Chapter 4 Tank Overturns

  A flame shot out from the back of the rocket launcher, followed by a magnificent tail flame, tracing a majestic trajectory as the rocket flew forward.

  This is the scene in the TV, it's a wonderful shot from a Hollywood blockbuster.

  Unfortunately, this lens does not work in practice.

  The rocket projectile uses a fast-burning propellant, and when the rocket projectile comes out of the rocket tube, it has already burned out, with no tail smoke or flame.

  The power of this RP-7 rocket projectile is great because when it flies out about ten meters, the second-stage booster burns and completes its combustion in an instant, accelerating the rocket to three hundred meters per second. The huge energy brought by the speed makes this rocket have a better armor-piercing depth.

  "Rocket! Rocket on the right! Hard brake, hard brake!" At this moment, the driver's periscope saw Muhammad carrying a rocket launcher aiming at them and was about to fire, and immediately shouted loudly.

  It is impossible to see a rocket projectile with the naked eye, but you can see the person launching it and destroy it.

  If it weren't for the loader being killed while operating the anti-aircraft machine gun, they could have used the anti-aircraft machine gun to blast the man carrying the rocket launcher into several pieces.

  Because the ambush on the top of the mountain was discovered, the tank moved very quickly and almost reached its maximum off-road speed. Therefore, it is almost impossible to dodge the rocket projectile by accelerating. Acceleration doesn't work, so another method must be used - deceleration!

  After the trainmaster finished braking, the two people inside the turret simultaneously grasped the armrests of their seats tightly.

  The driver's instinctive reaction was to immediately pull both operating levers sharply backwards.

  For tankers, the main operation is these two operating levers. When pulling halfway, it's steering, and when pulling to the bottom, both sides brake simultaneously.

  As the driver operates, the brake oil cylinder under the operating lever presses hydraulic oil into the brake bands on both sides of the driving wheels. The brake bands tightly hug the driving wheels in a burst of burnt smell.

  As the main wheels stopped turning, the two tracks on both sides also stopped moving, but under the huge impact force, they actually slid forward horizontally.

  The nearly forty-ton iron monster came to a sudden stop, and the people inside the tank, although secured by seatbelts, felt as if they were on a rollercoaster ride, their bodies involuntarily lurching forward before being jerked back by the restraints, which dug painfully into their flesh.

  The body of that loader who had already died on top of the turret rolled down from the top of the turret with this braking.

  Finally dodged that damn rocket? The tank commander's eyes hadn't even reached the periscope when he felt a jolt, accompanied by a terrifying sound entering his ears. Then, he felt an unbearable heat throughout his body, and the temperature inside the turret suddenly rose by several hundred degrees.

  Muhammad quickly ran a distance, found a fast stone, and hid. The position where he had just fired from had been discovered, and it was very dangerous to stay there any longer.

  After hiding, he quickly reloaded another rocket projectile into the front end of the rocket launcher.

  At this time, he quietly stuck his head out and saw that the burning tank had been hit again.

  The rocket was uncontrolled, and the tank was moving, so when Muhammad launched the rocket, he kept a certain lead. The amount of this lead depends on the speed of the opponent's movement and the time it takes for his own rocket to arrive, making a quick estimate in his mind, or simply put, relying on experience to determine.

  Muhammad's preemptive shot was just right, but originally aimed at the back of the turret, as a result, hit the front of the turret.

  The war belongs to Muhammad, has just begun.

  Because the tanks of the tank regiment were all passing at high speed, when the first tank slammed on the brakes, the second tank had no time to dodge and ended up crashing into it.

  The four tanks behind stopped in time, the one in front was knocked out, and on both sides were guerrilla fighters rushing over. It was clear that this was a carefully planned ambush by the enemy.

  With flesh and blood, they dare to rush down like this, attacking their own tank unit. These Afghan guerrillas are simply crazy. Berikov would have liked to eliminate them immediately, but unfortunately the mountain peaks on both sides were too steep. The turret turned a circle, finding that neither the artillery nor the coaxial machine gun could reach for the time being.

  Brave tank soldiers, facing a dozen Afghan guerrillas, were unexpectedly helpless, which made Biryukov very angry.

  "Report 404, 402 has been destroyed, the front exit is blocked, I collided with 402, the cooling water tank is leaking, I'm afraid it won't last for a few more minutes." The conductor of 404 shouted.

  Damn it, the exit ahead is blocked, what to do? Turn back or force through?

  -62 does not have the ability to turn in place, that is, when the two tracks rotate in reverse, the tank will turn 180 degrees in place, and then it can quickly leave along the original route. Now, it can only be achieved through a combination of forward and backward movements. Not to mention whether the terrain allows it, even if time does not allow it, after a few minutes, the 404 will lose power due to engine overheating.

