"The enemy is going to attack......" was the unanimous thought of everyone in the command of the Red Army. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Do you have accurate information about the enemy?"

"Except for the fact that the enemy has dispatched tank troops, the rest of the situation is unknown for the time being."

"How are the front-line troops deployed? Can you control the Don River? ”

Vatutin shook his head: "I can't control it, the enemy's air fire is too fierce, the line along the Don River is bare, it is the best target for aircraft bombing, the front line position of the troops is about 20 kilometers east of the river, but we have deployed observation posts by the river......"

Unbeknownst to Vatutin, the estuary observation post he relied on had been sunk by the F-class frigates of the Romanian army, which had sailed upriver from Rostov-on-Don. Speaking of which, the F-class is really a failed product, a small body with 1000 tons of zero, and it has to be installed with this, and it has to be installed with that, and it has to provide a test site for new engines, and finally it is reduced to providing imaginary enemy services for U-boats.

Historically, the German navy, which had a weak background, was reluctant to take out these rags, but after Hoffmann took power, he built a large navy and put new ships into service, and the whole navy did not like this kind of thing, and in addition, it was necessary to free up sailors for the new capital ships - although there were only more than 100 people on a frigate, many ships could be put together to form a large sailor team. The dismantled frigate was half sold to the Romanians and the Iranians, and both countries used it happily, the Romanians used it as a destroyer, and the Iranians took it and put it upside down in the Persian Gulf to build a navy.

In addition to the F-class frigates, there were also various auxiliary ships and gunboats of the German Navy, as well as gunboats collected from the French Navy, all of which were crammed into the Black Sea and the Assyrian Sea to serve as transport ship escorts.

"The troops deployed three lines of defense, the first with barbed wire and minefields; the second deployed infantry suppression artillery, towed anti-tank guns, Katyusha rocket launchers and tank destroyers; The third line is a mobile defense consisting of tank brigades. Vatutin explained to the map, "The general arrangement of the defense system, the commander of the troops, Comrade Rotmistrov (General of the Tank Corps), has reported to me, and on the whole there are no major problems. The only drawback is that due to the short time period, the density and scope of the minefield deployment and the excavation of anti-tank trenches may not be enough, and we lack new heavy equipment such as the IS-2 \SU-100. ”

Zhukov sighed: the number of IS-2 is not much, the rear has only tossed out 8 brigades after trying its best to make up for the losses in the early battle, Comrade Stalin left 2 for Moscow, and the rest were all transferred to the southern flank, Chernyakhovsky had 4 in his hands, and Malinovsky, who fought with him and was closest to the Ural River, took 2, and the remaining 3 fronts did not get any of them, and the best was just a few Guards Tank Army groups got some IS-1 tank brigades, Nor is it enough to meet the needs of the front.

The 5th Guards Army, which was deployed in Dontsk, Volga, was quite good, and the relatively advanced T-43, T-43/85, and American-made Sherman tanks were available, and many tank units were still using the outdated and extremely poor quality T-34/76 tanks -- now the Red Army has changed its concept and no longer blindly seeks more, but advocates the production of fewer but more refined weapons and equipment, similar to the original matter of installing papier-mâché armor for the blind pursuit of the number of T-34s.

"In this way, our army is at a significant disadvantage in front-line aviation, and you still need to find a way to mobilize some fighters."

Zhukov nodded, although Vatutin sometimes likes to complain about being tired or showing off, but the resoluteness of looking at problems, judging the situation and carrying out tasks is still unambiguous, the 5th Guards Tank Army is the most elite fist unit of the Southwestern Front, and he uses it to block the most important mouth, and he is also good in operational judgment, which is better than Yeremenko, who is in a hurry to show off and grab credit.

"Actually, I don't think the capture of Rostov is the focus of this campaign." Rokossovsky explained, "The key issue is to cut out the Kleist cluster and eliminate it, otherwise the spearhead of Comrade Chernyakhovsky's most elite offensive will always be stuck there and cannot penetrate, and the battle in the Caucasus will be very difficult to fight." ”

Zhukov looked at the enemy situation signs on the map, and felt very embarrassed, the most important mobile force in the Kleist cluster is the 1st Panzer Army, with the 9th, 11th, 13th, and 24th standard 1943 armored divisions and the 1st Panzergrenadier Division, in addition to 2 Tiger heavy armored battalions, the total number of tanks (tank annihilation) exceeds 1500, which is a force that should not be underestimated. In the past two weeks, taking advantage of the psychology of his own side to attack, he has fought several armored raids of small scale in a row, and each time his side has been defeated. It is nothing more than that with the help of the IS-1 and 2 tank brigades, the battle loss ratio is not as shocking as before, but the statistics are not optimistic - Chernyakhovsky's tanks are not as many as those of the opponent.

