Since Lavrinenko was keenly aware of the anomalies in the movements of the German troops on the opposite side, by the same token, the German troops could also quickly feel personally from the battle that there was something wrong with the vicious force on the opposite side.
"Too many! There are Russian heavy tanks everywhere, and there are not many medium tanks at all. How many Stalin tanks did they bring in!?"
"We can't penetrate the frontal armor at all, the losses are too great! We are outnumbered!"
"The Russians have too much firepower! We need to retreat and regroup!"
The radio was filled with disturbing yells and curses. If an uninformed person heard this, they would probably think that someone who had a nightmare could shout such ghostly cries.
Although he knew nothing about the shouts on the radio, Colonel Klose, who had been holding a telescope and observing, saw clearly and truly what was going on in the battle on the front line.
"This is not right. The Russians' offensive is too abnormal! We have used all the troops at hand, but the Russians are still madly attacking each other with no intention of retreating."
Colonel Klose's voice was full of uneasiness, and a lieutenant colonel accompanying the observation behind the bunker heard it and immediately responded.
"Maybe... maybe this is just because the Russians are unwilling to give up. Maybe it's their last madness before failure. Maybe now is the time to see who can persevere to the end, Colonel."
"...."
Colonel Klose, whose eyes were somewhat erratic, did not answer directly, but thought for several seconds before answering.
"I hope you are right. It would be great if so. But my intuition tells me that the real situation may not be what we expected. At least the real strength of the Russians opposite may be far greater than we expected.
Much more powerful, these countless heavy tank groups are at least the strength of a tank division, and the enemy is equal in number to us."
If compared with the regular establishment of the Soviet army, the tank regiment and one battalion of infantry led by Lavrinenko do indeed look the same as an ordinary Soviet tank division, basically not much different.
Therefore, it cannot be said that Colonel Klose's guess was seriously inaccurate. This was just a standard judgment based on normal circumstances. No one would have thought of the notorious 1st Tank Division of Stalin's Guards, the only one in the entire Soviet army.
, to actually collide with him in such a place.
As the field commander, Colonel Klose did not even know the number of the Soviet heavy-armed force he was facing.
The Red Army's secrecy work before the launch of Operation Bagration and the covert dispatch of the troops were quite good. The Germans had very little intelligence. This was of course the main reason. But on the other hand, the German army's own intelligence network was serious.
Pulling the crotch is also an important reason that cannot be separated.
Considering both aspects, and adding up the sum, Colonel Krause still doesn't know that he has been targeted by the "Iron Butcher" Malashenko and his troops. Such a thing seems to be excusable.
It's not too outrageous.
Another two minutes passed quickly amid the intense frantic seizure and repeated weighing and thinking.
When Colonel Krauser raised his telescope two minutes later and found that his own armored forces were still unable to charge up, let alone penetrate the armor of Russian heavy tanks that were stationary and firing at a certain distance from their own side, that feeling lingered.
The strong foreboding feeling in my heart finally reached its peak at this moment.
"The losses are too great and cannot continue like this! Let the troops withdraw temporarily and prepare for defense based on the favorable terrain. The self-propelled artillery should also be almost ready, ready to launch interceptor barrages at the Russians to cover the retreat of our troops!"
"yes!"
The God of War did not completely abandon Colonel Krauser and this group of German troops, but at least left them with some "geographical" conditions and favorable factors.
Compared with the terrain on Lavrinenko's side, the position of the German army can indeed be called "easy to defend but difficult to attack".
This is a "prairie hill array" composed of rolling hills. If you look at it from a distance, it looks like a "pure natural washboard road" made by nature's miraculous craftsmanship.
German tanks have an excellent main gun depression angle that is far superior to Soviet tanks. Relying on these undulating and patchwork hilly terrain, the German armored forces that have entered a defensive state can still obtain extreme gains even without the support of effective positions built in advance.
Big advantage.
The incoming Soviet artillery shells will most likely hit the hills serving as bunkers. It will be difficult to hit the German tank turrets, let alone penetrate the armor of the vehicles hiding behind the bunkers. And if those Russians really want to launch a tank group charge,
If you do, you will definitely have to enter and cross this undulating, winding hilly washboard road.
The maneuverability of the Soviet tanks will be greatly affected, seriously slowing down the attack speed, and thus creating more opportunities for the Germans to fire. This can only be regarded as secondary.
What Colonel Krause cares more about is whether the Soviet heavy tanks, whose armored defense inclination is offset by the terrain undulations, can be penetrated with one hit from the front.
The Russian tanks all make good use of inclined armor for defense. The armor is arranged at a very steep angle. Colonel Krauser knows this very well. He also understands that the enemy is in a terrain with ups and downs and twists and turns.
Next, how much firepower bonus advantage will it bring to one's side?
Maybe offense is not the best way to repel this powerful group of Russians, but defense is.
Colonel Krauser, who became more and more confident in his conjecture, decided to take a big gamble and try to make a comeback from adversity by relying on the existing favorable terrain.
Even if it is impossible to repel this group of Russians, if this can be done successfully, it will at least make them anchor in front of their own defenses, exhausting the remaining offensive energy and unable to advance even half an inch. They themselves are a tall wall that these Russians cannot overcome.
To put it further, this is equivalent to holding the battle direction for which he is responsible and fulfilling his duties, so that the Russians who suddenly came from this direction cannot threaten the flanks of more large forces in the rear.
Safety.
So there is no doubt that doing this is absolutely worthwhile and correct. If such a large group of Russian tanks are sent over, I really don’t know how much trouble it will cause. Maybe it will really collapse, or even the whole army will be annihilated.
Not sure.
Soon, Colonel Krause's orders began to be carried out by the participating troops below.
As the division's field artillery unit, the German self-propelled artillery position has raised its barrel, and the huge breech block of the 150mm cannon has been pushed into the open combat room, ready to go.