Seven Hundred and Seven Chaotic Beginning

Ren breathed a sigh of relief, stretched out his hand, and watched a snowflake swaying and falling into his palm, and then disappeared instantly due to the heat, turning into a drop of water. The entire camp was unusually quiet, so the sound of rumbling cannons from afar could be clearly heard.

The fire shines on the burning city in the distance, on the billowing smoke in the sky, and the sound beats the earth in the depths of the horizon, like a whimper from hell. This is the grave of human civilization, and this is the place where all normal people become lunatics, but Ren is a little happy now, because he feels that he can live better only in such a place where human beings cannot live.

It wasn't because of the loud gunfire that Ren couldn't sleep. In fact, he raced to sleep as early as in the evening after eating. He didn't even explain the arrangements of Bruce and others in detail. This is the battlefield quality that a veteran should have— — Take every moment to rest.

When marching in the afternoon, news came from the battalion headquarters that the entire 502 heavy tank battalion would move forward in the middle of the night, arrive at the designated offensive position before dawn, break through the enemy's defense line, and launch an attack on the intended target. This time is the time to wake up, and Ren is just like carrying an alarm clock, only 10 minutes earlier than the stipulated time.

Someone in the distance was preparing something to eat, and wisps of blue smoke floated out, which could be clearly seen by the light from the sky. Such a large-scale operation of the German army stretched for dozens of kilometers, and it was impossible not to be noticed by the Soviet Red Army. , so the covert work at night is not too strict, not to mention that they are at least 20 kilometers away from the combat area, and it is not a place that requires strict enforcement of battlefield discipline.

There are many battles, and there are many veterans. These veterans have their own experience and practices on the battlefield. They are not as dogmatic as recruits, but they are not loved by commanders. These veterans often like to follow their own ideas. Let some recruits follow with less good habits.

However, the officers are generally not too harsh this night. After all, these soldiers will face the enemy's artillery fire directly in a few hours. They have already given their lives for this country and the head of state in Berlin. There's no reason why they shouldn't be able to enjoy their own lives for the last time, right now.

"Bowman! Launch the tank! Bruce! Finally check the position of the ammunition! Alice! Adjust the channel! Andre...see what's wrong with the sight!" Before setting off, Ren nagged again, after all, they had to drive With the world's most powerful steel behemoth weighing dozens of tons entering the battlefield, it would be absolutely irresponsible not to check it carefully.

Except for the King Tiger tank, which is not yet equipped with front-line troops, the Tiger tank can definitely be said to be the most sophisticated war machine on the entire battlefield. With a powerful engine and an astonishingly efficient gearbox, it is equipped with the most practical and reliable tank in the world. Long-range radio equipment, equipped with the most sophisticated optical sighting equipment, used to aim the 88mm cannon powerful enough to penetrate any opponent.

Such a complex machine requires very professional maintenance,

Of course, through the efforts of German engineers, the reliability of this machine has been astonishingly high - but it still needs to be carefully cared for by the driver on weekdays, so that it can exert its maximum power on the battlefield.

As the tanks started up one after another, the report of the completion of the inspection of the tanks also came into Rennes' earphones. Some of the crews who were newly added to the 502 Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion seemed very nervous, because this was very important for them. For them, it was really the first battle of their lives.

Originally, the soldiers added to the elite unit of 502 were the elite members of other tank units, but this method of selection and supplementation eventually came to an end due to the expansion of the German armored units. On the one hand, it is because excellent tank crew members are also very precious "properties" in other troops. These troops try their best to keep these elites in their own troops. On the other hand, such supplements really make high-level commanders They feel that the semi-independent armored unit of the heavy tank destroyer battalion is too "precious", which makes them reluctant to put it into battle.

Another important reason is the issue of promotion. Ren is already a captain and company commander, which is unimaginable for ordinary tank units. In some other ordinary armored units of the National Defense Forces, the company commander is at most only at the level of a second lieutenant. That's all. But in the heavy tank destroyer battalion, a company commander is likely to be a monster who destroyed 50 enemy tanks. How can those elites who are originally from various units be promoted? Therefore, these people are often unwilling to serve in such elite troops, because there is too little sense of accomplishment.

