Unlike the 4th Panzer Division, which crushed the 15th Motorized Division in all directions, the 3rd Panzer Division and the Soviet 16th Tank Division fought on both sides of the road leading to Priluki in Romney. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

Receiving the order to attack, Moder took the 502nd Heavy Armored Battalion as the spearhead of the attack, launched an attack along both sides of the road, and crashed headlong into the well-arranged defensive positions of the Soviet army.

It was still the infantry in front, 45-mm and 76.2-mm anti-tank guns in the rear, and there were also 52-K 85-mm "anti-tank guns".

After being educated in blood and fire by the German 88-mm anti-aircraft gun N times, the Russian army unceremoniously copied the German anti-tank tactics and made this heavy anti-aircraft gun play the identity of an anti-tank gun.

Behind the infantry, in addition to anti-tank guns and anti-aircraft guns of various calibers, there is also a group of tall and mighty figures that look like public toilets, which are none other than KV-2 heavy tanks.

In order to take care of the KV-2, which weighs fifty-two tons, the 16th Tank Division tried to choose a good road as much as possible when marching, so that these bulky big guys would be protected from the poison of Russian-style bad roads as much as possible.

Even so, on the march from Sumy to Romne, there were ten KV-2s, which were left behind due to various breakdowns, accounting for a third of the total number of tanks in the battalion.

It was the remaining twenty-one KV-2s that inflicted heavy losses on the offensive of the 502 heavily armored battalion.

Knowing that the Germans were attacking, the T-34 tanks of the 16th Tank Division, which served as reserves, rushed to both sides of the road in a whirlwind and formed a formation between the infantry line and the KV-2 in the rear, blocking the KV-2 behind them.

As soon as the formation was set, the German tank group rushed to the battlefield.

The 502nd Heavy Armored Battalion cut through the overwhelming artillery fire of the Soviet artillery regiment and immediately opened fire on Soviet infantry positions and T-34 tanks.

Under continuous fire, the 76.2mm anti-tank guns opened fire one after another, and then were destroyed by flying high-explosive shells, and the fragile flesh and blood of the gunners were strewn all over the field.

In front of the 88 gun, the performance of the T-34 tank was not much better than that of the anti-tank gunners in front, although they had tried to rely on constant movement and fire from place to place to avoid being hit, but they were still hit one after another, turning into a steel grave.

Billowing black smoke rose from the wreckage of the destroyed T-34 tank and soared into the sky, making it look particularly shocking.

However, the tankmen of the 502nd Battalion did not reap the joy of fruitful results, and the radio communication was full of angry scolding from the tankers.

"104 was hit too, damn mobile public toilets."

"At eleven o'clock, a mobile public toilet squatted behind the dirt slope, with only a turret exposed."

"Notice, their reinforcements are coming up, and it's another bunch of Mickey Mouse."

"Three companies outflank them from the left flank, and be fast." The commander of the 502 battalion shouted over the radio.

Relying on the sacrifices of front-line infantry and T-34 tanks, the KV-2 heavy tank fired round after round.

The 152mm grenade flew across the battlefield, over the heads of the T-34 tanks and infantrymen, and left indelible marks and scars on the E-40 tank's body.

With heavy 100 mm front armor and 80 mm side armor, the E-40 protected the tankers inside from fatal injuries.

The plug-in facilities have suffered heavy losses.

Large swaths of painted camouflage were falling off, the attached spare tracks were flying out of nowhere, and occasionally axes and shovels flew into the sky, which were tools attached to the outside of the tank.

The real damage came from the running gear, the tracks were broken, the load-bearing wheels were falling off, and each salvo of the KV-2 could paralyze an unequal number of E-40 tanks on the battlefield.

The German tankers were so engrossed in firing at the Soviet anti-tank crews and T-34s that they did not notice the killers who were hiding behind.

These KV-2s, in addition to relying on the cover of their comrades in front, also took advantage of the defenders, hiding in the dark bushes, or taking advantage of the undulating terrain, squatting on the anticline, and looking from a distance, only one turret could be seen exposed.

