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Chapter 2013: Armageddon (2)

To the southwest of the defensive line due east, the Germans sent the 1st Panzer Division of the 41st Motorized Corps under the 4th Panzer Group as an assault arrow. Pen, Fun, Pavilion www.biquge.info/ ""/"" full text of the advertisement

After repeated reinforcements, the number of tanks in the 1st Panzer Division has expanded from 145 before the outbreak of the Soviet-German war to 342 now, plus more than 1,000 armored vehicles, trucks and motorcycles, and more than 500 artillery pieces and mortars.

In order to show the enemy's weakness, Yin Jinan personally ordered the generals this time and sent the First Tank Regiment under the First Tank Division of the First Tank Army to respond to the battle with more than 130 Leopard II tanks, waiting for the opportunity to destroy the German army and then take the initiative to retreat, and slowly guide the main force of the German army to the south, so that the fists that are concentrated together are slowly separated, so that they can be easily broken down.

The second line of the southern blocking position is set up in the Gobi area composed of weathered rocks, these weathered rocks stand like bamboo shoots, each covering an area of more than 10 square meters to nearly 100 square meters, with a height of about 10 or 20 meters, densely standing on a shallow slope at an angle of 20 or 30 degrees, the shape is strange, and it is a grand view.

At the bottom of the shallow slope, several anti-tank trenches were constructed five meters wide and four meters deep, and on the gentle slope, scattered scattered with some skirmish trenches, where the two armored infantry battalions of the 1st Tank Regiment were deployed, and on the top of the slope were artillery battalions and anti-aircraft battalions were arranged as anti-tank fire.

And next to the weathered rock, there are more than a hundred tanks of three tank battalions painted with yellow-brown camouflage paint on their bodies, ready to go. These tanks blend in perfectly with the weathered rock around them, and if you don't pay attention to them, you don't know they are tanks, but you think they are the base stones of the weathered rock.

"Attention to the battalion and company commanders, you must calm down, and wait until the Germans' tanks are close before fighting, this time we will give the Germans a good bleed!"

In a closed and cramped space inside a tank that was somewhat different from the appearance of other Leopard II tanks, the voice of the regiment commander, Lieutenant Colonel Xun Yi, clearly reached the ears of every officer and soldier in the car.

The Leopard II tank has been strengthened several times, and has now been upgraded to the fourth generation, Lieutenant Colonel Xun Yi is the latest Leopard IID tank, which not only retains thickened armor and 105mm 55 times the diameter of the tank gun, but also increases the engine horsepower, improves the turret, so that the space in the turret is greatly increased, and is also equipped with a special turret rotation device, the turret rotates for less than 10 seconds, and is equipped with a newly developed artillery vertical stabilizer, so that the tank can aim at the target while on the move.

In front of the Leopard IID tank, which was the command vehicle, there was a constant roar, and the German black-gray tanks that had not had time to be painted, with dense armored vehicles and motorcycles behind them, were moving southward in a divergent formation, like a flowing and rushing river, surging towards the positions held by the Anjia army.

The officers and men of the tank battalions and companies below were already in full array, and Captain Yu Peng, the commander of the western section of the tank company, was in charge of the first tank company, and the company commander issued a combat order over the radio:

"Platoon leader, four tanks in your platoon, against the first few in the left-hand platoon; Second platoon commander, you deal with the first few cars in the middle platoon; Three platoon commanders, try to hit your fire to the right! At a distance of 800 meters, we specially picked up those thin-skinned tanks that ran fast, and tried to disrupt the opponent's battle formation; After the enemy is 500 meters in, we will gnaw on those big guys! Our tank gun has 105 mm, which is enough to crack the tortoise shells of all opponents. ”

The 105 mm 55 times diameter tank gun equipped with the Anjia Leopard II tank is derived from the German 105 mm FLAK 38L53 anti-aircraft gun casting technology, the projectile weighs 15 kg, the muzzle velocity of the discharge is 905 m/s, and when using tungsten core armor-piercing shells, it can penetrate 210 mm of armor at a distance of 100 meters, and can penetrate 150 mm of armor steel at a distance of two kilometers. Read with me h-u-n mixed *h-u-n ", please remember

Every tank officer and soldier of the Anjia Army tensed their nerves, and their breathing became unconsciously short.

