The Rise of the Third Reich

After lunch on June 10, 1942, Major General Korobkov, commander of the 4th Army of the Red Army, made a decision and ordered the 1st Tank Brigade and the mortar battalion (rocket launcher) of the Army to be strengthened to the 16th Mechanized Army, and Order the 16th Mechanized Corps to continue to serve as the vanguard of the 4th Army and continue to advance toward Legionovo!

The reason why he made such a risky decision was not because he was forced by Telekin, the political commissar of the army group. Although there have been many outstanding figures among the political commissars of the Red Army, Telekin, the division-level political commissar, was not an outstanding person, and Major General Korobkov was not afraid of him at all. However, the commander of the front army, General Pavlov, sent a telegram urging the 4th Army to occupy Legionovo as soon as possible!

Because in the plan of the Western Front, Legionovo and Otwosk on the southern front were the starting positions for the Red Army to launch a pincer offensive towards Warsaw.

Now Otvodsk has been captured by the 37th Army commanded by Lieutenant General Vlasov, and the 37th Army successfully crossed the Vistula River and established a bridgehead. In this way, one leg of the pincer offensive is already there. If Legionovo cannot be captured, the pincer offensive will be missing one leg. That's why General Pavlov strictly ordered the 4th Army to capture Legionovo as soon as possible, so as to form another leg of the pincer offensive as soon as possible.

While the Soviet 4th Army was advancing towards Legionovo, SS General Steiner had already led his troops back to Legionovo, where he met the 6th Army Commander Model. Admiral. Model arrived from Warsaw by train at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, and also brought 4 assault gun battalions, 2 artillery regiments and 30 No. 4 tanks (reserve tanks).

"Felix, have you fought against the Soviets?" Model asked as soon as he saw Steiner.

"Yes," Steiner replied.

"How about it?"

"An unprecedentedly powerful enemy!" Steiner said, "More powerful than the Poles, the French and the British... Their tanks are very good, and the T-34 and KV-1 are both better tanks. Moreover, the Soviets Our soldiers are very brave and can fight tough battles.”

"A big loss?" Model asked with a frown. This afternoon's battle is the real first battle, and it is also a battle for both sides to test their depth.

"34 Panzer IV tanks lost!"

Steiner shook his head and said: "Half of them were destroyed by T-34s on the way back. The Soviets' T-34s are very good, with excellent speed and protection. But the firepower is a bit weak, and they can't be defeated in a frontal battle. 4 No. But as long as we have a numerical advantage of more than 2 times and use outflanking tactics, we can still force us to retreat.

Once we retreat, the T-34 can take advantage of its speed. If they had not stopped the pursuit today, our losses would have been greater during the retreat. "

Although the thickness of the frontal armor of the T-34 is not as good as that of the No. 4 H type, its actual protection effect exceeds the 80mm frontal armor of the No. 4 H type because it is arranged at a large 32-degree angle. The T-34's maneuverability far exceeds that of the increasingly heavier No. 4 tank.

However, the T-34's firepower is a shortcoming. The 76.2mm tank gun is not powerful enough. It must be close to within 100 meters to 200 meters to ensure that it can penetrate the 80mm frontal armor of the No. 4 H type. But the main gun of Type 4 H can penetrate the frontal armor of the T-34 at a distance of 1,000 meters! Therefore, it is impossible for the T-34 to defeat the No. 4 H-type tank in a frontal firefight. It can only rely on speed and numerical advantages to defeat the No. 4 H-type tank by attacking the flanks in a roundabout way.

"But we have Tigers and Panthers!" Model smiled. "Their firepower is unbearable by both T-34 and KV-1, and the Tiger's side armor is almost the same as the front of the No. 4 H model, and There is also a certain oblique angle that the Soviet T-34 cannot deal with. "

Steiner nodded, his expression still a little serious, "But the mobility of the Tiger tank is too poor. It can only run at a speed of more than 30 kilometers per hour on the road, and only 15 or 16 kilometers per hour off-road. The range is too short. , it can only run eighty kilometers in the wilderness with one full load of fuel. Although the Panther tank has better speed and range than the Tiger tank, it is still too heavy. Many bridges cannot bear the weight of the Panther without reinforcement. I think we still need a tank with balanced performance in all aspects like the T-34. If possible, I suggest imitating the T-34... Just install our kwk40/L48 75mm tank gun on the T-34. The performance is quite perfect.”

Steiner was not the first German armored commander to envy the T-34. For a long time to come, Hersman received dozens of identical opinions, all of which suggested imitating the T-34 tank.

