In the face of Starikov's rebuke, I behaved unusually calmly. When he finished venting his anger, I smiled politely at him and said: "Comrade General, you are quite right, tanks without infantry cover will definitely become targets for German anti-tank guns and anti-tank fighters in the attack......"

Hearing me say this, Starikov snorted and said angrily: "Since you know the way, then why do you want our tank crews to die?" ”

Meretskov was accustomed to my ingenuity, and he did not show any surprise, but nodded at me and motioned for me to continue.

With Meretskov's encouragement, I became more confident, and the smile on my face became stronger, and I said confidently: "Comrade commander of the army group, the reason why I propose to let the tank units attack the heights is to take into account that these KV heavy tanks are indestructible, although they are slow, but the German 50-mm pak38 anti-tank guns are of no use at all against these behemoths. ”

"Comrade Major," an unfamiliar voice suddenly sounded behind me, and I turned my head to see a middle-aged colonel standing behind me, and he asked with a serious expression: "I don't know who has so no military common sense, and has instilled such ridiculous common sense in you, so that you have the wrong idea that the German anti-tank guns can't destroy our tanks." It is important to know that in the past three days of fighting, our group army alone had more than 100 T-26 and T-34 tanks repelled by anti-tank guns. After saying that, he stepped forward and reported to Meretskov: "Hello, Comrade Commander of the Front. The Chief of Staff of the 8th Army, Colonel Golovchner, reports to you. At your command. ”

Meretskov stood up. Reach out to the colonel. He asked with concern: "Colonel Golovchner, I have been at the headquarters for so long, and I haven't seen you, and I was about to ask General Starikov about your whereabouts, and you appeared." I said, "Where did you come from?" ”

The colonel replied: "Report to Comrade Commander, I have just returned from inspecting the offensive positions on the southern side of the heights. At present, the troops are resting and recuperating, and when the time is right. We will attack again. ”

Meretskov asked with interest: "Chief of Staff Golovchner, how is the mood of the troops?" ”

The chief of staff shrugged his shoulders when he heard the greeting from the commander of the front, and replied: "What else, the commanders and fighters are full of enthusiasm for fighting. Although we launched several attacks on the heights and were frustrated, the commanders and fighters were demoralized at the thought that they would soon be able to join forces with their comrades of the Leningrad Front and break the siege of the city by the fascist bandits. ”

The two were talking. I noticed that Colonel Golovchneer's boots were covered with mud, and the back of his military uniform was wet. At a glance, I knew that Lu Dao had just returned from the position.

Meretskov said a word to the chief of staff, turned his gaze to me again, and asked strangely: "Lida, why did you stop and continue?" We're all waiting to hear what you think. ”

Since I had the support of Meretskov, the colonel next to me did not say anything more, but walked up to Starikov's side, bent down and whispered something to him. As soon as he had said two words, Starikov interrupted him and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, these things will be discussed later, you sit down first, and listen to what Major Oshanina has to say." ”

Colonel Golovchner didn't know where I came from, but the two commanders actually helped me speak, but in this case, he was not easy to ask, so he had to sit next to Starikov with a stomach full of questions.

After everyone was seated, I coughed lightly, cleared my throat, and began to speak clearly about the brilliant results of the KV heavy tanks: "Comrades commanders, when I was working on the Western Front, I saw the performance of the KV heavy tanks on the battlefield mentioned in the battle reports of our army and captured German intelligence.

The day after the outbreak of the war, there was a fierce battle between our KV tanks and German tanks on the territory of Lithuania. The 2nd Tank Division, which had KV tanks at the time, was ordered to follow the 12th Mechanized Corps in the direction of the Dobisa River to block the German troops advancing along the main road Zilkit-Chavellia Street.

The 2nd Tank Division encountered the advancing 2nd Panzer Division of the German 6th Panzer Group on Chavilia Street, and the division commander, Major General Solyaryanchin, ordered the troops to deploy on the spot, and 80 BT fast tanks lined up in battle formation, supported by 20 KV tanks and T-34 tanks, launched a fierce attack on the German armored forces. After a fierce battle, most of the German tanks were destroyed, and the rest had to withdraw from the battlefield in disgrace.

In order to allow the remnants of the tanks to get out smoothly, the German artillery against our tank units. A German 150-mm howitzer hit one of our KV tanks at a distance of a hundred meters, and our tanks immediately stopped. Just when the German artillery got carried away and was about to aim its guns at another Chinese tank, the KV tank that had been shot started again, and flattened the howitzer in front of the stunned German artillery, and continued to attack forward.

After the battle, the division counted the results and found that in this street battle, the 2nd Tank Division destroyed a total of 40 German tanks and crushed and destroyed 40 German guns of 37 mm and 105 mm or more.

