Chapter 645 Heavy Thunderstorm Thirty-Three

"Comrades! Members of the Bolshevik Party and Youth League, all commanders and combatants of the glorious 1st Tank Corps, the time has come to sacrifice your lives for the cause of communism and human liberation! I order you to fight resolutely to the end, not hesitate to fight against the brutal The Nazi enemies will die together, dye the flag of world revolution red with our blood! Tank crews, drive your vehicles and charge towards the tanks of Nazi Germany, hurrah! hurrah..."

Voloch, commander of the 1st Tank Corps, knew that the time had come for him to devote himself to the cause of communism. He picked up the intercom and gave a final pre-battle speech through the American aid radio on the command vehicle.

Then he boarded a majestic KV-2 heavy tank, and together with other T-34, KV-1 and KV-2 tanks of the 1st Tank Army that were able to move and were deployed at the same time, they faced the surging waves. The incoming German armored group launched an attack.

"They actually took the initiative to attack!" General Steiner stood on the top of the armored command vehicle he was riding in, holding up his binoculars and looking at the vast battlefield and the messy stormtrooper shapes of Soviet tanks in front of him, with an extremely solemn expression.

He didn't mean to look down on Mao Zi now, although the opponent's formation was messy, with various tanks mixed together, and the impact speed was fast and slow. Some tanks were filled with infantry, while others were empty.

But where could Steiner not see that the Soviets were making a desperate charge?

Now the German tank group puts 38 Panther tanks in the front row and 40 Tiger tanks to protect the wings. The protective capability of the 80mm frontal armor installed at an angle on the Panther tank cannot even hit the 75mm main gun of the Type 4 H tank, let alone the Soviets' less powerful 76.2mm tank gun.

The 75mmKwK42L/70 gun of the Panther tank can penetrate the frontal armor of the Soviet KV-1 tank at a distance of 1,000 meters!

Therefore, it is hopeless to open a formation and shoot at the German tanks. If the Soviet tanks do not want to escape, launching a desperate attack is the only way to cause losses to the Germans.

Boom boom...

The main gun of the Panther tank fired. It was not one Panther tank that was firing, but a salvo of 38 Panther tanks!

Captain Gustav Schwarzenegger was riding in a No. 4 H tank, following behind these enviable Panther tanks, holding a telescope and stretching his neck to watch the battle. Before the sound of cannon fire in his ears faded away, a ball of fire burst out from the Soviet tank group charging opposite, and at least 10 Novo tanks immediately ignited into fireballs!

"It's really amazing!"

Captain Schwarzenegger felt a little sympathy for those brave Bolsheviks. Their attack was simply a suicide attack, with no hope of victory at all! I really don’t know what their commander is thinking. How can he sacrifice his subordinates’ lives in vain like this?

"Captain, the Soviet tanks have entered the effective range of our main guns!"

Gunner Ogg's voice interrupted Captain Schwarzenegger's thoughts. He looked forward intently, and sure enough, some T-34s were rushing over quickly.

"Okay, it's time for us to fire!" Without even retracting his body back into the turret, he began to look for the target to fire on, "Target, 12 o'clock, 900 meters, T-34 tank!"

"Understood!" Gunner Ogg agreed, the turret rotated slightly, and then the coaxial machine gun fired tracer bullets...

…

"Comrade Commander, Comrade Military Commissar, the 4th Army reported that they were defeated by a German corps-level armored group in the Legionovo-Wovomin area. More than 700 tanks/assault artillery and more than 200 towed guns were lost. Artillery, 18 rocket launchers, and nearly 30,000 commanders and fighters were killed, seriously injured or missing. Comrade Voloch, commander of the 1st Tank Corps, Comrade Sokarov, commander of the 16th Mechanized Corps, and political commissar of the 16th Mechanized Corps. Comrade Fegulov's whereabouts are unknown, and Comrade Qiuxin, commander of the 1st Tank Brigade, died heroically..."

The voice of Major General Rimoschik, Chief of Staff of the Western Front, was trembling a little when he spoke. An entire mechanized group army was defeated in this way! This is not an ordinary infantry group army, but a main force group army composed of tank corps, mechanized army and motorized infantry corps!

Such a powerful group army was effortlessly defeated by the German armored group in just 2 days!

This seems to indicate that the future of world revolution will be very bumpy...

"Where are the German armored groups now?" Pavlov asked with a livid face.

"They retreated," Major General Rimoschik said. "Perhaps the heroic blocking of the 1st Tank Corps caused great losses to the Germans, so they had to give up their plan to attack our army's flank..."

