60MM AND 82MM MORTARS, LOCATED BEHIND THE FLANKS, BEGAN TO SUPPRESS THE FIRE THREAT FROM THE FLANKS. The grenadiers armed with submachine guns only accompanied the tanks, sweeping every infantry who dared to show their heads with their submachine guns. The sound of the MG machine gun like a chainsaw was so prominent in the battlefield, and the dense network of fire cleared every infantry who tried to resist. With the combination of direct and curved fire, the defensive fire, which consisted of anti-tank guns and machine guns, gradually became inferior. But even so, the assault guns and infantry fighting vehicles that fought the front war suffered huge losses. At least 4 assault guns No. 3 were destroyed and 3 were destroyed. Whether it has recycling value or not depends on the situation. The infantry fighting vehicles, although relatively backward, also had 5 destroyed or withdrawn from the battle.

After paying a huge price, the German attacking forces approached the American positions step by step. Under the cover of tanks and assault guns, the infantry squad, by order of the squad leader, began to take positions. Support fire also began to move forward alternately to cover the movement. Up to now, the anti-aircraft guns and machine guns of the American defense line have been almost completely lost. But Hube did not immediately order the tank units to follow, he was waiting, waiting for the US Army to take the initiative! Because the road to the frontal attack was not wide and was occupied by infantry, if you hastily crossed the roadbed, you would expose the vulnerable position of the tank to the opponent. Then for a prepared opponent, this is naturally looking for death, so Hube has to wait, either his own infantry occupies the position, and then under the guidance of the infantry, it avoids the opponent's defense and launches an attack. Either wait for the opponent to send it to the door by himself, at this time, the No. 4 tank in the middle lane is arranged in an arc and waits for the opponent to throw himself into the net! And the tanks on the flanks were ready for a detour.

"Get them out! Once the other side has crossed the bunker. We're going to have to shoot each other in the wilderness! Walker said, wiping a handful of sweat. In his opinion, it was only the infantry that rushed up now. If they can stabilize the front, then they can stabilize the battle. Fear of German armor led him to avoid a head-on collision with opposing tanks. Especially in outposts. The loss of 10 vehicles on various battlefields in a daze made Walker feel a deep fear. But in terms of infantry firepower, the firepower dominated by BAR and Browning machine guns does not seem to be able to beat the opposing MG machine guns. And the artillery losses were huge, so the tank units had to shoot at close range on their own, using machine guns and artillery to drive the opponent out of the battlefield.

The German attacking forces lacked anti-armor weapons, and under the blow of the dense machine-gun fire of the Sherman tanks, pure infantry naturally could not resist, and they began to retreat to the sides. Walker's tank wanted to repel it completely, and some red-eyed tankers emerged from the collapsed roadbed in a number of red-eyed tankers. THEY WERE THEN GREETED BY THE CLOSE FIRING OF AT LEAST THREE OR MORE 75MM TANK GUNS, AND THE BURST OF TANK GUN FIRE CAUSED THESE EXPOSED TANKS TO SUFFER HEAVY LOSSES IN AN INSTANT. In just a few minutes, at least 5 Sherman tanks were destroyed, and the worst one was directly penetrated by 4 armor-piercing shells in a dozen seconds. Then with a loud bang, it turned into a twisted mass of scrap metal. And the remaining tanks are standing behind the roadbed, not knowing what to do!

Taking advantage of this opportunity, tank No. 4, located on both flanks, under the guidance of the infantry, quickly made a rapid advance, and then, under the cover of smoke grenades and mortars, crossed the roadbed and moved towards the flanks of Walker. The Americans could already see the figure of the German tank looming on the flanks. Under the high level of tension, many American tankers began to fire at targets 1KM away without considering whether they could penetrate or not.

TANK NO. 4 WAS HIT BY A 75MM SHELL AFTER PASSING THROUGH THE ROADBED. But after a short pause, move on. More and more tanks are on the radar of the Americans. In fact, the entire line of defense has been riddled with holes, and relying on the defense line has become an empty word. Moreover, the infantry units had suffered heavy losses in the previous battle, and in this case, it seemed that retreat had become the only option.

"The remaining tanks alternately covered. Let's go! Walker simply ordered, but before retreating, he still needed to cover the withdrawal of the remaining infantry from the battlefield. At the final stage of this battle. The armoured forces of both sides engaged in the most tragic battle. The penetration of the opposing side from both wings is already inevitable. The frontal line of defense has also collapsed. The remaining Sherman tanks split into two groups and retreated in one group like two legs of a man. A set of covers. At this moment, the appearance of the Walker battle group, which was composed of veterans of the Italian Civil War that year, was definitely stable. Not a single tank turned around and fled. They slowly retreated, trying to keep the tank moving as smoothly as possible, so that they could stop quickly and shoot if necessary. THE 75MM GUN, WHICH WAS LIKE A SHARP SWORD, WAS AIMED AT THE TARGET THAT APPEARED IN THE DISTANCE. From 600 meters away, it was like a death front line blocking the opponent's pursuit. And there is another reason why Walker chose to retreat as soon as possible, and it is precisely this reason that allows the Walker battle group, which was originally in a desperate situation, to escape and ascend to heaven.

