Rasputin of the East

＜ Episode 170 >

“How was the offensive from the Greek side?”

“Romanian, Bulgarian and Yugoslav forces are interfering with themselves. I don’t see the need to send out a lot of support.”

The joint offensive of Britain and Italy, which started in Greece, which had participated in the war as an Axis power, was not so threatening, frankly.

I was seriously curious about the cerebral cortex structure of those guys who thought they were going to launch an attack in that mountain town, but what was more worrisome was the offensive that would be launched within a few days.

Operation Dynamite.

The target is Berlin.

After months of pushing and pulling and destroying every Axis force east of the Oder River, our Russian forces are ready for the Siege of Berlin.

“In the north they take the Zetin and then to the Elbe, in the south they reach the Elbe and form a siege for Berlin. In the central part, we attack the Zelo Highlands and advance to Berlin.”

Of course, it is by no means an easy task. Above all, it would be difficult to advance to the south in Panpan, where a large number of German troops from Saxony remained intact.

“In this campaign, it is important to divide the Saxon Army and Berlin and defeat them individually. We look forward to the struggle of the Czech Front.”

After the war broke out, Mannerheim, who had not taken a step forward on the Czech border, lowered his head, but I could understand him well.

The Walther model sits in a vantage point and camps with a significant portion of the Wehrmacht’s troops, so that’s easy to break through.

Considering that the decision to attack in Poland was not able to penetrate Saxony in the end, it was good to say that Model struggled quite a bit with insufficient troops and resources.

“The ultimate goal of Operation ‘Dynamite’ is to destroy Berlin and encircle and annihilate the Saxon Front.”

Of course, this war didn’t end with just destroying Germany. I think the real fight will start after taking Berlin.

To put it simply, it was like taking over Paris after landing in Normandy. Where did the European front end when it landed in Normandy?

Even after the fall of Berlin, most of Germany’s industrial zones are still in good shape, and even efficient. Not to mention the UK.

The Germans are not defeated just because Berlin has fallen.

However, there can be no doubt that the fall of Berlin would be a prelude to Germany’s defeat.

***

Zelov Gorge, 1st Guards Division of the Russian Empire

It was established during the Great War, and when the division was established as a unit directly under the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the first 5 divisions were given nicknames one by one.

Its nickname, by no means official, was honored by the 1st Division, named after the woman who was the founder’s supporter and later wife.

Russian 1st Guards Armored Division, Olga Nikolaevna Romanova.

And being in the leading armored reconnaissance battalion means that he is one of the best tankers in the Russian Empire…

“11 o’clock, enemy half-tracked armored vehicle, fire!”

It means that it is one of the first units to receive the latest equipment in the entire Russian Imperial Army.

– Kwaang!

At the command of the commander, the gunner fired an 85mm cannon, and the armored car, which was hurriedly fleeing, was hit by a high explosive in the butt and exploded.

Lieutenant Nikita Mikhailovich Romanov, 1st platoon commander and 1st deputy commander, quickly issued the order.

“Enemy vehicle at 2 o’clock, it is escaping at high speed. It’s far away, can you hit it?”

“Available!”

“launch.”

– Kwaang!

The shell left the barrel at supersonic speed. The shells that flew at the speed of Mach barely missed, creating a shell pit near the enemy vehicle.

“Wrong!”

“Load done!”

“You only get one chance Ivanov!”

The angle is not good. If it was not hit quickly, there was a great chance that it would get out of sight because it was covered by the terrain, and in that case, the rowing enemy troop transport vehicle would have run away so far that by the time it came back into sight, it would have been impossible to hit it.

“Don’t talk! I can’t concentrate!”

It was quite rude for a word to the imperial family, but their relationship was not between the royal family and the commoners, but only a tank commander and a gunner.

– Kwaang!

The shells flew through the sky, this time hitting the enemy vehicle’s driver’s seat precisely.

When a shell hit a car just turning a curve, the German infantry in the cargo hold was thrown out like bowling pins. A minimal fracture was something to be prepared for.

The task of the armored reconnaissance battalion was power reconnaissance to the train station, but difficulties continued to be discovered.

“Wetlands everywhere.”

“There were no wetlands on the map…”

“It seems that these guys have done some tricks. The Germans I shot earlier were wearing engineer badges.”

The Germans attempted to impede the maneuvering of the Russian tanks by backflowing the water from the reservoir, with considerable success.

“It seems difficult to maneuver a heavy tank.”

The 1st Guards Armored Division had 33 new heavy tanks.

Although it was a new heavy tank that was put on trial for field trials, it seemed that there would be no opportunity to be active in this battle.

The enemy laid out a bunch of mines and dug anti-tank guns and trenches. do.

“You’d need a heavy tank to break through their defenses…”

“How do you write something you can’t write?”

“I’ll have to make a massive request for air support and tear down the ridgeline.

“Also artillery.”

“Isn’t an earthquake bomb better than artillery?”

