Although the Soviet field artillery group on the artillery position behind the front line tried its best, the artillery preparations extending to the second position were ultimately insufficient in time.
The large-caliber high-explosive grenades rained down like the last roar of a storm, causing considerable damage to the Romanian troops on the position. However, strictly speaking, such shelling was not enough to injure the Romanians.
In front of them was a fully formed Romanian infantry division, plus a miscellaneous complement of anti-tank gun detachments and armored units.
Even if you want to take down such a powerful defensive force without paying a lot of casualties, time delays are unavoidable. Malashenko, who is holding the commander's periscope and waiting for the enemy, is already ready.
"Don't give the enemy a chance to breathe! Seize the opportunity created by artillery fire and charge as fast as possible! All drivers, step on the accelerator and move forward!"
Malashenko, who climbed to his current position step by step because of Zhukov's promotion and appreciation, has a striking similarity with Zhukov in his commanding style.
This is not because Malashenko deliberately imitates and flatters Zhukov because he is grateful to Zhukov. It is simply that Malashenko quite agrees with Comrade Zhukov's style in terms of command style and imitates it, and then improves it according to the actual combat situation he faces.
The powerful armored offensive wielded by the battle ax can be invincible in battle.
Malashenko ordered more than a hundred tanks of the entire 1st Guards Heavy Tank Brigade to be concentrated on a frontal assault line of less than five kilometers. The density of the attack had exceeded the defense of the Romanian army, the frontal enemy.
density.
If it were not for the fact that the tanks were crowded together and difficult to maneuver, and an overly dense formation would easily be suppressed by the opponent's artillery fire and targeted in reverse, Malashenko even wanted to adjust the offensive deployment of the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Brigade to be more intensive.
Locate the weak point in the enemy's direction and launch a fierce attack, using up all the offensive energy to hit this point. The most simple way of fighting is to open and close, but fighting with strength without any complicated tactics is often used to open up a posture and fight.
It is also the most difficult to crack.
Malashenko admires the Yankee's famous war saying, "If strategy can kill an elephant, why do we need a shotgun?" He also believes that strong crushing tactics on the frontal battlefield can best defeat the enemy. This is
Malashenko’s self-summary and understanding of Zhukov’s consistent tactics based on his own actual situation.
Moving closer to the midday sun, the fog above the head dispersed the fog on the battlefield. The Romanian soldiers, lying on the ground with weapons in hand and trembling slightly, could already see the Russian heavy tanks coming towards them at full speed.
, the steel frenzy set off by dozens of tanks stepping on the accelerator is enough to frighten the average timid person just by looking at it.
In a hidden forward observation post in the Romanian army's second defensive position, a German major wearing a Wehrmacht armored uniform and holding a telescope intently spoke out subconsciously, almost in a burst of exclamation.
"Damn it! We are in trouble, Bonn, that is not the Russian KV, it is the new heavy tank mentioned in the previous report!"
The German army was already aware of the fact that the Soviet army had begun to gradually equip a new type of heavy tank on an experimental basis. Especially because of their professional relationship, the German armored forces kept this news in mind even more sensitively.
The new heavy tank of the Soviet Army, which they don't even know what it looks like, is very powerful. From the only photo accidentally taken by a frontline war reporter, the Germans only knew that this new heavy tank was equipped with better pipes than KV1 and T34.
The main gun is thicker and longer in diameter, and the armor protection seems to have been innovatively designed with more large inclination angles, making it extremely powerful.
At first, the German army thought that this kind of heavy tank, which looked a bit like the KV1, especially the body and chassis, was probably just a test vehicle to test its performance. At most, there would only be a few or even one. After all, there would be no similar tanks of the same type.
Supplement, so I didn’t take it too seriously.
But as more and more strange and terrifying rumors spread on the front line, the Sixth Army Headquarters gradually realized that there was an extraordinary Soviet heavy tank unit in Stalingrad, equipped with an unknown number of powerful new heavy tanks.
Without the support of 88 gun, all the German anti-tank weapons are powerless against this steel behemoth.
Paulus, who was disturbed by this Soviet tank unit and disrupted the train station and Mamayev Heights, personally ordered at the meeting that the field intelligence department affiliated with the Army Group Headquarters should pay close attention to the movements of this Soviet tank unit.
"The Russians must be using this unit as a fire brigade! The Mamayev Kurgan Tractor Factory at the railway station, wherever the fighting is fierce, will definitely receive reports of the appearance of this damn unit! And there is more than one person like this
It is said that there are hundreds of eyewitnesses who can provide testimony, this is definitely not an accident or a mistake!"
"Find this Russian tank unit and destroy it! I will tear the stubborn will of the Russians in the city to pieces and trample it under my feet!"
Major Koch had heard rumors that Commander Paulus was furious at the meeting.
At the time of the meeting, he was attending the meeting as an adjutant with his division commander, and was standing outside the venue waiting. He happened to vaguely hear Paulus going berserk on the spot. After the meeting, he confirmed the news from his division commander.
:Commander Paulus was so angry that he almost broke the table!
Major Koch, a former armored soldier, has always had a highly sensitive and neurotic reaction to the mysterious Russian tank force equipped with new heavy tanks. Finally, by chance, he came to the Romanian army position to inspect and supervise the operation. He won the first prize.
First-hand information.
Compared to Major Koch's solemn face, Major Bonn, who also held a telescope and clearly saw those Russian heavy tanks, looked a little hesitant.
"Didn't the news above say that this Russian tank unit is fighting in the city? We are in the northern suburbs of the city. Can these Russians still drive tanks and move instantly? How did they manage to put together an entire heavy tank unit?
Transported quietly out of the city and delivered to us? This is impossible, absolutely impossible, Koch! There must be something wrong somewhere!"
Major Bonn, who was an infantryman, responded with denial and disbelief, while Major Koch, whose face was so dark that he could shed tears, thought of the worst case scenario.
"If, I mean if, those Russians' new heavy tank troops are not just one in the city but many, what do you think we should do now? Bonn."