The Rise of the Third Reich

"Most of the commanders, fighters and political workers of the 11th Tank Corps and the 330th Infantry Division are loyal to their oaths and missions. For the liberation of all mankind and the Soviet motherland, they have stuck to their posts and fought to the end, every soldier, every shot. Bomb. Now, the radio stations of the 11th Tank Corps and the 330th Infantry Division of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army have appeared near the headquarters of the 11th Tank Corps! Long live the great Soviet motherland! ! CL…”

Major General Rimoschik, Chief of Staff of the Western Front of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, read with a trembling tone the last telegram he had just received from Popov, commander of the 10th Army, via the radio of the 11th Tank Army!

Less than 24 hours before the Germans launched their counterattack, the Red Army's important stronghold of Razimin northeast of Warsaw was captured by the Germans. The 100th Infantry Corps suffered heavy losses, and the 11th Tank Corps was almost wiped out (of course many people escaped, but Almost all the tanks and vehicles were abandoned), and even Army Commander Popov was likely to die for the cause of communism.

This defeat was almost another Legionovo-Wovomin battle!

And the situation reflected was even worse than the battle of Legionovo-Wovomin! Because the 4th Army at that time was caught off guard by the German heavy armored group without defense, but now the 10th Army relied on the defense line to hold on and was defeated in less than 24 hours.

This shows that the combat effectiveness of the German armored forces is far beyond previous expectations!

The Chief of Staff of the Western Front, Rimoschik, finished reading Popov's "Legacy Message" and then stood there in a daze. The entire war room was also depressed. Commander Pavlov's bald head was covered with fine beads of sweat, and he sat there motionless.

Military Commissar Ponomarenko was smoking a cigarette. Comrades such as Popov, commander of the 10th Army Group, Bakharov, commander of the 22nd Tank Corps, and Barons, commander of the 100th Infantry Corps, have all sacrificed their lives for the cause of human liberation and are all martyrs. Of course, martyrs cannot be sent by the enemy. The Bolshevik Party values ​​martyrs first, so the martyrs cannot be held responsible for the crime of defeating the war. Then this sin is...

"Comrade Commander, Comrade Political Commissar!" Rimoschik's voice suddenly rang again. Pavlov and Ponomarenko looked up at the same time and saw the Chief of Staff of the Front holding another telegram in his hand. Copied.

"Urgent message from Comrade Zhimachenko, Commander of the 3rd Army..."

Something happened to the 3rd Army too? Pavlov and Ponomarenko felt their hearts tremble at the same time.

"The 7th Tank Corps reported that they encountered a powerful German armored division near the small town of Zakrochim on the Vistula River!"

Another armored division? It seems that the Germans have really sent a large number of troops to Warsaw!

"What's the current situation?" Pavlov immediately asked, "Can we defeat them?"

The 3rd Army is the main force of the North Road Cluster, and it also has 55 powerful T-34/57 tanks. If it cannot defeat another German armored division...

Pavlov wiped the cold sweat from his bald head and thought: If the 3rd Army cannot win, then the "Thunderstorm Plan" will most likely fail. By then, he will be the number one sinner of the communist cause, and he will not escape even if he is shot. of!

Thinking of this, he looked to Military Commissar Ponomarenko for help.

Ponomarenko sighed and said: "Comrade Pavlov, the battlefield of the Western Front is not in Belarus, but in Poland. The front headquarters should be moved forward so that we can grasp the situation first-hand and facilitate command. !”

What does it mean? Pavlov was stunned. Could it be that Ponomarenko meant for him to learn from Popov and the others? If you are defeated and die in battle, how about becoming a revolutionary martyr?

This is a solution! Pavlov gritted his teeth. If he became a reactionary and was shot, his family would be affected. If you die in battle...then your family will be the family of martyrs.

"Comrade Military Commissar, you are right, I should go to the Polish front line to take command." Pavlov said, "I immediately asked the Supreme Command for instructions to move the headquarters."

"Okay, that's good. I will suggest Comrade Stalin approve your request." Ponomarenko smiled easily, and his current status was finally saved.

In fact, he was not considering the war situation and Pavlov, but wanted to quickly throw out the hot potato of the Military Commissar of the Western Front while the frontline battle situation was still good. Because his job is the first secretary of the Central Committee of the Belarusian Party, if the Western Front headquarters moves out of Belarus, he will no longer serve as the military commissar of the Front. Otherwise, the First Secretary of the Central Committee of the Belarusian Party would have to go to Poland to work, which would be unbearable.

