On the track pins on the soles of the boots.

With such a slow and heart-wrenching knocking sound, the slender track pin was finally completely smashed in.

"Victor, come down" Roman shouted in a low voice.

"Is it done?" Weiran quickly put away the telescope and jumped off the tank and asked.

"Only the last two jobs left"

"The first thing is to find an opportunity to see if it can be activated."

Roman kicked the track and continued, "The pin is driven in from the opposite direction. After it is successfully activated, you have to go forward for a certain distance and then smash the pin back in from the inside out. Otherwise, the track will not be able to drive very far.

It’s time to fall off.”

This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "As long as it can be started, these tasks will not take long."

Vadim pointed to the turret, "Should we hide inside the tank, or under the German assault gun?"

"Is there any movement around?" Roman asked Wei Ran in a low voice.

"Nothing happened." Wei Ran shook his head, "Except for the free flares."

"Then let's go to the tank." Before he finished speaking, Roman was about to climb up the tank.

"Wait a minute" Vajim reached out and held Roman.

"What's wrong?" Roman asked in a low voice.

"if..."

Vajim glanced at Weiran and Roman under the flares raised from the Soviet position, "If our tanks can't be started by then, how about letting me be the loader? I've been driving tanks for so long, and I still can't.

I have never loaded a single shell with my own hands, so this might...maybe it will be the last time we drive this tank into battle."

Roman and Wei Ran looked at each other, hesitated for a moment, nodded as the flare slowly fell, and said solemnly, "If this tank cannot start, you will be the loader."

"Thank you," Vajim said, before letting go of Roman's muddy shoulders.

"Tankers don't need to say thank you, that's unnecessary nonsense." Roman smiled and said the words that the previous loader Agafond often said.

"If you don't say thank you, when we capture Kharkov, I'll treat you to a drink of vodka, including Agafoon's share." Vadim also made a promise with a smile.

“We’re waiting for your vodka”

After saying that, Wei Ran, who had given up his position as loader, had already walked around to the front of the tank and got in along the open hatch of the driver's seat. At the same time, he did not forget to take away the pack of cigarettes left by Trosha and the three bags next to him.

A kettle.

Amidst the soft knocking sounds, the three people got into the tank and carefully closed and locked the hatch cover. Then they brought up the armor-piercing bullets that had been thrown down the escape hatch one by one and wiped the mud off it.

“Try the German canned food”

After everyone used cloth strips to block the observation holes that could transmit light, Roman also took out the candle head with a height of less than five centimeters from his pocket and lit it. Then he took out three German cans from the canvas pocket next to him.

.

“It’s a pity there is no wine”

Vajim took a sip of the fresh water left by Trosha and smacked his mouth, looking for the faint taste of vodka in the water.

"I still have a few sips here, take it and drink it." Wei Ran said, having already taken out the wine bottle and handed it to Roman behind him, and took the German canned food from him.

"Keep it," Vajim refused first, "and drink it before the battle begins."

"You really have to stay until the battle begins."

Roman refused the wine bottle Wei Ran handed him, and moved his eyes to the periscope to take a look. Then he opened the can and whispered, "Take advantage of this opportunity to arrange a battle plan first."

"You are the commander of the vehicle. You can fight us however you want." Vajim said without thinking.

“Then you have to have a plan.”

Roman whispered, "If our tank can start, Vajim, you should drive the tank and try to go around the side of the tank we choose."

"clear"

Vajim used his bayonet to pry open the can and said nonchalantly, "Isn't that what you say in every battle plan? I have already remembered it."

“This time is different”

Roman took a sip of the soup in the can, looked at the flickering candle on the breech and continued, "If our tank can't start, we have one more man."

Before he finished speaking, Wei Ran and Vajim both looked over.

Roman smiled, picked up a piece of chicken from the can with a fork and stuffed it into his mouth. While chewing, he said vaguely, "If our tank cannot start, we will have one more person."

Before he finished speaking, Vajim immediately said, "You have just agreed to let me be the loader. Let Victor go back then."

"We still need someone to hide outside the tank"

Roman raised his head abruptly, "If our tanks can't move, and if the Germans rush over, we need someone outside to protect us and let us fire as many shells as possible."

Hearing this, Vajim fell into silence. If the tank really couldn't be started, it would be equally dangerous whether inside or outside the tank. It was just a matter of who died first and who died last.

"Victor, I want to be a loader." Vajim looked at Wei Ran. In the flickering candlelight, a clear look of prayer could be seen on his mud-covered face.

