The tank advanced a kilometer or so before crashing into the German lines.

The scout reported to Major Gavrilov: "Five hundred meters ahead, the German line, sandbag fortifications!" ”

Sandbag fortifications are a common form of trenching near muddy terrain and swamps, because it would be a serious difficulty to construct field fortifications here...... Standing water seeps into the trenches.

This might have been acceptable in the summer, but now, no one could hide in the water-soaked trench for more than ten minutes.

Major Gavrilov nodded.

The weakness of the sandbag fortifications is that they are easier to break through, because they are built on the ground, which is advantageous for Soviet troops with tanks...... Tanks can easily find and destroy targets without even the need for infantry guidance.

Major Gavrilov then asked the troops to wait nearby, so that more tanks could come up and let them attack in formation.

"Are you ready?" Major Gavrilov asked.

"Yes, Major!" One by one, the soldiers replied.

Shulka did not speak, the question really does not need to be asked, there is no time for war to be "ready" at any time.

"Forward!" Major Gavrilov gave a loud order, and the herald waved a signal flag to signal the tank, and the followers behind the tank immediately conveyed the order to the tank by phone.

With a "boom", the huge noise of the tank engines sounded, and one by one the tanks drove out of their hidden bushes and were exposed to the enemy's sight.

Shulka and his men followed behind the tank...... In the past, a company should have three tanks in coordination, that is, one per platoon.

But now, it is clear that there are not too many tanks advancing at the same time in the mud, which will put a heavy burden on the infantry and make it impossible to attack.

So it was reduced to a company with only one tank to cooperate.

The gunfire and artillery soon rang out, and the bullets hit the tank's armor with a crisp sound and sparks, like arcs of electricity flashing from high-voltage wires.

The sound of the bullet was not noticeable, because it was muffled by the noise of the T34 engine, but the sound of the anti-tank gun shell was a solid "sonorous", and sometimes you could even feel a vibration on the ground, like a sledgehammer smashing into the mud...... Actually, it was just an anti-tank gun shell that was bounced off and then shot into the ground.

This is rare, the T34 tank has armor that is inclined upward, so the anti-tank gun shells are more likely to bounce overhead.

Then the Soviet artillery opened fire.

The "Katyusha" rocket launcher fired a salvo with a characteristic screeching sound overhead, and the rockets slammed straight into enemy lines, then rising thick black smoke and crimson flames.

Shulka is certainly no stranger to the "Katyusha", and it can even be said to be thunderous, but it is a novelty for Soviet soldiers of this period...... It was put into mass production only a few days after the German army launched a full-scale offensive, and now there are only more than 200 guns in the whole army, and there is a rocket artillery regiment of 36 guns assigned to the 16th Army.

(Note: The establishment of rocket artillery battalions in 41 was 3 battalions per regiment, 3 companies per battalion, and 4 guns per company)

It can also be seen from this that the Supreme Command attaches great importance to this counteroffensive, or it can also be said that the Supreme Command cares about its own face...... If the battle they commanded was lost and the defeat was ugly, it would certainly be a loss of face in front of the Soviet officers and soldiers.

From this point of view, it is only natural that the Supreme Command will allocate more artillery and even the scarce "Katyusha" for this operation.

This is also good for the 4th brigade of tanks, as it is now, with 12 rocket launchers fired at the same time by a rocket artillery battalion...... Although this thing is not very accurate, it has a large number of fires, each rocket launcher can fire 16 rockets, and it can be fired in 10 seconds, and if necessary and with enough ammo, 10 minutes of reload time can enter the next launch.

That is to say, at that moment, nearly 200 rockets smashed on the German defense line, and the entire German defense line immediately turned into a sea of fire and fell into smoke, and the German firepower weakened in an instant, and there was almost no sound.

Even the Soviet officers and soldiers were stunned by this scene...... For the first time, the 4th Tank Brigade coordinated with the Katyusha rocket artillery, and many people did not even know what kind of artillery would have such a bombing effect.

Then Major Gavrilov shouted, and the fighters rushed to the German line with cheers.

The German lines simply could not withstand such a charge.

First of all, they were not prepared for defense in this direction, and there were only two infantry companies deployed in this area.

Secondly, no one could withstand the short-term, high-density and indiscriminate bombardment of rocket artillery, and the German soldiers on the defense were shocked for a long time even if they were not killed.

Again, 34 was able to blow up a gap in its fortifications with one shell, and they were helpless against the armor of the T34.

As a result, the T34 advanced and stopped firing, and the tank guns and machine guns easily suppressed the German machine guns and mortars. Then the infantry of the 333rd Regiment charged with superior forces...... Even the gods can't save them.

Everywhere there were blown sandbags and corpses, German soldiers kneeling on the ground and surrendering with their hands raised, and craters blown by rockets.

Shulka rushed past them and ignored them, and naturally there were follow-up troops to receive these prisoners.

So far in the fighting, the situation of the Soviet troops killing prisoners has been much better.

The first is that the Soviet army at this time was not alone in the depths of the Kyiv counter-encirclement war, and had the conditions to receive prisoners.

Secondly, even when the 4th Tank Brigade was formed, Colonel Katukov strictly forbade the killing of prisoners, especially on the battlefield.

The reason is very simple, although killing prisoners relieves hatred, the direct consequence is to make the enemy stubbornly resist and die without surrendering. Especially on the battlefield, it is easy to develop a common hatred and unity in the eyes of the follow-up German army, which is obviously asking for trouble for yourself.

But Soviet GIs usually don't think so far.

So, the most important thing is actually ...... Siberia needs prisoners.

After continuing to rush forward for a while, the road conditions slowly improved, and then Shulka and the others saw the village, one country house after another.

There were also a squad of German troops and a few tanks.

The Germans reacted quickly, and in just ten minutes from the start of the battle to the Soviets' breakthrough of their defensive lines, they brought in a unit to organize another line of defense on the edge of the village using buildings.