The Rise of the Third Reich

The illumination bombs rose into the air one after another. They illuminated the night sky, illuminated the earth, and also shed light on the tanks and assault guns of the Soviet and German armies. The artillery roared, one after another. The Soviet KV-85 tanks, SU-122 assault guns, and the German "Vesp" self-propelled artillery were all firing ammunition with all their strength. Dark red artillery shells shuttled back and forth on the battlefield, and explosions of various sounds filled Comrade Vatutin's ears.

Although he is the commander of the tank army, this is the first time for General Vatutin to personally visit a battlefield where hundreds of tanks line up to fight. However, he quickly recovered from this shocking scene that he would never forget and began to carefully observe the fighting situation ahead.

Under the guidance of the light of the flares, he had discovered that the German leader was not a Tiger tank, but a "No. 4 assault gun" with a 150mm short-barreled gun. Because the assault gun has no turret, the main gun has a narrow range of fire. It is not of much value on the battlefield of concentrated tank battles. Moreover, this weapon is also vulnerable to infantry attacks.

But tonight, things are obviously different!

Because it was a night battle, the formations of both sides were relatively simple, and the tactics were very simple - just line up and shoot! Therefore, there is no problem of the "No. 4 assault gun" being outflanked. In fact, there is no way to outflank it, because the number of tanks/assault artillery invested by the Soviet army today is far less than that of the German side.

Moreover, until the distance between the two sides was reduced to a few hundred meters, the Soviets had no way to see clearly what tanks the Germans were using to lead the battle, and there was no way to change their formation or tactical response. So the KV-85 tanks under Vatuking are now, as Hubei expected, concentrating their firepower on bombarding the assault guns approaching them step by step.

However, the 85mm shells hit the strong frontal gun compartment armor of this assault gun and were unable to effectively penetrate it! Most of the "No. 4 assault guns" are still approaching.

Just when Vatutin, who was watching the battle on a KV-85 tank at the back, was surprised by the strength of the German "No. 4 assault gun", behind the "No. 4 assault gun", the German Tiger tanks were already in place. .

156 Tiger tanks belonging to the 501st, 502nd, 506th and 510th Heavy Armored Battalions of the Wehrmacht (the full strength should be 176, 20 broke down or were injured in combat) and 80 of the 1st Destroyer Tank Battalion of the Wehrmacht The "Rhinoceros" tank destroyers (Tiger and Rhino mixed formation) were lined up in a line, intersecting with the "No. 4 assault gun" in front, and the distance from the KV-85 in the first row of the Soviet tank formation was no longer enough. 500 meters away.

"Tiger tank, aim...fire!"

Almost as soon as the order to fire was passed to each Tiger tank through the on-board radio, these Tiger tanks finally burst out with a long-suppressed roar. 88mm shells poured down like raindrops, sweeping through the formation of Soviet KV tanks. Balls of fireballs immediately shot up at the front of the Soviet tank cluster. More than 50 KV-85s were turned into torches in the first salvo of Tiger tanks!

Then, the second and third rounds of equally fierce shelling followed, and the Soviet tank group suffered heavy losses!

Seeing this scene, Admiral Vatutin's face turned pale, and his thick eyebrows became tighter and tighter. How come he still can't see the Germans' intentions now?

It's just that the opportunity has fallen into the hands of the Germans, and the Red Army's tank cluster has fallen into full passivity.

On the battlefield, all German Tiger tanks stopped moving forward, lined up on the battlefield, and began to use their powerful 88mm cannon to name the Soviet KV tanks.

The "Grizzly" assault guns that were advancing with 85mm shells rushed forward for tens or even hundreds of meters. They stopped moving forward only when the distance between the two sides was reduced to within 400 meters. They are not iron lumps who can only take beatings but cannot fight back - although the 150mm short cannon cannot fire armor-piercing projectiles, the armor-piercing projectiles fired are very powerful.

The so-called "armor-breaking bullet" is a shaped charge bullet, which is a chemical energy anti-armor bullet developed based on the Monroe effect. The theoretical armor-breaking efficiency is closely related to the caliber of the ammunition, and the theoretical maximum value is 5 times. However, it could not reach such a level during World War II, which was between 1 and 1.5 times. And Germany is at the absolute leading level in research in this area (the "Iron Fist" anti-tank grenade uses shaped charges). Therefore, as long as the armor-piercing projectile fired by the 150mm gun of the "Grizzly Bear" hits the target, it is basically a piece of scrap metal, including KV-85, T-34/57, and SU-85. No difference.

"Release the smoke, make the tanks retreat, and the infantry prepare to charge!"

