Lieutenant Sneid finally finished his combat log and inserted his pencil into the pocket of his chest in the combat uniform.

The lieutenant raised his hand and shook the record book distributed by the Army, blew away the rubber dandruff on it. Finally, he looked through it and confirmed that there was no error and stuffed it into the file bag hanging behind his waist.

Side took a deep breath, stretched his waist first, then rubbed his sore arms and jumped out of his car. His team members were doing basic maintenance work for the tank.

Driver Rawick was squatting on the front armor plate of the tank, holding a board and trying hard to tighten the bolts on the gearbox inspection port. With the help of the electromechanical engineer, he just added enough oil to the gearbox and replaced a gear. Due to excessive wear on the tank, the tank had several failures in the gearbox during its movement.

If this problem is not handled carefully, it will easily cause the engine to stall. And if there is a bad luck and the failure occurs on the downhill road, the heavy body will continue to move forward under the action of inertia, and the body will forcefully pull the engine to stop. The result is that the unlucky driver must be prepared to lose his engine, because even if the precision machine did not explode on the spot, it would have to be overhauled in the repair shop.

Fortunately, the clutch of the No. 4 tank was very agile, and coupled with Rawick's superb technology and rich experience, this danger was quickly dealt with by him several times. Sneid had long reported this problem to his superiors, but because the troops were constantly fighting during this period, he had never found enough time to repair it.

Having said that, even if he was given time, he could not solve the problem, because the parts he needed were all on the transport vehicle of the motor repair company. The car was torn into pieces by a large-caliber shell flying from somewhere in a battle two days ago. Surprisingly, no one was injured because of this incident, but most of the replacement parts of the armored company turned into a pile of scrap iron with the unlucky transport vehicle. The repair company struggled to rescue a batch of engine parts at the time, but none of the gearbox gears remained.

But finally, the logistics department sent the parts in time today. And because they had just finished a arduous battle, Sneider and his subordinates finally got half a day of precious time to complete the work they should have done long ago.

Not only this crew, but all the tank crews in the entire armored team are doing the same thing. Because everyone in the company knew in their hearts that the battle behind them would be even more difficult, and now any small mistake will cause a disaster in the future battle. German tankers carefully cared for their seats. After all, no one was willing to lose their lives because of the stupid reason why their tanks failed in battle.

This sophisticated killing machine wrapped in thick armor can not only bring death to the enemy, but also guarantee the survival of these German soldiers on the battlefield.

Side patted the shoulder of the loader. He was a young recruit, only twenty years old. The boy had beautiful brown hair, blue eyes and a handsome face with a little childishness. In general, this child could be regarded as a handsome man, at least in Side's eyes.

The young loader is now wearing a German vest covered with oil, sitting on an ammunition box and wiping a high-explosive grenade. His beautiful black armored soldier uniform is now hanging on the wide track guard of the No. 4 tank, and the armored soldier badge on the pocket is shining in the sun.

Unlike those veterans, for this boy who had just joined the army, there was no more satisfying his vanity than a clean military uniform. Although the veterans also cared about their military appearance, those beautiful uniforms could no longer attract them. What they paid more attention to was the dazzling medals and the honors behind the medals.

He felt someone patting his shoulder, and the loader turned around in confusion. When he saw that it was his commander, he quickly put down the rag in his hand and held the shell and wanted to greet him.

"Continue, Carl, continue the work." Sneed smiled and pressed the boy down. He turned to his subordinates and squatted, picked up the rag and handed it to the young soldier.

"Continue to wipe, soldiers, every excellent tanker starts from brushing the shells." Sneed said with a smile.

"I understand, sir." The boy took the rag from the lieutenant, and he held the shell and asked curiously: "Did you start with the loader? sir."

"Of course, I was the best loader among my trainees." Sneed replied with a smile.

"We have all done this job, you can ask Hank and Stevans, who all came from this step," said the lieutenant pointing to his other two subordinates.

The gunman Hank was now lying on the angular turret of the No. 4 tank, wiping the outer cover of his scope. After hearing Sneed's words, he turned his head and said to the loader: "It's true, boy, I worked as a loader for a whole year before being a cannon leader. As long as you do it well and listen carefully, you will learn a lot in the turret."

