Ante Army, Argesukov, Southwestern Front Army Headquarters.
Crown Prince Ivan Nikolayevich Andronov entered a noisy map room and at first glance saw the bandage on General Skorobo’s hand, and he exclaimed in shock, “What happened? Did the enemy reach the headquarters?”
Skorobo waved his hand: “It’s nothing, I just got too emotional and punched the table.”
“Punched the table?” The volume of the Crown Prince’s voice rose sharply, drawing the attention of the surrounding staff officers. Fortunately, at that moment, the headquarters was filled with roars of “Speak up,” so it was not particularly noticeable.
The Crown Prince lowered his voice and asked, “So, Rocossov is right? The enemy really launched a pincer movement, didn’t they?”
“He’s right about that part,” Skorobo paused, then raised his voice, “But he’s completely wrong about what comes next! Our armored counterattack will crush the enemy’s offensive! Look here!”
Skorobo stood up and moved in front of the map: “The latest intelligence suggests that the enemy might have committed a part of their second Armored Division. We believe they have three divisions, nine Armored Battalions, approximately 400 tanks.”
“And we have launched a counterattack with three Tank Armies; we have over a hundred T34s alone! Plus dozens of KV1s, and more than two hundred BT tanks.”
“These tanks are well-supplied with fuel and ammunition, utterly different from those forces that launched counterattacks in the first month of the war with a shortage of both! They will completely shatter the enemy’s offensive.”
The Crown Prince stared at General Skorobo: “Can we really push them back?”
The General hesitated for a moment before responding decisively, “Yes! Absolutely!”
The Crown Prince nodded, “Then what should I do?”
“Your Highness should return to Yekaterinburg! The enemy’s planes have bombed the Argesukov airfield, but there is an intact field airport on the east side of the city, capable of launching transport planes. We have arranged a flight to Yekaterinburg...”
The Crown Prince: “I’m not going anywhere. Since you are convinced the counterattack can stop the enemy, then I’ll stay here. News of my departure would affect morale!”
The General was silenced abruptly, struggling for a few seconds before saying, “Our victory does not mean this place isn’t dangerous.”
At that moment, a communications officer rushed in with a telegram and saluted General Skorobo: “General! An urgent message from the High Command in Yekaterinburg.”
Skorobo snatched the message and glanced at it.
The Crown Prince: “What does it say?”
General Skorobo: “His Majesty the Tsar commands us to decisively repel the enemy’s attack.”
“The Tsar said that? I think my father may not understand what’s happening on the front line; I could call him...”
General Skorobo: “You can fly back to Yekaterinburg and tell His Majesty the Tsar in person.”
The Crown Prince bit his lip and shook his head, “My mission is to supervise the army here and boost morale. Since my father has ordered you to hold your ground, I should set an example.”
General Skorobo stared at the Crown Prince for a few seconds before saying, “I think I may have had some misunderstandings about you before. Since you’ve decided to stay, then we can only give our all-out effort to thwart the enemy’s advance!
“We have a vast army and an array of technical weaponry at our disposal; we are not weaker than the enemy!
“As soon as the Sixth Tank Army launches their offensive, everything will start to improve!”
Ante Army, Sixth Tank Army, Chesnokov commanding the tank.
Army commander Chesnokov heard a report on the radio: “This is the Fifth Tank Battalion; we have already lost six tanks, should we stop the charge?”
“No! Let the tank operators of the broken tanks hitch a ride on other tanks, so if any crew members fall later in the battle, they can replace them and keep fighting!” Major General Chesnokov’s voice was cold and merciless. R
“Yes, General!” The response came through the static noise from the crew.
Chesnokov wanted to see the situation ahead, so he put his eye to the tank gun’s sight, but the violent shaking almost made him vomit.
He had no choice but to push open the turret hatch and stick his head out to observe the front.
The enemy tanks had released a smoke screen that totally obscured the front, making it impossible to see the other side of the smoke.
But Chesnokov believed that the enemy’s smoke couldn’t be released indefinitely, and once they broke through the smoke, it would be the moment for the enemy’s armored division to be obliterated!
By doing so, he might even earn himself the Ante Hero Medal!
At that moment, his tank charged into the smoke first.
In the smoke, even sticking his head outside the tank, the visibility was terribly poor, so Chesnokov retreated back inside the turret.
After a moment, the previously obscured gun sight in front of Chesnokov suddenly displayed an image again!
Chesnokov immediately leaned in, trying to find the fleeing enemy’s Number 3 tank.
However, there was nothing up ahead.
“Where did they go?”
At that time, the tank’s engine and transmission system were as noisy as ever, drowning out almost all sound outside the tank.
Major General Chesnokov rotated the turret, trying to find the vanished Number 3 tank cluster.
Suddenly, a panicked voice came through the radio: “Who’s shooting at us? Has anyone seen the enemy firing? Where is that cannon from?”
A cannon?
Major General Chesnokov tossed aside the gun sight, glanced through the observation port on his side, and all the T34s charging with him seemed fine, with no sign of attack.
Then he turned to the other side, pushed the loader back, and looked out through the observation port.
What’s the matter? Isn’t my tactical Number 671 fellow tank fine?
In the blink of an eye, a streak of light flashed across the Number 671 T34, which immediately slowed down, slid for a few meters, and then came to a complete stop, moving out of the narrow field of view of the observation port.
What happened?
What was that just now?
Major General Chesnokov wanted to check the status of Tank 671, so he turned and pressed his eye to the observation port at the rear of the turret.
However, he couldn’t see anything through the narrow viewing port.
He was about to use the radio then remembered that the wingman tank was not a command vehicle and did not have a radio.
Chesnokov turned back, trying to spot the enemy attacking their forces through the gun sight.
But the gun sight was too shaky.
To get a clear view, Major General Chesnokov gave a very brave, but also very foolish command: “Mikhail! Stop!”
The tank screeched to a halt, and before it even steadied, Chesnokov was rotating the turret searching the front—
He hadn’t seen anything when way off in the distance, there was a flash!
An 88mm flak cannon’s shell sliced through the T34’s front armor as easily as cutting through butter.
Because the shot came from a great distance, the falling angle negated part of the slant of the T34’s frontal armor.
The shell went straight through driver Mikhail and exploded behind him.
The entire combat room—that is, the turret—flew up into the sky in the explosion.