A German sniper is leaning into his trench, not the kind of super sniper who specializes in hunting distant targets, but a "sharpshooter" who is responsible for carrying out medium- and long-range attacks in his own troops. The Mauser 98K rifle in his hand has only a 3x optical magnifying glass, which is easy to use and preserve with production.

It is precisely because of this weapon that the German army has popularized this sniper-like infantry on a large scale in many front-line combat units, which may not be enough to deal with enemy snipers, but can cause considerable damage to the opponent's ordinary infantry.

And the German army is gradually popularizing their individual combat weapons, a bit similar to the gun family design concept proposed by weapons experts after World War II, based on the MP-44 assault rifle that performed exceptionally well in battle, the German weapons department combined the Belgian branch and the French branch, and began to install individual weapons that use the same ammunition and common parts.

These include the MP-44 assault rifle that can be mounted with a single grenade launcher, the MP-44 assault rifle that can use infrared night vision devices, the MG45 squad light machine gun, the new G44 semi-automatic rifle, and the G44 sniper semi-automatic rifle with scope.

This series of weapons can greatly simplify the maintenance of parts and components of German guns, and can also simplify logistics production, and is considered by the German military to be an epoch-making product that can replace the existing individual weapons and completely eliminate weapons such as the Mauser 98K rifle. These weapons have already begun to be installed on a large scale, but they have not yet been fully popularized because of production capacity problems -- after all, it is not something that can be done in a day or two to arm more than 5 million people.

So now the Germans are still using a mixed range of weapons, such as the Mauser rifle, the more advanced G43 semi-automatic rifle, and the MP-44 assault rifle, which are similar to those used in the First World War.

The German infantry shooter held his weapon and saw with his scope a Soviet soldier who was trying to open fire, who was obviously not very familiar with his own weapon, fired a shot from behind a low wall, and was so shocked by the recoil of his weapon that he almost fell.

He sneered, and then aimed his rifle at the Soviet soldier who was firing, because after all, the Soviet soldier on the front line had already collapsed under the threat of tanks, and there was no need for him to leave his main energy on the frontal battlefield. All he had to do was to take out the sporadic Soviets who dared to resist and ensure that his troops could occupy this infiltration bridgehead.

So he held the rifle in his hand and waited for the Soviets behind the low wall opposite to show their heads again, at this time he would be very envious of the soldiers who were promoted to front-line snipers, they had their own assistants, and they could choose their own combat positions, which was a very enviable way of fighting.

You know, Marshal Rundstedt didn't suddenly go crazy to order his troops to start storming Smolensk at the cost of casualties and fighting a street battle that he was not good at. It's just that an infantry battalion of the German army, equipped with new guns and a large number of veterans and snipers familiar with urban warfare, was ordered to infiltrate the city of Smolensk and experiment with new special urban street warfare methods.

This unit is formed with reference to the special operations unit of the special forces, and has more advanced walkie-talkies, special channel radio stations for battalions, and can call on the air force under the group army and artillery directly under the command to provide support, relying on short surprise attacks and precise coordination to achieve the goal of clearing out the enemy in street fighting, and emphasizing the development of firepower and the effective force of killing and injuring the enemy.

The plan was proposed by the Führer's High Command, so Rundstedt agreed to experiment with this mode of operation in one of his infantry divisions, for which he deliberately allocated artillery of various calibers, helicopters and attack aircraft for support.

As for why he ordered the attack on Smolensk in such a hurry, the main reason was that he wanted to solve the encircled Soviet corps behind his own line and stabilize his defense line before the focus of the German offensive shifted to the southern front. After all, once the military supplies are tilted to the southern front, there is still a Soviet-occupied city behind his defensive line, which is definitely not good news.

So he ordered to start a surprise attack on Smolensk under the pretext of experiments, hoping to eliminate the Soviet defenders here and completely occupy Smolensk at the cost of fewer casualties.

The first step was very simple, which was to take advantage of the superiority of German firepower and squeeze the Soviet forces inside the city. Because soon, the last large-scale bombing of the Luftwaffe will begin - and this bombing, which will use a large number of napalm, will certainly be much more effective than the previous ordinary aerial bombs.

