Chapter 68

  After returning to the controlled area, Fawneil's mixed troops began to return separately. His car group was already incomplete - lost loader and communicator, driver seriously injured may retire. Fawneil himself got an assault badge and a superior commendation, but the first-class Iron Cross still didn't get it.

  His crew had some new members: the loader was a rookie, the radio operator was transferred from the battalion HQ, and the driver was an old soldier who returned to the unit after being wounded during Operation Barbarossa. They also finally received a brand-new long-barreled Panzer IV F2 tank, equipped with a 75mm L/43 caliber gun, capable of taking out Russian T-34s at suitable combat distances.

  Throughout the spring, Fawcett was not idle, constantly engaging in skirmishes with Russian troops on the front line. Small-scale battles never stopped. He had a great time on No. 4 F2, "Armor-piercing! 4 o'clock direction! T34! Distance 700! Advance one position! Fire!"

  "Hit! Enemy T-34 confirmed destroyed!" As a gunner for Lafnell, it was incredibly easy... This guy took on the work of indicating targets to the tank commander and calculating lead distances, leaving the gunner only needing to follow orders to fire. Gunner Franz had expressed countless times how great this captain was, vowing to stick with Lafnell until retirement or the end of the war "Captain, wherever you go, I'll go too!"

  In the short span of three months, Fahnrich achieved more than 20 victories on the No. 4 F2, bringing his total to 39 enemy tanks destroyed; and 45 artillery pieces destroyed. Of these, 16 tank kills were recorded on the No. 4 E, mostly given to him by the French; 2 tank kills were recorded on a captured KV-2; and the remaining 21 tank kills were all achieved on the No. 4 F2. He also had one tank kill as an infantryman. Now he was the number one tank ace in his division, and among the top ten in the entire army - indeed, on July 7, 1942, a ceremony was held at the division, where Fahnrich received the Iron Cross First Class and a Silver Tank Assault Badge. Also coming through was good news that German forces had captured the "Shield of the Gods" fortress of Sevastopol on the Crimean Peninsula, annihilating 100,000 Soviet troops, and General Manstein was promoted to Field Marshal. Several of Fahnrich's friends also participated in this battle: grenadier Heinrich Yang and combat engineer Gustav Schreiber both distinguished themselves, with both men receiving the Bronze Close Combat Badge.

  Dick. Clown. Karl, as a guy who opened up the 4th F2, also got a total of 2 tank destruction records and successfully squeezed into the top 20 tank kings in the army, but still lacked one level of Iron Cross; Junker, as the new commander of the 4th F2, had no destruction record, but was very lucky to return unscathed with the tank to the occupied area; The pure-hearted young man. Donnbergel is still a gunner and luckily has 3 destruction records, but due to eating unclean food, he went to the hospital early before the cold came due to dehydration and didn't make it in time for the later attack, so he became the first batch of successful withdrawals; The former bus driver. Professional thief. Mr. Bellwigen's No. 3 tank was the earliest to be finished, and his tank was knocked out by the Russian T34 before even fighting Moscow, so he is also one of the lucky ones among friends who opened up the long-barreled 4th - got 19 achievements, now seems to have been ordered to go back to the rear...; Eckert and Dekker, these two guys who opened the No. 3 assault gun, are nothing special, still diligently guarding and covering on the front line, the two No. 3 assault guns together only had 3 battle results, but the enemy's artillery was knocked out a lot, at least more than 50 artillery were reported by the two people, so the two are called "artillery destroyers"; Aubrey changed his gun to a yellow weasel, but he himself is gritting his teeth - too high and thin, much more dangerous than the previous low-profile anti-tank gun... ... But surprisingly, he also got 3 tank destruction records.

  In late June 1942, Favni and his crew received orders to hand over their Panzer IV F2 and return to the rear for a new unit. On the way, he met Karl's tank crew. They had also been ordered to go to the rear to join a new unit, the 503rd Independent Heavy Tank Battalion. Favni and Karl arrived at the military camp in Neurappin, where they were welcomed by the commander of their new unit: "Welcome, two aces, to our ranks!"

