I, who traveled to Chunwu, entered Stalingrad again?

Finally, the infantry began to cross the river with assault boats, and the engineer battalion began to build pontoon bridges. The battle quickly ended with the retreat of the Soviet army. Plovsk is not a strategic location that must be defended. This battle is as easy as armed outing.

It would be great if everything went smoothly like this in the future, Zaimuzao thought as he looked at the reflection of the moon on the quiet Don River at night.

PS: Originally, I wanted to write about the battle of crossing the river in detail, but I decided to speed up the progress, so the writing is a bit like a running account.Next, I want to write a story about the 503 Reloading Battalion and Meow. qun Yiliuba two 77 a pomegranate

Operation Blue - Stalingrad: Chapter 35 Chapter 33 Advance to the Caucasus

Perhaps Zaimoza's prayers really had some effect, and the battle for the next half month was as easy as an armed parade.

On July 7, the Fourth Panzer Army advanced all the way along the Don River to Kantemilovka and other areas, only to stop due to lack of fuel due to poor logistical supplies.The Sixth Army was advancing faster than them, and had already occupied Millerovo, ready to make a leap towards Stalingrad.

But at this time, there were differences in the upper echelons of the German command.Marshal Fedor von Bock, commander-in-chief of Army Group B of the Southern Army Group, hoped to continue to concentrate his forces and continue to attack the Stalingrad area eastward, while Adolf believed that the Sixth Army should cover the Fourth Armored Army going south to Rostov to support A The group army group was used to encircle and wipe out the Red Army, and then took the Caucasus and Ku oil fields.

The conflict between the two men who acted as the brains and arms of the German army reached an irreconcilable level. As early as October last year, Marshal Bock and the head of state had conflicts over whether the Central Army should defend on the spot (Bock was the commander of the Central Army at the time).Then this year, there was a big fight over whether the Fourth Armored Army wanted to attack Voronezh. Bock even invited the head of state to the front for inspection before he reluctantly agreed to his plan to attack Voronezh.

New and old hatreds coupled with the dumping of some people in the German army caused Marshal Bock to completely lose the trust of the head of state.Adolf felt that he couldn't bear it. This guy made so many mistakes and still didn't know how to repent. He continued to sing against himself publicly, so he called Bock on the 13th to inform him that he was fired, and General Weicks took over as commander on the 15th. Position.

Interestingly, the Soviet command is also scolding the instigator of this disastrous defeat—Marshal Timoshenko, the hero of the Soviet-Finnish War and the winter counteroffensive.The Soviet Army abolished the designation of the Southwest Front Army on the 12th, and the Stalingrad Front Army was composed of the 62nd, 63rd, and 64th Army Groups transferred from the Moscow headquarters. The original commander was still Timoshenko, and the main force of the Southwest Front Army was Incorporated into the command of the Southern Front Army.

But because Timoshenko's defeat was so miserable and the command of the troops was in chaos, he lost contact with these troops of the former Southwest Front Army. Now no one knows where these troops are, and the Southern Front Army naturally has no way to command them.The bearded man pressed Timoshenko for several days, asking him to tell the whereabouts of the troops. Where did they fight or were they wiped out and captured?Timoshenko could not answer, and it was not until the 15th that several armies of the former Southwest Front Army, who had been missing for a long time, fled to Timoshenko's new position.

The bearded man also felt that he couldn't bear this guy, but he still endured a few days longer than the little bearded man Adolf and gave Timoshenko a chance. He was not dismissed until a week later when he heard the bad news about the frontline war again. As for Timoshenko's old army, the former Southwest Front Army, and several army groups that were disabled were withdrawn to the rear for rest and replenishment.

Because Moscow believes that instead of letting the defeated remnants with certain actual combat experience be completely exhausted on the front line, it is better to withdraw them first to replenish personnel and equipment to establish a combat-capable backbone corps. Of course, there may also be some political considerations.

It is also a rather strange scene in the world's military history that the commanders of both sides were dismissed one after another in the end of a battle.

…………

Zaimuzao was in a very happy mood. On the one hand, it was because the sun was shining recently and they no longer had to struggle in the mud like before. On the other hand, his troops were sent to the south, and the farther away from Stalingrad he was I am happy, it would be the best if I can be transferred back to my country.