Vatutin made decisive tactical adjustments, letting the frustrated tank group retreat slightly, and at the same time threw in infantry equipped with "Red Iron Fist"... Of course, a large number of infantry!

Tens of thousands of Red Army soldiers had been prepared long ago and formed a dense formation behind the tank cluster (they were not infantry protecting the tanks). After receiving the order, they began to attack with "Ula! Ula!"

Because it is night, it is very advantageous for the Red Army infantry who are at a disadvantage in terms of firepower. However, this kind of intensive formation impact almost shoulder to shoulder will inevitably be accompanied by huge casualties, but Vatutin doesn't care at all, because the Soviet Union's national destiny is in danger!

"Commander, the Soviets are releasing smoke!"

Lieutenant General Hubei, who was watching the battle from behind, guessed the Soviet army's intentions as soon as he saw the smoke in front of the formation, "They are going to launch an infantry charge!"

"What? Infantry charge?" General Mackensen somewhat doubted the judgment of his one-armed chief of staff.

"Are they going to retreat?" Mackensen said, "The Soviets' KV tanks suffered heavy losses!"

"Impossible," Huber shook his head. "The Soviets are working hard. If they are defeated tonight, they will be completely annihilated. Because we not only have overwhelming armored forces, but also overwhelming air superiority!"

The French Breguet attack aircraft and the German Hs129 attack aircraft are two real tank killers! If the Soviet tank group dared to retreat during the day, they would be shot down by aircraft on the road!

If the Soviet tanks did not dare to run away during the day, how could they escape the German pursuit?

So now the whole army is annihilated (only the tanks are destroyed, some of the infantry can escape), so it is better to fight.

"Have the Grizzlies and Tigers stop their advance, and let the No. 4 tanks and panzer grenadiers get in." Mackensen thought for a while, then asked, "Can the rocket launcher be launched now?"

Hubei asked the staff around him, and then replied: "That's enough, all the rocket launchers are loaded and ready to fire at any time."

"Fire a salvo!" Mackensen waved his hand, "Let all self-propelled artillery be ready to fire, including the Grizzly assault gun... Prepare grenades and fire at any time."

When Mackensen ordered the rocket bombardment, the KV-85 tank Vatutin was riding in had already turned and started to retreat, and a wave of Red Army infantry was passing by him.

Vatutin used the radio to contact the retreating KV-85 behind him (there were still some survivors) to learn whether the German tank group was pursuing. At this moment, an unknown voice suddenly came to his ears: "Bazooka! The rocket launcher is coming!" Then he was dragged into the tank turret.

Vatutin could hide in the KV-85 tank, but the infantry outside was beaten up by the sudden rocket launcher - the 80mm caliber 48-rail rocket launcher used by the German armored forces was not very powerful, but it was better than the dense firepower , it has little effect against enemy positions (but it can explode minefields), but if it just covers the infantry, it will cause heavy casualties.

The Soviet "infantry sea" was beaten by rocket fire, so naturally it couldn't make any waves.

However, Vatutin did not intend to give up, and there was no way to give up. After the tank and infantry charges were frustrated one after another. He ordered the troops to switch to defense and used the few remaining KV-85 tanks, T-34/57, SU-85, etc. to form a line of defense.

At 2 o'clock in the morning on May 16, 1943, on the plain south of the Dobrusz Forest, the roar of the advancing German tank group sounded again.

This is the second wave of general attack launched by General Mackensen and Lieutenant General Hube! The "Grizzly" assault gun still took the lead, followed closely by Tiger tanks and Rhino tank destroyers, and many No. 4s (including F-type and H-type) followed for cover. A dense assault formation was formed on the plain, rushing towards the Soviet army's thin defense line like a torrent. The tactics adopted were the same as before, lining up to fire within 500 meters!

In fact, it is crushing with absolute strength!

In the original history, if the German army could gather more than a hundred Tigers and hundreds of No. 4 vehicles on a battlefield, it would definitely be a classic battle.

But now, it is just a battle-level confrontation, and 156 "Tiger" vehicles, more than 200 "Rhino" vehicles, more than 100 "Grizzly Bear" vehicles, and seven or eight No. 4 tanks have been invested to form an extremely majestic battle. Sea of ​​tanks.

At 2:10 a.m. on May 16, the spectacular scene of "queuing up to fire" occurred again. All Soviet tanks/assault artillery fired desperately, trying to delay the German tank group with firepower. Although some German vehicles were caught on fire or had their tracks broken, the entire sea of ​​tanks still rolled over steadily.

At 2:15, the German Tiger tanks and Rhino tank destroyers all stopped advancing, and the powerful 88mm cannon began to target the Soviet tanks and assault artillery illuminated by flares.

The final massacre begins!