Chen Dao stood at the entrance of the village in the north of Smilovich village, watching the traffic on the highway come and go.

Chen Dao and Rommel's conversation dealt with the obstacles, and then informed the commander of the 9th Panzer Division, Lieutenant General Hui Biqi, that the 9th Panzer Division, which had already been assembled and on standby, immediately set off, and thousands of armored vehicles of various types, No. 4 G tanks, and trucks drove mightily to the east, kicking up dust on Highway 69 through the village of Smirovich.

After the tank column of the 33rd Panzer Regiment passed through the village of Smilovich, Chen Dao finally saw the convoy of Lieutenant General Hui Biqi.

Turning to salute and say goodbye to Rommel beside him, Chen Dao jumped into the armored car, joined Lieutenant General Huibiqi's team, and drove northeast.

After more than an hour's march through villages and towns occupied by troops of the 7th Panzer Division, the convoy circled to the east of Minsk, which was less than five kilometers away from Minsk.

The convoy left Route 69, turned around and headed for Route 53, heading straight for Borisov, a major traffic town to the east.

The Berezina River is a stream of the Dnieper, which originates in the Minsk Highlands and flows southeast through swampy and forested basins, emptying into the Dnieper near Lechtsa.

Borisov is located on the west bank of the Berezina River, and Highway 53 to Smolensk crosses the river through the center of the city, and it was necessary to take the transportation center if he wanted to penetrate the heart of the Soviet Union.

The 9th Panzer Division marched along Route 53, the troops of the Waffen-SS Viking Division were on the right flank of the 9th Panzer Division, along the parallel road, and the left flank of the division was the theater of operations of the 3rd Panzer Army, which was also relatively safe.

When night fell, the convoy of the 9th Panzer Division stopped marching. It is already less than twenty kilometers from Borisov.

Chen Dao sat in the armored car, looked at the map spread on his lap, and said to Major Lorenz: "After passing through the city called Ruodino in front, about fifteen kilometers later, we will reach Borisov, according to aerial reconnaissance. The enemy has already formed positions on the outskirts of the city, Zhukov is sure to know the importance of the city, and there will definitely be a fierce battle there. ”

Major Lorenz looked at the night overhead, then at the map, and then said, "General Huibiqi must know all these things, let him find a way to solve these problems." Where are we going to spend the night tonight, I think the city of Ruozino is the best choice. ”

"No, the gunfire in front was heard, it was sparse, and the enemy's resistance was not strong. The troops of the 9th Panzer Division must have been close to dealing with the Soviets there, and we stayed there for one night. Chen Dao said.

A few minutes later, Chen Dao received a call from Lieutenant General Hui Biqi, stating that the troops had cleared Ruojino City, and suggesting that he and the headquarters of the 9th Armored Division stay in the city for one night, and Chen Dao readily agreed.

Because of the fighting, most of the citizens of the city have already fled.

In the west of the city, Lieutenant General Hui Biqi easily requisitioned a "closed" hotel. Immediately led his division headquarters to stay in the hotel, and Chen Dao and his subordinates were also assigned their own rooms.

The bed in the hotel was soft. Chen Dao slept soundly, and was not woken up by the alarm clock until six o'clock in the morning, and walked into the bathroom yawning.

When Chen Dao and his lieutenants appeared in the hotel's restaurant, Lieutenant General Hui Biqi had already sat neatly dressed in it to eat.

Towards the end of a breakfast, a captain hurried into the dining room and said to Lieutenant General Huibiqi: "General. A company of the 503rd Heavy Armored Battalion has arrived, is it time for the troops to go? ”

"Yes, the troops of the 503rd Battalion and the 33rd Panzer Battalion set off together to launch an offensive on Borisov as soon as possible, and the sooner the attack, the better it will be for us. The Soviets could not be allowed to have a respite. Lieutenant General Hui Biqi said.

Chen Dao hurriedly stuffed the food on the plate into his mouth, swallowed his stomach with hot milk, and said while wiping his mouth with a napkin: "I'm going to see the tanks of the 503rd battalion, I haven't seen an E-40 tank for a long time." ”

After Chen Dao finished speaking, he hurriedly left the restaurant with his subordinates and rushed to the side of Highway 53, which passed through the city.

The solid concrete floor shivered, the roar of the engines was deafening, and a fleet of E-40 tanks drove from the west.

