Chapter 24: Battle with Broad (Part 2)

There was a busy scene on the first tank company position of a regiment located at the forefront of the starting position of the entire 20th Tank Division of the Soviet Army. They had just directed their crew members to refuel and load their No. 177 command T34 tank. After finishing all the preparations for the attack, Malashenko immediately picked up the telescope in his hand and looked towards the not-so-distant town of Broad.

A few kilometers away within the field of view of the telescope, this small plain town in Ukraine has now become the possession and troop base of the German army.

As for the number and combat effectiveness of the German troops stationed in the town opposite, Malashenko, who had traveled day and night and led his troops to rush here in a hurry, had no time to catch his tongue for interrogation and did not receive relevant instructions from his superiors. All he knows is that he will attack in the next few hours until these crispy invaders are completely crushed.

Although the telescope in his hand has a low magnification and the target is far away, Malashenko, who opened his eyes wide, still vaguely saw something valuable with his good eyesight.

On the outskirts of the town, the German army, which firmly grasped absolute air supremacy in the early days of the Soviet-German war, had already learned about the movements of the Soviet Southwest Front through aerial reconnaissance reports. They were able to take advantage of this opportunity and gap to set up tight anti-tank defense positions and a crisscross trench transportation network outside Broad Town to deal with the Soviet offensive.

Obviously, no matter how large or powerful the German troops stationed in Broad Town are, at least from this alone it can be seen that the commander of this German troops is a very cautious general. It is definitely not good news for Malashenko, who is about to launch the first wave of attacks as the sharp knife force of the entire division.

"In the Mahler Gobi, can't you let me meet a few soft persimmons from Germany to increase my chances of survival? Why are they all so hard to crack!? It's really fucked!"

Vaguely hearing some unintelligible content muttered by his commander, Kirill, who was crawling in the starting position with Malashenko to join in the fun, couldn't help but speak curiously.

"Sir, what did you see?"

"Nothing. Those damn Germans are forcing the civilians in Broad Town at gunpoint to dig holes and build temporary fortifications and trenches for them. The longer it takes, the worse it will be for our attack! There is nothing to see here. Come on, pack up, let’s get in the car and get ready to go!”

As soon as Malashenko finished speaking, before Malashenko could finish his words, a thunderous roar suddenly sounded from the rear of the Soviet starting position, instantly tearing apart the quiet sky. The soldiers of the Soviet and German armies suddenly burst out in astonishment. to.

After hearing the sudden thunder, Malashenko was slightly startled, and he immediately realized what the sound represented. Then he turned his head and said repeatedly to Kirill beside him.

"Quick, Kirill, follow me back to the car and get ready to go. As soon as the bombardment is ready to stop, we must launch an attack immediately. There is no room for any delay, so move quickly!"

In fact, just as Malashenko said now, these voices that suddenly sounded in everyone's ears after tearing apart the quiet sky unexpectedly were none other than those gathered from Lutsk to Brod. The Soviet Southwest Front Army on the front had a total of five mechanized corps, and they carried out army-level artillery preparations before officially launching the attack.

The Soviet army's artillery preparations, which had always adhered to the supremacy of artillery doctrine, had never been a piece of cake.

Although the five mechanized corps of the Soviet Southwest Front Army, which worked day and night and hurriedly rushed to the front to initiate the battle, were not at their peak level in terms of the number of heavy artillery carried and the base number of artillery shells.

But even so, after the five mechanized armies were gathered together, the Soviet army still mobilized more than 800 artillery pieces of various types on a narrow front of only tens of kilometers from Lutsk to Brod, including many artillery units belonging to the group army. The battalion, an organic independent artillery unit that was extremely rare in the Soviet military system, joined it.

As a group-level artillery force directly under the Soviet Army's existing system in 1941, the Soviet group-level artillery battalion equipped with 12 B-4 203mm heavy howitzers is definitely the most powerful in the entire Soviet field artillery sequence. Troops, no one.

The huge caliber and super-heavyweight gun body make this powerful beast of Soviet artillery weigh an astonishing 8 tons. In order to drive the heavy body of the B-4 203mm heavy howitzer, the design and development team had to prepare for this kind of gun. The huge cannon is mounted on a "Comintern" crawler tractor chassis to improve its battlefield mobility and road passability.

With the giant gun itself and the tracked chassis, the total combat weight of the final mass-produced B-4 203mm heavy howitzer has reached an astonishing over 26 tons, which is equivalent to a T34 tank! This is undoubtedly a very alarming weight for the B4 howitzer, which still needs to be towed by a tractor to be mobile rather than a self-propelled artillery.

The high cost and manufacturing cost and the clumsy and slow maneuverability make this Soviet giant artillery, which is extremely valuable and only equipped to the artillery battalion level directly under the group army, rarely appear in frontline battles.

But at the moment, in order to stop and destroy the German Southern Army Group that rushed towards Kiev, a major city in the southern part of the Soviet Union, the Soviet army, which was bloodthirsty, naturally went all out. All the heavy artillery of all calibers that were kept in the bottom of the box were pulled out and thrown into this battle, including the army-level artillery battalions of the two battalions.

Including the A19 122mm cannon and the ML20 152mm howitzer to the most lethal B4 203mm howitzer, the Soviet army deployed dozens of artillery positions on the narrow front from Lutsk to Brod, with a total of more than 800 heavy artillery of various calibers, almost roaring at full force.

The deafening sound of the guns went straight to the sky and shook the earth. The defensive position of the German First Armored Group, which was suddenly attacked by the Soviet artillery, was instantly engulfed in a sea of ​​fire.

In the former town government office building in the center of Brod, the German troops who occupied this place had transformed it into the headquarters of the division a day ago.

And now, feeling the powerful force of the Soviet artillery attack that was almost enough to shake the earth, a middle-aged man wearing the rank of SS group leader in the newly built command room of the former town government office building couldn't help but stand unsteadily and exclaimed.

"Oh my God, did these Ivans put Stalin in the barrel and fired it? Alfred! Give me a report on the front line, quickly!"