After the Battle of Pylos on September 12, the Germans could brag that they destroyed thousands of tanks of the Soviet Red Army, but... the Russians could still send thousands of tanks. And the Germans, the victors, had nothing -
Nowadays, the number of tanks they can move is less than a fraction of the Russians. Although the Soviet Red Army lost many brave soldiers and hundreds of tanks after the battle on the 12th, in terms of comparison of troop strength - in terms of the continuous replenishment of troops, it is far behind.
The Germans were far behind. Now - it's time for the Soviet Red Army to prepare to launch an attack...
The German commander-in-chief admitted defeat and began to order the armored units to begin to retreat, and all units began to defend themselves on the spot - this was the order of the head of state...
Fafnir's No. 223 belongs to the category that can barely move after emergency repairs, so he received the order to retreat to the assembly point 20 kilometers away on the night of the 12th. On the way, he met Dick Carr.
Carl's Tiger is in good condition. Earlier in the day, he mainly came up from behind for reinforcements. The fighting time was relatively short, so the condition of the crew and tanks was not bad, so he was ordered to defend on the front line to buy time to defeat the Tiger.
The troops fighting on the front line withdrew, and at the same time provided cover for the German battlefield rescue team to tow the injured and recovered tanks. Fafnir said hello to Karl, and at this time he saw the big man Yang appearing in the rear troops. Fafnir
I said hello to Yang, whom I hadn't seen for a long time, and then had to leave.
The Russian offensive began at midnight. Heavy artillery plowed the German positions into a sea of fire. The roar of Russian tanks' engines and even the explosion of artillery shells could not cover up... Thousands of Soviet Red Army tanks were on the salient front
launched an attack at the same time!
Fafnir's tank was towed away as soon as it arrived at the assembly point in the rear. He and his crew temporarily transferred to a Panzer 4 tank that had come out. While they were in a hurry, the Ferdinand destroyer on the front line finally climbed up.
Back to the rear. Dirk's Ferdinand benefited from the commander's shameless positioning, cowardly concealment and coquettish black gun. The main reason was the 200mm thick front - he actually returned unscathed.
We arrived at the assembly area, but the running mechanism was still almost dead. Ferdinand, who went to the battlefield, was abandoned by his own people due to mechanical failures far more than those destroyed by the Soviet Red Army.
Karl was fighting hard at the front. He used the cover of darkness to maneuver continuously, and under the guidance of the grenadiers who came forward to defend, he kept naming Soviet tanks in the distance with 88 guns. The battle situation was getting worse hour by hour, and the Soviet Union
The Red Army broke through the German defenses on almost all fronts. When the sky was dimming, Karl also got the order to start retreating. Juncker's Panthers, who were fighting in the other direction, used their speed to attack early.
"Turn in". Yang and his grenadier company were ordered to delay the Soviet advance in place for at least 4 hours...
The steel torrent of the Soviet Red Army rolled in, and Yang's troops fought a desperate battle. Soviet Red Army soldiers jumped into the German trenches in groups and started fierce hand-to-hand combat with the German soldiers. Yang fought an arduous battle, relying on his
Yang first used machine guns to shoot at the influx of Soviet infantry while standing in the bunker. After the machine gun positions were destroyed by Red Army tanks, Yang used grenades and submachine guns to kill groups of Soviet infantry in the crisscrossed trenches, until finally he picked up the engineers.
After fighting hand-to-hand with the Red Army soldiers and hacking to death dozens of Soviet soldiers, the Soviet soldiers, under the cover of rifle fire from behind, stabbed several bayonets into Yang's body, which had been hit by several bullets...
G. Heinrich Young fell down, ending his 23-year-old life. The day before his death, he had just received the Silver Melee Medal and hung it up proudly... He fell on a pile of his collection.
died in the can.
Under the desperate resistance of soldiers like Yang, the German army finally stopped the initial retreat and began to resist and retreat in an organized and orderly manner. But at this moment, a piece of news came like a bolt from the blue.
——The Americans and British landed in Sicily, Italy! The armored units that had been reorganized and prepared for battle were withdrawn, and the troops that were originally the backbone were also withdrawn and headed for the Italian front. The entire Kursk battle can be said to be a complete battle.
Failure, the Germans began to retreat in large numbers, burning everything in their path.
Fafnir's 503** heavy tank battalion was also in the evacuation sequence, but Marshal Manstein withstood the pressure from the Führer and insisted on keeping the 503rd for a few more days, launching a limited attack on the isolated and prominent Soviet Red Army.
The flank counterattack of the tank force... Fafnir replaced a half-broken Tiger to participate in the battle - now his record can be determined to have exceeded 120 vehicles, and his troops successfully destroyed it in this counterattack
He defeated a Guards tank corps of the Soviet Red Army, but was still unable to stop more Soviet Red Army tanks - not even Manstein could.
On October 23, the Soviet Red Army stopped its offensive after recapturing Kharkov, and the entire Kursk Battle came to an end. The Germans completely lost their strategic initiative, especially the armored forces, which could be said to have their backbone broken—
- Tiger, Leopard and other cutting-edge tanks suffered heavy losses. More than 200 Tigers and Panthers were destroyed, half of 90 Ferdinands were lost, and the cumulative losses of other Panzer 4 tanks and various assault guns exceeded 700.
Fafnir is now going to the place he has long wanted to go - Italy. "The Latin beauty is beautiful, passionate, passionate and unrestrained! No dragoon can compare with it!" Fafnir happily said to a group of friends.
"Besides, the Americans and British are nothing compared to the Russians. To say the least, at least we are far away from the damn Russian battlefield, away from the damn mud and endless Russian tanks!"
Fafnir and Carl arrived in Italy in November, and they quickly melted into the local wandering circle...
Throughout 1943 until the end of 1943, Fafnir had no combat missions. They were stationed in northern Italy to keep watch over the weak Italians. At the beginning of 1944, Fafnir and the others, who were living and sleeping in northern Italy, received another call.
Transfer order to France. At this time, the strategic air strikes against Germany by the United States and Britain had begun. Along the way, Fafnir saw the bombing debris left by American bombers many times at night. He also learned about a former pilot friend, Richter.
Von Hubbell was now a member of the night fighter group. In his letter, he complained about the damn service, but he was also proud of his night performance-he shot down three big ones.
As soon as they arrived in France, before Fafnir could go out to look for flowers, another order was given to pull them to the German mainland. Everyone complained all the way until they saw what was in the military camp...
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