On March 18, 1937, three Republican [***] infantry brigades, supported by tanks, routed the vanguard of the Italian army and captured the city of Boryhuca. At the end of the day, the Pavlov Brigade suffered very heavy losses (enemy fire and mechanical failure), and at the beginning of the battle the brigade had 60 tanks, and at this time it was only able to send 9 to pursue the retreating Italian troops. The Republic [***] did not have enough tank support, and as a result could not extend their victory.

In March 1937, Pavlov's unit was further equipped and strengthened, with three new T-26 tanks brought in from the Soviet Union by four transport ships. This is almost three times as many as the total number of tanks supplied since the Soviet intervention began. The big problem was to train enough Spanish tank crews to use them. Many Soviet officers were not optimistic about the Spanish tankers, so they recruited recruits from the much better-rated international brigades. Because of the limited number of trainees due to the training conditions in Spain, these foreign volunteers were sent to the Gorky tank school in the Soviet Union. The first detachments to complete their studies returned to Spain just in time to take part in the Battle of Brunette in the summer of 1937.

At the end of May, Pavlov handed over the command of the tank brigade to Colonel Rudoft, and in June returned to Moscow with a number of other leading Soviet advisers in Spain to report to Stalin and the Military Council. Due to the massive influx of new Soviet tanks in the spring of 1937, it became possible to increase the number of tank battalions in Spain from 6 to 10. These new units, as well as the urgent need for tank support on other fronts, led the authorities to decide to create three new armored brigades in the spring and summer of 1937. Unlike the 1st Armored Brigade, these new brigades had not only Soviet tank battalions, but also locally made armored car battalions. The personnel were all Spaniards, their firepower and mobility were slightly inadequate compared to those of the 1st Panzer Brigade, and they were not operational until late 1937.

By the time of the Brunette offensive, the 1st Armored Brigade had been strengthened to the full strength of four tank battalions, with about 30 tanks in the newly built battalion as a backup. This brought the Republic's armoured strength to 422 "T-26" tanks and 143 "BA-3" and "FAI" armoured vehicles. According to the offensive plan, 70 tanks and 20 armoured vehicles of the 1st and 4th Battalions were to be used to support the main attack of the 5th and 18th Armies (one tank battalion each), while the 2nd Battalion would support the attack by the 2nd Provisional Army alone southeast of Madrid with 30 tanks and 10 armoured vehicles.

And neither the Soviet advisers nor the republicans [***] could have imagined that they would see the most incredible thing of their lives in the Battle of Brunnet.

"Destroy that cannon!"

Major Arman, who was seated in a "T-26" tank with a command flag and was promoted after returning home, roared loudly.

Just as he finished speaking, a violent explosion was heard not far away, and a "T-26" tank, which had just been hit by an enemy shell, began to burn.

Arman's tank quickly rushed to the attack and stopped, and then began to turn the turret, the muzzle of the gun pointed at the enemy gun position next to the barn, and at about the same time, several Spanish nationalist gunners hidden by the barn cursed and laboriously moved a field gun, trying to aim the muzzle at Arman's tank.

The Spanish loader shouted and cursed, while loading a cannonball into the chamber, the gunner immediately fired a cannon, "boom" with a loud bang, the shell did not hit the enemy's cannon, but hit the barn, probably there was something flammable and explosive in the barn, the whole barn instantly turned into a burning fire, and the flames gushing out actually ignited the clothes on the gunners of the nationalist army. The gunners howled and rolled on the ground, trying to extinguish the flames on their bodies, and at this time they could no longer care about the cannons around them.

Arman ordered the gunners to continue firing, and after the tank fired two more shots, the cannon and the shells in the gun emplacements exploded, and the gunners inside were either burned or blown up, and soon the surroundings became a little quieter.

Arman stopped the tank, he looked around carefully through the rotating turret, several anti-tank gun positions of the Nationalist Army not far away had been destroyed, and several other "T-26" tanks were still moving slowly, Arman noticed that the infantry of the International Brigade did not follow, and couldn't help but curse.

Until now, the Republican [***] side is still quite poor in the Butan synergy.

Of course, it's no wonder that today, when there are not many precedents to follow. Including their enemy, Franco's nationalist army, the situation was just as bad.

Arman hesitated for a moment, and was about to give the order to move on, when a "clanging" sound of metal smashing came from outside.

Arman ordered a stop, then opened the turret roof and leaned out, where he saw a tanker using a large wrench to knock on his tank's shell.

Arman couldn't help but be taken aback when he looked at the Soviet tanker, whose clothes had been burned to pieces.

Seeing Arman come out, the tankman sat down on the ground as if he had collapsed, gasping for breath as if he had run a long way.

