In Yelniya, an ancient city with a long history in the hinterland of Russia, ordering the use of cruel weapons such as fire-breathing tanks, Zhukov, as the highest frontline commander of the entire battle, undoubtedly shouldered a huge burden.
of risk and responsibility.
Once fired, this anti-infantry weapon can cause large-scale damage and can burn down an entire building in an instant. It does not distinguish between ourselves and the enemy at all. It is very dangerous to the Soviet civilians who are still trapped in Yelniya City and have not yet had time to evacuate.
That said, it can definitely be called bad news that is too bad to happen again.
But after learning about the brutal street fighting in the first phase of the Yelniya battle, Zhukov had no choice.
Faced with the choice between the lives of Red Army soldiers and Soviet civilians, Zhukov, as a military supervisor who was responsible for the lives of his own soldiers, resolutely chose the former.
Zhukov, who was born in poverty and rose step by step from an ordinary soldier to his current position, is by no means cold-blooded.
Although from the perspective of future generations, almost every battle Zhukov commanded during World War II resulted in heavy Soviet casualties at least equal to those of the Germans. However, under the same circumstances, almost no one can guarantee to do more than Zhukov.
Well, Zhukov, whose ultimate goal was victory, had minimized Soviet casualties to the best of his ability.
Not launching a devastating bombardment of the main city of Yelnya does not mean that Zhukov is indecisive and disregards the lives of his soldiers.
While trying to ensure that this historic ancient city would not be completely destroyed in his own hands, Zhukov still had to arm his soldiers with the most sophisticated weapons and deal the heaviest blow to the invaders.
Intense German infantry small arms fire hit the front armor of the T130 special tank, causing a bang and sparks flying.
Although the T130 special tank is improved and developed based on the T26 tank chassis, it is still essentially a light tank with a total combat weight of just over 10 tons.
However, homogeneous steel armor with a thickness of 15 mm cannot be penetrated by ordinary infantry light weapons.
The various German small-arms bullets that hit the face with ferocious tongues of fire wiped out sparks on the armor. They turned the turret and pointed it at the T130 tank on the street that was occupied by the Germans. However, it was not moved at all. The black muzzle did not take long.
Then they aimed directly at the German firepower points that were still spitting out ferocious tongues of fire.
In many battles since the launch of Operation Barbarossa, we have already seen the firepower of Soviet light tanks such as the T26. The 45mm small cannon is somewhat powerless against the field defenses at the infantry trench level. Now we have
Naturally, the Germans, whose thick buildings served as firepower bunkers, would not be frightened by such meager firepower.
"Russian cannons! Squat down and take cover!"
Before the German accent of the loud exclamation could be heard, a long, narrow and hot tongue of fire rushed straight in from the window that had just been used as the machine gun's firepower point.
The blazing fire dragon shot out from the compressed spray gun in a semi-liquid state at extremely high speeds possesses extremely terrifying power. The flames leaping from the window into the room on the second floor have not yet fully burned. Even if the volatile gasoline burning agent is poured over these, there is only a basic
German soldiers in military uniforms covered their faces.
"What is this? Fire! The Russians set it on fire!"
"It's so hot, so hot! Water, where is the water!?"
"Ah!!! Someone help me, I'm covered in it!"
The miserable infernal wails echoed throughout the entire building like a death knell for the dead.
The red tongue of fire that ran like a furious fire dragon in a narrow indoor environment was far more lethal than in an open environment. Several squads of German infantry on the second floor were engulfed in a sea of fire almost in the blink of an eye.
Almost exhausted.
In the corridor, in the corridor, in the bedroom, even in the living room on the first floor
All the rooms connected to this two-story building on the street were completely transformed into a sea of fire in almost a blink of an eye. The red fire dragon sprayed out by the vehicle-mounted compression spray gun has a power far beyond that of ordinary individual flamethrowers.
The huge and intense flame shock wave even shattered the street door and shop window on the first floor of the small building and then spurted outward.
The flame jet that lasted for less than five seconds soon died out after the nozzle of the spray gun was closed. The long-lasting painful screams that echoed in the building did not end with it. The screams that burned the soul were enough to make
Everyone present felt a chill in their hearts and retreated.
If poison gas chemical weapons are a slow and painful corrosion of the human soul, and ultimately cause the victim to slowly struggle to death.
Then flame weapons are undoubtedly the most violent torment for human souls. The victims licked by the devil's tongues of fire have no chance of escape. Only complete death can truly relieve this painful burning of human souls.
The real scene and the continuous screams that took place in this two-story building on the street not only shocked the Soviet soldiers themselves after using such cruel weapons, but are still echoing in their ears to this day.
The other surrounding German soldiers who were screaming and wailing like souls could not help but tremble with their hands holding the trigger tightly.
"Crazy! These Ivans are crazy! They are actually using fire weapons in their own cities on their own land! Aren't they afraid of hurting civilians!?"
Although he has restrained the siege operation to regain the main city and did not launch a large-scale violent artillery bombardment, compared with the inevitable casualties of his Red Army soldiers and the possible accidental injuries of civilians, he is determined and never wavers in the decision he has made.
General Zhukov obviously chose the latter.
When the German troops in the fire points of several other street-facing buildings on the streets on both sides realized that the situation was not good and were preparing to move their positions, they turned the turret again and pointed the flame nozzles at the T130 special tanks in these buildings where the German troops were stationed.
The next actions of these German soldiers were too late and in vain.
The Soviet siege force, which used the thick-skinned KV1 heavy tanks to open the way ahead, and was supplemented by T130 special tanks, was unstoppable and conquered many main streets in the city one after another.
Cruel flame weapons not only inflict physical damage and torture on human beings, but the painful howls that sear the soul are truly the heaviest blow to morale and combat effectiveness, even for those who were the most courageous and skilled warriors in 1941.
The German army is still no exception.
It was completely unexpected that the Soviet army would be so bold and crazy as to invest in powerful vehicle-mounted flame weapons in the cities of their homeland. They had a clear understanding of the power of this terrifying killing weapon, which can be called a demon on earth. From many major fronts in the city
After receiving reports that the Soviet army had deployed special tanks for siege operations, the German division commanders quickly realized that a catastrophe was coming.