The Rise of the Third Reich

Boo hoo hoo...

Just when Pavlyuchenko and her comrades were thinking about how to arrange their post-war life, suddenly, a sharp and ear-piercing whistling sound came from the sky. This sound sounds like a ghost roar from hell, and it also sounds like dozens of huge pipe organs being blown at the same time. The harsh sound pierces people's eardrums and goes straight into the heart and lungs!

"Bazooka! Hurry and take cover!"

Immediately, someone screamed in fear. People who have been fighting on the battlefields of Lviv and Ukraine for nearly a year are all too familiar with this Soviet rocket launcher, known as "Stalin's Organ".

Due to the disadvantages of the Red Air Force, towed artillery that takes a lot of time to deploy is difficult to survive on the battlefield and can only be used very carefully. Therefore, the Soviet Red Army is extremely fond of rocket launchers that can drop a large amount of ammunition instantly and can be fired immediately. The number of equipment is increasing and the frequency of use is getting higher and higher. It is likely to replace towed artillery as the main force of the Red Army's artillery. .

Therefore, this kind of rocket launcher, which was launched with great momentum, caused great losses to the attacking "Ukrainian" German troops on the battlefield in Western Ukraine in the autumn and winter of 1942. It has naturally become the most hated weapon by Ukrainians.

By the way, the Germans are no worse than the Soviets at using rocket launchers, a hated weapon, or even better.

However, the Germans' use of rocket launchers is still different from that of the Soviets. Now, German rocket launchers are divided into reserve rocket launchers directly under the director of artillery (Germany does not have a rocket artillery branch at this time) according to different uses. The main equipment is 280 /300/320mm heavy rocket launchers. This kind of rocket launcher units are generally attached to army groups or army headquarters and are mainly used for offensive operations. Therefore, the maneuverability of rocket launchers is not emphasized, and all equipment are towed rocket launchers.

The other type is a rocket launcher belonging to combat engineers, which is also equipped with a large-caliber rocket launcher, but is installed on a half-track vehicle. This rocket launcher is used to clear obstacles, clear mines and blow up enemy fortresses.

The third type of rocket launcher belongs to the divisional artillery. Each division belonging to the Wehrmacht Army and the SS has a rocket launcher battalion. The equipment is medium and light rocket launchers installed on cheap 2-ton trucks. Among them, infantry units It is equipped with 10-barreled 150mm rocket launchers, while the armored troops and armored grenadiers are equipped with 48-rail (guide rail) 80mm light rocket launchers.

These two classes of rocket launchers are now the most widely used, and they were heavily equipped under the supervision of Hersmann himself, so they are both called "Hersmann's Organ."

Pavlyuchenko, who had been bombarded by rocket launchers countless times on the Ukrainian battlefield, reacted very quickly. When the ghostly cry of "whoosh!" came out, she fell off the horse - the sound of the rockets was too loud, and it was easy to It scared Ma crazy - before she could stand firm on the ground, the sound of rocket explosions followed.

boom! boom! boom……

The explosion pounded the ground violently, and the powerful shock wave turned into violent waves. The broken shrapnel was like the scythe of death, mercilessly sweeping through the ranks of the 14th SS Cavalry Reconnaissance Battalion.

Pavlyuchenko was relatively lucky. She happened to be following a Cougar armored vehicle. When the rocket struck, the driver of the Cougar immediately stepped on the brakes. The armored car stopped right in front of Pavlyuchenko who had rolled off his horse. She immediately crawled forward desperately and got under the chassis of the Cougar - although the Cougar's armor was thin and the body was not heavy, it was enough. It resists rocket fragments and will not be destroyed unless it is hit directly or the rocket explodes at a very close distance.

So Pavlyuchenko found a very safe place for himself, but the officers and soldiers who were exposed to the power of the rockets were miserable. Many of them were beaten to death by shrapnel before they even had time to jump off their horses. Some people's horses were frightened and ran around uncontrollably, carrying their owners and galloping through the hail of bullets!

Less than a minute later, the SS cavalry reconnaissance battalion suffered heavy losses. Nearly 80 of the more than 300 people were killed or injured. The horses suffered even greater losses, either being killed or running away without a trace.

Those who escaped did not have time to grieve, because they knew that the battle had just begun!

Those who can bombard them with rocket launchers are definitely not Soviet guerrillas, but the real main force! Judging from the momentum of the rocket bombardment just now, it was at least a rocket battalion firing a salvo (actually, it was not very accurate, otherwise the losses would not be the only ones). And the troops that can be assigned to a rocket launcher battalion are at least one division. This Soviet division will not be knocked down after a burst of rocket launchers without thinking. The hard battle has just begun!

"Attention, attention, prepare to fight!"

The officers' calls and the screams of the wounded rang in Pavlyuchenko's ringing ears almost simultaneously. She immediately rolled and got out from under the chassis of the Cougar armored vehicle. Then he looked around and found that his horse was lying on the ground with blood and flesh, still breathing rapidly. She quickly ran over and took off her backpack and G43 semi-automatic rifle from the dying horse. There were traces of flames on the backpack, but it was not damaged, and the brand new G43 semi-automatic rifle was also intact.

