"Boom !!" With a loud bang, a German No. 5 tank was pierced through the thick turret, and dozens of shells loaded in the turret were instantly detonated with great power. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 Info So many shells exploded inside the turret and completely destroyed the tank, and its turret, which weighed several tons, was even blown away more than ten meters away by the huge impact force.

Almost at the same time, a Ming Leopard tank was blown off by a German shell, hit a long track, and soon stopped on the battlefield. The Leopard tank, which had lost its mobility, was quickly set on fire by the German tanks on the opposite side, and in just over ten seconds it was turned into a pile of burning, billowing smoke and fire scrap metal by a dense barrage of shells.

The armourers on both sides were shocked by the power of the opposing tanks. After the ranging scale entered 500 meters, almost all of the main guns of the tanks equipped by both sides were able to penetrate the armor of the opposing tanks. This kind of thing is unprecedented for the armored forces of the Ming army.

In the past, when fighting with the armored forces of various countries, in most cases, the Ming army abused its opponents by virtue of the quality advantage of armored vehicles and the quality advantage of officers and soldiers. Many times the Allies simply could not penetrate their chariots, but this time they encountered a powerful enemy.

The two sides on the battlefield almost played a one-to-one exchange ratio in the brutal firefight. Within a few tens of minutes, both sides lost more than 200 tanks. Losses of this magnitude would have been devastating for either side, and it meant that the force had been drained of its armor.

Originally, both sides should have retreated at this time. After all, the losses are so great that if we continue to fight, the end of the entire army will be annihilated.

However, at this time, due to bad weather and poor communication, Hausser, in particular, knew in his heart how difficult his task was. Retreat at this time almost meant defeat for the Germans! The Germans were absolutely not going to retreat until they had exhausted their last strength. They had to defeat the Ming army and open the way south.

Another reason why both sides were reluctant to retreat was that reinforcements from both sides had arrived.

Units of two armored divisions under the 12th Panzer Corps of the Ming Army, under the personal command of the commander of the 12th Panzer Corps, rushed to the vicinity of the village of Lathwaite. They fought their way out of the woods and poured into battle. And almost at the same time, behind the Reich division of the German army opposite, the tank units of the German Greater German Panzer Division and the 7th Panzer Division also rushed here.

By nearly three o'clock in the afternoon, the wind and snow began to weaken and the temperature dropped even more, but the battle between the two sides entered a white-hot level.

"Push it! Push it over! "In the village of Lathwaite, which has been reduced to ruins, a Ming infantry unit that has just arrived here is struggling to send many anti-tank guns into the village.

While the armored forces of both sides were fighting fiercely, the infantry did not sit idle, and they entered the positions one after another to fight. However, compared to the German grenadiers who struggled on the snowy fields more than a meter deep, the Ming infantry had a certain advantage because they controlled the village of Lathwaite.

Because the battle between the armored forces of the two sides broke out outside the village of Laswaite, and the edge of the battlefield was only two or three hundred meters away from the village of Laswaite. Such a small distance is simply within the direct target of an anti-tank weapon.

The Ming army's half-track transporter soon crossed the snow field and sent a gate of anti-tank guns into the village of Lathwaite. The infantrymen set up their positions for artillery and immediately fired at the German armored units not far away.

By this time, the heavy snow, which had been falling all day, had gradually begun to dissipate, and the increase in visibility greatly strengthened the hit rate of the Ming anti-tank guns, and the German armored units, which had been hit on the flanks, soon suffered heavy losses.

Hausser, who had been directing the battle on the front line, was keenly aware of the movements of the Ming army. He hurriedly ordered German grenadier units to attack the village of Lathwaite, trying to seize it. At the same time, Hauser gave the self-propelled artillery units of the divisions an order to bombard the village of Lathwaite.

Self-propelled artillery units could not be counted on. As visibility increased, front-line artillery observers on both sides were soon able to observe the snowflakes stirred up by the self-propelled guns. Before the German self-propelled artillery units had time to carry out several rounds of shelling of the village of Lathwaite, the shells of the Ming army flew over. The self-propelled artillery units of both sides began a fierce battle of artillery suppression and counter-suppression.

As for the grenadiers of the German army. The German armoured units generally used trucks to transport their troops, and their armoured vehicles and half-track transporters were not very numerous. Normally, this would be fine, but now it was in the weather conditions of more than 30 degrees below zero and the march was in a thick snow. The Germans, who had just arrived from distant Western Europe, were numb on the spot.

