While the flank battle was underway, Hube made a deliberate decision to attack from the front. The reasons why he decided to order this while the situation on the flank was still unclear were due to the following points: first, Hube met with stubborn resistance on the flank, and from the information gathered, the enemy was armed with a large number of anti-tank guns and anti-aircraft guns. According to previous intelligence, the number of enemy troops here is limited, so the other side has concentrated all the anti-aircraft guns on the flanks, and there should be no other anti-armor forces on the front except for the troops of the heavy battalion. When Paul determined that the opponent had put in a company or so of heavy tanks on the flank, Hube estimated that the number of heavy tanks on the front would not exceed 35. Of course, this estimate is measured according to the size of the German heavy battalion, and in fact there are 42 Type 29 heavy tanks on the front, and 40 can be put into combat.

SO, HUBE BEGAN TO CALCULATE THE STRENGTH HE COULD USE, IN ADDITION TO A WHOLE BATTALION OF TANKS, HE HAD 88MM SELF-PROPELLED ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS AND 6 105MM CANNONS. IN ADDITION, THERE ARE A NUMBER OF TOWED 75MM ANTI-TANK GUNS. In terms of anti-tank fire, it was 59 to 35 on the side of the Germans! WITH NEARLY TWICE THE FIREPOWER ADVANTAGE, EVEN IF THE OPPONENT'S TANK HAS A SLIGHT MASS ADVANTAGE, EVEN IF THE PROTECTION IS STRONG, HUBEI BELIEVES THAT THE ARMOR-PIERCING SHELLS OF THE 88MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUN AND THE 105MM CANNON CAN EASILY TEAR THROUGH THE OPPONENT'S ARMOR. The battlefield is constantly changing, and although the original vision has not been realized, it has at least weakened the enemy in front of it. Hube believes that it is still very possible to defeat the opponent head-on. Especially when he learned that nearly a company of tanks and self-propelled guns of the opponent had also suffered heavy losses, and it was difficult to support the frontal battlefield. He resolutely decided to attack from the front and finish off this difficult opponent in one fell swoop. "Tanks are striking head-on to attract the attention of the opposing side, and self-propelled guns are detouring from the side." Just as Paul began to withdraw from the battlefield. Hube gave the order to attack.

Outnumbered opponents, formidable firepower, and well-trained enemies, after the ground battle officially began, a collision of the most elite forces on the ground on both sides was about to take place. Zhou Xuan knows very well that a head-to-head battle is the key to determining the outcome of this battle. Although the performance of the German tank is not known, it is analyzed from the previously obtained situation. THE OPPOSING TANK WILL NOT BE EQUIPPED WITH MORE THAN 75MM GUNS. Considering the resource situation of Germany, the possibility of using tungsten alloy armor-piercing shells is not high, then the immunity zone of the Type 29 tank for frontal defense against the opponent's tank guns should be about 700 meters. And if the opponent's armor defense is comparable to its own. Then the penetration distance of tungsten alloy armor-piercing projectiles used in Huaxia tanks should be about 1000 meters. That is, there is an advantage in the effective range of 300 meters.

In general, the greatest threat to the Huaxia heavy tank battalion is not the opponent's tanks, but the opponent's self-propelled artillery, judging from the information obtained from various channels such as aviation reconnaissance. THE OPPONENT MAY HAVE WEAPONS SUCH AS 88MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS OR EVEN 105MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS. In this case. The effective breakdown distance of the opponent will reach about 1,000 meters. So these are the first targets that need to be killed! At the same time, in order to increase their own depth, when they found that the opponent had launched a chariot and was preparing to attack, the Huaxia armored forces moved forward a little.

The German panzer forces that launched the attack used a wedge formation, with three armored companies forming three wedges, one of which was in front and two in the rear, forming a triangle. The triangle is about 800 meters wide at its widest point. Self-propelled guns on both flanks of the wedge formation, according to Hube's estimates. The distance between the two sides to penetrate each other will not be about 800 meters, so he plans to spread the formation at 1200 meters. Taking into account the vulnerability of self-propelled guns, they were in the rear of the tank, and not on the flanks at the very beginning. By the time it was in effective range, the entire heavy battalion was formed in a three-wedge formation side by side, supported by self-propelled guns on both flanks, which exerted the most powerful firepower at the optimal distance.

Huaxia also put on a three-wedge-shaped formation, but unlike the Germans, Huaxia put on an inverted triangle formation, and the wedges on both wings were the first to meet the enemy. The purpose of this was to engage the self-propelled guns on both flanks of the opposing side at the first moment of the deployment of the opponent's formation. In Zhou Xuan's combat principles, the priority of high-powered self-propelled guns is higher than that of heavy tanks, after all, the former is guaranteed to penetrate itself at about 1,000 meters, while the latter can only penetrate its own frontal armor at a distance of 700 meters.

From a purely tactical point of view, there were no obvious mistakes on either side. But Hube's only mistake was the miscalculation of the performance of the tanks on both sides. When he unfolds, he can't penetrate the opponent's tank, but the opponent can penetrate his tank! Any army is more fragile when it changes formations, and it is more likely to cause confusion due to sudden strikes. Especially when the opponent's blow is fatal, chaos is even more likely to occur. Some people may say why not open the formation in advance, because if they do, the tank troops will have to face more enemy tank guns. The opponent's shooting range will be better, before entering your own effective range, try to maintain a narrow front, and when you can destroy the opponent, and then stretch the deployment formation that can exert as much firepower as possible is the best choice. But alas, the German abacus was ruined by the performance gap between the two sides!

