On the right side of the road, in front of the position of the 2nd Battalion of the 37th Regiment of the 3rd Italian Infantry Division, the KV-2 tank group was like a moving mountain, pressing over with unparalleled momentum.

The infantrymen dodged behind the KV-2 in groups of three or five.

The Italian infantry survived the initial panic and opened fire on the enemy with all the weapons at their disposal.

The muzzle of the 47-mm anti-tank gun erupted in flames, and the shells clanged against the body of the KV-2 tank, leaving only white spots on the steel plates.

The 47-mm L32 anti-tank gun, which was standardly equipped by Italian infantry divisions, could only penetrate 64 mm thick steel plates at a distance of 100 meters, and posed no threat to the KV-2's hard and thick armor.

The gunner of an anti-tank gun, under the command of the gunner, fired two shots in succession, hitting the turret side armor and body side armor of a KV-2 tank, only to see the shells spinning and flying into the air.

The gun commander was surprised and not discouraged, and immediately ordered the gunner to lower the muzzle of the gun, and pointed at the running gear of the KV-2 tank and fired two more shots.

When the smoke from the muzzle cleared, the gun commander saw that the KV-2 had stopped crookedly, the right track was thrown out of front of the hull, and a load-bearing wheel in the middle was also shattered.

Without waiting for the gunners and gunners to celebrate their first victory, the head of a Soviet infantryman was seen peeking out from the back of the KV-2 tank, with a light machine gun mounted on the tank's power compartment and pointed at them.

Bullets flew. The guns of the anti-tank guns clanged and sparks splashed everywhere.

The Italian gunners lowered their bodies and cowered behind their shields, not daring to show their heads.

The plight of the comrades and the arrogance of the Soviet infantry quickly attracted the attention of a mortar position, and the 45mm mortar of the MOD1935 model was then turned around. There were three muffled sounds.

Three shells fell one after another on the back of the KV-2 tank, and the Soviet infantry fell sideways, and the Soviet machine gunner fell straight on his back, and the machine gun flew to the ground. conAd1();

Mortars suppressed the infantry of the Soviet troops, but could not stop the KV-2.

The turret of the public toilet type slowly turned, pointing in the direction of the 47mm anti-tank gun, and the muzzle of the gun let out a thunderclap. Flames and smoke covered the 47-mm anti-tank gun emplacements.

In the face of the onslaught of the KV-2, the Italian gunners followed the teachings of the German instructors. With all the available firepower at hand, 47-mm anti-tank gun and 65-mm infantry gun shells were fired at the KV-2 from the side one after another, destroying their load-bearing wheels and tracks.

The infantrymen assisted the mortar gunners in good understanding, suppressing the Soviet infantry behind the KV-2 tanks.

Mortar shells and machine-gun bullets rained down on the Soviet infantry. With each step forward, the Soviet infantry paid a heavy price, with corpses in grass-green uniforms covering the verdant meadows.

Seeing the Soviet infantry cluster approaching step by step, the long-awaited rescue was finally ushered in on the Italian infantry position, rescue from the air.

Twenty-four 75-mm high-explosive shells fell from the sky, followed by 12 more 100-mm high-explosive shells.

The shells of the 11th Artillery Regiment ignited a sea of fire on the ground after they landed, and the Soviet infantry who fell into the fire screamed that they were torn by shrapnel and thrown out by the air waves, and their broken corpses were scattered all over the battlefield. Seeing this, the surviving infantry fell to the ground to avoid the shelling.

The 22nd MC-200 Lightning fighters of the 51st Fighter Group rushed out of the thin white clouds like lightning and rushed into the Soviet fighters in the sky. The Soviet fighters also turned around and rushed towards without showing weakness, and the hovering and fighting fighters shuttled through the blue sky.

In the liaison group commanded by Major General Barak, the Luftwaffe liaison officers worked very efficiently, and the Sixth Air Force arrived afterwards, and the Me-109 and FW-190 fighters rushed at the Soviet bombers.

The Me-110, Ju-87 and Ju-88 bombers took advantage of the interception of Soviet fighters and could not threaten them. conAd2(); Rush to the ground forces of the Soviet troops.

From northwest to southeast, ME-110 fighters flew sideways over the Soviet infantry group. SD-2 butterfly bombs floated to the ground in swarms and then exploded in the air seven or eight meters above the ground.

Stuka nosed downward, like a falcon pounced on its prey, screaming and slamming aerial bombs into Soviet tanks and infantry.

Where the 500-kilogram bomb landed, the ground shook, and both infantry and tanks were reduced to pieces, stirred and scattered in the dirt.

