To correct the previous content about the number and commander: the Soviet 11th Guards Tank Army advanced to Berlin was followed by the Soviet 8th Mechanized Army, Colonel Velistov was the commander of the 22nd Tank Brigade, and the commander of the 200th Tank Brigade was Colonel Sergei.

On the battlefield, being attacked by the enemy but not seeing the enemy is tantamount to a boxer who gets into the ring but is blindfolded. Three years ago, when the Soviets collided with the Western Allies for the first time, Velistov and his comrades were in such a terrible situation, when most Allied tanks were equipped with infrared night vision devices, while the Soviets were still testing their counterparts. After paying a high tuition fee, the Soviet army has explored a series of effective countermeasures, and the front-line troops have gradually installed simple and practical infrared equipment. Following past experience, Velistov ordered flares to be fired at a 30-degree angle to the right side of the road - flares specially equipped for armored units were installed at the position of the tank's smoke screen launcher, and the gunner only needed to operate a control stick to adjust the angle and direction in a limited range, and the flares could be projected up to two kilometers away, which was roughly the limit distance for a normal tank to penetrate the side armor of the T-54.

As soon as the flares were fired, Velistov turned the turret, and the loader and gunner were in place, and the cabin, which was shaking with the tank, was suddenly murderous. Moments later, the flares lit up the night sky and illuminated a circular area in the field - the harvested wheat fields were so empty that there were no stacks of wheat in sight, a sight that surprised Vellistov. He thought he was going to see the German tank or anti-tank positions, but there was not a single figure visible under the white flares, and if the ambusher was hiding close, the infrared night vision devices should be able to see the corresponding heat source, and if the enemy's firing position was farther away, it meant that the Germans were equipped with anti-tank rockets with an astonishing range!

Immediately following the movements of the command vehicle, the Soviet tanks in the marching column also fired flares. Depending on the angle, the illuminated area can be far or near, and the superposition illuminates a large area on the right side of the road. In order to get out of the passive situation, Velistov ordered the driver to change the speed. Then open the turret hatch at the risk of being hit by shrapnel. The fresh air swept away the chaos in his head, and Velistov felt that he could find and destroy the beasts that endangered the world like the best hunter, but even if his vision was not constrained by the observation holes and periscopes, he still did not find the ambusher's hiding place, and only the empty fields in front of him, and the lonely trees were not enough to cover even a mortar. Such a strange scene sent a chill down the sleeve to Willistopherton. The invisible enemy was the most terrifying, and he would rather have the numerically superior Tiger King in this field - that was the most powerful land weapon of the German army during World War II, and the T-54, although it was an order of magnitude inferior in tonnage and defense, could at least fight to the death with its unprecedentedly powerful tank artillery.

The clearer his thinking, the stronger Velistov's uneasiness became, and he realized that he was leading this elite Soviet tank unit to a desperate situation, and the medal on his chest suddenly became extremely heavy...... The light of the flares faded, and the field disappeared into darkness. The duo of engine rumbling and track grinding was still in my ears, and suddenly, a fireball flashed in my sight. It looked like someone was striking a match in a room, and the keen senses told Velistov that the enemy was firing from about five hundred meters on the right side of the road, and that those vile German anti-tank shooters must be hiding in well-camouflaged bunkers, which they had just failed to think of! …,

Once some opportunities are lost, people are left with endless frustration. The strange match approached quickly, and Velistov quickly realized that it was coming straight for his tank, and even if the T-54 made a frantic swing that defied the limit, it would be too late to dodge the attack. The unprecedentedly powerful aura of death instantly crushed Velistov's highly tense nerves, after subconsciously shouting "danger" and "retreat". He made a series of moves that he didn't expect at all: he quickly climbed out of the turret, rolled sideways and slid off the tank, lowered his center of gravity and took a big step forward, then threw himself into the grass. Almost as soon as his feet touched the ground, a deafening explosion was heard from the other side of the T-54 tank, and at this moment. Velistov's head went blank. Ruthless experience tells him that even if the crew hears his warning, there is no time to escape, and the T-54's defense is far from perfect. When its relatively weak flanks are hit by enemy anti-tank rockets, there is a very high chance that the armor will be penetrated, and the lives of the crew members will be in danger. Based on the previous combat situation and his own judgment, Velistov believed that the Germans still used highly efficient hollow charges on anti-tank rockets (that is, a conical metal cover was installed in the front of the warhead, with the cone facing forward and the tip of the cone facing backwards, and the rear of the metal cover was filled with high explosives, and the front part was empty, and when the warhead exploded, the metal cover was melted into a high-speed liquid metal jet at high temperatures, which focused like a lens into the center of the hollow part and shot at the armor of the enemy tank, breaking out of a hole in the armor, thereby destroying the equipment and personnel inside), This means that when he chooses to escape alone, there is at least a 60% chance that the other three members in the car will be seriously injured or injured, and may even be killed as a whole.

