The vanguard of the German army advancing to the Soviet defense zone was the 1st Company of the Motorized Battalion, and the company commander was Lieutenant Shafel. During the February battle, he once commanded a company's troops, defeated a mixed regiment of the Southwest Front equipped with tanks and artillery, and captured the regiment commander and hundreds of commanders and fighters.
If he was not injured in the March battle and sent to a hospital in the rear for treatment, this time the Imperial Division was rebuilt, with his qualifications, he could at least be a battalion commander. Major Weber, the commander of the Motorized Battalion, let his company serve as the vanguard, trust the combat effectiveness of their company.
Seeing that the Soviet army's position was less than one kilometer away, Shafel ordered the motorcycle convoy to stop, let the engineers who were traveling out of the car, and use a mine detector to check whether the road ahead was buried by the Soviet army.
The terrain here is complex and there are hills on both sides. Once the Soviet army buried mines on the road, the tanks behind could not go around from the side. Therefore, the main task of the company is to clear the mines that may exist on the road ahead.
Lieutenant Colonel Goriachkin, who was staying in the observation center, observed the enemy in the distance through a telescope, and muttered: "It seems that the commander is correct. There is really no need to lay mines on this road. Even if the mine is buried, it will be cleaned up by the German engineers."
He asked Captain Zumingte, the first battalion commander standing next to him: "Have all the wooden boards been buried?"
"Yes, Comrade Commander, all buried." Zumingte quickly replied: "We covered three inches of soil on it, and the enemy's engineers could not detect it at all. And even if ordinary trucks drove over from it, they would not collapse the wooden board."
After listening to Zumingte's answer, Goriaccikin nodded and said, "Comrade Commander's idea is ridiculous sometimes. He did not plan to lay mines in the places where the enemy tanks were passing through, but he had to dig some traps. Can he block the German tanks in this way?"
Zumingt was Sokov's old subordinate, but he followed him from the Sixth Army and naturally believed his judgment unconditionally. At this moment, he felt very uncomfortable when he heard his immediate superior, Lieutenant Colonel Goriachkin questioning Sokov. Out of politeness, he said lightly: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, since Comrade Commander arranged this way, there is naturally his reason. As for whether it is effective, I think it will be confirmed in no time."
The engineer spent more than half an hour and did not find metal reactions on the road, so he reported to Shafel: "Mr. Lieutenant, we did not find any mines buried by the Russians."
But after hearing this, Shafel asked with concern: "Can you really confirm that the Russians did not bury landmines in this area? Maybe there are no metal thunders, but there are always a few wooden thunders?"
"Mr. Lieutenant," replied the engineer: "The Russians' wooden hull mines can only kill people and pose no threat to our tanks. As long as our tanks crush them all the way, they can detonate the Russians' wooden hull mines and open up a safe passage for our infantry."
After listening to the engineer's words, Shaffer finally felt at ease. He quickly ordered the radio operator: "Report to battalion commander Major Weber, saying that no landmines buried by the Russians were found on the road ahead, so that the armored regiment could be driven in."
After receiving the report from Lieutenant Shaffer, Major Weber immediately reported the situation ahead to the division headquarters. Tansen learned that the vanguard of the motorized battalion had approached the Soviet position. No landmines buried by the enemy were found along the way, but did not immediately order the armored regiment to advance, but instead ordered the 2nd Artillery Regiment to aim at the Soviet position and fire.
The reason he issued such an order was that when the Imperial Division and the Southwest Front fought to the death, he was still a regiment commander. At that time, he used fierce artillery fire to destroy all the Soviet battalions on the positions. After the artillery attack, the entire regiment launched an attack. Because all the defenders on the positions were killed, his troops successfully seized the Soviet position without any casualties, causing the entire defense line of the Southwest Front to collapse. For this reason, after the battle, he received an Iron Cross Medal.
With the order issued, the artillery hanging behind the truck was taken off, and the German artillery began to set up positions nervously and prepare to launch artillery bombardment on the Soviet positions.
