"To the north, to the north!"

"Shore up, the whole company to the north! The battalion goes ashore, and the whole battalion cannot stop to the north! The regiment went ashore, and the whole regiment could not stop northward! If you can't beat the enemy's heavy troops, you will go around, and if you can't get around, you will hold on and wait for help! ”

On a front more than two hundred kilometers wide from the mouth of the Shatt al-Arab to Port Rig, all radio stations received this order. The Wehrmacht's battalion tactics were fully displayed at this time, and almost as long as they were down-to-earth, the junior officers could quickly organize their troops and advance northward. Because all the soldiers know that now is the most chaotic time for the Soviet army, whether or not they can occupy Ahvaz as soon as possible to sweep away the Soviet army in the south and gain a firm foothold has become the key to the entire Persian campaign! At this time, the most lacking thing is not aircraft artillery, but whether the follow-up forces can keep up in time.

Distance is the biggest enemy, and since the strait is also two hundred kilometers wide in a straight line, even a transport plane will take half an hour. Therefore, Bai Chongxi was very worried about the counterattack of the Soviet army, so he asked Zhu Jiande to come to the front line in person.

By the time the plane arrived at the port of Shahpur, the fighting here was over.

Although the Soviets had two infantry regiments, a 152-mm heavy artillery battalion and twenty BT7 tanks here, they collapsed in less than an hour in the face of sea shelling by a Xiangjiang-class light cruiser and two Qinling-class destroyers. When Ran Nanxuan led the 3rd Battalion of the 22nd Independent Armored Regiment to cut off the retreat route, he only paid the price of two 31 tanks to completely annihilate this Soviet army, with more than 1,400 prisoners of war alone, and also captured 13 BT7 tanks, 25 cannons, 43 trucks and other weapons and equipment.

Looking down from the sky, the two berths in the harbor were packed, and the engineers who landed first also used the captured Soviet tanks as bridge piers to build a temporary berth next to the Bailey Bridge components. Brigades of infantrymen dressed in desert camouflage uniforms disembarked with carrying gear on their backs, and cranes were busy unloading all kinds of trucks. Since there are only three berths, the landing is not fast. In order to solve the problem of troop projection, the engineers also opened a take-off and landing field in the sand outside the harbor, and a total of 47 Y-6s flew to and from both sides of the bay.

Because of seaport restrictions. The ro-ro wheel, which has the largest throughput capacity, could not enter, so the two armored divisions with the strongest combat effectiveness of the army group had to wait for Abadan to take before they could go ashore. Now landing at the port of Shahpur are the 6th Motorized Rifle Division and the 36th Infantry Division of the 4th Army. As for the 3rd Battalion of the 22 Separate Armored Regiment, which had taken the harbor, it had already advanced to Behebehan to the east after hastily refueling, and they were to jam there with the vanguard of the 36 Infantry Division, cutting off the communication between Rig Port and Ahvaz.

Yun-7 is currently the best general aircraft in the world, and it can land in an open space the size of a tennis court, so Zhu Jiande directly let the plane land in the harbor. As soon as I got off the plane, I saw Wang Xi, the commander of the 6th Motorized Infantry Division, running over.

Zhu Jiande was a subordinate of Cai Yi, and after the Yunnan Army was merged into the National Defense Force, he participated in the Central Plains War with Beiyang and fought Jinzhou. Been to France. Especially the European war, it was a turning point in his life, from an ordinary officer with a narrow vision to going abroad to participate in world-class battles, and the gains cannot be described in words. After returning to China, he entered the National Defense University for further study, and also took the opportunity of good Sino-German relations to study at the German Army Academy. It is precisely because it is difficult to walk step by step, so he uses his troops steadily.