At 1,300 meters, just as the German attacking forces were preparing to form formation, the tanks on the left and right flanks of the Huaxia tank group all came to an emergency halt, and the first salvo began a few seconds later. The sound of nearly 30 tanks firing at the same time was really amazing, and one after another fire dragons erupted from the muzzles of the guns and flew towards the target in the distance. Although the accuracy of attacking moving targets at a distance of 1,300 meters was relatively low, no matter how low the accuracy was, some results could be obtained when the number of artillery was sufficient, and the first company, which was at the spearhead of the German attack, bore the brunt.

A few seconds later, a moving tank slammed into the turret, and then smoke and flames poured out of the observation window and the breach. The slender barrel also drooped down. The frontal armor of another tank was penetrated, and the slender tungsten alloy bullet core easily cut through the fragile lower armor of the tank, and then collided with the gearbox located in the front of the hull. In addition, several tanks also hit the target, but due to the angle of incidence and luck, they were not able to destroy the opponent directly.

The blow from a distance shocked the Germans. Hu Bei and the others didn't expect that at such a distance, the other party would be able to penetrate the heavy tank that they were proud of! At this time, the German tank battle formation did not spread, and the opponent was able to give better play to its firepower advantage. What's more, at this time, you can't release the smoke first, because the next step is a more complex change formation, wouldn't it be difficult to get along with yourself if you rashly release the smoke?

"A company of emergency stops, shooting, follow-up troops began to change formations!" Hube then ordered. The German No. 4 tanks at the spearhead stopped and then launched the first wave of counterattacks, at which the Germans were not sure to penetrate the opponent's armor, so this round of attacks was more for suppression and cover. At the same time, the two companies in the rear took advantage of the opportunity of the company to stop and maneuver to the sides. And the self-propelled guns, which were at the end, also began to maneuver to the sides. Prepare for the edge of the detour formation. Although the self-propelled guns were located later, they were faster because of their better mobility (because of the poor defense and the fact that they were half-tracked terrain). So almost at the same time as the other two tank companies entered the attack position.

"Priority attack self-propelled guns, repeat, priority attack self-propelled guns on both flanks!" Zhou Xuan's order was quickly radioed to the companies on both flanks. At this time, as the distance between the two sides approached further, the accuracy was greatly improved, and when the half-track just poked its head out from both sides of the tank group, they were greeted by a dense rain of bullets! TWO OF THE 88MM SELF-PROPELLED ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS WERE UNABLE TO DODGE, AND THE HUGE BODY WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF STEERING WHEN IT WAS HIT BY A 75MM ARMOR-PIERCING SHELL, WHICH PIERCED THROUGH THE THIN SIDE ARMOR AND SMASHED DIRECTLY ON THE AMMUNITION STACKED AT THE REAR OF THE HULL. THE HIGH-TEMPERATURE SHRAPNEL FROM THE EXPLOSION TORE OPEN THE CARTRIDGE OF THE 88MM SHELL, DIRECTLY IGNITING THE PROPELLANT INSIDE.

A LOUD BANG RESOUNDED THROUGHOUT THE FLANK, AND THE EXPLOSION OF DOZENS OF 88MM ANTI-AIRCRAFT ARTILLERY SHELLS COMPLETELY SHREDDED THE ENTIRE COMBAT VEHICLE, SHRAPNEL AND FIREBALLS WERE THROWN TO ALL SIDES BY THE VIOLENT BLAST CURRENT, AND SOME FRAGMENTS EVEN FELL INTO THE OPEN-AIR FIGHTING COMPARTMENT, SERIOUSLY INJURING SOME GERMAN OFFICERS AND MEN. And the sudden explosion also caused some small confusion in the entire German attack formation.

The German tanks that had been deployed began to design frantically towards the target, and some tanks even had a shell flying out of the barrel in less than 10 seconds. The German tankers were indeed very high, and after the first round of hurried test firing, the accuracy of the second and third rounds of attack went up, and from time to time the Chinese tanks were hit, and the high-speed flying armor-piercing shells left pits in the sloping deck and heavy gun shields. Of course, not all attacks are ineffective. A few people who were hit by the tracks and load-bearing wheels were still paralyzed. After 3 rounds of firing, the stopped tank continued to advance, and the Germans increased their speed to the maximum, hoping to close the distance as much as possible.

"Pull back a bit, be careful to stay in formation, and when you get into close combat, the companies can improvise. I repeat, pay attention to the self-propelled guns of the opposing side! Seeing the dominant German tanks approaching further, Zhou Xuan also felt the pressure, although in the battle just now, the Huaxia heavy armored forces completely destroyed at least 6 mechanized targets of the other side, but this was far from enough. THE NUMBER OF THE OTHER SIDE IS MORE THAN 4% MORE THAN THEIR OWN, AND AS THE DISTANCE APPROACHES, THE GERMAN'S 75MM GUNS ALSO HAVE A CHANCE TO DESTROY THE CHINESE TANKS.

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