Chapter 288 Rapid Breakthrough

The Germans attacked an hour later.

As usual, they used artillery shells to shoot towards the direction of the Soviet army for a while, and then dozens of tanks rushed towards the Soviet army's defense line, row after row, menacingly.

Shulka roughly counted about fifty tanks, followed by a large number of infantry.

To Shulka's surprise, he saw five T34s among these tanks. They drove ahead, but they were painted with the black "cross" of the German armored forces.

Obviously, these are tanks captured by the German army, and due to the excellent performance of the T34, even if the German army is not familiar with them and has no communication equipment, it is difficult to cooperate with other tanks, and even these tanks may be misunderstood by the air force as enemy tanks , but the 10th Army still used them.

It can also be seen from this that the German army hopes to break through the Soviet defense line before dark and make a difference.

Shulka was right. The frontal attacking German troops were the 7th Armored Division, the 14th Motorized Infantry Division, and the 35th Infantry Division.

The first two belonged to Huot's 3rd Armored Group. They originally attacked the defense line of the Soviet 30th Army in the north.

However, because Tver was counterattacked by the 4th Tank Brigade, it suffered heavy losses... Among them, the supplies stored in Tver were destroyed and several bridges were blown up, which made it very difficult for the German army to supply in the north. attack.

As a result, von Bock transferred Holt's 3rd armored group to the center to attack Volokolamsk.

At this time, the 7th Armored Division was responsible for the offensive task.

This armored division once participated in the French campaign and completed the encirclement of the Allied forces of Dunkirk and the encirclement of the French 9th and 10th armies. Under the command of Rommel, it almost crossed France to the southwestern part of France. Its own casualties were only 2624 people, and 42 tanks were lost.

Therefore, this armored division is also called "Devil Division".

Commanding this force at this time was Major General Hans von Funke.

Taking over the armored division from Rommel, Major General von Funke felt a little stressed.

The reason is that Major General von Funke, as a Prussian nobleman, has high hopes from everyone including Lundstedt. They hope that the 7th Armored Division commanded by von Funke can surpass his predecessor, and also It was Rommel, the headmaster's son.

This has always troubled Major General von Funke, because his record in Russia was not outstanding compared with Rommel's brilliant record.

Although it was a victory, and it was an impressive victory: the 7th Armored Division wiped out the 5th Russian Tank Division, but the 7th Armored Division also lost about half of its strength.

"It's not fair!" Major General von Funk said to his adjutant in private: "When Rommel attacked France, the French fought him with their backs, but I had to face the enemy's T34!"

This is why the 7th Armored Division had several T34s, which they seized from the 5th Russian Tank Division and immediately used it to replenish their troops.

But now, Major General Funk thinks his chance has come.

Through several previous tentative attacks, Major General Funk knew that the Russians were extremely short of anti-tank guns, and they even used Molotov cocktails to attack German tanks.

But despite this, Major General Funk still has a headache for this kind of incendiary bottle... German tanks use gasoline engines, and they are easily ignited by the incendiary bottle.

Therefore, Major General Funk ordered the infantry: "You must keep up with the tanks. When the tanks cross the trenches, you must wipe out the enemies in the trenches and bomb craters, especially those holding Molotov cocktails in their hands!"

Then, Major General Funk ordered his troops to attack.

As Guderian said,

They must break through the enemy's defenses during the day to maximize the results of the battle, and then build up the fortifications before night to prevent the enemy from sneaking in.

But...Major General Funk didn't think so.

He held up the binoculars and observed the Soviet army in depth for a while. From here, all the way east is suitable for armored forces to attack. Why not keep advancing towards Moscow?

Worried about the Russian counterattack?

The 4th Tank Brigade?

No!

Major General Funk said to himself: "Only a fool would stop, there is nothing terrible about the T34! We even have a T34 in our hands! If the 4th Tank Brigade tries to stop it, then it's time to prove the strength of the 7th Armored Division!" "

To be more precise, Major General Funk thought this was the time for him to prove that he was better than Rommel: when the other armored divisions were beaten by the fourth tank brigade of the Russian army and suffered heavy losses, if the 7th Armored Division could defeat 4th Tank Brigade...

Unbeknownst to Major General Funk, the 4th Tank Brigade was hidden from him, even under the aperture of his telescope.

The tanks "rumbling" advanced towards the Russian trenches, and the Soviet army began to conduct stationary blocking fire.

"Motion blocking shooting" is a military term, in fact, it is to use howitzers to create a wall of fire at the front of the position to prevent the enemy from attacking.

This is a common defense method used by the Russians. The reason is that the Russian army lacks communication equipment and it is difficult to carry out effective infantry coordination. In addition, the quality of the Russian artillery is not good enough.

And "moving and blocking shooting" does not have high requirements for both of them, that is, the coordination ability and the quality of the artillery... The infantry only needs to tell the artillery to fire, and the artillery only needs to stuff the shells into the barrel and fire them. Adjusted in advance.

Major General Funk had already prepared for this, and he immediately ordered the artillery to suppress it, and at the same time, the air force also launched precise strikes on the enemy's artillery positions.

Of course, there is also the coordination of reconnaissance aircraft and artillery to guide artillery fire into accurate positions.

These are what the German army is good at.

After a while, the artillery fire of the Soviet army weakened... This is inevitable. The Soviet army's implementation of "moving blocking shooting" exposed the location of the artillery positions.

Then, the German tanks accelerated towards the enemy position again, this time at full speed, because they knew that the enemy was no longer capable of intercepting fire.

In the eyes of Major General Funke, this is a contest of flesh and steel of infantry.

The Russian army only had a few anti-tank guns that could pose a threat to the German army, but these anti-tank guns also could not pose a threat to the T34... So the T34 driving in front blasted those anti-tank gun positions into the air one by one.

Major General Funke couldn't help sighing in his heart, if the empire was equipped with such tanks, how wonderful it would be to have such tanks in the army, so that they would penetrate the enemy's heart like a steel...Moscow.

But now there seems to be no difference.

Funk put down the binoculars and ordered to the adjutant: "Order, break through quickly!"

"Yes, General!" The adjutant turned around and passed the order: "Breakthrough quickly!"