Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 131: Annihilation (3)

"There is no road marked on the map. I think this **** is quite steep and it will be difficult to climb up."

The deputy company is telling the truth. Matilda is an infantry tank, but it does not mean that it can go where the infantry can reach. Due to the suspension system and engine horsepower, the climbing has always been this tank. Weaknesses. In the French front, this tank not only cannot climb hills, but also has difficulty crossing the ditch. For this reason, the so-called French battlefield type was specially developed. A barrel-shaped skid was installed behind the tank's **** to prevent the rear of the tank from falling into. The trench cannot be climbed up.

"It's really impossible. We just walked around. This mountain is three hundred feet high. What is the name of the place in front of it, the monastery lake? Where is the monastery?" Turn on the light in the turret, and Philip took the map to gather View in the light.

"I don't know, sir, you know I've never been here." Blanche replied in the headset.

"Let’s take a detour on the other side of the hillside and turn left on Arkham Road. There is a road uphill, which should allow heavy equipment to pass through and speed up. The infantry may have been waiting in a hurry."

"Understood, sir, I don’t know what’s going on. I contacted them on the radio before, but there was no response." After the deputy replied, the three Matildas in the front row increased their horsepower and started to speed. accelerate.

The lights on the main armor illuminate the rear of the front tank, and you can clearly see the black smoke from the engine exhaust pipe. This is because the fuel is not fully burned. Because of the shortage of parts, the engines of these tanks have more or less minor problems, so they are usually very careful when using them. The drivers have been avoiding running this sophisticated machine at full power. They have lost the logistics repair unit and are acquiring new ones. Before replenishing the parts, you must carefully control and maintain, and try to extend the use time.

Bypassing the Minnes Trail, the convoy turned onto a small road called Cox Hill Bend. This is a single-lane gravel road, which looks very old. From here is a long upward gentle slope, the tank must increase some power.

The trails are surrounded by dense woods, which is a bit eerie and scary in the dark, and the surrounding terrain is undulating. Shrubs and trees are scattered, and if you come during the day, it must be a wild and interesting scene. Major Philip couldn't help sighing, no wonder someone built the monastery here. In the suburbs of Dover with dense villages and towns, this is indeed a sacred place for quiet cultivation.

The tank company dragged a long marching army. Slowly advancing on the road in the forest with a roar, vaguely saw a few dark buildings not far from the roadside in the gap between the trees. The company commander thought that maybe it was the ancient monastery on the map, but now military affairs There is no room for slack in the body, otherwise he would be very interested in exploring the past.

The woods blocked most of the sky. The only light source in the convoy was the two tank headlights. Because there was no anti-aircraft lampshade installed, the bright lights could shine far away. The tank company quickly drove out of the woods, and Major Philip was watching all the way. But he never found the lake marked on the map, so he felt a little regretful, and made up his mind that when he was free from the war, he must come here for a good tour and appreciate the local historical sites.

Major Philip found that his team was going downhill, which made him feel a little bit puzzled. He got into the turret and checked the map carefully again, and suddenly realized that he might have gone the wrong way.

"Captain Blanche, we may have gone too far. We should have turned to the left before entering the woods, where there is a path around Mount Cox.

"Oh, sir, didn't you mean to walk from the monastery lake. From the map, we haven't reached the lake yet. What should we do now, shall we turn around and go back?" The deputy Lian was obviously a little annoyed, because according to They were already half an hour late at the stipulated time.

"Forget it. Let's move on. This road also intersects with Arkham Road. We just went around three more miles. It's too late anyway, just keep going."

The company continued to move forward, and soon Philip saw the lake he was looking for. There was an old stone bridge on the lake. The first tank did not go on the bridge, but stopped by the bridge with the front row.

"What's the problem? Why don't you go through it." The major was a little surprised.

"Sir, this bridge has a limited weight. Our tank is ten tons overweight and can't get past here." The company lieutenant's tank drove to the side of the company commander's car, and the captain loudly reported to the commander.

"Damn it, there is no such restriction on the map. Now we are in trouble." The tank company commander took off his military cap and scratched the hair on the back of his head vigorously.

"Well, we are tanks. We can move forward without a road. We can go through this woodland. We can pass through this woodland. The road is less than two hundred feet in the past. We have to speed up." Philip felt this was a way. Now it’s downhill, Matilda’s off-road ability will not have much impact, and it should be possible to quickly pass through this sparse woodland to the Arkham Highway.

