The Rise of the Third Reich

May 1, 1944. Amid the rumbling sounds coming from afar, the small town of Klin on the Red October Railway was full of a tense and busy atmosphere. The Red Army infantry of the brigade, the towed A-19 cannon, the ZIS-2 anti-tank gun and the ZIS-3 cannon, as well as the low-profile SU-57 tank destroyer with a slender barrel, rumbled in from somewhere outside the city when night fell.

Looking at the high morale and neat equipment of these officers and soldiers, you can tell that they are not the reserve front that has been fighting hard for many days, but the fresh troops from Moscow.

By April 30, the reserve front commanded by Marshal Konev had completed all the blocking tasks, and the force had dropped from more than 500,000 to less than 250,000.

In 10 days of hard fighting, at least 250,000 soldiers died, were seriously injured... or betrayed the cause of GCism-became prisoners!

Moreover, most of the heavy equipment of the Reserve Front was lost in the 10-day hard battle. At this point, the Reserve Front was also disabled. So on the night of April 30, the Red Army Command issued an order to Marshal Konev to evacuate the battlefield and go to Vladimir Oblast for rest.

A large number of new recruits from the East and weapons and equipment produced in the Ural Industrial Zone or transported through the "lifeline" of the North Pacific are waiting for the Reserve Front to receive them in the ancient city of Vladimir.

According to the plan, Konev's front has 2 months to expand, reorganize and train. It will be transformed from a heavy force to a relatively light force.

SU-57 tank destroyers, American M1 57mm anti-tank guns, and ZIS-3 71 howitzers will become heavy weapons in the hands of various troops of the Reserve Front. At the same time, the number of trucks and cars will be greatly reduced, and they will be replaced by horse-drawn carriages and draft horses. In other words, the three armies of the Reserve Front will regress from motorized troops to "drafted horse" troops in the future.

Such a regression is of course to adapt to the increasingly severe situation. Because the Soviet Union's industrial strength has regressed due to the defeat in the war, it is no longer able to supply a large number of heavy troops.

Therefore, the comprehensive lightweight reform will be launched after the victory of the first Moscow Battle. Although the Red Army Supreme Command is optimistic about the battle in front of them, they do not think that the European coalition forces can be driven far away from Moscow.

Therefore, there will be a second, third, and even fourth Moscow Battle in the future...

Replacing the Reserve Front's defense in Klin and along the Red October Railway (from Kalinin to Moscow), the Soviet Red Army's 62nd Army, commanded by General Nikolai Ivanovich Krylov, came out of Moscow.

In this time and space, the 62nd Army was established to defend Moscow. There was no army-level command under the army, but it directly commanded the 87th, 98th, 112th, 131st, 196th, 229th, 244th, 315th, and 399th infantry divisions, as well as the 23rd Independent Tank Destroyer Regiment (equipped with the US-aided M10 tank destroyer) and the 20th Tank Destroyer Brigade (equipped with the Soviet-made SU-57 tank destroyer). The total strength was as high as 130,000, which was a typical "heavy" infantry army. However, because the main mission of the army was to defend the city, it did not have many vehicles, so it had no mobility. The heavy artillery of the army group was dragged out of Moscow by the motor regiment directly under the Central Front and placed in the preset artillery firepower strongholds east of the Red October Railway Line. The Red October Railway Line between Moscow and Kalinin was of course the focus of the Soviets' construction of fortifications. Large triangular heavy artillery pits and anti-armor trenches were built on the east side of the Red October Railway Line. There were also simple roads connecting the heavy artillery pits, and draft horses could be used to drag the artillery and transfer it in a short time.

In addition, in order to prevent attacks from the air. Near these heavy artillery pits, the Soviets also built a large number of semi-permanent anti-aircraft guns/anti-machine gun firepower points. These firepowers were cleverly arranged with anti-armor trenches, which could not only deal with enemies from the air, but also attack infantry and lightly armored targets, and could be called the patron saint of heavy artillery.

The defense system, which consisted of barbed wire, anti-tank trenches, anti-tank mines, anti-infantry mines, infantry trenches, various carefully dug firepower strongholds, semi-permanent fortress fortifications and camouflaged roads (that is, using a large number of ropes or wires to tie up the trees on both sides of the road, and then putting branches on the ropes or wires to cover the road), was lined up along the west side of the Red October Railway Line, blocking the way of the German 48th Panzer Corps.

