In the dead of night, the highway stretching from Berlin to Stettin Bay is a tape measure that curves in the middle, but is generally much straighter than a normal road. In order to delay the Soviet attack, the Germans had blown up the bridge over the road themselves, but this did not stop the Soviet troops from coming prepared. Obviously, a lesson had been learned from the anti-guerrilla operations during the earlier occupation of Germany, and the Soviet mechanized troops advancing at high speed were equipped with a large number of engineering vehicles and bridge-building equipment, and it only took more than ten minutes to erect a temporary bridge over a river seven or eight meters wide. If there are no surprises, the elite northern flank of the Soviet army will soon be able to advance under the city of Berlin.

The summer insects give life to the fields, and the dense vegetation circulates the air, which to some extent obscures the muffled roar of the attacking vehicles before such a thrilling raid begins. Five separate tank companies and nine fully armed combat companies of the 1st Panzer Group of the Imperial Guards marched into the road about 20 kilometers northeast of Wandlitz after a long march, and the officers and men moved forward calmly under the weight of instinct, until they were spotted by Soviet sentry posts at a distance of about 800 meters, and they broke the silence and opened fire. Artillery flares flew over the trees like meteors, and the white light that bloomed instantly illuminated the road and the Soviet troops temporarily camped on both sides of the road, and those T-54 medium tanks with distinctive shapes were simply magnets for the attacker's artillery fire, only to see these steel chariots that had not yet been launched were hit by shells one after another, some of the shells exploded and the internal situation was unknown, some of them rose black smoke after the blow, and some suddenly exploded, and the blazing fireballs burst out. The flash of light pierced people and made people dare not face it.

Against the backdrop of various light sources, German chariots hidden in the woods, shrubs and long grass advanced slowly and orderly towards the road, while the German infantry in yellow duck camouflage uniforms bowed their heads and bent over. Armed with assault rifles or anti-tank rocket launchers, you bravely and fearlessly get ahead of your own tanks and armored vehicles. They did not do this blindly, and when the counter-attacking firepower of the Soviet vigilance was not enough to pose a mortal threat, they made great strides. When most of the Soviet officers and men reacted and joined the battle, and the gunfire on the battlefield became dense and dangerous, they no longer moved forward quickly, but showed exquisite and skillful tactical coordination, forming a "hidden front" at a distance of 300 to 400 meters from the road. In order to get out of the predicament of being passively beaten, the Soviet army put on a consistent tough posture, and after the tanks were launched, they did not retreat or defend in place. Instead, they launched a counter-assault head-on towards the enemy, and paid special attention to the coordination of cover between the vehicle groups. In this case, the Soviet armored units that were attacked but had the advantage in numbers gradually turned the passivity on the scene, and the muzzle flare flashing on the side of the road gradually increased, and the 100-mm rifled guns equipped with Soviet T-54 tanks themselves had obvious advantages in firepower, and theoretically they could completely overwhelm the opponents who still used 75-mm guns, but the caliber of the cannon was by no means the only criterion for determining the outcome of the battle. The artillery fire that the Soviets threw into the counterattack was certainly fierce, and there were many flares fired. However, their shells did not really hit several tank tanks of the opposing side, and judging from the situation at this time, it was deliberate that the German tanks did not close the engagement distance with the momentum of surprise attack - the T-54 was not an epoch-making leap in technology compared to the previous Soviet tanks. Its accuracy was still lackluster, the increased caliber of the gun increased the load on the loader, and the storage of ammunition and fuel remained a fatal flaw that could easily cause a secondary explosion, and the only thing the Soviets could be proud of was its superior suspension system, which allowed the seemingly bulky steel tank to climb mountains without difficulty. …,

As the Soviet counterattack deepened, the T-54 tanks kept moving away from the road. For a short time, the flares dropped above the road created a backlit effect, which led to a noticeable decrease in the accuracy of the German artillery, when the Soviet tanks were facing each other head-on. The 75mm gun of the Leopard tank is a little weak, and it is difficult for armor-piercing shells fired from 500 meters to penetrate the T-54 from the front, especially against its cast turret, which in turn helps the Soviet tanks improve the accuracy of fire. However, the situation on the battlefield did not develop as the Soviet officers and soldiers had hoped, as their tanks soon ran into new problems - the German infantry that had rushed to the center of the battlefield. Tanks are the natural enemy of infantry most of the time. But sometimes the situation is reversed, and the German infantry with an "iron fist" in their hands is waiting for the Soviet tanks to enter a distance of 100 meters. At this time, they used the third generation of the Iron Fist series, which is still the traditional visual sighting, rocket propulsion, and hollow charge, and its armor penetration depth reaches 220 mm, and the flight speed and stability of the missile body have been greatly improved, which means that skilled operators have a higher certainty of hitting moving targets.