Just when Pavlyuchenko wanted to check the injury of his big Polish horse, someone shouted again: "Tank! Soviet tank!"

Pavlyuchenko raised his head and looked at the sky. He was so groggy that it was almost evening, which meant that the German Air Force could not help much... It seemed that the Soviet commander was an experienced general. He chose It's a very good time to start.

The Soviet commander who directed this ambush was named Mikhail Fedorovich Lukin. His military rank was general and his position was the commander of the 5th Tank Army of the Red Army.

His 5th Tank Army arrived at Roslavl in southern Smolensk Oblast on the evening of May 5. As soon as he got off the train, he learned from the commander of the militia division stationed in Roslavl that the German armored forces (actually armored cavalry) had occupied Klimovich, 70 kilometers away!

Lukin took this news very seriously. He thought that the troops arriving at Klimovich were the main force of the German armored group on the southern route (in fact, the 1st Armored Group was the main force and was still on standby near Lechica), and their target must be Smolensk is 130 kilometers (north of Klimovich) away.

Therefore, General Lukin made a decision at that time to place the main force of the German South Armored Group in the southern area of ​​Smolensk Oblast at all costs - this is also the northern part of the battlefield of the "Battle of Junction" that is being prepared.

And when Lukin personally led a mechanized army (the 5th Mechanized Army) to maneuver overnight (there were bombings during the day and could not move) and arrived at the border area between Smolensk Oblast and Mogilev Oblast, he also received instructions from the guerrillas in Mogilev Oblast. After receiving intelligence, a regiment-level battle group composed of cavalry and tanks (the Soviet guerrillas mistook the Cougar for a tank) was heading north from Klimovich.

Lukin judged that it was the leader of the German armored forces, so he planned the ambush on the afternoon of May 7, and mobilized a mechanized infantry brigade, a tank battalion, an assault artillery battalion and a rocket launcher battalion. Moreover, Lu Jin himself went to the front line personally. He wanted to see with his own eyes the power of the German armored forces.

The ambush plan was formulated by Lukin and Colonel Cheremisov, commander of the 109th Mechanized Infantry Brigade. They planned to cover it with rocket launchers first, and then use four battalions of the 109th Mechanized Infantry Brigade to make dumplings, and then use one belonging to the 109th Mechanized Infantry Brigade to make dumplings. The tank battalion of the 57th Tank Brigade and a tank destroyer battalion directly under the 5th Mechanized Corps provided reinforcements or pursuit and annihilation.

The plan was very good, but during the execution, something unexpected happened to Lieutenant General Lukin - the Germans (actually Ukrainians) had a fast-running "wheeled tank", and their reaction was... Soon, as soon as Lukin's T-34 broke out of the ambush in the woods, the German infantry (cavalry) climbed onto the "wheeled tanks" and "wheeled armored vehicles" and turned around and ran away. And the T-34, known for its speed, couldn't catch up with the opponent!

"What kind of tank is this? Why does it run so fast?" Lukin, standing on the roof of an armored command vehicle, put down his binoculars and asked Colonel Cheremisov, the brigade commander of the 109th Mechanized Brigade, who is responsible for tanks and mechanized warfare. experts.

"It's a heavy armored vehicle with a turret installed. It looks like a 50mm cannon. It should be the one on the No. 3 tank." Colonel Cheremisov replied, "But the Germans can't escape. The 5th independent tank destroyer The camp will take care of them!”

The 5th Independent Tank Destroyer Battalion is affiliated to the 5th Mechanized Corps and is equipped with 15 SU-85 tank destroyers, of which 12 are currently operational. This is a mobile anti-tank artillery modified from the T-34 chassis. It has an S-18 tank gun improved from an 85mm anti-aircraft gun, which is said to be able to penetrate the frontal armor of a Tiger tank (Tiger E type, not the shrunken Tiger G type) at a distance of 500 meters.

However, because there is no turret, it is not suitable for tank group combat. The best use is to fight ambushes (the accuracy of Soviet tanks and assault guns is not high, so it is not possible to shoot black guns at long distances like the "Rhinoceros" tank destroyer). ), so Lukin and Cheremisov ambush these 12 SU-85s on the retreat route of the 17th SS Cavalry Reconnaissance Battalion. However, these 12 SU-85s still failed to annihilate the cavalry reconnaissance battalion composed of Ukrainians, but only blocked them into a collective farm.

"Comrade Commander," Cheremisov reported to Lieutenant General Lukin about 45 minutes later, "this German army is very cunning and stretched the team very long during the retreat. Our SU-85 only destroyed 6 vehicles. , and the rest retreated to collective farm No. 13 in the Kremovich area.”

"Collective Farm No. 13?" Lujin Map looked at the map sent by the staff. The location of this collective farm has been marked on it. It is on the edge of the road from Kremovich to Smolensk. Kremovich is about 20 km away.

"Let's surround them," Lu Jin thought for a while and said, "and then see if we can attack their reinforcements."