Flares rose into the air one after another, illuminating the night sky, illuminating the land, and shining light on the tanks and assault guns of the Soviet and German armies. Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 The info artillery roared, and the Soviet KV-85 tanks, Su-122 assault guns, and the German "Vespa" self-propelled guns were firing ammunition with all their might. Dark red shells shuttled back and forth across the battlefield, and the sound of explosions of various sound qualities filled Comrade Vatutin's ears.

Although you are the commander of the tank army, this is the first time that General Vatutin has personally visited the battlefield where hundreds or thousands of tanks are lined up to bombard. However, he soon recovered from the shock of a lifetime and began to take a closer look at the battle ahead.

Guided by the light of the flares, he had already discovered that the Germans were not leading the way, but the "No. 4 assault gun" with a 150mm short-barreled gun. Because the assault gun has no turret, the main gun has a narrow firing range, which is not of much value on the battlefield of tank battle, and this weapon is also vulnerable to infantry attacks.

Tonight, though, things are clearly different!

Because it was a night battle, the formation of both sides was relatively simple, and the tactics were very simple - that is, to line up and fight! So there is no question of the "No. 4 assault gun" being outflanked, and in fact there is no way to outflank it, because the number of tanks/assault guns that the Soviets have put into use today is far inferior to that of the German side.

Moreover, before the distance between the two sides was reduced to a few hundred meters, the Soviets had no way to see what tanks the Germans were using to take the lead, and there was no way to change the formation or tactical response. So the KV-85 tanks under Vatutin's command were now as Hube had predicted, all of them were concentrating their fire on the assault guns that were approaching them.

But the 85mm shell hit the solid frontal compartment armor of this assault gun, and it was impossible to effectively penetrate it! The vast majority of the "No. 4 assault gun" is still approaching.

Just when Vatutin, who was watching the battle from a KV-85 tank behind, was surprised by the solidity of the Germans' "No. 4 assault gun", behind the "No. 4 assault gun", the Germans' Tiger tanks were already in place.

The 156 Tiger tanks belonging to the 501st, 502nd, 506th, and 510th heavy armored battalions of the Wehrmacht (176 should have been at full strength, and 20 were broken down or wounded in battle) and 80 "Rhino" tank destroyers (a mixed formation of Tiger and Rhinoceros) of the 1st Wehrmacht Tank Battalion were lined up in a row, staggered with the "No. 4 assault gun" in front, and the distance from the KV-85 in the first column of the Soviet tank formation was less than 500 meters.

"Tiger tank, aim at the target...... Fire! ”

Almost as soon as the command to fire was transmitted to each Tiger tank via the on-board radio, the Tiger tanks finally erupted in a long-suppressed roar. 88mm shells rained down and swept through the formation of Soviet KV tanks. The front of the Soviet tank cluster quickly rose into one fireball after another, and more than 50 KV-85s were beaten into torches in the first salvo of Tiger tanks!

Then, the second and third rounds of shelling, which were equally fierce, followed one after another, and the Soviet tank cluster suddenly suffered heavy losses!

Seeing this scene, Admiral Vatutin's face was already blue, and a pair of thick eyebrows were tightened more and more. How is it that he still does not see the intentions of the Germans?

It's just that the lead has already fallen into the hands of the Germans, and the tank clusters of the Red Army have fallen into total passivity.

On the battlefield, the German Tiger tanks all stopped moving forward, lined up on the battlefield, and began to name the Soviet KV tanks with the powerful 88mm gun.

The "Grizzly Bear" assault guns, which were advancing with 85mm shells, advanced dozens of meters or hundreds of meters, and did not stop moving until the distance between the two sides was reduced to within 400 meters. They are not iron lumps that can only be beaten and cannot fight back - although the 150mm short cannon cannot fire armor-piercing shells, the armor-piercing shells fired are very powerful.

The so-called "armor-piercing projectile" is a shaped charge projectile, which is a chemical energy anti-armor projectile developed based on the Monroe effect. The theoretical armor-piercing efficiency is closely related to the caliber of the ammunition, and the theoretical maximum is 5 times. However, during World War II, it was not possible to reach such a level, which was between 1 and 1.5 times. And Germany's research in this area is at the absolute leading level (the "Iron Fist" anti-tank grenade is a shaped charge). Therefore, the armor-piercing projectile fired by the 150mm gun of the "Grizzly Bear", as long as it hits the target, is basically a piece of scrap metal, what KV-85, what T-34/57, what Su-85, there is no difference.

"Release the smoke, let the tanks retreat, and the infantry prepare to charge!"

Vatutin made a decisive tactical adjustment, allowing the frustrated tank cluster to retreat slightly, while at the same time committing infantry equipped with the "Red Iron Fist...... And a lot of infantry, of course!

