USSR 1941

Shulka was betting that the original intention of the German army was not to let these "tiger" garrison bridgeheads.

If so, then there is really "trouble" as Vasily said.

The reason is that the German "Tiger" tanks are rough and thick, and the bridge head is the commanding height on both sides of the open space. Even if the Soviet army has a rocket launcher, it is difficult for the Soviet army to approach it and destroy it.

In other words, at this time, the German army can form a steel line of defense as long as the few "Tigers" are placed on the bridgehead, and then only a small number of infantry are required to hide behind the tanks and use the firepower and protection of the tanks to easily hold the bridgehead.

There is no doubt that if this happened, the Soviet army's goal of occupying the bridgehead and blowing up the railway bridge would immediately fail.

But Shulka doesn't think that's the case.

He thought those "Tigers" were preparing to cross the railway bridge.

Since this is the case, before the German army realized that the goal of the Soviet army was to occupy the bridgehead, the task of the German "Tiger" was still to cross the railway bridge.

Therefore, the indiscriminate bombardment of shells may make these frightened birds make wrong judgments and decisions.

Vasily moved very quickly. On the one hand, he organized the mortar unit to bombard the bridge head immediately, and on the other hand, he asked the artillery observers to contact the artillery regiment responsible for covering.

It was a wise decision to let the mortar unit do it first, because the artillery observers did not need to report coordinates at all, and the flames and thick smoke of the shell explosion indicated the position of the artillery regiment on the north bank of the Tsaritsa River.

A few minutes later, rows of artillery shells roared, and then exploded at the bridgehead.

The German army was instantly stunned, or it can be said to be panicked.

The commander of the "Tiger" tank was a captain named Walter.

At this time, the crew of the "Tiger" tank of the German army must be selected from the best... The new tank has high hopes, so each crew member is an excellent soldier selected from rich combat experience.

The same is true for Captain Walter. Before he became the platoon leader of the "Tiger" unit, he was an armored company commander and commanded a dozen tanks to make great contributions.

It stands to reason that he should be able to keep calm on the battlefield, analyze the situation between the enemy and us, and make the right choice.

The problem was that the tank commanded by Captain Walther was a "Tiger".

Captain Walter still remembers that when they were recalled for training to use the "Tiger" tank, the instructor said to them in an unquestionable tone in the first class: "Before that, if you are still in battle for various reasons , For example, if the tank is hit, malfunctioned, etc., if you have the idea of ​​​​giving up the tank, then I will tell you now that you must give up this idea from now on! Because the '6' tank you will be driving is definitely worth it You gave your life to protect it, and in the end, you also detonated it or set it on fire in the tank bay!"

(Note: The original serial number of "Tiger" was "No. 6" tank)

This statement has two meanings:

One is that new tanks are extremely expensive, and they cannot be given up until the last moment or even even at the last moment.

The other is because it has many secrets and cannot be completely captured by the enemy in battle.

There is nothing wrong with these words, but it will give Captain Walter an invisible pressure...

If Captain Walter was driving the "No. 3" and "No. 4" tanks at this time, he would not hesitate to order the troops to prepare for battle and even lead the infantry to rush to the enemy.

But he is now in command of "No. 6", and there are not many "No. 6" vehicles in the entire army.

Captain Walter's first reaction was: protect these tanks, and don't let them have accidents.

At the same time, Captain Walter also knew that the Panzer 6 tank would fail at every turn...Even if the enemy's mortar shell hits the tank directly, it cannot damage it, but its vibration may cause it to malfunction, such as the turret Problems like not being able to rotate.

Therefore, Captain Walter immediately ordered through the walkie-talkie: "Hurry up and cross the river! Repeat, hurry up and cross the river!"

Major General Jonas on the other side didn't think so, he made the opposite judgment.

Even when the adjutant told Major General Jonas that the Russians were bombarding the bridgehead, Major General Jonas realized right away that he had been duped.

"No, no..." Major General Jonas said with the information: "This is not right, their target is not artillery!"

"Not artillery?"

"Yes!" Major General Jonas said: "Their target is the railway bridge, the railway bridge... Immediately order the artillery to stop and prepare for battle, and order the troops at the bridgehead to stay where they are, and must hold it, and send the guard company up to reinforce it them……"

But Major General Jonas was still a step behind.

This is because the information needs to be transferred to the division headquarters, where Jonas makes a judgment and then gives the order. At the same time, the German infantry needs to contact the tank unit after receiving the order. This is the transit time. Captain Walter has already commanded several " "Tiger" drove onto the railway bridge one after another.

"The general ordered you to come back!" Captain Weiss, the frontline commander, contacted Walter: "You should defend the bridgehead with us!"

"I don't think it's a good idea!" Captain Walter replied without thinking.

It's really not a good idea.

In order to avoid shells, Walter has risked ordering all four "Tigers" to drive onto the railway bridge... The railway bridge is relatively small in size and has steel girders on the top. Although it is relatively sparse, it still has a certain anti-gun effect.

"Tiger" is basically safe as long as it drives along the railway bridge to the opposite side without failure.

But now, they are letting the "Tiger" return!

This means that there is a much greater chance of failure and getting stuck on the bridge.

"Listen!" Captain Weiss said, "This is an order. The enemy's goal is the bridgehead. The enemy intends to occupy here and blow up the railway bridge. Do you know what that means?"

Only then did Walter realize that he had been fooled, or rather suspect that he had been fooled.

If the enemy's goal, as Captain Weiss said, was to occupy the bridgehead and blow up the railway bridge, then the tanks should never have driven on the railway bridge in the first place.

In other words, the purpose of the Russian bombing just now was to drive them away.

At this time, Walter felt like he was riding a tiger and couldn't get off. He couldn't advance or retreat on the railway bridge.

After thinking about it, Walter ordered: "Cars No. 9 and 10 continue to move forward, and Cars No. 6 and 7 return to the bridgehead position!"

This is the quality of German commanders, they usually do not rigidly carry out orders from their superiors.

For example, Walter should order all four tanks to return now.

However, considering that it is difficult for all four tanks to return successfully or even block the railway bridge, it is the best choice for two tanks to move forward and the other two to return for reinforcements.