Chapter 1047: Soviet Anti-Tank Gun

“Damn it!” The platoon leader leaned back against the wall to steady himself. The tremor from the earth quickly dissipated. Only then did he take advantage of the chaos to glance at the building that had been struck by the shell.

A corner of the three-story building’s roof had completely collapsed. The bodies of several Soviet soldiers, no longer whole, were scattered around the splintered floorboards. Unfortunately, the German shell had not struck its intended target. The Soviet cannon was on the other side of the building, still relatively far from the collapse.

BOOM! The unseen Soviet cannon, clearly not put out of action by this failed attack, fired again. The sound was bizarrely deafening. It was clearly not the common 76mm anti-tank gun seen in the Caucasus, but a much larger and more powerful cannon.

“God! This is Arthur! You missed the Soviet gun! It’s still firing! It’s still firing!” The company commander, holding his radio, yelled to the battalion. He cursed twice, then shut off the radio and turned to the platoon leader, shouting, “Take your men, get as close as you can to that Soviet cannon! Force it to stop firing, or to move!”

“Yes, sir!” The platoon leader, leaning against the wall, nodded. He then began to give orders to his men to continue the attack. The few soldiers he had who had already crossed the outer wall had expanded their defensive perimeter. A railway car, abandoned on the tracks, provided excellent cover for their advance route.

These soldiers fired their weapons desperately, trying to suppress the Soviet fire, while other soldiers began to charge over the collapsed low wall, expanding the German foothold within the small station. They were clearly more methodical than the Soviets opposite them, so in just a few minutes, they had neared the Soviet positions.

“My God. That’s not an anti-tank gun, it’s a tank! A Stalin tank from out of nowhere!” After a great deal of effort, several German soldiers, after killing the four Soviet soldiers in a foxhole, jumped into the large crater—likely created by a bomb—and from a closer angle, finally saw the hidden Soviet weapon.

The two of them saw the Soviet heavy weapon parked by the building’s wall. Its wide tracks and rear hull immediately allowed the German infantry, familiar with Soviet equipment, to identify it. Its rear end was slightly larger than a T-34’s, and there was some fallen rubble on top of it.

A German veteran ducked back to the bottom of the crater, then looked back at his own side. He pressed his left hand to the back of his right and gave a hand signal: enemy tank. A very simple and clear meaning.

“Damn it!” The platoon leader saw the signal from his men in the crater. He retreated from the side to the vicinity of the wall and shouted to Company Commander Arthur, who was waiting there, “That’s not an anti-tank gun, it’s a tank! Damn it! It’s a Soviet tank!”

“A tank? My God, how can there be a tank in a place like this?” The company commander was clearly also shocked by this news. He quickly reported his assessment, and in the report, he added the basic judgment of the other German soldiers. “This is Arthur! Yes! Arthur of 1st Company! The one you were just talking to! I’m at the front! This is as loud as I can shout! Damn it! It’s a Soviet tank! A Soviet tank! I’ll say it again! A Soviet tank! A suspected Stalin tank!”

And as he was shouting these words, a German anti-tank infantryman, with the help of his partner, had already shoved a rocket into the launch tube of a Panzerfaust. They were very practiced. The entire process took only a dozen seconds.

“Target! It’s on the side of that building in front! See that thing?” a German soldier, kneeling on one knee, pointed his rifle with one hand at the enemy tank’s position.

“Panzerfaust!” As it was about to fire, the surrounding soldiers shouted loudly to remind their comrades to watch out for the backblast. With a boom, the rocket flew towards the distant target. At the corner of the building, a hundred or so meters away, it struck the thick brick wall structure.

In an instant, an explosion of dust filled the air. The German troops, using the cover of this explosion, advanced a few more meters. Several German soldiers threw their hand grenades. The massive explosions immediately silenced the Soviet heavy machine gun nest that had been firing incessantly.

“Attack! Attack! Run, quick! Heads down!” The platoon leader immediately grabbed his weapon and began to charge forward. Beside him, most of the German troops leaped up from their hiding places and, with the order to charge, ran towards the Soviet defensive positions.