Under the coordinated suppression of Italian artillery and German and Italian air forces, the Soviet offensive was temporarily suppressed, and the Soviet infantry suffered heavy casualties and corpses all over the field.

The KV-1 and KV-2 tank groups, protected by strong armor and despite the attack of shrapnel, still drove towards the Italian positions, but they also quickly lost the momentum of the charge, and the tracks had to stop turning.

An anti-tank trench eight meters wide and five meters deep stretched in front of them, and although the trench was blown up by Soviet shelling in many places, and the earth was scattered at the bottom of the ditch, KV-1 and KV-2 still did not dare to approach, so they could only sigh and stop in the ditch.

While firing at the Italian positions with machine guns and artillery, they called for rear support by radio, and some Soviet tank commanders even opened the hatch at the rear of the turret and frantically shouted for the infantry and sappers in the rear to advance.

Some Soviet tankers did not have time to wait for the sappers to fill the anti-tank trenches for them, and anxiously turned their cars around and drove towards the road.

The trenches are only located on both sides of the road, and the road is still passable.

Climbing the road with difficulty, slowly and leisurely over a few craters, two KV-2s drove one after the other to the depths of the Italian position.

Two Italian soldiers quickly jumped out of the trench, crawled to the right side of the two tanks, and threw anti-tank grenades.

One grenade hit the right side of the tank's turret and landed on the ground, and the other landed on the power compartment of the KV-2 tank behind it. conAd3();

With the rumbling sound of the explosion, iron filings flew and black smoke and fiery flames rose from the power compartment and floated around the tank.

The remnants of the KV-2 shook the turret. While firing, they continued to rush deep into the Italian positions, but were quickly paralyzed on the road by anti-tank shells from the flanks that hit the walking gear. It was subsequently blown up by infantry in close quarters.

Artillery is the god of war, seeing that the infantry was suppressed by the enemy's heavy artillery fire, the tanks were hovering in front of the anti-tank trenches, the Soviet front commanders again called for artillery support, and the dense shells again fell on the Italian positions.

Another regiment of fighter aviation rushed to the battlefield to stop the onslaught of German bombers.

Fifteen or sixteen minutes later, the Soviet infantry noticed that the German planes overhead were no longer diving. Then under the leadership of the officers, especially the commissars, they bowed their heads and bent over. Or even crawling forward, passing through the blockade of the Italian artillery and re-following the tanks in front.

The sappers crossed the tank, selected some of the breakthrough points, and planted explosives on the anti-tank trench to carry out multi-point blasting. Blow up a few passages.

The infantry also rushed forward, either suppressing the fire of the Italian infantry on the opposite side, or assisting the sappers, forcing sandbags to pave the way in the anti-tank trenches.

The shelling was stopped again, and the Soviet infantry took the opportunity to rush forward and rush through the anti-tank trenches, through the bombed-out barbed wire, to the Italian trenches.

* The Sand submachine gun was transformed into a trench sweeper, and the SVT-40 was added. The Italian infantry were so killed and wounded by the rain of bullets that they had to flee through the communication trenches to the rear trenches. The Soviet infantry then pursued along the lines of communication and the open space between the trenches.

The KV tank group slowly crossed the anti-tank trenches.

Escorted by the infantry, the figure of the KV tank reappeared on the road, and farther behind them, a battalion of BT-5 fast tanks quickly joined the battlefield, and the moment they reached the line of fire, the infantry on the BT-5 tank jumped out of the car one after another. Follow the BT-5 tank at a trot and join the battle.

Having lost untold infantry and about a third of their tanks, the Soviet offensive group crossed the anti-tank trenches.

There was no barricade from anti-tank trenches. KV-2 and KV-1 tanks rampage through Italian positions, supporting infantry companies running over four trenches of Italian infantry.

The battle lasted until two o'clock in the afternoon, and the Soviet infantry occupied the first line of defense of the Italian army on all fronts, breaking through to the Italian positions for two to three kilometers.

The Italian army routed and fled frantically in front, and the Soviets followed in a group of foot tannels, driving the enemy to the second line of defense, and then plunged headlong into the tank hunting ground.

The second line of Italian defence was scattered in groves and villages, each of which was fortified in rings, and the open space between the positions was within the range of Italian fire.

With this initial victory, Soviet tankers had an unprecedented level of trust in the protection of the KV series, but the Italian counterattack quickly shattered their superstitions about the KV tank.

On the way to the charge, in countless woods and bushes, the crisp sound of shelling sounded, and the two vaunted KV-1 tanks stopped in black smoke, and the tankers lifted the hatches and abandoned the vehicles and fled.

The rest of the tanks, sensing a hidden enemy, shook their turrets and ping-pong fire at their suspicious spots.

