The Battle of Stalingrad came to an end. The main force of the German Sixth Army escaped the encirclement of the Soviet Red Army. Fortunately, it escaped to the Rostov front and was sent to France for reorganization. The German southern front lost more than 200,000 troops. This was still
It was just their own losses - the Romanian army here was almost wiped out by the Russians, and the entire Axis powers lost nearly half a million soldiers and almost all the technical weapons for the attack. The South suddenly became weak.
Incomparable, but still much better than the strategic situation of the Germans in Fafnir's original world - at least they still have structures and soldiers.
The Soviet Red Army lost a large number of soldiers in the battle, and their losses were almost twice that of the Germans. However, they successfully defended Stalingrad and at the same time knocked out the Axis mobile forces on the southern front. At this time, there was a steady stream of
The Soviet people joined the Red Army, and the factories were fully operational and began to replenish technical weapons - with important Yankee assistance.
Fafnir received his honor in this battle - the Knight's Cross. He first successfully defended the bridge in the early stages of the battle, and then withstood the Russians' attack on the German army's rear in the middle and late stages.
The repeated attacks contributed to the retreat of the main force of the Sixth Army. I also set a record for him - destroying seventeen tanks and self-propelled artillery of the Soviet Red Army within twenty-four hours, increasing his record to eight
Fifteen tanks are already the number one tank killer in the army.
However, the losses of the 503rd Heavy Tank Battalion were not small. When the whole battalion participated in the war, it had 21 Tigers and 30 Panzer III tanks. At the end of the battle, only six Tigers were still fighting, and seven Tigers were completely lost.
There were only eleven Panzer III tanks left that could still be driven. However, they destroyed more than one hundred and twenty Soviet tanks in total, making themselves famous and earning money for their battalion commander.
A knight's cross.
The Germans were busy inflicting wounds on the Rostov front line, and the lost soldiers and equipment would not be able to be replaced for a while. The Soviet Red Army on the opposite side was increasing its strength day by day. The head of state still issued an order not to allow retreat, and Army Group South
It was noisy inside.
Fafnir had nothing to do, his tiger had been repaired, and he himself had nothing to do, but after a month he felt unhappy after all: "Damn it, Brother Shutkehaojan is dead... Really, this bastard
You still owe me a bet debt! You guy!" He sat alone on the tiger without saying a word, just holding the beer in his hand. After a long time, he drained the beer on the ground without taking a sip, "
Goodbye, Shutekhaojan."
Time passes slowly. Four months have passed. Germany's losses are still slowly being replenished. The Romanian army is severely weakened. The strength of the entire Army Group South is only slightly stronger than after the Battle of Stalingrad. The front it faces is still the same.
It has been a long time, and the strength of the troops is even more stretched. The morale of the Soviet Red Army on the opposite side is high, new troops are constantly being incorporated and replenished, and the strength has now been fully restored and is even stronger than before the battle.
On May 12, the Soviet Red Army launched an offensive.
North Africa, Tunisia. Former bus driver, now a first-class Iron Cross winner, Sergeant Bellwegen is not in a good situation now. At the end of November 1942, he happily came to Africa with his newly acquired tiger, sunshine,
The beach, the beauty to be determined, seemed like he was on vacation. Compared with the cold and damp Russia, this place was paradise. For this reason, he also wrote several military mails to mock Fafnir and other friends who were still struggling in Russia. By the way,
Showing off that he was on vacation... it was indeed quite pleasant at first. When he first arrived in Africa, he drove a Tiger and gave the Yankees a blow in the head according to the orders of Marshal Fox. He successfully made the Yankee tank soldiers suffer from "tiger phobia"
", he and the six tanks from the 501st Battalion that arrived first destroyed more than thirty American tanks, and neither the M3 Grant nor the M4 Mantou could do anything against them, and all the shells were bounced away.
, and the German tigers wiped out the American tank regiment like rabbits at a distance of one thousand meters. Then Bellwegen taught the British a good lesson on the other side - how to escape the tiger's blow.
Course. He drew twenty more death circles on his cannon barrel in 42 years.
But good luck will eventually run out. The marshal was recalled and replaced by a general. However, the British and Yankees seemed to have endless tanks to fight - especially the Yankees, who had deep pockets. Tanks and aircraft did not seem to need dollars to buy.
Same... after one was destroyed, they replaced ten more, and the Germans' logistics was another tragedy... By March 1943, no matter how good Bellwegen and Tiger were at fighting, the entire African Army was still compressed.
Arriving at the existing position of the "Maret" fortification line, we tried to hold on to the last landing site in Africa, but the logistics could be said to be completely cut off. The only good news was that the Tigers finally had 18 vehicles and two companies in total.
On April 19, the British Eighth Army began to attack; on the 22nd, the British First Army and the U.S. Second Army began to attack. On the 609 Highlands, Bellwegen fought very well. He and his three Tigers of his companions were more than one kilometer away.
They called out American tanks one by one from a distance, and at the same time used machine guns to shoot at the approaching American infantry. The Yankees' artillery did almost no damage to them, but the American aircraft in the sky were a major threat to them. When the battle lasted until night, the 609 Highland Yankees
No progress was made, and many tank wrecks were left behind. The Yankees called the air force to bomb around the clock. On the 24th, the first Tiger was lost at Hill 609 - it was successfully blown up by Yankee planes. By the 30th
On that day, Highland 609 had lost all its fortifications due to repeated bombing and shelling. "Damn Yankees!" Bellwegen yelled and used machine guns to fire. The artillery shells had been fired and could not be resupplied for a while due to the Yankee bombing. This
At that time, the American soldiers rushed towards his Tiger from all directions. The German and Italian infantry had long been suppressed and driven off the high ground. Another Tiger had also been blown up by an airplane earlier. An American soldier suddenly stood up and said,
Less than 20 meters away from the Tiger, he pulled the trigger of the Bazuka rocket launcher... The rocket hit the back side of the Bellwegen Tiger. There was a loud noise! The Tiger's ammunition was detonated! The turret was lifted.
When it was turned over, the tank soldiers inside were blown out.
"Military doctor!! There is a German guy here who is still breathing!" a group of American soldiers shouted. Fortunately, Bellwegen was not killed, but he also lost consciousness...
After waking up, Bellwegen lost his legs. Now he is in a prisoner of war camp, and the African Army also disappeared a few days before he woke up...
Fafnir's friend finally had the good fortune to not die on the battlefield... At this time, he had no time to take care of himself, and the Russians' attack was extremely fierce!