Seeing their tanks being damaged one after another, those Soviet tanks and self-propelled guns that were a little farther away tried to sweep away these difficult German infantry with guns, but the German infantry organized into dozens of anti-tank battle groups were scattered in a huge area, constantly changing positions flexibly and avoiding attacks during the battle, making it difficult for the Soviet troops responsible for fire support to do anything, and for the Soviet infantry who coordinated the counterattack, the weapons in their hands were even more unambiguous, MG42 poured out the long-term depression with a hearty hiss, The MP44 exerts old debts from old enemies at a brisk pace, and the long-handled grenade continues its war mission in such a wonderful time and space. In the face of the tight and orderly firepower network of the German army, the Soviet tanks returned again and again in vain, the Soviet infantry shed their blood, and fought fiercely for more than two hours, and the side with obvious superiority in numbers became the bitter master of this battle, leaving more than 40 T-54 wreckage in the fields west of the road, and more than 20 self-propelled guns and armored combat vehicles were destroyed, and the Soviet army lost countless transport vehicles and wounded and killed people!

with the war potential of the USSR

It did not take long to make up for these losses, but narrowed down to the tactical level, due to the location of the battlefield in the connection zone between the Soviet 11th Guards Tank Army and the 8th Mechanized Army, and the rearguard units of the former suffered a nightmarish setback, the commanders of the 11th Guards Red Banner Carpathian-Berlin Tank Army were completely surprised and nervous, realizing that the seemingly weak enemy was launching a premeditated offensive, and their honor-laden troops had become the enemy's target. With the most basic military common sense supplemented by rational analysis, the command of the 11th Guards Tank Army quickly dispatched its troops to return to reinforcement and liaise with friendly forces to fight the enemy together - north of the area where fierce fighting took place, the Soviet 8th Mechanized Corps quickly dispatched the 49th Guards Tank Brigade along the road to help friendly forces. As a result, the battle-hardened Honorable Army, which had broken through many layers of German positions and entered the city of Berlin, was ambushed in the darkness of night shortly after its departure. If the ambushers were only the enemy's containment force, the 49th Guards Tank Brigade, mainly equipped with T-34/85 medium tanks, could have broken through the obstacles desperately, but they were unexpectedly subjected to intensive shelling by large-caliber howitzers and rocket artillery, and the artillery fire turned a two-kilometer-long section of the road into a sea of fire. only to find that the other party has disappeared without a trace, and the hateful air superiority cannot be exerted in this night of bad sight, and in the end it can only be watched by time slipping away.

Turning their gaze back to the small town of Vandelitz, which was about to become famous overnight, the 22nd Tank Brigade of the 11th Guards Tank Corps had previously occupied the area through a fierce but suspenseful battle, and the officers and men had planned to rest here for the night, and then pursue and defeat the enemy with the assistance of the air force after dawn, but the news of the attack on their own rearguard troops made them hastily prepare to meet the enemy again. As the battle progressed, they were surprised by the deteriorating situation of their rearguard troops, and the order from the army command soon arrived, and the brigade commander, Colonel Velistov, personally led 33 T-54s with more than 100 infantry to the battlefield, and the rest of the troops remained in Vandlitz with baggage vehicles. According to the colonel, who wore a medal on his chest, as long as his rearguard continued to contain the enemy, his assault force would be able to penetrate the enemy's back with lightning speed, and even if the enemy fled after hearing the news, the T-54 equipped with infrared night vision devices could show its might in the encounter. Velistov never imagined that less than five kilometers from Vendlitz his troops would enter a new minefield laid by the enemy overnight. In the roar of rolling thunder, the T-54 tank whose tracks were blown off was like a wrestler with no brute force and no way to exert it, and could only lie on the spot for the enemy to slaughter, and those Soviet tank crews who ventured to get out of the car for emergency repairs were almost without exception shot and killed, and the enemy's accurate shooting in the night battle could not help but remind some Soviet veterans of what happened five years ago. On the cold battlefield of the Eastern Front, countless companions died in the night raid and fell ......... the last leg of the road to victory.

The brave wins, the tenacious Soviets chose the former between advancing and retreating without hesitation, Velistov pinned his hopes that the minefields hastily laid by the Germans could only cause limited damage to his own troops, but the further he went, the more and more tanks paralyzed by the mines were numerous, and the T-54s that were still moving in his sight kept decreasing, and the sound of gunfire made him restless. Under his gritted teeth, the remaining tanks finally broke through the enemy's mine blockade, they were getting closer and closer to the battlefield, radio signals from the command and faintly discernible gunfire outlined a tempting battle prospect, just as Velistov was preparing for a hearty battle, the T-54 at the head of the platoon was suddenly shot and exploded, which formed an extremely spectacular scene in the infrared night vision device - Velistov hurriedly observed in all directions, but the infrared night vision device did not detect the activity of the enemy combat vehicle, What's even worse for him is that the night vision device constantly observes the scene of his tank being shot and exploding! (To be continued.) If you like this work, you are welcome to (.) to vote for recommendation, monthly pass, your support is my biggest motivation. )