In the battle report of our army, there is a more interesting phenomenon: the vast majority of KV tanks did not carry shells at all, and the reason for the attack was to rely on the advantage that the body armor was thick and not easy to be destroyed, to specifically crush the German artillery. ……”

Speaking of this, although several commanders sitting at the table had surprised expressions on their faces, Colonel Golovchnier interrupted me unceremoniously, he pursed his lips and said unconvinced: "Comrade Major, I know the commander of the 2nd Tank Division, General Solyaryanchin, he is a commander with rich combat experience, and it is not difficult for him to use hundreds of tanks to attack the German tanks on the march and achieve victory. The fact that a KV tank was shot and also crushed German artillery does not say anything. ”

Meretskov listened to him. Said with a smile: "Colonel Golovchner." Don't be in a hurry. Listen patiently to Major Oshanina's speech, the wonderful is still to come. Go on. "The last sentence was for me.

Seeing that everyone was listening to each other, I continued: "The 2nd Tank Division was out of the battlefield before noon because it was in a hurry to join up with the 12th Mechanized Corps, which was fighting north of Lasjania. As the division had almost run out of ammunition and fuel in the morning's fighting, many of the old tanks had broken down one after another. In order to redistribute spare ammunition, fuel and carry out repairs, General Solyarchen ordered his troops to march up the Dobisa River in search of a relatively safe environment. Shortly after they left. The German 6th Panzer Division captured Las Genia and quickly built two bridgeheads on the Dobisa River. One was the northern bridgehead at Lyudville, and the other was defended by an armoured battalion in the far lower reaches of the Dobisa River, all armed with light tanks.

The commander of the North-Western Front at that time, Colonel-General Kuznetsov, immediately after the loss of Douraschenia, ordered the troops to recapture the city. To break these bridgeheads, the 2nd Tank Division prepared a counterattack. In order to cut off the connection between the German forces in the city of Ras Yenia and the German troops on the river, the division commander Solyaryanchin transferred a well-armed KV2 tank and an infantry detachment to attack.

On the afternoon of June 23, the armored battalions of the northern bridgehead took it upon themselves to believe that our troops would attack from behind them. As a result, part of the anti-tank guns of the 41st Tank Destroyer Battalion and 105-mm howitzers of the 76th Artillery Battalion were deployed to defend their southern flank. At this time, KV2 and infantry detachments intervened, cutting off this battalion from the main forces. Isolate it on the side of the bridgehead.

In the early morning of June 24, German rescue units set out from the city of Lasyenia in an attempt to join the bridgehead separated by our tanks. The KV2 tank first destroyed 12 German trucks, which blocked the way to the two bridgeheads, and at the same time, the main force of the 2nd Tank Division was engaged in a bloody battle with the German troops in the northern bridgehead, and after receiving the report of the first victory of the KV2 tanks, the morale of the 2nd Tank Division was greatly boosted, and the offensive was further strengthened. The German 6th Panzer Division immediately called on the friendly ace troops - the 1st Panzer Division to make a flank attack on the KV2 tanks blocking the road.

On the afternoon of the 24th, the 1st Panzer Division sent 6 brand-new 50mm Pak38 anti-tank guns and selected gunner squads to advance covertly towards KV2, and opened fire on the erected positions at a distance of 550 meters. KV2 then destroyed all 6 guns.

The Germans decided to use larger artillery, and a 298-mm gun of the 88th anti-aircraft artillery battalion, located on the outskirts of Lasyenia, was carefully camouflaged and towed by a tractor approaching the KV2. In order not to be detected by our tanks, the Germans hid behind the wreckage of the truck and slowly advanced, but the tankmen of the KV2 intuitively followed the turret all the time. When approaching 900 meters, the German artillery stopped and began to lay positions, and at this time, the KV2 tank, which had long been ready to attack, opened decisive fire, destroying the German artillery and the tractor in two consecutive shots. The nearby Germans rushed up and tried to drag the wounded to safety, but were knocked down one by one by the machine guns on the KV2 tank.

On the night of the 24th, the Germans dispatched a contingent of the 57th Panzer Engineer Battalion to crawl forward in the night and blast the KV2 hull with double the usual amount of explosives. As a result, after the violent explosion, our KV2 tanks were not destroyed, and the tankmen opened heavy fire on the enemy with machine guns, and the Germans were beaten so that they could not raise their heads, so they had to climb back along the same road. After the tankmen stopped firing, a German sapper quietly crawled over to confirm the effect of the explosion and found that although the explosives had blown off the tracks, they had no effect on the armor. Before leaving, the engineer used a small explosive pack to blast the KV2 tank's 152-mm gun, but again with little success.

At the same time that the German 6th Panzer Division was being turned around by a KV2, a large-scale tank battle took place between the German 1st Panzer Division and the Soviet 12th Mechanized Corps and the 2nd Tank Division, which had been reinforced from the east side. As the elite of the German Army, the 1st Panzer Division was equipped with better No. 3 and No. 4 tanks, but it was also unable to shake the armor of the KV tanks. A soldier of the division's 1st Panzer Regiment described: "On June 24, we encountered the terrible KV1 and KV2 tanks on the main road to Leningrad, and we did not even respond from a distance of 800 meters. up to a distance of 50 meters. Our shells are still being missed. KV tanks don't look at us at all. Drove past us to attack the infantry. As a result, we had to turn around and catch up behind! Until at a distance of 30 meters, we will be able to break some of them from behind with Pzgr40 tungsten core armor-piercing shells! ’

Although the commanders and fighters of our army showed great bravery, because most of our tank divisions were old BT tanks and T26 tanks, and the German 6th Panzer Division also deployed artillery and tanks on the high ground to flank the attack, our army was finally defeated on the evening of June 24.

