Chapter 859 The Final Battle—End (3rd Update)

The illumination bombs rose into the air one after another. They illuminated the night sky, illuminated the earth, and also shed light on the tanks and assault guns of the Soviet and German armies. The artillery roared, and the Soviet KV-85 tanks, SU-122 assault guns, and the German "Vesp" self-propelled artillery were all firing ammunition with all their strength. Dark red artillery shells shuttled back and forth on the battlefield, and explosions of various sounds filled Comrade Vatutin's ears.

Although he is the commander of the tank group army, this is the first time for General Vatutin to personally visit a battlefield where hundreds of tanks line up for bombardment. However, he quickly recovered from this shocking scene that he would never forget and began to carefully observe the fighting situation ahead.

Under the guidance of the light of the flares, he had discovered that the German leader was not a Tiger tank, but a "No. 4 assault gun" with a 150mm short-barreled gun. Because the assault gun has no turret, the main gun has a narrow range of fire. It is not of much value on the battlefield of concentrated tank battles. Moreover, this weapon is also vulnerable to infantry attacks.

But tonight, things are obviously different!

Because it was a night battle, the formations of both sides were relatively simple, and the tactics were very simple - just line up and shoot! Therefore, there is no problem of the "No. 4 assault gun" being outflanked. In fact, there is no way to outflank it, because the number of tanks/assault artillery invested by the Soviet army today is far less than that of the German side.

Moreover, until the distance between the two sides was reduced to a few hundred meters, the Soviets had no way to see clearly what tanks the Germans were using to lead the battle, and there was no way to change their formation or tactical response. So the KV-85 tanks under Vatuking are now, as Hubei expected, concentrating their firepower on bombarding the assault guns approaching them step by step.

However, the 85mm shells hit the strong frontal gun compartment armor of this assault gun and were unable to effectively penetrate it! Most of the "No. 4 assault guns" are still approaching.

Just when Vatutin, who was watching the battle on a KV-85 tank at the back, was surprised by the strength of the German "No. 4 assault gun", behind the "No. 4 assault gun", the German Tiger tanks were already in place. .

156 Tiger tanks belonging to the 501st, 502nd, 506th and 510th Heavy Armored Battalions of the Wehrmacht (the full strength should be 176, 20 broke down or were injured in combat) and 80 of the 1st Destroyer Tank Battalion of the Wehrmacht A "Rhino" tank destroyer (a mixed formation of Tiger and Rhino) was lined up in a row, intersecting with the "No. 4 assault gun" in front. The distance from the KV-85 in the first row of the Soviet tank formation was no longer enough. 500 meters away.

"Tiger tank, aim... and fire!"

Almost as soon as the order to fire was transmitted to each Tiger tank through the on-board radio, these Tiger tanks finally burst out with a long-suppressed roar. 88mm shells poured down like raindrops, sweeping through the formation of Soviet KV tanks. Balls of fireballs immediately shot up at the front of the Soviet tank cluster. More than 50 KV-85s were turned into torches in the first salvo of Tiger tanks!

Then, the second and third rounds of equally fierce shelling followed, and the Soviet tank group suffered heavy losses!

Seeing this scene, Admiral Vatutin's face turned pale, and his thick eyebrows became tighter and tighter. How come he still can't see the Germans' intentions now?

It's just that the opportunity has fallen into the hands of the Germans, and the Red Army's tank cluster has fallen into full passivity.

On the battlefield, all the German Tiger tanks stopped moving forward, lined up on the battlefield, and began to use their powerful 88mm cannon to name the Soviet KV tanks.

The "Grizzly Bear" assault guns that were advancing with 85mm shells rushed forward for tens or even hundreds of meters. They stopped moving forward until the distance between the two sides was reduced to within 400 meters. They are not iron lumps who can only take beatings but cannot fight back - although the 150mm short cannon cannot fire armor-piercing projectiles, the armor-piercing projectiles fired are very powerful.

The so-called "armor-breaking bullet" is a shaped charge bullet, which is a chemical energy anti-armor bullet developed based on the Monroe effect. The theoretical armor-breaking efficiency is closely related to the caliber of the ammunition, and the theoretical maximum value is 5 times. However, it could not reach such a level during World War II, which was between 1 and 1.5 times. And Germany is at the absolute leading level in research in this area (the "Iron Fist" anti-tank grenade uses shaped charges). Therefore, as long as the armor-piercing projectile fired by the 150mm gun of the "Grizzly Bear" hits the target, it is basically a piece of scrap metal, including KV-85, T-34/57, and SU-85. No difference.

"Release the smoke, make the tanks retreat, and the infantry prepare to charge!"

