Victor. Vikdolovich AKA armored train. This is a great young man, born in 1917, he is only 24 years old this year. Why is there such a nondescript nickname for an armored train?

The reason is simple, as the child of the elder Victor, on the night of the October Revolution of 1917, his old man commanded an armored train that was fighting fiercely with the White Army. When the battle was in full swing, the herald suddenly told him: "Your eldest son has been born!" Come up with a name! ”

At that time, when the old Victor's mind was full of fighting, he did not even notice that the herald was announcing the good news to him, he only muttered: "Armored train, forward!" Then he ran away in a hurry.

The poor herald was dumbfounded, what kind of fuss was this? In desperation, he could only tell the long-awaited mother: "Comrade Victor said, the child is called an armored train!" ”

What do you say about this thing, until the end of the domestic revolutionary war, the old Victor felt the need to change his son's serious name, but the armored train has been shouting for so many years, and it is relatively smooth, and everyone acquiesced that this was the nickname of Little Victor.

The armored train grew up in the army compound, and the inevitable son inherited his father's business and became a glorious Red Army Qiuba. After graduating from the Red Army Command Academy at the age of 24, he was assigned to serve in the 16th Mechanized Infantry Division of the 5th Mechanized Corps under the 109th Army of the Red Army. Coincidentally, his father, Victor Sr., was the chief of staff of the division, and both generations of father and son served in the same unit, which is also a good story.

But the elder Victor was not happy, and if he had a choice, he really did not want the armored train to participate in this war. The elder Victor, who had fought in the First World War and the Revolutionary War at home, knew too well the cruelty of war. He only has such a son. I really don't want that kid to inherit his father's business. At one time he had thought about sending an armored train to college. It's better to be an engineer or a scholar or something, but unfortunately the armored train is only interested in joining the army, which makes the old man very worried and very regretful.

On August 26, 1941, the 5th Mechanized Corps, which had just completed its training and rearmament, received an urgent order to quickly move to Brest with the rest of the 16th Army to hold this vital fortress and cover the safe withdrawal of troops from the front line to Minsk.

After two days and two nights of rapid marching, the 5th Mechanized Corps, the 46th Infantry Division of the 32nd Infantry Corps, and the 118th Infantry Division of the 41st Infantry Corps arrived at Brest.

Brest region at this time. With the exception of a small number of NKVD border guards, the situation was deplorable with refugees fleeing from the direction of Eastern Poland and stragglers who had retreated from the front in a hurry.

As the chief of staff of the 109th Mechanized Infantry Division, the elder Victor was very optimistic about the future, or rather worried, he was very worried that this time the father and son would die together for the country.

Of course, the elder Victor is not the only one who has such worries, as the commander of the 16th Army, Mikhail . Fedorovich. Lieutenant General Lukin's heart was also heavy.

The 16th Army was not an elite unit, and according to the deployment of the General Staff before the war, the most elite units were deployed at the forefront. And those units with relatively poor combat effectiveness or outdated equipment were all lost to the Central Front, which in fact played the role of war reserves.

After the outbreak of war. Part of the units of the 16th Army, deployed near Smolensk, was transferred around Minsk, such as the 5th Mechanized Corps and the 32nd Infantry Division of the 46th Infantry Corps. On the one hand, the rest of the troops were intensively carrying out refitting work (replacing the old Mosinagan 30 rifles with SKS35 (an improved version of the SKS20, mainly replacing the spear from a knife to a triangular stabbing type), and on the other hand, after the Kiev direction was tightened, the 32nd Infantry Division of the 152nd Infantry Corps (which had only two infantry divisions and one corps artillery regiment) and the 144th and 235th Infantry Divisions of the 41st Infantry Corps were transferred to the Kiev direction and assigned to the Ukrainian Front.

All in all, Lukin's 16th Army was really just a shelf, and its strength could only be regarded as a reinforced mechanized infantry corps. However, their task was very arduous, as Menzizhec was broken through by Guderian, the German armored torrent would soon pour towards Brest, and whether Lukin could hold Brest was related to whether the main forces of the Red Army could safely withdraw to Minsk.

To be honest, neither the General Staff nor the Military Commission was very optimistic about Lukin at that time, because Lukin was not a first-class general in the Red Army, otherwise he would not have been allowed to command the 16th Army on the second line.

According to the meaning of the General Staff and the Military Commission, it is better to change the generals on the spot, and let other comrades with more outstanding abilities take on this difficult task, such as Bagrumyan. However, Li Xiaofeng objected, others don't know Lu Jin's ability, he can still not know, this is an underestimated talent, Lu Jin has completed the task extremely well in history, and I believe that this time will not be an exception.

As it turned out, Li Xiaofeng was not mistaken, and after arriving in Brest, Lukin rushed to build a defensive line in a very short time and put the chaotic area in order. For a time, the retreating units and refugees of the Red Army returned to order and began to retreat at a high speed in an orderly manner, and even Tukhachevsky, who had always been critical, said that Lukin had done a good job.

Of course, whether Lukin can stop Guderian or not depends on the real fight, and the battle soon broke out. The 24th Panzer Division of the 24th Panzer Army and the 46th Panzer Division of the 10th Panzer Army of the 2nd Tank Group have entered Belarus, and the forward units are directed towards the Brest Fortress.