The head of state ordered the Sixth Army to suspend the attack on Stalingrad, and even transferred the 51st Army from the Sixth Army to follow the Fourth Armored Army to go south to support Army Group A to capture Rostov, the gate of the Caucasus.The Soviet army took this opportunity to desperately strengthen the strength of the Stalingrad Front Army, and at the same time ordered the Southern Front Army to retreat in an orderly manner to defend the Ku oil field.

After replenishing the fuel, the snake-like motorized troops of the 16th Motorized Infantry Division drove unimpeded on the vast plains of the Soviet Union, dragging the sky full of smoke and dust.Although the German soldiers were covered in dust and swayed, they all looked leisurely like they were on an outing.

Recently, the 16th Motorized Infantry Division's offensive has been so strong that it can advance hundreds of kilometers every day.There was hardly any decent resistance, and most of the Soviet troops were fleeing towards the south of the Don River - Rostov and the Caucasus. Only the annoying guerrillas caused them some trouble.

Therefore, in every town and village that the German army captured, many people were hanged, most of them were civilians. The reason why the German army executed them was to provide support for the guerrillas.The SS especially likes to use this method to warn the Soviets. They even put people on wooden stakes. If they had made wooden seats before, they would secretly criticize them, but now their buttocks are not clean, what qualifications do they have to say? What about others?Can only keep silent.

Until July 7, the convoy of the 20st Motorized Rifle Regiment, where Zaimuzuo belonged, finally stopped in front of a small town called Ust-Donetski at the junction of the North Donets River and the Don River. There are about A regiment of enemy infantry and some armored units resisted to the death, hoping to buy time for the rest of the Soviet army to retreat.

And the German commanders also ordered them not to attack very strangely, but to defend on the spot and wait for reinforcements.

"Why do we have to attack the Caucasus southward? Isn't it better to continue to advance eastward? I heard that there are all high mountains there. We can't let tanks and trucks climb the mountains?" Schneider complained while tossing coins.

After dinner, Zai Muzao and his comrades waited for the so-called reinforcements in the trenches while chatting. However, the men seemed to be talking about women or military politics together. They talked about the battle situation in front of them.

Friedheim is not only familiar with history but also geography. He casually said: "Schneider, you should read more books. We are not going to attack those broken mountains, but several oil fields there. The output is two-thirds of that of the entire Soviet Union!"

Schneider was not angry when he was refuted by Friedheim. After fighting side by side several times, the two also let go of their original prejudices.

Zai Muzao knows that Caucasus oil is indeed very attractive to Germany. Germany's oil is supported by its own research on expensive coal-to-oil technology and oil imported from Romania. It is said that vehicle control has recently begun. In order to save fuel, only the government can use small vehicles. motor vehicles.But the good news is that the food control has not yet started. Zaimoza wondered if he should ask Friedheim to write the letter to his family, and take the opportunity to stock up more food for emergencies. The days ahead will be difficult.

At this time, there was a sound of creaking tracks and the roar of the engine from a distance. Timuzuo and the others finally saw the reinforcements, which were several square and mighty steel giants.

q dress ⑥ bar 27 ⑦ 1 ⑥

Operation Blue - Stalingrad: Chapter 36 Chapter 34 503 Armored Battalion and Tiger ([-])

8 tanks, some armored transport vehicles and 18-ton tractor trucks came slowly from a distance. The first 4 were the No. 16 N tanks that they were familiar with. There are also many infantry divisions, so there is nothing rare.

The latter 4 cars are different in pairs.The two tanks slightly in front look like enlarged versions of the No. 36 tanks, with a square head and a square body above, but the iconic Kwk 56 L/88 [-]mm tank gun almost made Zai Muzao shout out on the spot tiger.

Fortunately, he held back, and these equipment should still be regarded as secrets of the German army. If he shouted out on the spot, the gendarmerie would be happy to invite him to afternoon tea.To be precise, this should be called the Henschel Tiger, and it is also known as the Tiger 1 tank or the VI tank.

In addition, the last two vehicles that followed were a little strange. Its turret was placed at the front end of the body, and the artillery was still the same 88 gun. Zai Muzao recognized that this was another competitor of the Tiger tank-Porsche Tiger, It is also called Tiger P. The turret of Tiger P seems to be a little bit bigger. There are many more rivets in the front of the hull, and the armor looks thicker and more resistant than Tiger.