The German riflegunners who waited for the rabbit to aim at the low wall, waiting for their target to appear, after all, even if they were Soviet recruits, the Soviet recruits who dared to shoot were still worth shooting. Soon, however, a German tank was blocking his view, forcing him to wait patiently.

Behind the low wall, the Soviet teacher had loaded his rifle with ammunition, and as soon as he poked his head out, he found a German tank painted in white camouflage in front of his eyes, and the machine gun on the front of the hull was firing fiercely, causing sparks to fly on some of the surrounding walls. A Soviet soldier tries to get close to the German tank, but is quickly beaten into a sieve by the grenadiers who follow behind the tank.

"Boom!" the "tank" covering the German charge opened fire, shells erupting from its long-barreled 75mm cannon. It wasn't actually a real tank, but a German assault gun No. 3, and unfortunately in the eyes of Soviet soldiers, these steel monsters were called tanks, and they were all very deadly.

The shells fired from the No. 3 assault gun smashed on the building behind the Soviet troops, and the huge explosion kicked up thick smoke, so that the surrounding Soviet soldiers had to close their eyes and keep their steel helmets. Things weren't much better behind the low wall, and the shock wave swept through the area with gravel and dust, much to the grief of the curled up Mr. Teacher.

After a few coughs, the foul smell of choking dust finally passed, everything seemed to return to a calm state, the chirping in the ears gradually returned to calm, and the guns that seemed to be far away began to continue again. He struggled to get up from the ground, picked up the steel helmet and fastened it to his head, then grabbed his rifle and poked his head out.

These damned enemies, their tanks are like monsters, devouring people's lives, and their weapons seem too powerful to resist. But as a Soviet, he had to stop the aggressors from wreaking havoc and from continuing to encroach on Soviet territory behind him.

His eyes had just poked out of the low wall to see the German tank move out of his place, and his hands were just about to move, setting the rifle in his palm to the edge of the low wall. He was sure that he would be able to hit the enemy with one more shot, after all, he had already understood how big that terrible recoil was.

He saw a sudden flash of light in a less conspicuous corner of the opposite position, and before he could remember what it meant, he felt a tremendous force pound on his steel helmet, and his head fell backwards, and a pain came from the door of his head.

All this happened only in a split second, and in his last memory he remembered the old soldier's admonition to him that the Germans had some very good snipers who hid in the shadows to sneak up on the enemy. These snipers shoot with great accuracy, and often before they know they exist, someone has already been shot and fallen.

"Holy!" he thought he was muttering, but in reality his body didn't move at all, he fell to the ground on his back, his legs twisted at an eerie angle from the position he had just sat against the wall. His eyes hadn't had time to close, as if he was unwilling to leave this nostalgic world.

That poem hasn't been finished yet, does it? It seems a little too short for length. What's next? What's the best sentence? right...... Snipers, by the way, machine guns......

"Sniper's bullets,

howling in a straight line;

Heavy machine guns began to pay off,

Cut down hordes of people.

Between the living and the dead,

Only the snow lingers;

Battle flags full of holes,

Wearing a bullet-riddled military cap.

On that cold steel helmet,

Only the coat of arms shines;

In this realm of death,

Countless souls are burning. ”

It's a pity that the body is already cold, it's a pity that those cold leather boots are passing by him, and these German soldiers in white blouses are so young and immature faces. What drove them to come to such a distant place, to fight some innocent people, to take their lives?

In the sky, bombers were overwhelmingly passing by, obscuring the boundless blue like dark clouds, and these planes were carrying terrible bombs that were about to sweep through the whole of Smolensk. The battle is far from over, or rather has just begun. Every inch of land here must be scorched by fire, and every life here must struggle in the most cruel environment to continue to survive.

On March 17, 1939, the Luftwaffe dropped 300 tons of napalm on Smolensk, burning the entire city to a scorched earth. Tens of thousands of civilians were lost, more than 700 houses were destroyed on the spot, and more than 1,100 buildings were destroyed in the ensuing fires. The Soviets persisted in fighting in desperation, casualties continued to rise, and the Germans threw in all kinds of advanced weapons, and the tragic street fighting in Smolensk began.