USSR 1941

The battle report from the front line made Shulka a little speechless. In the past, only three machine gun fire points and two bunkers of the enemy were destroyed in a few rounds of artillery fire.

The main reason is the lack of preparation that Shulka has been worried about.

Although the self-propelled artillery unit established contact with the front-line artillery scouts through the telephone line, the coordinates and correction parameters reported to each other conflicted, which made the artillery unit somewhat at a loss and did not know how to fight.

It was only after the war that one of the telephone lines was connected to the artillery observer of the mortar unit of the infantry regiment in the dark, and the corrected parameters of the mortar company were reported to the self-propelled artillery battalion.

Then there was confusion in the supply: when the engineers transported the ammunition forward, they couldn't tell which ones were 76MM caliber and which ones were 85MM caliber... The artillery of these two calibers is relatively close. Compared with the 152 caliber guns, it is easy to identify when reversing. The boss's door is there.

As a result, several shell mismatches occurred.

This seems to be justifiable, because it is rare for artillery to have such a situation where there are more than a dozen guns with different calibers, especially these guns are also installed on the tank chassis, and it is difficult to see the difference from the appearance.

Finally, there is the problem of poor coordination between the gunner and the tank driver and crew... The most difficult thing is actually the driver, especially the 152MM artillery.

The reason is that the driver has to stay in the driver's seat in the cabin and is ready to start the artillery transfer at any time, but the recoil force of the self-propelled artillery is almost all borne by the tank chassis, so the sound of every shell fired is almost above the head, The entire chassis will vibrate violently, and the driver will be completely shaken within a few rounds, and his external perception will decrease exponentially.

The gunner is an artilleryman who doesn't know these, so he yells at the cab to convey orders, so he often cannot be received in time and appears very slow.

Fortunately, these self-propelled artillery were all within the blind spot of the enemy's shooting, so there were not many casualties when the German army suppressed the artillery fire, except for a few gunners who were injured by flying bricks and shrapnel.

These are small things, because Shulka has already prepared the gunner replacement.

This is another reason why self-propelled artillery is suitable for the battlefield... It is very difficult to train a group of tank crews. Even if this group of tank crews is to fight like an arm, they have to train for a period of time. If some crew members are injured, it is often very difficult. It is difficult to replenish and cause the paralysis of the entire vehicle group or greatly reduce the combat effectiveness.

Self-propelled artillery is much better, it supplements artillery, and it is much simpler to control a gun than a tank.

Therefore, this offensive battle has actually become a bad one.

As for Shulka's view... the self-propelled artillery did not exert its due combat effectiveness at all, and of course it could not force the enemy's "Tiger" tank out.

To put it simply, the Germans will not have any major problems if they continue to fight like this, as long as they wait for dawn.

However, the Germans chose another style of play.

The German commander is Colonel Doppler. His idea is relatively conservative, that is, the original style of play, defending until dawn.

But Major Duden, the commander of the "Tiger" tank company, didn't think so.

"Colonel!" Major Duden reported to Colonel Doppler through the walkie-talkie: "I think we should launch a counter-offensive. We have the Panzer Six tanks. We can kill them like an ant!"

"It's night, Major!" Colonel Doppler replied: "We are not suitable for counterattack at this time!"

"No, Colonel!" Duden, who was holding a telescope on the tank turret, replied while observing: "You should look at the battlefield situation instead of staying in the office, and then I believe, you will make the same decision as me!"

Major Dudden's words made Doppler a little annoyed, because this was not what a subordinate should say to his superior at all.

But Colonel Doppler was helpless.

This is not just because Major Duden is the commander of the "No. 6" tank company... As we all know, the officers who command such tanks should have a sense of superiority, and they themselves are a kind of legendary existence.

What's more, this Major Duden was transferred from the SS.

After thinking about it, Colonel Doppler replied calmly: "I will consider your suggestion, Major!"

Colonel Doppler hung up the phone while speaking.

If this is the case, then tonight's battle may be over here.

But Colonel Doppler hesitated for a moment, then took his armor belt and telescope from the wall and went out of the cellar.

The location of Colonel Doppler's headquarters is connected by a traffic trench to a three-story ruined building, which can serve as an observation post.

Doppler climbed up the ladder made of shell boxes, and then looked down at the direction of the Soviet army.

After observing for a while, he had to admit that what Major Duden said was right, the Russian artillery bombardment was very chaotic, and the infantry charge was not smooth, almost all of them were killed.

But there is one thing that makes the German army very afraid... The enemy artillery is only two miles away from the forward position, which can be seen from the fire from its muzzle.

After thinking for a while, Colonel Doppler ordered the communications soldier: "Contact Major Duden!"

"Colonel!" Durden called back into the walkie-talkie.

"Are you worried that those artillery pieces are a threat to you?" Colonel Doppler asked.

"Yes!" Duden replied, "We were not prepared, I mean, not prepared for such a large caliber artillery. I think you also saw that the Russians may have a 150mm caliber howitzer, and Very close to us...if they find out where our tanks are hiding, they could inflict heavy casualties on us!"

In order to be able to rush to the front line and participate in the battle as soon as possible the next day, the German "No. 6" tank, of course, is one of the reasons that it is prone to failure, and the other reason is that the enemy has almost no artillery that can pose a threat to it. The No. 1 tank was deployed less than one mile from the forward position.

This was no problem at first, but the problem is that now the Russian army is using large-caliber howitzers to bomb the frontiers of the German army, but the German artillery fire is ineffective in suppressing them.

Therefore, if the fight continues like this, it is very likely that a blind cat will encounter a dead mouse, that is, the shell will hit the "No. 6" tank hiding in the bunker.

The German army can choose to try their luck on the spot, or they can choose to retreat, but it is obvious that Major Duden is more inclined to counterattack, because he believes that under the cover of the "Number Six" tank, the German army can easily break through the enemy's defense line and eliminate those hateful enemies. artillery.

"They're vulnerable, Colonel!" said Major Durden. "Because they're artillery!"