I learned from captured German intelligence that a total of 29 KV1 and KV2 tanks were destroyed, but most of them were trapped in soft and wet areas and other technical reasons, and one of them was hit by more than 70 guns. None of them penetrate! The 113-mm anti-tank guns of the 37th Tank Destroyer Battalion of the German Panzergrenadier Regiment were all crushed. ”

Hearing this, General Starikov couldn't help but interject and asked: "Major Oshanina, I want to ask, what happened to this brilliant KV2 tank?" ”

I sighed and continued with some regret: "Due to the defeat of our army in the battle with the Germans, we had to withdraw from the battlefield. In this way, the German 6th Panzer Division sent a tank platoon from the bridgehead to the crossroads where the lone KV2 was stationed and hid in the bushes. At this point on the other side of the intersection. The Germans again brought an 88-mm anti-aircraft gun from the city of Lasyenia in order to distract our tank crews. The German tank platoon was constantly firing at it in the rear, and the 88-mm guns on the front took the opportunity to get into position and hit the KV2 tank with 6 shots in a row. After the smoke cleared, the tanks of our army did not burn. The German tankmen, thinking that our tanks had been destroyed, jumped down to confirm the results, but to their great surprise: only 2 of the 6 88-mm shells pierced the armor of the KV2, and 7 very shallow pits were confirmed, all of which were left by 50-mm shells, and the 37-mm shells did not leave even a single hole. Just as the Germans were checking and preparing to board the KV2, the tank turret began to rotate! Frightened, the German tank crews had to run with the turret so as not to be hit by our machine-guns. At the end, the KV2 turret hatch, which had no ammunition, was pried open by German sappers, and the tankers in the car were killed by the grenades thrown by the enemy. ”

When I finished telling the story of this post that I had seen in the military forums of later generations, everyone was silent, not knowing whether they felt sorry for the defeat of our army or felt sorry for the few tankmen who died.

After a long time, Meretskov asked, "What do you think after listening to what Major Oshanina said?" ”

Starikov looked left and right, and then said with some hesitation: "Comrade General, if what Major Oshanina said is true, then the plan she just proposed, using KV tanks to open the road and cover the infantry units to attack the high ground, I personally think that there is still a certain degree of feasibility." Speaking of this, he turned his head again and asked Golovchnier beside him: "What do you think?" Comrade Chief of Staff. ”

Golovchnier thought for a while, and said with some concern: "At the moment, our KV tanks have no ammunition, even if they rush to the positions of the German army and can crush those artillery, but they are still helpless against those strong fortifications." ”

Hearing that the chief of staff of the army group was worried about the lack of ammunition for the tank, Meretskov laughed, and he raised his voice and said to Golovchner: "Comrade Colonel, you don't have to worry about the lack of ammunition for the tank, this problem has been solved in the discussion just now. ”

"The ammunition of the KV tank was solved?" Golovchnier asked Starikov with some disbelief: "Comrade commander, is this true?" ”

Starikov nodded vigorously and said affirmatively: "Yes, Comrade Chief of Staff." Before you returned, Major Oshanina offered to use the shells of those heavy howitzers, which were destroyed by the Germans, on our KV tanks. ”

"Is it possible to give howitzer shells to tanks?"

"I have called the brigade commander of the tank brigade to confirm it, and he said that the shells of the two are the same."

After listening to Starikov's words, Golovchnier stood up abruptly and said with some excitement: "Great, comrade commander, since the problem of ammunition for tanks has been solved, then we can quickly relaunch the offensive on the heights." ”

Meretskov smiled and asked him: "Comrade Colonel, I would like to hear what plans you have?" ”

Golovchnier straightened up and said confidently: "Comrade General, I intend to let the tank troops attack first, and when the tanks wade through the minefield and clear the passage for the infantry, the infantry will attack." At this time, the tanks stopped at the front and destroyed the German fortified fire points one by one with artillery fire, covering the infantry attack on the high ground. ”

Hearing him say this, Meretskov half-jokingly said at him: "Comrade Colonel, aren't you afraid that the tanks of our army will stop at the front and be hit by German anti-tank guns and anti-tank men as targets now?" ”

Golovchnier laughed embarrassedly a few times, then straightened up again and asked Meretskov seriously: "Comrade General, allow me to go to the front line and command this attack?" ”

Meretskov glanced at Starikov, and when he saw that the latter bowed slightly, he smiled and said to Golovchner: "Go, Colonel." Your commander and I stayed in the headquarters to await news of your victory. ”

Golovchnier replied loudly: "Please rest assured, comrade commander, I promise to complete the task." After saying that, after saluting, he strode out of the headquarters. (To be continued......)

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