At the front of the Anjia Army's tank queue, the rumbling sound of tracks gradually approached, but these Leopard II tanks, which relied on the weathered rock to stand by to attack, did not rush to start, like frogs in a rice field ready to pounce on pests at any time, calmly waiting for the best time to attack.

The German tanks advanced rapidly, and the Germans obviously did not pay attention to the infantry blocking the gentle slope ahead, only a few tanks stopped and carried out medium and short-range artillery strikes, and more tanks used the course machine gun in the front of the hull and the coaxial machine gun in front of the turret to strafe in the process of rapid advancement, and a series of bullets hit the defensive positions of the Anjia Army, splashing up bursts of dust, and also forced the armored infantry of the Anjia Army defending on the position to hide their helmets under the skirmishers. Wait for the best moment to strike.

"Boom-"

As the German tanks entered the range of 800 meters, the Anjia Army tank group hidden next to the yellow-brown weathered rock began to fire, and the black muzzle suddenly spit out balls of flames, and gray-white gunpowder smoke rose one after another.

A few seconds later, a tungsten-core armor-piercing projectile accurately hit a tank No. 2 rushing to the front of the queue, tearing through the 30-millimeter-thick frontal armor of tank No. 2 without hindrance, and the shell entered the interior of the hull before detonating under the effect of the delayed fuse.

The black-gray tank, which had not been painted, was still moving forward rapidly due to inertia, and at the moment of explosion, a large ball of flames erupted from the gap in the tank, and the turret hatch was blown away from the tank by the powerful air flow "bang", falling to the rear of more than ten meters, smashing a Wehrmacht infantryman who had just jumped out of the armored car and preparing to assault to the head and bleeding, screaming and falling to the ground.

"Boom-"

Dense shells flew out from the weathered rocks of various shapes, flying precisely towards their respective targets, although the German tanks were moving fast, but the cleverly camouflaged Leopard II tanks had already been aiming for a long time, and the advance of the German tanks was very good, and nearly half of the main gunners of the Leopard II tanks successfully hit the rolling German tanks.

In the dusty wilderness, the scene of a tank being hit is spectacular.

Some of the shells pierced the turret armor of the German tank, detonating the spare shells placed in it, and causing the ammunition depot to detonate. The furious explosion was ten times more powerful than the intruder, engulfing the tank hull and its crew in the first place. Dull explosions followed, striking the outer walls of the tank, until the tank was torn apart like a collapsed building block, leaving only the bare base of the tank.

After a round of shelling, without waiting for the German tanks behind to respond, the Anjia Army tank group once again rushed to launch a second round of fire, although this time the accuracy of the shells decreased slightly, but in the case of many targets, the results were still staggering - once again more than 20 German tanks stopped advancing or exploded and burned.

Faced with a head-on attack from the tanks of the Anjia Army, the German army's proud tank cluster lost more than 70 tanks in just one minute, which had never been seen in the history of the 1st Panzer Division.

The German tanks that followed behind recklessly smashed through the wreckage of the robes that were in front of them and had completely lost their combat capability, but they actively exposed themselves to the guns of the other side, while more German tanks came to an emergency brake, adjusted their muzzles slightly, and fired at the positions where the fire flashed and the smoke of the propellant was raised.

The cannonballs whistled across the battlefield of about 1,000 meters, most of the shells hit the auxiliary vehicle by mistake, and the huge weathered rocks were carved out of big holes one by one, and some of the weathered rocks were baptized by the perennial wind and sand, and the internal structure was already extremely fragile, and in the direct fire of the shells, they collapsed violently, and the huge rocks were demolished by the demolition of the buildings at fixed points, and in the billowing smoke, a large pile of sand collapsed on the gentle slope.

