Chapter 61: Forward! Assault Gun! (Part 2)

After hearing the nonsense from his driver, Wittmann smiled slightly. It can be seen that he was in a good mood. Then he took two steps at a time with his agile posture, climbed onto his car in a very skillful way and opened the commander's cover.

"Do I need to order you to do anything? Start the action! Guys!"

Accompanied by Wittmann's order, the remaining three crew members who had just completed the maintenance and inspection work around the Type 3A assault gun also began to climb onto the tank, entered their respective positions, put on the headsets for communication, and prepared.

After raising his hand to close the commander's hatch on his head, he opened the headset communicator that had been buckled on his hat. As Wittmann pressed the throat voicer and spoke, a clear radio wave flew straight to the starting position of the armored forces not far from Wittmann's car.

"Communication check, please confirm. Strike gun unit commander Michael Wittmann is calling. Please answer. Over."

After asking, Wittmann did not have to wait too long. A clear echo suddenly sounded in the communicator next to Wittmann's ear just a few seconds later.

"Communication confirmed, very clear, Sergeant Wittmann. I am Lieutenant Heisenauer of the 2nd Armored Company. Your superiors have ordered your assault gun platoon to follow and cover our unit in launching an upcoming attack on the enemy in front of us. I hope you and I can cooperate happily in this battle."

Although he and Lieutenant Heisenauer were nominally in the same division, Wittmann, who did not like to take the initiative to contact strangers, did not know this armored lieutenant whose rank was much higher than his. Naturally, there was no such adjective as "happy to meet each other" and "harmonious relationship". At most, it was a common relationship between superiors and subordinates in the military.

After hearing the response from Lieutenant Heisenauer, Wittmann, who was holding the communicator button on his throat and pondering for a while, quickly continued to ask.

"Lieutenant Heisenauer, I would like to ask, can you tell me the direction and plan of our attack this time?"

"It is not important to you, Sergeant Wittmann, you just need to follow my steps and move towards the goal. When we enter the combat state, I will tell you which enemy to attack."

After listening to the rather arrogant words from Lieutenant Heisenauer in the headset, Wittmann, who was used to all kinds of strange and strange human beings in the big melting pot of the army, was not surprised or angry. The reply he gave to the communicator was still as calm as still water.

"Understood, sir. I will do what I should do, just give me orders."

Soon, when the assault gun platoon commanded by Michel, totaling 4 Type 3A assault guns, joined the main attack force commanded by Lieutenant Heisenauer, a fierce artillery bombardment with a majestic force like a tsunami suddenly sounded from the rear of the German position.

Boom boom boom---

In yesterday's battle, most of the Soviet artillery, which relied on the absolute advantage of air strike force to wipe out the enemy in front of them, was finally able to take this opportunity to show its power because the important attributes such as range, scale and power were far inferior to the Soviet field artillery cluster. The German artillery units, which were far inferior to the Soviet field artillery cluster in terms of important attributes such as range, scale and power, could finally take this opportunity to show their power and launched a pre-war artillery preparation that was far smaller than the Soviet scale but still shocking enough.

Among these German artillery units that were currently launching fierce artillery bombardments at all possible Soviet defense positions at the predetermined target location, the absolute main force with the strongest firepower was the German 150mm heavy howitzer with the equipment number SFH18.

Although this type of heavy howitzer with a short range and mediocre performance is difficult to compare with the same level equipment in the hands of the Soviet army, when this SFH18 type 150mm howitzer group, with at least one division-level heavy howitzer battalion with a total of 12 guns, launches a fire attack, the powerful destructive power and deterrence it brings are still not to be underestimated.

Standing on his car, half of his body is out of the fighting room, so that he can raise the telescope in his hand to observe the actual effect of the bombardment.

When Wittmann saw the grasslands and small villages in his eyes, where there was no sign of Soviet activity at all, being bombed into a mess in the overflowing artillery fire, this veteran who had seen life and death and experienced many cruel battles could not help but sigh after putting down his telescope.

"I really hope that the artillerymen know where the target they are going to bomb is. I hope that these artillery bombardments will bring good results to the attack we will launch later." The German army, which advocates air-to-ground integrated armored blitzkrieg, is far less persistent and powerful than the Soviet army, which advocates the supremacy of artillery, in terms of artillery scale and firepower projection capabilities. When this wave of artillery fire, which lasted only half an hour, gradually stopped in the roar of artillery fire, Wittmann, who realized that he was about to receive an action order, immediately closed the hatch again and returned to his position as the commander. "All crews and combat units, I am Lieutenant Heisenauer! Follow my orders and move forward. The target is the small Soviet village five kilometers ahead of us! Capture it and hold on until I continue to issue subsequent orders. Let's go!"

Accompanied by the roar of the engine and a burst of roaring black smoke, the mixed mechanized battle group of the Guards Flag Division commanded by Lieutenant Heisenauer immediately roared forward with the engine roaring.

The German infantrymen who were riding in the SDKFZ251 half-track personnel carriers and holding their weapons tightly, and advancing with the armored forces were obviously much happier than their Soviet counterparts who were "human armor".

When the German battle group, roaring with the engine and rolling up the dust and black smoke, arrived at the predetermined target location mentioned in the order, they carefully observed the surrounding situation through the 360-degree all-round commander's periscope in their hands, which had a good field of view, placed on the commander's tower.

After confirming that this small Soviet village, which had been torn to pieces by his own artillery fire, seemed to be safe and silent, and believing that he was about to lead his troops to capture this first key location without any effort, the young Lieutenant Heizenauer opened the commander's hatch above his head with great confidence, and while holding the telescope in his hand, he leaned his upper body straight out of the turret.