"I understand, thank you Sergeant." The little pretender called out happily.

"If you understand, do it seriously and wipe these shells clean. Don't let me find any stains on it, otherwise you will feel better." Sergeant Hank deliberately put on his face. He didn't want this young man to be too proud.

"As for orders, Sergeant." The little pretender quickly put away his smile and took the rag and wiped the shells hard. Sneed stood up and walked towards the front of the tank.

"How is it now? You have replaced the new parts." The lieutenant asked his driver.

"Yes, but it's still going well, it's not a big deal." Driver Rawick replied with a smile, rubbing the greasy on his hands.

"There will be no more problems. The combat order has been sent. We are asked to arrive at the village of Devon in front before dinner. We will set off before 2 pm." Sneed patted the armor cover on the gearbox inspection port.

"It should be fine. I'll try again before departure. But what else is said in this combat order?"

"You know, it's the same thing. We will encounter the French's resolute resistance, there are strong defensive positions and the like. Anyway, no matter what there is, our mission is to break through it, occupy it, and destroy it. Oh, this time we can get the support of a squadron of Stuka, who will patrol near us, and just call it." Snaed took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, took one and held it in his mouth, and handed the cigarette box to his driver.

"Oh, it's the case again. Positions, trenches, cannons, machine guns and those Frenchmen who are not afraid of death." Rawick pulled out a cigarette, took out a pack of matches from his pocket and lit the fire, and then handed the matches and cigarette boxes to Stevante, a mechanical and electrical engineer on the side.

Rawit took a deep breath of cigarette and continued, "I hope we can go a little smoother this time, those bombers will not be as late as last time, hahahaha."

"I can't guarantee this." Sneed sprayed a mouthful of smoke. He took off his soft combat hat and stroked his hair, then smiled at Rawick and said, "But from the intelligence point of view, our target is not very strong, at least weaker than the resistance we encounter here. I hope we can complete the task smoothly."

"I hope this is." The electromechanical and mechanical engineer inserted it. He was cleaning his toolbox with a cigarette in his mouth.

"It will definitely be like this, I can guarantee that I'll wait for a good night' tonight." Rawick said loudly.

"By the way, Hank, have we received all our shells?" Side asked loudly at Hank who was standing on the turret.

"Ten armor-piercing bombs, twenty high-explosion armor-burning bombs, and ten high-explosion grenades are all here, enough for us to do a good job." Hank replied loudly.

"Very good. When you finish your work, help Rawick tighten the tracks. I'll go to another commander to have a meeting to discuss our next attack."

"Okay, let's leave it to us." The cannon leader replied loudly. Sneed nodded to the other two subordinates, turned around and walked along the street towards the rear of the convoy.

The village where Snaid's armored company has been stationed has been severely damaged, and the traces of the fierce battle can be seen everywhere on the streets. The pavement paved by small pieces of granite is covered with glittering shells, and the craters of various sizes have turned the flat streets beyond recognition. The granite blocks were lifted out of the road by shells, revealing the loess and sand on the roadbed. The ammunition box left by the destroyed barricade and various weapons wreckage piled into a hill, and the air was filled with this unpleasant smell of burnt.

The military trucks are now only covered with dark skeletons, with all kinds of strange-shaped parts scattered around the ugly wreckage, and some are still emitting wisps of blue smoke.

There are beaches of bright red blood everywhere on the streets, and some of them are scattered with personal belongings on the owner. Broken guns or fragments of military uniforms tell tragic stories to every soldier you see. The French team paid 373 lives to defend the fortress of this village. In addition to the wounded, less than 60 soldiers became prisoners of the German team.

What made Sneider feel depressed was that he still failed to catch a statutory official this time. Except for those who were beaten to death, the others ran away as usual. From the captives' mouths, Sneider learned that this time the person who ran away was a colonel.

The only comfort to him was that he left the colonel's staff and adjutant here. The car they were riding in was shot into a sieve by a fanatical tank gunner. If it weren't for the prisoner's confession, no one would have believed that the two piles of minced meat in the car were two French majors.

