The Rise of the Third Reich

"Is it the No. 2 tank?"

Rotmistrov, commander of the 7th Tank Corps of the Soviet Red Army, held up his telescope and carefully observed dozens of small objects that appeared to be light tanks scattered among the wheat fields ahead in the bright moonlight.

"Comrade Commander, those tanks don't look like No. 2. They look a bit like Swedish L-60 tanks." Colonel Katnin, commander of the 8th Tank Brigade, who served as the vanguard of the entire 3rd Army, participated in the Soviet-Finnish War, and The Swedish L-60 tanks equipped by the Finnish army fought against each other.

"Are they Swedes?" Rotmistrov frowned and asked, "Did they also join the war?"

He knew that Sweden was an industrial power with advanced technologies in the fields of metallurgy and machinery, capable of producing the best ball bearings and artillery, and that the aviation and shipbuilding industries also had a good foundation. If this country abandons its neutrality and completely turns to Germany, then the strength of the Nazi reactionaries will be greatly enhanced.

"So what?" Oktyabryski, the military political commissar, interjected, "The Swedish people always want to be liberated. Eliminating the Swedish reactionary army in Poland now will also help liberate Sweden in the future!"

"Yes! Sweden also wants to be liberated!" Rotmistrov nodded. Like political commissar Oktyabryski, he is also a person who believes that GCism will soon be realized.

"Comrade Commander, let the 8th Tank Brigade come forward." Colonel Katnin, commander of the 8th Tank Brigade, knew that a fight was about to begin, so he took the initiative to ask for a fight.

"No, the 8th Tank Brigade cannot move now..." Rotmistrov thought for a moment and rejected Katnin's suggestion. He added: "These Swedish tanks are probably bait set by the Germans, who want to lead us into their ambush circle."

"Then what should we do?" military political commissar Oktyabryski asked.

"Let the T34s of the 11th Tank Brigade go up," Rotmistrov said, "and the T-34/57s of the 8th Tank Brigade and the anti-tank battalion directly under the group army set up an ambush."

The anti-tank battalion directly under the group army is equipped with 16 ZIS-2 57mm anti-tank guns. This anti-tank gun, which was originally positioned as a regiment-level artillery, became a treasure directly under the group army because it was too rare. Rotmistrov handed over the battalion assigned to the 3rd Army to the 8th Tank Brigade, which together with 55 (now only 48 can be driven) T-34/57 tanks became a tank destroyer group.

According to his vision, the tactics adopted by this tank destroyer group were not attacks, but ambush. Use the large number and fast T-34 to lure the enemy, introduce the German tank group into the ambush circle, and then let the T-34/57 and ZIS-2 fire "roll call".

His tactic was similar to that of Manteuffel on the opposite side. However, they were not the first generals to practice this "tank luring enemy annihilation tactic" in the Soviet-German war. The first person to use the "tank luring enemy annihilation tactic" was Major General Popov, the commander of the Soviet 10th Army. .

This Red Army major general is now standing at a three-way intersection of destiny. If he goes to the right, he will become a traitor, traitor, or scab; if he goes to the left, he will become a revolutionary martyr that everyone respects!

Major General Popov was now leaning against a big tree, trying hard to breathe in the air that was filled with the smell of death and gunpowder smoke, and looked around. Surrounded by a forest that had just been bombed by rocket launchers and aircraft, there were broken and charred tree remains everywhere. Bodies of Red Army martyrs and broken weapons were scattered among the trees. Baharov, commander of the 22nd Tank Army, was leaning on a damaged KV-1 tank. He mounted a DP-27 light machine gun on the fender of the tank wheel, like a soldier preparing to fight The attacking SS grenadiers engage in the final engagement.

Baharov was not demoted and dismissed. He was still the commander of the first army, but his 22nd Army had been scattered by the German armored clusters. Although the 22nd Army fought a very good ambush 10 hours ago and destroyed 6 Tiger tanks (it was not that they could not be repaired), their good luck ended here. The German tanks retreated quickly, and at the same time they fired 105mm grenades from an ugly-looking assault gun with considerable firepower, followed by a charge by SS grenadiers. All 16 ZIS-2 57mm anti-tank guns were lost, and the 22nd Tank Corps completely lost its trump card against German heavy tanks.

But the 22nd Tank Army could not just leave because they needed to buy time for the 99th Infantry Army and the 8th Cavalry Army under the 10th Army to retreat. At the same time, it is also necessary to buy enough time for the 11th Army (one of the three armies of the North Route Group in the Battle of Warsaw) so that they can set up defenses on the Markey-Wowomin line to prevent the German armored group from suddenly rushing to the center. behind the cluster.

