Chapter 156 Bloody Death Battle (Part 1)

In 1941, when various infantry anti-tank weapons were severely lacking and firepower was weak, it was extremely difficult for the German infantry divisions to face the torrent of steel composed of Soviet heavy tanks alone without the support of armored troops. It couldn't be any harder.

After Malashenko broke through the first frontal defense position, the 268th and 292nd Infantry Divisions of the German Wehrmacht immediately mobilized their reserves into the battle, trying to quickly annihilate and drive away Malashenko's heavy tank battalion and a small number of accompanying infantry. Get out of position to fill the gap.

However, dozens of KV1 heavy tanks with rough skin and thick flesh stood like castles on top of the German defense positions and remained standing.

In the last position breakthrough battle, the SS Imperial Division used an underhand trick to poke a vital point and suffered a big loss. After once again leading his troops to attack the German infantry field defense position, Malashenko paid special attention to the coaxial machine gun. Application and anti-infantry suppression.

Malashenko, who tore a hole in the first German field defense position, was not in a hurry to continue to advance. Dozens of KV1 heavy tanks rose up above the German position like a copper wall. , hundreds of vehicle body heading machine guns and turret coaxial machine guns that fired simultaneously after arranging a line were airtight.

The Soviet infantrymen who hid behind the KV1 heavy tanks and used them as temporary bunkers relied on their good vision to suppress any German infantry who dared to approach.

The Soviet 24th Army, which launched a charge on foot following the Malashenko heavy tank battalion, quickly poured in crazily from the torn gap.

Looking down at the battlefield at this moment from the sky, countless Red Army soldiers shouting loudly are running like a torrent on the battlefield risking their lives.

On the other side, the two German infantry divisions that had been ordered to defend the Yelniya theater also fought to the death.

Not long after the battle began, it entered a brutal stage of deterioration. Almost all the German troops who could handle guns, whether logistical support or even civilian personnel in the headquarters, were all thrown into this rapidly rotating bloody meat grinder. inside.

The Soviet side, which launched the attack with the huge force of an infantry group plus an independent heavy tank breakthrough battalion, undoubtedly had an absolute strength advantage on the local front in this area.

The German army, which had to hold the entire Yelnya theater and had stretched its defensive positions across a cross-section, gradually began to fail. It was unable to quickly gather a large number of troops comparable to the strength of the Soviet offensive forces to carry out a counter-attack. This was a terrible situation. Zhukov's strategy was to concentrate local superior forces.

After on-site inspection and deployment of the German defensive positions, Zhukov had already anticipated the weaknesses of the German defensive positions. This tactic of concentrating superior forces to win the battle through quantity sounds very brainless and very simple.

But the more pure and simple something is, the more impeccable and difficult it is to crack. It is not a conspiracy but a naked and obvious conspiracy tactic.

As the saying goes, pure strength is the most difficult to deal with, and this is the core essence of Zhukov's battlefield command art.

The brutal and fierce battle for position lasted only a few hours before the winner of the first round was decided.

Even if the two German infantry divisions, which had superior combat experience and infantry light weapons, fought to the death, they could not use their flesh and blood to offset the technical equipment advantages of Soviet tanks and artillery.

With the number of casualties rising exponentially in just a few hours, the German commander finally decided not to continue using human lives to fill this meaningless gap.

The two German infantry divisions, which had acquiesced in the fact that the first line of defense had been lost, immediately began to retreat towards the preset second line of defense in the rear, carrying important technical equipment and troops under alternate cover.

Throughout the ages, many famous and powerful armies have fallen on the road to retreat without exception. The desire for survival in people's hearts is undoubtedly the biggest obstacle to the success of the retreat. The result of being left behind to cover up is to be a scapegoat. It was enough to break the morale of a legendary army and completely defeat it.

But among the current ranks of the German troops in 1941, these young German soldiers, filled with fanatical faith in the Führer, are eager for the motherland to rise again and regain the lost glory of World War I.

Hitler did not walk alone on the road to madness.

Wherever the head of state points, tens of millions of people are going.

When the glorious cause of the rejuvenation of the country and the nation turns into a real and existential task, it weighs on the hearts of every young German soldier who grew up in the humiliating environment of the defeat of the motherland. These young German soldiers, who must carry out the will of the Führer regardless of justice or wrong, can give everything they have without hesitation, even if it means losing their own lives.

One after another, the German rear troops held on to the defensive positions that had been cut to pieces, and they tried their best to delay the pursuit of the Soviet army with a crazy attitude of not surrendering.

Before the KV1 heavy tanks roared over the German foxholes with their tracks rumbling over them, before they could get too far away, the German soldiers bathed in the black engine exhaust of the KV1 heavy tanks immediately leaned out of the foxholes and roared. The burning flame bottle dances with its last glory like the life that is about to pass away.

One after another, the KV1 heavy tanks were caught in flames and were forced to stop to put out the fire or simply abandon the vehicle and flee. More German troops with the same intention were killed on the spot after the accompanying Soviet infantry discovered their intentions.

The Molotov cocktail that was originally intended to be thrown into the heat dissipation window of the engine compartment at the rear of the Soviet tank was smashed by a rifle bullet on the spot. A mixture of artificial rubber and liquid gasoline was poured all over the body, turning the undead German soldier into a Became a complete fireman.

The loud and shrill screams caused by the fierce flames were even worse than the screams of the living ghosts crawling out of purgatory.

He raised the rifle in his hand and pulled the bolt, wanting to end this painful life. However, the right hand that had just put his index finger on the trigger was forced down the muzzle of the gun by a generous palm.

"Save your bullets to kill more Nazi invaders, soldier. I don't want to do it a second time."

The order from the direct political commissar made this ordinary Soviet soldier dare not say anything more. With a panic look on his face, he immediately clenched the rifle in his hand and ran forward with his comrades beside him, leaving nothing behind. The miserable wailing sound, which continued to decrease in decibels as life passed by, still echoed over the battlefield.