"Wait a minute, Comrade Major." Just as Major Bunch was about to turn around and leave, he was stopped by Belkin.
He stopped, looked at Belkin with strange eyes, and asked curiously: "Comrade Colonel, do you have anything else to add?"
"Comrade Major, I found that you are very impatient," Belkin said with a smile: "I haven't finished what I said here, and you are in a hurry to leave."
After hearing what Belkin said, Major Bunch scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.
After Major Bunch sat down again, Belkin began to introduce him to the situation ahead: "Comrade Major, the fortress area in front of us was originally a permanent fortification used by our army to deal with the Germans, but it has not been put to use yet. were occupied by the enemy. The walls of these bunkers are generally made of reinforced concrete more than one meter thick. If they are directly bombarded with tank guns, it may be difficult to penetrate them. Even if they are barely penetrated, there will be no damage to the defenders inside. big."
Major Bunch originally thought that the fortifications blocking the road were hastily built by the Germans. As long as his tanks drove up and fired two rounds of artillery, they would be enough to destroy all the fortifications blocking the road. Now that he knew that he was about to face a permanent fortification built by the Soviet army himself, the expression on his face became serious.
He frowned and thought for a while, then looked up at Belkin and said, "Comrade Colonel, the mission of our brigade is to help you break through the German defenses. I will listen to you on how to fight next."
Belkin was very satisfied with the modesty shown by Major Bunch. He did not hide his secrets and said truthfully: "Our soldiers have all fired rockets through the firing holes of the bunker to eliminate those hiding in the bunker." The enemies inside. Judging from the current situation, the effect is pretty good. As long as the rockets can penetrate, basically all the enemies inside will be wiped out."
"Oh, that's it." After hearing what Belkin said, Major Bunch's thoughts suddenly became clear: "As long as the enemy does not have strong anti-tank firepower, our tanks can even drive to thirty or forty meters away from the bunker. Positional shooting." He said confidently, "The commanders and fighters of the 37th Tank Brigade are experienced in many battles. When shooting at such a close range, there is no reason why they cannot hit the target."
While Major Bunch and Belkin were discussing the details of destroying the German bunker, a tank trooper lieutenant colonel walked in from outside. As soon as he entered the door, he asked Major Bunch hastily: "Comrade Brigade Commander, when will we attack?"
After seeing the person clearly, Bunch smiled and introduced to Belkin: "Comrade Colonel, let me introduce to you. This is my deputy brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Chukliko."
"Hello, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel!" Belkin extended his hand to Chukliko and said friendly: "Nice to meet you. From now on, we will be comrades fighting side by side."
"Hello, Comrade Colonel." Chuklik responded to Belkin politely, but his tone was polite and a bit distant: "I am very happy to fight alongside you."
Major Bunch noticed from Chuklico's attitude that he was a little indifferent to Belkin, and quickly added: "Comrade deputy brigade commander, I just forgot to introduce you. Comrade Commander serves as the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade. At that time, Colonel Belkin was his political commissar."
Major Bunch's words surprised Chuklico: "Ah, Colonel Belkin was once the political commissar of Comrade Commander?" He confidently looked at the older colonel in front of him, and muttered to himself, since he used to be How did a political commissar become a military commander now?
Belkin saw Chukliko's doubts and took the initiative to explain to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you think I, a political worker, became a military officer?"
Seeing Chukliko nodding in affirmation, he continued: "Actually, I served as a military officer before I was transferred to serve as Sokov's political commissar. Now I am just returning to my profession."
After the three chatted for a while, Belkin urged the two of them: "Comrade commanders, time is pressing, so I won't say more. I hope you will clear the German firepower points in the fortress area as soon as possible and open up a passage for our infantry. "
"Comrade Colonel, because of the special circumstances this time, you cannot send infantry to follow our tanks." Chuklico expressed his concerns, "If we encounter German anti-tank fighters, our tanks may be in danger."
"You are right, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Belkin agreed with Chukliko's statement: "Although the German army in the fortress area does not have any anti-tank guns, it does not rule out that the enemy will see that our tanks have no infantry. If you cooperate, send anti-tank soldiers to use explosives or grenades to blow up your tanks."
Seeing that Belkin was also aware of this problem, Chuklico asked tentatively: "Then what is the way to deal with the German anti-tank fighters?"