"Nonsense!" Pavlov interrupted Major General Rimoschik, "The Germans launched a short assault!"

A short assault is originally a concept of positional warfare, which is to launch a surprise, rapid and short assault on the enemy who is advancing to build a fortification while his foothold is unstable to annihilate the enemy's effective strength.

This tactic is obviously very effective when used in defensive operations in mechanized warfare! What the German 6th Army launched in the Legionovo-Wovomin area was obviously a short assault.

If the Germans really wanted to drive the Red Army away from Warsaw through this counterattack, they would not have withdrawn their troops when the 4th Army was almost defeated.

Does this mean that the Germans are not in a hurry to drive the Red Army out of Warsaw? Are they deliberately trying to attract the Red Army to Warsaw?

Thinking of this, Pavlov's big bald head was already covered with sweat.

"Comrade Pavlov, is the defeat of the 4th Army very serious? Will it affect the liberation of Poland?" Ponomarenko, the military commissar of the Western Front, looked extremely ugly. Seeing Pavlov sweating, he asked in a calm voice.

"The loss of 30,000 people is not serious..." Pavlov frowned, "and our offensive against Warsaw has not been broken."

After the start of the world revolution, the Soviet Union began a larger-scale general mobilization. For the Soviet army, which was heading straight for 10 million people, the loss of 30,000 people was indeed nothing. As for more than 700 tanks and more than 200 artillery pieces, they were not a large number. The Soviet industry could quickly produce more tanks and artillery.

"That's good," Ponomarenko breathed a sigh of relief, then looked at Pavlov meaningfully and said in a more serious tone: "Because the attack on Warsaw can only be victorious, not failed... Even if the losses are huge, we must win!"

Pavlov knew what Ponomarenko meant. The Battle of Warsaw was related to his and Ponomarenko's political lives.

After conquering Warsaw, Pavlov and Ponomarenko would be heroes who liberated Poland! Even if the Red Army could not advance half a step, Ponomarenko would definitely enter the political bureau, and Pavlov would be promoted to the first deputy people's commissar of national defense.

In the future, Ponomarenko would inherit the GCist system, and Pavlov would sit in Voroshilov's position...

If the Battle of Warsaw could not be won, Ponomarenko would not be able to enter the political bureau, and being thrown into idleness would be lucky. And Pavlov would be even worse, he might lose his life and become a reactionary!

"The Battle of Warsaw...will definitely win!" Pavlov nodded with gritted teeth, "We have more people and more tanks, and we can take down Warsaw by relying on numbers!"

"That's good!" Ponomarenko nodded, and then ordered, "Invite Comrade Korobkov, Comrade Telekin, and Comrade Sandarov of the 4th Army to Minsk and ask about the situation of the Battle of Legionovo-Wolomin."

...

"Crack, crack, crack..."

The sound of tracks rolling on the ground suddenly stopped, and Captain Schwarzenegger pushed open the top cover of a T-34 tank in a daze, and then climbed out of it.

"How is it?" Admiral Steiner asked loudly.

"Report to the division commander, the interior of the T-34 tank is too crowded, it is not convenient to move inside, and its turret does not have a basket, so the gunner must move with the turret when it rotates. In addition, there is no radio in this T-34 tank. I don't know how the Russians command it?"

Steinner looked back at Admiral Model, who was folding his arms and carefully examining the captured T-34 tank, and said with a smile: "There are many minor problems, but it is still a good tank... It is like a smaller Panther tank, and it is the best choice to replace the Type 4H tank."

"In fact, we have similar plans," Model said with a smile, "Daimler-Benz's Type 5 plan and Skoda's T-25 plan are similar to the T-34... But the overall performance of these two tanks is not stronger than the Type 4H, so the Panther was chosen. How did our Panther perform?"

"Of course, at a distance of 1,000 meters "They can destroy T-34 and KV-1," Steiner shrugged, "but there are too many faults. More than 20 of them broke down, and nearly 30 Tigers broke down."

"New products are like this." Model said, "Have all the faulty vehicles been towed back?"

"All of them have been towed back." Steiner said, "And a lot of T-34, KV-1 and KV-2 were also pulled back."

Model smiled and said, "That's great. Let's take a few T-34, KV-1 and KV-2 to Berlin for reference. Maybe it will bring Mercedes-Benz's Plan 5 and T-25 back to life. And... the armored forces are preparing to evacuate Legionovo, and the 50th Division will soon take over the defense."

"The 50th Division? Commander, are you going to defend Legionovo?"

Model nodded and said, "Defend it for a while. There may be a second short assault on Legionovo... This place is likely to become the focus of our competition with the Russians."