The Rise of the Third Reich

On the night of May 7, Soviet Armored Tank Marshal Rotmistrov personally arrived at Ostashovo Village in the upper reaches of the Luza River. He had temporarily handed over the command of the southern front group to Deputy Commander-in-Chief Biryuzov, and personally commanded a tank group consisting of the main forces of a tank army and a mechanized army, preparing to fight a decisive battle with the German army in the upper reaches of the Luza River.

The German front seven or eight kilometers north of Ostashovo Village had been turned into a dragon of fire, with rising black smoke and the shrill sound of rockets everywhere. For the decisive battle tonight, Rotmistrov did his best to mobilize artillery. He even risked mobilizing rocket launchers and towed artillery in the evening when the sky was not completely shrouded in darkness. Although some were blown up by German planes, precious time was still gained.

Rotmistrov was standing on the top floor of a damaged collective farm warehouse at this time. On his scholarly and gentle face, he showed a solemn and resolute expression, like a martyr who was about to die. His uniform was covered with medals, his chest was heaving violently, and he was singing the Internationale loudly.

A huge JS-2 tank was parked next to the warehouse. This was prepared by Rotmistrov for himself - he personally drove this tank to participate in the final battle!

If he could not win, he would use his life and blood to fulfill his oath to GCism!

"... A young soldier stationed on the frontier, missing a distant girl in his heart; fighting bravely to defend the motherland, Katyusha's love will always belong to him.

Fighting bravely to defend the motherland, Katyusha's love will always belong to him.

Just as the pear blossoms are blooming all over the world, and the river is floating with soft gauze; Katyusha stands on the steep bank, and her singing is like the bright spring light.

Katyusha stands on the steep bank, and her singing is like the bright spring light."

Just as Marshal Rotmistrov of the Armored Tank Corps sang "The Internationale", Sergeant Shura Kosmodeyanskov and his comrades were singing "Katyusha" and driving a captured "Olga" tank destroyer to launch a desperate attack on the German tank cluster!

Sergeant Shura Kosmodeyanskov's 18th Guards Tank Brigade now has a battalion of troops left - if it is based on the German standard, it is probably a tank destroyer company, right?

The BT-7 tanks originally equipped with the 18th Guards Tank Brigade have been completely lost in the bloody battle since April 5. The BT-7 that Shura and his company commander Captain Valennikov were riding in was also destroyed by the German "Leopard" in the battle. However, the two of them were very lucky and got out of the damaged tank intact. And they received new equipment soon after - a repaired "Olga" tank destroyer!

In the Soviet army's organization, the official name of this weapon is the SU-57/50 tank destroyer. Now Captain Valennikov's company is equipped with 4 SU-57/50s, and the entire 18th Guards Tank Brigade has 4 SU-57/50s, 8 ordinary SU-57s and 4 BT-7 tanks... These are all the tanks/assault artillery of the brigade!

After the fierce battle tonight, the 18th Guards Tank Brigade is likely to cease to exist.

However, Shura is still in high spirits, because he swore solemnly to a bright red party flag on the afternoon of May 6, and is now a glorious candidate member of the Bolshevik Party.

When Shura sang "Katyusha" to his death, he thought of his sister Zoya again: If she knew that I had joined the Bolshevik Party, she would be very happy, right?

"Captain, the Bolsheviks are coming!"

Captain Ribbentrop heard the shout and immediately put his eyes on the eyepiece of an FG-1250 night vision telescope. 1,500 meters away, the Soviet tanks/assault artillery and infantry that should have been shrouded in darkness all appeared under the effect of infrared rays.

"It looks like SU-57 and BT-7," Little Ribbentrop whispered to himself, "It seems that their strength is about to run out."

From the night of May 6 to now, for almost 28 hours, the fierce battle on the west bank of the Mara River has been going on. The Soviet Katuzov Group on the northern front suffered great losses. The group lost more than 400 tanks/assault guns before dawn on the 7th. Since they were repelled by the German counterattack after dawn on the 7th, they lost control of the battlefield. All the more than 400 tanks lost could not be recovered for repair, so the loss was real! After losing these tanks, the number of tanks/assault guns available to the Soviet Katuzov Group was less than 1,100 (the number on paper was much higher, but in fact, these were the only ones that could be used). During the day on May 7, more than 600 German tanks/assault guns fought fiercely with these Soviet tanks/assault guns on the plains west of the Mara River. Relying on the strong air superiority, the group commanded by Major General Marx launched waves of tank group attacks throughout the day! The Soviet army played smarter. It did not fight the German army head-on, but fought and retreated, constantly ambushed the German army, and also arranged a large number of false targets to attract the attention of the other side. However, Katuzov's brilliant tactics met the powerful strength of the Marx Group and ultimately resulted in heavy losses.

