Captain Rabin was nervous, but he did not complain about his comrades outside the village because the line had been breached.

The time left for themselves and their comrades was too short, less than twenty-four hours, there was no way to build strong fortifications in such a plain that was not conducive to defense, they could only build some foxholes and very short trenches, and some mines were buried in front of the defensive line, and the mines were limited in number, and they were not very densely laid.

To the north of the village, in front of the friendly lines, about twenty destroyed light tanks were scattered and parked, and these enemy light tanks rushed in front of the heavy tanks, sacrificing themselves, pressing out the roads in the minefield, opening the passage for the heavy tanks and infantry behind, and rushing into the friendly positions with a single charge.

The tactics of the Russians, as always, were simple and crude, but they worked.

Soviet infantry in khaki uniforms spread like sewage to the north of the village of Zuravka, and tanks painted in grass green camouflage broke out of the minefield, followed the infantry, and drove deep into the defenders' positions.

Seeing a large number of friendly soldiers running frantically towards the village of Zuravka from directly north of the village, Captain Rabin twitched his brow a few times, turned and retreated into the trench.

No sooner had he jumped into the trench than Captain Rabin heard the shout: "The Russians are coming up again, be careful." ”

Hurriedly poking his head out of the trench, Captain Rabin saw the appearance of enemy tanks again in the northeast, this time a T-34 tank group.

The T-34 tank arrived before the Katyusha rockets, which covered the northeastern corner of the village of Zuravka, along with the minefield outside.

Captain Rabin lay in the trench, feeling the ground tremors again and again, opening his mouth wide to balance the air pressure and prevent the eardrum from being cracked.

Wave after wave of dirt was thrown into the trench, hitting him on the back, and some of it burrowed through his neck into his clothes.

As soon as the feeling of the cave mountain shaking was over, Captain Rabin hurriedly got up, and did not have time to pay attention to the dust on his body, and looked northeast again.

Taking advantage of the precious opportunity of the rockets to suppress the defenders, the T-34 tanks that launched the second charge had already rushed to the minefield in front, which was damaged by the rockets, and its power was greatly reduced, and it was no longer possible to stop the passage of the enemy's tanks and infantry.

Glancing hastily at friendly positions north of the village, Captain Rabin vaguely saw what appeared to be enemy tanks turning their heads and rushing towards the village of Zuravka from the north.

Are we the enemy's main attack here? Otherwise there would not have been so many heavy and medium tanks, and the enemy's second charge would not have come so quickly.

Leaning his assault rifle against the trench and picking up an iron-fisted anti-tank bazooka, Captain Rabin stared at the approaching T-34 tank.

From time to time, T-34 tanks stopped and opened fire on the village, and sparks from machine-gun bullets flew everywhere and debris flew from the body.

Under the fire of the defenders, the T-34 tank fired high-explosive shells into the village, destroying the exposed fire points one by one.

75-mm armor-piercing shells flew out of the village and pierced the armor of the T-34 tanks, leaving some of the tanks in place forever.

However, the PAK 40 anti-tank gun was no longer able to stop the T-34 tank without a minefield, and seeing that a T-34 tank rushing to the front passed through the minefield and was about to run over the trench outside the village, Captain Rabin aimed the iron-fisted anti-tank rocket in his hand at the tank in the right front. At the moment when the tank had just run over the trench, it fired a rocket at the right rear of the hull.

Less than twenty meters away, the iron fist hit the target, and an anti-tank grenade flew out of the trench behind the tank, which fell above the tank's engine compartment and exploded, paralyzing the tank behind the trench.

More and more tanks passed through the minefield and rushed towards the village of Zuravka, and at the last moment, three planes fell from the sky and went straight to the ground.

Unlike the previous Il-2 and PE-2, the propellers are not visible on the engines on the left and right wings of these three aircraft, and the black and white Iron Cross logo outlined under the wings gives a strong visual impact.

Skimming the sky northeast of the village of Zuravka, three ME-262A-2a Storm Bird ground attack aircraft dropped "Devil's Egg" spreaders, which disintegrated in the air and dropped numerous SD-2 butterfly bombs nicknamed "Devil's Eggs".