"Lieutenant Colonel Chuklit, this is what I think about." Belkin said to Chuklit: "I will arrange some sharpshooters to hide in the occupied fortifications. Once the enemy's anti-tank fighters are discovered, they can be eliminated. them."
"It's just a sharpshooter?" When Chukliko heard what Belkin said, he couldn't help but feel a little disappointed: "Don't you have snipers?" It was also a sniper to kill the enemy, but the marksmanship of the sharpshooter was obviously not comparable to that of the sniper.
Belkin shook his head and said with a wry smile: "Lieutenant Colonel Chukliko, my regiment used to have snipers, but they died in the battle. Our superiors have not given us more snipers until now, so I can only Deploy soldiers with good marksmanship to provide cover for your tanks."
As the tanks of the 37th Tank Brigade entered the battlefield, the commanders and fighters of the 258th Regiment stopped attacking and hid in the occupied fortifications, preparing to wait for the tanks to clear the German bunkers before continuing to advance towards Merefa Fortress.
Soviet tanks were grouped in groups of two, alternately covering the German bunkers, and the tank crews, following the instructions of Bunch and Chuklico, aimed at the bunker's firing holes and fired. The shells penetrated through the shooting holes, and soon an explosion was heard from inside, and then large chunks of concrete flew into the air.
Seeing how effective the artillery fire was, the tank crews couldn't help but cheer. However, they were not complacent and restarted the tanks and moved towards the next target.
Because tanks have thick armor and do not have to worry about bullets fired from bunkers, they can naturally destroy enemy bunkers much faster than infantry. In less than twenty minutes, nearly thirty bunkers were destroyed by Soviet tanks.
The German commander felt anxious when he saw that the bunkers were being pulled out one by one by Soviet tanks. In order to prevent the entire army from being annihilated, he decided to take a desperate risk. He called those bunkers that he could still contact and ordered them to send anti-tank troops to destroy those Soviet tanks without infantry cover.
As for the Soviet tank crews, it may be that after entering the battle, the progress was too smooth, and they inevitably underestimated the enemy. In order to speed up the clearing of German bunkers, they changed the tactic of two tanks forming a group to cover each other. Five or six tanks crowded in front of the enemy bunkers, scrambling to shoot at the bunker's firing holes.
But none of them discovered that before these bunkers were destroyed, the defenders inside had withdrawn first and hid in the trenches next to the bunkers. These German soldiers were very patient. When the bunker was destroyed by Soviet tanks, they lay there motionless as if nothing happened. When Soviet tanks passed in front of them, they rushed out of their hiding places and threw explosive charges or anti-tank grenades at the tanks.
This tactic of the German soldiers was very effective. After the explosions, more than ten tanks of the leading battalion were destroyed.
But when the first battalion commander reported the news to Major Bunch, Bunch immediately became angry: "First battalion commander, what did you do? Didn't you let two tanks form a group and cover alternately? Who asked you to have five or six tanks? Two tanks are crowded together and are driving so slowly, isn’t this a target for the Germans?”
The commander of the first battalion, who was scolded by Bunchi, did not dare to fight back. Finally, after Bunchi's words came to an end, the commander of the first battalion timidly said: "Comrade Brigade Commander, nearly half of the tanks in our battalion have been lost. You have to think of a way." Ah, otherwise the whole army will be annihilated sooner or later."
Don't forget that Bunch scolded the battalion commander bloody, but as a tank brigade commander, how could he watch one of his battalions being annihilated by the Germans? He quickly said into the microphone: "First battalion commander, you should stop advancing immediately, retreat two hundred meters, reorganize your formation, and then attack the enemy."
"But, Comrade Brigade Commander." The first battalion commander said anxiously: "The enemy's anti-tank fighters are everywhere. I am worried that I will be attacked by them when I retreat."
"Don't worry, I will find a way to deal with the German anti-tank fighters."
After ending the call with the first battalion commander, Bunch turned to Chuklico and said: "Comrade deputy brigade commander, please contact Colonel Belkin. I think we need their help now." "Wait a minute, Major. Comrade." Just as Major Bunch was about to turn around and leave, he was stopped by Belkin.
He stopped, looked at Belkin with strange eyes, and asked curiously: "Comrade Colonel, do you have anything else to add?"
