"It's a 'square box' (referring to the Soviet army's 'KV-2' heavy tank), and you can see it in a moment."

At this time, the Soviet tank fired again and exploded not far from Yang Shuoming's car, but Yang Shuoming did not seem to have the slightest fear, but said in a flat tone.

After about a minute, Zhu Guiming finally saw the square-headed Soviet tank, which was like a rampaging rhinoceros, rushing straight towards the tank battle formation of the Chinese army.

Zhu Guiming had the intention to show his crew's ability in front of Yang Shuoming, he gave the order to fire loudly, and just as his words fell, the gunner Wang Kai had already fired out with a shot.

The 130 mm 70 times diameter tank gun of the "White Tiger" tank spewed out a long ball of flames, and the square turret of the "KV-2" tank immediately burst into flames, and it stopped suddenly, Yang Shuoming saw that the door was open, and several Soviet tankmen covered in fire jumped out of it, rolling on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames on their bodies.

Yang Shuoming stared at the Soviet tank that caught fire, and at this moment, he had the most intuitive understanding of the power of the 130mm gun of the "White Tiger" tank.

The tank "KV-2" exploded again, and huge flames engulfed the tank body and the Soviet tankmen who were still struggling on the ground. Yang Shuoming knew that it should have been another "White Tiger" tank that fired a shot at it.

At this time, the sound of artillery began to sound continuously, and Yang Shuoming turned his head to look, and immediately saw dozens of Soviet tanks rushing towards the flank of the Chinese tank group. Most of them were "T-34" tanks, the rest were "KV-1" and "KV-2" tanks, as well as a small number of tank destroyers.

The Chinese tank group spotted the enemy tanks coming from the flanks, and the Chinese tanks turned their guns and opened fire while moving quickly, and soon, a thunderbolt of artillery rang out, and the Soviet tanks were hit one by one and caught fire.

"What do they want to do? Looking for death? Zhu Guiming said a little strangely.

"They want to rush into our ranks, blend in with us, and disrupt us." Yang Shuoming understood the intention of the Soviet tanks to risk death, "Their firepower and protection are not as good as ours, so they will do this." ”

Zhu Guiming looked at the periscope in disbelief, and sure enough, despite the terrible losses, the Soviet tank still did not mean to stop, but rushed forward vigorously.

Soon, several "T-34s" rushed into the array of Chinese tanks, and one "T-34" tank immediately stopped and opened fire on the nearest Chinese "Gray Wolf" tank.

The "Gray Wolf" tank was hit and was immediately surrounded by flames, but the tank did not stop, but turned the turret as it ran, ready to open fire on the enemy.

Without waiting for the "gray wolf" that caught fire to fire, another "gray wolf" tank not far away preemptively fired at the Soviet tank, only to see a flash of fire, accompanied by flying steel flowers, the turret of the "T-34" tank was lifted away by a cannon, and only the hull remained.

"Well played!" Zhu Guiming saw this scene and shouted excitedly.

There was rumbling artillery and explosions everywhere, and Yang Shuoming saw one Soviet tank after another being hit and on fire, but there were still Soviet tanks rushing into the array.

Soviet tanks are too far behind Chinese tanks in terms of firepower, speed and armor protection, but the Soviets have come up with a way to play up their strengths and avoid weaknesses, Yang Shuoming noticed that unlike Chinese tanks that aim at the enemy from a distance, Soviet tanks often rush to the front of Chinese tanks before firing, although they have to take a lot of risks in the process of approaching, but once they get close to Chinese tanks and fire, they can often hit with one hit, and they can also cause great damage.

Yang Shuoming is now deeply touched by the strong learning ability of the Soviets.

He knew that this war with the Soviet Union could not last long, and the sooner it ended, the better it would be for China.

Soon, about 100 Soviet tanks rushed up, and Yang Shuoming could judge that this should be the last armored force of the Soviet army in this area.

Hundreds of tanks fought together, the Soviet tanks' desperate counter-attack achieved a certain effect, the formation of the Chinese tank group was chaotic, the armored personnel carriers carrying infantry and some transport vehicles dodged one after another, and several Soviet tanks tried to attack them, but they were heavily bombarded by the Chinese heavy tanks and self-propelled assault guns guarding them.

Zhu Guiming saw that Yang Shuoming was still exposed to the rain of bullets and fire, watching the battle with great interest, he couldn't help but be very afraid, he repeatedly asked Yang Shuoming to return to the tank, Yang Shuoming didn't want to affect his command of the battle, so he shrank back into the turret.

Seeing Yang Shuoming return to the car, Zhu Guiming was relieved, and he began to calmly command the "White Tiger" tank to fire at the enemy.

Despite the extraordinary tenacity and bravery of the Soviet tankmen, as well as the tactfulness and flexibility of their tactics, none of this could save them from defeat.

The technological gap cannot be narrowed in this way.

