The Rise of the Third Reich

April 15, 1944, Andrea Bol.

Just as another round of Soviet artillery bombardment ended, Lieutenant Colonel Skornez immediately climbed out of a wet and muddy bomb shelter, then jumped onto a damaged BT-7 tank and began to observe the situation on the front line - —This is the debris left behind after a failed night attack launched by the Soviet army last night.

What destroyed this 13.9-ton BT-7 tank was a Pak38 50mm anti-tank gun that was almost as outdated as the BT-7.

And this "old cannon" is now equipped with German paratroopers who have always used the latest equipment. However, this does not mean that German military production has reached its limit and cannot supply the increasingly large army. In fact, the European Community with Germany as its core does not have production capacity. It is just the sum of the steel production capacity, number of machine tools, electrolytic aluminum production, and shipbuilding capacity that the four European Community industrial countries such as Germany, Britain, France, and Belgium currently have. It is about the same level as the United States on the other side of the ocean. The oil bottleneck that has always restricted Europe's industrial strength has also been eased due to the rapid increase in oil production in the Middle East.

Therefore, it is not that Germany does not have the ability to equip its most elite paratroopers with expensive cone-bore guns. The reason why the old 50mm cannon is handed over to the paratroopers is because the discarding sabot technology provided by the British made this 50mm gun overnight. The power of anti-tank guns has been increased by approximately 50%. When using discarding sabot armor-piercing projectiles, the Pak38 50mm anti-tank gun can penetrate a 126mm thick homogeneous steel plate at a right angle at a distance of 500 meters. If the distance is shortened to 250mm, this 50mm anti-tank gun can penetrate a 140m homogeneous steel plate at a right angle, which can already penetrate the front of the JS-2 heavy tank!

Therefore, the Pak38 50mm anti-tank gun, which weighs only 813 kilograms (it can be reduced by dozens of kilograms if the gun shield is removed), took on a new life in 1944 and was equipped with German paratroopers and mountain troops as the main anti-tank weapon.

At the same time, the "Little Leopard" reconnaissance tank used by German paratroopers is also equipped with a 50mm 60 times caliber tank gun, which can also fire armor-piercing shelling shells. It can also threaten the Soviet JS-2 tanks in defensive operations!

As for the Pak40 75mm anti-tank gun owned by the German ordinary infantry division, when using sabot armor-piercing projectiles, it is possible to penetrate the front of the JS-2 tank at a distance of 800 meters - in theory, it can penetrate at a distance of 1,500 meters. The front of JS-2 is that the hit rate of discarding sabot armor-piercing projectiles drops sharply at a distance of 800 meters, so it is usually used to shoot closer targets.

In addition to the armor-piercing discarding sabots with incredible armor-piercing capabilities, German (EC) infantry are now also equipped with a large number of cheap Tekken 100 anti-tank grenade launchers and more expensive "Doll" 88mm rocket launchers.

Among them, the Iron Fist 100 anti-tank grenade launcher has a range of up to 100 meters and an armor-piercing depth of up to 220mm! The effective range of the "Doll" 88mm rocket launcher can reach 300 meters, and the armor penetration depth reaches 200mm - this distance is really deadly enough for a small rocket launcher that can be used by a single soldier.

In other words, the powerful Soviet JS-2 tanks are the prey of 50mm and 75mm anti-tank guns that use armor-piercing shells at a distance of 800mm. When they rush to a distance of 300 meters from the German infantry, they will be counterattacked. Tank rocket launcher (Tekken 100 is actually a rocket launcher) attack!

As for the thinly armored BT-7 tank, it has now become a living target for various infantry anti-tank weapons. In the forests and swamps around Andreapol, the wreckage of BT-7 tanks and the remains of Red Army soldiers lying on the ground are now everywhere.

The fierce fighting that lasted for several days caused heavy losses to the attacking Soviet army!

However, the losses on the German side were not small. Their "Little Leopards" also lost a lot in the battles in the past few days. 45 "Little Leopards" belonging to the 2nd Airborne Armored Battalion of the 2nd German Parachute Division , after several days of consumption, only 19 vehicles were still running.

Less than 50 meters to the right of Lieutenant Colonel Skornez, there was a blackened and twisted "Little Leopard" tank. This tank was destroyed by Soviet infantry with the "Red Iron Fist"!

Like the German infantry, the Soviet army, which was at a disadvantage in terms of the number of tanks/assault artillery, also regarded the development of infantry anti-tank weapons as a top priority.

In addition to the anti-tank grenades, anti-tank rifles, anti-tank rifles and anti-tank mines that have existed in history, the "Red Iron Fist" imitating the German "Iron Fist" and the "Bazooka" rocket launcher provided by the United States , and the US-made M1 57mm anti-tank gun, which was also shipped through the North Pacific Lifeline.