Chen Dao looked around and quickly counted the number of E-40 tanks at nine.

In the heavily armored battalion, a company has a full number of 14 vehicles, and after a march and battle of more than 400 kilometers from Bialystok to the city of Ruodino, a company can also ensure that nine E-40 tanks can be used, which is enough to see that this company has done a good job in maintaining the tanks, and even the "German Army Horse" No. 4 G tank, which is known for its durability, has a one-quarter failure rate under normal combat conditions.

Nine E-40 tanks drove past Chen Dao's eyes, and the commanders in black armored uniforms showed their turrets half out of their turrets and saluted Chen Dao who was standing on the side of the road with great discipline.

However, the discipline of the commanders did not last long, and a burst of gunfire suddenly rang out, attracting Chen Dao's attention.

As a "veteran" who has experienced a hundred battles, Chen Dao heard that this sudden burst of gunfire was very close to him, and it seemed that it was only two or three hundred meters away.

Looking in the direction of the cannonade, Chen Dao saw an astonishing scene at the intersection to the east.

The German infantry took refuge next to the buildings next to the crossroads, dodging the flying guns and shells.

"Stop it"

"Fire"

All kinds of heart-rending shouts came and went.

The E-40 tank at the head of the tank burst into flames, bullets clanged on its tall body, the commander on the turret had long since disappeared, and the 88mm tank gun rotated and pointed to the right side of the body, firing one after another, and the spout spewed fire and smoke.

However, the powerful 88mm armor-piercing rounds did not work, and a huge figure of a "jumbo" tank painted green camouflage and covered in turrets rushed to the center of the intersection and crashed headlong into the right side of the E-40 tank's armor.

Under the powerful impact of the "Jumbo" tank, the hull of the E-40 tank, which was unfortunately hit, was shifted to the right, and the tracks dragged out on the concrete floor, and the tracks on the right side of the body were slightly off the ground.

Even so, the engine of the turret-covered jumbo tank rumbled, pushing the E-40 as it slid on the ground.

Everyone on the scene. Both the infantry and the armored corps were shocked by this amazing scene.

Chen Dao was relatively far away from the scene of the crash and was not affected by the tragedy.

"Shoot it, hit its engine compartment, stop it first." Chen Dao danced and shouted to the commander of an E-40 tank in front of him.

The commander of the E-40 tank was alerted. Repeating Chen Dao's reminder to the throat Mike.

The turret then turned to point at the rear of the Big Mac, and in less than a minute, there were four or five more bullet holes in the left rear power compartment of the unknown Big Mac.

The other tanks also opened fire, blasting the jumbo tank to the right side, and black smoke burrowed through every crevice of the tank, enveloping the two tanks.

Fortunately, only one Soviet tank burst out of the blue, and no more suicide tanks appeared at the crossroads.

The scene of the crash was quickly dealt with. The E-40 tank, which had been damaged by the impact and stalled, was hooked up with a steel cable and left the scene of the tragedy.

The infantry dragged a fire hose from the building next to the intersection, connected it to the fire faucet, and then opened the valve, and a thick white jet of water sprayed at the giant tank surrounded by flames and black smoke.

After solving the danger of the Big Mac's hidden ammunition detonation, the tank was also dragged away from the scene by hanging a steel cable.

After questioning the infantry next to the crossroads, Chen Dao and Lieutenant General Hui Biqi, who arrived later, sorted out clues to the tragedy.

Yesterday night, it was already night when the 9th Panzer Division captured the city of Jotino.

The city of Ruodino is a city with a population of nearly 100,000. The Ninth Armored Division only had the 33rd Armored Regiment, the reconnaissance battalion, and the first motorized infantry regiment stationed in the city, and there was no time to search the whole city at night. The existence of this tank was not discovered, and it was only then that the giant tank was caught off guard.

Although Chen Dao found a past explanation for the appearance of this tank, he and Lieutenant General Hui Biqi were still shocked by the style and suicidal style of the tank.

The tank was huge, nearly ten meters long, and it must have weighed more than fifty tons.

After counting, Chen Dao found five turrets. It can be said that the whole body is full of turrets.

The tank was equipped with a short-barreled 76.2 mm gun on the main turret, a 45 mm gun in each of the two secondary turrets, and two machine gun turrets.