Zaimuza once suffered from this thing in a certain game. His bad maneuvering, long reloading, poor steering, and straight vertical armor left him with a deep memory.He didn't expect to be able to stand in front of it one day, which made him deeply moved.

In addition, another important difference is that the genuine Henschel Tiger adopts a staggered road wheel design that makes the logistics staff miserable, while the Porsche Tiger P uses 6 simple double-layer road wheels, which are installed in pairs of 3 On the axle, so the maneuverability is slightly inferior.

The tanks and trucks slowly drove into the pre-opened space for them. Immediately afterwards, General Shi Molin, the commander of the 16th Motorized Infantry Division, and a group of officers personally received the armored unit. The guard company of the division headquarters stood guard around them. The ordinary soldiers like Zai Mu Zuo regretted not being able to observe these steel monsters up close, and could only look at them and talk about them.

"What is this? It looks a bit like number four, but it's a whole circle bigger than number four."

"Maybe it's the Führer's new toy? There are two more models!"

"Come to us? Are you assigned to our teacher from now on? When did our teacher treat you so well?"

"How is it possible? You see, even the teacher has come here in person. I'm afraid the background is not small."

"The teacher is coming! Be quiet!"

"..."

General Shi Molin and the officers went to visit the two kinds of tigers, and a lieutenant colonel began to explain to them: "Our 503 Heavy Armored Battalion is currently equipped with two new types of tanks, one is the Henshe in front of us. Erhu, his 88 guns are enough to destroy the enemy's t34 tank at a distance of one kilometer, and the 100mm body armor and 110mm gun shield are also enough to withstand most of the enemy's counterattack! The other is the Porsche Tiger, whose armor is thicker , the front armor of the car body reaches 200mm, and the firepower is equally strong, but the cost is that the maneuverability is poor. In theory, both tanks have a maximum speed of more than 30km/h, and the Henschel Tiger can reach 45km/h. "

"So, what is the general cross-country speed?" General Shi Molin himself led an armored unit, and he sneered at the so-called top speed.

The lieutenant colonel coughed dryly and lowered his voice so that only General Shi Molin and a few people nearby could hear him.

…………

At night, when the company commander returned from a meeting at the regiment headquarters, everyone knew more details.

The 503rd Heavy Armored Battalion is a sharp knife unit directly subordinate to the Supreme Command of the National Defense Forces. It will be assigned to subordinate units according to the battle situation. They are currently under the jurisdiction of the Fourth Armored Army, but they are still being formed, and most of the troops are still in the country. train.

But there is a small problem: the upper echelon of the Reich is arguing over which tank to choose. The generals of the Wehrmacht prefer Henschel's solution, and the Führer seems to prefer the Porsche design.

They also had a competition in the proving ground. Although the result was that the Henschel Tiger was slightly better, the Porsche Tiger also had its advantages, so the head of state ordered to continue the actual combat experiment.

"The battlefield is the best platform to test weapons." Because of this sentence, Lieutenant Colonel Post, the commander of the 503rd Heavy Armored Battalion, had to lead a small number of troops to the front line from the German mainland by train for several days, and then changed to cross-country. Tracks come here.

The 16th Motorized Infantry Division will provide all assistance for the actual combat experiments of the new tanks. They have a prey specially tested for the power of these tigers.

In his previous life, Zaimozuo had also heard the great name of the 503rd Heavy Armored Battalion. They were the first unit to be equipped with Tiger tanks.

Early the next morning, the German army prepared to attack. The 61st Motorized Rifle Regiment, where the Greyhound Company belonged, was fortunate to cooperate with the Tigers. The main reason was that other troops broke through so quickly that they had already crossed the Don River. The 1st Panzer Army and the 17th Army are fighting a bloody battle with the Soviets in Rostov.

Since the Rostov train was not captured, the 503rd Heavy Battalion could not be transported to a further place. Even if it was not specifically requested by the superiors, the 61st Motor Rifle Regiment would have already launched an attack on the Soviet army in front of it.

Although the enemy said that there was a regiment, they were actually half-crippled in the previous battles, and they were no match for the German army at all, and only those tanks were a little threatening.