At this time, Lukin had just finished the repairs and was reorganizing the scattered units of the Red Army, which had been chased by the second tank group. A hand-to-hand skirmish soon broke out.

As the platoon commander of the second platoon of the second company and three platoons of the first battalion of the regiment, the second lieutenant of the armored train commanded three BT-7 tanks to fight the German panzergrenadiers first.

"A tank No. 3 and an SD.KFZ.251 half-track infantry vehicle appeared in the binoculars, and you could see that the Germans were quite comfortable and that they lacked vigilance. With a smile on his face. It's like going to a picnic instead of going to war...... I told the lads to calm down. This should only be the enemy's vanguard reconnaissance unit, there should be German devils in the back, if you want to do it, you can do it with a big vote, and it is better to annihilate the enemy completely! ”

The fledgling armored train looked confident and eager to make a big move, and his guess was almost accurate, and behind the sd.kfz.251, there was another sd.kfz.251 and a second tank.

At that time, the armored train was still somewhat disappointed. He was very dissatisfied with such an opponent, and in his words: "Why do you have to fight with Tank No. 3, what's the point of bullying Tank No. 2?" ”

To tell the truth, if the German tankmen heard the voice of the armored train, I am afraid they would be surprisingly angry, as the sharp knife unit of the second tank group, they just drove the second tank all the way to chase the Red Army butt beating, T-34 and T-35 They have not done it, and even a tattered BT-7 dares to despise them, it is simply a joke.

But soon the armored train proved it. He was never joking, and the carefully camouflaged BT-7 tank went completely undetected by the Germans. Two tanks No. 2 and two SD.KFZ.251 swaggered along the road in a column, without any sense of danger.

"The second tank at the end of the third attack queue, the second and I will attack the first one, and immediately transfer fire to destroy the enemy's infantry vehicle after success!"

The order for the armored train was simple and clear, and soon, with his order, three BT-7s opened fire together, and when the 45-mm armor-piercing shell pierced the side of tank No. 2, the Germans found themselves in an ambush.

The No. 2 tank, which was in second place in the queue, quickly caught fire and exploded, and none of the members escaped, while the one at the end was lucky, and the No. 3 car missed the target due to a ranging error.

"Concentrate your firepower and destroy the enemy's tanks first!" The armored train soon ordered the gun commander to turn the muzzle. Actually, this is not much necessary, after all, the 20-mm machine gun of the No. 2F model is very powerful and does not pose much threat at long distances.

But the armored train doesn't think so, in his opinion, the No. 2 tank is a dish, if he actually pays losses when cleaning up a dish, doesn't this mean that he is incompetent? The armored train wants the best possible results.

The three BT-7s immediately began to accelerate, closing in on the remaining No. 2 tank and on the other to avoid enemy counterattacks. The general rate of fire of the 20-mm KWK38 is still powerful, and if it is stuck by its continuous bullet rain, it will be peeled off with the thickness of the BT-7's armor.

The German tanker did have two brushes, and after the initial panic, he quickly began to counterattack violently, although he did not move fast, but he made good use of the terrain cover, and the accuracy of the short stop fire was considerable. The only regret was that the German gunners were not very lucky, and the successive shots were all a fraction of a second, and they almost flew away by the side of the BT-7.

And the novice armored train is very lucky, after the previous first record, it was he who finally finished the enemy, a 45mm armor-piercing bullet hit the front of the second tank in the front, easily tore open the turret, and after a loud bang, it struggled twice and did not move.

The rest of the battle was almost one-sided, the Panzergrenadiers, lacking anti-tank means, were beaten to pieces by the armored train, and in a minute two Sd.KFZ.251s were destroyed, and the grenadiers on the cars were either killed or had to surrender with their hands raised.

With a flurry of prisoners, the armored train returned to the battalion headquarters, which made him greatly satisfied his vanity, as a second-line army, especially the rapid expansion of the second-line troops before the outbreak of the war, the boys of the Fifth Mechanized Army basically had zero combat experience, and they were very envious of the good luck of the armored train when they dreamed of being a big hero and saving the world.

However, old Victor was not very happy, and reprimanded the armored train fiercely: "You little rabbit, who made you recklessly attack?" In case a large force of the enemy is behind, aren't you just a meat bun and a dog? The division headquarters is to let you reconnoiter the enemy's movements, not let you fight blindly! ”

The armored train responded to the old Victor's reprimand, he didn't try to justify himself, because he was useless to the old Victor, and the old man would only think that he was disobedient with stiff wings, and would teach him a harsher lesson. The armored train didn't want to be repaired by the old man in front of many subordinates and partners, it would be too shameless. Secondly, the old man was also right. He just wanted to make meritorious contributions to the battle. Case. What is there to refute?

The armored train that had been taught a lesson did not come down honestly, and as soon as old Victor left, he was resurrected on the spot full of blood, and even actively planned how to fight the enemy next time, anyway, he was full of confidence.

