About eight kilometres west of the town of Olikhovatka, from the countryside along the Kalitva River in the north to the vast fields in the south, the Soviet Second Tank Corps and the German "Imperial Marshal" 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment fought here.

Nearly 200 tanks and thousands of infantry on both sides rushed across the battlefield, bringing death to each other with bullets and shells.

To the west of the battlefield, a T-34 tank was parked behind a thicket nearly a man high.

The commander of the 2nd Tank Army, Major General Lazarev, was standing on the bonnet behind the turret and was observing the situation at the front line with a telescope.

Seeing the stalemate on the battlefield ahead, Major General Lazarev was very annoyed, why is it always me who is unlucky?

After receiving the order to open the 5th Tank Army from his superiors, Major General Lazarev felt that he had taken on a very unlucky task.

He was to lead the Second Tank Corps on a road march two to three hundred kilometers south into the battlefield to reinforce friendly forces in the south.

Major General Lazarev knew that something big was bound to happen on this road march.

The Second Tank Army is under the jurisdiction of the 26th, 27th and 148th Tank Brigades, the 2nd Motorized Rifle Brigade, and the engineering and artillery units directly under the military headquarters.

Before departure, the 2nd Tank Army received a KV-85 heavy tank regiment, a SU-122 self-propelled artillery regiment, and a SU-152 self-propelled anti-tank artillery regiment.

After being reinforced by these powerful troops, Major General Lazarev's first reaction was to hope that these big guys would have fewer breakdowns on the march.

The more you are afraid of something, the more likely it is that to happen.

Closer to a hundred kilometers after the departure from the assembly area, anchored KV-85 heavy tanks began to appear on the side of the road, and soon the SU-152 self-propelled anti-tank guns on the same chassis were not left alone and joined the strike.

The T-34 medium tank and the T-60 light tank performed slightly better, with a slightly lower strike rate, probably two KV series vehicles on strike, and one T series tank would be paralyzed and team up with them.

As the troops traveled farther and farther, the more often they saw broken down tanks on the road.

As they were about to reach the Kalitva River, the 26th Tank Brigade, which was at the forefront of the army, sent a telegram that they had been bloodied by Luftwaffe ground attack aircraft, and that the brigade's 65 tanks had been removed from the malfunction and destroyed by air raids, and only 13 tanks were left to continue the march.

The infantry from the 340th Infantry Division, which was carried on the tank, was exposed to the uncovered wilderness and suffered heavy casualties in the air raids.

Major General Lazarev sent a telegram to his superior, Lieutenant General Lidyukov, for scolding the incompetent Soviet Air Force, and in exchange for the Soviet Air Force's suicidal attack, the tragedy of the 26th Tank Brigade could not be repeated, and the rest of the 2nd Tank Army reached the line of the Kalitva River safely.

Next, the unfortunate thing continued.

According to the orders of the superiors, the 2nd Tank Army had to undertake two tasks, one was to cooperate with the 340th Infantry Division to attack the Germans' defense line on the Kalitva River head-on, and the other was to outflank the enemy's defense line in a roundabout way.

Major General Lazarev could only transfer the 148th Tank Brigade to the 340th Infantry Division.

In this way, breakdowns along the way, combined with air strikes, at least one brigade of tanks were lost, handed over to a friendly one.

Before the battle began, the 2nd Tank Army was missing two brigades of tanks, and Major General Lazarev could only cross the Kalitva River with a fleet of more than a hundred tanks of all types.

The tanks and deformed vehicles in their early 100s were less than half of the full strength of the Second Tank Army, which seriously weakened the combat effectiveness of the troops.

The movement of the troops across the river was smooth, and there were large areas of villages and towns to the west that were not garrisoned by the Germans for the troops to smuggle into, and the night provided sufficient cover for the troops.

As soon as the sky was brightened, the troops of the 2nd Tank Army crossed the Kalitva River one after another, completed their assembly on the south bank of the river, and rushed to the southeast, preparing to outflank the Germans, but crashed head-on with a helicopter.

Major General Lazarev led the military headquarters and the 27th Tank Brigade to accompany the troops, and when he saw the helicopter, he knew that the surprise attack had failed, and immediately changed his deployment and turned to a strong attack.

Major General Lazarev sent the 27th Tank Brigade, as well as the KV-85 heavy tank regiment and the SU-152 self-propelled anti-tank regiment, as well as two battalions of infantry, to launch an attack on German positions.

The T-34 and T-60 light tanks of the 27th Tank Brigade rushed ahead, and the sluggish KV-85 heavy tanks and SU-152 followed, crushing the German lines with an indomitable momentum.

In the telescope, Major General Lazarev clearly saw that the German army on the opposite side had no fortifications at all, but only relied on the buildings of some villages and the undulating terrain in the field as a cover to hastily respond to the battle.

The next battle will depend on the power of the SU-152 self-propelled anti-tank gun.

