In the same way, at all times do not forget about the powerful artillery units that can dominate the battlefield. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

If the weather conditions are bad, the air force that is showing off its might on the battlefield will not be able to go into battle, but the artillery can. As long as they can get strong air protection and can fight without scruples, that powerful artillery bombardment capability will be the biggest nightmare for all troops.

The artillery units of the Ming army deployed behind the battle line were so dense and powerful that they even made them fight the battlefield again and again! Many of these Russian assault units were wiped out by the Ming artillery on their way to the front.

After the location of these Russian troops was known, the powerful artillery of the Ming army was soon able to completely cover them. In the face of an area-covering attack by a large number of large-caliber artillery, almost no unit was able to escape, especially if they were still marching in the field.

The officers and soldiers on both sides fought extremely bravely, and the Russian army was able to bear huge casualties when attacking, while the Ming army was also able to fight to the death when defending. However, the two sides were completely disproportionate in terms of battle damage.

Because the Ming Dynasty implemented universal education for local civilians, the grassroots officers and soldiers of the Ming army basically received quality education for nearly ten years, and they had basic behavior and comprehension skills. Whether it is the application of weapons and equipment or the acceptance of technology and tactics, they are very strong, at least they can read and write.

Compared with the Ming officers and soldiers, who had been fully professionalized, the Russian army was far inferior.

Perhaps many of the officers of the Russian army had a high level of tactical cultivation and level, but their ordinary soldiers could not be compared with the soldiers of the Ming army at all. Moreover, the vast majority of the ordinary officers and soldiers of the Russian army were of serf origin.

What is a serf? Simply put, the slaves of this era, the slaves of the Russian aristocracy. These serfs, who have no personal rights at all, not to mention their ability to act or have a tactical cultivation, they don't even know a word, and many of them have never left their villages in their lives, and they don't know what tanks, artillery, or aircraft warships are. It would be a joke to expect these officers and men, who had not even done shooting training a few times after getting their rifles, to cooperate with each other in smooth techniques and tactics that were pleasing to the eye.

These Russian officers and soldiers will only keep rushing forward under the orders of their superiors, and they will either be killed in the way of the charge, or they will capture the enemy's position. As soon as the battle began, the Russian officers could not even re-issue new orders to their troops. Because the officers and soldiers can't accept it. It's not even incomprehensible at all.

In fact, this is also a major reason for restricting the combat effectiveness of the Russian army, and the quality of their officers and men is too low.

In fact, after receiving a large amount of aid from the allies, the Russian army, which has many outstanding officers, should be able to give better play, but the low quality of the vast majority of ordinary officers and soldiers determines the overall combat capability of the Russian army. This is also the main reason why when the elite units of the Russian army are annihilated in the previous counterattack, the whole of Russia will be shaken.

In order to keep up with the pace of the Industrial Revolution and not reduce their country to the point of becoming a colony of another country, Russia had already started the bourgeois road decades ago. A large number of serfs were emancipated to work in the cities, thus producing a group of Russians with at least basic education.

After decades of hard work, such a group of citizens with decent quality has formed a certain scale. However, these people are basically working in factories or in various functional departments, and Russia simply cannot send these people into battle. If these people were to be sent to the battlefield, the whole of Russia would collapse completely. After all, it is impossible for a country of such a large size to be completely dependent on foreign aid to survive.

Most of the few units of the Russian army composed of high-quality nationals had been annihilated by the Ming army at this time, and by the time the battles of Moscow, Ryazan and the Volga were over, the Russians, who had almost lost most of their combat strength, would soon be unable to fight. If a country does not have troops capable of fighting, then the country is not far from being destroyed.

Zhang Cheng didn't mind accepting the surrender of the Russians, and he could leave a palm-sized barren land for the Russian imperial family as a puppet state of the Ming Dynasty. The Russian imperial family had ruled the land for hundreds of years, and if they surrendered voluntarily, it would bring many benefits to the Ming army, at least the resistance and guerrilla warfare would be greatly reduced everywhere. The royal family has surrendered, what else do ordinary people have to insist on?

In order to reduce trouble and save time, Zhang Cheng didn't mind going out with a bone. Of course, if the Russians resist to the end, Zhang Cheng will not show any mercy.

On 10 September, the redeployed Russian strategic reserve once again launched a strong offensive regardless of casualties, and a large number of mechanized corps, tank divisions, and tank brigades of various types of T34, KV and other types of tanks poured into the Ming position.