However, Lukin did not have the confidence of the armored train, and through the interrogation of the prisoners, he basically figured out the enemy's strength, starting with two armored divisions. At least two armored divisions and mechanized infantry divisions will soon arrive on the battlefield, and the main forces of the enemy's second tank group will arrive in a short period of time, which is not a small pressure.

There are two things that can make Lukin slightly optimistic, the first enemy tank is not performing well, the second and third tanks are completely outdated, and the number of fourth tanks is too small. And although most of his side are BT-7 and BT-5, there are still a small number of T-34 and T-35, and all things considered, he has an advantage in armored forces.

In addition, the Luftwaffe, which had been raging before, entered Belarus. There was no way to continue to be so unscrupulously arrogant, as the Red Army's field airfield was repaired. A part of the fighters and attack aircraft could be arranged in advance, which would neutralize a considerable part of the superiority of the German army.

In other words, whether or not we can hold Brest depends on the tactics and fighting spirit of the Red Army.

At the same time, Guderian also arrived at the Brest front, and like Lukin, the tank monster wanted to make a difference. As long as he can quickly break through the Soviet lines in Brest, it will be possible to penetrate directly into Minsk, and this is a good opportunity for him to show his skills when the 1st Tank Group is blocked in Upper Maukiniya.

In order to break through the Soviet line as soon as possible, Guderian ordered the 3rd, 10th and 10th Motorized Infantry Divisions, which had just arrived in Brest, to attack immediately.

In the early morning of August 30, as soon as the sun was showing a small corner, German artillery began to bombard the perimeter of the Brest fortress fiercely. At that time, the armored train hiding in the tank was startled by this overwhelming artillery offensive, and he finally knew the horror of artillery for the first time, and it was only half an hour, like being gnawed by a dog in the outer positions of the Red Army, and the green grass that had been before had completely disappeared, leaving only craters all over the ground.

After forty minutes of artillery fire, the German artillery fire finally began to shift to the depth of the Red Army, which meant that the enemy's tanks and infantry would soon attack, at this time the calm voice of the battalion commander sounded in the headphones of the armored train: "Comrades, stay calm, do not rush to open fire, the first round of the enemy's attack is likely to be just a temptation, that is, to lure us to expose our positions!" ”

The armored train agreed with the battalion commander, but then he soon discovered that the so-called tentative attack was not easy to deal with, and the German devils were still very cunning!

About a company of the enemy appeared in front of the line of defense where the armored train was located, and three No. 2 tanks covered their careful advance, demining and cutting barbed wire along the way in an orderly manner. Even the armored train had to admit that the Germans were indeed as accurate and meticulous as clockwork.

The Red Army, on the other hand, was a little worse in this regard, and some of the recruits were not able to calm down, and the German infantry and tanks could not wait to pull the trigger as soon as they crossed the first anti-tank trench.

Tata Tower...... Tata Tower......

The Makqin machine gun constantly greeted the enemy with burst fire, of course, it can also be seen how incomplete the 16th Army was reloaded, only a few mechanized infantry were replaced with PK machine guns, and the vast majority of machine gunners still used the old Makqin and Deggalev machine guns.

The German infantry reacted quickly, looking for cover on the spot, and on the other side also pointed to the target of the second tank in coordination, and soon the machine gun and twenty-millimeter grenade quickly issued a fatal greeting as the second tank clicked to turn the turret.

The three No. 2 tanks had no trouble blowing up the exposed machine gun, and the poor machine gunner was hit directly by a grenade, which was a blur of flesh and blood, and the machine gun deputy was also beaten into a sieve by the MG34 and fell to the ground on his back.

"No fire, repeat, no fire without my orders!"

The company commander roared and reprimanded his soldiers, if it weren't for his constant ear calls, more machine gunners would expose their targets, and as a result, the fire support points of the front-line positions would be quickly cleared by the enemy, and then ...... And then there was nothing. Without a point of fire support, the Red Army would have been slaughtered by German tanks and follow-up infantry.

A few minutes later, the German tank continued to move forward, running over another barbed wire, but soon with a loud bang, a No. 2 tank track was blown away along with the load wheels, and the poor creature pressed the anti-tank mine!

"Well done!"

The armored train gave a shout to the sapper brothers, how he wished that more and more enemies would press the mines, and it would be better if all of them would be blown up. However, in the front command, the old Victor, who was holding a telescope and observing the movements of the German army, was not too excited, the Germans are not fools, how can they step on the mines like a queue to shoot, if nothing else, the enemy's sappers will soon arrive.

Not very quickly, but among the infantry that cooperated with the tank attack were German engineers, who quickly went out with professional equipment to explore the way, and guided the tanks through the Guò minefield at great risk.

"Hit?" The armored train asked eagerly.

In his opinion, at this time, it is necessary to defeat the enemy's sappers, otherwise, it will not be easy for the enemy to break through.

"Calm me down! No fire! The battalion commander replied viciously.

This makes the armored train very incomprehensible, why not fight it yet? (To be continued......)

PS: Thank you to the armored train comrades for their cameos, and also bow to thank the drunken Wufeng, the wind and the shadows, the Sayuka attack aircraft, the idle reading of the world, hzwangdd and Juventus comrades!