The grief and shame in his heart slashed Velistov's spiritual sustenance like a sharp axe, cold sweat slid across his sideburns, and a huge loss surged up with the slow stop of the tank in front of him, how he longed for someone to open the hatch and climb out, even if he was covered in injuries and staggered, but those hatches were as immovable as heavy coffin covers. The smoke of the explosion gradually dissipated, and out of the corner of his eye, Velistov caught a glimpse of another "matchstick" with a tail flame flying towards the tank behind. After an explosion on the side, the T-54, with its main body intact, began to stall, and then completely ceased to resist like a samurai with its soul drained. Witnessing this scene from the perspective of a bystander, Velistov reluctantly affirmed his judgment: his own troops had fallen into the enemy's ambush field, and the opponents of this war, the Germans and the Western countries that secretly supported them behind the scenes, were much stronger than the Soviet top brass had previously anticipated!

Driven by a sense of mission and guilt, Velistov rose from the ground, waving his hands to stop the rest of his tanks from moving forward - the enemy attack had already made him see the situation, and passing at high speed or retreating backwards could lead to the annihilation of the entire army, and the only way to fight was to rely on the remaining infantry and the wreckage of the existing tanks, so that the enemy could move his position in order to find the angle of attack, so as to win a chance to survive. However, the goddess of fate seemed to have abandoned the Bolshevik warrior who had repeatedly brushed shoulders with death, and just as he stopped a tank behind him, a bullet from behind silently pierced his body, like a boxer's blow, and Velistov fell to the ground with a muffled grunt, and as his consciousness gradually blurred, he heard one explosion after another around him. Although the T-54, like other Soviet tanks, was inexpensive and suitable for mass production on the assembly line, and no matter how large the losses at the front could be compensated for by efforts in the rear, the armored corps that matured in the war could not be created by any technology! …,

While Velistov and the tank units he led were in a desperate situation, the headquarters of the 22nd Brigade, which had been ordered to stay in Windlitz, did not realize the danger of approaching. Reduced by more than half of the tanks and more than 100 combat infantry, they still have a combat strength of nearly 2,000 men, and nine tanks, 33 self-propelled guns and 60 armored vehicles ready for battle. Due to the geographical location of Wandlitz and the situation of the surrounding battlefield, the Soviet command obviously wanted to use it as a tactical fulcrum for the current annihilation of the German field forces and the next attack on Berlin, so the baggage vehicles of the 22nd Brigade arrived before the troops completely cleaned the battlefield, and the 1st 1st Tank Brigade, which had suffered heavy losses due to German blocking and artillery fire, also drove into Wandelitz for rest, and some personnel rushed to repair damaged vehicles in the open area between the main road and Wandelitz.

There was still more than an hour before dawn, and the sudden artillery fire enveloped the town, and under the near-saturation of rocket fire, the little Wandelitz had nowhere to hide, so that many Soviet officers and soldiers who had slackened a little had died before they could react. A few years ago, the Soviet army inflicted the Germans on the Eastern Front with the "Katyusha", and now the Germans return the favor in the same way. Ironically, the Germans were not using a copy of the Katyusha at this time, but an "allied product" that the Soviets did not look up to. In the battle between the Eastern and Western camps, the Allies used a large number of rocket artillery in order to strengthen the battlefield firepower, especially represented by the T34 organ multiple rocket launcher series equipped by the US army in the late stage of World War II. Unlike the Katyusha's long and representative rocket guides, most of the American-made rocket launchers use shorter tubular or box-shaped launchers, some use specialized launchers, and some are directly mounted on tanks, armored vehicles, jeeps and trucks, which are more flexible in use, and are not completely inferior to the Katyusha in terms of range and power, but the weak performance of the Allies on the battlefield has "affected" these rocket launchers with good performance, making them unable to become powerful weapons. During the secret cooperation agreement with the United States, the Imperial Brigade obtained a batch of "organs" and praised this weapon for its simplicity of construction, ease of use, and uncompromising power. When the industrial conditions in Northern Europe were difficult to meet the mass production of conventional artillery, the imperial top brass decided to copy the "organ" in large quantities and use it as the main fire support equipment of the imperial team. (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to (.) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation. )