On the contrary, the Ming army had already strengthened preparations for winter operations more than two months earlier under Zhang Cheng's instructions. A large number of armored vehicles and half-track transporters were equipped into the army, which could advance at a slow pace, even in the thick snow. This is the difference in national strength between the two sides.

The Ming were able to provide their own armies with what they needed, and it was delivered quickly and in large quantities. But the Germans could not do it. Or rather, they can't do it on a large scale. The Germans had reached the limit of industrial production, but they were far from being able to match the mighty Ming Dynasty.

The German grenadiers, dressed in polar bear-like cysts, lay on their stomachs and felt the weak screams of the engines under their feet. Because they had not thought of throwing themselves into the icy Russian battlefield, these troops who had been urgently reinforced from the German mainland were not prepared for the winter war. Just like the car engines they are equipped with have not been carefully treated against the cold in winter, it is very normal to lie down now.

Having lost their means of transportation, the German grenadiers had no choice but to get out of their cars and drive on their own feet. Trekking through snowy fields in the current weather conditions can quickly exhaust even a seasoned soldier.

Many cars were of good quality, and the Germans, who were able to carry them on, did not have a good time. Although they didn't need to crawl in the snow like their comrades, when they approached the village of Laswaite at a very slow speed, the Ming troops in the village immediately turned their guns and turned one German truck after another into a fireball.

Many of the wounded German grenadiers lay in the snow, and the blood stains that flowed from the moored beneath them were quickly frozen into ice lumps and lost their temperature. And if these screaming soldiers could not be helped in time, their hypothermia caused by their wounds would soon kill them. That's why it's said that if you get hurt, you're dead.

The weight of the 75 mm anti-tank gun commonly equipped by the Ming army is very light, which is much lighter than the 88 mm high-level dual-purpose anti-aircraft gun, which is known as a tank artifact. The guns are very maneuverable, and they can be dragged around when they are hooked up to transport vehicles, which is why they were able to get here so quickly. As for the 88-mm anti-aircraft guns, in the current weather conditions and road conditions, those big guys weighing several tons will not be able to come to the battlefield at all.

The speed of the German trucks, which were moving on snowy fields, was so slow that the German grenadiers collapsed. For these trucks with snow chains slowly moving forward on the snowfield, the Ming gunners were simply shooting targets.

Watch as one truck after another was broken, and watch one truck after another of the officers and soldiers suffer heavy casualties. The commander of the German grenadier regiment, who was still sweating profusely in this weather, immediately ordered the officers and men to get out of the car and advance on foot.

Don't look at the distance, it is only a few hundred meters, if it is a normal time, this distance is just a drizzle for the elite grenadiers. But now it is more than 30 degrees below zero, and there is heavy snow in the sky, and it is difficult to advance in the snowfield that is more than a meter thick. And, importantly, the Ming army on the opposite side hid in positions built from the ruins and used various weapons to fire at these grenadiers with limited mobility. Under these conditions, the distance of hundreds of meters is a journey to hell.

Although the weather was cold, the rate of fire of the machine guns did not have any effect. And because of the low temperature, the barrel overheating at high speed has improved somewhat.

The general-purpose machine guns, which were heavily equipped by the Ming army, became a nightmare for the German grenadiers, who had nowhere to hide in the extremely empty snowfield. Moreover, the thick snow severely limited their ability to maneuver, and they could only watch their own people being turned over in pools of blood in groups.

As for such a thing as burrowing into the snow, it won't be long before people are frozen in the snow in these weather conditions, and they will never think of it again.

Seeing the heavy casualties of the soldiers under his command, the German commander's angry teeth were about to be broken. This kind of battle is the most hated by all. Although the German army also set up heavy firepower to bombard the Ming army, its scale and strength could not be compared with the Ming army. This is the benefit of the Ming army preemptively occupying the village.

Machine guns and mortars on both sides were engaged in a fierce battle, and the entire gray sky was lit up by a rain of bullets. Strings of bullets and fiery meteor-like mortar shells flew back and forth, lifting huge snowflakes into the air and falling them one after another. And on the ground, countless lives are rapidly dying.

The infantry on both sides wore white snow suits, but the Ming officers and men were additionally equipped with sunglasses to protect against snow blindness, while the Germans did not. In this kind of white world between heaven and earth, people's eyes will be greatly stimulated, and if it is too long, it is likely to lead to vision loss and even blindness. (To be continued.) )