Chapter 641 Heavy Thunderstorm 29

"I am Chuxin. I am surrounded by the enemy. Please fire at me! Fire at me!"

This was the last roar of Colonel Chuxin, commander of the 1st Tank Brigade of the glorious Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, after being surrounded by German tanks, using the radio on the T-34 command tank he was riding.

The rocket artillery battalion assigned to the 16th Mechanized Army then fired a massive salvo at the location where Colonel Chuxin was!

"Where are the Soviets bombarding with rocket artillery?"

Model, who was watching the battle on the top floor of a tall Catholic church in the center of Legionovo, was startled by the sudden Soviet rocket artillery salvo and hurriedly asked the adjutant beside him.

"General, they seem to be... bombarding the battlefield northeast of Legionovo!"

"Northeast of Legionovo? Did our Tigers repel the Soviet T-34?" Model asked.

"It seems not yet..."

At this moment, a staff officer ran to Model and reported: "General, General Steiner reported that Rudel's heavy armored group was indiscriminately covered by Soviet rocket launchers when fighting with the Soviet T-34 tank group!"

"Indiscriminate!?" Model was stunned again and again.

Indiscriminate coverage means using rocket launchers to cover German tanks and Soviet tanks when they are fighting, regardless of whether they are German tanks or Soviet tanks, and killing them all! This is too cruel!

"Do you know the loss situation?" Model asked hurriedly.

"It's still being counted." The staff officer replied.

After hearing this news, Model could no longer sit still. Although the Tiger tank and the Panther tank had many problems, Guderian didn't think much of them. But they are the protectors of Warsaw, and even losing one of them is heartbreaking.

Thinking of this, Model hurried downstairs and took his armored command vehicle to Steiner's headquarters at the front. When he arrived, Steiner was issuing an order for a full-scale counterattack.

"All tank companies and assault gun companies must participate and advance as far as possible to Wołomin!"

"Send a telegram to the Eastern Front Air Force Command, requesting large-scale air support, and requesting to gain air superiority on the battlefield northeast of Warsaw tomorrow morning, and at the same time launch suppressive air strikes on enemy-occupied transportation hubs, troop assembly areas, and artillery positions!"

"Order three smoke launcher regiments to immediately fire in unison, and cover the Soviet departure positions with rocket launchers!"

As soon as he finished issuing his order, he saw most of Model walking in.

"Commander." Although Steiner was at the same level as Model, both were generals. But Model was the commander of the army group, and Steiner was only the division commander.

"What's the situation? Are the losses of the 501st and 505th battalions large?"

When Steiner heard Model's question, he quickly took a loss report he had just received from an adjutant, and then handed it to Model with both hands.

He said: "The Tiger tanks suffered little loss, only 5 vehicles were damaged, but they can be repaired, and 4 vehicles had mechanical failures. The remaining 46 can still be operated, and 2 of the No. 3 assault guns were damaged. However, the SS Finnish Battalion suffered considerable losses when it was attacked by rocket launchers. Now 161 people have died and 58 are seriously injured. However, the Soviet losses must be heavier, with casualties around 1,000 people!"

Rocket launchers are not a big threat to heavy and medium tanks, but they are very brutal weapons for infantry. All infantry within their attack range, whether German or Soviet, suffered heavy losses.

However, Qiu Xin's call of "fire at me" before his death (he was not killed by rocket launchers, but by the 88mm cannon of the Tiger tank) was still effective. After being bombarded by rocket launchers without thinking, Major Rudel, the commander of the Rudel Group, was a little confused, and the Finnish infantry also suffered heavy losses, so he did not immediately order a pursuit. This decision allowed the remnants of the Soviet 1st Tank Brigade to evacuate the battlefield, which somewhat preserved some strength.

However, Major General Sokalov, commander of the 16th Mechanized Army, and Major General Korobkov, commander of the 4th Army, still have a sense of impending disaster.

Because the glorious 1st Tank Brigade not only suffered heavy losses, but also had a brigade commander who "fired at me".

Now the 1st Tank Brigade will definitely continue to be glorious, and Chuxin is undoubtedly a loyal GCist fighter and a martyr of the world revolution, and he does not have to be responsible for today's defeat.

So who will be the sinner who caused the heavy casualties of the 1st Tank Brigade and the death of Comrade Chuxin?

Major General Korobkov, who was arranging defenses in Volomin, believed that Sokalov was a sinner and should be reformed through labor.

At this time, Sokalov was... struggling to be able to go to Siberia for labor reform. For him now, labor reform is no longer a nightmare but an ideal that needs to be worked hard for. Because the rear guard of the 16th Mechanized Army led by him was about to be annihilated by the pursuing Germans.