They crossed the platform, vaulted over the sandbags that had been riddled with bullet holes, and jumped into the Soviet defensive positions. The inside was littered with the bodies of fallen Soviet soldiers, as well as some who had not yet recovered from the shock of the explosions.

Before the enemy could even struggle to sit up, the German soldiers had pulled the triggers of their weapons. Bullets flew everywhere. These merciless soldiers were eliminating all dangers around them with the highest efficiency. They fired at every person they could see in a Soviet uniform, regardless of whether they were dead or alive.

The German platoon leader, carrying his rifle, charged past the halfway-point, converted crater and leaped into the Soviet fortifications on the platform. Around him, several German soldiers had already set up simple defensive positions. There were no more living Soviet soldiers in the vicinity.

The Maxim heavy machine gun lay toppled on its side. Nearby were several Soviet soldiers who had been finished off by the hand grenades. They were all covered in blood, among them the body of a man in a Soviet officer’s uniform. The German army was rapidly expanding its breakthrough along the trenches. Most of the Soviet defenders had not even realized that their flank had been breached.

Many Soviet soldiers were still firing at the Germans in front of them, completely unaware that the Germans had already jumped into their trenches on their flank. Some, though they had seen it, were unable to stop the Germans from advancing. The German firepower was too heavy, and their combat effectiveness was higher. So, a local counter-attack had no effect at all and could only slightly delay the other’s advance.

“Flank! Germans on the flank!” a Soviet soldier behind a machine gun emplacement on the main front shouted, alerting his comrades. Some turned their guns and began to fire at the Germans. Some remained indifferent and continued to fire at the front, because the Germans on the main front had also closed to a rather dangerous distance.

Soon, the German side also began to suffer casualties. Several soldiers were hit by Soviet gunmen during the attack, fell in a pool of blood, and did not move again. The remaining German troops were forced to halt their rapid attack and, leaning on both sides of the cover, they returned fire fiercely in the direction of the Soviets.

At this moment, the Germans’ second anti-tank rocket was fired. This time, the firing distance was closer, and the angle was also better. So this rocket hit the Soviet tank that was hiding on the flank of the ruins. However, it did not seem to cause any substantial damage.

Having its position hit by the enemy twice in a row, the Soviet tank was also alerted. It was clear that this behemoth was a treasure on the Soviet side, so at this moment, it finally began to move its massive body, preparing to find a new position to avoid the German shells.

After spewing a cloud of black smoke, this Soviet tank began to move backward slowly. Its tracks rolled over the rubble on the ground, and its hull finally emerged from the side of the building, in full view of the German soldiers on the flank. This was not a Stalin tank, but an SU-122 self-propelled gun.

On the chassis of a Stalin tank, an enclosed, box-like, fixed fighting compartment had been welded, on which a 122mm cannon was mounted. This thing saved a lot of raw materials compared to a Stalin tank, and it also saved production time. It was the ultimate emergency equipment for the Soviet armored forces now. Of course, this thing was very precious and was rarely seen outside of Moscow and Kursk.

“It’s not a Stalin! It’s a tank we’ve never seen before!” a German soldier shouted to his comrades after glancing at the moving Soviet “tank.” This SU-122 had indeed caused a bit of panic among the German infantry. After all, they had never seen such a big fellow.

This SU-122’s hiding place was very good, so the German army had not discovered its position for a time. But as this self-propelled gun began to move, its position was immediately spotted by the German tanks. A shell came flying over and struck the frontal armor of this Soviet self-propelled gun, but it was deflected to one side.

For the sake of camouflage and to strengthen the frontal defense of the vehicle, this Stalin tank had a lot of sandbags hanging on its frontal armor. This had strengthened its defensive capability a little. At least the first German shell had not penetrated its armor.

“Stop it from turning! Or we’ll be in danger!” the German flank platoon leader, who had just arrived nearby, shouted to his anti-tank team, pointing at the Soviet SU-122 that was constantly moving and preparing to turn. His subordinates had clearly also realized the seriousness of the situation and were reloading the rocket launcher, preparing to give this enemy tank another shot.

After a brief aim, the gunner raised the rocket launcher and pointed it at the target, which was not far away. He then activated the firing switch, and after a loud boom, a rocket, trailing a cloud of white smoke, rushed towards its target.

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