The narrow bomb surface and oversized gun shield provided the KV-2 with strong cover.

In addition to taking advantage of the terrain to minimize the possibility of being detected and hit, these KV-2s also used an oblique design method to fire at the E-40 tanks that appeared diagonally to the left and right, avoiding the strongest front armor of the E-40 tank, attacking the relatively weak sides, and focusing on damaging the E-40 tank's running gear.

Moreover, compared to the frontal, under oblique fire, the side projection area of the E-40 tank is larger, which makes it easier to hit.

The rampant use of 152-mm grenades terrified the E-40 tankers, and the infantry who followed them suffered heavy casualties.

Even SDKFZ251 armored vehicles slowed down and pulled away from the tanks in front.

Faced with a defensive version of Rokossovsky's vicious KV-2 tactics, the 502nd Heavy Armored Battalion, which fought this tactic for the first time, learned a hard lesson.

Seeing another group of T-34s charging up, they heroically crossed the line of KV-2 tanks and rushed to the 502 heavy armored battalion.

Behind the front, the commander of the 3rd Panzer Division, Major General Moder, hastily sent a tank battalion as a reserve to outflank the Soviet troops on the road from the south.

Just when the tankmen of the 502nd Heavy Armored Battalion were in good spirits and preparing to meet the T-34 tank group, and at the same time to withstand a new round of KV-2 rage, in the north of the battle line, the troops of the 4th Panzer Division defeated the 15th Motorized Infantry Division of the Soviet Army, and then divided their troops into two ways, and the main force pursued the 15th Motorized Infantry Division straight to Romne, and the two battle groups rushed south and inserted into the right flank of the 16th Tank Division.

One of the two battle groups, led by Rommel himself.

The members of this battle group were all from the 502nd Battalion and the 3rd Panzer Division, and Rommel wanted to return the troops, and at the same time received a report that he wanted to see for himself what tactics the Soviets used to make Moder report that the 502nd Battalion had lost more than a third of its E-40 tanks.

In the middle of the battle group, Captain Dears suddenly heard an alarm on the radio.

"Attention to all personnel, the tactics adopted by the enemy are the tactics of using medium tanks and units of infantry and anti-tank guns as decoys to attract our attention, and the tactics of KV-2 sneak attack in the rear. If a KV-2 heavy tank is found, kill KV-2 first."

Captain Dears rolled his eyes and swallowed dryly.

"It turned out to be KV-2 sneaking up behind・・・・・・"

Captain Dears remembered a painful experience.

After entering the Soviet mainland, he encountered a Soviet tank cluster for the first time in Belarus, and his No. 101 tank was hit head-on by a grenade, but thanks to the strong defense of the E-40 tank, he was spared.

After driving back to the repair shop, Dr. Paul inspected the scars on the front of the turret and was very experienced in telling the origin of the scars.

"The gunner's sighting equipment, periscopes, and tank guns have to be recalibrated, which is the effect of at least five kilograms of explosives sticking to your explosion, which should be about 150 mm caliber shells."

Looking back, Captain Dears spoke to Otto Karius, the commander of car 213.

"Otto, do you hear me, kill KV-2 first."

"Roger, but we have to find them first."

The battle group made contact with the frontal attacking 502 Battalion and found the battlefield under the guidance of the 502 Battalion.

Despite having entered the battle, Captain Dears, risking his life, probed out of the car, looking for traces of the KV-2.

At this time, the battle had come to an end, and the battlefield was densely covered with the remains of the tanks of the German and Soviet armies, and rising black smoke columns could be seen everywhere, mostly from the T-34.

When the first KV-2 was found, Captain Dears saw that the KV-2 was facing him on the right side, and about three or four meters in front of the chassis, there was a T-34 with the turret door wide open.

It was clear that the KV-2 heavy tank, using the wreckage of the T-34 tank abandoned by the crew in front of it, was firing at the front.

