Steel Soviet Union

The dense sound of gunfire coming from the distant horizon began to echo in his ears more and more clearly. Looking at the endless snow on the horizon through the binoculars in his hand, the anxious Lieutenant Colonel Walter couldn't help but He began to blame himself more and more for why the order he gave half an hour ago was so stupid.

"Damn it! Why do I have to wait for those new tanks that have broken down due to mechanical problems to be repaired before ordering them to go to the battlefield!? If I had acted earlier, would this be the case now? I was so stupid, damn it!"

The new Type III J1 tanks that had just been transferred from the rear to the Soviet front line were brand new and shiny, but they were not perfect. These new Type III tanks, which lacked accessories suitable for frontline conditions such as winter anti-skid tracks, began to be exposed as soon as they were put into use. Various mechanical failures, large and small, occurred one after another.

In any case, there will always be a running-in period for a new tank from the rear to the frontline troops. This common sense is not difficult to understand for Lieutenant Colonel Walter, who has been in battle for a long time.

But what makes Lieutenant Colonel Walter most unbearable is that the Winter War on the front line has been fighting for so long. These new Type III J1 tanks that were shipped from the rear to the front line were actually equipped with ordinary tracks when they were delivered.

To put it mildly, this situation means that the group of tank engineers and acceptance personnel in the rear neglected their duties and failed to provide logistical support. At worst, it is tantamount to intending to murder the lives of the German armored soldiers who fought bloody battles on the front line.

Thinking of this, he became furious at the serious logistical problems that the German army had exposed since the arrival of winter. Lieutenant Colonel Walter, who was already on the verge of tears, had endless complaints in his heart.

"I really don't know what those wastes who are enjoying themselves in the rear are doing!? We put tanks used for winter operations on ordinary tracks and send them to the front line. This stupid thing is actually done by us Germans! This is simply unbelievable!"

Corresponding to the complaints in Lieutenant Colonel Walter's mind who leaned his upper body out of the turret to observe the situation, a German sergeant with a beard sitting in the gunner's position in the turret began to complain without hesitation. In his opinion, the idiots in Germany on the home front could be tried in a military court.

"You are always so loud when you talk, Weidelin. I heard that you were punished a lot for your uncontrollable mouth when you were in the reserve armor regiment. Why are you still like this now? Aren't you worried? Are you scared?"

"Afraid? Humph"

Facing the "well-intentioned concern" of the loader next to him with a smile on his face, the bearded gunner spoke immediately with a look of indifference written on his face.

"It only took us seven weeks, seven weeks to defeat the arrogant French Gallic chicken! Drake! But look how long we have been stranded on this damn Russian land now? Four months? Five Month? Half a year? Damn it, I can’t even remember how much useless time I’ve spent in this damn place!”

"The idiots above assured us that the Bolshevik regime of the Russians is a shabby house that is about to collapse. We only need to kick hard on the door and the whole shabby house will collapse in an instant. But you see What’s the situation like now?”

"We have all reached the door of the Russians' hometown, and in front of them is their capital Moscow! But my ears are still full of the roar of the Russians' heavy artillery. Is this what they say will the broken house collapse? Or are they talking about those Russians? They are lining up to welcome us into the city with gun salutes? They are just a bunch of idiots and idiots!"

The gunner who poured out his complaints in an endless stream was obviously a little too aggressive. Even the commander, Lieutenant Colonel Walter, who kept his upper body out of the turret and never took it back, couldn't bear to listen.

"Watch your words, Weidelin! What you complained and cursed just now contains the contents of the Führer's public speeches. Do you want to oppose the Führer? Or do you think you are better than the Führer?"

He didn't expect that Lieutenant Colonel Walter, who had been riding outside the turret, would specifically turn around and call him out. The bearded gunner, who knew that his remarks just now were indeed a bit extreme, was in a dilemma for a while. After puckering his lips for a long time, he finally said: He choked out a word that didn't go down the steps.

"At least I didn't make it up, didn't I? Those useless wastes in the country do nothing at all. Otherwise, how could we use new tanks with ordinary tracks? I think this is enough to explain the problem."

After hearing such words from the gunner Weidling, Lieutenant Colonel Walter, who was also full of resentment about poor logistics, did not continue to reprimand him. The German logistics supply line, which had been almost paralyzed since the beginning of winter, was indeed nothing too great. A place for praise.

After clearing up his slightly confused mood, he closed the turret commander's top cover, which was pouring in the cold wind. Lieutenant Colonel Walter, who was leading his armored regiment to fly through the wind and snow, immediately gave an order.

"Reports came from the frontline defense positions saying that they were attacked by a group of at least fifty Russian tanks, all of which were Russian KV1 heavy tanks. The report also mentioned that there were several special Russian tanks among them. KV is like grafting a new type of turret directly onto the body and chassis of the old KV. I hope we can make preparations in advance.”

Out of the corner of his eye, he glanced at Lieutenant Colonel Walter, who was holding a wrinkled telegraph newspaper behind him and reading the contents to everyone. The trembling and bearded gunner Weidelin then showed a very disdainful smile and said, It's as if the contents recorded in this telegram are all nonsense.

"You are making a fuss out of a molehill, Walter. Can the Russians gather more than fifty KV1s at once to launch an attack? How is this possible? I might still believe this kind of alarmism when we fought in Minsk. The Russians at that time The tank is a ferocious monster! But now it is just a half-dead sick bear. I personally think it will take them a long time to find fifty T34s to launch a counterattack. "

He selectively ignored the disdainful words from the gunner Weidling with a non-committal attitude. Knowing that this guy's nature was like this, Lieutenant Colonel Walter did not try to change it at this critical moment.

Lieutenant Colonel Walter, who set out to consider the problem under the worst-case scenario, did not think that the request for help telegram sent an hour ago was alarmist. It was enough to capture the German army's outermost outpost in less than half an hour. It shows the seriousness of the problem.