Chapter 882 Bridgehead Assault

The Don River Bridge connecting the north and south lines will definitely become a thorn in the eye and a thorn in the flesh that the Russians must seize. Only the party that controls the Don River Bridge can connect the troops on the north and south lines together, which means completely closing the encirclement for the Russians.

Otherwise, the German army will always have a chance to break out. Paulus, who is not very capable and has poor command skills, can clearly realize this with his background as a senior consultant.

The order to place explosives on the Don River Bridge and blow up the bridge immediately if the situation is not good was issued by Paulus himself to the Karachi defenders, and now is the best time to execute Paulus's order.

In the chaos of gunfire, the order to blow up the bridge was received. Several panicked German soldiers were about to get out from behind the machine gun bunker to get things done, but the scene of the bridgehead control room in front of them was full of flames, which made several people stunned on the spot.

"The bridge control room was blown up by Russian tanks! The detonator is inside, we can't blow up the bridge now!"

Malachenko guessed correctly. There was only one man-made building on the bare bridge. Even a fool would know that the detonator was probably placed inside.

The IS1 heavy tanks turned their turrets and fired a few shots, turning the bridge control room into a flaming coffin. It was unknown whether the Germans had piled ammunition or gasoline inside. The flames were obviously not something that could be produced by a few 85mm high-explosive bombs. The fantasy idea of ​​blowing up the bridge had completely said goodbye to the German army.

The German commander of the bridgehead, who learned that the bridge bombing had become a mirage, did not react for a while to what to do next. The Soviet heavy tanks that roared across the bridge at full throttle had already crushed the roadblocks across the bridge, and they were flaming and flaming in the panic shouting of the German soldiers.

The German commander, who was in shock, could see it clearly.

The leading Soviet heavy tank had already removed the air force identification flag that had just been covered on the outside of the turret. After the red and black Nazi flag was blown away by the strong wind, the Soviet Guards logo and a red and white bear head hidden under the flag immediately appeared in front of him, and the number 177 painted on the front armor of the vehicle was even more eye-catching.

These Russians actually used such a simple method to deceive their own checkpoints. Those disguised Soviet soldiers wearing M35 helmets, German winter uniforms, holding MP40s and Mauser 98Ks in their hands, and shouting Ura looked even more mocking.

The dark and windy night and the negligence of the German army eventually led to the tragedy in front of them. The first batch of mass-produced IS1 heavy tanks, which had just been put into actual combat and had never been seen by the German army, happened to catch the perfect opportunity when a group of new German heavy tanks crossed the bridge during the day, and took the last train that could get through.

Malashenko didn't know what kind of enemy would be waiting for him in the next battle. The only priority at the moment was to get rid of the group of German infantrymen who had been beaten and ran around as soon as possible.

"Iushkin, report the type of bullets you need and fire at will! Seryosha drives the car to where there are many Germans and clean it up as soon as possible!"

Before he finished speaking, he opened the turret hatch above his head and leaned out. He reached out and grabbed the 7mm DShK heavy machine gun on the roof and immediately began to splash water wantonly, pouring a barrage of death on any German infantrymen within the visible field of vision amid the huge gunfire.

All Soviet infantrymen who participated in the camouflage raid wore red armbands on their right arms as the only way to identify the enemy and avoid accidental injuries. They were the identification marks that they took out of their pockets and put on immediately after the raid began.

However, how much this method can really work is not something that Malashenko, the proposer of the method, can clearly say. In a chaotic situation, it can only be said that they did their best.

The bridgehead here was in flames and chaos, and the shouts of killing mixed with various gunshots and explosions were loud.

Major Baker on the other side of the bridgehead had just assembled his team and had led his team to the other side of the bridge to prepare for the battle.

Major Baker, who was in the middle of the team, estimated that he had just run less than a hundred meters. The whole team was moving forward near the center of the bridge. A steel roar accompanied by the sound of wind suddenly came to his ears from behind. A shell that broke through the wind and whistled exploded in the middle of the team before Major Baker looked back.

Boom--

"Ah!!!"

The moment the explosion sounded, he felt as if he was punched hard, flew backwards, and his eyes went black. Major Baker struggled to climb up from the ground with a blurred consciousness. The first thing he saw was a half-body that was blown off in front of him.

"Ah--save me, save me, who will save me?"

The half-body of the German soldier with a large pile of bloody abdominal organs hanging on the ground had not finished speaking, and his ferocious and desperate expression was completely frozen by the extremely cold temperature of more than 30 degrees below zero. The entire upper body was leaning against the iron railings of the bridge with blood frozen, while the lower body had disappeared. The scene looked extremely horrifying.

Major Baker realized that there were still enemies attacking from behind, and with the help of a soldier who came to support him, he quickly stood up from the ground and looked up in the direction of the bridgehead where he had just been on duty.

Lavrinenko, who no longer needed to hide anything, led the large troops of the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Brigade with their car lights on, and the roaring diesel engines even overcame the biting cold wind to occupy the absolute home court.

The scene of dozens of IS1 heavy tanks from the forward force charging together was hundreds of thousands of times more terrifying than the scene of a group of abyssal monsters rushing out of a dark fog.

What is surprising is that the fastest ones running at the front of the team are not these big IS1 heavy tanks, but the T70 Xiaoding directly under the brigade headquarters of the 1st Guards Heavy Tank Brigade. These vehicles have been replaced with winter equipment. The little ones with crawler tracks and galloping across the snowy fields are far more maneuverable than the IS1.

The 45mm cannon was firing suppressively from a long distance away. It was not very powerful, but it hit the bridge with shrapnel flying everywhere. It really pinned a group of German infantry to the ground and scared them.

"Baker, it's the Russian army! We've been tricked, you'd better have a clear plan for the next step!"

Major Baker, who was also pinned to the ground and did not dare to move, was thinking rapidly. The classic philosophy of survival or destruction was once again testing people's hearts at this final moment of life and death.