Vatutin made decisive tactical adjustments, letting the frustrated tank group retreat slightly, and at the same time, he threw in infantry equipped with "Red Iron Fist"... Of course, a large number of infantry!

Tens of thousands of Red Army soldiers had been prepared long ago and formed a dense formation behind the tank cluster (they were not infantry protecting the tanks). After receiving the order, they began to attack with "Ula! Ula!"

Because it is night, it is very advantageous for the Red Army infantry who are at a disadvantage in terms of firepower. However, this kind of intensive formation impact almost shoulder to shoulder will inevitably be accompanied by huge casualties, but Vatutin doesn't care at all, because the Soviet Union's national destiny is in danger!

"Commander, the Soviets are releasing smoke!"

Lieutenant General Hube, who was watching the battle from the rear, guessed the Soviet intention as soon as he saw the smoke in front of the battle, "They are going to launch an infantry charge!"

"What? Infantry charge?" General Mackensen doubted the judgment of his one-armed chief of staff.

"Are they going to retreat?" Mackensen said, "The Soviet KV tanks suffered heavy losses!"

"Impossible," Hube shook his head, "The Soviets are fighting desperately. If they are defeated tonight, they will be annihilated. Because we not only have overwhelming armored forces, but also overwhelming air superiority!"

The French Breguet attack aircraft and the German Hs129 attack aircraft are two real tank killers! If the Soviet tank cluster dared to retreat during the day, they would be shot down by planes on the way!

If the Soviet tanks did not dare to run away during the day, how could they escape the pursuit of the German army?

So now it is a complete annihilation (only the tanks were destroyed, and some infantry could escape), it is better to fight.

"Stop the 'Grizzly' and 'Tiger' and have the No. 4 tanks and armored grenadiers go up." Mackensen thought for a moment and asked, "Can the rocket launchers be fired now?"

Hube asked the staff officer next to him, and then replied, "Yes, all the rocket launchers are loaded and can be fired at any time."

"Fire a round of salvos!" Mackensen waved his hand, "Then let all the self-propelled artillery be ready to fire, including the Grizzly assault guns... prepare grenades and fire at any time."

When Mackensen ordered the rocket launchers to fire, the KV-85 tank that Vatutin was riding had turned and started to retreat, and the tide of Red Army infantry was passing by him.

Vatutin was using the radio to contact the retreating KV-85 behind him (there were still some survivors) to find out whether the German tank cluster was chasing. At this moment, he suddenly heard someone shouting in his ear: "Rocket launcher! Rocket launcher is coming!" Then he was dragged into the tank turret by someone.

Vatutin could hide inside the KV-85 tank, but the infantry outside were hit by the sudden rocket launcher. The 80mm caliber 48-track rocket launcher used by the German armored forces was not very powerful, but it had a dense firepower. It was not very effective against the enemy's positions (but it could blow up minefields), but if it happened to cover the infantry, it would cause heavy casualties.

The Soviet "infantry sea" was hit by a rocket launcher, so naturally it couldn't make any waves.

However, Vatutin did not intend to give up, and there was no way to give up. After the tank and infantry charges were frustrated one after another. He ordered the troops to switch to defense and formed a line of defense with the few remaining KV-85 tanks and T-34/57, SU-85, etc.

At 2 a.m. on May 16, 1943, on the plain south of the Dobrush Forest, the roar of the German tank cluster advancing sounded again.

This was the second wave of general offensive launched by General Mackensen and Lieutenant General Hube! The Grizzlies were still in the lead, followed by Tiger tanks and Rhinos, and many Type 4s (including F and H) were also there to provide cover. They formed a dense assault formation on the plains, rushing towards the thin Soviet defense line like a torrent, and the tactics adopted were the same as before, firing in a line within 500 meters!

In fact, it was an absolute crush!

In the original history, if the German army could gather more than 100 Tigers and hundreds of Type 4s on a battlefield, it would definitely be a classic battle.

Now, it was just a battle-level confrontation, but 156 Tigers, more than 200 Rhinos, more than 100 Grizzlies, and seven or eight Type 4s were deployed to form a vast sea of ​​tanks.

At 2:10 a.m. on May 16, the spectacular scene of "firing in a line" appeared again. All Soviet tanks/assault artillery fired desperately, trying to delay the German tank cluster with firepower. Although some German vehicles were set on fire or had their tracks broken, the entire sea of ​​tanks continued to roll over steadily.

At 2:15, all the German Tiger tanks and Rhino tank destroyers stopped moving forward, and the powerful 88mm guns began to aim at the Soviet tanks and assault artillery illuminated by flares.

The final massacre began!