Although there are no sabot-piercing projectiles provided by the United Kingdom, the M1 anti-tank gun produced in the United States still has good performance and can penetrate a 112mm thick homogeneous steel plate at a right angle at a distance of 500 meters. Although it is not enough to threaten the front of the Tiger H tank and E-50A tank, it is still a fatal threat to armored vehicles with weak defense capabilities such as the No. 4 tank and the No. 3 assault gun.

According to statistics from Army Group North, in the fierce battles from April 5 to the present, the loss exchange ratio of coalition tanks and Soviet anti-tank guns (including ZIS-57, M1-57, and ZIS-3) is approximately 1:2 (in (without encountering the Tiger and E-50), although the advantage is still on the side of the tank, the era of invincibility of the tank has obviously passed!

And when the infantry cooperates with the "Tank Destroyer Battalion" or "Tank Destroyer Brigade" (the coalition's "Tank Destroyer Battalion" and the Soviet "Tank Destroyer Brigade" are actually the same level of combat units) to defend, it can be completely repelled. The enemy's armored vehicles, which far outnumbered its own, even had an advantage in the loss exchange ratio.

In other words, as long as there is the support of a small number of mobile and armored self-propelled anti-tank guns, the infantry can completely withstand a large number of enemy tanks in a defensive battle.

Beginning on April 5, in what later historians called the "Kalinin-Tver Battle" (Tver Oblast is the old name of Kalinin Oblast), in Rzhev, Kuvshinov, Torzho On the major battlefields such as Croatia, Likuslavl, Andreapol, Toropets and Valdai, there were scenes of inextricable battles between tank troops and mechanized/semi-mechanized infantry.

"Crash la la la..."

The sound of rolling tank tracks and the roar of diesel engines rang out at the same time. Skornez knew that the defense line of the 2nd Paratrooper Regiment was about to be tested by the tide of Soviet tanks and infantry.

Just when Skornez was about to order the four "Little Leopard" tanks temporarily under his command to serve as tank destroyers, someone around him suddenly cheered: "Airplanes! Our planes are coming!"

Skornez raised his head and looked into the sky, only to see 8 Hs-129 anti-tank attack aircraft and 8 Fw-190F8 fighter-bombers, appearing on the battlefield at a height close to the treetops, and then headed towards The attacking Soviet tanks and infantry rushed away!

The first to attack is the Fw-190F8 fighter-bomber. This aircraft has a triple 88mm rocket launcher hanging under the wings on both sides. It can launch ammunition similar to the "Doll" 88mm rocket launcher and can destroy 300 meters. Enemy tanks within range can also be used to kill infantry.

Before the Soviet anti-aircraft artillery had time to react, more than forty rockets streaked through the sky with tail flames and white smoke. Although the accuracy of this kind of rockets was not high, it was better than those dropped by dive bombers. The bomb still clearly has an advantage. Barely waiting for the Soviet officers and soldiers on the ground to respond effectively, these rockets roared in, triggering a series of big explosions among the attacking Soviet tanks and infantry!

Then, the Hs-129 anti-tank attack aircraft mounted with a powerful 50mm cannon (modified from the Pak38) began to show off its power - this is actually a flying tank with stronger armor than ordinary aircraft. Can shuttle through dense enemy anti-aircraft fire. And that 50mm cannon can also fire powerful armor-piercing shelling shells!

When this plane passes over a group of Soviet tanks from treetop height, any Soviet tank, including the JS-2, will become extremely vulnerable.

Under the attack of increasingly powerful infantry and aerial anti-tank firepower, tanks wrapped in thick armor are becoming more and more vulnerable to attack.

Seeing the Soviet tanks and infantry groups in front being engulfed by balls of fire, Skornez shouted excitedly: "Leopard tanks have entered the position, and all anti-tank groups have entered the position and are ready to fight!"

…

"Damn German planes!"

When the 16 German fighter planes flapped their wings and flew away unscathed, General Chuikov was supervising the battle in a Soviet forward position on the Andrei Bol front. Looking at the cluster of Soviet tanks in front of him that were blown to pieces by German aircraft, Chuikov couldn't help but curse.

He can be considered a battle-hardened warrior, and has been commanding mechanized troops since the outbreak of the world revolution. But I never thought that the majestic tanks of the past had now become almost bullied by everyone. Not only were they blown up by the planes in the sky, but even the infantry on the ground took out a rocket launcher and threw an anti-tank grenade to blow up the tank wrapped in steel plates.

It seems that Andre Bol is a tough nut to crack!