In Jiang Fangzhen's words, Zhu Jiande, a person who is stable in the use of troops, is superior to the whole army, and if he is allowed to attack, it may be insufficient. But if you let it stabilize a war zone, you don't need to worry even if you have twice as many enemies. Zhu Jiande is not good at attacking, but he doesn't know how to attack, and he has long wanted to try his offensive skills when he has such a good opportunity. So without a word of nonsense, he asked Wang Xi: "How is the situation?" ”

Wang Xi also participated in the European war as a recruit, and also served as an intern squad leader in Zhu Jiande's regiment, so he quickly put the map on the cover of the jeep: "The troops have been deployed in three directions. The 2nd Battalion of the 22nd Panzer Regiment and one regiment of the 73rd Division have surrounded Abadan, and although there are two Soviet infantry divisions here, we have air force and three frigates to provide fire support. It should be able to hold until the main force of the 73rd Division arrives. The third battalion of the armored regiment and two battalions of the 36th division had already set out for Behebehan, and I had sent a motorized infantry regiment to follow behind. Only here Sadaigan! A Soviet tank regiment was rushing towards us, about 80 tanks, many of them new tanks that had never been seen before. The Navy had already sent dive bombers to help, and the Air Force was supposed to do the same, but we had just received a report that three infantry divisions and three or four tank battalions had been spotted coming out of Tehran and heading south along the railway, so the Air Force bombers would have to deal with the Soviet troops heading south first, and they would have time to support us tomorrow morning. ”

Located 60 kilometres northwest of the harbour, Sadaigan is the southern gateway to and from Ahvaz, and the terrain is flat and unguarded. Now the bombers are going to block Tehran's reinforcements, and the navy has to support in two directions, which is exactly a gap period. So Zhu Jiande immediately asked: "Who is in charge of the attack in the direction of Shadaigan?" ”

"The 22 regiment tank battalion and infantry battalion. Wang Xi looked up at his watch: "Counting the time, it should have already happened." ”.

Fifteen kilometers southeast of Shadaigan, thirty-two Type 36 main battle tanks and eight Type 25 light tanks camouflaged in the desert camouflage spread out in attack formation and quietly hid behind the dunes. The temperature of the carriage under the sun had exceeded 40 degrees, and the communications soldier was already sweating profusely before he could say a few words, so he turned off the radio and pulled Li Jin, who leaned out of the car with half of his body up: "Regiment commander." The Navy said that the enemy was already 4 kilometers to the west of us, and that it could be seen by climbing over the sand dunes in front of us, with a total of forty-two new tanks and thirty-two T26s. They've already taken out all five Scout T26s as you said, but the cannon can't hit the armor of the new tank, so let's be careful. ”

"Got it. Let the reconnaissance company go and lure them over! Li Jin didn't seem to pay any attention to the thick-skinned Soviet heavy tanks, and waited for the returning naval dive bombers to disappear to the south before folding the map and stuffing it into his jacket pocket and picking up the binoculars again.

Tank warfare is not simply relying on rough skin and thick flesh to rampage, no matter how strong the tank is, it also has weaknesses, so ambush is one of the most common tactics. Originally, according to the order of the headquarters, the first battalion should rush into Sadaigan as quickly as possible, but after learning that a new tank regiment of the Soviet army suddenly drilled here, he did not plan to let go of this piece of fat, and after choosing to use this place as an ambush.

From the surrounding topography, this is a saline-alkali sand land formed by flooding in ancient times, and many low sand dunes have been washed out by the flood. The 22nd Regiment is now behind a sand dune more than thirty meters high, and you only have to climb over the dunes to see the Sadaigan Oasis. Therefore, after learning that the HNA had killed the Soviet reconnaissance tank, he immediately ordered the reconnaissance company to lure the "fat meat" over.

Although the Type 25 tank is nicknamed the Iron Bull. But it is no longer the main tank of the Wehrmacht, but it is very suitable for reconnaissance missions, so each division will be organized into one or two companies. The 22nd Regiment also had a reconnaissance company, one of the platoons had already gone to Abadan with Zhao Sanbiao, and after the remaining two platoons received orders, eight 25 tanks crossed the dunes in a fan-shaped reconnaissance formation, and then accelerated to rush to several smoking places in the front right.