"Comrade Major, I found that you are very impatient," Belkin said with a smile: "I haven't finished what I said here, and you are in a hurry to leave."
After hearing what Belkin said, Major Bunch scratched the back of his head and smiled sheepishly.
After Major Bunch sat down again, Belkin began to introduce him to the situation ahead: "Comrade Major, the fortress area in front of us was originally a permanent fortification used by our army to deal with the Germans, but it has not been put to use yet. were occupied by the enemy. The walls of these bunkers are generally made of reinforced concrete more than one meter thick. If they are directly bombarded with tank guns, it may be difficult to penetrate them. Even if they are barely penetrated, there will be no damage to the defenders inside. big."
Major Bunch originally thought that the fortifications blocking the road were hastily built by the Germans. As long as his tanks drove up and fired two rounds of artillery, they would be enough to destroy all the fortifications blocking the road. Now that he knew that he was about to face a permanent fortification built by the Soviet army himself, the expression on his face became serious.
He frowned and thought for a while, then looked up at Belkin and said, "Comrade Colonel, the mission of our brigade is to help you break through the German defenses. I will listen to you on how to fight next."
Belkin was very satisfied with the modesty shown by Major Bunch. He did not hide his secrets and said truthfully: "Our soldiers have all fired rockets through the firing holes of the bunker to eliminate those hiding in the bunker." The enemies inside. Judging from the current situation, the effect is pretty good. As long as the rockets can penetrate, basically all the enemies inside will be wiped out."
"Oh, that's it." After hearing what Belkin said, Major Bunch's thoughts suddenly became clear: "As long as the enemy does not have strong anti-tank firepower, our tanks can even drive to thirty or forty meters away from the bunker. Positional shooting." He said confidently, "The commanders and fighters of the 37th Tank Brigade are experienced in many battles. When shooting at such a close range, there is no reason why they cannot hit the target."
While Major Bunch and Belkin were discussing the details of destroying the German bunker, a tank trooper lieutenant colonel walked in from outside. As soon as he entered the door, he asked Major Bunch hastily: "Comrade Brigade Commander, when will we attack?"
After seeing the person clearly, Bunch smiled and introduced to Belkin: "Comrade Colonel, let me introduce to you. This is my deputy brigade commander, Lieutenant Colonel Chukliko."
"Hello, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel!" Belkin extended his hand to Chukliko and said friendly: "Nice to meet you. From now on, we will be comrades fighting side by side."
"Hello, Comrade Colonel." Chuklik responded to Belkin politely, but his tone was polite and a bit distant: "I am very happy to fight alongside you."
Major Bunch noticed from Chuklico's attitude that he was a little indifferent to Belkin, and quickly added: "Comrade deputy brigade commander, I just forgot to introduce you. Comrade Commander serves as the commander of the 73rd Infantry Brigade. At that time, Colonel Belkin was his political commissar."
Chuklico was very surprised by Major Bunch's words: "Ah, Colonel Belkin was once the political commissar of Comrade Commander?" He confidently looked at the older colonel in front of him and muttered to himself, since he used to be the political commissar? How did a political commissar become a military commander now?
Belkin saw Chukliko's doubts and took the initiative to explain to him: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, do you think I, a political worker, became a military officer?"
Seeing Chukliko nodding in affirmation, he continued: "Actually, before I was transferred to serve as Sokov's political commissar, I served as a military officer. Now I am just returning to my profession."
After the three chatted for a while, Belkin urged the two of them: "Comrade commanders, time is pressing, so I won't say more. I hope you will clear the German firepower points in the fortress area as soon as possible and open up a passage for our infantry. "
"Comrade Colonel, because of the special circumstances this time, you cannot send infantry to follow our tanks." Chuklico expressed his concerns, "If we encounter German anti-tank fighters, our tanks may be in danger."
"You are right, Comrade Lieutenant Colonel." Belkin agreed with Chukliko's statement: "Although the German army in the fortress area does not have any anti-tank guns, it does not rule out that the enemy will see that our tanks have no infantry. If you cooperate, send anti-tank soldiers to use explosives or grenades to blow up your tanks."
Seeing that Belkin was also aware of this problem, Chuklico asked tentatively: "Then what is the way to deal with the German anti-tank fighters?"
