"The first line of defense has been penetrated! Lavry, lead the second regiment and continue to advance in the original direction! Pierce it! Continue along the intended direction, and we will meet at the Germans' third line of defense!"
"Copy that! We've got it done here too! The Germans are being routed and are completely vulnerable! See you on the third line of defense, my brother!"
The Soviet artillery fire extending towards the second line of German defensive positions has stopped. What appears in front of Malashenko is still the German position being massacred by various large-caliber heavy artillery and rocket launchers. After nearly half an hour, it is still like a moon.
A miserable situation on the surface.
The 1st Stalin Guards Tank Division, which has more than 200 heavy and medium tanks in its entirety, cannot huddle together in a battle and launch an attack only at one point.
The entire division was divided into three assault directions. The 1st Stalin Guards Tank Division organized the regiment into a regiment and led the coordinated friendly infantry units behind them to launch a powerful and fierce offensive.
The middle assault route where Malashenko led the second regiment to charge was the most important and the main offensive direction with the most powerful troop deployment.
The northern and southern routes were led by the Third Regiment and the First Regiment led by Lavrinenko and Kulbalov. The composition of their troops was slightly less than the middle assault route led by Malashenko, but that was only in relative terms.
Compared to the gang of Germans on the opposite side, they are still powerful enough to make people feel desperate.
The 1st Stalin Guards Tank Division, whose three assault routes advanced almost in parallel, quickly advanced forward and prepared shells for the last artillery fire, which fell on the first German defensive position. After only 13 minutes, the battle was declared over and the defense was penetrated!
Almost no German troops managed to escape and joined the second defensive position. The defenders on the first position were either turned into cannon fodder, corpses and bones, or they threw away their weapons, knelt on the spot and were taken as prisoners of war.
Of course, Malashenko did not have time to capture these scum. After leaving the minimum infantry under guard, he continued to charge forward without stopping. Capturing and escorting these German prisoners of war was the job of the friendly infantry divisions behind him.
Son, Malashenko has no time for all these things. He just wants to attack, attack, and attack again!
Suddenly these German guys are doubting life and don't even have the energy to cry for their parents! Let these fascist idiots know who is the boss in this land!
The German army, which had already figured out the opponent's combat tactics in the battle with the Soviet army, was not a fool. The German army, which had long been accustomed to defensive fighting, clearly knew that if it wanted to block the Soviet army's powerful armored offensive, it could only rely on one line of defense and one defense.
The position is absolutely impossible.
In the same way, if you put most of the technical defense weapons on the first line of defense, you are seeking death.
The Russians' unreasonable and devastating artillery fire will not even leave you time to withdraw your equipment. The Russians will be able to deploy as much technical equipment as you dare on the first line of defense.
Explode to the sky! What’s even more terrifying is that the Russian heavy artillery has an ultra-long range of more than ten or twenty kilometers. It is not easy to extend the artillery fire. This means that not only the equipment on your first line of position will definitely be in vain, but also the second line of defense.
The equipment on the position is highly likely to be in danger.
But if there is nothing else placed on the second line of defense, it would really be meaningless, and it would be akin to giving heads to the Russians.
For the German army on the defensive, this was a fatal question that would lead to death no matter what choice it made.
The reality is that the German army deployed far more technical defense weapons on the second line of defense than on the first line of defense. There were all kinds of light and heavy machine guns thrown in here and there, and there were piles of small-caliber anti-tank guns.
There are even a lot of heavy anti-tank guns like Company Commander 88 that are difficult to move.
Therefore, even after nearly half an hour of frantic massacre by the Soviet extended artillery fire, the Germans on the second defensive position still had more than half of the technical defense weapons that survived the artillery fire. This was what the Germans had done before the war.
Preparation and careful management of defensive bunkers are inseparable from civil fortifications. The efforts that have been made are now being rewarded.
Before entering the fighting distance, Malashenko opened the turret hatch and stuck half of his head out of the car with a telescope. He could see that the strength of the German troops on the second defensive position, which was also bombed miserably, should not be underestimated.
Look, the wreckage of the anti-tank gun exposed after the bunker was lifted and the scraps that can still be used are proof.
Malashenko didn't think that shelling alone could wipe out all the German heavy defense weapons on the position, just like when he attacked the first position just now, he couldn't clear out the German anti-tank guns with shelling.
"Every vehicle crew continues to charge, don't stop! Drive forward with the assault artillery, and fire the anti-tank guns aimed at the Germans directly at me! No need to shoot in a straight direction, use direct aim! Clear out all the anti-tank guns that can be seen!"
The middle assault force led by Malashenko is the most powerful. This strength is not only the highest proportion of heavy tanks, but also the largest number. Half of the division's isu-152 self-propelled artillery battalion is also assigned to Malashenko.
These heavy-armored steel behemoths have the main armor on the front of the fighting room that is enough to withstand the direct-aimed bombardment of the Long 88, and they have the ability to directly face the German heavy anti-tank firepower and conduct close-in direct-aimed fire.
However, the lower armor of the vehicle body, which was modified based on the is2 heavy tank chassis, is still not perfect and can be penetrated by the Chang 88 without pressure at a distance of one kilometer.
Even so, after receiving the order, half of the battalion, with a total of 18 isu-152 self-propelled artillery units, still entered the combat position at the fastest speed without fear. Swinging the helicopter on higher ground behind our own heavy tanks,
He raised the gun barrel slightly and used the simple and inaccurate optical second tool to roughly aim at the target's position on the position.
"The propellant is good, loading is complete!"
"You don't need to aim accurately, just the approximate direction! Hurry!"
"Aim completed!"
"fire!"
Boom boom boom——
Boom boom boom——
The German anti-tank guns on the position were already roaring and firing. All anti-tank guns from the 50 to the 75 to the Chang 88 were firing at full speed, desperately blocking the group of Russian steel monsters that were spraying black smoke and coming violently.
"Load, reload, reload quickly! Shoot those Russians down!"
"Give me the cannonballs, hurry up!"
People who are highly stressed and concentrated often lack the ability to perceive and discern changes in the surrounding environment, just like the busy German anti-tank gun crews today.
One or two were either busy transporting and loading artillery shells, or they were busy aiming at the target, or they were "dancing" to direct the artillery positions. They did not hear the roar of the old cow panting and roaring violently from the distance.
When the first 152 mm high-explosive shell dropped and exploded less than 5 meters away from the gun position, the fate of most German anti-tank gun groups on the position was actually doomed.