The buildings in the village of Zuravka are distributed in a half-moon shape, with the sunken side facing north.

Following the retreating German infantry, the Soviet infantry and tank units swept their way to the village of Zuravka, unaware that they were falling headlong into a pre-set trap.

Unlike the northeast corner, which was at the forefront of the battlefield, the northwest corner of Zuravka village, which was relatively calm behind the battle line, suddenly erupted in a dense burst of gunfire.

The MG-C/30 20mm L65 anti-aircraft gun flattened its muzzle and fired wildly at the right flank of the Soviet infantry group, and the 20mm shells hit the Soviet infantry, and the flesh and blood flew all over the body, or they were cut off at the waist, or they were shot in the head, and every body that died under the muzzle of the anti-aircraft gun was mutilated.

The 75-mm armor-piercing projectile flew out and pointed directly at the exposed right side of the Soviet tank, and almost every crisp sound of the cannon hit a tank.

In the northeastern corner of the village, Captain Rabin, commanding the troops, fired machine-gun and armor-piercing shells at the enemy.

The Soviet infantry and tanks, which were caught in a half-moon-shaped encirclement and were attacked by crossfire from the left and right flanks, suddenly became a mess, and the momentum of the defeated soldiers who had just pursued the German army was swept away, and there was panic everywhere, not knowing which side of fire to deal with first.

At the bottom of the half-moon, Captain Muller of the anti-aircraft artillery company carried an assault rifle and roamed the buildings of the village, intercepting the defeated and retreating soldiers.

"This is the last line of defense, don't take a step back······"

Captain Müller's roar, hideous face, and brandishing STG 42 assault rifle dispelled the fear in the hearts of the rout, driving them into the ruined buildings, piles of rubble, and behind the thick bushes, and once again into battle to meet the Soviet troops in disarray.

The slow KV-85 heavy tank hurriedly reversed, trying to get out of this dangerous situation of being slapped left and right, but did not notice the soldiers lying behind the tank.

Captain Rabin saw a Soviet infantryman unable to dodge and being run over his left arm by a fast-reversing KV-85 heavy tank, but he couldn't pull it out, screaming and being swept under the track, and then run over by the waist.

Even from a distance of about 200 meters, he seemed to be able to hear the sound of the Soviet soldier's bones being crushed to pieces.

The PAK 40 anti-tank gun next to him opened fire again, and the armor-piercing shell hit the left middle of the tank's body, and a few seconds later, one of the additional shells hit the left front of the body again, completely incapacitating the tank.

The Soviet infantry who were hooked into a half-moon ambush circle by the rout were suffering from casualties, and the infantry in the rear turned around and fled.

Almost simultaneously, two reinforcements arrived to the northwest and northeast of the village of Zuravka.

To the northwest, rushed the troops of the No. 3 assault gun battalion under the 1st Infantry Division of the Honorable Jews.

Two companies of assault gun No. 3 G, carrying infantry on a detour west of the village of Zuravka, joined the battle from the northwest.

The infantry jumped off the No. 3 assault gun and followed the assault gun to meet the Soviet troops who had broken through the position north of the village of Zuravka.

Coming from the northeast were Soviet reserves that had been thrown into battle after learning of the progress of the front-line battles and used to expand the gains.

A SU-122 self-propelled artillery regiment, followed by more than two dozen T-34 tanks and supported by an infantry battalion, went into battle in an attempt to expand the breach, but was confronted head-on by the No. 3 assault gun, and a tank battle broke out.

While the No. 3 assault gun was an offensive weapon when supporting infantry in attacking enemy positions, the No. 3 assault gun was transformed into a defensive weapon in tank warfare, relying on its low body and sharp artillery to meet the enemy's tanks head-on.

The KV-85 heavy tank and the T-34 tank finally found an equal opponent and hurriedly turned their guns to meet the sudden appearance of the enemy.

Armor-piercing shells flew across the battlefield, and black smoke soon rose from the destroyed vehicles in the battle queues of both sides.

Following behind the T-34 tank, the SU-122, with its obscene black gun, successfully flipped the scales of the battlefield.

During the fierce battle between the No. 3 assault gun and the T-34 tank, 122 mm armor-piercing shells flew out one after another behind the T-34 tank group, ignoring the inclined front armor of the No. 3 assault gun, smashed through the hull, and drilled into the No. 3 assault gun vehicle for secondary damage.