So I don't know when it started, and I don't know which unit to start with. The new tank crews supplemented to the heavy tank destroyer battalion have also begun to use brand new supplementary troops. These crews are all trained from the rear. Pai", no combat experience but more disciplined.

The benefits are obvious. The German armored force has expanded to several times its original size. Now the 10th Armored Army of the D Group Army under Model is incorporated into the 14th Armored Division of the latest SS Armored Division. However, the designation of the armored army in Manstein's m army has been ranked to the 13th armored army, and the entire armored force of the German army has been unprecedentedly strengthened.

According to the basic configuration of two armored divisions under the jurisdiction of an armored army, the German army already has 26 armored divisions. Counting some independent armored divisions strengthened to the group army, the number of German armored divisions exceeds 35, although the elite level has declined. , but the quantity is enough to be described as amazing.

A large number of new recruits have been added to the armored division, so that the rear production line, which has significantly accelerated the industrial production speed, has not wasted its own production capacity. Now the average number of tanks in the German armored division is even higher than when it was first expanded. A base of around 300 vehicles can be guaranteed. Generally speaking, as long as there are tanks, there are qualified crew members to use them. As for the combat level, it can only be described as well-trained.

Rennes' tank company has always been understaffed. The first row of 5 tanks is fairly neat, and the second row has only 3 tanks in most cases. Before the battle came this time, everything was replenished neatly, so he had 2 new tanks and 2 groups of recruits under his command, which was regarded as additional combat power.

At 4 o'clock in the morning, the 502nd Battalion finally entered the battle range. It was still pitch black, and the sound of rumbling guns on the battlefield was no longer distant. At this time, the speed of the entire battalion suddenly slowed down. It was because the roads were full of soldiers.

Yes, it was full of soldiers, and as far as the eye could see, it was full of captured Soviet soldiers. These frustrated infantry watched with horror as the tanks of the 502nd Battalion slowly moved from their crowd. Passing by, they had no weapons in their hands, wore worn-out military overcoats, were guarded by Germans with rifles all around, and walked back along the road.

"What's the matter? These troops are so vulnerable? There are too many surrendered, right?" Looking at these prisoners, Marcus was taken aback by the huge number of them. It seems that there is no end in sight, and it can be described as a sea of ​​people.

"Hey! Hello! Excuse me, where are there so many prisoners?" Ren was also a little depressed by the slow speed, so he had to ask a German military officer passing by the tank, who was carrying a Mauser rifle , Judging by the rank, he should be an infantry company commander.

The German officer raised his head and saw Rennes's captain's rank. He saluted and pointed to the distance: "This part is the junction of the two Soviet fronts. A tank regiment of the 10th Armored Army cut here. , As a result, two Ukrainian local divisions nearby surrendered immediately. They heard that we treated Ukrainian prisoners well, so they cooperated very well. We counted for one night, and we haven’t finished counting how many people followed these two The division surrendered ... probably 20,000, maybe 30,000."

It seems to have opened up the conversation, and the infantry company commander told Renn almost everything he knew: "These troops don't have much combat effectiveness, and their rifles are equipped with only a few bullets. They haven’t eaten for almost 10 hours, and they don’t have many heavy weapons, and their will to fight is very weak.”

The results of the German army's divided rule in Ukraine finally appeared on this day. The Ukrainian officers had no fighting spirit, and the Ukrainian soldiers also became hostile to the Russian soldiers who were monitoring them. So the German offensive had just begun. The troops began to rebel, and the two poorly equipped Ukrainian divisions surrendered very simply, allowing the German army to successfully capture their first strategic goal: the small village code-named n182.

So the combat mission of the 502 Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion changed from occupying n182 to directly inserting into Pavlograd, occupying and controlling this small city with a bridge. Once Pavlograd is captured, the German army can easily take the initiative on the battlefield. Whether it is going north to attack Kharkov or going south to sweep Donetsk, it is a very fatal problem for the Soviet Union.

"Hey! Rennes! It seems that our attack target has become Pavlograd, and it is much farther away." Marcus's car was followed by Rennes' tanks, and the entire 1st company and the prisoners were crowded in the narrow On the road, there is little efficiency to speak of. For the entire 502 Battalion, their war on the Eastern Front started in such a chaotic situation.