A "T-34" rushed to the "White Tiger" tank where Yang Shuoming was located like crazy, opened fire violently, the shell hit the "White Tiger" tank, the hull of the car shook suddenly, Yang Shuoming's head almost hit the observation window, he stared at the "T-34" tank and a Chinese self-propelled assault gun not far behind it for a few seconds, only to see the muzzle flame of the self-propelled assault gun flash, and then the "T-34" tank exploded.

The Soviet tankmen, covered in fire, jumped out of the burning tanks one after another, and before they could extinguish the flames on their bodies, the "White Tiger" tanks rushed straight towards them and crushed them directly under the tracks.

Yang Shuoming seemed to be able to hear the screams of the Soviet tankers, and the "White Tiger" tank slammed the wreckage of the "T-34" tank on fire to the side, continuing to look for the next target.

The battle lasted about half an hour, and the sound of artillery and explosions gradually subsided.

Yang Shuoming opened the turret cover of the "White Tiger" tank, leaned out and looked out, and what caught his eye was piles of burning steel wreckage. This counterattack of the Soviet army was completely and completely defeated, and more than 100 Soviet tanks and armored vehicles were completely destroyed. Of course, the victory of the Chinese army was not without a price, 12 "Gray Wolf" tanks and 6 self-propelled assault guns, as well as 3 armored vehicles were destroyed.

After destroying the Soviet armored forces, the Chinese tanks continued to drive forward for about 50 kilometers, capturing a village guarded by Soviet infantry, and it began to get dark.

Losing the cover of the armored corps, the resistance of the Soviet infantry was very weak, and it was not long before the Soviets stopped resisting, laid down their arms and surrendered to the Chinese troops, a Soviet commissar tried to prevent the soldiers from surrendering, but no one paid attention to him, and he finally committed suicide with a pistol.

The Chinese troops began to stop and rest in this small village, which had been completely destroyed by the fighting, in order to shake off the thick dust from the car. After this fierce and brutal battle, everyone felt a little tired and wanted to sleep as soon as possible. They don't want to live in a warm barracks, a bed in that room is a luxury for them, they just want to be able to lie down and sleep well anywhere. Yang Shuoming knew that as long as he stopped to rest, everyone would immediately fall asleep.

Lightning appeared on the edge of those lead-colored clouds in the sky. Big drops of rain began to fall. The rain that the warriors had always hated was now a gift from heaven to them. The rain became heavier and heavier, running down the collars and bodies of the warriors, and everyone smiled pleasantly. The rain had made our uniforms stick to our wet bodies, and by this time the uniforms had become gray-green, and the Russians had turned reddish-brown. They and the Russian prisoners of war grinned at each other at this time, as if the players of two freshly finished fighting teams were showering together, and there was no hatred of not so long ago, only a feeling of exhaustion after surviving.

The rain became heavier and heavier, and the soldiers had to erup makeshift shelters and cover their heads and shoulders with their marching blankets. Although most of the Chinese soldiers and the Russian prisoners of war did not speak the same language, they laughed at each other and exchanged their cigarettes for each other—Chinese "Hademan" brand cigarettes and Russian Tatar plain tobacco. They were smoking cigarettes together and were happy for no reason—this "no reason" happiness was the greatest happiness they had ever known. The exchange of cigarettes and the unbridled laughter of each other under a marching blanket made this a happy island in a sea of war. As people's numb senses gradually returned to normal, they forgot about the hatred that had separated them from them. A Chinese soldier was laughing happily as the rain still fell on his marching blanket. Looking at such a scene, an abrupt thought appeared in Yang Shuoming's mind.

Will all these Russian captives be executed tomorrow? It seems unlikely, but it doesn't seem likely that the current joy will continue.

A Chinese motorized brigade parked in the wilderness has just arrived. The rain washed over the soldiers' faces, and the dull coating on the sidebikes parked under the trees brightened a little in the rain. The fighters on the sidecars were wearing raincoats, which made them more or less dry. However, all their camping equipment was placed in the division's supply convoys, so they had to pace back and forth in the rain with small puddles on the ground.

Yang Shuoming saw the commander of this motorized brigade - Major General Zhou Chao, Zhou Chao saw Yang Shuoming here and looked very surprised, but Yang Shuoming did not give him too much time to be surprised, but asked him about the battle situation.

"Supporting here are the 8th Air Army, and to the south of the 8th Air Army are the dive bombers and fighters of the 2nd Combat Aviation Regiment of the 51st Air Army, which will work closely with the attacking tank units under unified command."