"What's going on?" Arman asked.

"The Devil...... The devil is coming......" A hint of horror flashed in the other party's eyes, "Devil Tank ......"

"What did you say?" Arman looked at him in disbelief, "What devil tank?" ”

The wounded Soviet tankman did not speak, but stretched out his hand and pointed straight in the direction of the woods not far away.

"It's coming! ……”

Arman turned to look in the direction of his finger, and through the smoke that had not yet cleared, he could vaguely see the figure of a tank.

Right! It's a tank!

A breeze blew, blowing away the gray-white smoke, and Arman couldn't help but gasp when he saw the other party's appearance clearly.

It was a much larger tank than the T-26 under his seat, with a large, round, thick turret in the shape of a trapezoidal platform and a thick, long barrel. The tank was painted in khaki all over, and the turret was painted with a hideous dragon head skeleton and the emblem of the Nationalist Army. At this time, it was like a giant beast in the ancient wilderness, and it was heading towards the tank group of the Republic [***] with heavy steps.

The tankers of the Republic [***] were a little dazed by the strange tank that suddenly appeared, and it was not until the tank stopped on the offensive line of the Republic [***] and turned the muzzle of the gun that slowly aimed at the Republic [***] tank, that the tankmen of the Republic [***] understood what was going to happen.

The "T-26" tank that was targeted by this strange tank reacted quickly and fired at this strange tank first, and the shells fired by the Soviet gunners accurately hit the body of this tank, and with the appearance of a flash of fire, some of the soldiers of the international brigade who had just arrived all cheered.

But surprisingly, the monster tank didn't seem to mind the attack of the "T-26", and in the light of fire and smoke, it finished aiming, and just as the "T-26" that attacked it was about to relaunch and leave, it opened fire.

With a low cannon sound like a monster's sigh, the thick barrel spewed out a long flame, and the "T-26" that could not dodge was immediately engulfed in flames, and with a loud bang, the turret of the "T-26" was completely lifted away, and the hull was also overturned.

Instead of the usual spectacle of a burning tank crew escaping from the burning hull and howling and rolling on the ground, the hit "T-26" was a pile of burning wreckage, and the people inside should have gone to see Lenin the moment the tank exploded.

The flames on the Monster Tank were quickly extinguished, its body was scorched with blackened stains, but there was no sign of damage or malfunction, and it slowly turned its heavy turret again, aiming its gun at another "T-26" tank.

Another flash of fire, a loud bang, and the "T-26" was also in a different place in the flames of the explosion, just like its comrade who had just been martyred.

The strange tank started up, drove forward for a while, and quickly adjusted its position, at this time several "T-26s" began to fire at it, and two more 45mm shells hit it, but it still behaved indestructible, it turned its muzzle, and destroyed another "T-26" tank with one shot.

Arman watched in horror at this terrible scene, at this time he had completely forgotten his command duties, and he looked at the enemy tank blankly, as if he understood why the messenger called it the "Devil's Tank".

After the "Devil Tank" destroyed three "T-26s" and two unlucky armored cars that accidentally crashed into the battle circle, Arman realized the danger of continuing the fight, he retracted his body into the turret, and shouted loudly without bothering to close the turret cover: "Quick! Retreat now! Let's get out of here! ”

Arman's "T-26" turned around and fled in the direction it came, and when he saw the command vehicle turning, and some other "T-26s" and armored vehicles also turned around and fled, Arman heard the continuous explosions behind him, and his heart couldn't help but tighten.

He knew that every explosion represented the destruction of one of his tanks or armored vehicles.

Soon, Arman heard the sound of the cannon gradually becoming more distant, he got up and leaned out of the turret again, turned to look back, and just then, a "T-26" immediately behind the command tank he was in suddenly exploded.

Arman was shocked, and he looked at the surrounding woods with a terrified gaze, and soon spotted the "Devil's Tank" in the bushes in the distance.

Seeing that the "Devil Tank" that had just inflicted huge losses on his tank troops had reappeared in front of him so quickly, Arman's heart was filled with inexplicable horror.

The muzzle of the "Devil Tank" slowly aimed at Arman's car, Arman watched the other party's gun muzzle spew deadly flames, he wanted to jump out of the car to escape, but his body was so frightened that he couldn't move at all.

"Boom!" With a loud bang, accompanied by rising flames, the surroundings suddenly became quiet, and Arman felt himself surrounded by a scorching wave of air, and his body flew into the air as if it were flying through the clouds.

As if slammed in the air by a giant hand, Arman's body fell into the nearby woods, and he fell into the canopy of a large tree, and after breaking many branches, his body was held up by the huge branches, and did not fall to the ground.