At that time, he would either be captured in disgrace - this would be betrayal of the motherland!

Or die heroically - that would be a revolutionary martyr!

Sokalov did not want to betray his motherland, but he was reluctant to die, so he had made up his mind to either go to Siberia for reform or die in Poland... If he really couldn't break out, he would commit suicide with a pistol.

"Comrades! Now is the time for us to accept the test. For the cause of human liberation and the glory of the Soviet motherland, no one is allowed to take a step back!"

"Retreating is a betrayal of the Soviet motherland and a betrayal of the world revolution! Comrades, take up your weapons and continue to fight against the brutal imperialism!"

Just when Sokalov made up his mind, the voice of Political Commissar Fegulov suddenly rang in his ears.

He looked over and saw Fegulov standing on a damaged T-34 tank with a tin trumpet, speaking encouraging words to a group of empty-handed infantrymen who had just retreated from the front line.

Those infantrymen were all motorized infantrymen of the 16th Mechanized Army. After the 46th Tank Brigade of the 16th Mechanized Army and the 1st Tank Brigade temporarily attached to the 16th Mechanized Army were defeated by the German armored group, Sokalov could only lead more than 3,000 infantrymen in person to cover the rear in order to save his mechanized army. But how could these infantrymen stop the tracks of German tanks? After barely resisting for thirty or forty minutes, they all retreated one after another. But before they could retreat much, they were blocked by a dozen cadres from the political department of the army led by Political Commissar Fegulov.

Yes, there were only a dozen political cadres holding pistols, and the machine gun supervision team did not exist. It was 1942, just a few years after the Great Purge, and the prestige of political commissars and political cadres was high. With just one word, they could send people to Siberia for labor reform, and with just one word, they could make people join the party and be promoted to cadres and live a happy life from then on.

"Comrade Political Commissar, it's dangerous here, you should retreat first!" Sokalov ran to the wreckage of the T-34 tank where Fegulov was standing with a few staff officers, "The German tanks will be coming up soon!"

"Comrade Army Commander, you should retreat first!" Fegulov jumped off the car, but he did not agree to escape. He was not stupid. Now that the Army Commander did not run away, how could he, the Political Commissar, run away first? What if Comrade Army Commander died gloriously, and he, the Political Commissar, would be responsible for the defeat! At that time, the Political Commissar would have nothing to do and would have to go to jail.

"I am the army commander, I have the responsibility to cover everyone and go first." How dare Sokalov leave? Now the war has become like this, if the political commissar does not withdraw and the army commander runs away first, it will not be a matter of going to Siberia for a few years of reform, but will be subject to the highest security measures - that is, shooting and deportation, but usually shooting.

When the two were being humble, someone suddenly shouted: "Rockets! Hide quickly!"

Then Sokalov and Fegulov were thrown down by the people around them to avoid the wreckage of the T-34 tank.

As soon as the two lay down, they felt the ground shaking, and at the same time, a strange "whoosh whoosh" sounded in their ears, and then there were continuous explosions! Almost in an instant, these Soviet soldiers who were congested on the road to Wowomin and on both sides of the road were submerged in a forest of smoke columns. The shrapnel representing death flew around, causing the Soviet infantry to scream and be swept down in a variety of strange ways. These are all 130mm large-caliber rockets, falling like raindrops, with an incredible density. The Soviet officers and soldiers who encountered this unprecedented and rapid attack had almost no time to turn around and were killed!

However, the rocket attack came and went quickly. Before everyone could react, the rocket attack was over.

Sokalov and Fegulov escaped because they hid next to a destroyed T-34 tank, but the two GCist fighters were also mortals, and now they were a little dizzy and had symptoms of shock. Sokalov regained some consciousness, and the sound of tank tracks rolling on the ground came from his buzzing ears.

Is it a Soviet tank? Sokalov thought vaguely that he would probably go to Siberia for labor reform, but his life should be saved. At this moment, he suddenly heard a conversation in German.

"So many bodies!"

"Maybe there are still some alive, let's look for them."

"I found a living person, he seems to be an officer, is this... a general?"

Sokalov felt someone dragging him, it is very likely that the Germans wanted to capture him! This is betrayal! He quickly reached for his pistol and wanted to shoot himself. But as soon as he moved his arm, someone twisted it hard. Then he heard the shouts of the political commissar of the army, Fegulov: "Long live the world revolution! Long live the Bolshevik Party! Long live the great leader Stalin... Bang!"