At this time, Colonel Lavinsky, who had arrived from Moscow, did not know that his opponent was already under his nose, and he was fighting with his KV1 tank: "Denovic, can you hurry up?" ”

The commander poked his head out of the crowded cockpit. Shake vigorously: "Excuse me, Comrade Colonel, this is already the fastest speed." ”

"Damn, Marshal Voroshilov has a liar son-in-law! He deceived the General Secretary and should be shot! "Ravinsky used to be a low-ranking officer in the Political Department of the Soviet Army, and he rose to the rank of colonel of the Moscow Military District in a few years by reporting and sycophants, and also relied on his early experience as a tank platoon commander to become the first officer to command new tanks. But he was naturally short-tempered and often insulted junior officers. This time, he took out his anger on KV1 tank designer Kotin.

In fact, under the pressure of the amazement of the World Expo and the poor tanks of the Soviet army in Afghanistan, tank designers such as Kotin have realized the crisis and finally come up with two advanced tanks, the T34 and KV1, through serious and active work. But they don't know. The engine factory sent to test the engine is actually imported materials, and after entering the production, it is found that the domestic materials are unqualified, and the finished products produced do not meet the requirements at all. However, the factory did not dare to tell the truth, so there was a serious disconnect between the experimental data and the production data. Even with the flat sand in front of it, the KV1 is only 11 kilometers per hour at the moment, and it can't even reach the 12 kilometers per hour test data for off-roading.

"Comrade Colonel. The T26 of the reconnaissance company was blown up, should you send someone again? ”

Not to mention the slow speed of the KV1, and the five T26 fast tanks were killed by dive bombers, and Lavinsky was in a hurry. When he heard the report, he immediately shouted: "Don't waste your strength, the enemy's plane will not come back for the time being, use the time to speed up!" ”

After driving the herald away, Lavinsky got into the slow KV1 car, but the heat inside the car made him uncomfortable, and he was about to get out again to breathe, when he heard shouts outside: "Enemy attack!" ”

KV1 does not have periscopes and does not have a radio, so Lavinsky can only lean out to check. Only then did I find that the sand was already rolling in the sand to the east, and eight Type 25 light tanks of the Chinese National Defense Forces appeared in view. The 25 tanks on the opposite side also seemed to be unprepared for the sudden encounter with such a large tank regiment, quickly stopped a kilometer apart, and then fired at here while reversing.

"Boom."

A shell hit the KV1 at the front, but after a slight pause, the KV1 emitted black smoke. Seeing that the enemy's tank guns could not penetrate the KV1, Lavinsky happily immediately ordered the whole pursuit. Fortunately, he also knew that the KV1 could not catch up with the light tank with fast off-road speed, so he ordered the T26 to chase first, and he took the KV1 to follow behind.

The T26 is lighter than the 25 Iron Bull and has worse protection, but the speed is still as damaging as the 45mm tank gun above, so the reconnaissance company did not fall in love with the battle, and accelerated to turn around and flee in the direction it came. Seeing that the Chinese tanks were swept all over the ground by themselves, Lavinsky and the Soviet tank crews finally let out a bad breath. I don't know if I felt a happy mood, even the KV1 battle group, which was as slow as a snail, played extraordinarily and actually increased the speed by three kilometers.

"Captain! It's coming, it's all coming! 27 T26s in front, new tanks in the back! ”

"Are the anti-tank guns of the infantry battalion in place? Very good! A chain from the right bread copy! Two and three in a row. All pay attention to me! After defeating the T26, use ordinary bullets for the first two rounds, and if you can't penetrate them, use tungsten bullets for the third round! Hearing the excited shouting on the radio, a battalion hiding behind the dunes immediately went into action. Li Jin was also worried about the thick armor of the new tank, so he specially reminded that if ordinary armor-piercing shells could not penetrate, high-speed tungsten bullets would be used.

The manufacturing of tungsten bullets is extremely difficult, and if it were not for Yang Qiu's tungsten carbide technology obtained from Germany with an order in 1929, it may not be possible to manufacture it now. Moreover, it is rumored in the army that the cost of a tungsten bullet is five times that of an ordinary armor-piercing bullet, so even a Type 36 tank has only five tungsten bullets per vehicle.

