The Rise of the Third Reich

Comrade Yakov Dzhugashvili didn't really want to risk his precious life. He was just pretending to be cool because the commander of the 9th Mechanized Army, Grechko, couldn't speak. If Grevich begged and said a few words that were pleasing to the ears, Yakov would go to Minsk.

However, Grevich was confused at the critical moment and did not insist on Yakov going to Minsk. This is a very serious mistake, and it will cost many people's lives in the end, including Grevich's own life of course!

However, Grevich had no chance to correct his mistakes at this time, because shortly after the conversation with Yakov ended, countless signal flares were fired almost simultaneously from Zaslavl-Nora Boxen on the dozens of kilometers long front. Soar into the sky. There are all kinds of colors. This is the artillery headquarters of the eleven armored divisions and four panzergrenadier divisions of the German army on the front giving firing orders to the self-propelled artillery, assault guns, infantry guns and mortars scattered on the front. . Behind these German armored divisions and panzergrenadier divisions, artillery groups belonging to the Third and Fourth Armored Groups, including ten German artillery regiments, six smoke launcher regiments and four powerful French reserve artillery divisions, All the cannons also received the order to fire at this moment.

The entire front began to bloom with large and small orange or dark red fires, and then there was an earth-shaking explosion. More than 4,000 artillery pieces, mortars and rocket launchers spit fire. Artillery shells and rockets were projected to the front line of the Soviet army. If you looked down from the air, you would feel that a sea of ​​fire suddenly appeared on the ground below, which was more than ten kilometers wide and dozens of kilometers long!

Due to the joining of the French and the oil bottleneck that choked Germany's military neck, it almost disappeared. As a result, the German army today has an artillery force that surpasses the Soviet Union in quantity and quality, and has also initially achieved mechanization. At least the towed artillery attached to the armored forces has been mechanized towed by half-track vehicles!

This is why the German army was able to move so many artillery pieces from Lithuania to the Minsk front in Belarus in such a short period of time.

The sudden shelling made a sound like a hurricane, and became more and more violent and fierce. The ground trembled violently, and countless explosion points of various sizes appeared at the front of the Soviet army's positions. The firelight mixed with the smoke and dust went straight into the sky. The violent smoke almost completely blocked the morning glow that appeared for the first time after days of rain. It seems that they want the sunny Soviet paradise to turn into a dark capitalist hell!

And this scene of a sea of ​​French and German artillery fire flooding the Soviet positions will appear again and again on Soviet soil for a long time to come! The era of European unification will also begin with this fierce gunfire. The sound of cannons is also the cry of a baby who was born into a thousand-year empire.

The artillery fire roared and the sound of the artillery was fierce.

Major Gustav Schwarzenegger was standing on the height of a low hill, looking at the rolling fire in front of him through binoculars.

His 37 "Rhinoceros" guns were lined up behind the low hill, blasting a forest controlled by the Soviet army not far away with 88mm cannons. According to investigation, the Soviet army deployed some 57mm anti-tank guns there and also buried anti-tank mines in a large farmland outside the woods.

Therefore, before the 501st Heavy Armored Battalion launches an attack, it must be bombarded repeatedly with artillery, and then armored engineers will clear the way to create a route for Tiger tanks to attack.

After a while, the sound of the cannon gradually became sparse and finally stopped. Major Schwarzenegger put down his telescope and shouted loudly to Major Rudel, commander of the 501st Heavy Armored Battalion, who was waiting in an armored command vehicle in front of the hill: "Major Rudel, the artillery preparations are over, it's your turn to go on stage. ”

In the second half of the artillery preparations just now, when the firepower extended from the front to the enemy's rear, the armored engineers belonging to the German 1st Armored Division had already taken the risk of being bombarded at any time and jumped out of their positions to clear the front of the Soviet positions. The remaining anti-tank mines were cleared of hastily erected obstacles.

At this time, the order to start the attack came from Major Rudel's earphone. He stood up straight in the half-track vehicle and waved his hand vigorously: "Start the vehicle! Check the equipment, prepare for the attack, and use our tracks to crush the corpses of the Bolsheviks! Long live Germany!"

The roar of the motor suddenly replaced the roar of artillery shells, resounding throughout the German frontline positions between Rakov and Zaslavl. This is the loud noise made by the motors of more than 2,000 various armored combat vehicles and auxiliary vehicles rotating at high speed at the same time. Manstein concentrated all five heavy armors in the main assault direction of just ten kilometers in this area. division and 5 armored divisions. The total number of Tiger tanks, Panzer IV tanks, Panzer III assault guns, Rhino destroyer tanks, and Wasp self-propelled artillery units invested exceeded 3,000 units (still under the condition that the equipment integrity rate was less than 90%, and it was not counted. Countless armored vehicles of various types). General Huot, the commander of the Fourth Armored Army who was responsible for commanding these tanks and assault guns, invested one-third of his armored forces in the first wave of attacks!