  "404, go around 402 from the side and rush forward out of the valley, watch out for rocket launchers on the side," Byelikov ordered.

  "But both sides are huge rocks, and the road in between is blocked by 402, we can't get through." The conductor of train 404 shouted anxiously.

  "It must be done, it is an order." Berikov insisted.

  They are tank soldiers, not infantrymen. If the 404s abandon their tanks, they will be caught and killed by these Afghan guerrillas.

  The hatch was closed, and only the periscope was used for observation. The view was not good to begin with, and it was very dangerous to pass by in front of them. However, the 404 unit also knew that this was an order they had to follow.

  Just crashed into the destroyed No. 402 tank, but I didn't suffer any losses, which is already very lucky. Now, I hope to keep this good luck going. The crew of Tank No. 404 are all praying in their hearts.

  The driver of the Type 404, leaning back, didn't care about the red light flashing due to engine overheating, and stepped on the accelerator all the way. In a huge cloud of black smoke, the tank charged towards a giant boulder on one side.

  If it's too fast, it will be a fierce impact. If it's too slow, it won't surge forward and is hard to grasp.

  When it was still one meter away from the giant stone, the driver released the throttle and pulled the left operating lever at the same time.

  Slow down, turn around, go up!

  When the feeling of impact came, the driver stepped on the accelerator again and shifted into the lowest gear.

  Although tanks seem to be able to rush forward recklessly, in fact, they are not invincible and can also overturn.

  Now, the driver of 404 is challenging the limits.

  As soon as he felt the tank's tracks and giant rocks make contact, the driver floored it. Now was the time to go up!

  As the engine roared, the tracks gripped the boulder without slipping and went up smoothly.

  The driver let out a sigh of relief. The engine had been overheating all along, but as long as it could hold on, they would be safe once they got through this stretch of road and out of the valley.

  "Ka, ka-ka." Just then, suddenly, from the engine compartment in back came a strange noise.

  Damn, the engine is overheating. It seems that the piston has seized! Then, the driver saw the engine tachometer in front of him drop sharply and then stop at zero.

  The engine won't turn over!

  At this time, the center of gravity of the tank has not completely risen to the top of the boulder, so at this time, the T-62 is like a seesaw, wanting to press on, but it hasn't passed.

  "Look out!" the conductor shouted as they felt the carriage tilting.

  "Boom!" A violent shudder, and the -62 made intimate contact with the ground.

  The body turned ninety degrees, and the left side came into contact with the ground. The entire vehicle had been overturned.

  The people inside were hit twice in a row, especially the car leader, whose head was heavily knocked against the sight and immediately fainted.

  "Tank 404 has broken down." The tank numbered 405, which was following behind 404, originally wanted to follow it up, but after seeing the miserable state of 404, did not continue to follow. It reported to the company commander through radio instead.

  Berikov's heart sank as he lost two tanks in a row.

  Damn this valley!

  The guerrilla forces on both sides rushed up at this moment.

  The guerrillas drew closer and lower, and could now be engaged with machine guns.

  "Fall back, with machine guns in parallel, annihilate the guerrillas on both sides." Berikov shouted into the radio: "Calling infantry squad, calling Jalalabad, we need support."

  His tank company lost two tanks, and that lone 413, probably also couldn't escape disaster at this time.

  Although Berezovsky was reluctant, his unit had been ambushed by a few guerrillas, but now he had no other choice but to ask for help from above, preferably sending helicopters with elite scouts to wipe out the guerrillas.

  As Berlikov gave the order, the tank's turret rotated, spewing flames in both directions.

  Several guerrilla fighters who rushed forward were instantly swept away by machine guns and fell to the ground.

  The people behind immediately followed and fell to the ground, and then looked for cover nearby.

  In their hands, they were holding some self-made bottles.

  These tanks are their targets.

  "Rat-a-tat-tat!" Biryukov, in the turret, heard the metallic crashes from outside and knew that the enemy was firing at his tank with rifles.

  Outside the tank, it's all thick steel, ordinary bullets want to shoot his tank? Is this group of guerrillas crazy?

  Four tanks, no turning back, drivers in reverse gear, all the way back.

  One side retreated while continuing to fire with a machine gun, striking these guerrilla fighters.

  Suddenly, Bylikov found that he couldn't see anything in his periscope.

  Damn it!

  Berezov will never forget that in this guerrilla squad, there was a god of shooting, and that god of shooting had cunningly shot off his periscope.

  The probability is very low.

  The tank commander lost his periscope, but the gunner still had his, and the turret was constantly rotating. Biryukov didn't believe that the enemy would be so lucky.

  Because Berlikov's periscope was broken, he didn't see the guerrillas outside, who were crawling forward on their bellies, holding some glass bottles in their hands.