After the scouts sent by Zhang Xiaolin encountered the vanguard of the US army, the main force of the US army received the news. When the vanguard of the US army accelerated to Armidale, the two tank battalions and three infantry battalions at the front of the main force of the US army immediately accelerated their advance, and as a result, they arrived at Armidale only half an hour later than the vanguard.

At this time, the commander of the American army had realized that the purpose of the Tang Imperial Army's capture of Armidale was to block the mobile forces under General Bradley, and to block the main force of the American army here. And it was almost dawn, and if you wanted to save Bradley's mobile troops, you had to break through the defense line of the Tang Imperial Army in Armidale before dawn and tear through the defense line of the Tang Imperial Army. Therefore, on the one hand, the commander of the main force of the US army accelerated the advance of the "Pershing" heavy tank battalion with the most sufficient fuel, and on the other hand, the main force behind it was transferred to the forest to avoid being attacked by the carrier-based bombers of the Tang Empire after dawn.

That is, the commander of the US army sent three tank battalions in one go, as well as three infantry battalions. And this is almost the strength of a mechanized infantry division. Of the three tank battalions, there are two heavy tank battalions, and the other is also an M4 medium tank battalion. Tanks advance much faster on the road than in the field, and most tanks are able to march at a speed of more than 40 kilometers per hour. And the first to arrive was a heavy tank battalion, and Zhang Xiaolin and they were suddenly attacked by this batch of US heavy tanks.

Because the sky has not yet lit up, Zhang Xiaolin can only judge that the figures of the newly arrived US tanks are much larger than the M4, but cannot directly judge their specific models. However, he could already hear from the sound of the American tank guns when they fired, and this was by no means the sound of the M4's 75 or 75 mm tank guns, but the sound of larger caliber tank guns firing. This made Zhang Xiaolin feel very shocked, the main force of the US army came much faster than he expected.

"Colonel. U.S. tanks and infantry were advancing, and the motorized infantry battalion was about to lose its line. ”

Zhang Xiaolin was woken up. "How many tanks did we lose?"

"Three tanks were destroyed, the others were retreated, what now?" The voice of the cavalry battalion commander came from the headphones.

"What else can I do? Damn, I'm fighting with the Yankees! The commander of the guard company also shouted.

"Fight, what do you fight? Damn, we're going to hold out for a few hours, even if we're not afraid of death, but if we can't complete the mission, we'll all die. There is no value at all! Zhang Xiaolin immediately scolded the guard company commander, he glanced at his watch, it was already five forty o'clock. The day is about to dawn, and we have to delay the time as much as possible, and the battalion and company commanders are all left. The rest of the tanks were withdrawn to the rear to be used as reserves, and in addition, the 2nd Motorized Infantry Battalion sent a company to reinforce the 1st Motorized Infantry Battalion's defenses. We used buildings as cover to fight guerrilla warfare with American troops. Remember, try to keep the exposure time as short as possible and use high-speed armor-piercing shells against the heavy tanks of the American army. Damn, don't fight the enemy, just hit and run! ”

When Zhang Xiaolin gave the order. The loader had already withdrawn the ordinary armor-piercing shell in the soup and replaced it with a high-speed armor-piercing shell, and Zhang Xiaolin's car had a total of 42 shells. Only one shot was consumed in the previous battle, and out of these 42 shells. There were a total of 18 high-speed armor-piercing rounds, which is 6 more than other vehicles.

The tank quickly rushed out of the store where it was hiding, and by the time it came to the street, the muzzle of the gun had already pointed to the north, and Zhang Xiaolin quickly found a target.

"11 o'clock direction, distance 980, target speed 25, high-speed armor-piercing projectile!"

The gunner quickly found the M26 and adjusted the ground firing angle of the gun according to the shelling parameters provided by Zhang Xiaolin. The amount of advance was calculated, and then. The tank shook violently, and the moment the shell came out of the muzzle, a huge shelling was heard. Because the speed and trajectory of high-speed armor-piercing shells are not exactly the same as those of ordinary armor-piercing shells, the gunner cannot use the data of ordinary armor-piercing shells when calculating data such as advance and angle of fire.

"Don't reverse, rush into the alley ahead!"

The tank immediately accelerated, rushed into the front alley, and when the driver stopped the tank, several shells fell on the position where the artillery fire began. The whole process takes less than 15 seconds.