As soon as the first battalion and four 85-mm anti-tank guns hidden in the sea of sand were ready, several pillars of dust were stirred up on the sand dunes in front of them. The power of the 45 mm / L46 tank gun of the T-26 tank is still good. The shells continued to hit the top of the dunes, making Li Jin sweat for the reconnaissance company. Fortunately, soon the first 25 Iron Bull came into view, followed by the remaining 7 vehicles quickly rushed over the sand dunes.

The temporary loss of the target did not discourage the T26 tank, on the contrary, it pursued more quickly. But they didn't know that behind the sand dunes that they couldn't see, the 25 Iron Bulls that had fled in confusion just now had all turned around, and the thick 85/L56 gun barrels next to them were all aimed at the top of the dunes.

"Signal! Speed up, speed up and don't let the enemy run! "There is no sign of the enemy. Colonel Lavinsky jumped to his feet in a hurry, urging him to speed up.

The twenty-seven T26 tanks that had already been chased in a scattered formation were spread out to a width of thousands of meters, and the sand and dust rolled up by the tracks made each of the 36 tanks hold their breath. Finally, the first T26 appeared at the top of the dune, followed by six more that rushed up. But before the Soviet tank crews could see the situation clearly, a barrage of shells had already burst out of the chamber.

Less than 600 meters, the target is in a high dazzling position, it is even easier than hitting a target!

"Boom, boom."

In a series of metal crashes and explosions, the 12 85mm/L56 tank guns of the 1st Battalion and 2nd Company gave the T26 a taste of what it means to be powerful! The seven T26s at the head didn't even react. was pierced by shells. Two of them were directly pierced, and the remaining five were killed by hitting the ammunition rack. The explosion threw 10 tons of steel into the air, and then disintegrated in front of everyone's eyes.

Due to the suddenness of the incident, the T26 following behind did not have time to brake at all. There had just exploded on this side, and three more had climbed to the top of the hill over there. The long-awaited three companies were unceremonious, and 12 armor-piercing bullets smashed over in groups, as easy as shooting a platoon gun.

Just over a minute. Ten T26s became scrap metal. The continuous explosions and shelling roar from the top of the dunes frightened the remaining T26s into turning around, and Colonel Lavinsky, who was still rushing towards this side a kilometer away, was even more dumbfounded. Even pinching the finger bones turned white! At first, he thought it was a mine, but the sound of the cannon told him mercilessly that there was an ambush!

"Rush Rush!"

Li Jin grabbed the microphone and gave an order loudly. Twenty-four 36 tanks, which had been on standby for a long time, rushed to the dunes at a speed of 30 kilometers per hour like hungry tigers. Then, from the wreckage of the destroyed tank, he rushed towards the KV1 tank regiment in the distance at a faster speed than the Soviet tank just now. At the same time, a roundabout company of twelve 36 tanks also began to accelerate, striking the enemy in a circle from the flanks.

"Fire! Fire! ”

Seeing the group of tanks rushing down, Lavinsky turned pale with fright and hurriedly ordered to open fire.

After the KV1 tank group of classic cars slowly stabilized, 42 76mm/L41 tank guns were quickly raised, and the Soviet gunners watched intently at the 36 tank group chasing and killing their T26 comrades two kilometers away, and swallowed hard while calculating the distance.

Thundered.

It was the turn of 42 76 guns to fire a platoon of guns, but to the dumbness of Lavinsky and the Soviet tank crews, it was clear that a few shells had hit the target, but the opponent did not even reduce the speed, but only paused a little and rushed up again. "Could it be that the distance is too far, and the armor-piercing bullet is not exerting its maximum power?" Lavinsky thought to himself.

Since there was no stable fire control in this era, tanks had to stop before firing, and many times the pursued tanks took advantage of this to escape. But the T26s couldn't escape this time, because their speed in the sand was only 25 kilometers per hour, while the Type 36 tank could reach speeds of up to 40 kilometers per hour in this saline sand, so it was easy to chase up to 300 meters and then stop steadily.