More than ten minutes later, the shelling of the Soviet army began.
Since the artillery position is only five or six kilometers away from the Soviet fortifications, and there are also shooting parameters provided by artillery observers in front, after two or three artillery test firing, dense shells fell into the simple field fortifications of the Soviet army and exploded. For a moment, fires soared into the sky and smoke filled the sky. The hill where the Soviet position was located turned into an erupting volcano.
Tansen stood in a wide-open position, looking at the position full of fire and smoke in the distance, with a smug expression on his face. He put down his telescope and ordered the Chief of Staff: "Order the 2nd Armored Regiment, the Motorized Battalion, and the 3rd Grenadier Regiment to take advantage of the favorable opportunity of the Russians' positions being hit by our army's fierce artillery fire and quickly advance towards the Russians' fortifications along the road."
After a series of orders were issued, the German tanks, armored personnel carriers and trucks loaded with soldiers, who were parked on the road, were restarted and advanced along the road towards the location of the Soviet position.
According to the prior agreement, soldiers riding in armored personnel carriers and trucks will get off at 800 meters away from the Soviet fortifications. There is no need to worry about being accidentally injured by our own artillery fire here, and there is still enough space to launch troops.
The German artillery was just starting to test the firing. The Soviet army, which was deployed on the first line of defense, hurriedly moved along the traffic trench to the reverse slope position. As for the observation post, the shells that fell on the hills were much less than those on the hillside, and they could calmly observe the movements of the German army in the distance.
When Goriachin was in the regiment observation center, he was startled to see the German artillery fire that destroyed the world, and then became calm. He thought to himself: Fortunately, the commander ordered us to build the fortifications on the reverse slope, and when we were bombarded, we quickly transferred the troops to the fortifications on the reverse slope to reduce the killing of the enemy artillery fire to our army. Now it seems that the commander's deployment is completely correct. Many soldiers stood outside the trenches and smoked after they arrived at the reverse slope, and did not take the shelling on the other side of the hill seriously.
Zumingte, who was standing next to him, quickly said, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, you see it. If we had not built the reverse slope fortifications, then our officers and soldiers would have to stay in the simple field fortifications and be baptized by the enemy's artillery fire. I really can't believe that after such intensive artillery attacks, there would be a few living people left on the position."
Goriaccikin agreed with Zumingte's statement. When he was a battalion commander, he had fought in many places. He saw his comrades go to ashes under the fierce shelling of the enemy. Now that he has launched this back-scene fortification, he can significantly reduce the damage caused by the enemy's shelling, which is really surprising to him.
The 2nd Armored Regiment was equipped with almost all Leopard tanks. The tank had a good appearance, strong firepower and good maneuverability. The Germans were planning to use it to replace the No. 3 and No. 4 tanks, so they called it the No. 5 tank. It was not until February 1944 that it was officially renamed: Leopard tank.
In this area close to the Soviet position, the distance between the two hills reached more than 60 meters, and four or five tanks could be deployed at the same time. Seeing that the terrain here was conducive to the deployment of tanks, the German tank commander immediately ordered the tanks to rank five, and once the artillery fire stopped, they would cover the infantry to rush towards the Soviet position.
As soon as the artillery fire stopped, the Germans launched an attack before the smoke from the hillside dissipated. But what they could not imagine was that the Soviet commanders and fighters hiding in the counter-slope position heard that the artillery fire outside had ended, and they also returned to their positions along the traffic trench and prepared for combat.
The attacking troops were more than 400 meters away from the Soviet position. Suddenly, two loud noises came. Then the German infantry following behind the tank stared at the tanks that were opening the way forward, and had already overturned to the ground.
Seeing the overturned tank, the German commander began to think quickly: "What's going on? Could it be that it was crushed with the Russian anti-tank mines? I don't think so, if it was really crushed with the mines, there would definitely be a shocking explosion. But now there are two strange sounds, and then two tanks fell to the ground. What's going on?"
