Steel Soviet Union

Malashenko did not intend to suspend the offensive after achieving a little bit of results. Breaking through the first outermost position after the Germans were covered and baptized by artillery fire was just the beginning of everything. It could only be regarded as a warm-up exercise at best. The onslaught of fists and kicks that made the German man's memory soar was about to begin now. read

"Attention all vehicle crews, let the infantry remount the vehicle, and we continue to attack! The target is the Germans' second line of defense. They have only received limited artillery fire extension. There is no time to wait for the next wave of artillery fire to cover it. It is expected that the enemy will be tenacious. resistance, please keep your eyes open and brace yourself, let us fight quickly!”

The Germans, who had already entered a strategic defensive position, are now becoming increasingly adept at defensive operations. The most prominent point is reflected in the construction of systematic defensive positions, which has a strong deployment method based on the Soviet offensive characteristics.

As in the past, all treasures were bet on the first and only line of defense, with no depth of defense at all. As long as one position was penetrated, it was equivalent to a fool's-style defensive operation in which everything was lost. Today, early It has ceased to exist and has changed.

The Germans are not stubborn idiots who don’t know how to adapt. Although the systematic large-depth defense warfare model learned from the Soviet army is not as sophisticated as the inventor of this tactic, that is, the Soviet army themselves, the Germans I have indeed understood some of the inner core things, not just superficial knowledge.

The role played by the first defensive position now is more like a buffer zone that gives the second defensive position time to react after the artillery fire falls.

In order to prevent all those expensive and clumsy technical weapons from being blasted into the sky in the first wave of artillery, the Germans, who have a long memory, concentrated most of the heavy weapons, which are the backbone of the firepower of the position defense, on the second line and there are On the third defensive position behind.

This also destined that the already weak heavy firepower on the first defensive position would be quickly wiped out after the Soviet artillery fire fell. After all, people can hide in bomb-proof caves, but those bulky technical weapons that can only be deployed and set up in advance cannot.

In other words, this means that the German troops staying behind on the first defensive position are simply dying. They are risking their own lives to give early warning to their comrades behind them and buy time. In any case, this is not good for the German troops stationed on the first defensive position. It's a little unfair to people.

But from the perspective of command and decision-making, it can only be like this. It is better to kill a small number of people than to involve all the troops.

The Russians' terrible and destructive artillery fire must be vented. Instead of everyone huddled together and being bombed, it is better to sacrifice a small number of people to create an outlet that can attract this destructive artillery fire. At least this will be more conducive to defense and victory. The odds of winning the battle are greater.

Some people have to do it, and whether it is fair or not is irrelevant at this time.

In other words, even if the German troops stationed on the first line of defense retreat after the battle begins, this is an acceptable and expected situation.

As long as they can withdraw and buy enough time for the second defensive position, which was also washed away by the extended artillery fire but was less severely damaged, to reorganize its defenses, the troops that were withdrawn from the first defensive position can still survive. To a certain extent, why not do such a thing to enhance the strength of the second defensive position?

If the situation is better and there are mobile armored units on hand available, the German commander will even use fast-moving infantry tanks to coordinate with the mechanized battle group after the Soviet artillery preparations have ended and the first defensive position has begun to engage the enemy. Go to support the first defensive position and try to give the Soviet offensive troops a heads-up and push them back without giving up an inch of ground.

However, none of the above situations exist today, let alone be realized.

The Stalin Guards 1st Tank Division, which attacked extremely fast and with devastating offensive energy, did not give the Germans any time to escape or support.

The second defensive position, which had been completely wiped out by the extended artillery fire, had not yet completely regrouped and prepared. The German troops stationed on the first defensive position had been declared defeated. Except for those who took advantage of the chaos and fled back to the second defensive position. Except for a few stragglers on the ground, there is not even an organized unit that has been withdrawn, not even an ordinary infantry company.

You know, there are two infantry regiments placed on the first defensive position, which has heavy firepower but is not perfect.

In less than half an hour, the position was declared lost, and was eaten clean by a group of cruel Russians who didn't know where they were. Not even the dregs were vomited. Such a cruel reality made the major general of the National Defense Forces, who set up the field command headquarters on the second defensive position, tremble. He was afraid that he had encountered a fierce Russian that he really couldn't afford to offend.

"We still have six regiments left, three of which are understaffed and only about half of the strength to be replenished."

"We can't hold on for even half a day with the way we fought just now, General. The people who retreated from the first line said that the tanks that the Russians put into the battle were overwhelming, there were hundreds of them, and most of them were extremely powerful. The heavy tanks are difficult to deal with. We have to think of a way quickly, at least to apply for some necessary support. "

The nagging of the chief of staff beside him made Major General Schmidt's already headache-like head feel like it was about to split. The telescope in his hand was thrown onto the already messy table like an unpleasant burden. He felt like he was Major General Schmidt, whose body was extremely heavy, just sighed helplessly.

"Where is the support? The Air Force has long withdrawn from the frontline field airports. Their limited forces cannot cope with the overwhelming Russian aircraft. The telegram said that their strength ratio in the sky is often one to three or even one to four. , please note that this is only a comparison of the number of fighter jets, other aircraft types are not included.”

"The Russian Air Force's deterrence operations have begun long ago, but they move much faster than their ground forces. The purpose is to scare away our Air Force."

Major General Schmidt's helpless lament was as if he had lost his soul, but the Chief of Staff who still had fighting spirit on the side was still unwilling.

"So this is the result? The Russians wanted to scare them away, but these cowards were really scared away? They didn't even have the courage to fight and just abandoned their comrades on the ground!?"

Regardless of whether what the chief of staff said was angry or not, Major General Schmidt still felt it was necessary to give one final emphasis to his partner who was already aware of the situation.

"What can we do if we don't get scared away? This is a threat of absolute strength. It has been like this since half of the Air Force Wing was taken away and went to the Western Front. We have always been going up and down, even if the Air Force... Helping people fight the Russians won't change anything, you know that."