The two sides fought until sunset, and the Soviet Northern Front tank group lost nearly 400 tanks. The entire west bank of the Mara River was littered with the remains of Soviet tanks/assault artillery.

The German army lost less than 100 tanks/assault artillery in a daytime battle, and most of them were repairable equipment.

In addition, Major General Marx's group once again received reinforcements at around 4 p.m. that day. The reinforcements were a regiment-level heavy armor group drawn by General Hott from the 19th Armored Corps west of the Ruza River. There were 51 Tiger H tanks, 18 "Rhino" tank destroyers, and 28 No. 4 H tanks. and 12 Stalker tank destroyers, for a total of 109 tanks/assault artillery.

After receiving reinforcements, Major General Marx's strength returned to its peak, so after nightfall, he continued to attack the Soviet army.

The Soviet army in front of him also received reinforcements in the evening - units such as the 18th Guards Tank Brigade, which were all drawn from the 7th and 8th Guards Tank Armies, which had suffered heavy losses in the previous battles. Light tanks and tank destroyers came out.

Katuzov is really trying his best to put these tanks into combat now!

The artillery shells rumbled and exploded in the assault formation of the Soviet counterattack armored tank group. Those who fired were big guys like E-50A and Tiger H. 88mm armor-piercing/armor-breaking shells were very effective against SU-57 and BT-7. It can be said that it has excessive power. As long as it hits, it can immediately turn the Soviet tank into a ball of fire.

Shula, who was controlling the charge of the tank destroyer, soon realized that something was wrong. However, he had no intention of backing down and still controlled the vehicle to move forward at full speed. An armor-piercing discarding shell produced by the British has been loaded into the gun barrel. Now Shula only needs to drive the vehicle to a distance of 500 meters from the German tank, and should be able to destroy a Tiger tank or an E-50 tank.

If that doesn't work, impact is the only way!

At this time, the Soviet flares also fell across the sky like raindrops, illuminating the battlefield where German tanks were arrayed below, as if it were daytime.

"Stop! Stop!" Captain Varennikov's shout came from Shula's earphones. He quickly pulled the joystick and stopped the "Oliga Hammer" steadily 400 meters in front of the German tank group. Domi place.

"You only have one chance! You must hit it!" Shula said silently in his heart, while pushing open the hatch and sticking his head out (for the 88mm gun, the SU-57 can be done with one shot, and it can't be closed) It’s the same even if the hatch is closed), staring at an E-50A tank 400 meters ahead.

The E-50A tank apparently also discovered the SU-57/50 Shula was riding on. The turret rotated and the terrifying 88mm gun was already aimed at it.

"boom!"

Shula only felt the car body shake violently, and then there was a ball of fire and a loud noise. The fire flashed from the front of the E-50A tank, and the 6-pound sabot armor-piercing projectile hit accurately.

But the E-50 just stepped back slightly, waiting for the smoke to clear. Shula discovered that the front of the tank had not been penetrated!

Now it's the E-50 tank's turn to fire. From a distance of 400 meters, it is impossible to miss...

"Fatherly leader, we have tried our best!" Shura Kosmodeyanskov shouted with all his strength, "Mom, I love you! Sister, I love you too! Long live communism! Long live the Soviet Union !”

…

"Please tell Comrade Stalin that I have tried my best!" Katukov said to his adjutant while getting into a T-34/85 tank.

He saw that the major counterattack he organized was once again easily crushed by the German army, and he already fully knew the outcome of this battle.

Moreover, he also knew that Moscow would inevitably fall!

However, he had no intention of fleeing the battlefield, let alone surrendering to Queen Olga. Because he still believes in GC doctrine and believes that one day the red flag will be planted all over the world.

So like Marshal Rotmistrov, he also prepared a tank for himself, which was a T-34/85. He will drive this tank into battle in person, carry out the final fight, and sacrifice like a communist martyr!