Arman held back the sharp pain all over his body, he shook his head vigorously, looked down, and immediately saw the figure of the "devil tank".

Arman's eyes, blurred by the entry of blood, widened as he saw the "Devil Tank" fire continuously, turning one T-26 tank after another into a burning wreckage. Ignoring the dying counterattack fire of the "T-26" tank, it calmly carried out its shooting, arrogant and ferocious, like a tiger rushing into a flock.

This is not a reciprocal battle, but a one-sided slaughter.

I don't know how long it took, but eventually, it was all over.

Arman, who was stuck in a tree, had just witnessed the destruction of almost twenty Soviet tanks.

The Devil Tank's crew did not show up after the attack, but slowly drove forward, passing under the large tree where Arman was, allowing Arman to clearly see its still smoky barrel, huge turret, and square body.

Arman quickly estimated in his head that, in his experience, the tank weighed at least more than 30 tons, its gun caliber far exceeded that of any existing Soviet tank, it should be no less than 60 millimeters, its armor was much thicker than that of the existing Soviet tanks, and it was surprisingly powerful to allow such a behemoth to move.

The "Devil Tank" swaggered around the battlefield for a while, as if reviewing its own results, and after making sure that all the Soviet tanks had been destroyed, the "Devil Tank" left what could be called a "tank slaughterhouse" and retreated into the jungle.

At this time, Arman had already made up his mind that as long as he could return alive, he must let the Supreme Leader Stalin and the Military Council know everything that happened here.

Of course, the current Arman does not know that the "Devil Tank" he just saw is not the one that appeared at the beginning.

And on the Spanish battlefield, on different fronts, there were also such "devil tanks", although their overall number was not large.

The Brunette Offensive, launched by the Republican [***], tried to save Madrid with an all-out attack. The offensive was carried out from the west to the southeast of the capital, with the aim of trapping the nationalist army on the main road south of Madrid. On July 6, 1937, the offensive of the Republican [***] 18th Army in Newtown, Canada, got off to a bad start. The tank battalion of the republican [***] crossed an open field, followed by the infantry of the 34th Division. But at a distance of 500 to 600 meters from the city, Soviet tanks were held back by the nationalist army's well-concealed anti-tank guns and field artillery. Artillery and air support were requested. But the next four attacks failed to neutralize the city's resistance. Two "Devil Tanks" of the Nationalist Army, which later changed the rhetoric of the Republican [***] officers and soldiers, appeared there, one of which was actually arranged in the courtyard of the church, and it destroyed a dozen Soviet "T-26" tanks. The appearance of the "Devil's Tank" demoralized the Republican [***], and as a result, the town was not conquered by the 15th Division, and the 18th Army did not achieve its intended objectives on the first day. Although the 5th Army was more successful, it did not achieve its main purpose under the artillery fire and tank counterattack of the Nationalist Army. Over the next few days, the few remaining Soviet tanks were used to support a series of smaller attacks in close proximity, but most failed to uproot the reinforced Nationalist positions. Even with the reserve tank battalions, by July 11, after a series of brutal offensive and defensive battles, the Republican [***] 1st Panzer Brigade in the Brunette area had been reduced to only 38 tanks, all of which were later used to support the 5th Army, which had suffered a terrible blow. On July 18, 1937, the Nationalist Army went on the offensive, and the exhausted and demoralized Republican [***] retreated. Although the Nationalist Army's counteroffensive seemed to be strong, after a series of bitter battles, they were also unable to overcome the Republican [***] positions, and by the end of the month, the battle ended in a stalemate.

Some media said that the German side gave the most powerful support to Franco's troops, and these "devil tanks" were the most advanced and powerful tanks made by the Germans; there was also news that these small but very effective "devil tanks" were resold to the Falangists at a high price by Chinese arms brokers in disregard of the ban on their own political axes; The German side has remained silent on these speculations, while the Chinese political axe has categorically denied them.

The Battle of Brunette attracted more Western military analysts than other tank battles in the Spanish Civil War. The fact that the tank could not advance under enemy anti-tank fire was cited by many as evidence that the tank could not maintain its ability to maneuver in war. Or even the famous British tank advocate Liddell? Hart also had doubts about the Spanish experience. But for other observers, in Spain, the warring sides misused tanks, and they openly questioned whether there were many useful lessons to be learned from the Spanish fighting. British tank advocate Rear Admiral J.F.C. Fuller commented: "Fighting is not with clichés and Liddell? Hartism wins. "He disagreed with most of the newspaper comments about the tank, attributing the tank's poor performance in Spain to a lack of tactics." The operation of the "Devil Tank" was ignored because of doubts about its real surname.

(To be continued)