"One o'clock direction, KV-2." Captain Diers said to the gunner.

However, as the turret turned to one o'clock, Captain Dears saw that the KV-2 tank was slowly moving forward, stopping to the side of the T-34.

The wreckage of the T-34 tank blocked most of the KV-2's right side of the hull, and the turret was slowly turning to the right, as if it had discovered its presence.

"Michelle, turn right right at it." Captain Diers shouted in horror.

The 88 gun fired a firing in anger, but it was blocked by the wreckage of the T-34 tank.

Gunner Wolf and loader Bill worked closely together to fire a second shell before the KV-2 could fire, only to hit the KV-2's exposed half of the turret and be blown off by the gun's shield.

Seeing that the KV-2 completed the turning action, a reversing action, revealing that the turret was pointing at himself, in front of the left of Captain Dils, a No. 4 tank rushed out, stopped at a distance of less than fifty meters from the rear of the KV-2 tank, and fired three shots in a row, leaving three bullet holes on the right side of the turret of the KV-2・・・・・・

In a cold sweat, Captain Dears ushered in the end of the battle.

Outflanked by the battle group of the 4th Panzer Division, the fate of the 16th Tank Division was the same as that of the 15th Motorized Infantry Division, and the defensive line completely collapsed.

Captain Dilles and Karius, returned to the 502nd Battalion, and the rest of the battle group returned to the 3rd Panzer Division.

Following the path of the defeat of the 16th Tank Division, the 3rd Panzer Division rushed towards Romne.

On the battlefield, Rommel stood next to an E-40 tank numbered 104 with a calm face, looking at the right side of the tank, a large area of camouflage-colored paint peeling off, the tracks broken, and the guide wheels detached from the hull.

Rommel's mood was as bad as the tankmen of this tank.

According to the results report, the 502nd Battalion, including Captain Dils and Karius, invested a total of 29 tanks in the battle, but lost fifteen, more than half.

Thankfully, only one of the fifteen tanks was completely destroyed, and the remaining fourteen were only damaged, and the injuries were concentrated in the running gear.

Rommel's gaze finally stopped at the side, a Soviet captain covered in black ash and sluggish.

"Lieutenant General Rokossovsky, the commander of your Front, personally studied this tactic. How do you know? Rommel asked.

"When we were practicing this tactic, he came to the training ground, personally guided us to rehearse the formation, and told us some details, such as using tank wreckage, covering the chassis with an anticline on the surface, and so on." said the captain of the Soviet army.

"He's a smart guy, his last name is Rokossovsky, I remember that last name, thank you." Waving his hand to send the Soviet captain away, Rommel turned to the other side, Dr. Paul, the commander of the maintenance company of the 502nd Heavy Armored Battalion

"Dr. Paul, I need your conclusions." Rommel said.

"General, according to the time you gave, before nine o'clock in the evening, we can only repair six of the fifteen tanks." Dr. Paul said.

A heavily armored battalion, with only 45 vehicles at full strength, actually lost nine vehicles in one battle, reaching 20 percent, which is really a heavy loss, especially because these losses are caused by lack of time and cannot complete repairs, not because the tanks have no repair value, Rommel felt very sad.

"Do your best to fix it, and remember to let the tankers take everything they can to use before blowing up the tank."

At 8:20 p.m., Rommel walked into the inner city of Ræm, the division headquarters of Moder.

"You still have forty minutes to transfer troops, we will leave on time at nine o'clock, and now we can send the reconnaissance battalion on the road." Rommel said.

"Are you sure you're going to the South, not the North?" Modell asked.

"Yes, go to the south, first occupy Lubne, then go to the Dnieper, and meet our men here." Rommel pointed to a city on the banks of the Dnieper.

"Cherkasy? But the Führer told us to break through to the north. Modell said in surprise.

"If you go north, it's a retreat, but the armored corps are born to attack." Rommel said.

"Remember to send a telegram to the command of the army group, informing them of our movements, to the Dnieper, we need the cooperation of friendly forces." (To be continued.) )