As long as he is not the Military Commissar of the Western Front when the Western Front loses the battle, then it will not be his turn to take the blame...

Just when Ponomarenko was about to cut off the big bargaining chip of the Military Commissar of the Western Front to stop losses, the "market" of his Western Front was rebounding.

…

Dozens of bright lights suddenly flashed on the battlefield shrouded in night, like a sharp arrow shot from the string, towards the tanks of the fascist army in the darkness in the distance.

"Oh my god, is this... a searchlight?"

Major General Manteuffel, who was sitting on a half-track armored command vehicle, was also flashed by the light in front of him, but he immediately knew what it was? This is the searchlight of the anti-aircraft artillery unit. It is used to scare enemy aircraft at night. German infantry divisions and armored divisions also have this kind of thing, but they are generally not used for lighting in night battles.

"Quick, knock out those damn searchlights!" Manteuffel shouted. As a tactical expert, he could even think with his heels that the Soviets had set an ambush for him. These searchlights are for illuminating anti-tank guns!

The ones rushing in front now are the Hungarian Turang 1 tanks. They don't have frontal armor like the No. 3 assault gun, and they can't even stop the ZIS-3 cannon.

"Quickly give the order to the Hungarians and tell them to retreat immediately..." As soon as Manteuffel said his second order, intensive artillery sound came from the front, followed by balls of fireballs rising suddenly.

This is the unlucky Hungarian Turang Type 1 tank that was blown up!

I don't know whether it was the tank driver whose eyes were dazzled by the sudden light, or whether the Hungarian tank soldiers were a little slow. The Hungarian tank group that was suddenly hit didn't react for a while and rushed forward stupidly.

This was a great advantage to the lurking Soviet Red Army T-34/57 tanks and ZIS-2 anti-tank guns. The shells hit the Hungarian tanks like hailstones, one hit at a time! These medium-sized tanks with thin skin and large fillings were shot one after another and caught fire, turning into a burning fire in the night.

Seeing the fireballs rising up one after another in front of him, the political commissar of the 7th Tank Army Oktyabryski almost jumped up and shouted "Ula".

Although the 11th Tank Brigade had suffered a lot in trying to lure the enemy, but now that this attack was successful, it was all recovered!

Moreover, this ambush battle also proved the value of the 57mm anti-tank gun. This is a weapon that should be mass-produced and equipped with large quantities of equipment.

Boom boom...

When he was happy, the German No. 3 assault gun finally opened fire! Just as Major General Rotmistrov, commander of the 7th Tank Corps, had expected, the German assault gun fired its searchlight first.

The searchlight being hit is the signal!

All the ZIS-2 anti-tank guns that were firing immediately began to move their positions. Only more than forty T-34/57s continued to fire. They were tanks and were not afraid of being covered by grenades fired by assault guns.

Fegelein, commander of the 8th SS Cavalry Division, drove up to Manteuffel in a half-track armored command vehicle. Fegelein stood in the open compartment of the command vehicle and loudly asked Manteuffel: "General, the Hungarian tanks suffered heavy losses. Should we let our assault guns hit them?"

"This won't work. An assault gun is not a tank." Manteuffel shook his head and immediately rejected Fegelein's suggestion.

Although the No. 3 assault gun has powerful firepower and very strong frontal defense, it is not a tank after all. It does not have a turret that can rotate and fire, and the armor on the sides is not strong enough. This weapon can be used to support tanks, but cannot replace tanks.

"Then what should we do? Are we going to give victory to the Bolsheviks like this?" Fegelein seemed unwilling to do so.

"No, the Bolsheviks did not win, they were blocked by us." Manteuffel looked calm and was not annoyed by tonight's setback. He calmly said to Fegelein, "Tomorrow morning the 48th Armored Corps will will arrive, and then the absolute advantage will be on our side, and we can completely destroy the Soviet armored group in front of us, and we have also figured out the Soviets’ trump card!”

"True card?"

Manteuffel pointed forward. Most of the searchlights had been extinguished by the 75mm gun of the No. 3 assault gun. Now the muzzle flash of the 57mm gun could be seen clearly in the night.

"This is not a 76.2mm cannon," Fegelein also discovered the problem. "This is a Soviet 57mm anti-tank gun."

"Height!" Manteuffel said, "Pay attention to the height of these artillery pieces. These artillery pieces are not placed on the ground, but are mounted on tanks... The Soviets installed ZIS-2 on T-34 tanks 57mm anti-tank gun! Now they have a tank that can threaten the Tiger tank! "

"It's true!" Fegelein nodded, "These Bolsheviks have made rapid progress, they are smarter than imagined."