No one recognized the model of this tank, and neither did Chen Dao, and in the end he recruited a few Soviet officers who were captured in the city. Chen Daocai learned that this slender, turret-riddled tank model that resembles a "Land Cruiser" is the T-35.

Reports of casualties were soon reported, and the T-35 tank was pierced three times by armor-piercing bullets from the 88 gun, and eleven members were either killed or wounded.

In the huge shock caused by the impact, all five members of the E-40 tank were injured, the hull was also severely damaged, and even the 88-mm tank gun was deformed by the impact and needed to be sent back to the rear for major repairs.

On top of that, the intersection was blocked for more than half an hour because of the accident, which affected the passage of other troops.

After some hectic work, the scene of the accident was cleared, the wounded were treated, and a company of the 33rd Panzer Regiment and the 503rd Heavy Armored Battalion drove out of the city and killed Borisov.

After such an accident, Lieutenant General Huibiqi was angry and ordered the remaining troops to search the whole city to make sure that there were no more Soviet troops who had escaped the net.

Lieutenant General Hui Biqi was scared into a cold sweat by this accident, since there was one tank in the city, more infantry could be hidden, especially the elusive snipers.

If it is not this strange T-35 tank that appears first today, but a sniper hiding in a dark corner, it is not the E-40 tank that suffers, but a certain big man next to him, I feel scared when I think about it.

Lieutenant General Huibiqi's efforts to make amends for the dead had a positive effect, and gunfire soon resounded in the city.

In the dragnet search and arrest of the Ninth Panzer Division, countless units of Soviet troops were seized one by one, and battles of encirclement and suppression and counter-encirclement and suppression immediately began.

It didn't take long for the sound of gunfire to spread through the city like a plague, and most of the city was covered by the sound of gunfire.

Not only in the urban area, but also in the north, south and west directions of the city.

One telegram after another was sent to the hotel where Hui Biqi was staying, and one by one the heralds rushed to the door of the hotel on motorcycles to hand over the battle reports from the front to the staff officers of the division headquarters.

It turned out that a large number of Soviet troops were hidden in the woods on the north side of the city and in the fields to the south, and they waited for the tank units in the city to leave, and then suddenly launched an attack on the city.

On Route 53 to the west of the city, the engineers, anti-aircraft guns, and supply convoys heading for the city of Jodino were also attacked, and the whole city was attacked from all directions from the west, and the whole city was in flames, and the 9th Panzer Division was in danger of being encircled.

"The Soviets have become smarter and know how to set a trap for us, which is really beyond my expectations." Chen Dao said with a sneer.

"We don't have a lot of troops in the city, and we don't know how many people there are outside, so it seems that we can only let the troops of the 33rd Panzer Regiment come back first, and we must ensure that Highway 53 cannot be cut off." Lieutenant General Hui Biqi said.

Chen Dao pricked up his ears and listened to the sound of gunfire outside, judged the distance of the battle line from the hotel, and did not forget to say: "The number of enemies is quite large, far beyond our imagination, and I also suggest that the 33rd Armored Regiment return to help." ”

As soon as Chen Dao's words fell, he heard two explosions close at hand, and the ground under his feet shook non-stop.

The faces of the people inside the house all turned unusually ugly, and it was clear that the two shells had hit the exterior wall of the hotel.

A lieutenant rushed into the command room, his face covered with dust and black gun oil.

"General, the enemy has used KV-2 tanks and a large number of infantry, and is approaching the hotel, the wall on the first floor has been blown out of two gaps, and the guard company is blocking the enemy, but it can't be stopped for too long, and the company commander wants me to inform you to move temporarily."

Chen Dao and Hui Biqi glanced at each other, the two did not say any nonsense, and Hui Biqi directly gave the order to move to the south of the city.

Chen Dao, accompanied by two adjutants, hurried out of the hotel and jumped into an armored car.

Throwing away the big-brimmed hat, buckling up an M35 steel helmet, and taking an STG42 assault rifle from Captain Nietzsche, Chen Dao turned into an infantryman.

The armored car started immediately, Chen Dao patted the front of the car, and shouted to the driver of the posture cabin: "The south of the city is not safe either, let's go to the east of the city and find the troops of the 33rd Armored Regiment, which is the real safe place." (To be continued.) )