The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Half an hour later, the Soviet tanks rumbled up again.

Perhaps because the Soviet army figured out the location of the German defense line in the last attack, this time they actually used large-caliber mortars to prepare for ten minutes of artillery fire... Mortars have a short range and low power. The Soviets were less concerned about the damage it would cause to the refinery.

These ten minutes of artillery fire caused some casualties to the German army. The mortar shells had a large angle, and some of the shells coincidentally fell directly into the trenches and exploded. Then screams and calls for medics were heard in the trenches.

However, German soldiers are used to this. Casualties cannot be avoided in war, even for veterans who have experienced hundreds of battles.

This is the difference between war and other things... For other skills, as long as you master its laws or work hard to learn its principles and understand it thoroughly, it will be under your control. But war can never reach this level, because it is irregular to a certain extent. You have no way of knowing where the shells will explode in the next second and who will die.

After the sound of gunfire passed, a large number of tanks appeared about 500 meters in front of the position.

"I can guarantee it!" Werner shouted: "This time they have sent out the main force!"

"We all have eyes, Werner!" replied the baker.

What they are actually saying is another thing, which is that oil should be released.

They don't need to worry about this, because under Manstein's order, the German artillery has begun to pour artillery shells on the Soviet army... There are howitzers and mortars captured from the Soviet army.

This attack method is somewhat different from the last time the Soviet army attacked, and of course the purpose is also different: this time it is to use the sound of artillery to cover up the "squeak" sound of oil flowing out.

In this regard, the Soviet army had no suspicion at all. Chernov, who was observing the battle afterwards, even felt a little proud, because he thought it was the Germans who saw so many tanks and fired randomly... He did. The reason for thinking this is that the howitzer cannot penetrate the armor of the T34 tank. The mortar can pass over the tank and cause some casualties, but it also cannot stop the Soviet army from advancing.

not to mention……

Chernov ordered: "Order the artillery units to suppress the opponent's artillery!"

"Comrade Chernov!" the staff officer asked: "It is possible that the refinery will be blown up by mistake..."

"Let them aim and shoot!" Chernov interrupted the staff officer: "Even a blind man can see the fire from their muzzles!"

"Yes!" the staff officer responded.

But it is actually very difficult to do this, not because it is impossible to calculate the distance to the target... Artillery observers can easily do this, that is, using triangulation, two groups of artillerymen at a certain distance observe and measure the same thing at the same time. For a target, the distance to the target can be calculated using the knowledge of trigonometric functions from the measured angle and the distance between the two.

The difficulty lies in the fact that the artillery used by the Transcaucasus Front is the relatively backward M1910 artillery (the more advanced artillery of the Soviet army at this time is the M1938, but it is mostly equipped with frontline troops).

The offset of this kind of artillery at about five kilometers can be hundreds of meters, and the German army is close to the oil refinery, so no one can guarantee whether the artillery shell will hit the oil refinery.

But the artillery fired as ordered. Fortunately, it did not hit the refinery... They didn't know that this was exactly what the Germans wanted.

While the Soviet army and Chernov focused their attention on tank charges and artillery fire suppression, the oil flowed from the oil pipeline to the trench, and then overflowed from the trench and flowed in the direction of the Soviet army.

Because they were advancing in darkness, the Soviet army knew nothing about the oil flowing towards them, especially the tanks... The tanks had poor external perception capabilities. At this time, they focused their attention on the German defense lines. Where would they go? Paying attention to something strange on the ground, they drove into the oil area one after another. What was even more tragic was that these tanks were still driving ahead.

The infantrymen who followed them soon discovered the problem. The reason was that oil was a viscous liquid and something felt wrong when they stepped on it, so they shouted in panic:

"What's this?"

"It's oil!"

"They're going to set fire to it, retreat, retreat quickly!"

…

The infantry retreated in panic, but the tanks knew nothing and continued to advance at full speed until the tank brigade commander received the warning and panicked and ordered: "All tanks, retreat immediately and turn around!"

The commander of the tank regiment, Vladievich, who served as the front-line command among the charging tanks, was a little baffled when he heard this order. Why did he admit defeat and retreat before the battle even started?

However, he still passed on the order: "Retreat immediately and turn around!"

But it was too late at this time. With a "thump", a blazing fire suddenly appeared in front of the observation window. To be precise, it was not one but a piece of fire. The entire battlefield became a sea of ​​​​fire.

Vladievich seemed to understand something and shouted into the walkie-talkie: "Retreat, retreat immediately!"

In a way, tanks are not very afraid of fire. On the one hand, this is because it has a height and a certain distance from the ground, which allows its turret to avoid being affected by fire. On the other hand, its thickness can be separated in a short time. The intensity of the fire.

The main problem lies in the tank's engine... The interior of the engine is already in a high-temperature combustion state and is still very low. Once roasted by the burning oil, the engine will soon malfunction or even explode due to overheating.

So the tanks drove through the flames for a while and then stopped one after another.

In the sight of Qinchuan and the German soldiers, panicked tank crews emerged from the turret one by one, and then looked helplessly at the sea of ​​​​fire around them, and this sea of ​​​​fire even continued to flow in the direction of the Soviet army, continuing to destroy the rear. Tanks that had no time to turn around and escape were submerged in it.

The screams soon started, and some tank crew members were inevitably set on fire.

Some tanks exploded. It is not known whether the shells exploded in the high temperature or whether the soldiers inside chose to end their lives in this way. If it's the former, they are lucky, because their fate is already sealed, and it would be more painful to end it with their own hands.

But most tank crews had to choose the latter, and they ended the battle with either pistols or grenades.

Chernov stared at the scene in front of him in stunned silence. He had thought that the tank brigade would pay heavy casualties, but he never thought that it would be casualties in this way... They were completely annihilated before they could even reach the enemy's defense line. .

After being stunned for a while, Chernov loudly ordered: "Fire, fire at the enemy!"

"Where is the target, Comrade Chernov?" the staff officer asked.

"Refinery, blow up the refinery and the fascists to the sky!" Chernov shouted hysterically.