“It’s hot.”

read at https://readwn.com

Many people like the hotness of earthquake bombs that crush the ground itself and set it down. At the very least, it wasn’t long before the formal recruitment was made, and from the Far East to the European front, I would have stocked up about 10 at each airfield where four bombers were operated.

Of course, seismic bombs aren’t perfect.

In terms of destructive power, it is much better to fire several small bombs that can be transported with the same bomb capacity.

However, when facing the German army who dug into the ground like crazy and built a fortress line, the earthquake bomb that creates a large swimming pool each time it explodes, digs into bedrock and harpoons the entire building, destroys enemy defense structures and disrupts the enemy’s advance path. much more advantageous to obtain.

Although it was concluded that it could not be strategically used until breaking through after dropping a large amount of mines by dropping them into a minefield as in the early attempts, a separate bomb is being studied for this purpose. In addition to the purpose of destruction, it is used for many purposes.

However, it seemed that it would be difficult to exert much effect in this terrain.

“What do you think, Commander-in-Chief?”

“I don’t know the strategy… but if it were me, I would be pouring out shells in thousands of rounds, but there is a lot of firepower that artillery support can pour more than aircraft, and there aren’t many targets that can be mobilized by earthquake bombs or other heavy artillery. .”

“Plant-Captain, in front of you……”

Nikita wrinkled her face when she saw the concrete structure in the shape of shark teeth.

“Is it possible to bypass it?”

“I do not know.”

At first glance, it looked like it could not be crossed by a train.

– Hydra 1. Battalion Headquarters, can you hear me?

-Hydra 1, what’s going on?

– It is judged that it is impossible to break through large-scale anti-tank obstacles and tanks in front. Repeat. The vehicle cannot advance further until it has blown up the obstacle.

– Report the type of obstacle.

-The shark tooth-shaped concrete structure, infantry, seems to be able to pass, but considering the height, shape, and spacing, it seems impossible for a tank to pass through. The existence of nearby enemy troops is impossible to be sure as the view is blocked by large trees, abnormal.

-Okay, Hydra 1, watch your surroundings and wait on the spot. Are the bypassable passages visually confirmed?

– Full of weeds.

If you push through the shrubs, there is a high probability that you will be crushed by the tanks, but sometimes very thickly grown plants make it difficult for the tank to maneuver, and sometimes it is not pulled out even by a bulldozer.

The problem, of course, is that you can’t really be sure what lies beyond. In the case of an anti-tank gun flying over the bushes, or a rain of machine guns, that is, if the enemy forces are digging a trap in the first place and waiting, the commander has to be cautious.

A few moments later, several troop transport vehicles drove by.

“get off! get off!”

The soldiers jumped down and spread out with semi-automatic rifles.

“The infantry will go first and make sure they are safe. Be prepared to grind wherever you go!”

When the non-commissioned officer, who appeared to be in charge, shouted, Nikita said to the gunner.

“Did you hear me? Those infantry bastards we should have covered. If we don’t get it right, they’ll all die.”

A few kilometers left to the train station, the target of reconnaissance, and if they were advancing, they would have pushed their troops in, but the order they received was force reconnaissance.

There is no need to overcharge.

That was the moment.

– Kwaang!

“f*ck! Did you just see it?”

“It’s a bombardment!”

“Get down! You bastards!”

The pile of dirt soars,

“mine thrower? Mortar?”

“I think so, but…”

After closing the hatches and looking out through the periscopes and observation windows, the tankers understood the situation and entered combat stance as soon as the shelling had ceased.

None of the tanks had just been lost in the shelling, but two troop transport vehicles were caught in the fire and destroyed.

“All cars! Report the status!”

-No more than 2nd time!

-No more than 3 times!

When he heard the lively voices of his subordinates, Nikita, who was crazy about the infantry, looked around. It was difficult to tell if the infantry lying on their backs were dead or lying on their stomachs due to artillery fire.

Seeing that some soldiers were rising, it was certainly not annihilated, but it seemed that there were quite a few wounded.

“It’s Hydra 1. Headquarters, can you hear me?”

“I hear you, Hydra 1.”

“I just got hit by enemy mortar shells. There were no casualties in the armored platoon, but two troop transport vehicles were completely destroyed. Anything less than that.”

“Can the mission continue?”

“It is uncertain.”

“Okay, the upper level has concluded that the goal of force reconnaissance has been achieved. Stop the operation and return. Do we need additional vehicles to evacuate the wounded?”

“I don’t think so. I will come back Hydra 1 out.”

As soon as communication was cut off, Nikita immediately issued an order to withdraw.

“I think this operation was trying to find out if the enemy was building a significant defensive line and, if so, where they built it.”

If so, the mission objective was achieved when the enemy was bombarded with artillery fire in the gap between the anti-tank obstacles. Fortunately, it was a small-caliber mortar fire, so if it were a large-caliber gun, the armored units would have to be prepared for considerable damage. I was lucky this time.

And it is a great achievement to know that this area is completely muddy, unlike prior information. First of all, it would be good to be satisfied here today.

The battle won’t just happen today. Today, I thought it would be good to give the platoon members some vodka to commemorate the safety of all the members of the platoon.