Chapter 55: Armored Confrontation 6

  The previous chapter had an incorrect title name. I apologize sincerely and will add an extra chapter as compensation.

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  The "Leopard" tank assault group of the 101st Armored Division of the German army, The entire team had no unified command, but I'm afraid that any armored force in any country in the world could not have made such a neat move under unified command. Since all tanks were formed into teams, no platoon fired alone, and they all fired together in unison.

  The reason for this was also that the smoke from the burning British tanks blocked the view of the shooting. The German tank responded, but this time the wireless radio of the 'Panther' tank did not remain silent. However, it was absolutely not noisy, and there was only one voice, which was simply a simple number like '1', '2', etc. And all the commanders of the 'Panther' tanks adjusted the angle of rotation of the turret and the elevation of the gun barrel according to that simple number, with an accuracy of even 'minutes' in terms of angular units.

  In less than 0.3 seconds, all 78 "Leopard" tanks fired shells from their barrels. The sound of the tank guns combined into a huge roar that echoed through the entire battlefield and shook the air waves tens of kilometers away, which Rommel could hear. Immediately following were the sounds of explosions, but this time they were not as neat, instead sounding like a dense drumbeat that rang out continuously.

  However, what was even more shocking than the deafening sound was the scene of the shells landing and exploding. Behind a veil of smoke, within an area of approximately 3,000 square meters, 78 tank shells fell densely. Although armor-piercing shells require a large amount of kinetic energy to explode, these armor-piercing shells had not lost much kinetic energy due to their launch distance being within one kilometer. So even if they hit sandy ground or water surface, they would still explode.

  3,000 square meters is how big? Maybe not very clear to everyone. But if we say a basketball court is how big, I think everyone knows. A basketball court is 420 square meters, so 3,000 square meters is roughly the size of 7 basketball courts or a little more.

  The British 1st Armoured Division's officers and men paid the price of 12 tanks to relearn, once again, the concept of 3,000 square meters. The 78 artillery shells evenly covered the area where the 12 tanks were located, although only one shell hit each tank, but the power of the 5-meter-long barrel of the "Leopard" tank firing armor-piercing shells within a range of 1,000 meters was simply invincible.

  The turret of the British 113 tank was directly penetrated, and the shell entered the tank without exploding. It then drilled through the other end of the tank's turret and into the driver's compartment of the 166 tank behind it. The personnel in the command room of the 113 tank were killed by shrapnel ejected from the rotating shell as it pierced the tank's armor. Only the driver in the driver's compartment was unharmed. Tank 166 was not so lucky, and the explosion after the shell hit the driver's compartment ignited the gasoline in the engine, burning the personnel in the turret command room alive inside the tank.

  This time not only Raymond and Briggs understood, but all the lower-level tank commanders also understood. The Germans are probably unbeatable, and if they continue to fight, they will likely be annihilated. If they continue to fight against the Germans in front of them, it's not bravery, but stupidity, extreme stupidity. Raymond and Briggs didn't care about the noise on the radio, and directly shouted into the radio "Retreat, retreat immediately, everyone retreats on their own. Don't fight anymore, run, run fast."

  The British tank commanders retreated with clear orders, turning around and withdrawing to the rear. But it wasn't that smooth, without unified command, without cover from behind, plus everyone was rushing to get ahead, chaos was inevitable. Tanks aren't cars that can easily turn around, these are tens of tons of steel beasts, on the front line of the battlefield, not like in ads "come and go as you please".

  The advantage of the crawler tank is that it can turn around in place, and only by turning the direction can it move forward at maximum speed. However, not all British tanks were able to do this, some directly shifted into reverse gear and backed away. One tank crashed into the rear of another tank that was still turning around. The violent collision caused the tracks of the rear tank to twist and deform, getting stuck in the gears of the tank's driving wheels. It was completely immobilized.

  The scene of Yang was being staged in many places throughout the British army. Originally, the German long-range shooting had destroyed many British tanks, and the route of the British tank advance was not particularly wide. Now, with the addition of the tanks damaged by their own side, the road to retreat to the rear was completely blocked. In addition, the tank soldiers who escaped from the damaged tanks were running around everywhere, causing the entire 1st Armoured Division's 'Sherman M4' tank formation to fall into extreme chaos.

  All of this was clearly visible to the German commanders of the "Leopard" tanks through their periscopes. This was an outcome that none of the German tank commanders had expected, as originally these commanders did not want to fight with the British according to Rommel's orders. However, the terrain in this area only allowed for one road suitable for rapid passage by armored forces, and at the other end of the road were British tanks; if they didn't fight, the British wouldn't let them pass. But now it seemed that the British had blocked their own path, and it looked like this section of road would be impassable within a few hours.

  These "Leopard" tank commanders didn't hesitate at all, and the wireless radio directly transmitted "Divide into two teams, bypass from both sides." These 78 "Leopard" tanks neatly divided into two teams, respectively turning around more than 500 meters away from the British tanks, heading in both directions. As for the British tanks that were about to be annihilated, these German tank commanders didn't even bother to take a look.