Zhang Xiaolin has been observing the shelling situation, and the high-speed armor-piercing shell failed to hit the target, but it hit a truck a few hundred meters away from the rear, which can be regarded as an unexpected gain, I don't know if there are any American soldiers on that truck.

"Reverse the tank, don't continue to reverse later, and then hide here after the cannon is fired, we can't let the U.S. military feel the law of our movement. High-speed armor-piercing bullets, ready! ”

As the driver shifted gears, the loader loaded another high-velocity armor-piercing round into the chamber. Zhang Xiaolin took a long breath, he didn't rush to give an order, he was waiting for an opportunity.

At this time, on the battlefield, several other combat vehicles of battalion and company commanders were also fighting in the same way. They relied not only on the cover of buildings, but also on the excellent mobility of the Type 25 tank. Among the medium tanks at that time, the weight of the Type 25 tank was relatively light, and the power and torque of the diesel engine used were the largest, so the mobility of the Type 25 tank was the best among all medium tanks. This is the biggest weight in Zhang Xiaolin's hands.

After the cavalry battalion was thrown into battle, the advance of the American troops slowed down. Obviously, the commanders of the US army are also a little taboo about Type 25 tanks, especially those high-powered high-speed armor-piercing shells. In the previous battle, the M26 was pierced by 80mm high-speed armor-piercing shells fired from 1,000 meters away. When Zhang Xiaolin and the others began to counterattack, the U.S. tanks were also rapidly dispersed, and the M4s that had been left behind rushed to the front of the M26, and the U.S. infantry followed the tanks to maneuver. In other words, the pressure on the infantry guarding the first line of defense north of the town was much lower.

Zhang Xiaolin listened to the sound of shelling outside, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, took a deep breath, and put his eyes on the periscope. "Reverse!"

The tank poured out of the alley with a roar, the muzzle of the gun still pointing north.

"1 o'clock direction, distance 1050. Target speed 15, sideways, high-speed armor-piercing projectiles! ”

The artillery commander quickly calculated the shelling parameters, and less than 5 seconds after Zhang Xiaolin's words were shouted, the shell whistled and flew away from the muzzle.

"Rush back, hurry, hurry!"

When the U.S. artillery shells were whistling, the high-speed armor-piercing shell hit the frontal armor of the M26 turret, and at the moment when the tank rushed back to the alley, Zhang Xiaolin saw a fire in the U.S. tank!

"Damn. Finally hit! The gun commander also shouted, and he also saw the American tank that had been hit through the aiming periscope.

"High-speed armor-piercing projectile preparation!" Zhang Xiaolin was not relieved, "Raised by a son of a bitch, play with me, play to death you son of a bitch!" ”

The loader immediately loaded the next high-velocity armor-piercing round into the chamber.

"Rush out from the front. There is also a heavy tank in the direction of 11 o'clock, take out it this time! Zhang Xiaolin wiped his forehead again, "Wait for a straight line, the opposite side should be the chariot of the commander of the guard company, pay attention to being bumped into him!" ”

"No problem, Colonel, watch me!" The driver was also excited.

"Ready, brothers?"

The gun commander glanced back at Zhang Xiaolin. Then he nodded, and the loader smiled heartily.

"Then let's do it!"

The tank roared out and braked almost as soon as it reached the middle of the street. Quickly stopped, and the driver almost pushed the tank's maneuverability to the limit.

"11 o'clock direction. Distance 80, target speed 20, sideways, high-speed armor-piercing shells! ”

This time, it took only three seconds for the gun commander to fire the shell. The huge recoil made the tank vibrate, and before the sound of the shelling had completely subsided, a strong puff of white smoke came out of the tank engine, followed by a sharp metal grinding sound, and the tracks slid several times on the ground. Then he went headlong into the alley in front of him. The M26 was concentrated at the junction between the turret and the chassis by armor-piercing shells, and almost the entire turret was blown away by the shells.

"Well done. Damn! Zhang Xiaolin shouted again.

"Colonel, look, ahead!"

Hearing the driver's exclamation, Zhang Xiaolin was shocked, and immediately turned the periscope to the front of the car. On the street ahead, a Type 25 tank was burning, and the side of the turret of the tank was painted with a white wolf's head emblem, which was the combat vehicle of the commander of the guard company.

"Damn, little tiger!"

"Colonel, company commander he ......"

"Damn, Xiaohu, damn it......" Zhang Xiaolin trembled, the commander of the guard company was his old subordinate, and he didn't expect it......