Attention was attracted to the KV-85 and T-34 tanks, and the assault gunners No. 3 did not notice the presence of the SU-122 self-propelled guns at all, and three assault guns were destroyed by 122-mm guns in an instant.

Billowing black smoke drifted in the wind, pointing diagonally towards the sky.

In the center of the battlefield, in the village of Zuravka, after eliminating the Soviet troops who had broken into the half-moon ambush circle, Captain Rabin left the anti-tank gun position and hid behind the broken wall of a house to check the situation on the battlefield outside the village, but quickly withdrew his gaze, because out of the corner of his eye, he found that another Soviet unit was rushing towards the village of Zuravka from the northeast.

We are really the main attack zone of the Russians.

Finding the communicator, Captain Rabin grabbed the Siemens cordless phone that the communicator was carrying and shouted: "The enemy's tanks are coming up again, we need artillery support, the closer the better." ”

After saying that, Captain Rabin looked up at the western sky with expectant eyes, but happened to see a tragic scene.

A FI-382 "Black Hawk" helicopter appeared to have been hit by dense anti-aircraft fire, a figure flew out of the left fuselage hatch and fell to the ground like a diver, the plane with the fuselage as the axis, the tail spinning at high speed, and falling to the ground with a puff of black smoke.

Staring at where the helicopter had been staying, Captain Rabin was stunned for a moment before withdrawing his gaze.

He turned around and ran back to the anti-tank gun position where he had been, shouting and shouting with the other gunners to move the PAK 40 tank gun to the next wave of the enemy.

The anti-tank guns had just taken their positions, parked at the waist-thick trunk of a willow tree, and the enemy tanks had already rushed into the minefield.

At this time, the minefield could no longer play the slightest role in blocking it, and the fastest T-60 light tank rushed to the front and was quickly targeted by anti-tank guns.

The crisp sound of artillery rang out again, and the armor-piercing shells easily tore through the front armor of a T-60 light tank and burrowed into the hull.

Flames and black smoke erupted from the vehicle's body in waves of air, knocking over the turret, tearing apart the hull from the explosion of the munitions.

Turning the muzzle, another shell was fired, destroying another T-60 light tank, and before the smoke around the PAK 40 anti-tank gun cleared, a 152 mm high-explosive shell flew and landed next to the anti-tank gun, hitting the willow trunk on the left side of the anti-tank gun.

Waves of air and dust rose high, instantly devouring the anti-tank gun emplacements under the trunks, and the willows with broken trunks fell diagonally to the ground.

When the smoke cleared, the fallen willow tree lay diagonally against the anti-tank gun, and four corpses lay crookedly under the tree.

Captain Rabin shook his head with buzzing ears and rolled his eyes for the appearance of a twin shadow in front of him, struggling to climb to a soldier who was crushed below by a tree branch.

With all his strength, Captain Rabin dragged the soldier out from under the tree, and the two stumbled back into the village behind.

The figures of the two had just turned past a collapsed house, and by the fallen willow tree, Soviet infantry in khaki uniforms ran by.

Under the third onslaught of the Soviet troops, the northeast corner of the village of Zuravka was lost, and the defenders were forced to retreat to the village to fight street fighting.

The 1st Infantry Division's defensive line near the village of Zuravka was precarious, and to the south of the front, a reinforcement army from the village of Markivka was advancing at high speed to the battlefield.

In the front of the convoy, in the SD KFZ 251 armored car, Major Bach said to Chen Dao worriedly: "Judging from the density of guns in the distance, the battle there is fierce, and we are very dangerous at this time. ”

"We went there to end the fighting. If the fighting is not fierce, there is no point in us going there. ”

"But we only have four tanks and a platoon of troops, so we can't do anything at all." Major Bach said.

Chen Dao said disapprerovingly: "You are from the Air Force, you don't understand land warfare, General Guderian said that sometimes, one tank can lead a battle to victory, not to mention that we now have a strong force of four tanks." Regarding land warfare, a layman like you still doesn't intervene much. ”

Major Lorenz and the others, who were sitting in the carriage together, looked at each other.

In any case, there seems to be no necessary connection between four tanks and the word mighty, and His Excellency the Governor's battlefield mania seems to have flareed up again, and he should not be brought close to the battlefield.