The battle did not start directly. Firstly, the artillery of the division and the artillery of the regiment were still preparing for the firepower of some Soviet positions that had been observed, and killed some exposed bunkers and firepower points. The shelling would last for about two hours, so the two troops had An opportunity for a brief exchange.

A non-commissioned officer climbed out of the turret command hatch of a Henschel Tiger with the number "114" painted on it, holding a cigarette and asked Lieutenant William: "Hey, brother, is there a fire?"

Lieutenant William took out his lighter and lit a cigarette for him, and said, "I'm William Venter, what's your name?"

"Hans Fendersacker, you can call me Fendersacker, I'm the driver of this car." The short and dark sergeant replied casually, pointing at the The others: "Pilot - Walter Eggers, gunner - Franz Formeister, signalman - Alfred Pulke, loader - Hans Wersh. They're some great guys."

It is not uncommon to have two Hans in a tank. In Germany, the name Hans is as common as Zhang Wei, Liu Wei, and Wang Wei in his previous life. Even Yang Wei is not uncommon.There is a joke that if you throw a bomb into any company at will, it will blow up a bunch of Hans.

"Can I touch it?" Zaimuza took the opportunity to ask.

Image: "Henschel Tiger", Location: "Images/1599138661-100187797-105938992.jpg"

Picture: "Porsche Tiger", location: "Images/1599138678-100187797-105938992.jpg"

Group 7 Liubayi [-] ① ⑥

Operation Blue - Stalingrad: Chapter 37 Chapter 35 503 Armored Battalion and Tiger Type ([-])

"Can I touch it?

"Whatever you want, can you still take off a piece of armor?" Hans Fendersack waved his hand indifferently, so not only the wooden seat, but also other infantrymen began to fumble around the Henschel Tiger. Look, be amazed, it looks like Grandma Liu entering the Grand View Garden.

This made the corner of Lieutenant William's mouth twitch slightly, and the appearance of the guys under him who had never seen the world made the tank soldiers next to him laugh out of good faith.They were proud of their mounts, and the awe-inspiring expressions of their infantry brothers undoubtedly made them even more proud.

Although William himself was quite curious about this square and handsome iron behemoth, he was a lieutenant after all, so he needed some face.

Other tanks also arrived at the starting point one after another. William saw the two Tiger Ps slowly approaching, so he took the opportunity to ask, "How do those two compare with yours?"

"For me, the Henschel Tiger is the best." Fendersack continued to take a puff of cigarette, "The electric transmission of the Porsche Jaguar is quite good. Its tracks on both sides are respectively driven by a set of Alto engines, and each set of engines It is also composed of an independent generator and electric motor, so the car runs very smoothly, just like the tram I drove when I was a bus driver. In addition, the engine of the Henschel Tiger will always make your head noisy. Goofy, the Porsche Tiger is a lot quieter, there's just one problem."

"It's easy to break down." The communications soldier explained the crux of the problem for him.

"Henschel has many failures, and it is difficult to repair!" The driver objected to this point of view, and kicked the tiger's load wheel.

"Seeing these things, this is the most 'pleasant' design! 16 wheels per side mounted on 8 axles, if we are lucky, we can have a full 16 wheels on one side when starting out, but there are After driving for a short time, the 4 sets of outer wheels will gradually loosen from front to back, and eventually slip off the track, which in turn will increase the pressure on the 4 sets of inner wheels, and eventually make them wear out!"

"And then replacing those things is quite a headache because you have to remove the eight outside to replace the one inside."

"Sounds like a logistical maintenance soldier's nightmare!"

Cai Muzuo had heard about this matter, and the joke about a cup of tea, a pack of cigarettes, and a Tiger repair for a day was widely circulated in later generations, and he couldn't help but rejoice that he didn't cross over to an armor repair soldier.

Just as he was about to continue asking for some details, a red flare flashed across the sky.

"It seems that we don't have time to chat, I wish you good luck!" Fendersack threw the cigarette butt under his feet and stamped it out, climbed up the tiger turret and got in.

"Good luck!" Lieutenant William replied, and then blew his whistle to gather the soldiers.

…………

Ust-Donetski is located at the junction of the Don River and the North Donets River, surrounded by mostly plain terrain.It has rivers on its east and south sides, and the Soviets almost blew up all the bridges so the Germans could only attack from the north and west.Most of the town are brick and tile bungalows, but there is a church and a government office building that are solid reinforced concrete buildings, where the Soviet army deployed a lot of people and firepower.