Tens of thousands of Red Army fighters had long been ready, lined up in dense formations behind the tank cluster (they were not infantry protecting the tanks), and having received the order, they went "Ula!" Ulla! The beginning of the impact.

Because it was night, it was very advantageous for the infantry of the Red Army, who was inferior in firepower. However, this kind of dense formation impact almost shoulder to shoulder will inevitably be accompanied by huge casualties, but Vatutin doesn't care at all, because the national fortunes of the Soviet Union are already in danger!

"Commander, the Soviets are releasing smoke!"

Lieutenant General Hubey, who was watching the battle from the rear, guessed the Soviets' intentions as soon as he saw the smoke in front of the battle, "They are going to launch an infantry charge!" ”

"What? Infantry charge? General Mackensen was somewhat skeptical of his one-armed chief of staff's judgment.

"Are they going to retreat?" Mackensen said, "The Soviets suffered heavy losses in the KV tanks!" ”

"No way," Hube shook his head, "the Soviets are desperate, and if they are defeated tonight, they will be wiped out." Because we have not only overwhelming armored forces, but also overwhelming air superiority! ”

The French Breguet attack aircraft and the German HS129 attack aircraft are two real tank killers! If the Soviet tank clusters had dared to retreat during the day, then they would have been shot out by planes on the way!

If the Soviet tanks did not dare to run away during the day, how could they have escaped the pursuit of the Germans?

So now Hengzhi is a total annihilation (only the tanks are destroyed, and the infantry can run away some), so it's better to fight.

"Let the 'Grizzlie' and 'Tiger' stop the advance, by tank No. 4 and Panzergrenadiers." Mackensen thought for a moment and asked, "Can rocket artillery be fired now?" ”

Hube asked the staff officer beside him, and then replied: "It's okay, all the rocket artillery is loaded, and it can be fired at any time." ”

"Hit a salvo!" Mackensen waved his hand, "Then get all the self-propelled guns ready to fire, including the Grizzly assault gun...... Grenades are ready and ready to fire. ”

By the time Mackensen ordered the rocket artillery bombardment, the KV-85 tank in which Vatutin was riding had already turned and begun to retreat, and the tide of Red Army infantry was passing by him.

Vatutin, on the other hand, was using the radio to contact the retreating KV-85s behind him (there were still some surviving) to find out if the German tank cluster was in pursuit. At this moment, a shout suddenly came from his ear, who he didn't know who it was: "Rocket artillery!" Bazooka is coming! Then he was dragged into the turret of the tank.

Vatutin could hide inside the KV-85 tank, but the infantry outside was beaten by the sudden rocket artillery - the 80mm caliber 48-track rocket launcher used by the German armored forces was not very powerful, but it was better than the dense firepower, and it had little effect against the enemy's positions (but it could blow up minefields), but if it just covered the infantry, it would have suffered heavy casualties.

A wave of "infantry sea" of the Soviet army was hit by rocket artillery, and naturally there was no wave.

However, Vatutin does not intend to give up, and there is no way to give up. After successive thwarts of tank and infantry charges. He ordered his troops to go on the defensive, forming a line of defense with the few remaining KV-85 tanks and T-34/57, Su-85, etc.

At 2 a.m. on May 16, 1943, on the plains south of the Dobrush Forest, the roar of the advance of German tank clusters was heard again.

This is the second wave of general attack launched by General Mackensen and Lieutenant General Hube! The Grizzly assault gun still led the way, with the Tiger and Rhino tank destroyers following closely, and a number of No. 4s (including F and H) following to cover. A dense assault formation was formed on the plain, surging towards the thin defense line of the Soviet army like a torrent, and the tactics adopted were the same as before, lining up to fire artillery within 500 meters!

In fact, it is crushed with absolute strength!

In the original history, if the German army could concentrate more than 100 Tiger and hundreds of No. 4s on one battlefield, it would definitely be able to fight a classic battle.

And now, it is just a battle-level confrontation, and 156 "Tigers", more than 200 "Rhinos", more than 100 "Grizzlies", and seven or eight No. 4 tanks have been put into form a vast sea of tanks.

At 2:10 a.m. on May 16, the spectacular scene of "queuing up to fire" reappeared. All Soviet tanks/assault guns fired desperately, trying to delay the German tank cluster with firepower. Although some German vehicles were set on fire or had their tracks broken, the entire sea of tanks was still steadily crushed.

At 2:15 a.m., the German Tiger and Rhino tank destroyers all stopped advancing, and the powerful 88mm guns began to aim at the Soviet tanks and assault guns illuminated by flares.

The final slaughter begins! (To be continued.) )