Tarnopol, a city in western Ukraine, is the capital of Tarnopil Oblast, on the banks of the Sheret River, a tributary of the left bank of the Dniester River. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

After breaking out of Hungary, the offensive of the German Reichsmarshal Panzer Division of the 11th Army on Ukraine lasted only half a day, and then it had to be stopped, just because there was a Stalinist line nicknamed "Iron Man" in front of them.

Unlike the situation faced by Guderian in the Republic of Moldovation, there was no natural danger such as the Transnistrian River between the Panzer Division of the Imperial Marshal and the Stalin Line, but the area covered by the Stalin Line and the evenly distributed part of the line far exceeded that of the Transnistrian River, and there were no obvious weak areas.

After analyzing the photographs taken by the reconnaissance plane, Mandolfil figured out the situation of his troops.

After consulting with his immediate superior, the commander of the 11th Army, Manstein, the plan to storm the Stalinist line was immediately drawn up and implemented.

Trepolia, twenty kilometers south of Tarnopol, was chosen by Mandolfil as the main breakthrough of the Imperial Marshal's Division.

Mandolfer knew that in front of him and his subordinates were large and small reinforced concrete bunkers, bunkers, and forts, numbering in hundreds.

The dense reinforced concrete fortifications are connected by dense trenches, and before they can be reached, they must first break through minefields and barbed wire.

Behind the reinforced concrete fortifications, there are unknown artillery positions.

Faced with the seemingly impregnable Stalinist lines, Mandolfir prepared for two days of artillery fire.

Reinforced by howitzers, cannons, and rocket artillery units sent by the 11th Army, more than 600 artillery pieces of various calibers mercilessly bombarded Soviet positions south of the city of Trepolia.

In the sky, the tactical aviation regiment directly under the Panzer Division of the Reichsal also smashed heavy aerial bombs on the Stalinist line as much as they could.

For two whole days, the land near the city of Trepolia was baptized with cannonballs, and the trembling of the earth did not stop for a moment.

The once leveled meadow was reduced to nothing and replaced by layers of craters.

The lush woods and shrubs turned into piles of stakes stuck in the ground, with black marks of burning.

Accompanied by the sound of shells exploding, the sappers also joined the great battle to break the Stalinist line.

The Goliath remote-controlled bomb dragged the Line of Control deep into the minefield, and then, with unparalleled dedication, detonated itself and cleared the minefield.

In the round of explosions of Goliath's remote-controlled bombs, the minefields were reduced one by one, and the thorny barbed wire was torn apart, leaving behind a pile of wooden stakes and twisted wires.

Looking at the Stalinist line covered by artillery fire, Mandol sighed to his subordinates: "I have not seen firepower preparations on this scale since the end of the last world war, and I think the Russians will miss the scene of the last war as much as I do." ”

In the early morning of 26 August, the E-40 tank company directly under the Imperial Marshal's Division rushed out of the assembly area and led a battalion of Type 4G tanks to the Stalin line.

A battalion of combat engineers and an infantry battalion in an SDKFZ251 armored vehicle followed, running over unrecognizable minefields and barbed wire fences and rushing towards the concrete bunker area.

In the sky behind the steel cluster, four FI-282 helicopters pressed towards the Stalin line step by step at an altitude of fifty or sixty meters above the ground, like a general in a pressuring formation, accompanied by the assault troops on the ground.

The E-40 tank, which was at the forefront, passed through the minefield, crushed the scattered barbed wire, and then encountered the first obstacle, the continuous anti-tank trench.

Behind the anti-tank trenches, a dense stream of anti-tank shells flew towards the E-40 tank, sparking on the tank's solid armor.

On the front and side armor plates of the tank, large pieces of paint crumbled, large and small craters were left on the steel plates, and countless twisted and deformed armor-piercing shells were catapulted into the sky, and then fell into the dust.

At the call of the E-40 tank, the combat sappers hiding in the rear increased their pace.

Six tank No. 4 with bulldozer blades rushed through the open space between the E-40 tanks and stood on the front line of the battle, pushing large piles of dirt to fill in the anti-tank trenches, some of the combat engineers jumped directly into the anti-tank trenches, dug deep pits in the trench walls, stuffed them with explosives for blasting, and the E-40 tanks provided cover with artillery and machine gun bullets.