The price of 10 hours of bloody fighting was the loss of more than 20,000 commanders and fighters of the 22nd Tank Corps and the 330th Infantry Division. Now Popov and Baharov only have a few hundred troops left under their control. , huddled in a forest near Raziming, making a final resistance.

However, their current resistance has little meaning, because 30 minutes ago, Polish cheers came from Razimin to the woods where the Red Army was guarding. After capturing Razimin, the German army's road to Wovomin had been opened.

Those must be Polish reactionaries lurking! Popov thought angrily as he pressed the bullet into the magazine of Tokarev's pistol. Listening to the cheers coming from the direction of Raziming, it was obviously much louder than the cheers when people lined the streets to welcome his 10th Army.

This shows that there are more people in Raziming City who need to be shot and reformed through labor than those who need to be liberated! The "reactionary indicator" of 10% is too low. It must be raised to at least 60% to be considered appropriate!

boom! boom……

The sound of several shells exploding interrupted Popov's thoughts. Just as he was about to get up and find a crater to avoid the shells, he heard someone shouting: "No picking up, no looking."

It turns out that the Germans are launching propaganda bombs!

A white leaflet was blown in front of Popov. He grabbed it and held the reactionary leaflet in his hand.

"Don't pick it up, don't look at it..." I don't know which political cadre kept shouting, but Popov ignored it. At the moment when he was about to become a revolutionary martyr, he really wanted to see what the fallacies of Nazi imperialism were like.

…

"An armored division! Comrade Commander, our 11th tank brigade encountered a German armored division near Zakrochim! Our unit suffered heavy losses and is retreating!"

The commander of the 7th Soviet Tank Army, Rotmistrov, and the political commissar Oktyabryski did not know at this time that part of their retreat had been cut off by the Germans (only partially, because now the east bank of the Renav River was almost (both liberated areas), the two of them were gathered around a US-supported military radio station, listening to the unfortunate Colonel Mihalekhin, commander of the 11th Tank Brigade, report his tragic experience.

An hour and a half ago, Colonel Halishin was ordered to lead two T-34 tank battalions under the 11th Tank Brigade and a battalion from the 7th Motorized Infantry Brigade to pursue dozens of light vehicles suspected of being "Swedish tanks". tank.

Those "Swedes" were very cunning, fighting and retreating all the way, always keeping a distance of 500-800 meters from the pursuing T-34 tanks. This distance, let alone at night, was already within the T-34's 76.2mm even during the day. It's a very difficult distance for the main gun to hit.

The chase between the two sides lasted for about an hour. At about 9:30 pm, the troops of the 11th Tank Brigade approached the small town of Zakrochim on the Vistula River. Then dozens of flares hit the heads of the Soviet tank group, illuminating the battlefield in pale white.

The No. 3 assault gun and 75mm anti-tank gun ambushed in the surrounding woods and wheat fields opened fire at the same time, hitting more than forty T-34 tanks in an instant!

"There is an armored division? Are you sure?" Rotmistrov took the communicator from the communicator and asked in detail.

"Definitely! There are at least 200 No. 4 tanks and No. 3 assault guns..."

Rotmistrov and political commissar Oktyabryski looked at each other, 200 No. 4 tanks and No. 3 assault guns! This is truly an armored division!

"Are there any German heavy tanks?" Rotmistrov asked again.

"I didn't find it... we were firing 75mm guns... Oh, there are also many No. 3 tanks, about 100 of them!"

100 Panzer III tanks? Didn’t it mean that the Germans had eliminated the No. 3 tank? Rotmistrov frowned. It seemed that this was an armored division that was urgently formed after the Soviet-German war. There were not enough No. 4 H tanks, so No. 3 tanks were used to make up the number.

"I understand, Comrade Mihalykhin, you must find a way to lure this armored division over!" Rotmistrov took a breath and issued the order, "This is a key battle related to the smooth liberation of Warsaw. , Working people all over the world are watching the proletarian fighters of the 11th Tank Brigade!”

"Understood, Mihalikhin understands, the 11th Brigade will complete its mission at all costs!"

Rotmistrov handed the communicator back to the signal corps, and then said to Oktyabryski: "Comrade Mihalikhin is an excellent tank commander and a loyal Bolshevik party member. The 11th Tank Brigade Under his leadership, the mission will be completed successfully. However... the German armored divisions are very powerful, and our 7th Tank Corps may not be able to wipe them all out. "

Oktiabriski also nodded, his face extremely solemn, "The appearance of a German armored division is a very important situation. It shows that the enemy has sent a large number of troops to Warsaw, and there may be more German armored divisions and infantry. The division is at the front. We should report this situation to the army headquarters immediately."