On the No. 312 highland to the west of the town, they dug and built a large number of trenches and fortifications, as well as several machine gun bunkers, intending to form a corner with the defenders in the town to resist the German attack.

Except for the whereabouts of the armored troop, all these other situations were clearly seen by the German reconnaissance plane.Therefore, before the German attack, they bombarded Highland No. 312 and the town indiscriminately, and then launched a feint attack on the town from the north with a battalion of troops. The main force of the 61st Motorized Rifle Regiment cooperated with the armored force to advance towards the No. 312 highland from the northwest, and then attacked the town after taking the highland.

Zaimuko, with his rifle on his back, carefully stood behind the turret of the No. 114 Tiger tank. Each Tiger was equipped with a squad of infantry. The space behind the Tiger P turret was larger, so the infantry on it had to be bigger. One more point.This is not to say that they want to act as the legendary human armor. Carrying people on tanks is actually a very common practice in World War II. It is not a patent of the Soviets. It is mainly for more efficient infantry coordination and the limited carrying capacity of armored personnel carriers.Now that they are still far away from the enemy's position, and the German artillery fire has not stopped, the Ivans should all hide in the artillery fortifications and eat ashes, and have no time to launch a counterattack.

The good news is that the speed of the Tiger is far less than that in the game. It is estimated that it is only about 10km/h, and the driver's skills are not bad.While supporting the turret so that it would not fall directly while walking, Timuzuo was trying to figure out how to hide behind the turret with the smallest body area, in case a stray bullet hit him and took his life.

In addition, he was warned to stay away from the fumes from the Tiger tail before getting into the car, which can cause carbon monoxide poisoning, and the driver with the same name as him specifically emphasized this point.

2 Tigers and 2 Tigers rushed to the enemy's position from the front, followed by some 251 armored personnel carriers and their infantry, and on the left and right flanks were some No. 88 tanks and No. [-] tanks. Their main guns Perhaps the enemy's armored forces have more than enough energy, but for the infantry, the efficiency of killing the enemy may be higher than that of the Tiger [-] gun. With them covering the flanks, the Tiger can also deal with the enemy in front of them with peace of mind.

When it was 3 or 4 kilometers away from the enemy, the tank stopped.The infantry jumped out of the tanks and personnel carriers one after another, followed the tanks and continued to prepare for the attack, and then the German artillery fire also stopped to prevent accidental injury to friendly troops.

"3 kilometers ahead, 4 German No. 4 tanks, change to armor-piercing shells and prepare to fire!" The Soviet army naturally discovered the movement of the German army a long time ago, but it was difficult for the German artillery to fight back. They started to act immediately, but because of the distance, they mistakenly regarded the Tiger as the No. 4 tank that had appeared on the battlefield before. This was a fatal mistake.

苏军大量采用zis-3型76mm榴弹炮进行反坦克作战，虽然这款火炮的主要功能还是为步兵提供曲射火力支援，但对于德军大批量装备的3号坦克甚至2号坦克来说也足以构成致命的威胁。（42年夏季德军连4号长管也装备的很少，主力还是3号坦克）

The Soviet army headquarters was also set up on a high ground. A major silently watched the slowly advancing German army with a binoculars. These German guys were too bullying, thinking about breaking through their position with only 4 No. 4 tanks?Since the opponent looks down on him so much, then give him a fierce counterattack. He shouted back: "Tell our tank battalion, let them prepare to attack from the left!"

After hearing the order, a messenger ran out quickly. The previous bombardment blew up their pre-buried telephone lines, and the communications troops were still rushing to repair them. Only a small part of the Soviet tanks were equipped with radios, and they were still in the previous battle. If it is damaged, it can only pass the message in this way.

qun one 6817 ⑦ clothing slip

Operation Blue - Stalingrad: Chapter 38 Chapter 36 503 Armored Battalion and Tiger ([-])

"14m in the direction of 1600 o'clock, machine gun bunker, grenade shooting!" Hans Fendersack poked most of his head out of the control tower, and shouted into the communicator while observing with a telescope.