A KV-2 tank, guiding five or six infantrymen, rushed along the road to the village ahead, noticing that a machine gun was firing on the left of the village junction, it stopped moving, shook the muzzle of the gun and prepared to fire, not knowing that its audacity had sent itself into a desperate situation.

A 90-mm L53 anti-aircraft gun, turning its muzzle to point at the KV-2 standing still, was then fed into the chamber.

The ejection speed of 830 meters per second gave the 10.22 kg armor-piercing projectile a strong penetrating force.

Two shells swirled and slammed into the left side of the KV-2 tank, instantly carving out two black holes in the hull.

The KV-2 stood there silently, not firing for a long time, until the third shell opened a bullet hole on the left side of its turret, and two tankmen slipped out of the tank from the escape pod.

In the woods on the east side of the village, a 75-mm anti-tank gun fired two shots, killing a KV-1 tank, and then switching to high-explosive shells to fire at the infantry behind the tank.

This anti-tank gun is the latest equipment received by the Italian Army, modified from the M1934 75mm anti-aircraft gun, with a barrel length of 46 calibers and a gun chambering speed of 750 meters per second, which is similar to the KWK40 tank gun of the German tank No. 4.

Finding that the 47mm anti-tank gun equipped in the army could not threaten the T-34 tank, let alone the KV-1 and KV-2, the Italian military industry immediately designed a new gun mount, converted this anti-aircraft gun into an anti-tank gun and sent it to the Eighth Army, and formed a high and low match with the 90mm anti-aircraft gun to deal with the Soviet tank cluster.

Anti-tank fire came from all directions, with the KV-1 being the first to be slaughtered, and the KV-2 being the first to resist.

As far as the Soviet tankmen could see, in the dark corners of the villages and houses, in the depths of the large and small woods, there was smoke rising everywhere, deadly shells were everywhere, and for every meter of advance, tanks and infantry fell on the way to attack.

The enemy was hiding in the woods and villages, and it was difficult for the Soviet tankers to notice, and because there was no radio after discovering it, they could not inform their comrades of the enemy's location in time until they were destroyed.

Shelling indiscriminately into villages and woods, the seven surviving KV-2s continued to charge fearlessly, unaware that the infantry behind them was being slaughtered by Italian machine guns and mortars due to the lack of tank cover.

The BT-5's fast tank speed advantage was also not exerted, and the fragile armor made them even worse than the KV series.

The Italian anti-tank guns needed only one shell to take out this thin-skinned light tank.

In front of the second line of defense of the Italian army, more than 60 tanks were parked crookedly in place, and countless corpses were scattered in the open space between the tanks and tanks, and more Soviet infantry were suppressed by the fire of the Italian army, so they could only lie on the ground, use the grass and terrain to dodge, and did not raise their heads no matter how urged by the officers and political commissars.

The fire of the Italian artillery regiment was also duly diverted and fell on the heads of the Soviet troops.

In front of the strong firepower of the Italian army, the Soviet attacking troops could not move, so they could only turn to the defense on the spot and send people to the rear to seek support.

Artillery, or artillery, they again saved the forward units that were in a precarious situation.

Soviet mortars, armed with 120, 82 and 50 mm mortars, followed behind the infantry and set up their guns, covering any suspected enemy presence, whether in the woods or villages.

Anti-tank gunners carried ammunition boxes and pushed 45-mm anti-tank guns and 76.2-mm ZIS-3 cannons into the battle, firing at Italian artillery.

The shells of both sides came and went, the artillerymen dominated the battlefield, and the infantry and guns were reduced to supporting roles, staging a fiery scene of artillery fighting bayonets.

Seeing that the sun was getting more and more west, and the attacking troops on the front line were unable to break through the second line of defense of the Italian army, the Soviet command immediately ordered the front-line troops to move to the defense on the spot and wait for reinforcements.

The artillery observation posts were the first to rush out of the artillery positions, riding in BA armored vehicles or convertibles, quietly entering the battlefield, and then setting up artillery mirrors to observe the Italian defense line at close range, and directing the heavy artillery units in the rear to accurately suppress the fire of the Italian army's hidden places.

And farther to the rear, the Soviet mechanized division, the deadliest third plate axe in the Great Depth Campaign Method, was raised high by the headquarters of the Southwestern Front and slashed at the Italian positions.

Admiral Kirponos was not a pedantic man, and although the Italian positions at the breach had not been completely breached, they had been weakened, and he had to throw in armoured clusters before the forward offensive ran out of momentum, cutting through the Italian lines in one fell swoop.

Receiving the order to attack, the troops of the 19th Tank Division of the 40th Mechanized Corps set off from the assembly area one after another and rushed towards the city of Debrecen in the mountains. (To be continued)

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