After lunch on June 10, 1942, the commander of the 4th Army of the Red Army, Major General Korobkov, made a decision to order the reinforcement of the 1st Tank Brigade and the mortar battalion (rocket artillery) belonging to the 16th Army to the 16th Mechanized Army, and ordered the 16th Mechanized Army to continue as the vanguard of the 4th Army and continue to advance towards Legionovo!

The reason why he made such a risky decision was not the persecution of the political commissar of the army group Terekin. Although there were many awesome figures in the political commissar www.biquge.info of the Red Army, Terekin, the divisional political commissar, was not a great man, and Major General Korobkov was not afraid of him at all. But the commander of the Front, General Pavlov, sent a telegram urging the 4th Army to occupy Legionovo as soon as possible!

Because in the plans of the Western Front, Legionovo and Otvodsk on the Southern Front were the starting positions for the Red Army's pincer offensive against Warsaw.

Now Otvodsk has been captured by the 37th Army under the command of Lieutenant General Vlasov, and the 37th Army has also managed to cross the Vistula and create a bridgehead. In this way, the pincer offensive has already been all the way, and if Legionovo cannot be taken, the pincer offensive will be missing. That's why General Pavlov ordered the 4th Army to take Legianovo as soon as possible, so as to form another route of the pincer offensive as soon as possible.

And just as the Soviet 4th Army was advancing towards Legionovo, SS General Steiner had already returned to Legionovo with his troops, where he met the commander of the 6th Army, Colonel-General Modell. Moder arrived from Warsaw by train at 3 p.m., bringing with him four assault gun battalions, two artillery regiments and 30 No. 4 tanks (reserve tanks).

"Felix, did you fight the Soviets?" Modell asked as soon as he saw Steiner.

"Yes." Steiner replied.

"How?"

"An enemy that has never been stronger!" "Better than the Poles, the French, and the British," Steiner said...... Their tanks are good, the T-34 and KV-1 are relatively good tanks. Moreover, the soldiers of the Soviets were very brave and capable of fighting tough battles. ”

"Big losses?" Modell asked, frowning. This afternoon's battle was the real first battle, and it was also a battle in which both sides tried their depths.

"Lost 34 tanks No. 4!"

Steiner shook his head and said, "Half of them were destroyed by the T-34 on the way back, the Soviets' T-34 was very good, with excellent speed and protection." It's just that the firepower is a little weak, and the head-on battle can't hit No. 4. But as long as there is more than 2 times the numerical superiority, the use of outflanking tactics can still force us to retreat.

And once we retreat, the T-34 will be able to play to the advantage of speed. If today they had not stopped the pursuit on their own, our losses on the way to retreat would have been even greater. ”

Although the thickness of the T-34's frontal armor is not as good as that of the No. 4H type, because of the 32-degree bevel arrangement, the actual protection effect exceeds that of the No. 4H type 80mm frontal armor. And the maneuverability of the T-34 far surpassed that of the No. 4 tank, which became heavier and heavier.

However, the firepower of the T-34 is a shortcoming, the 76.2mm tank gun is not powerful enough, and it must be close to 100 meters to penetrate the 80mm frontal armor of the No. 4H model. But the main gun of the No. 4H type was able to penetrate the frontal armor of the T-34 at a distance of 1000 meters! Therefore, it was impossible for the T-34 to defeat the Type 4H in a head-to-head fire, and could only rely on speed and numerical superiority to defeat the Type 4H by attacking the flank in a roundabout way.

"But we have the Tiger and the Panther!" Moder smiled, "Their firepower is beyond the reach of the T-34 and KV-1, and the side armor of the Tiger is about the same as the front of the Type 4H, and there is a certain bevel, which the Soviet T-34 can't deal with at all." ”

Steiner nodded, his expression still a little dignified, "But the mobility of the Tiger tank is too poor, the fastest speed on the road can only run more than 30 kilometers per hour, and the speed of off-road is only 15 or 6 kilometers per hour, and the journey is too short, and you can only run 80 kilometers in the field with a full tank of fuel." And the Panther tank, although the speed and travel are better than the Tiger tank, are still too heavy, and many bridges cannot withstand the weight of the Panther without reinforcement. I think we still need a tank like the T-34 with a better balance of performance in all aspects. If possible, I recommend a copy of the T-34...... As long as you put our KWK40/L48 75mm tank gun on the T-34, the performance of this tank is quite perfect. ”

Steiner was not the first German commander of the Panzer Forces to envy the T-34, and for a long time to come, Hersmann received dozens of similar suggestions, all of which suggested a copy of the T-34 tank.