"Okay." Wei Ran nodded simply after a moment of silence.

"Then it's decided"

Roman lowered his head, "If the tank can start tomorrow, Victor will be the loader. If it can't start, Victor, hide in the wreckage of the German assault gun to cover us, and make sure not to let those Germans take it.

The grenade was thrown into the tank."

"If our tank is destroyed, you can escape back." Vajim added, reaching out to touch the gun breech, and finally sighed hesitantly, pinched a piece of meat from the open can and threw it in

In the mouth.

"You can rest after you're full." Roman put down the empty cans, "I'll be on guard."

"Let me do it." Wei Ran pointed to the cockpit cover, "I have a better view here."

"You can wake me up if you're sleepy," Roman said, before blowing out the candle that was about to burn out.

Inside the tank, which was plunged into darkness, Vajim ate the food in his hand silently. Wei Ran also carefully opened the hatch that had just been locked, and vigilantly observed the surrounding movements with the help of flares that rose from time to time outside.

In this unquiet night, time passed slowly minute by minute, and the flares fired from time to time by both sides gradually stopped.

I don't know when it started, but a dense drizzle began to fall in the night sky. The cool raindrops hit his face, which also made Wei Ran, who was already a little sleepy, wake up a little.

He stretched out his upper body and glanced at the morning glow on the eastern horizon. Wei Ran yawned, got out of the tank lightly, pointed at the wreckage of the No. 3 assault gun next to him, and untied his belt.

However, before he finished urinating, he suddenly realized that something was wrong. After listening for a moment, Wei Ran immediately tightened his belt and raised his telescope in the direction of the Soviet position behind him.

Just by taking a glance, he realized that all the tanks in his field of vision were tanks! All T-34 tanks! Tanks without infantry following them!

"Roman! Vadim!"

At this time, Wei Ran no longer cared about whether shouting would attract the attention of the Germans. He even picked up a crowbar and hit the thick armor plate hard, "Quickly try to start the tank!"

"What's wrong?!" Roman was the first to push open the hatch cover above his head, and then he heard the roar of the engine behind him from the direction of the Soviet army.

"Vadjim! Start the tanks!"

Almost at the same time that Roman shouted these words, rumbling artillery fire also came from the German position opposite!

"Hurry up!" Wei Ran shouted with a hammer, and immediately after, Roman jumped down with two tank pins, waiting to complete the final repair work on the tracks.

"I'm starting it!" Vajim shouted anxiously, pressing the start switch tightly.

However, in addition to the asthma-like roar of the starter and the gurgling black smoke from the rear of the car, the negative response of the tank engine for which they had high hopes made their hearts grow colder and colder!

"boom!"

Amidst the dull sound of artillery, the tanks coming from the Soviet position had begun to fire, which also indicated that the distance between the two sides had reached within 500 meters! But for the three people trapped in the center of the battlefield, the Germans

The tank is probably not even 200 meters away from them!

"Can it still be started?!" Roman, who was covered in mud, asked in a loud voice.

"I'm already working hard!" Vajim responded loudly without releasing the start switch at all.

"That's too late!"

Roman jumped from the wreckage of the assault gun to the T-34 that was struggling to start up, threw away the track pin in his hand and asked, "Vadjim, do you want to be a loader?"

After trying to start the engine for the last time, Vadim turned around and moved to the loader's position, shouting at the same time, "Victor, there are two drums under my feet!"

"Victor"

Roman, who had already climbed into the turret, pointed to the left side of the front of the car, "This direction is our only shooting range. The other directions are left to you. Don't let the German soldiers touch it."

Wei Ran gritted his teeth and responded loudly, "Don't worry, leave it to me!"

"If we are destroyed, you should flee back immediately." Before Roman could finish his words, he had already closed the hatch above his head with a clang.

Looking around, Weiran ran to the hatch of the driver's seat and took out the two drums that Vajim just mentioned. After closing the hatch, he bent down and hid in the shadow of the front of the assault gun, and stepped under the chassis.

A bundle of German grenades was pulled out of the mud.

It's funny to say that this is the only individual weapon that can be considered a threat to German tanks. It was buried under the tank by the Germans who were cleaning the battlefield last night, and he dug it out with his own hands.

A moment later, the T-34 tank turret, with only Roman and Vajim included, was slowly turning towards the left side of the front of the vehicle, turning into an immovable artillery position. In the dawn shrouded in gunpowder smoke, it was anxious.
Chapter completed!