Chapter 1672 The Destroyer (Part 2)
"The first line of defense has been penetrated! Lavry, lead the second regiment and continue to advance in the original direction! Pierce it! Continue along the intended direction, and we will meet at the Germans' third line of defense!"
"Copy that! We've got it done here too! The Germans are being routed and are completely vulnerable! See you on the third line of defense, my brother!"
The Soviet artillery fire extending towards the second German defensive position has stopped. What appears in front of Malashenko is still the German position being massacred by various large-caliber heavy artillery and rocket launchers. After nearly half an hour, it is still like a moon. A miserable situation on the surface.
The 1st Stalin Guards Tank Division, which has more than 200 heavy and medium tanks in its entirety, cannot be crowded into a bunch and attack only one point during the battle.
The entire division was divided into three assault directions. The Stalin Guards 1st Tank Division, organized as a regiment, led the coordinated friendly infantry units behind them to launch a powerful and fierce offensive.
The middle assault route where Malashenko led the second regiment to charge is the most important and the main offensive direction with the most powerful force configuration.
The northern and southern routes were led by the Third Regiment and the First Regiment led by Lavrinenko and Kulbalov. The composition of the troops was slightly less than the middle assault route led by Malashenko, but this was only relatively speaking. Compared with the gang of German sticks on the opposite side, they are still powerful enough to make people feel desperate.
The 1st Stalin Guards Tank Division, with the three assault routes advancing almost in parallel, quickly advanced forward and prepared artillery shells for the last round of artillery fire. After landing on the first German defensive position, the battle was declared over and the defense was penetrated in just 13 minutes!
Almost no German troops managed to escape and join the second defensive position. The defenders on the first position either turned into cannon fodder, minced meat, corpses and bones, or threw away their weapons, knelt on the spot and were taken as prisoners of war.
Of course, Malashenko did not have time to capture these scum. After leaving the minimum infantry under guard, he continued to lead the team to charge forward without stopping. Capturing and escorting these German prisoners of war is what the friendly infantry divisions behind them have to do. Malashenko has no time to do all of this. Now he only wants to assault, assault, and assault again!
Suddenly, these German guys doubted life and didn't even have the energy to cry for their parents! Let these fascist fools know who is the boss in this land!
The German army, which had already figured out the opponent's combat tactics in the battle with the Soviet army, was not a fool. The German army, which had long been accustomed to defensive fighting, clearly knew that if it wanted to block the Soviet army's powerful armored offensive, it would be impossible to rely solely on one line of defense and one defense. The position is impossible.
In the same way, if you put most of the technical defense weapons on the first line of defense, you are seeking death.
The Russians' unreasonable and devastating artillery fire will not even leave you time to withdraw your equipment. The Russians will be able to deploy as much technical equipment as you dare on the first line of defense. Explode to the sky! What is even more terrifying is the ultra-long range of the Russian heavy artillery, which is often more than ten or twenty kilometers. It is not easy to extend the artillery fire. This means that not only the equipment on your first line of defense will definitely be in vain, but also the equipment on the second line of defense will most likely be in danger.
But if there is nothing else placed on the second line of defense, it would really be meaningless and would be tantamount to giving heads to the Russians.
For the German army on the defensive, this is a fatal question that will lead to death no matter what choice it makes.
The reality is that the German army deployed far more technical defense weapons on the second line of defense than on the first line of defense. There are all kinds of light and heavy machine guns brought here and there, piles of small-caliber anti-tank guns, and even heavy anti-tank guns like Company Commander 88 that are difficult to move.
Therefore, even after nearly half an hour of frantic massacre by the Soviet extended artillery fire, the Germans on the second defensive position still had more than half of the technical defense weapons that survived the artillery fire. This is inseparable from the fact that the German army made preparations and carefully managed defensive bunkers and civil fortifications before the war. The efforts they had made have now paid off.
Before entering the fighting distance, Malashenko opened the turret hatch and stuck half of his head out of the car with a telescope. He could see that the strength of the German troops on the second defensive position, which was also bombed miserably, should not be underestimated. Look, the wreckage of the anti-tank gun exposed after the bunker was lifted and the scraps that can still be used are proof.
Malashenko didn't think that shelling alone could wipe out all the German heavy defense weapons on the position, just like when he attacked the first position just now, he couldn't clear out the German anti-tank guns with shelling.
"Every vehicle crew continues to charge, don't stop! Drive the assault artillery forward, and shoot the anti-tank guns aimed at the Germans directly! No need to shoot in a straight direction, use direct aim! Clear out all the anti-tank guns that can be seen!"
The middle assault force led by Malashenko is the most powerful. This strength is not only the highest proportion and largest number of heavy tanks, but also half of the division's ISU-152 self-propelled artillery battalion.
These steel behemoths wearing heavy armor have the main armor on the front of the fighting room that is enough to withstand the direct-aimed bombardment of the Long 88, and they have the capital to face the German heavy anti-tank firepower and conduct close-in direct-aimed fire.
However, the lower armor of the vehicle body, which was modified based on the chassis of the IS2 heavy tank, is still imperfect and can be penetrated by the Chang 88 without pressure at a distance of one kilometer.
Even so, after receiving the order, half of the battalion and a total of 18 ISU-152 self-propelled artillery units entered the combat position as quickly as possible without fear. He swung the helicopter on higher ground behind his own heavy tank, raised the gun barrel slightly, and used the simple and imprecise optical second tool to roughly aim at the target's position on the position.
"Good propellant, loading completed!"
"You don't need to aim accurately, just the approximate direction! Hurry!"
"Aim completed!"
"fire!"
Boom boom boom——
Boom boom boom——
The German anti-tank guns on the position were already roaring and firing. All the anti-tank guns from the 50 to the 75 to the Chang 88 were on full fire, desperately blocking the group of Russian steel monsters that were spraying black smoke and approaching violently.
"Reload, reload, reload quickly! Shoot those Russians down!"
"Give me the shells, hurry up!"
People who are highly stressed and concentrated often lack the ability to perceive and discern changes in the surrounding environment, just like the current group of busy German anti-tank gun crews.
One or two were either busy loading and loading artillery shells, busy aiming at the target, or "dancing" to direct the artillery positions. They did not hear the roar of the old cow panting and roaring violently from the distance.
When the first 152 mm high-explosive shell dropped and exploded less than 5 meters away from the gun position, the fate of most German anti-tank gun groups on the position was actually doomed.