"Colonel, the U.S. troops are rushing up!"

The U.S. troops, who had been hit hard, quickly reacted, and when they found that there were only a few Type 25 tanks in front of them, two battalions of U.S. tanks immediately rushed through, and the M26 rushed to the front again, and the M4 covered the infantry in the back, focusing on shelling the defense line of the motorized infantry battalion.

"Let the reserves bypass the town and storm the American front from the east!" Zhang Xiaolin has no other way, "Kill the heavy tanks of the US army first and buy time!" ”

The chariot painted with three hollow white stars rushed out of the alley again. This time, Zhang Xiaolin didn't let the tank dodge too much, almost every time he appeared on the street, a US tank would be hit, and then the combat vehicle painted with the colonel's logo quickly left the street, avoiding all the incoming shells. Dozens of seconds later, the tank burst out again, turning another American tank into burning scrap metal.

At this time, the sky was already slightly bright, and the tankers of the American army quickly noticed this tank painted with the logo of the colonel's car, and it was elusive on the battlefield, almost a hundred shots, and at the same time, they also saw that on the other side of the tank turret, there were dozens of symbols representing the battle. Anyone with a bit of experience in the US military knows that the hollow white star is the symbol of a colonel-level officer, and three represent a colonel (four brigadier generals). In addition, those battle mark indicate that the commander on this tank is the ace commander of the armored forces of the Tang Imperial Army, and he is the ace of aces!

"The last high-speed armor-piercing round!" When the loader pushed the shell into the chamber, he did not forget to tell Zhang Xiaolin.

"3 o'clock, distance 650, straight line movement, pay attention to the height!"

When the muzzle of the tank gun burst into fire again, the eighth M26 was hit directly, and at such a short distance, not to mention high-speed armor-piercing shells, even ordinary armor-piercing shells were able to penetrate the frontal armor of the M26.

"Load the shells!" Zhang Xiaolin shouted, "Straight ahead!" ”

"Colonel, the enemy is approaching, we should retreat!"

"Retreat? When did the Imperial cavalry retreat? Zhang Xiaolin didn't care about the driver's shouts at all, "Keep fighting, as long as we still have shells, we can't retreat, even if there are no shells, we still have machine gun bullets!" ”

"Colonel ......"

"Go ahead, ...... in the direction of 12 o'clock"

As soon as the loader loaded the shell into the chamber, the tank shook violently, and before Zhang Xiaolin could say the second half of his sentence, a shell hit the frontal armor of the tank's turret. Zhang Xiaolin immediately rushed to the darkness in front of him and lost consciousness. When he was woken up by the violent jolt, the tank was still moving on. Then the loader helped him to his feet.

"Colonel, we're fine, we're not destroyed......" the loader giggled, a kind of giggle for the rest of his life.

"Then keep fighting!" Zhang Xiaolin sat up, "Where are we now?" ”

"To the south, the motorized infantry battalion has retreated to the third line of defense."

"Damn, return to the battlefield immediately, no one can retreat without my orders!" Zhang Xiaolin grabbed the armrest of the periscope tightly, and he felt a little numb in his hands, as if his two hands were no longer part of his body.

In fact, by this time the motorized infantry battalion had been routed, and the American troops had occupied the north and central parts of the town and were continuing to advance south. And the reserves that Zhang Xiaolin had previously put into battle were also defeated. On the battlefield, only a few Type 25 tanks retreated to the south of the town to continue fighting, and these tanks had little ammunition left, to the point of running out of ammunition and food.

The sky was already bright, Zhang Xiaolin didn't look at his watch, he felt that his consciousness was very blurry, he didn't know what time it was, he just felt that the sunlight was dazzling. The last of the infantry had retreated to the outskirts of the town, the troops were fighting on the last line of defense, and the tanks, which had lost the cover of the buildings, were ideal targets for the enemy.

The tanks were speeding through the grass, and shells were constantly falling. The American tanks running at the forefront had broken through the last line of defense of the infantry.

"Stop, rush back!" Zhang Xiaolin felt smoke rising in his throat, "Armor-piercing bullets, prepare!" ”

The loader did not say much, and he immediately loaded an armor-piercing round into the chamber.

"Target Bearing ......"

Suddenly, there was a whistling sound of shells flying through the air, and then the M4 closest to Zhang Xiaolin's combat vehicle was hit by shells, and then more shells flew towards the American tanks......