In the early morning of May 1, just when the Soviet 62nd Army had just completed the takeover of the Red October Railway West Line, the bombs and rockets dropped by the German Air Force swept through the positions they took over like the wind. In an instant, high and low smoke columns rushed straight into the sky above the Soviet front. The intensity of this air raid was greater than any other air raid the Soviets had ever experienced. Not only did they dispatch a large number of Fw-190F/G, Hs-129 and French Br.720 attack aircraft and fighter-bombers that could accurately strike ground targets, but they also dispatched hundreds of Do217 and Ju188 sorties, dropping thousands of tons of bombs and white phosphorus incendiary bombs. Instantly, the Soviet positions were turned into a sea of ​​fire!

The Soviet army's response was also timely. Anti-aircraft guns and anti-aircraft machine guns of various calibers reacted almost immediately and began to fire violently into the air. But the German air strikes were so fierce, and the Hs-129 attack aircraft and Br.720 attack aircraft (derivatives of the French Br.690) were so strong that they could attack the 12.7mm Deshka anti-aircraft machine gun and the 25mm anti-aircraft gun. It shuttles through the fire net, and can also shoot out strings of rockets and even 50mm artillery shells. The exposed anti-aircraft artillery/high-altitude aircraft positions of the Soviet army were suddenly filled with blood and flesh. The officers and soldiers of the Soviet 62nd Army were surprised to find that under Germany's overwhelming air superiority, not only did the mobilization and attack of troops during the day become very dangerous, but also the defense of positions during the day became extremely difficult.

The Soviet front is constantly trembling! The German self-propelled artillery and self-propelled rocket launchers also joined this chorus of ground and air firepower. However, the target of their shooting was not the Soviet trenches and firepower points, but the minefields, barbed wire fences and various traps and obstacles at the front of the anti-tank trenches - this shows that the German armored group assault will soon begin. Got it!

The Soviet artillery counterattack began quickly. Although their artillery reconnaissance unit was unable to observe with aircraft, they still calculated the approximate location of the German artillery group through sound testing. The 122mm and 152mm howitzers and Katyusha rocket launchers deployed on the east side of the Red October railway line began a roaring counterattack.

However, the location of the German artillery group calculated based on sound measurements alone is not accurate. Most of the German artillery/bazookas currently firing are armored "hard targets" and can maneuver quickly. Howitzers are not effective at all. Destroyed.

Therefore, the Soviet artillery counterattack could only lead to indiscriminate bombing by German aircraft, and it posed almost no threat to the German artillery group.

Amidst the rain of bullets, the Soviet infantry and artillery observers hiding in several observation posts on the Vysokovsk front line suddenly discovered that the soaring smoke and dust appeared directly in front of them.

There is no doubt that the armored group is gathering and forming. The position they are holding will soon be attacked by the German armored group!

Just ten minutes later, their suspicion was confirmed. Hundreds of armored vehicles with khaki-based camouflage paint suddenly appeared in their sights.

From the analysis of the appearance of these vehicles, the "Grizzly" assault guns and Tiger tanks were officially designed to break through Soviet positions!

"Before the Vyskovsk Front, in front of the 229th Infantry Division, a German armored assault group appeared in Area 3. There were more than 100 German armored assault groups with Tiger tanks and Grizzly assault guns, and they were attacking our position!"

The headquarters of the Soviet 62nd Army quickly responded to the report from the front line. The SU-57 tank destroyers hidden in the bunker immediately dispatched along the camouflaged road to reinforce the 229th Infantry that was about to be attacked by the Germans. Division position.

Major Schwarzenegger's half-track armored command vehicle also followed more than 40 Cheetah tank destroyers under his command and drove out of the starting position. These "Cheetahs" are the most dangerous armored killers in the world today, bar none!

Because the 105mmL/68 artillery they possess can effortlessly destroy any known armored vehicle at a safe distance of 2000 meters to 3000 meters - including themselves!

Therefore, heavy tank destroyer battalions (numbers starting with 600) equipped with "Cheetah" are the trump cards in today's German camp to hold down the position, and are usually affiliated with the group army. In armored assault operations, they will not take the lead. Instead, they will hide behind and use "black artillery" to deal with opponents 2,000 meters away.

However, in today's battle, no one thought that the "Cheetah" would encounter the Soviet JS-2 tanks that needed their 105mm cannon to deal with them. Therefore, Major Schwarzenegger's 605th Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion is used as a self-propelled artillery unit. All "Cheetahs" only carry 10 rounds of armor-piercing shells, and the remaining 35 rounds of artillery shells (the "Cheetahs" of this time and space are smaller than other A space-time "Cheetah" weighs 10 tons, but has only 45 rounds of loaded bombs), all of which are powerful high-explosive anti-personnel bombs and armor-piercing bombs (used for attacking bunkers)!