“The barrel is long, life is short”, “Double salary - triple death!”, “Farewell, Motherland!”... What kind of epithets were awarded to the soldiers and commanders who fought in the artillery, which stood on direct fire right behind, or even ahead of the infantry formations. The most important and deadly task fell to the gunners of 45, 57 and 76 mm caliber guns - to knock out German tanks. Every battle, every destroyed tank was fought in blood. Each change of position is later. Victory in a confrontation between an armored and well-armed tank and people hidden behind a gun shield requires enormous endurance, courage and skill from the latter. We had such heroes, and it was they who entered defeated Berlin. In this book you will meet only ten soldiers and commanders, each of whom made his own contribution to the cause of our Victory, but it is their stories that will help you understand how the war turned out for many thousands of artillery soldiers.