952. Chapter 916: Fierce Battle between Germany and Russia

Chapter 916: Fierce Battle between Germany and Russia

In terms of actual tank combat effectiveness, Russia is currently lagging behind mainstream European countries.

There is no way around it. The fear and blockade of Russia by European countries can explain why Russian tanks have been developing so slowly.

In addition, the industrial foundation of the former Tsarist Russia was relatively weak compared to other powers, and the equipment research and development capabilities were poor. There were also frequent incidents of withholding research and development funds and passing off inferior products as good ones.

Under such circumstances, it was already quite difficult for Russia to develop tanks and mechanized equipment that could really be put into battlefield use.

The Russian Defense Industry Administration, which is the agency that developed the armored forces, was established in 1924, which is only 13 years ago.

In these 13 years, Russia's tanks have evolved into the second generation, or two and a half generations to be precise.

The first generation of tanks was the T-12 tank, which laid the foundation for the development of Russian tanks. It was also because of this generation of tanks that many famous tank series were born.

The second generation tanks, which were disliked by Pavlov, were the T-26 light tanks without much armor protection.

However, the Russians obviously saw the current layout of tanks, and they also developed an improved tank for this purpose, named BT-7 fast tank.

Back to the war on the front line, no matter how much effort Russia had in tanks, they could not catch up with the tank development of mainstream European countries in a short time.

If we only talk about Germany, their research and development in armored forces did not take long. But the problem is that Germany at this time is a huge union after annexing many countries. The military production and research and development capabilities of Germany + Poland + Austria + Belgium + the Netherlands and other countries are naturally not comparable to those of an ordinary country.

The actual performance data gap between the two sides' tanks and the ideological gap in the actual use of tanks resulted in a huge gap in the combat effectiveness of the two armies.

The entire 4th Army of the Western Front did not resist for too long in front of the German 2nd Armored Group, and was quickly destroyed by the German armored forces.

A large number of armored units crossed the Bug River and cut a hole in the Russian infantry army, and then the army continued to advance towards Pinsk and Baranovichi further east.

It is obvious that the purpose of this armored group is not only Brest, but also Pinsk and Baranovichi behind Brest.

And behind these two cities is the real Russian territory, Holihorsk and Minsk.

After the armored units cut a hole, it was the turn of the German Army to occupy the entire Brest.

Soon, the German army, which rushed in, collided with the somewhat confused Russian army. The two sides launched a fierce battle and officially fired the first shot of the German and Russian infantry units.

Although the Russian army was the defending side, because the German armored forces had cut a hole in the Russian army before, the terrain advantage occupied by the Russian army was wiped out.

Their defensive positions were not complete at all, and some defensive positions were even easily broken by the German army.

In fact, there was no other way. Even the day before the outbreak of the war, Russia was still making a big fuss that Germany would never declare war on Russia.

The government had already made such propaganda, so how could the people and the army not believe it?

This also led to the frontline troops being somewhat lax about the German army. When they were suddenly faced with the attack of the German army, they were a little overwhelmed for a while.

During this period, an interesting incident occurred. The German eavesdropping department received a telegram from the Russian army, which came from the Russian frontline troops and the rear command.

"My unit was bombarded, requesting instructions!" The Russian frontline troops reported truthfully.

"Are you crazy? Why use a plain text telegram?" This was the answer from the Russian rear staff.

From this aspect, it can also be seen that the German army's surprise attack on Brest when the Russian army was not prepared at all was indeed an unexpected surprise for the Russians.

There is a huge gap between the two armies in terms of combat thinking.

The plan of the commander-in-chief of the German Central Front, Bock, was to let the two armored groups advance from the south and north with Brest as the boundary, cut through the Russian army, advance in depth with the momentum of encirclement, and threaten Minsk, Russia. The advantage of doing this is that it can avoid positional warfare with the Russian army and prevent the Russian army from delaying time with human lives.

Of course, it is also a test for the German armored forces to achieve their goals. Because in order to achieve hundreds of kilometers of long cutting, it is necessary to ensure that the German armored forces have sufficient combat effectiveness, and the German tanks must also have reliable performance and excellent stability.