  Fawley and Karl received their new mounts - Tiger I tanks, Fawley's was number 223 and Karl's was number 133. The two crews quickly threw themselves into training to familiarize themselves with the new equipment. Soon news arrived that the area around Stalingrad on the southern Volga River was a hotbed of fighting, and the 503rd Independent Heavy Tank Battalion was ordered to move there to fight. On the way Fawley also received a letter from Berwigen saying he had joined a unit called the 501st but so far hadn't seen any sign of new equipment...

  On the 25th, the troops got off at Ploretarskaya, and Favni's 223rd car with two attached No. 3 cars were ordered to defend the bridge over the Manek River. He joined the armored grenadiers who followed a platoon and rushed to the bridgehead, set up a position, and waited. According to history, these two days should have been calm, but on the afternoon of the first day, the grenadiers at the front outpost sent a message: "Russian tanks and infantry are coming! The scale is not large, with about 5-7 T34s and more than 400 infantrymen following, possibly with self-propelled artillery, expected to arrive near the bridge in 2-3 hours."

  Fawley decided to take the initiative, he ordered a No. 3 tank to stay on the position to defend, the grenadiers did not move, and his Tigers led two No. 3 tanks to give the Russians a good show before dark, then come back.

  It was around 5 pm when his Tiger tank engine roared, propelling the nearly 60-ton vehicle forward at a speed of almost 30 kilometers per hour. Soon after six o'clock, he saw the shadow of Russian tanks in the distance through his binoculars. He ordered two No. 3 tanks to scatter left and right, opening up a distance of about 100 meters behind him to provide cover for him, without asking them to attack the Russian tanks, only asking them to be vigilant against Soviet infantry. Then he stopped behind a small mound, aiming the turret at the direction where the Russian tanks were coming from.

  At this time, the Soviet Red Army's T34 was still far away from the head, they seemed to have not noticed that the German tanks had already arrived near them, and they were still advancing in two columns, with trucks and infantry following behind, and many infantrymen sitting on top of the tanks.

  "Armor-piercing shell. Distance 2600. First T-34 on the left flank of the tank column. Prepare to fire one position ahead! Fire!!" Favoniel gave the order to attack! The 88mm cannonball roared forward in a very flat trajectory towards its first target. Amidst flying flesh and blood, the first T-34 suddenly stopped! Soon after, a loud explosion sent the infantry on the tank flying everywhere, while the T-34's turret also flew into the air!

  "Armor-piercing shell! 2600! First T34 on the right, hold fire position unchanged! Fire!" The second command was given, and another 88mm shell flew towards the second target. "Huh? Missed? It actually ricocheted? Their luck is really good! Franz! Hold fire position unchanged, come again with an armor-piercing shell!"

  "Alright, got a hit! Turret right 5 degrees, armor-piercing shell ready. This time we'll let them get a bit closer," Favoniel said, "Don't move the vehicle, they haven't spotted us yet."

  The Russians were caught off guard and thrown into confusion. However, the remaining T-34s quickly regained their composure and began firing in the general direction of the incoming artillery fire while accelerating towards the source of the shells, with the infantry on board jumping off and starting to run alongside the tanks.

  "Alright, now the sun is getting lower and they should have a hard time seeing us. Franz, follow my orders! Elevation 1800! Can you still see? Can you?! Alright! Fire!" Another T34 went down disabled. Now there were only three Russian tanks in sight, but they saw the muzzle flash of Favny's shot and began to turn their turrets to return fire.

  "Forward!" Fahnrich ordered "Gunner, target the enemy position!" The T34's shells whizzed in, just a miserable distance from his Tiger... "Halt! Franz! 2 o'clock! T34! Fire!" At this point, they were only about 1500 meters away from the Russian tanks, a distance at which Fahnrich didn't need to use his skills, and the gunner's sighting device alone could accurately attack. The first shot missed, but the second hit the middle T34, "Reverse gear! We keep our distance!" Fahnrich ordered again, "Tanks 222 and 224, follow up! Launch a smoke bomb attack on the infantry!"

  The Russians' tank fired miserably and futilely, during which they luckily hit the Tiger once. "Damn it! How could we be so lucky to get one shot in?" At a distance of 1200 meters, they hit the Tiger once, after which the Soviet Red Army tanker desperately found that the shell was deflected. "Damn fascist bandits! What kind of monster is this?"

  Fawzi continued firing and finally knocked out one of the remaining two T-34s before nightfall, while the last T-34 escaped with infantry under cover of darkness.