The frightened German soldiers approached the tank and looked carefully and found that the tank was trapped in a pit, which caused the car to overturn. After rescued the tank soldiers from the tank, they continued to study the Soviet trap. After a while, they found that the Soviet army dug a pit more than one meter deep and then covered it with a thick wooden board. The wooden board can withstand the weight of people and ordinary vehicles, and even if it is pressed up, it will not fall into the trap. But the leopard tank is different. Its self-weight makes it enough to crush the wooden boards that the Soviet army has laid on the pit.
The overturned tanks must not be able to participate in the battle. The German commander immediately transferred the tanks from behind and stepped forward, and they covered the infantry to attack the Soviet fortifications. This time, they were attacked by rocket launchers from the roadside at a position of more than 200 meters. A tank driving on the side suddenly became a victim, and the tank body was soon wrapped in flames.
Geria, who was staying in the fortification, saw two tanks rolling into a trap, which led to the overturning incident, reported the matter to Lieutenant Colonel Goriacchikin: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, two German tanks fell into our trap. The enemy transferred new tanks from behind, but they were destroyed by our anti-tank team."
"Are all the infantry on the position ready for battle?" asked Lieutenant Colonel Goriacchikin.
"Yes, we are ready for everything." Geria said to Goriachkin while observing the movement outside: "When the enemy's infantry approaches, our soldiers will teach them a lesson that will never be forgotten for life."
The German tanks were destroyed one after another by the anti-tank team hiding beside the road. The German commander was furious. He quickly drew his men and came to the position of the anti-tank team, trying to destroy the anti-tank team so that his tank could continue to attack the Soviet positions.
If it were an ordinary army, the German commander's plan might have been successful, but now they are facing Soviet troops equipped with assault rifles and have the advantage of firepower. Their infantry rushed to the hillside as soon as they crossed the tank and rushed toward the hillside. The Soviet army's firepower was fierce and accurate. In just a few minutes, almost fifty German soldiers fell into pools of blood. The remaining German soldiers were frightened and did not even care about the bodies of their comrades' bodies, so they hurriedly retreated.
After the battle, Geria reported to Lieutenant Colonel Goriachkin: "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, we have successfully repelled the enemy's attack and believe we can get a few hours of rest."
"The enemy is very cunning, comrade Captain." Lieutenant Colonel Goriachkin said earnestly: "The more we are about to win, the more we should be vigilant. Sometimes the injured beast will hurt more. By the way, what are the casualties in your company?"
"Report to comrade Lieutenant Colonel," Geria quickly replied: "In the battle just now, we sacrificed seven soldiers and more than twenty soldiers were injured. However, we wiped out nine German tanks. On the battlefield, the Germans also left more than two hundred German corpses."
"Not bad," Although Geria even wiped out a vanguard of the German army in the battle two days ago, that battle was only considered a pediatrician compared to today. Last time, the German tanks had no chance to fight back, and were destroyed by anti-tank soldiers ambushed on the roadside. It is precisely because of this that Goriachin was particularly happy. He was preparing to report this matter to the division headquarters immediately so that the division commander Colonel Khochlov would be happy with him. "I did a good job. When the battle ended, I must ask for credit to the soldiers of the anti-tank team."
Tansen never dreamed that before attacking, he ordered the artillery to launch a half-hour shelling of the Soviet position. Logically speaking, under such dense artillery fire, even a mouse in the hillside position could not survive. But when his troops launched an attack, countless Russians shot at their subordinates from the fortifications that were blown up. This made Tansen puzzled. Could it be that the Russians could not kill them?
If this is true, then there is no need to fight the next battle. The opponent is a monster that cannot even be killed by artillery. Letting his troops continue to attack will not mean that they will die? Thinking of this, Tansen said to his chief of staff: "Appoint the withdrawn troops to rest on the spot, and at the same time, tell the artillery that after resting for an hour, then launching artillery bombardment on the Russian positions. I don't believe that their flesh and blood can block our steel and fire."
"Just just now, the artillery commander called and said that they didn't have many shells."
Chapter completed!