However, considering the Germans' more rigid and rigorous character, the probability of problems with German armor may be the lowest among the armored forces of various countries.

In addition to the war in Brest, a war between the German and Russian armies is also underway in a city called Grodno in the north of Brest.

There is bad news for the Russian army. The German army's attack is too fierce, and the wanton bombing of a large number of air forces has obviously destroyed the communication command system of the Russian Western Front.

Many telephone lines buried in shallow layers were directly blown off, not to mention the telephone lines exposed on the surface, which were visited many times by German paratroopers and even cut into several pieces.

Pavlov, who was in the Western Front Command, was also very anxious at this time. In a call with the Russian General Staff not long ago, Pavlov had promised that he would not let the German army break through the Western Front's defense line.

But judging from the current battle in Brest, the German army has obviously broken through the Russian army's defense line and even has the ability to threaten Pinsk and Baranovichi.

Grodno, where the Western Front's headquarters is located, is also facing the attack of the German army at this time. In addition, the contact with the Tenth Army at the front has been lost. This battle is undoubtedly a very severe test for Pavlov.

In order to contact the Tenth Army in Bialystok, Pavlov decided to go to a city dozens of kilometers away in the west.

When he arrived there, Pavlov found that Bialystok was already in chaos, and the situation was very bad for the Tenth Army.

"Grubev, didn't you receive my call?" Pavlov immediately asked the commander of the 10th Army, Grubev.

"No, Commander. The Germans have blown up our telephone lines, the oil depots are out of oil, and even the tanks are gone. The Germans still have tanks and planes, damn, what can we use to fight?" Grubev explained, his words were full of despair for this war.

"Order No. 3 of the Supreme Command requires your troops to counterattack immediately and occupy important positions such as Osovitz, Wisna and Bielsk." Pavlov conveyed the order from the Russian Supreme Command, but from his expression, it can be seen that he did not approve of this seemingly outrageous order.

You know, the current 10th Army is being suppressed by the German army. To let such a suppressed army counterattack immediately, isn't it equivalent to sending them to die?

"Damn it, what did you say?" As expected, the commander of the 10th Army, Grubev, stood up instantly and looked at Pavlov with anger and disbelief.

"It's an order from the Supreme Command, General Grubev. Obviously, this is the instruction of those officials who don't understand war at all. I just conveyed it on their behalf." Pavlov shook his head, indicating that this was not his opinion.

"These damn officials, do they want my soldiers to die?" Grubev slammed the desk, and all the sundries on the desk shook up a few centimeters.

"Organize the soldiers to defend first, at least don't let the Germans break through Bialystok. As for the counterattack, don't worry for the time being. I will report to the Supreme Command. At least before the supplies arrive, I allow you to rest temporarily, and you only need to carry out strategic defense." Pavlov patted Grubev on the shoulder and said comfortingly.

Compared with other nationalities, Russians are more sturdy and have more developed limbs. But at the same time, he was simple-minded and thought about problems in a simple way.

Pavlov believed that if he insisted on ordering Grubev to lead the 10th Army to counterattack at this time, based on Grubev's angry performance just now, he would probably refuse to execute the order directly.

Because this was not a reasonable order at all, it was directly sending Grubev's army to die. More importantly, this death was meaningless to the entire war. Even if he was willing to sacrifice for the country, he would not sacrifice in this way.

Hearing Pavlov say this, Grubev's angry expression was relieved a lot, nodded and said to Pavlov: "I understand, Mr. Commander. Please rest assured that as long as the 10th Army is still in Bialystok, the city will never fall into the hands of the Germans."

When he said this, Grubev's eyes flashed with a trace of firmness and fanaticism. For a soldier, the highest honor is actually that the soldier is on the battlefield and dedicates everything for the country.

Even if the Supreme Command just issued an outrageous order, it still cannot affect Grubev's patriotism. For Grubev, this order only proves that there are idiots who don't understand war in the Supreme Command. This will not affect Grubev's decision to sacrifice everything for this country, even his life.

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