Chapter 66
The offensive began with intense fighting, and after the double encirclement of Vyazma-Bryansk, the Soviet Red Army successfully regrouped its forces, restored the front line, and reserves arrived from the Far East to Moscow. Hundreds of thousands of Moscow residents and militiamen quickly built a complete defensive fortification, making it a siege battle for the Germans from the start.
Fawley, as a tankman, was naturally at the forefront of the charge. He commanded his own tank and, together with his comrades, used artillery fire to destroy Soviet firepower points and defensive fortifications, especially many solid fortifications that required him and his companions to use their tanks to cover combat engineers for blasting; The battle was fierce, progress was slow, and casualties were heavy. From time to time, there were also Soviet tanks launching a flanking attack, trying to cut off the German army's line of attack; or directly confronting head-on, hoping to block the arrowhead of Germany's tank offensive. Fawley had six or seven tank battles in one day.
"Range 1200! T-26! Fire at will!" Fafnir yelled into the intercom.
"Right turn!! Stop! Forward! Turret right 15 degrees! Two o'clock direction! Load armor-piercing shell!" He shouted again to the driver and gunner. "Stop the car! Wait for my command!" A T34 suddenly appeared from around the corner of a small village house where Favre's tank was located, after just a few seconds. The T34 did not notice the 4th tank nearby, and Favre's gunner didn't wait for him to give the order to fire before firing an armor-piercing shell. The two vehicles were only about 4-5 meters apart, with the T34 completely exposed on its side and rear. It was impossible for Favre's gunner to miss. One 75mm armor-piercing shell accurately penetrated the engine compartment of the T34, disabling its engine. Soviet tank crew members jumped out of their tank, only to be mowed down one by one by Favre's tank machine guns - they still hadn't realized that the German tank that destroyed them was right behind them.
Once again repelled the Soviet Red Army tanks' attack on the German army's flank, Favniel and his men couldn't stay still, they rushed to the front line to reinforce. The precious time and motor hours, supplies were consumed in the entanglement with the Soviet army. In just one short week, Favniel increased his achievements to 14 tanks and self-propelled guns, already the number one tank hunter in the regiment, while his friends were lucky, no one was missing arms or legs, all were relatively safe on the first line.
The weather suddenly turned cold... Fawfnir learned what "Russian winter" was, tanks couldn't start, and infantry suffered heavy frostbite. The antifreeze and warm clothing from the rear couldn't be delivered, and logistics were almost cut off. Fortunately, Fawfnir wasn't afraid of the cold, he didn't have any problems, but other tank soldiers suffered heavy losses, many tanks broke down and couldn't start, and the frontline tanks became fixed targets for the Soviet army's anti-tank guns, Soviet tanks, and long-range artillery. They were destroyed one by one. Fawfnir and his crew tried every means to start the tank to warm up - at least the engine could still provide some warmth inside... Every day after the battle stopped, they had to drain the water tank - otherwise, it would freeze solid and be done for. Before each battle, they had to spend a lot of time boiling water and filling the tank, while also checking if the lubricating oil was frozen... Many tanks were abandoned like this.
Fortunately, he was lucky, and the tank's situation was good, at least it could start every time, and it could move and fight. However, this was also his bad luck, as his tank could still fight, so he often formed a combat group with other tanks and armored vehicles that could still fight and frequently went into battle. At the end of November, there were fewer offensive battles, and they mobilized less. In early December, the Soviet Red Army launched a counterattack, and he became a firefighter running around, being dispatched by his superiors to various places to block the gaps.
The fighting was extremely fierce, the Soviet Red Army's morale was high, and a large number of new troops were thrown into the battlefield. The German army's morale was low, frequently abandoning positions and retreating, but the Führer's orders required them to hold every strongpoint to the death, an order that while sacrificing many soldiers also prevented a complete collapse of the German army.
Fawzi's tank was badly worn out, he was exhausted. The Soviet army launched a round of uninterrupted offensives, he had hardly any time to rest, always from one battlefield to another.
"Halt! Three o'clock direction!! KV, ready the grenade!! Missed?!""Fafnir shouted, "Incorrect distance! Set the sight to 400 meters! Again!"
Fawcett's crew members, except for him, were all exhausted to the point of near death; the gunner had made multiple errors in ranging and aiming; others also made mistakes - fortunately they hadn't been killed yet... Although they had been hit several times, thanks to Fawcett's predictive ability, they always managed to get into a "jump shot" position one step ahead, plus a bit of luck, so that their main armor hadn't been penetrated yet... This was also thanks to Fawcett trying his best to withstand the T26 and BT series shells while avoiding being hit by the T34 and KV.
The Germans were retreating on every front, and Fahnrich's luck had finally run out. On January 6, during the defensive battle in the outskirts of Kalinin, he met with an attack by Soviet tanks along with five other German tanks.
"Damn it!! It's a T34! KV! Reverse! Turn the turret left, aim at 10 o'clock! You focus on aiming! I'll report the distance to you! 450 meters! T34! Fire the high-explosive shell!" Favre yelled out orders from the commander's position while looking through the periscope. One high-explosive shell disabled the opposing tank - its tracks were broken, but the Soviet T34 didn't care and continued firing at Favre wildly, completely disregarding that it had become a fixed target. At this time, other German tanks were also surrounded by more numerous Soviet tanks and couldn't return fire. Favre's short-barrel 75mm gun was useless against the T34, so he could only reverse and look for cover again. After reversing 50 meters and turning into a house, another T34 approached from the front while a KV turned to attack Favre's rear. This was when German and Soviet infantry were engaged in close combat, and Favre had to be careful of Soviet infantry attacks. He risked exposing his body out of the turret and yelled loudly for German infantry to provide cover. A group of infantry happened to also be looking for cover and saw this lone friendly tank approaching them. Just then, a heavy high-explosive shell hit the house, Favre quickly withdrew into the tank. However, the shell ultimately destroyed his 4th tank - its tracks were broken, and the hull was stuck under the collapsed wall. As the T34 and KV approached step by step, Favre gave the order to abandon ship and escape with the infantry... He had just jumped out of the turret when a burst of flames appeared - the KV behind them opened fire, and the 4th tank was hit and caught on fire. The radio operator didn't make it out in time, and when Favre tried to save his comrade, the tank exploded, sending the turret flying. Favre was blown away by the shockwave but fortunately only suffered a broken rib besides that. He and the remaining crew members followed the infantry and escaped, seeing on the way that their own tanks had lost quite a few, but fortunately, Soviet losses were also severe, and they broke contact. Only then did Favre and his men manage to retreat with the infantry and other escaping tank crewmen by hitching rides on remaining tanks and APCs.
