The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Intensive gunfire rang out, and the German soldiers behind each tank consciously divided into two groups. One of them leaned out and shot a bunch of bullets and then immediately retracted, while the other leaned out and continued shooting.

This tactic, combined with the MP43's rate of fire and penetration, caused the charging Soviet troops to fall in pieces in front of the tank team... This is also the reason why there is basically no group charge in modern warfare. The two automatic rifles The firepower it can provide is basically equivalent to or even greater than a light machine gun, so this is equivalent to countless light machine guns firing at the charging Soviet army. The density of the bullets is enough to keep the Soviet army at a safe distance. In particular, German soldiers would throw out a few grenades from time to time.

(Note: The theoretical rate of fire of an automatic rifle is similar to that of a light machine gun, both about 600 rounds per minute. The actual rate of fire of a light machine gun is faster because of its larger ammunition capacity)

Finally, the Soviet charge collapsed after leaving behind a large number of corpses.

This shows that there is a big difference between theory and reality... In theory, these Soviet soldiers cannot retreat, not even a step. But at the moment when they are actually charging on the battlefield, when the dense bullets fly past their ears, or when their comrades in front are knocked down one by one like mowing grass, the fear in their hearts is still insurmountable.

Their performance was that they fled back to the trenches in panic and screaming groups.

But escaping back to the trenches had no effect.

The paving tank continued to move forward slowly, paving steel plates on the road piece by piece as it moved. Although the road was already full of corpses of Soviet soldiers, the next second the tracks were heavily rolled up... the blood immediately covered the road. It exploded like a squeezed balloon, and with a crisp sound like the breaking of dry wood when the bones were crushed, the surrounding ground immediately turned bright red.

Qin Chuan couldn't help but flash the image of squeezing watermelon juice in his mind, but what floated on the tip of his nose was not the fragrance of watermelon juice, but the strong smell of blood. What was left around was not the discarded melon rind, but the smell of blood. The arms, thighs, and heads were crushed straight and at various angles. The most terrifying thing was the remains of the upper body, because the lower body was crushed, and the squeezed blood seeped out from the eyes, nose, ears, etc. It was worthy of the name. The seven orifices were bleeding, and it was extremely terrifying like a ghost.

But the German soldiers did not relent at all. They prepared grenades while following the tanks. Then with a sharp whistle, they leaned out and threw grenades at the Soviet trenches under the cover of several riflemen. .

Just hearing a burst of "boom", a plume of smoke exploded in the Soviet trench. Then the soldiers rushed up with MP43s. There was another burst of gunfire, and soon the trench was cleared.

The tanks easily crossed the trenches and continued to advance forward, followed by the infantry... They could not be considered as breaking through the Soviet defense line, because there were second and third trenches behind this trench.

But it was obvious that the Soviet forces were mainly concentrated on the first line of defense. The second and third lines of defense simply could not withstand the impact of the 21st Armored Division without preparation, so the German army quickly opened up. After passing the Soviet defense line, the road advanced north along the Don River.

Upon hearing the news that the defense line had been breached, the most panicked person was not the 64th Army but the 62nd Army.

The reason is that the 62nd Army is the shore defense force responsible for guarding the Don River defense line. All its troops are deployed along the Don River to confront the German 6th Army on the other side of the river. At this time, a German army suddenly appeared on the flank... This is almost The 62nd Army was surrounded from the rear.

Lieutenant General Lopatin immediately reported this information to the commander of the front army, General Yelymenko.

"Comrade Yelymenko!" Lieutenant General Lopatin reported in panic: "The Germans have broken through the defense line of the 64th Group Army, and the flanks and rear of the Don River defense line are seriously threatened!"

"I know, Comrade Lopatin!" Yelymenko replied: "We are trying to drive this group of Germans back. Hold your defenses and stay calm!"

"Yes, Comrade Yelyomenko!" Lieutenant General Lopatin couldn't help but feel a little calmer after hanging up the phone, because he heard General Yelymenko's words and thought that the front army had enough power to block this gap.

General Ye Liomenko indeed thought so, but in fact Ye Liemenko was deceived by Qin Chuan again.

After the German 21st Armored Division broke through the Soviet 64th Army, it had two options:

One is to advance eastward and circle around to the rear of the Soviet 64th Army to completely defeat it.

The other is to advance northward and circle to the rear of the Soviet 62nd Army to coordinate the landing with the German 6th Armored Army.

Originally, General Ye Liomian thought that the Germans would choose the former, because the German army launched a fierce attack on the defense line of the 64th Group Army, but the Sixth Army in the direction of the Don River died down without any movement... Of course, the 64th Group Army was also Ye Liomian. Ko must save the option, because once the 64th Army is destroyed, the south of Stalingrad will be directly exposed to the German artillery. At this time, Stalingrad's preparations are not complete and the manpower resources are insufficient.

On the other hand, through frontline reconnaissance, Yelimenko also found that the German army moved northeast immediately after breaking through the defense line, implying a posture of surrounding the 64th Group Army, so General Yelimenko didn't think much about it, and immediately So reinforcements were sent to the 64th Group Army... This is why Yelyomenko had no reaction to Lieutenant General Lopatin's report. He thought that the focus of the German offensive was the 64th Group Army.

This is easy to understand. After all, the German troops who broke through the defense line were under the command of Hoth's 4th Armored Army. Their best target should be the frontal enemy of the 4th Armored Army rather than the Don River defense line.

But soon Yelymenko discovered that he had been fooled by the Germans, because an hour later, the German army suddenly turned its head and marched north at full speed directly into the rear of the 62nd Army. At the same time, another signal came from the Don River defense line There was a burst of fierce artillery fire... The battle of the German 6th Army to forcefully cross the Don River began at this moment.

Throughout the entire opening, the Soviet army not only failed tactically, but was also repeatedly deceived and fooled by the Germans strategically. It is a miracle that this battle was fought successfully.

When Yelymenko discovered this, he immediately ordered Lieutenant General Lopatin to move the tank troops to the flank.

But it was too late.

During the mobilization process, the Soviet tanks were bombed by waves of German bombers. The entire tank brigade lost nearly half of its more than 80 tanks.

Then, in disgrace, they met the 21st Armored Division on the way. They were beaten by the 21st Armored Division with artillery and rocket launchers, leaving their armor and armor almost completely wiped out. Only three light tanks escaped back to Stalingrad with injuries. .

The 21st Armored Division once again rushed towards the Soviet port of Karachi at full power.