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.28, sending 7.92mm rounds all over the tank to no effect.The 20mm spat out ten rounds that blasted into the ground around the gunners, and then into the soldiers, blowing an arm off one and smashing a hole the size of a fist into the chest of a second.He was sent cart-wheeling backwards into the roadside ditch on the far side.The third and last stood up, hands high.“Leave him,” Langer snapped, “schutzen will take care of that poor bastard.”“They’ve had enough,” Langer heard Heidemann’s tinny voice through the earphones, “onto the town.Move!”“Gus, down the road, now! Let’s beat the others into Zambrow!”“First claim on the skirt and booze,” Gus answered and sent the Panzer II skidding on one track and onto the road.He roared down the road, sending up a cloud of dust in their wake.“Langer, watch out for anti-tank positions!” Heidemann barked in warning.“Sir, Gus has smelt vodka; there’s no stopping him.”He swore he heard laughter from the others, and he grinned behind his microphone.The panzer carried on down the road, smashing into and flattening the town sign.The first houses were reached and a few shots rattled out from the street corners as Polish soldiers tried to set up road blocks, but Gus wasn’t having any of it.With the destruction of the 37s at the farmhouse there were no anti-tank guns left, and all the defenders had were grenades or the anti-tank rifles.One was hurriedly slapped down onto the road ahead of the advancing tank and two men rushed the loading of the long-barreled weapon.It was shaped just like an ordinary rifle up to the end of the wooden hand grip, but beyond that the long barrel gave away what it was.The wz.35 had been issued just as the war had begun, and the Poles had developed some high-tech ammunition using tungsten.It was still supposed to be top secret and only a few had been distributed in time to meet the attacking German army.Langer saw the crew loading up and swung the machine gun.He squeezed the trigger and the bullets spat out, showering the road and buildings.He steadied himself, sending a line of deadly shots into the crew.They shuddered with the impact of the rounds, flopping inertly onto the road surface.Gus advanced the tank and it rolled over gun and crew, ending their part in the fight.A shot bounced off their turret and Langer swung the guns round, seeking out the man who’d fired.Steffan rammed the next clip of 20mm into the breech and Langer sent slugs exploding down the side street, smashing windows, wooden signs and three Polish troops who were shooting at the panzer.They were swept aside in a hail of shells, blood and guts being sent everywhere.They charged on, entering the town center, the other panzers close behind, and the garrison decided enough was enough.They hadn’t the arms to stop the Germans, and laid down their weapons en masse.Langer unfastened the hatch and climbed up, glad to breathe in cooler air.The warmth in the turret had made him sweat, and he gulped down a few lungfuls of welcome fresh air.Gus opened his hatch, too and lit up a cigar.“Hey, Gus, where the hell did you get hold of those?” Langer demanded.“Oh, won them off a leutnant in a game of cards last night,” Gus mumbled through the butt of the cigar.“Want one?”“No – but keep them out of sight of the officers.They may decide to appropriate them!”Langer jumped down and stretched his legs.Heidemann met him, glaring at the puffing Gus who was seemingly relaxed without a care in the world.“Sir.”The captain grunted.“You’re mad, all of you,” he said.“But well done all the same.Your charge convinced the enemy of the futility of resisting any further.I have more orders from Guderian.We’re to pull out south-east after a short rest and head for Brest.We’ve got to take the fortress before the enemy can organize themselves any further.”“What about Zambrow, sir?”“The infantry will have it.Our division is to make for the fortress.They think the reds will invade any day and we’ve got to stop the Poles offering any resistance.Brest is just about the only place they can put up any.”They set off in the afternoon.The Polish forces had collapsed outside of Warsaw and they were now busy defending their capital, leaving the road open to the ancient fortress of Brest.Langer and his crew rolled into the smoking ruins after Guderian’s advance units had fought hard to break in.The 6th regiment hadn’t been involved in the attack and there were worries about the reliability of the Panzer Is and IIs.They were clearly under-gunned and under-armored and were far too vulnerable to any kind of anti-tank weapon or enemy tank.They broke down far too frequently and the mechanics were overworked, repairing or replacing parts frantically.Leaving their Panzer II in a tree-lined park, Langer led Gus and Steffan into the old town.The fortress dominated the skyline, a dark, brooding construction now scarred and marred with shell holes, bomb damage and bullet marks.The garrison had been led into captivity and the civilians were keeping indoors, fearful of the German soldiers walking round the city.Gus sniffed the air.“I smell skirt,” he announced and suddenly swung right and plunged into a narrow side street.Steffan looked at Langer in perplexity.“I can’t smell anything, Feldwebel.”“Neither can I, Steffan, but Gus has his own olfactory senses which differ from the rest of humanity.If he can smell women, then you can bet he’s right.” Langer led Steffan in Gus’s wake, along the cobbled street, passing tall wooden and brick buildings.Gus was hammering at one particular door, shouting loudly to be let in or else.The door opened reluctantly just as Langer and Steffan arrived, to reveal a frightened looking woman.“Please, not so much noise,” she said in Polish.“Come in.”Langer, who could speak fluent Polish, waved the others in.“Is this your place?” he asked.“Yes,” the woman said, leading the three into a hallway.Up the staircase were ten other women.“Ah,” Gus said in satisfaction.“Uncle Gus sniffs them out yet again.”“We have shut our doors because of the fighting,” the first woman explained in broken German, standing before the three panzer soldiers.“It was terrible, all those bombs and bullets; we thought we were going to be killed!”“Worry not,” Gus exclaimed, “Gus is here now and is eager to sample the best that your establishment can offer!”“Well, I don’t know….” The Madam said and could get no further as Gus ran up the staircase, roaring out his intentions.The women up the stairs scattered in fright, running in every direction, but two weren’t fast enough and were scooped up and the trio vanished out of sight, the women squealing in terror.“I apologize for his behavior, madam, but he’s usually like this,” Langer said, peeling off a few marks and handing them to the Madam.The woman took them and sighed.“Very well, you may enjoy yourselves with any woman of your choice.”Langer nudged Steffan.“Go on, lad, you may not get another chance for quite some time [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]