"However, judging by the current situation, the Soviet Air Force was not crushed. On 30 June, hundreds of bombers emblazoned with the red star emblem appeared over the battlefield and came to attack our vanguard tank units one after another. Our troops were advancing on the right side of Sverdlovsk at that time. This is the first major encirclement since the start of the war. The 51st Combat Aviation Regiment Aviation Regiment was deployed in the rear, not far from the front line, in the center of the wedge-shaped formation of General Lin Yuying's tank troops. Since the Soviet bombers did not have escort cover, a group was knocked out when they came. ”

"Located near Ditrisk, 260 km north-west, the 54th Combat Aviation Regiment fought a similar battle that day. Soviet bombers arrived here to bomb the bridge over the river in an attempt to stop the 14th Panzer Army from advancing to the northwest. But after several hours of air battles, 165 Soviet planes were shot down. The bridge is unharmed. ”

"The 1st Combat Aviation Regiment of the 54th Air Army, which coordinated with Army Group North to the outskirts of Sverdlovsk, shot down a total of 1,000 enemy aircraft, which is an astonishing record. In fact, before that, the 53rd Combat Aviation Regiment had already reached this figure. As a wing of the 5th Air Army, the 3rd Combat Aviation Regiment, which operated in the Southern Theater of Operations, also reached this figure one after another. ”

"You know, our fighter pilots are not satisfied with this, they continue to compete with each other. Week after week, month after month, it turned out that Soviet aircraft were no match for our fighters at all, and the Soviet Air Force had to take terrible blows. However, they did not give in. The combat strength of their flying units was twice as high as previously estimated by the intelligence services. By the end of the month, the Soviet Union's original fighters, bombers, and attack aircraft were completely gone, but new aircraft were constantly being put into combat. It seems that they have an inexhaustible amount of potential. ”

"I know what's going on." Yang Shuoming heard the worry implied in Zhou Chao's words and nodded, "In the second half of this year, the production of new aircraft in the Soviet Union increased fourfold. In the first half of the year, they produced only 322 'L-3' fighters, but in the second half of the year, they jumped to 2,141 at once, a more than six-fold increase. Similarly, the number of Yak-1 fighters increased from 335 to 1,019. The number of Il-2 attack aircraft has increased from 249 to 1,293. In the second half of the same year, a total of 1,867 bombers were produced, which was three times as many as before the war. A total of 15,735 aircraft of various types were delivered to the Soviet army this year. ”

"Yes! In just a few months, the production of their aircraft has grown so much! I don't think our bombers affected the production of the Soviets at all, at best it was like being bitten by a mosquito. Zhou Chao said, "The Air Force has been equipped with a newly developed four-engine long-range bomber. But as if it were not enough, I felt that at least at the beginning of this vast war, the existing bomber aviation regiments in our hands should be concentrated into a 'strategic air force' and used under unified command. Because the bomber is originally a weapon that should be used intensively. If we can do this, we will be able to concentrate our forces on the enemy, and we will be able to concentrate our forces on the focal point of the war and on the enemy's joint. Where the maximum range of our aircraft is reached, as long as there is a tank factory or aircraft factory there, it should not be spared either. ”

"You have a point, although everyone knows that the scattered use of bombers has no effect, but in practice it often violates this principle. Put one bombing aviation regiment here and one there, one regiment of the Air Corps and one regiment of the Army's army group at another time, in short, abuse them to carry out too many tasks. Supporting the ground forces, which was not their task in the first place, was the task of dive bombers and attack aircraft, but they were often forced to do it. Yang Shuoming said, "This situation must change in the future." According to intelligence, the 'T-34' tanks produced by the Soviets at the Gorky tank factory in one day, our bombers could not fight for a week on the battlefield, and they themselves would suffer losses. This style of play is clearly wrong. Because the bomber did not fulfill its own tasks. ”

"I want to ask, President, didn't our Air Force dare to fly to Moscow?" Zhou Chao smiled and asked.

"Of course, an air raid on the capital of the Soviet Union is an issue related to the prestige of our China, and it is also an obligation of the Air Force that cannot be shirked. Although there are many other more important tasks to be done. Yang Shuoming said, "It is estimated that it will start soon." ”

Of course, Yang Shuoming knew that Moscow was not only the capital of the Soviet Union, nor the seat of the Soviet political axe and the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, but also the heart of the Soviet Union, the military and economic center. Of particular importance was the hub of transport throughout the USSR, a support point for all kinds of transport to all fronts. Therefore, Yang Shuoming has always taken it as the primary target.

The reason why no air strikes against Moscow have been organized so far is that the number of "Hongyan" strategic bombers used for long-range strategic bombing is still somewhat insufficient. Yang Shuoming hopes to get more large bombers, and the aviation department has already received his order to step up the development of a six-round large bomber with a longer range and a larger bomb load.

And that day, after visiting the launch of the rocket forces, he came up with the idea of using rockets to bombard the industrial centers of the USSR.

Of course, another weapon that destroys the surname has been developed and can now be put into actual combat, but Yang Shuoming does not plan to use it so far.

In fact, Dr. Tesla successfully developed a powerful weapon of destruction as early as 1940, and because the destructive power was so huge, not only Tesla himself opposed it, but even Yang Shuoming himself did not want to have the opportunity to use it.

After all, he wanted Soviet land, not a scorched earth after it had been destroyed.

(To be continued)