According to the German tank commander's thinking, it is entirely possible for his tank to fire another shell before the Soviet ball tank stops and fires. Unexpectedly, something unexpected happened. The other party actually opened fire while marching. The tank commander only felt his tank vibrate twice, and then he knew nothing. His last thought in his life was: How could the Russian’s strange tank have two cannons?
The ball tank bypassed the burning German tanks and continued to rush forward. Tanks in this era had to stop before they could fire, but the spherical tank could fire while moving, which gave it a lot of advantages. In addition, it has two tank guns, which means that if it fires at the same time as the German tank, the probability of hitting it is twice as high as that of the other tank.
Although the two sides were only fifty or sixty meters apart, the armor-piercing projectiles fired by the Germans at the spherical tanks either missed or became ricochet bombs. On the contrary, the two guns of the ball tank fire at the same target at the same time. Even if one of the armor-piercing rounds misses, the other one can hit the target.
The spherical tanks were like wolves rushing into the herd of sheep, launching a one-sided massacre of the German tanks. While the German army was trying its best to deal with the difficult spherical tanks, the two T-34s serving as cover lost no time in shooting at the German tanks from the side, destroying one tank after another like target practice.
A few minutes later, the tank team that rushed into the school while taking advantage of the smoke was completely wiped out. A dozen or so destroyed tanks were parked in the open space in front of the teaching building and burned. The German infantry following the tank saw that the situation was not good and dared to stop wherever they could, so they turned around and ran back. Seeing that all the German tanks had been destroyed, Lieutenant Valenla could not easily let go of the enemy infantry, so he charged forward at full speed.
The ball-shaped tank had two parallel machine guns on the front and one machine gun on each side. After it quickly rushed into the German infantry formation, it began to fire wildly. It was impossible for the German soldiers with only light weapons to deal with the strange tanks that could not even be destroyed by tank guns. They could only be defeated in pieces in the dense rain of bullets like lambs waiting to be slaughtered.
Seeing the spherical tanks displaying their might, a company of soldiers rushed out from the fortifications of the teaching building and the school's main entrance, followed the T-34 tanks coming from elsewhere, and launched a countercharge against the enemy.
This battle without any suspense ended quickly. Except for a dozen clever German soldiers who hid in the crater when the situation was bad and raised their hands to surrender when the Soviet soldiers rushed up, the rest were either shot to death or crushed into pulp by the tracks.
After destroying the invading enemies, the soldiers surrounded the spherical tank and carefully looked at this strange tank with great achievements. Some soldiers said with emotion: "If we could have a hundred such tanks, we would definitely be able to wipe out all the enemies attacking Stalingrad."
As soon as he finished speaking, the soldiers around him burst into laughter. The first company commander walked up to him, raised his hand and slapped his helmet, and said angrily: "Think of these useless things, clean the battlefield quickly, and collect all usable weapons." Then he said angrily: , he turned to face the onlookers and shouted, "And all of you, stop dawdling and clean up the battlefield quickly, otherwise the German shelling will start again later."
When the commanders and fighters of the first company were cleaning the battlefield, Vanya, who had finished tallying the results, immediately called Sokov and reported emotionally: "Comrade Brigadier, our results have been tallied."
When the ball tanks were fighting, there was still a lot of smoke covering the school, so Sokov, who was standing on the rooftop of the club, could not see the fighting clearly. At this moment, when I heard the call from Vanya, I was still a little worried: "Comrade Captain, tell me quickly, what is the result of our battle?"
"In the battle that just ended, our army destroyed a total of nine German tanks, killed between 140 and 170 German soldiers, and captured 15 people..."
"Wait a minute, Comrade Captain." Hearing this, Sokov couldn't help but interrupt and asked: "Why is there no accurate number of German soldiers killed?"
Hearing Sokov's question, Vanya smiled bitterly, and then said: "Comrade Brigadier, you don't know that many German soldiers were crushed to pulp by our tanks, making it impossible for us to calculate accurate statistics. number."
"Okay, I understand." Sokov said: "Continue to report, what are the casualties of our army?"
"Our army has no casualties." After Vanya blurted out, he may have felt that his expression was not accurate enough, and added: "It would not be true if there were no casualties. A T-34 tank was destroyed by the enemy, and all members of the tank crew died. In addition, that strange tank was hit by German armor-piercing bullets seven or eight times, leaving several dents..."