Standing in the way of the 2nd Tank Army was the old rival of the T-34 tank, the No. 4 tank.

After learning that a Soviet armored unit had bypassed the defensive line and outflanked itself through helicopter aerial reconnaissance, the 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment of the "Imperial Marshal" set off urgently and stopped in front of the 2nd Tank Army.

The 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment has two Panzergrenadier Battalions and one Tank Battalion No. 4, and the No. 4 Tank Battalion has three No. 4 Tank Companies and one No. 4 Tank Destroyer Company.

A company of tank No. 4 was reinforced to paratroopers stationed in the town of Olikhovatka, while only two company of tank No. 4 and tank destroyer No. 4 of the Second Panzergrenadier Regiment were engaged in battle.

The No. 4 tank destroyer had a stronger frontal defense capability than the No. 4 H-type tank, and it was the duty to push to the front line in the defensive battle, and the No. 4 H-type tank of two companies was guarding the left and right flanks, and the copper wall was generally blocked in front of the enemy.

Everyone is an old friend and an old adversary, and when they meet, they are very cordial, and 75 mm armor-piercing shells and 76.2 mm armor-piercing bullets are intertwined and shuttled on the battlefield, bringing death to each other.

The 75mm L60 gun on the No. 4 tank destroyer shook gently, and the KWK 40 75mm L48 tank gun on the turret of the No. 4H tank kept turning, killing the incoming enemy tanks one by one, leaving a steel grave with black smoke in front of it.

Most of the attention was drawn to the mad dog-like T-34 tank, and a small part to the KV-85 heavy tank behind, and the German tankers mostly did not notice the low and obscene figure of the KV-85 heavy tank, the SU-152.

The SU-152 self-propelled anti-tank gun has no turret and is only 2.45 meters high, which is lower than the No. 4 tank, crawling on a battlefield full of bushes and grass, making it difficult to spot in a short time.

A No. 4H tank had just destroyed a T-60 light tank, and immediately had the experience to make a short-range maneuver to avoid enemy fire, but unbeknownst to it, it was locked by a thick muzzle.

As soon as the vehicle was stopped, the No. 4H tank was shaking its turret to find a target, when a 152mm shell flew obliquely and hit the junction between the turret and the body.

The kinetic energy of the impact tore the turret of the No. 4H from its body, as if a human head had been decapitated.

In the center of the battlefield, a No. 4 tank destroyer flew a 76.2 mm armor-piercing bullet with its inclined front armor, but it was hit head-on by a 152 mm armor-piercing projectile, and a terrifying black hole was smashed through the front armor on the right side of the barrel, and a violent explosion occurred in the rear power compartment.

The welds of the car's hull were torn apart by an explosion from inside the car, and countless steel shards of various sizes burst out of the surrounding area, and black smoke swayed out of the car's body and swayed into the sky.

Paying attention to some details of the battlefield, Major General Lazarev showed a cruel smile at the corner of his mouth.

In addition to the slower rate of fire, the SU-152 is really a powerful weapon, not to mention the No. 4 tank, even the E-40 tank, which cannot withstand the blow of 152-mm armor-piercing shells.

It's a pity that the Germans here do not have the E-40 and really want to see what the result of the E-40 tank meeting the SU-152 is.

Major General Lazarev turned his gaze to the south of the battlefield, and the remnants of the 26th Tank Brigade and the SU-122 self-propelled artillery regiment were sent out by him to use speed to outflank the enemy's southern defenses.

To the south of the battlefield, it was faintly visible that the troops sent out in a roundabout way had entered a combat state, and black smoke from the destroyed tanks could be seen.

It was worthy of Heinz von Rosen's troops, who discovered their intentions so quickly and sent troops to intercept them.

It's just that even the SU-122 self-propelled gun is not something that tank No. 4 can fight against.

When Major General Lazarev was proud of the SU-122 self-propelled gun, in the south of the battlefield, a SU-122 self-propelled gun was parked and aimed, but it was hit by an oncoming 88-mm armor-piercing projectile, triggering the detonation of the shell inside the vehicle.

The upper part of the hull was shredded by the blast wave of the detonated ammunition, and it split apart and flew into the sky.

In the distance to the east, two companies of E-40 "Panther" tank companies rushed to the battlefield in time to intercept the Soviet detour troops.

Two Panther tank companies arrived in time to stabilize the position of the 2nd Panzergrenadier Regiment and let the battle continue.

At this moment, Major General Lazarev suddenly noticed something strange on the battlefield.

Looking back, Lazarev saw through his telescope that black plumes of smoke were rising from two villages where his troops had crossed the river, and debris of buildings that had been blown into the sky by the blast of shells, in two villages where his troops had crossed the river.

A chill rushed from his heels to the top of his head, and a question arose in Major General Lazarev's mind.

Who is attacking those two villages?

。 m.