At the same time, the tank commanders of the Soviet Red Army were full of praise for the German Tiger tank and strongly recommended to Moscow to copy the Tiger tank...... In short, the tank must be someone else's good!

……

"Comrades, for the peace and happiness of all mankind!"

"Ulla!"

"Comrades, in order to plant the red flag all over the world!"

"Ulla!"

"Comrades, for the victory of the cause of GCISM!"

"Ulla!"

"Comrades, for the great leader of the world revolution, Stalin!"

"Ulla! Ulla! Ula ......"

Comrade Fedulov, political commissar of the 16th Mechanized Army of the Red Army, personally went to the front line at this time, holding a horn rolled up in white iron sheet to make political mobilization for the commandos. The 16th Mechanized Corps, reinforced with a tank brigade and a rocket artillery battalion, moved to the vicinity of Legionovo by the evening of 10 June.

However, the commander of the 16th Mechanized Corps, Major General Sokalov, did not choose to attack immediately, but set the first wave of attack at 8 o'clock that night. Because during the battle in Vovomin during the day, Sokalov had already found it difficult for the T-34 and KV-1 to withstand the accurate fire of the main gun of the No. 4H tank at a long distance, while the 76.2mm guns of the T-34 and KV-1 could not reach the front of the No. 4H at all.

The only way to win was to use the speed and numerical superiority to make a detour to the flank of the German tanks and strike at the weak flank armor of the No. 4 tank.

As a result, Major General Sokalov chose to time the engagement at night with poor visibility, so that the Germans could not use the long-range shots of the No. 4H main gun to destroy a large number of Soviet tanks.

The shouts of the Red Army soldiers passed through the night sky and reached the German positions that were in full position. Gustav. Captain Schwarzenegger has now been given a brand new No. 4H tank, with two additional crew members. During today's daytime engagement, his tank was destroyed by a T-34 by the Soviets, killing one of the five crew members and seriously wounding one. Only Schwarzenegger and gunner Ogger and driver Johansen were unharmed.

However, the loss of his comrades and the tank still made Captain Schwarzenegger a little depressed, and now when he heard the shouts of the Soviets, a nameless fire rose in his heart, and he wanted to fight well.

"Boom! Boom ......"

At this time, the shelling of the Soviet Red Army began, in which more than a hundred 152mm and 122mm howitzers took part in the bombardment. However, the shells did not fall on the head of the 5th SS tank battalion where Schwarzenegger was located, but on the cordoned off line at the forefront of the German army. Two grenadier battalions and one anti-tank battalion of the 5th SS "Viking" Division were scattered there, and some mines were laid by combat engineers. This hastily laid out defense forms a battle line, and tonight's decisive battle will take place there.

The shelling of the Soviets did not last long, and it ended in less than 15 minutes. Then Captain Schwarzenegger heard the roar of the motor and "Ula! Ulla! The shouts came from the front.

Flares from both sides shone with blazing white or yellowish light alternately falling from the sky, dyeing the earth a strange hue. Scattered or in droves of bullets of dark red or orange, they flew away from the forward line of defense at breakneck speed. The battlefield was chosen in a large open area, and several small woods or relatively sturdy buildings were converted into positions for 75mm anti-tank guns.

With the "Ula! Ulla! With the help of the light of the flares, you can already see countless shaking figures on the flat ground, and you can also see the majestic bodies of the T-34 and KV-1, and there are also some tanks that are even bigger than the KV-1, they are KV-2 tanks equipped with 152mm guns!

Rumble......

The 75mm guns guarding the front line opened fire, and several 75mm high-speed armor-piercing shells went straight to a distance of 500 meters, and a tall KV-2 went away. Before the sound of cannon fire died down, I saw a KV-2 Nuo's body immediately burst into a fireball!

"Well played!" Captain Schwarzenegger had been watching the big tanks with a telescope, and he had spotted them during the daytime engagement. But because at that time the Soviets did not use it for the charge, but for firing 152mm shells behind the tank cluster for fire support. Therefore, it was not hit, and no one knows whether the 75mm gun could deal with it.

"5th SS Tank Battalion, into position!"

A short time after the exchange of fire at the front began, Gustav. Captain Schwarzenegger's headset came with the order. Now the 5th SS Tank Battalion went up to fight again, and according to the plan, the 5th SS Tank Battalion and five heavy tank companies equipped with Panther tanks would be in charge of the front, and the flanks would be handed over to five heavy tank companies equipped with Tiger tanks. All Assault Gun No. 3 was to act as a reserve and engage in pursuit with the No. 4H after the Soviet tank forces retreated. (To be continued.) )