Poking your head out of the tank on the battlefield is of course very dangerous, but Hans Fendersacker knows that if a tank commander closes the hatch with a "bump" at the beginning of the attack until the end of the battle, then he must be a waste.

Among the five members of the tank crew, the commander is undoubtedly the most important. He is the sharpest eye of the entire tank, and the key to being a good commander is the initiative to observe the battlefield.It is true that there are 4-8 observation hole slots around each command tower, but limited by the size of the hole slots, they can only clearly see the terrain within a certain range.

If a tank commander was looking out the left observation port and an anti-tank gun fired at him on the right, it could take them a long time to locate that gun.Listening to the sound and distinguishing positions is also not good, because the muzzle velocity of the shell is almost two or three times the speed of sound.In addition, due to the noisy sound on the battlefield and in the car, it is very likely that the enemy's position cannot be heard.But if the commander sticks his head out to observe the battle situation, the situation is completely different. He can spot threats within seconds.

It is undeniable that this approach has caused many casualties of the commander, but there will be more casualties if it is not done.

The driver, Walter, didn't need to wait for the commander's instructions, and tacitly brought the tank to a short emergency stop. The loader, Hans, switched the ammunition, and the gunner, Franz, began to aim at the target, and then a shell blasted the machine gun bunker into the sky.

The importance of the driver and the gunner is equal. An excellent driver is not only able to drive the tank, but also forms an excellent tacit understanding with the commander and gunner.He must be able to outline the development of the entire battle situation in his mind through the commander's few words, and then drive the tank to the designated direction according to the commander's tactical intention, and at the same time give the shooter the most comfortable shooting angle. Drivers are also always able to save tank crews from danger.The gunner decides whether the tank is a sharpshooter who hits a hundred paces or a spectator who can only fire a few shells indiscriminately.

What is different from the game is that the loader is not so important, although he is the most bitter and tiring one among all the members.An 88mm armor-piercing projectile weighs 20 kilograms, so the average loader is very strong.But the same as the game, the communication soldier is irrelevant, even if he disappears on the battlefield for a while, it will not affect the progress of the battle.

The anti-tank artillery team of the Soviet army did not act immediately, their position is well concealed now, and they are only waiting for the German tanks to come into range to surprise them.

The 4 German heavy tanks under the command of each tank commander dropped a lot of exposed firepower points of the enemy. The accuracy of the 88mm guns allowed them to shoot at a distance of 1500m from the enemy. Due to their deterrence, the German army advanced surprisingly smoothly.

The infantry of Zaimuza rushed forward behind the No. 114 Tiger tank, but under the command of Lieutenant William, they deliberately left a large distance.They only have flesh and blood, and if the opponent concentrates their artillery to attack the tank later, it will hurt Chi Yu.

Most of the machine gun fire in the enemy's position temporarily stopped firing due to the deterrence of the tanks, and only some mortars and rifles started firing.These situations were quickly detected by the German artillery observers on the front line, and the German mortars and infantry artillery also began to fight back to suppress the firepower of the Soviet army, because the Soviet army only had ZIS-3 76mm howitzers and some 120mm and 82mm mortars here. The guns were no match for the German 150mm howitzers and 75mm infantry guns. They were silenced after a while, and I don’t know whether they were wiped out or moved.

When about 600m away from the enemy, Hans Fendersacker also closed the hatch and temporarily retracted into the tank. This distance was enough for Soviet snipers to show off. Since the Soviet-German war, tank commanders have always been the focus of snipers The object of care, he is also familiar with the nearby terrain through previous observations.

At the same time, part of the German infantry and machine gun teams began to dig temporary bunkers, ready to cover fire at any time.An 82mm mortar blasted into the open space slightly to the right of Zai Muzuo, blasting a small hole in the ground, Zaimu Zuo rolled into it, and Friedheim also jumped in.

"Do you mind if we use the same foxhole, Hans?"

"Please feel free, this is given to us by Ivan, but you'd better pray that there won't be another shell." Zai Muzao replied to the guy angrily, and prepared to build a small foxhole for this foxhole with his engineering shovel. parapet.

"In terms of probability, this possibility is too low!"

"In terms of probability, every bombardment is an independent event, and the probability of hitting here is the same, silly boy."

Friedheim was taken aback by the words, and then looked at Zai Muzao strangely: "Didn't you say you didn't graduate from primary school?"