. Launching in this environment will be like
The two are making irregular curved movements like kicking their feet.
This cannot be compensated by a sharpshooter or experience. If you want to hit, you must either shorten the distance or have good luck.
So the problem quickly shifted to the Soviet side.
Especially the two tanks placed one behind the other on the railway bridge. It can be said that one man is blocking the way and no one can open it. Several soldiers from the Soviet Navy infantry battalion rushed up with rocket launchers and grenades. They were killed by the Germans in just one move.
The tank fell into a pool of blood. (To be continued)