Syllable!

After Li Jin's tank hit a T26 again, he was just about to start and continue moving forward when he heard a violent crash from the front of the turret. After the defeat in Afghanistan, the Soviets significantly increased the pace of development and manufacture of new tanks, but armor-piercing shells did not improve much. The 76-mm steel-core armor-piercing projectiles used in the KV1 tank barely even dealt with the Type 31, let alone the Type 36.

After laying 120 mm on the front and 60 degrees at an inclination, the actual protection efficiency is equal to 200 mm homogeneous steel plate, the side is equal to 130 mm homogeneous steel plate, and even the back has 60 mm of protection capacity. As for the turret, because of the shape of the AMX30, the frontal protection is already equivalent to 230 mm! The 76/L41 tank gun hits it, it's like tickling!

Yes! In the eyes of the Soviet gunner on the opposite side who was about to cheer after the hit, Li Jin's tank stretched its waist, like a rhinoceros bitten by a mosquito, and suddenly rushed forward for a hundred meters before braking, aiming the long barrel at him. "your grandma, dare to hit Lao Tzu!" The loader, who had been shaken and scratched the skin, pushed a tungsten alloy armor-piercing bullet hard.

"Azimuth 010, 1370 meters away from the gun!"

"Boom!"

After a loud bang, the periscope was obscured by gunsmoke. As soon as the tankmen started to rush out of the smoke, everyone saw that a black hole had appeared in the turret of the KV1 that had been hit.

"Close the distance!"

After seeing that the last T26 that escaped was set on fire by three 25 tanks, Li Jin decisively ordered to close the distance. As the distance approached, more and more KV1s began to hit their opponents. But most of them only smashed a white spot on the front, and only one coincidentally hit the gunner's periscope, resulting in having to stop and search for targets by the commander's periscope.

This scene made the Soviet tank crews collectively crazy! What kind of monster you're facing! It's 700 meters, and I haven't really destroyed one yet! "Reverse, reverse!" At this time, no matter how stupid Colonel Lavinsky was, he knew that KV1 was not an opponent of the other side at all, and hurriedly ordered to reverse and try to escape.

But it's too late!

"Colonel, left!"

The detour to the rear of the flank rolled up the sky with yellow sand, and directly cut off Colonel Lavinsky's retreat route. There was no coordination without wires, and the untrained Soviet tank crews began to panic, and the panicked KV1 lost command and ran around, some rushed to the left, some were ready to flee to the right, and more wanted to crush a company head-on and retreat.

"Fire! Fire! "In the face of the chaotic KV1 tank group, the first battalion was like a tiger rushing into the flock, and hit the opponent with cannon after cannon. The slow speed and steering of the machine made the KV1 completely powerless.

There is no need for even expensive tungsten bullets anymore! At a distance of 700 meters, the 85 mm/L56 tank gun could penetrate the KV1 from any direction.

"Boom, boom!" Explosion, explosion, explosion! One after another KV1 was detonated after being hit by armor-piercing shells, and even if there was no detonator, some people would deliberately get closer to the position of the ammunition and make another shot.

The steel twisted and disintegrated in flames and explosions, and the occasional Soviet tank crew rushed out did not escape the strafing of coaxial machine gun fire.

Slaughter!

A **naked massacre!

From the time the first T26 was hit, in less than forty minutes, this tank regiment, which was hidden by Lemechev as a secret weapon, was completely wiped out! Not only were all thirty-two T26 tanks destroyed, but even the KV1 tanks, which Stalin had high hopes for, finally couldn't control their fear after being destroyed twenty-five, and they stretched out their white flags one after another. And the first battalion lost only one Type 25, and one Type 36 was damaged.

Li Jin stood in the car, looked at Colonel Lavinsky with his arms raised under the muzzle of the soldier's gun, smiled slightly, and then threw away the cigarette butt and stood up.

"Send a telegram to command!"

"In front of our battalion, there are no tanks!" …… (To be continued.) )