The tank group was parked on both sides of the street according to the platoon they belonged to. The tank players were diligent in and out of their car, busy and happy. Seeing their company commander passing by, the tank players greeted him with a smile.

Sneed was a commander who was very fond of his subordinates. This lieutenant not only had outstanding command skills, but also had noble character in his daily life and was always admired by his subordinates.

In the battle the night before yesterday, Snyder lost three four-type tanks, and only two crews successfully escaped before the tank burned a fireball. However, so far, the losses of Snyder Company's personnel were not serious. Only seventeen soldiers were killed and more than 40 were injured to various degrees. This was a very good result in the Third Armored Regiment. The other companies had only one company left. If the division had not been constantly replenishing recruits and new tanks for the Third Armored Regiment, according to its current casualty rate, the armored regiment would have been adapted into a battalion.

The battle the day before yesterday was the most intense of the battle Side had experienced. This attack was a mistake from the beginning. Without sufficient preparation, the regiment commander Major Saurenberg resolutely decided to launch a night raid. According to the regiment commander's original intention, this was to avoid the losses caused to the troops by the daytime attack, but unexpectedly, the attack turned into a nightmare that both sides were unwilling to recall.

Tanks launched batches of attacks on French positions under the flares. What is incomprehensible is that France's anti-tank firepower actually performed extraordinary levels in this dim light. Three armored reconnaissance vehicles rushing in the front were instantly beaten into three hot fireballs, illuminating the stormtroopers behind.

With the support of large-caliber artillery, the German team advanced forward with the crazy shooting of the French. Since the Sneed Company was the only medium tank company of the Third Armored Regiment, he was placed in the front of the storm-capped formation. The armor of the No. 4 D tank itself was only 30 mm, but after modification by the tank hands, it was hung with a 20 mm armor plate, which was enough to withstand the attack of French anti-tank artillery.

The French gunners continued to shoot until the tank rushed to them, but to their despair, the 37mm anti-tank gun they used could not prevent the ugly armored beast from advancing even if they directly fired against the armor of the German tank.

Next was the cruel and bloody street fighting. Sneed's tanks were completely unsuitable for this kind of work. His three and four were lost at this time. The molten bottles dropped by the French from small buildings on both sides of the street made Sneed lose three tanks and five excellent subordinates forever. After suffering this sudden loss, Sneed hurriedly withdrew from the village. The infantry took over his position, because fighting in such a narrow area was indeed not a task that tanks could do, and staying here was of no use except for unnecessary increase in losses.

The German team finally ended the battle when the first colorful cloud appeared in the east sky, and the French were completely defeated. However, these German soldiers did not feel anything to be happy in their hearts, and they paid a heavy price to win.

The streets were filled with corpses of German and French soldiers. After the battle, all the Germans got was a pile of ruins and burning wreckage. This village may never be able to restore its former appearance.

The Germans not only lost hundreds of outstanding soldiers and more than a dozen tanks of various types, but also caught their commander. Sorenberg and his car disappeared at the beginning of the battle. The armored soldier major who liked to imitate the supreme commander Guderian has always been proud to command battles on the front line. A heavy anti-tank mine blew him and his command vehicle into the sky. What's even more incredible is that the French only buried ten such mines in front of their positions, and Sorenberg was the only one who pressed such mines.

General Guderian was obviously furious by the news. He could not tolerate his army suffering such serious losses. The Third Armored Regiment was ordered to stop advancing and retreat to the rear for rest. The Side Company was kept because of the minor losses and the fact that it still maintained sufficient strength.

The medium tank company is now directly under the command of the army command. The light tanks and tired infantry of the Third Armored Regiment left the village that had become ruins. The Side Company began to take over the defensive tasks of the village. In his eyes, the village had no value, and it had become a ruin. He could not think of any reason for the French to seize the village.

But now he had a new mission, and Guderian ordered him to capture the next village. According to intelligence, the village was much smaller than the current one and could not encounter resistance like last night. Sneed did not expect that just as he called the captains to discuss how to attack, a crisis was slowly approaching his small tank company.

The last counterattack of the Marx team on the Western Front is about to begin, and the Marx team's first goal is this small village that has become ruins.
Chapter completed!