The Germans did not attack immediately, but waited for the follow-up tanks to arrive before starting to attack, anyway, it was better to advance than to retreat, and Hube was ready to use the tank's performance advantage and crew advantage to slowly grind the opponent to death. It's still early, just past noon, and Hube has an afternoon to end the fight! The converging Teutonic heavy cavalry lined up in a linear formation and approached the target, their spear-like guns swaying slightly as the tanks moved. The speed of the opponent's approach is not fast, and it will take about 3 minutes or so to close the distance between the two sides by about 150 meters. The all-round attack of the Germans forced Walker's already insufficient armored forces to stop retreating, and if they wanted to flee in time, they had to at least block the opponent's most ferocious armored rush!

1100 meters! When the American tanks began firing, the German tanks, which were moving at a medium speed, suddenly began to accelerate as if they had received some kind of signal, and released a wave of smoke grenades. Then, like a heavy cavalry that launched a final charge, it fanned towards the opponent! "Fire!" Long thick flames erupted from the barrels, and the smoke from a large number of tank shots instantly filled the entire battlefield. The Germans had a very good sense of proportion, and they controlled the distance at about 800 meters, at which time the German 75MML43 tank gun could effectively penetrate all parts of the armor of the Sherman tank. And the opponent's armor-piercing ability is even worse. At the beginning in Italy, this was the welfare of the Chinese armored forces, and this time, the Germans could finally enjoy the feeling of relying on performance to torture their opponents!

High-velocity armor-piercing projectiles staggered through the air and fired straight at distant targets. When the two sides pretend to be together, the weak side will inevitably pay a heavy price! In melee combat, the first round of shooting on both sides is full of gore. In just three minutes, two No. 4 tanks were destroyed, one of which was penetrated in the side, while the other was hit in the connection between the turret and the hull. Both of these places are the soft underbelly of the tank, and it is normal to be penetrated. And the Americans lost 5 tanks. Almost all of them were pierced through the frontal armor or turret armor, and the Americans were indignant at why their tanks caught fire so easily!

Normally, an armor-piercing projectile may not completely destroy a tank even if it penetrates the target, and the charge of the armor-piercing projectile is very small. It may even be detonated prematurely during the breakdown process, so it may not cause much damage to the body of the car. THIS HAS BEEN TESTED ON THE ITALIAN BATTLEFIELD, AND MANY OF THE NO. 4 TANKS THAT WERE PENETRATED BY THE HUAXIA 75MM CANNON CAN CONTINUE TO BE USED AFTER BATTLEFIELD REPAIRS. And then they are pulled to the field test site or shooting range.

However, this situation does not seem to apply to the American Sherman tank, because the layout problem, as well as the habit of American tankers to pile up randomly, led to the problem that the early Sherman tank was prone to explosion, according to the German words, the Americans seem to have put ammunition racks and fuel tanks outside the tank. And the Americans gave this tank a figurative nickname - the Ronson lighter! Because this lighter has an advertising slogan: Ronson lighter, one dozen! This shows how deep the resentment of the American tankmen against the Sherman tank is!

There was a loud bang followed by a crackling explosion, and Walker knew that another tank had been killed. The open space between the tanks of both sides was already covered with the wreckage of various destroyed vehicles. As the battle continued, the already numerically inferior American armored forces were in an even more difficult situation, and the Germans began to gradually shrink the encirclement, and Walker could only constantly order retreat and cover. Trade the lives of American armored soldiers for time. There is no suspense on the ground until the battle is fought, and the only variable is in the air!

"What's that?" A German tanker sticks his upper body out of the turret in order to get a better view of the battlefield. At this moment, a UFO appeared in the sky in the distance, and a trace of inexplicable panic welled up in his heart. Because these things that came from the sky came from the north. Then the probability of a German aircraft will probably be reduced to zero! And judging by the flight of the opponent, the German tankman could tell that the opponent was lowering altitude. As early as in Germany, these armored elites under Hube learned how to judge the relevant ways of incoming aircraft groups, and there are two kinds of units that can really cause greater damage to ground mobile targets, one is a dive bomber carrying bombs, and the other is a variety of attack aircraft that break through at low altitude and then use large-caliber aircraft guns at a closer distance, and from the situation of the other side, it is obviously the latter, because dive bombers will not reduce their altitude so early! "Damn it!" The commander immediately retracted into the tank after scolding. And bring this desperate news to Hube!

Thanks to the book friend zhouyu1976 for the tip~~~. (To be continued......)