"Tanks of the Germans!" Below the Zionz Pass was Highway 18, and the tank units of the 2nd Panzer Division, reinforced in the early hours of the morning, were concealed on both sides of the road. The mechanized infantry had already gone up the hill to reinforce www.biquge.info the defenders.

Before dawn, the chief of staff of the 2nd Armored Division personally led people to drive armored vehicles around, collected a batch of fuel, and urgently sent it to the front. Although the number is not large, it can be regarded as a temporary relief from the lack of fuel for the tanks. But there is still no good news about ammunition.

The 2nd Armored Division is an ace armored force, and all the divisions are equipped with Tiger and Leopard tanks. The main gun shells of these two tanks are of a different caliber than the others, and they use special shells for tungsten core tank guns. As a result, their ammunition supplies were loaded on the same large transport ship. Not only the main artillery shells of the tanks, but all the tanks, armored vehicles of the entire 2nd Panzer Division, as well as the replenishment of ammunition for other vehicles with weapons, were on that ship.

However, the news came back from the port that the transport ship loaded with ammunition from the 2nd Panzer Division had just entered the port, and no one knew when it would be able to start unloading, after all, everyone wanted to get their things ashore first. In desperation, the tanks of the 2nd Panzer Division could only use their own on-board ammunition into battle.

Salerno is surrounded by a ring of mountains, and the 18th road under the Zionz Pass leads directly into the city, making it the fastest, most convenient and best option.

Therefore, Rommel, who had already flown from Rome to Naples, ordered the 26th Panzer Division, which had just arrived on the outskirts of Salerno, to take over the 16th Panzer Division, which had been damaged in the previous attack, to launch the main attack on the Zionz Pass.

Unlike the 16th Panzer Division, which had no experience and was mostly recruits, the German 26th Panzer Division had a much better background.

After retreating from North Africa and Sicily, some of the remnants of the crippled armoured units were incorporated into the 26th Panzer Division. Although these troops were defeated, they had fought against the Ming army's armored forces after all and had battlefield experience.

At 9 o'clock in the morning of the 8th, the artillery bombardment that had lasted for a long time suddenly began to extend the fire, and the 26th Panzer Division sent its main armored regiment to Route 18 and began to attack along the road. At the same time, the grenadiers of the 26th Panzer Division launched diversionary attacks on the heights of the Zionz Pass. The attack of the Germans came.

At this time, the battle between the two sides in the sky has reached a white-hot level. Ming fighters flying from aircraft carriers and Sicily fought fiercely with the Luftwaffe arriving in waves from all over Italy. The two sides were largely tied, with neither of them having the spare strength to support the battle on the ground.

This was a good thing for the Germans, because their air power was actually inferior to that of the Ming army. The Ming army, accustomed to fighting under the cover of a superior air force, had some trouble, but they still fought stubbornly. The Ming army was not a unit that fought with advanced equipment alone.

In the port of Salerno in the rear, the Ming army transport fleet was still constantly sending soldiers and supplies ashore. However, under the fierce attack of the German and Italian air forces at any cost, the port's throughput capacity was still affected.

"Sir, the division headquarters called and said that the reinforcements would not be able to come in the afternoon at the earliest." The telegraph operator of the Heavy Tank Battalion of the 2nd Panzer Division hurriedly ran to a Tiger tank parked on the side of the road and covered with camouflage nets, and shouted: "The division headquarters ordered us to hold out on the road until two o'clock in the afternoon. ”

In the previous year, Zhang Cheng fine-tuned the formation of armored forces. The top 10 armored divisions are still the focus of care, each armored division has a Tiger tank battalion as the operational core, and the main force of the armored regiment is the Leopard tank.

The main force of the armored division, numbered after 10, could only be a mixture of Leopard and No. 4 tanks. After all, even if the Ming Dynasty can produce tens of thousands of tanks a year, the large-scale expansion of armored forces, and even each infantry division must be equipped with an armored force, so that the output has not been able to keep up with the expansion of the demand and battle damage replenishment.

"I see." Lin Shuo, who leaned out of the turret hatch with half of his body and held binoculars in both hands, responded, "Tell the division commander that I will not let any German tank pass through the Zionz Pass before two o'clock in the afternoon." ”

At this time, the Tiger Tank Battalion commanded by Lin Shuo had 42 Tiger tanks and more than 100 other auxiliary vehicles. Lin Shuo deployed all the Tigers on both sides of the road, and when the tanks of the German 26th Panzer Division came along the road, Lin Shuo quickly ordered the troops to advance to meet them.

"Is the latter keeping up?" Lin Shuo, who was holding the walkie-talkie, half-lay on the turret, turned to look at the rumbling tank group behind him and asked loudly.

Joining Lin Shuo was an armored regiment of the 2nd Panzer Division, with about 120 or so Leopard tanks. In addition to one battalion remaining at the regimental headquarters as a reserve, two other tank battalions were deployed on either side of the Tiger tank battalion as flank support. Because the regiment commander did not go to the front, the command of the front line was held by Lin Shuo.

