Steel Soviet Union

Compared with Malashenko who was hiding in the basement and being bombed, Commander Cherchenkov who came from the Jewish ghetto in Siberia was obviously much more reckless.

The Jewish division commander directly set up his temporary advance headquarters very close to the position, stayed inside and took command without any anti-artillery bunkers, and managed to survive this half of the German army by sheer luck. Hours of shelling came out unscathed!

The German attacking troops on the opposite side who were charging all the way were obviously not easy to mess with.

In the telescope held by his own hands, Commander Cherchenkov could see the various and densely packed German vehicles that appeared at the front of the offensive column.

The armored fighting vehicles rushing at the front were not only the German Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks, but also several assault guns that were moving forward at the same time in the team. They were also slowly advancing, and following these German vehicles were a large number of people. , a rough estimate of at least one battalion of German infantry.

"It seems that these German guys are going to take serious measures, but it's not surprising. If they still don't take serious measures after suffering such huge losses, they are not Germans."

Before Division Commander Cherchenkov finished speaking, the Division Chief of Staff beside him, who was also holding a telescope and paying close attention to the approaching German troops, spoke immediately.

"Comrade Division Commander, I don't know if you have noticed that many of the German tanks and assault guns in front have obvious external damage. Look at the assault gun rushing forward on the left. The armor on the front of the vehicle is damaged. There are more than one unpenetrated traces of an attack. I speculate that these Germans should have just been urgently transferred from other places for support. "

Commander Cherchenkov, who had not noticed these details before, was stunned when he heard this, and then immediately raised the telescope in his hand and looked in the direction of his chief of staff's finger.

"I saw it. It seems like the marks are still very new. Even the defensive track pads hanging on the crotch were knocked off. This must be a new scar!"

It was obvious that the division chief of staff and the division commander Cherchenkov had completely identical views.

"The Germans can mobilize so many troops to support the battle at the train station. I'm afraid the battle in other directions is not optimistic, Comrade Division Commander. The Germans are so relaxed that they have extra troops to mobilize reinforcements at will, which shows that they are in Stalinger The offensive in other directions in the Lecheng area is going smoothly, which is a very dangerous signal for us! "

What was slightly surprising was that after hearing this, Commander Cherchenkov actually smiled at the last critical moment of the war.

"Really? But I don't think so, my dear comrade Chief of Staff."

"As you said, the tanks and assault guns placed at the front by the Germans were all injured. I think this just shows that the Germans no longer have any spare reserves available. They cannot send in new troops and can only send other troops. The main forces responsible for other combat tasks are being transferred to the front. This is a reflection of the Germans' depletion of troops and lack of stamina, what do you think? "

Commander Cherchenkov's words seemed to open the door to a new world. The chief of staff, who had just been trapped in his own strange circle of thinking, suddenly showed a look of enlightenment. I have to say that Commander Cherchenkov's analysis was indeed true. It makes sense.

"I admit, Comrade Division Commander, what you said does make sense. But I don't think we can rule out the possibility that the Germans moved the main force over because they were progressing too smoothly on other fronts. We must make two preparations. , No matter what kind of situation the Germans come to reinforce, these tanks and assault guns are real and cannot allow us to be careless. "

While Commander Cherchenkov was discussing with his chief of staff in the frontline command post, the German army, which had already touched the Soviet defense line 800 meters away, finally encountered the first wave of attacks: from the Soviet infantrymen. Carried "light" mortar attack.

Although the caliber is as high as 120 mm and has an effective range of 6 kilometers, the PM1938 mortar equipped by the Soviet army is undoubtedly a genuine "light mortar".

The innovative weight reduction design allows this mortar to be disassembled into three large pieces plus a small gun mount to disperse the total weight of the mortar for transportation. The total weight is reduced to an ultra-light figure of only 285 kilograms, which can be carried separately by multiple soldiers. Carrying heavy loads.

Compared with the impressive caliber of the 120 mm large barrel, the total weight of 285 kg, which can be disassembled into easily assembled parts and carried separately, is already a conscientious figure, and it is just within the allowable range of manpower carrying for traditional infantry.

In urban street battles where heavy field artillery cannot exert its strength, the PM1938 mortar is one of the few fire support weapons that Commander Cherchenkov can bring into the city. At this critical moment, it is naturally the first to be used to fight against The backbone of the German offensive.

The feeling of 120 mm high-explosive mortar projectiles with a mass of 16 kilograms hitting the crowd is not pleasant. These can easily and quickly set up artillery positions. Mortars with almost no requirements on the terrain quickly gave the German army a long-lost experience. The pleasure of being ridden in the face by Soviet artillery.

The German tanks and assault guns that were still rumbling forward across the front could not stop these parabolic mortars. The poor terrain full of muddy ponds made the German troops ruthlessly covered by mortars. The infantrymen had almost nowhere to hide.

"Cover! Take cover, it's a Russian mortar!"

"Don't hide behind the tank, it's useless! Move!"

The German infantrymen who were bombarded for a while even jumped into the muddy ponds around them in desperation. The bomb craters that could have been used as temporary battlefield bunkers were now filled with dirty and smelly muddy water. . The feeling of jumping in and drinking a mouthful of muddy water is really not good, but at least it is much better than being killed by a Soviet mortar.

The fierce bombardment from the Soviet mortars scared the German infantry following the tanks, but for the German tanks and assault guns, the probability of being directly hit by the mortars on the dome was almost the same as winning the lottery. , but it’s a completely different situation.

The Soviet mortar barrage bombardment not only failed to stop the advancement of these German steel monsters, but also annoyed the German armored soldiers in the vehicles driving these steel monsters.

"Don't worry about the infantry, hurry up and rush over immediately! Before the Russians are blown up by the artillery, they have not recovered yet!"

The German armored commander's idea was good, and the temporary change of planned deployment was correct and prompt, but he did not take into account the variable that Malashenko's tank unit had not yet appeared, although Malashenko did encounter a situation at the moment. Just some minor trouble.