The dense bombs covered the ground, instantly flooding the Soviet infantry cluster in the northeast of the village, and with desperate eyes, the Soviet infantry on the ground watched themselves being enveloped by countless bombs.

In the continuous explosions, the infantry, who had been following the tank with great momentum and launching a charge, were almost swept away, most of them fell to the ground with blood sprayed all over their bodies, and a few survivors lay on the ground and did not dare to move, and in an instant, blood, death and wails filled the battlefield.

Three more "Storm Birds" swooped down on the enemy attack aircraft, and the R4M rockets under the wings flew out whizzing, dragging black smoke to the side body of the T-34 tank on the ground.

Three planes dropped 72 rockets, leaving the wreckage of a dozen T-34 tanks on the ground.

The plane pulled up, turned the nose, returned, dived again, and in the gun pod under the fuselage, the 37mm anti-tank gun swept across the battlefield, firing tungsten core armor-piercing catapults at the tanks exposed in the wilderness, and soon four more T-34 tanks emitted black smoke and turned into battlefield wreckage.

With strong air support, the situation on the battlefield in the northeast corner of the village of Zuravka was instantly reversed, and Captain Rabin picked up his assault rifle and fired several bursts of fire in front of the left.

Some of the T-34 tanks and infantry at the front, not within the range of German ground attack aircraft, were still approaching the village, and Captain Rabin's bullets flew from the side, knocking the infantry behind the tanks to the ground, and more experienced soldiers followed Captain Rabin's example and fired at the Soviet infantry.

The Soviet infantry was forced to halt their advance, each looking for a position to take refuge, and then engaged in a passionate exchange of fire with Captain Rabin's men.

This is exactly what Captain Rabin wanted to see, the enemy's infantry stopped following, leaving the tank alone and losing the protection of the infantry.

The tanks, with their narrow field of view, continued to charge, making a lonely charge into the village of Zuravka and crashing into the sight of the anti-tank hunting team.

A T-34 tank had just run over a double foxhole and rushed into the village of Zuravka, when two figures emerged from behind a broken wall to his right, one of whom carried a "Tank Killer" anti-tank rocket launcher on his shoulder.

The rocket flew out and hit the right side of the tank turret, piercing a bullet hole on the right side of the turret, and the tank continued to move forward, and a second rocket followed, hitting the rear of the tank, destroying the tank's power compartment and bringing the tank to a standstill.

Another T-34 tank burst out of the minefield and tried to run over a trench when a figure suddenly stood up in the trench, which quickly threw the anti-tank mine in front of the tank's tracks, and then retracted into the trench.

The tank tracks pressed against the anti-tank mines, the mines exploded, the tracks broke, and the guide wheels were thrown out with a piercing metal grinding sound, and the tank was forced to stop, and then destroyed by anti-tank rockets flying from the side.

The lone tanks were divided and destroyed one by one, and the infantry behind saw that the situation was not good, and they withdrew from the battlefield one after another.

Captain Rabin did not have time to pursue the enemy and turned to the north of the battlefield.

To the north, a large number of enemy tanks and infantry were following the fleeing soldiers of the friendly forces to the village of Zuravka.

Captain Rabin jumped out of the trench and rushed to a PAK 40 anti-tank gun.

This anti-tank gun position was countered by Soviet artillery fire, the bodies of four gunners lay on their positions, and only two wounded survived.

"Someone, someone, help."

Four more infantrymen came running, and with Captain Rabin, they pushed the anti-tank guns, turning the muzzle of the PAK 40 anti-tank gun to the west and moving to the corner of a dilapidated house.

A gunner, bleeding from his right calf, and a gunner with only three fingers left in his left hand, endured severe pain and followed behind, waiting for the anti-tank gun to regain its position, rejoin the fight, and regain control of the anti-tank gun.

Captain Rabin had two infantrymen carry ammunition boxes behind the guns and reload the anti-tank guns himself.

Two gunners pointed their muzzles at the Soviet tanks rushing north of the village, and Captain Rabin personally stuffed armor-piercing shells into the chambers.

"Boom ······" The pungent smoke poured out of the barrel, and the PAK 40 anti-tank gun once again showed its murderous aura, bringing death to the tanks in the distance.