There are also Leopard II tanks that were hit by German fire, but due to the problem of separation from each other, the thick front armor bounced off these weakened shells, or fell a deep white chisel mark and huge explosive fragments, blowing up the armor outside the tank into potholes, but it did not affect the tank's driving in the slightest.

With the roar of the engine, in the smoke and dust, the yellow-brown tanks moved rapidly between the weathered rocks, and after moving a few meters or more than ten meters, these tanks quickly stopped, the turret and gun muzzle were slightly adjusted, and after a while, the whole tank trembled suddenly with the retreat of the gun body.

The battle was extremely fierce, and the tank units of the Anjia Army, which were inferior in numbers, still maintained a high degree of accuracy in the third round of shooting, and once again blew and damaged more than 20 German tanks, making the German commander cry without tears.

However, as the effect of the ambush faded, the German commanders had clearly identified the colors and shapes of the Anjia tanks, and the hit rate of the German tanks began to increase significantly.

In the case of armor-piercing shells, the German Tiger and Leopard tanks were equipped with 88 mm KWK36L/56 tank guns, which were able to penetrate 138 mm armor at a distance of 1,000 meters, with a hit accuracy of up to 99 percent, posing a great threat to the Leopard II tanks in frontal combat.

Almost in a short moment, the attacked tank regiment had already lost six Leopard II tanks, and another three turrets were damaged, but fortunately it did not affect the operation.

The Anjia tank group, which was engaged in mobile defense, quickly retreated, while the Anjia armored infantry, which was based on foxholes, put up limited resistance with their bazookas, and when the German tanks advanced to the anti-tank trenches below the mountain, the armored infantry covered the tank crews who crawled out of the dilapidated tanks and quickly retreated to the rear.

The German sappers, who accompanied the tank attack, quickly rushed out of the armored car, and in just a quarter of an hour, they blew up several shallow slopes for the tanks to enter and exit.

The German tanks began to line up in long formations, rushing into the anti-tank trenches, descending to the bottom of the slope and then climbing again, just when the first few vehicles cautiously appeared on the ground level, the platoon unit of the Anjia Army Leopard II tank appeared again at the top of the slope, aimed at the turret of the German tank, "boom" is a few guns, and instantly destroyed seven or eight German tanks that could not turn.

On the other side, the German tanks that were preparing to cross the anti-tank trench quickly dispersed and began to fire back at the top of the slope, but at this time, the Anjia army tanks that caused the accident quickly fled, and the German tanks retaliated with shelling, hitting those weathered rocks full of holes, but only in vain left deep craters on the surface of one huge rock after another, occasionally the rock collapsed, and the Anjia army tanks hiding behind quickly moved behind another rock, which made people helpless!

Annoyed and angry, the German commander called on the artillery units that had already moved in place to carry out long-range artillery reinforcements, while allowing the tanks to alternately cover the anti-tank trenches.

Only a quarter of an hour later, the 150-mm and 100-mm K18 heavy guns of the artillery regiment directly under the German 1st Tank Division began to envelop the entire frontal position, and in the continuous burst of flames and smoke, fragments of rocks shot out in all directions, many weathered rocks collapsed, and the thick smoke and dust gathered into a huge mushroom cloud, which reached into the sky.

The intense artillery fire continued for nearly an hour before it gradually stopped, and by this time, the German tank units, as well as the follow-up armored vehicles and a large number of infantry, had already crossed three anti-tank trenches and began to attack on the gentle slopes, and by this time, the tank regiment, which had successfully completed the blocking mission, was already five kilometers to the south.

......

On all fronts, from north to south, there were similar scenes of fierce battles everywhere.