The roar of the motor passed through the no man's land between the front lines of the two armies and reached the ears of the communist soldiers who had just been stunned by the unimaginable fierce German artillery bombardment. It also reached the motorized anti-tank artillery regiment that had just arrived under the direct control of the 9th Mechanized Army (a unit equipped to the Mechanized Army/Tank Army in order to deal with the German tank sea. It is equipped with 16 ZIS-2 57mm anti-tank guns and 16 KS-12 85mm anti-aircraft guns, all towed by trucks) were in the ears of Major Dzhugashvili who was gathering positions.

"Comrade Zhu...Zhugashvili, why are you here!" Makarenko, the commander of the 9th Motorized Anti-tank Artillery Regiment, was busy gathering his troops to count the losses (his regiment had just been shelled, but the losses Not big), suddenly saw Dzhugashvili coming, and was immediately startled.

The assembly area of ​​the 9th Motorized Anti-Tank Artillery Regiment is so close to the front that you can hear the roar of the motors of German tanks preparing to dispatch. This area may soon be attacked by a group of German tanks!

Although Dzhugashvili also went to the front line in the Battle of Huashan, the Soviet army generally had the advantage in the Battle of Warsaw. In particular, the southern front of the Soviet army where Dzhugashvili is located has always been on the offensive, so the risk for Dzhugashvili on the front line is not too great.

But the situation is different now. The advantage now is obviously on the side of the Germans. Just listen to the roar of the German tank motors and you will know it! I don’t know how many No. 4 and Tiger tanks are going to rush over later!

"Comrade Makarenko, what are you talking about?" Dzhugashvili glared at the artillery regiment commander in front of him, "I must personally control the military's motorized anti-tank artillery regiment. This is my responsibility!"

He was right in saying that this was an order from the Artillery Director of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army - all Artillery Directors of Tank Artillery Corps/Mechanized Army Artillery Corps must personally take charge of motorized anti-tank artillery regiments in the event of an engagement.

"But..." Makarenko said to himself: That order was given to the artillery director of another army, but you are different! If you unfortunately died on the front line, how sad the great leader Stalin would be!

If you are weak at a critical moment, betray the Soviet motherland and become a prisoner, then the great leader will become a member of the anti-revolutionary family! This is how to do ah!

Because according to regulations, family members who oppose the Communist Party cannot have Moscow and Leningrad residence registration. How to solve Comrade Stalin’s household registration problem?

In addition, is an anti-revolutionary family member without a Moscow residence permit suitable to serve as a great leader of the world revolution?

"Woooooooo..."

Just as Makarenko was about to tell Dzhugashvili about the seriousness of the problem, the air raid sirens sounded. The two of them looked up into the sky and saw countless black spots filling the northern sky.

The air raid by German planes begins! Comrade Dzhugashvili will not be able to go anywhere until this wave of major air strikes is over.

Makarenko stamped his feet and quickly took Dzhugashvili, who was involved in Stalin's "hukou issue", to take shelter in the air-raid bunker dug in advance.

…

"SS, loyalty is honor! Forward!"

"Long live our Germany, onward!"

When the overwhelming Breguet attack aircraft, Hs-129 attack aircraft and Ju87 dive bombers roared towards the Soviet position under the cover of the Fokker Zero. Major Schwarzenegger, commander of the 5th SS Tank Destroyer Battalion, and Major Rudel, commander of the 501st Heavy Armor Battalion, also issued advance orders to all the vehicles under their command.

Leading the charge today are 40 Tigers from the 501st Battalion (4 are under repair) and 21 short-barreled Type 4 F tanks (1 is under repair, their mission is to cover the Tiger). The 5th SS Tank Destroyer Battalion, together with another battalion belonging to the 1st Panzer Grenadier Regiment, followed the 501st Heavy Armored Battalion and rumbled towards the position of the Soviet 9th Mechanized Corps.

To the left, right and rear of these three battalions are endless tanks, assault guns, self-propelled artillery and various armored vehicles! If you look down from the air, you can see steel vehicles like a sea tide, surging like an unstoppable torrent of steel.

At the same time, countless communist fighters were walking along the traffic trenches that were shattered by artillery fire, or simply on the ground full of craters, braving the constant bombs or artillery shells dropped by German and French aircraft in the air. , rushing desperately towards the designated blocking position. Anti-tank guns, anti-tank guns, and many T-34 and KV-1 tanks relying on simple bunkers made of soil and sandbags are all ready! Many Soviet engineers even risked their lives to rush out of their positions and lay anti-tank mines under a hail of bullets, hoping to slightly block the impact of German tanks.

A decisive and desperate battle will soon begin between two powerful armored forces.