Just as a few people were discussing the enemy situation, in front of the 5th Guards Panzer Army, the large-scale German offensive was about to begin.

"Tank, attack!" The commander of the Guards Flag Division Armored Regiment, Joachim Piper, and the commander of the Youth Division's Armored Regiment, Kurt Meyer (Panzer Meyer), gave the same order.

Compared with the depressed mental state in history because he tried his best to save the fate of defeat, now both Piper and Meyer are the most triumphant moments, at the age of about 30 (Piper is 29 years old, Meyer is 31 years old) has become an SS colonel and mastered the most elite armored regiment, and is at the peak of a man's brilliant career, so much so that every time Hauser sees the two of them, he exclaims: "I only managed a platoon when I was your age!" ”

But despite their youth, their understanding and attainments in armored warfare are obviously extraordinary, and these ranks and honors have been stepped out step by step in the battle of blood and fire in the past few years. The two originally served together in the Guards Flag Division, and rose through the ranks at almost the same pace, and were known as the Guards Flag Armor Duo, and when Meyer transferred to the Young Division Panzer Regiment Commander, the title rose to SS Panzer Double.

Everyone cherishes such an opportunity, and from their age and rank, if there are no big accidents, it will be difficult for them to be promoted in the next 1-2 years - it is very difficult for the regiment commander to be promoted to division commander under the current system! And in the opinion of the two, there will be no large-scale armored war after the Eastern Front is fought. American? Hmph, wait until they can climb the beachhead of the European continent! So this operation Mjolnir is the time when the two are most eager to prove themselves.

Thinking about it, in the face of war, the two chose a standard wedge tactic for the assault force after discussion:

With the middle as the main force to break through, the Tiger 2 tank with the strongest combat power is the head, and the depth is stretched out to support the flanks, the left and right wings are spread out in a goose shape, and the flanks start with the Tiger tanks in the division's heavy armored battalion to cover the Leopard tank column in the middle (the Leopard side armor is thinner and needs cover), after breaking through the enemy position, the Leopard tank with better maneuverability and the two wings are crossed and transposed to achieve the expansion of the results, and then the next step is to wait for the Panzergrenadier to come up to control the battlefield and finally achieve control of the situation and launch a deep pursuit.

Considering that the enemy came prepared, and it was said that the name was not small, the two directly decided to invest in five armored battalions after discussion: at the forefront was the most elite Tiger 2 heavy armored battalion, and each of them drew a heavy tank battalion (Tiger) and a medium tank battalion (Leopard) from the armored regiment to form the main force of the assault group.

At a frontal assault width of about 1,200 meters, more than 300 Haw Par tanks lined up in a long steel queue of kilometers, attacking all enemy forces that dared to block their advance.

Tactics are old tactics, but the quality of equipment determines whether tactics are effective or not. The enemy position has been ravaged many times by artillery, Himmler organs, dive bombers, and Fw-190F attack planes, but it is believed that there must still be enemy counterattacks.

Ribbentrop Jr. originally served in the Guards Flag Division, and with the exchange of officers, he went to the Youth Division as the commander of the heavy armored battalion, but luckily in history, he did not catch up with the fourth wound, and the third wound was much less severe than in history, so the recuperation period was short, and the rank and position were raised.

"Hit!"

Seeing that the German offensive queue was getting closer and closer, the Red Army artillery, especially the anti-tank guns, which were ambushed in various hidden corners, made key speeches, and the 76.2mm, 85mm or 90mm anti-tank guns aided by the United States began to make key speeches.

With a "boom", the first Tiger 2 tank pressed the mine, the track was immediately blown up, the rest of the parts were not damaged, and the rest of the tanks quickly bypassed this obstacle, and the tank crew of the damaged tank did not give up their duties, and still used the 88mm/L71 tank gun to bombard the Red Army fire points that had just exposed the target at a long distance.

With a "bell", a shell from afar hit the front of the tank, and everyone only felt a shock all over their bodies, and in a few seconds they shouted happily: "God forbid, he failed to penetrate us." ”

"11 o'clock!"

"Boom", the members of the Red Army artillery crew closed their eyes unwillingly, he did not understand why the 85mm anti-tank gun in his hand could not penetrate the armor of the German tank even though the distance was only 1200 meters?

Smoke, dust, scorched ......

The flames of the anti-tank guns and the German tanks and artillery were clashing with the torrent of steel, and the roaring flames and whistling shrapnel swept everyone into it like an endless ocean, even though they were protected by steel, but under the obscenity of the shells, everyone's life was still as short and short-lived as a moth.

After 20 minutes, the Germans successfully tore through the gap, all the Red officers and soldiers fled, and the Tiger 2 tank crew, whose tracks had been cut off by mines, came down to overhaul the tracks.

In the battle just now, they ate at least 8 shells, and the front and turret all fell on the hard marks, but they were not penetrated.

"It's really our lucky day!"