"We're behind you. Repeat, we are behind you. After hearing the Leopard tank's answer, Lin Shuo raised the telescope in his hand again and looked ahead. Two kilometers away, the road and both sides of the road were already covered with German armored units, and both sides were about to enter the attack range.

"Attention all crews." When the distance between the two sides reached 1,500 meters, Lin Shuo pressed the throat walkie-talkie and shouted, "The tiger is in the middle, and the leopard is on both sides." Stop the car! Fire! ”

The Tiger tank, equipped with advanced sighting equipment, was able to accurately hit targets 3,000 meters away in tests, and also had a record of hitting targets 2,000 meters away in actual combat. However, as an excellent front-line commander, Lin Shuo waited until the distance between the two sides was narrowed to within 1,500 meters before giving the order to open fire.

"Zi~~~" A piercing sound of steel friction spread across the battlefield, and the Ming tanks that were still advancing before stopped almost at the same time. The muzzle of the black hole was slightly adjusted and pointed at the German armored troops on the opposite side, and in an instant, the fire suddenly appeared, and one by one tungsten core armor-piercing shells came out of the disembowel at a super high speed, and the whistling sound of high-speed friction air fell on the German tank on the opposite side in a short time.

Daming's wealth is not just talking.

At the current level of technology, the best armor-piercing projectile is a tungsten core armor-piercing projectile, and the penetration ability of this shell is very terrifying compared to ordinary armor-piercing projectiles. It is deeply loved by the officers and soldiers of the armored forces. However, this shell requires a large amount of tungsten ore as a raw material to produce. There is basically no decent amount of tungsten ore in the whole of Europe.

The tungsten ore that has begun to be mined on a large scale around the world is basically concentrated in the hands of Daming and the United States. And Daming because of Zhang Cheng's special attention to production and should be very extensive. The Americans, by contrast, move much more slowly. The Ming were able to supply a large amount of tungsten core ammunition to their own troops. Not only artillery shells, but even machine gun shells have a lot of equipment.

On the Allied side, on the other hand, only the U.S. military could be heavily equipped. As for those allies of the Americans, they can only get some leftovers after the US military satisfies itself first. And with so many allies in the United States, there are so few things that can leak out of the fingers. The Germans were limited in what they could get.

In this case, the 26th Panzer Division, which was not the main force of the core, was not equipped with such shells at all. When the artillery bombardment of the Ming army came, a steel storm was staged on Highway 18, which was only about two kilometers wide from the left and right on both sides of the road to the foot of the mountain.

"Good fight!" Lin Shuo saw through the telescope that at least a dozen tanks in the German tank cluster in front of him were emitting flames and black smoke, and he immediately waved his fist excitedly.

Shrink back into the thick turret of the Tiger and close the hatch with your hand. Lin Shuo raised his hand and pressed the throat walkie-talkie, and ordered loudly, "All the car crews maintain formation, open fire, and kill them all!" ”

As a battle-hardened veteran, Lin Shuo knows very well where his strengths lie. The Tiger's sturdy armor and powerful main gun are the biggest advantages.

When Lin Shuo was engaged with the allies, he would generally choose to use the powerful firepower of the tiger to destroy the opponent at a long distance. However, the opponent's counterattack was so weak because of the extremely strong armor of the Tiger type.

Under normal circumstances, the Allies either retreat at high speed when facing the Tiger. Because the Tiger is too heavy, it is not fast, and it is difficult to catch up with the high-speed Allied tanks. Either it's still at high speed, but instead of retreating, it's rushing up at high speed, detouring the bulky sides of the Tiger and attacking the back of the body at close range to attack the weaker armor.

The Tiger's front armor is almost as thick as its rival, but its flanks and rear armor are not as heavy.

It's not that it can't be done, but once it is built like the front armor, the tank becomes a fixed fortress, and there is simply no high-power engine capable of driving such a heavy weight in this era. And it doesn't make any practical sense. No amount of heavy armor can resist heavy bombs in the face of aerial attacks. In fact, even the current Tiger Zhang Cheng feels too big.

The German 26th Panzer Division, which was attacking on Route 18 at the moment, was faced with a dilemma after being hit. Although they had more than 200 tanks of various types, the number of tanks of the Ming army on the opposite side was not necessarily much less than theirs. Don't think about air support, the Air Force can stand up to the fighters of the Ming army and don't bomb them, thank God.

At the moment, on this narrow terrain, there are hillsides on both sides and a road in the middle. The 26th Panzer Division was not sure of defeating the opponent, because the tall tank figure on the opposite side was very familiar to the Germans, it was the ace tank of the Ming Dynasty, the Tiger tank.

Although the Germans had developed and equipped new heavy tanks against the Tiger, it was clear that the new tanks, which were not produced in high quantities, would not be able to be divided into the 26th Panzer Division. Thinking of the strict orders given by General Rommel, the Germans of the 26th Panzer Division could only rush towards the Ming tank group opposite. There is no way to retreat from this battle.

"Forward!" (To be continued.) )