  Colonel Roettig, commander of the 101st Armored Division behind the German army, was completely 'thundered' by these people. Nearly 200 British tanks, what a great achievement this is! If this were to be transmitted back to Berlin, the General Staff would go crazy with joy. It's estimated that each person will receive an audience with the Fuehrer and it's estimated that everyone will receive medals.

  But these people actually took a detour to execute the most basic orders. Not at all worthy of their hard work. Originally, as the highest commander of an armored division, Rud was already a figure with his nose up in the air, and even those generals would be friendly towards him. Rud thought he was proud enough, but today he got educated, compared to these people's pride, he didn't even count as a dish.

  Rommel's direct order was that each armored division should bypass the British forces and attack from the rear, without getting bogged down in skirmishes with them.

  The second is Major General Heiss, the head of the 'Armored Troops Advanced Command Department' at the Army Academy, who was among the commanders of these Leopard tanks.

  At that time, when Lude was studying in the 'Advanced Command Department of the Army Academy', General Hiss was his instructor. Hiss's eccentric temper and profound theoretical attainments made Lude a headache. Left an unforgettable memory for Lude's studies at the Armored Academy that year.

  It's not that Heiss treated Lude so well and patiently, but rather Heiss was extremely strict with every student. At that time, those who were studying in the advanced command system were all high-ranking military officers, with the lowest rank being lieutenant colonel. However, Heiss didn't care about these things, and he actually required these officers to memorize hundreds of pages of armor data.

  Moreover, he often picks some cold questions to ask in class. Students who can't answer will be punished by 'Heiss'. Either they go hungry or are forced to clean the entire teaching building, of course, while cleaning, they have to recite books with their backs. If a student can't answer twice, they're done for, directly moving the desk to the empty school gate, standing on the desk and reciting books. At that time, the high-level command department in the Armored Academy also became a beautiful scenery, from time to time, you could see these military officers doing sanitation work that only miscellaneous workers would do.

  At that time, Lude often stood at the gate of the college to recite books. Later, as he stood at the gate more and more times, even passersby gradually became familiar with his face. Some bold ones even greeted him. Often someone respectfully said to Lude: "Young Master, you are here reading again."

  Rud was a bit angry at the time, thinking "What's with the 'again'?" Did he often see them? Rud didn't know that these officers-in-training who frequently appeared on TV had already been unanimously rated as "star" students by the entire college. They were even rated by passersby as "the most familiar faces in the Armored Academy".

  However, these students did not dare to argue back. Because there was an example before, a student of the rank of regimental commander questioned Heiss's teaching method and applied for withdrawal from school. As a result, the student was indeed withdrawn, but when he returned to his unit, he was unexpectedly sent to a military court, charged with desertion in the face of the enemy.

  Rudolph didn't want to be sent to a military prison. 'Heiss' as the department head also left an indelible impression on Rudolph's 'tender' heart. Every time he attended Heiss's class, Rudolph would pay extra attention, afraid of being poisoned by that 'devil'. In Rudolph's mind, Heiss was a professional devil with one hand holding a whip and the other holding iron chains.

  Time flies like a year, that's the mood of Road at that time. However, Road also admired 'Hiss' talent very much. Every time armored tactics training, equipment superior, number superior situation these students will be taught by instructors composed of enemy army beat the loss helmet abandoned armor. In Road's mind, 'Hiss' is an undefeated myth.

  Rudel finally graduated with difficulty from the advanced command course of armored troops, and of course, in Hiss's mind, there were no good students, all graduates were "stumbling". After Rudel returned to his original unit, the war began, and Rudel only then knew what Hiss had taught, and such a stumbling graduate could lead an armored brigade to face several times more enemy troops than their own.

  Rommel himself was always able to find the weak points of his enemies and often defeated them with a single blow. Fighting these enemies was almost ridiculously easy. These enemies never once managed to defeat themselves like 'Hiss' did. Although in France he didn't shine as brightly as Rommel, that's because Rommel was a higher rank, also an instructor at the military academy. In Lude's eyes, these instructors should of course receive even greater honors and rewards than himself. But the team led by Lude also fought many brilliant battles during the French campaign.

  This time, Rommel led the 101st SS Armored Division from Holland to North Africa, crossing the entire Europe from north to south, which can be said to be a long and arduous journey. Rommel's complaints were very great, most of his tank equipment could not be brought over, only bringing 100 IV tanks. Moreover, the conditions here in North Africa are quite poor, even the water is not clean, with a muddy smell.

  He was already used to the say-one-not-two treatment in Holland, and coming here he had to accept other people's command, which made him very unhappy. However, seeing the 80 brand new 'Leopard' tanks that came as reinforcements, Rudi felt a bit better. But when he heard that the commander of these tanks was going to personally command them, Rudi refused to cooperate and wanted to have a tantrum with Rommel.

  But Lude suddenly saw 'Heiss' standing among these people, and was startled.

  "Heiss" Lieutenant Colonel wore no military uniform, but a simple armor soldier's uniform. His thin figure was inconspicuous among the crowd. But it was this ordinary-looking person who stood out so easily. Colonel Rud just felt a chill run from his feet to his heart.

  Thinking of 'Heiss' in those years, Lude's legs were a little trembling. He was so scared to death in front of 'Heiss' that he didn't dare to make a move.