But the Ming army's defenses were still extremely resilient. Heavy shelling and ferocious fire from anti-aircraft and anti-tank guns turned the Russian tanks of all types into flaming flares. Even the Russian KV series tanks, which have strong armor, are constantly destroyed.

Although the 75 mm anti-tank guns of the Ming infantry could not penetrate the frontal armor of the KV, they could fire at the KV's mobile devices and break the tracks of these heavy tanks. Subsequently, the well-trained Ming infantry had the opportunity to break out of their positions, climb onto the immobile Russian tanks, and completely blow them up with cluster grenades or heavy anti-tank mines.

The armored forces of the Ming army were likewise not idle. Whenever there was danger in the position, the armored forces of the Ming army would immediately attack, using strong armor to drive the Russians out of the defensive line.

The Russian attack suffered a huge failure, and several armored units were crippled and incapacitated. Even many of the commanders of the armored corps were killed on the ground. The Russians' intensive offensive had largely failed to achieve any decent results over the years, but they had not been able to learn their lesson, and they had clung to this old-fashioned tactic and had finally broken their heads in front of the well-equipped and well-trained Ming army.

This crowd tactic can be very effective against poorly equipped, poorly trained, and unmorale militarily well-equipped troops. But when facing a powerful enemy, it is looking for death.

By 12 September, the Russian counterattack could no longer continue, and almost all of their offensive had suffered a huge defeat. The battlefield in front of the Ming army's position was littered with destroyed Russian tanks and the remains of numerous soldiers. All the armored units of the Russian army have lost their combat effectiveness to varying degrees.

The worst of them were the 27th Tank Division and the 102nd Tank Brigade. The two last reserve units to enter the battlefield managed to break through a Ming line about two kilometers wide in the last decisive assault on September 12, and then desperately advanced in an attempt to extend the victory. However, the Ming armored forces in the vicinity quickly attacked and soon cut off the retreat of these Russian troops who broke through the positions. After nearly four hours of tank fighting, the two forces were almost completely annihilated. Nearly 200 tanks and more than 10,000 Russian officers and soldiers were left on the battlefield.

The counterattack of the Russian armored forces declared a complete failure. The last of the Russian army's large-scale and powerful armored units lost a large number of tanks and other technical weapons. According to the statistics of the Ming army, they destroyed more than 2,000 Russian tanks and armored vehicles of various types. Among them were more than four hundred heavy tanks.

At the same time, the Ming army's army and aviation, which went all out to support the ground operation, did not sit idle, and the bombers and dive bombers of various army aviation units destroyed more than 600 Russian armored vehicles and more than 400 Russian artillery pieces. At the same time, a large number of Russian ground forces were killed and wounded. In the counterattack, which lasted for several days, the Russian soldiers lost nearly 100,000 soldiers, all of whom were real soldiers.

Compared with the tragic losses of the Russians, the losses of the Ming army, which was well arranged tactically, well-armed, had excellent technical and tactical capabilities, and were still in a defensive state, were less than a quarter of the losses of the Russian army.

After the fierce battle on 12 September, the Ming staff quickly realized that the Russians had lost the spirit of attack, and the time for a counterattack had come.

The armored forces of the 11th Panzer Army and the 6th Panzer Army quickly attacked, starting from the positions on both sides of Tver, and rushed straight to Torzhok like two huge iron pincers, intending to completely encircle the exhausted Russian strategic reserves.

The Ming army's attacking troops were led by armored troops, and mechanized infantry followed as flank cover to seize and consolidate positions. The fully mechanized Ming army attacked so quickly that the Russians could not react at all. The Ming Ninth Panzer Corps, which served as a forward on the left flank, was outnumbered and qualitatively superior to their opponents.

The 9th Panzer Army, with three armored divisions and one mechanized infantry division, strengthened heavy artillery and heavy tank units before the sortie. And their march was very good, along a very good road in Russia. It took only three days for the troops of the 9th Panzer Army to reach the area near Torzhok and thwart several Russian counterattacks.

And because the Ming army marched so fast, the Russians didn't even have time to destroy the bridges on the Krazimu River outside Torzhok. Several special operations units of the Ming army arrived at these laxly guarded bridges at low altitude and high speed in helicopters at night, and raided and seized bridges everywhere. The Russians' counterattack was belated until after dawn.

After dawn, the armored units of the Ming army had already been killed, and the counterattack of the Russian army failed unexpectedly. Powerful Ming troops soon built a strong bridgehead across the Krazimu River through the bridge. From here, it's only a few kilometres away to Torzhok. The entire city of Torzhok was already within range of the Ming army's artillery fire. (To be continued.) )