After listening to Vanya's report, Sokov said to Bely who was standing aside: "Comrade Colonel, please inform Lieutenant Valenla to withdraw the spherical tanks immediately."
"Withdraw?!" Bely asked with some confusion: "Comrade Brigade Commander, the spherical tank has just achieved such great results. It can stay in the school and continue to deal with the invading German tanks. Why should it be withdrawn?" Come?"
"One of the enemy's assault troops has been wiped out. Do you think the enemy will not react at all?" Seeing that Bely did not understand what he meant, Sokov explained to him: "They will definitely use heavy artillery to bombard them or dispatch aircraft. Bombing. A spherical tank may be able to stop armor-piercing rounds fired by enemy tanks, but can it withstand heavy artillery and aircraft bombing?”
"Well, it seems impossible." When Bely thought that the spherical tank might be destroyed by enemy artillery or bombing, he couldn't wait any longer. He quickly turned around and walked towards the radio operator, and at the same time said: "I will notify you immediately Lieutenant Valenla withdraws."
While Bely and Lieutenant Valenla were in contact, Sokov said into the microphone: "Comrade Lieutenant, in order to prevent possible retaliation from the Germans, the spherical tanks will be withdrawn soon. To stick to the school's mission, we only need to It can be done with a company and a platoon of tanks, do you understand?"
From the battle that just ended, Vanya saw the power of the spherical tank and understood that once the Germans knew about the existence of this huge weapon, they would definitely find a way to destroy it, so it was wisest to withdraw it at this moment. Choice, he quickly replied: "I understand."
"Also," Sokov continued to urge: "Let the soldiers seize the time to clean the battlefield and collect as many weapons and ammunition as possible that can still be used. After all, our brigade has a lot of German equipment and cannot get supplies from the rear. It can be replenished through seizures.”
Despite the fierce fighting in other areas, Chuikov still couldn't worry about the Red October Factory. Once the German army breaks through the factory, it will only take a few minutes for the tanks to rush to his headquarters. Therefore, he called Sokov as soon as he was free and asked straight to the point: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, where are you?" How is the situation? Is the defense line stable? "
"Yes, Comrade Commander." From the tone of Chuikov's words, Sokov guessed that today's counterattack was not going well. He felt that it was necessary to report the victory just won to the other party, so that Chuikov would not The mood was too depressed: "We just crushed the German attack on the school and destroyed nine German tanks and a company of infantry."
"What, wiped out nine German tanks and a company of infantry?" After listening to Sokov's report, Chuikov felt unbelievable. But then he thought about it. Sokov used more than forty T-34 tanks in the Red October Factory, and he sent him an outstanding tank commander like Colonel Bely. It was reasonable to achieve such a victory. He nodded and asked casually: "What are the casualties of our army?"
"A T-34 tank was destroyed by an enemy tank, and all its crew members died." Sokov said sadly: "Otherwise, we would have won completely."
Chuikov was stunned and was silent for a while. Then he asked tentatively: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, you mean that you only lost one tank when you achieved such great results?"
"Yes," Sokov replied affirmatively: "If this tank had not been lost, I can proudly say that we completely wiped out the invading enemy without any casualties."
Through Sokov's report, Chuikov suddenly had a new idea. Since other offensive areas were not going well, could the situation be reversed if Sokov's troops were put into battle? Thinking of this, he asked tentatively: "Lieutenant Colonel Sokov, if I order your troops to immediately attack the enemy's defensive positions, do you think it is feasible?"
The smile on Sokov's face gradually disappeared. He knew what Chuikov's words meant. If he heard Chuikov ask this during the final stage of the counterattack in Stalingrad, he would definitely agree without hesitation. But the counterattack currently underway is an attack destined to end in failure. If he invests his troops in it, he will only waste his troops in vain. Before the counterattack day came, he could only lead the defeated soldiers of the infantry brigade and stand on Mamayev Hill and watch the friendly troops make achievements.
Seeing Sokov's delay in replying, Chuikov couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied with him. He coughed heavily and asked in a stern tone: "How is it, Lieutenant Colonel Sokov? Do you think you can carry out this mission?"
Having said this, if Sokov continues to evade, Chuikov may change his generals in anger, and he will not end well. Therefore, he could only bite the bullet and ask: "Comrade Commander, I wonder where you plan to let our troops launch an attack?"
