Chapter 246: Sword Pointed at Uritsk

The Fritz battle group, which was not well prepared and attacked lightly, suffered a heavy loss from the Soviet heavy tanks when it was caught off guard. This undoubtedly taught the entire German Northern Army Group a good lesson.

The Soviet tanks that were rumored to have been lost in the besieged Leningrad theater have reappeared! And it is a complete heavy tank cluster, which has repelled the mechanized mixed battle group led by Major General Fritz, which has half an armored division and two infantry divisions.

Such news is undoubtedly a great shock to the German army, which originally thought that all the Soviet tanks in the besieged theater had been wiped out.

Even after Marshal Leb had ordered the news of the destruction of the Kirov tank factory to be widely announced in the army, it still could not stop some ordinary German soldiers from spreading rumors in private.

"Hey, have you heard? The Russian heavy tanks are back again! It is said that there are dozens of them, which is equal to the number of half an armored division! The Russian heavy tanks acted together and even defeated the mixed armored battle group commanded by Major General Fritz. Everyone knows that Major General Fritz is Marshal Loeb's confidant and favorite general."

"Oh, my God. Those Ivan heavy tanks are so terrible! Every time I see these roaring steel monsters, I can remember the first time I saw a tiger in the Berlin Zoo when I was a child. Why don't our armored forces have such powerful heavy tanks, but only those square-shaped Type 3 and Type 4 tanks that look like lunch boxes."

"You are too isolated from the news! I When I was on vacation last week and returned home, my friend who works at the Nibelungen factory told me that Dr. Porsche is said to be designing a new heavy tank that is enough to overwhelm all the current tanks in the hands of Ivan. Even the head of state is very interested in this new heavy tank! If nothing goes wrong, it will be put into production by the end of this year or next year, at least that's what he told me in the pub. "

Whether it is the fear of Soviet heavy tanks or the desire for similar equipment, the real battle example of the KV1 heavy tank that was able to stand and retreat unscathed in the face of more than a dozen German tanks at the beginning of the war alone has already told the German army in the most realistic way the terribleness of this heavy tank, which was the most powerful in the world in 1941.

The simple destruction of the Kirov Tank Factory does not mean the annihilation of this terrible Soviet heavy tank unit. On the entire Leningrad front, because the Soviet tank units disappeared, the German army, which had been comfortable for a while, had to cheer up and be careful again.

After all, the Fritz battle group has used the most real battle example to illustrate what a miserable end it would be if one neglected to guard against the Soviet heavy tank units.

If you don't want to end up like him, you'd better be alert.

He had no idea that the Germans were extremely vigilant because of the arrival of their own heavy tank units. He still felt a little scared about the hellish bombardment in the tsunami a moment ago. He leaned out of the turret and held a telescope in his hand to observe the surrounding situation. He gradually regained his calm expression.

"After all the trouble, there are only these 28 KV1s and 4 T34s left. Oh, yes, there is also the extended version of the T35."

Malachenko, who was muttering this headache-inducing name in his heart, couldn't help but look back at the "extended Lincoln" at the end of the team. The rough and clumsy appearance and the ridiculously slow forward speed were simply unmatched in the eyes of Malachenko, a later time traveler.

"Although it is true that having a tank is better than getting off the car and serving as an infantryman, does this principle really apply to this extended version of the T35? Hey"

The super-long chassis that was stretched to the size of a bus because it was equipped with five turrets was not conducive to mobility and combat, but the T35 heavy tank showed its unique and super-strong shining point during the current march - the number of people it could carry.

The Soviet infantry, who did not have equipment like the German SDKFZ251 half-track armored personnel carrier, could only use the tank external mounting method to hold the handrails or hang on the outside of the tank if they wanted to find a means of transportation other than walking.

In this way, the super-long chassis of the T35 heavy tank, which was ridiculed by Malashenko as an "extended version of a facelift coffin", came into play. There were more than 30 Soviet infantry sitting on the five turrets or directly leaning on the rear half of the chassis to brag and smoke. The dense external mountings filled the entire tank body like an Indian train in later generations, and combined with the huge body of the T35 heavy tank, it looked spectacular.

The external mounting of infantry like the T35 heavy tank was not just an exception. All the surviving tanks under the entire independent first heavy tank breakthrough battalion were full of accompanying infantry. These majestic tank knights were the 21st Border Defense Infantry Division of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, which was previously rescued by Malashenko's troops in times of crisis.

"Lieutenant Colonel Malashenko, our division commander and political commissar told us at the mobilization meeting that you are the undisputed number one tank hero in Leningrad, and you saved our division in the last critical moment. Can you talk to us?"

When people are idle, they will find something to do out of boredom, and the border guards on the engine compartment of Malashenko's car are the same.

Being so close to the Red Army tank hero published on the second page of Pravda has obviously aroused the curiosity and heroic spirit of these young border guards.

I can't remember how many times I have been asked about this topic in less than a month. Malashenko, who leaned out of the tank turret to observe the situation, was about to brew a cliché to give an answer, but a sudden whistling sound of propellers from a distance in the sky interrupted Malashenko's thoughts.

"No, that's not a German plane! That's our Red Army's own Il-2!"

The moment he heard the whistling sound of the propeller, he immediately raised the telescope in his hand and pointed it at the distant horizon where the sound came from. Two rugged and powerful Il-2 attack aircraft immediately appeared in Malashenko's field of vision.

One of the Il-2 aircraft was flying shakily as if it was drunk, and thick black smoke was coming out of the engine compartment of the nose. It was obviously too damaged and was about to stall and make an emergency landing.

After putting down the telescope in his hand, Malashenko barely hesitated and blurted out an unquestionable order.

"All crews, stop moving forward and stand by! I repeat, all crews, stop moving forward and stand by!"