When the battle to break through the anti-tank trench was in full swing, some experienced veterans of the combat engineer suddenly stopped what they were doing, quickly threw themselves to the ground to find shelter, and let out a loud roar to warn their comrades.

Tons of shells, whistling and windy, crossed the Stalin line and fell into the assault clusters of the Reichmarshal's division.

The smoke from the shells instantly flooded the battlefield, the fragile armored vehicles were overturned by the shells, and the infantry were torn apart by shrapnel.

The sturdy No. 4 tank was also damaged by a shell that landed closer to the running gear, so it had to stop its advance and remain in place as a fixed battery.

The continuous artillery fire instantly halted the advance of the Imperial Marshal's division, and the tanks, sappers and infantry were pinned to the spot.

The four FI-282 helicopters following behind the Butan cluster immediately stopped moving forward and rose in height.

The telescope in the observer's hand also pointed to the rear of the Stalin Line, looking for the Soviet artillery positions that had been hidden during the two days of artillery preparation.

Two FI-156 "White Stork" reconnaissance planes, which directly crossed the Stalin line, also joined the task of finding Soviet artillery positions.

While a spear and shield battle was being staged in front of the Stalin line, a one-sided massacre was being staged in the far rear of the line.

As an Imperial Marshal Armored Division from the Air Force, he had a deeper understanding of the importance of the Air Force in warfare.

Two days before the launch of the general attack, the tactical aviation regiment directly under the Reichsmarshal Division not only carried out the task of bombing the Stalin Line, but also carried out an extensive reconnaissance of the Soviet airfields behind the Stalin Line.

During the two days of reconnaissance, none of the Soviet airfields were attacked, but they were marked on the operational map one by one.

Before the general assault on the Stalinist line was launched, seven assault flying formations crossed the Stalin line and went straight to seven Soviet airfields behind the line.

Almost at the same time as the airport sirens sounded, swarms of ME-109 and ME-110 fighters skimmed the ground, leaving mottled bullet marks on the neatly parked planes at the airport.

The Devil's Egg bomb under the belly of the ME-110 fighter flew and fell to every corner of the airport, bringing death to the Soviet ground staff at the airport.

The airfield was protected by anti-aircraft fire directed at German fighters, and some brave pilots rushed to their own planes in an attempt to force a take-off, but most of the beloved fighters were destroyed on the runway.

The smoke and flames of death, which represented death, rose one step earlier behind the Stalinist lines.

When the artillery regiment of the Reichmarshal Division, guided by the FI-282 helicopter, switched the target of the shelling, the artillery fire of the Soviet army instantly weakened.

The artillery positions, where artillery rumbled and smoke rose, were covered in gray smoke from the explosion of German shells.

The camouflage net was torn apart by shrapnel, and flew into the sky under the impact of the air waves, and the originally neat and orderly cannon also staggered and lay on its own gun position.

The expressions on the faces of the gunners had long since lost their previous excitement and were replaced by the fear of death.

After the destruction of the Soviet artillery positions one by one, the German combat sappers on the front line were reactivated.

The anti-tank trenches were filled, and the E-40 tanks crossed the paved road of the sappers and rushed to the rear of the Soviet positions.

The sappers also broke out of the trench and followed the E-40 tank into a second charge.

As the German infantry group approached, a steel helmet appeared in the trench behind the fortifications, and bullets rained down on the charging combat sappers.

The German sappers could only hide behind the tanks or lie down in the craters, but with the characteristic sound of mortar fire, mortar shells fell from the sky and fell to the place where the German sappers were gathered, reaping the lives of the sappers.

It was not until the infantry in the rear rushed through the anti-tank trenches and joined the battles on the front line that the offensive was able to proceed again.

During the two days of artillery preparation, the smaller concrete pillboxes were destroyed in the exposed concrete pillboxes, and the trenches were cut into sections by the bomb craters, and the originally tight fire system was destroyed.

The E-40 tank and the No. 4G tank acted as mobile pillboxes to provide suppressive firepower to infantry and engineers.

The infantrymen pointed their guns at the holes of the machine-gun pillboxes, and the bullets left numerous mottled bullet marks near the holes, and the combat sappers took the opportunity to show off their new weapons.

At the rear of the team, the figure of the No. 3 tank flashed rarely.