At the same time, the tank commanders of the Soviet Red Army were full of praise for the German Tiger tanks and strongly suggested to Moscow that they imitate the Tiger tanks... In short, the tanks must be made by others!

…

"Comrades, for the peace and happiness of all mankind!"

"Ula!"

"Comrades, to plant the red flag all over the world!"

"Ula!"

"Comrades, for the victory of the communist cause!"

"Ula!"

"Comrades, for Stalin, the great leader of the world revolution!"

"Ula! Ula! Ula..."

Comrade Fegulov, political commissar of the 16th Mechanized Army of the Red Army, personally went to the front line at this time, holding a tin rolled trumpet to conduct political mobilization for the commandos. The 16th Mechanized Corps, which was reinforced with a tank brigade and a rocket launcher battalion, arrived near Legionovo before the evening of June 10.

However, Major General Sokarov, commander of the 16th Mechanized Corps, did not choose to launch an attack immediately. Instead, he set the time for the first wave of attacks at 8 o'clock that night. Because during the battle in Wovomin during the day, Sokarov had discovered that both T-34 and KV-1 were difficult to withstand the precise shooting of the No. 4 H tank main gun at long distances, and the T-34 and KV-1 The 76.2mm main gun could not hit the front of the No. 4 H model at all.

The only way to win is to use the advantage of speed and numbers to circle back to the side of the German tank and attack the weak flank armor of the No. 4 tank.

Therefore, Major General Sokarov chose to set the fighting time at night when visibility was poor, so that the Germans would not be able to use the long-range fire of the Type 4 H tank's main gun to destroy a large number of Soviet tanks.

The shouts of the Red Army soldiers passed through the night sky and reached the waiting German positions. Captain Gustav Schwarzenegger has now received a brand new Type 4 H tank, and has also added two crew members. During today's daytime battle, his tank was destroyed by a Soviet T-34. One of the five crew members was killed and one was seriously injured. Only Schwarzenegger, gunner Ogg, and driver Johnson were safe.

However, the loss of his comrades and tank still made Captain Schwarzenegger a little downcast. Now that he heard the Soviets' cry, there was an unknown fire in his heart, and he wanted to have a good fight.

"Boom! Boom..."

At this time, the Soviet Red Army's artillery bombardment began, and about a hundred 152mm and 122mm howitzers participated in the bombardment. However, the shell did not fall on the head of the 5th SS Tank Battalion where Schwarzenegger was located, but instead landed on the German frontline security line. Two grenadier battalions and one anti-tank battalion of the 5th SS "Wiking" Division were scattered there, and combat engineers also laid some mines. This hastily deployed defense formed a front where tonight's decisive battle would begin.

The Soviet artillery bombardment did not last long, and it ended in less than 15 minutes. Then Captain Schwarzenegger heard the roar of the motor and the cry of "Ula! Ula!" coming from the front.

The flares from both sides shone with blazing white or light yellow light and fell alternately from the sky, dyeing the earth with a strange color. Sporadic or clusters of gun bullets were dark red or orange, flying away from the front line of defense at extremely fast speeds. The battlefield was chosen in a large open flat land, and several small woods or relatively sturdy buildings were transformed into positions for 75mm anti-tank guns.

As the shouts of "Ula! Ula!" became louder and louder, with the help of the light of the flares, countless swaying figures could be seen on the ground. The majestic bodies of T-34 and KV-1 could also be seen. In addition, there were There are some tanks that are larger than the KV-1. They are KV-2 tanks equipped with 152mm main guns!

boom……

The 75mm cannon guarding the front line opened fire, and several 75mm high-speed armor-piercing projectiles went straight to a tall KV-2 500 meters away. Before the sound of cannon fire subsided, I saw the body of a KV-2 Noda immediately ignited into a fireball!

"What a great fight!" Captain Schwarzenegger had been holding his binoculars to observe those big tanks. He discovered the existence of such tanks during the daytime battle. But because the Soviets did not use it for assault at that time, they used it to fire 152mm shells behind the tank cluster for fire support. Therefore, it has not been hit, and no one knows whether the 75mm gun can deal with it.

"5th SS Tank Battalion, enter the position!"

Not long after the firefight on the front line started, orders came from Captain Gustav Schwarzenegger's earphones. Now the 5th SS Tank Battalion goes up to fight again. According to the plan, the 5th SS Tank Battalion and 5 heavy tank companies equipped with Panther tanks will be responsible for the front, while the flanks will be handed over to Five heavy tank companies equipped with Tiger tanks were in charge. All No. 3 assault guns will serve as reserves and will join the pursuit of the No. 4 H tanks after the Soviet tank troops retreat.