USSR 1941

Shulka guessed right, the Germans were indeed delaying time, otherwise the German troops stationed in Tver would only have a regiment of more than 2,000 men, and it would obviously be wrong to go out to fight the Soviets outside Tver before dividing the troops when the troops were insufficient. unwise.

This was done because the 5th Engineer Battalion, which Kruger used to reinforce Tver, needed time to prepare.

There is no doubt that this 5th Engineer Battalion is not an ordinary engineer battalion, it is actually an armored train unit...

After launching the offensive, the German army successively used the captured armored trains to form four armored trains, namely armored trains No. 10, No. 11, No. 21 and No. 22.

Among them, No. 10 and No. 11 armored trains are Polish armored train carriages seized from the Soviet army... The characteristic of Polish armored trains is that the armor is too thin, only 5MM, which can barely block the shooting of bullets.

The German army mainly used these armored trains against partisans.

This is actually correct. The reason is that armored trains rely heavily on railways. As long as the railways are blown up, it can almost be said to lose combat effectiveness... Except for Polish light armored trains.

The Polish light armored train is a kind of strange existence. It is nothing more than loading a bunch of tanks on a flat car and using it as an armored train when maneuvering on the railway. Drive down on the flatbed to fight.

Obviously, this armored train is still very useful against guerrillas, so it is also called "railway legend".

The reason why the armored trains are equipped by the engineer battalion is mainly because they are responsible for the safety of the railway... After owning the armored train, they can basically not fear any armed force in the rear. It is impossible for the guerrillas to have equipment that can threaten the armored train, so even the engineer Barracks can also easily complete the task.

Another advantage of the equipment of the engineer battalion is that they can get off at any time to repair roads and rails, which is beneficial to ensure smooth railways... What the German army needs most at this time is smooth railways.

But the German 5th Engineer Battalion was a little different.

The 5th Engineer Battalion is equipped with the No. 22 armored train, which is pieced together and refitted from captured Soviet armored train carriages. The most important modification is to install four 88MM anti-aircraft guns... This is obviously not to deal with guerrillas Team.

This was Manstein's idea.

The 88MM anti-aircraft gun has proven its value in actual combat. It is not only a weapon for air defense, but more importantly, it also has excellent armor-piercing ability.

At this time, the German army was encountering the "T34 crisis" and had almost no equipment that could deal with T34 tanks.

On the other hand, the 88MM anti-aircraft gun is inconvenient to maneuver... This thing weighs 5,000 kilograms when maneuvering, and a shell weighs about 10 kilograms. This is definitely a nightmare on the muddy roads of the Soviet Union and the tense logistics of the German army.

So, why not install the 88MM anti-aircraft gun on the armored train and use it as a reinforcement for the frontline troops with rail mobility?

Thus, the No. 22 armored train was born.

It should be said that it is a kind of mixed-match equipment used by the German army for emergency. The Germans who advocate mobility finally abandoned this thinking and installed the 88MM anti-aircraft gun on the "Tiger" tank... The benefits of the tank are obvious. Rail restrictions.

The No. 22 armored train was even still in the testing stage. Manstein wanted to replace the engineer battalion with better-quality and more professional infantry and artillery, but was sent to Tver by Kruger before the urgent replacement.

The battalion commander of the 5th Engineer Battalion is Major Michael, a young man from Magdeburg. His father is a construction worker, and he himself has worked in construction for several years and has specialties in construction, so it is no surprise that he was assigned to the Corps of Engineers.

Major Michael proved to be a good fit for the job, and his knowledge of construction made him a major in the Engineer Corps.

But Michael has always been dissatisfied with his arms.

He always complained to his subordinates: "What I hope is to fight the enemy face to face on the battlefield, instead of building roads and bridges with a shovel in the rear!"

"Sir!" The adjutant persuaded Major Michael: "In fact, we are also facing the enemy face to face..."

"Oh, is that so?" retorted Major Michael. "The guerrillas you mean? Come on, if we know how to shoot, we can beat them back!"

"You're right, sir!" said the adjutant, "but you know that any post..."

"Everyone needs someone to work, right?" Major Michael interrupted the adjutant impatiently: "Yes, I know! I've heard this a hundred times, Dim... Next, I think what you want to say Even the engineer is equally important, it ensures that the soldiers on the front line have enough ammunition, so what we do is equally great..."

The adjutant was momentarily at a loss for words, because that was indeed what he wanted to say.

However, Major Michael did not expect such luck, and his dream of going to the battlefield to fight the enemy face to face finally came true.

On this day, Major Michael and his subordinates, as usual, took an armored train to patrol the gaps between the trains. Major Michael sat in the command compartment while drinking coffee while watching the snowflakes outside the window boredly, and there were teams of road repairers. The common people and the German soldiers who were freezing and stomping their feet.

Life in the armored train was nice, but it made Major Michael feel as useless as the infantryman's sarcasm: "Poor wretch in a shell."

At this time, a communications soldier hurriedly ran from the telecommunications room to Major Michael, and then stood up and reported: "Sir, urgent order!"

"Guerrillas?" Major Michael asked casually. He was already numb to such urgent orders. To him, the so-called urgent orders were nothing more than hearing gunshots and gunfire, and then there were corpses outside the train.

"No, Major!" The signalman replied: "It's Tver, the superior ordered us to reinforce Tver!"

"Tver?" Major Michael couldn't help being taken aback. He heard that the place was being attacked by Russian troops.

Major Michael couldn't believe such a good thing. He took the telegram and saw that it was indeed as the messenger said, reinforcements to Tver.

"Didn't they say they were going to change?" Michael asked casually.

"No, no!" replied the signalman.

"Go and confirm!" Major Michael stood up a little excitedly. He was worried that what his superiors needed was only an armored train, and they would replace the 5th Engineer Battalion with combat troops when they arrived at their destination.

But the order came down quickly: "Get ready for battle, what you are going to face is the enemy's elite tank force!"

This choice is sensible, because combat units may not be as proficient in operating armored trains as the 5th Engineer Battalion.