Germany: The Decisive Battle of the Third Reich

Erwin fixed his gaze on a huge cannon in front of him, it was an 88 mm anti-aircraft gun, Rommel accidentally used it to counter tanks on the African battlefield, turning it into a legend.

But he also realized that Rommel had not yet discovered this way of using this anti-aircraft gun, otherwise, the German army would not be so passive.

Erwin did not approach it immediately after seeing it, it is a big boy 2.4 meters tall, which makes it stand out in the middle of combat, Erwin shouted to the German gunner next to the cannon: "Why don't we use it!"

"What?" The gunner looked at Erwin in confusion: "It's only used for air defense!"

Erwin felt helpless at such a response, just like the British army, the Germans still could not imagine an anti-aircraft gun firing at a tank.

"It doesn't matter what it's used for, the important thing is to defeat the enemy, if we don't shoot now, it won't even have a chance to shoot later!" Erwin said, staring at him.

The German gunner looked at him strangely for a few seconds, but after thinking for a moment, he nodded: "You're right, at least we should try!"

At the same time, he called the other gunners around him, who quickly gathered and set up an artillery position using the 88 mm anti-aircraft gun, loaded the shells, and adjusted the firing angle.

"Fire!" After a few minutes of preparation, the cannon was ready and with the firing order, the cannon roared.

Suddenly, the British tank advancing towards them exploded, engulfed in a ball of flames and smoke, the eyes of the German gunners opened with surprise and joy, but they did not stop there, they quickly located a tank just 700 meters away.

These gunners seem to be well-trained, they loaded the shells, aimed, and when the firing order came, another tank was destroyed with a loud bang.

One after another, six tanks were destroyed in the blink of an eye with only three missed shots.

One of the reasons the gunners can shoot so accurately is that the Matilda tank's top speed is only 24 kilometers per hour.

At this moment, the British tanks maintained their speed at about 7 kilometers per hour to aim and facilitate the movement of the infantry behind them.

This speed is similar to that of an adult walking, at the same time, to provide cover for the infantry behind them, they cannot change direction at will, this allows the German gunners to easily calculate their trajectory.

Soon, the gunners destroyed two more tanks, causing the British army to panic.

Of course, the British army still has a chance to win, although more than 40 tanks were destroyed in less than ten minutes, they still have more than 30 tanks left.

If they continue to advance regardless of the artillery fire, they will soon be able to overwhelm the Germans, by then, the German 88 mm anti-aircraft guns will have little effect.

But the low fighting spirit of the British army determined that they could not win this battle, the first group to retreat was the infantry.

It is not known who gave the order, but suddenly, the infantry fled, abandoning their tanks, and retreated towards the hills like a tide.

When the tank troops saw that the infantry had retreated, they did not dare to attack alone, so they turned around and fled.

But although it is easy for tanks to attack, it is very difficult to escape, because turning around means exposing the weak rear armor to the enemy.

The German artillery took advantage of this opportunity and fired another fierce bombardment from behind, hitting more than ten tanks, instantly, another group of tanks was turned into scrap metal.

"Well done!" Rommel, who was watching the battle from the sky, shouted enthusiastically.

"They fought very well, they really surprised me, these are our heroic German soldiers!"

The sky gradually darkened, and the troops hastily cleared the battlefield and set up camp on the spot, Erwin finally had a chance to rest.

Dinner was just a piece of bread and a small piece of sausage, although he was hungry, Erwin could not eat anything, especially the sausage.

Every time he saw the red color or smelled the meat, he always thought of the bloody scene on the battlefield and the pain in his comrades' eyes before they died.

"Ballast!" Big Bear finished the food in just a few bites, after drinking some water, he shouted to Erwin: "Bring me a pack of cigarettes!"

Erwin did not think much, he got up and walked towards the supply box, but the baker quickly stopped him.

"Why don't you go and get it yourself, Filthy?" said the baker.

"Huh...?" Filthy was a bit confused, Erwin had always done this kind of thing before, and no one, including the baker, had objected.

"I think..." Seeing everyone's silence, the baker continued: "Maybe you don't know what Frank did today!"

"What did he do?" Big Bear asked: "Did he wet his pants?" He guessed, making the German soldiers laugh.

"I thought I saw him running away!"

"Yes, he fled the battlefield!"

…

"No!" The baker interrupted everyone: "He did not flee, in fact, he saved our lives, it can even be said that he saved all our lives!"

"This... impossible!" Big Bear was full of disbelief.

The baker looked up at Erwin: "Frank, tell me, where did you go after leaving the battlefield?"

"I didn't go anywhere!" Erwin said: "I just asked the gunners to set up an artillery position with the anti-aircraft guns and fire." He said, making everyone fall silent.

The baker nodded towards Erwin and motioned for him to sit down, and then said to the others: "Now, you know why we won today! So, I hope you will show due respect to Frank, understand?"

"Yes, sergeant!" The soldiers responded one after another.

"Well done!" A soldier handed Erwin a canteen and said: "I'm sorry, we didn't know this!"

"No, it doesn't matter!" Erwin felt a little embarrassed, because they were not wrong, Erwin was really fleeing instead of going to direct the anti-aircraft artillery operation.

"Hey..." Big Bear raised the canteen and said: "It seems our 'Ballast' has become a hero!"

"Cheers to Ballast!" Everyone raised their canteens and took a few sips like wine.

"Then..." Big Bear continued: "Since 'Ballast' is now a hero, shouldn't we give him another nickname?"

"Good idea" Another soldier suggested: "How about calling him Anti-Aircraft Gun?"

"That's a good name!" Big Bear nodded and smiled, then raised the canteen: "Cheers to Anti-Aircraft Gun!"

"Cheers!" They all responded in unison.

Erwin almost spat out the water in his mouth when he heard this ridiculous nickname.

...

"You did a good job!" The baker patted Erwin on the shoulder and said: "From today on, they will treat you as one of their own!"

The battlefield is a realistic place that only respects the strong, Erwin did not know if this was a good thing or a bad thing, because he was not sure if he could maintain his strong man status for long.