The Matilda tank company started to turn on the small road, climbed off the roadbed and ran over the lawn, and drove towards the far road. This piece of land is a woodland, strictly speaking, it is just a lawn with some shrubs and individual trees growing sparsely on it, which is unimpeded by the Matilda tanks. They can even clearly see the mountains on the opposite side of the road.

"That is Arkham Mountain. There is a beautiful villa on the mountain. Its owner built it like a palace."

The major raised his head and looked at the black hill. It was seventy feet higher than Cox Mountain on the other side. It was strange why the Army didn’t occupy that hill. That was the control of the valleys on both sides. As long as an artillery and a battalion of infantry are placed on the commanding heights, the surrounding area of ​​three or four miles can be sealed off. The terrain is easy to defend and difficult to attack. He began to worry about the military skills of the Dover garrison.

"Climbing this mountain is the town of Temple Ewell, where the Seventh Queen’s private cavalry was wiped out, sir." The deputy company reminded me on the radio.

"Quan Company remains vigilant. The Germans may be around here, and we may encounter them at any time." Philip issued an order to Quan Company via radio.

He regretted it secretly now. He knew he should turn around and withdraw, and walked around the path at the foot of Cox Mountain to reach the position. With the support of a regular position, they would be much safer.

Now because of his own convenience, he took the troops to this wilderness. Only then did he realize how close this location was to the place where the Germans appeared on the report. The major began to cheer up and carefully observe the surroundings. Circumstances, maybe they hide the German paratroopers in the dark bushes, maybe they are now aiming at themselves with rifles, ready to shoot deadly bullets at any time.

Thinking of this, Philip felt a bit cold on the back of his head, he bent down and got into the turret, preparing to take his helmet from the turret. It was this action that saved his life. Just as he bent down and got into the turret, a string of tracer bullets shot from the **** of Arkham Mountain, dragging the white tracer machine gun shells and hitting his vehicle. There was a spark from Matilda's turret, and two of the bullets directly hit the canopy of the commander's exit, where Philip was standing.

"Alarms, pay attention to enemy machine guns" Philip slipped and fell on the floor of the turret. He picked up the radio microphone on his chest and issued a loud combat alarm.

The reaction speed of the company's "return and kill the machine gun" was very fast. As the first vehicle of the pilot platoon, his Matilda began to turn the turret, and before firing the artillery, he shot the coaxial machine gun toward the place where the tracer projected. After a burst of fire, the blue-white tracer projectile struck the hillside with an arc, and the deputy judged that there should be a bush.

"Loading finished" the gunner yelled loudly.

"Fire." Blanche gave an order to fire without hesitation.

The gunner's shoulders pressed the shoulder rest of the two-pound gun, adjusted the angle slightly, aimed at the position where the tracer fell, and squeezed the firing wrench forcefully.

After a roar, a 40mm grenade shot towards the dark hill. The deputy company commander’s judgment was correct. There was indeed a bush. The shells exploded in the bushes. A beautiful white ball of fire lit up on the hillside. The unburned gunpowder and flammable agent arced toward you. Scattered all around, lit the dry grass on the ground, and the flames began to burn, illuminating the nearby bushes and trees~IndoMTL.com~ To the disappointment of the British, this shell did not seem to hit the target they were expecting, except for the light. From the bushes, the British did not get any results.

But just as the British gunner continued to search for the target in the scope, a bright flame suddenly lit up in his lens. Under the reflection of the flame, the gunner vaguely saw the object behind the flame. He believed It was a tank. Although the shell was dyed orange-red by the fire, he was sure that it was a tank.

This was the last thought in the mind of the British gunner. A second later, a high-speed armor-piercing projectile hit Matilda’s body frontally. It entered from below the driver’s observation window, easily It penetrated the 75mm steel plate, the warhead shredded the driver's body, then flew into the bottom of the turret, and exploded on the ammunition rack between the gunner's legs.

With a loud noise, Matilda’s turret lifted up from the seat ring and lay slantingly on the opening of the car body. In the gap between the turret and the seat ring, orange flames roared Frantically spraying out, the machine gun charges of the vehicle-mounted ammunition began to explode one after another. A 40mm warhead rolled and ejected from the turret exit, exploding a beautiful firework on the lawn. To be continued.

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