Chapter 1899 I Have a Division, You Have Eight Regiments

Malachenko did not intend to stop the offensive after achieving a little success. Breaking through the first outermost position of the Germans after being covered by artillery fire was just the beginning of everything. At best, it could only be regarded as a warm-up exercise. The real attack to make the Germans remember was about to begin. Read

"Attention, all crews, let the infantry get back on the car, we continue the attack! The target is the second line of defense of the Germans, which has only received limited artillery fire extension, and there is no time to wait for the next wave of artillery fire. It is expected that there will be stubborn resistance from the enemy, so all of you should keep your eyes open and cheer up, let's fight quickly!"

The Germans, who have long been on the strategic defensive, are now becoming more and more adept at defensive operations. The most prominent point is reflected in the construction of systematic defensive positions, which are deployed in a way that is extremely targeted at the characteristics of the Soviet offensive.

The foolish defensive warfare of the past, which put all the treasures on the first and only line of defense, without any deep defense, and was equivalent to losing everything as long as one line was penetrated, no longer exists and has changed.

The Germans are not stubborn and inflexible fools. Although the systematic deep defense mode learned from the Soviet army is not as superb as the inventor of this tactic, that is, the Soviet army itself, the Germans have indeed understood some of the inner core and not just learned the fur.

The role played by the first line of defense now is more like a buffer zone to buy reaction time for the second line of defense after the bombardment.

In order to avoid those expensive and clumsy technical weapons being blown up in the first wave of bombardment, the Germans, who have been beaten and remembered, have concentrated most of the heavy weapons, which are the backbone of the defense of the position, on the second and third lines of defense.

This also meant that the already weak heavy firepower on the first line of defense would be quickly wiped out after the Soviet artillery fire fell. After all, people can hide in anti-artillery caves, but those heavy technical weapons that can only be deployed in advance cannot.

In other words, this means that the German troops left behind on the first line of defense are basically sending themselves to death. They are using their lives to warn their comrades behind them and buy time. In any case, this is a bit unfair to those stationed on the first line of defense.

But from the perspective of command decision-making, it can only be done this way. It is better to die a small number of people than to sacrifice all the troops.

The terrible and destructive artillery fire of the Russians will always have to be vented. Instead of everyone crowding together and being bombed, it is better to sacrifice a small number of people to create an outlet that can attract this destructive artillery fire. At least doing so is more conducive to defense and has a greater chance of winning the battle.

Some things have to be done by someone, and whether it is fair or not is no longer important at this time.

In other words, even if the German troops stationed on the first line of defense ran away after the battle began, this was an acceptable and expected situation.

As long as they could withdraw and buy enough time for the second line of defense, which was also hit by the extended artillery fire but suffered less damage, to reorganize the defense, the troops withdrawn from the first line of defense could also strengthen the strength of the second line of defense to a certain extent. Why not do this?

If the situation was better and there were mobile armored units on hand, the German commander would even use a fast-moving infantry-tank coordinated mechanized battle group to support the first line of defense after the Soviet artillery fire was ready and the first line of defense began to engage the enemy, trying to give the Soviet offensive forces a wake-up call and beat them back without giving up an inch of land.

But none of the above situations exist today, let alone can be achieved.

The Stalin Guards First Tank Division, which attacked at a very fast speed and with destructive offensive energy, did not give the German side any time to run away and support.

The second defensive position, which was hit hard by the extended artillery fire, had not yet been fully reorganized and prepared, and the German troops stationed on the first defensive position had already been defeated. Except for a small number of stragglers who took advantage of the chaos to escape back to the second defensive position, there was no organized troop to withdraw, not even an ordinary infantry company.

You know, the first defensive position, although the heavy firepower was not perfect, had two infantry regiments deployed.

It took less than half an hour to declare the position lost, and was eaten clean by a group of brutal Russians who were unknown. Such a cruel reality made the Wehrmacht major general who set up the field command on the second defensive position shudder, fearing that he had encountered a group of fierce Russians who really couldn't afford to offend.

"We still have six regiments left, three of which are understaffed and have only about half the troops to be replenished."

"We can't hold out for even half a day with the way we fought just now, General. The people who withdrew from the first position said that the tanks that the Russians put into the battle were simply overwhelming, with hundreds of them, and most of them were extremely difficult to deal with heavy tanks. We have to think of a way quickly, at least to apply for some necessary support."

The nagging of the chief of staff next to him made Major General Schmidt's already headache head feel like it was about to split. The telescope in his hand was thrown casually on the already messy table like an unpleasant burden. Major General Schmidt, who felt his body was unusually heavy, just sighed helplessly.

"Where is the support? The Air Force has long since withdrawn from the front-line field airports. Their limited forces simply cannot cope with the overwhelming Russian aircraft. The telegram said that their force ratio in the sky is often one to three or even one to four. Note that this is only the number of fighters, and other aircraft types are not included."

"The Russian Air Force's deterrence action has already begun, but it is much faster than their ground forces. The purpose is to scare away our Air Force."

Major General Schmidt's helpless lament was as distraught as if he had lost his soul, but the chief of staff who still had fighting spirit on the side was still unwilling to give up.

"So this is the result? The Russians wanted to scare them away, and these cowards were really scared away? They didn't even have the courage to fight and just abandoned their comrades on the ground!?"

No matter whether the chief of staff said it in anger or not, Major General Schmidt felt it necessary to emphasize one last sentence to his partner who already knew the situation.

"What else can we do if we're not scared away? This is the intimidation of absolute strength. It has been like this since half of the Air Force was withdrawn to the Western Front. We have always been losing ground. Even if we let the Air Force fight the Russians to the bitter end, nothing will change. You know this."