Finally, the 19th Division, which was holding the second line of defense in the east, retreated to the third line 40 kilometers later at midnight the next day, after a continuous onslaught of German attacks for a day and a night.

At this time, the 1st Panzer Division and the 6th Panzer Division in the southeast had already penetrated more than 40 kilometers in depth, and Field Marshal Bloomberg, who had been designated by Hitler as commander-in-chief of this battle, was so relieved that he immediately began to divide his troops according to the predetermined plan:

Admiral Ruff led the 4th Army and the 52nd Army of the 17th Army to attack the line from Sinjar and Tel Afe to Mosul in the northwest, pinning down and blocking the line of reinforcements from the Anjia Army to the south;

Admiral Hort led the 56th Motorized Army of the 4th Panzer Group, the 46th Panzer Corps of the 2nd Army, and the 257th Infantry Division and the 100th Light Division of the 44th Army to continue eastward to attack Gaiara on the Tigris River to Shergat, cutting off the railway and road between Mosul and Baghdad and cutting off the water traffic of the Tigris River.

As the main attack, the south is divided into three main directions of attack, and the southeast is dominated by Ewald. Feng. Under the command of Admiral Kleist, the 3rd Motorized Army, the 14th Motorized Army, the 48th Motorized Army, and the 44th and 55th Armies of the Sixth Army of the First Panzer Group marched to the cities of Baiyi, Tikrit, and Samarra.

Directly south of the southern front, General Paulus, the former commander of the Sixth Army, led the forces of the 17th Army, the 29th Army, and the 51st Army of the Second Army, a total of three corps, to make a rapid breakthrough to Lake Gadisiye, attract the attention of the first line of the Gaim Army, and concentrate all the mobile troops on the frontal defense line blocking Paulus's southward movement, so as to facilitate the smooth implementation of the strategic detour goal of the largest Kleist cluster.

In the southwest, the 52nd Army, led by General Weix, made a feint along the border line, involving the strength of the Anjia army, and when the battle situation was unfavorable, this army could move closer to Admiral Paulus in the center.

As the commander-in-chief of the entire campaign, Field Marshal Bloomberg led the Ninth Army, which had been transferred south from the Caucasus and had made great achievements in the First Battle of Moscow, to sit in the center so that it could support all other battlefields at any time.

......

At 4 o'clock in the afternoon of the 15th, after a day and a night of fighting, the Eastern Route Group led by General Holt once again broke through the third line of defense operated by the 22nd Division of Sun Desheng's Eighth Army of the Anjia Army, successfully advanced the battle line to the banks of the Celsar River, and occupied the city of Hadr and the ruins of the nearby ancient castle of Hatra.

In the southeast and south of the Southern Front, the Kleist Operational Cluster and the Paulus Operational Cluster both made breakthroughs, the depth and width of the battlefield were once again expanded, and the German army maintained an optimistic mood from top to bottom, as if it had returned to the scene in the early days of the attack on the Soviet Union in the summer of 40, and a huge encirclement was about to be completed under the heroic assault of the Imperial ** team.

At this time, no one noticed that the battle continued until now, the German air forces had not occupied air supremacy, almost all the breakthroughs were completed by the army alone, and the continuous combat until now, the German army had lost more than 800 tanks in many breakthroughs, and almost a tenth of the tanks were gone.

At eight o'clock on the morning of the 16th, after handing over the defensive area to the Fifth Army of the Ninth Army, Hoth led his troops across the Celsar River and marched towards Gaiara and Hadraniye. This section of the road totaled more than 70 kilometers, and along the way, it was constantly attacked by scattered troops of the An Jia Army, and the German army was very troubled, but this strengthened Hoth's judgment that the An Jia Army was in disarray.

At 3 p.m. on the 18th, the 46th Panzer Corps successfully reached more than 10 kilometers west of the Tigris River, where the Germans encountered the strongest defenses and the greatest defeat of the German army since the outbreak of World War II.

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