The three tanks cut through the middle of the battlefield, aiming their guns at the bunkers that were blocked by fire.

The dazzling fire dragon flew out of the muzzle of the cannon, flew to the bunker where the Soviets were hiding, and drilled into the bunker along the firing hole.

The terrible screams of the Soviet troops in the pillbox could not be covered by the roar of artillery.

Every shot of the Spitfire No. 3, converted from Tank No. 3, caused a huge panic in the Soviets on the battlefield, turning a pillbox into an oven.

The smell of blood and sulfur that permeated the battlefield soon became the aroma of roasted meat.

As the pillboxes lost their combat effectiveness, the Soviet firepower network became more and more broken, and the German engineers and infantry became more active.

The flamethrowers among the combat sappers jumped out of the crowd and joined the ranks of the barbecue Soviet troops.

The infantrymen bravely rushed to the Soviet trenches and, after a thrilling grenade battle, turned over and jumped into the trenches.

After dispersing the Soviet infantry in the trenches, the German infantry penetrated along the trenches and behind the pillbox group.

Mandolfil watched from a distance as the infantry in front of him leaped into the Soviet trenches and raised his hand to look at his watch.

"In less than three hours, it's going well, and it's expected to be able to chisel through their line tomorrow morning."

Mandolfil summoned the adjutant beside him and said: "Let the tank destroyer battalion prepare, after cutting through the enemy's defense line tomorrow, the enemy is likely to have armored troops to counterattack, and the heavy armored company has suffered too much loss today, and tomorrow's blocking task will be completed by them." ”

After thinking about it, Mandolfil said: "Let the people of the aviation regiment send reconnaissance planes to closely monitor the nearby roads, and notify me as soon as they find Russian armored troops." ”

Staring at the sky with his hands behind his back, Mandolfil squinted his eyes as if his gaze was about to pass through the barrier of space.

"So many tanks, where are they hiding? It can't be that there is no trace at all. ”

・・・・・・

While Mandolfer was storming the Stalinist line head-on, Colonel-General Fittinghoff-Scher, who had high hopes from Hitler, was driving with the army personnel on the road through the Pripyat marshes.

A herald on a BMW caught up with Admiral Scheer's VW82 barrel car and handed him two telegrams.

After reading the first telegram, Admiral Schell tapped the index finger of his right hand on the telegram a few times.

"They actually let us divert to the west to outflank the Central Front."

The chief of staff frowned and asked, "Just rely on our two divisions to outflank a front army." One front of the Russians, there are at least 300,000 people, right? ”

"We are a little smaller, but Marshal Rundstedt's troops are advancing towards the Stalin Line, and the Russians are mainly focused on dealing with them, so we only need to stick a knife in their backs and let Army Group South pass through the Stalin Line, and the mission will be completed. In this mission, we must be prepared to capture 100,000 prisoners. Admiral Scheer said.

"It's a pity, we are only more than two hundred kilometers from Kyiv, and the attention of the Russians is on Marshal Rundstedt, and we may be able to capture the city of Kyiv with one charge."

"After annihilating the main forces of the Russian Central Front, the city of Kyiv can only be defended by a bunch of militia and police, and we can still easily capture Kyiv."

Admiral Scheer said as he looked at the second telegram in his hand, a smile on his face again.

"The vanguard of the 10th Panzer Division has crossed the Goren River and is now marching towards Kyiv as originally planned."

Admiral Scheer's smile instantly froze, and he shouted to the driver in front: "Stop, notify the communications battalion immediately." Let them contact the 10th Panzer Division and ask them to change the direction of the march and turn west. ”

・・・・・・

In the Wolf's Lair, Hitler stood by the map with his arms crossed, undisguised smugness on his face.

"At the moment, it seems that the situation is all in our hands. Guderian and Manstein's troops have managed to break through the Stalinist lines, and the troops of General Fitinhoff-Schell have broken out of the swamp, and Stalin will spend this evening, at the latest tomorrow night, in a nightmare. ”

Chen Dao ignored the excited Hitler, just stared at the east bank of the Dnieper River on the map and said: "General Kleist's advance seems to be a little slow, and General Rommel, who set off a day later than him, has already caught up with him." ”

"Huh?" Hitler's surprised gaze turned to the east bank of the Dnieper. (To be continued.) )