Empire in Progress

Chapter 421: Attack on Moscow (2)

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"Have the Gestapo division set up a cordon thirty kilometers outside of Moscow. Without my order, if you see the troops withdrawing from Moscow, I will shoot them all!" Lin Wei thought for a while and asked, "Moscow City There’s nothing wrong with the district’s map!”

"It has been transferred to the regiment level, there should be no problem!" Crawford's voice came from the wireless.

"Very well, you must pay attention to a few points after entering Moscow. First, don't worry about civilians. As long as he appears in front of you with a weapon, he is your enemy! Even if his weapon is a toothpick. Second, according to the method of conquering Kiev Experience, the buildings in the city will be artificially changed, you have to destroy the false military facilities and provide correct guidance for the air force's bombing!" Lin Wei ordered lightly. Hearing a loud understanding, Lin Wei closed his eyes. He said, sitting leisurely in the Tiger tank and slowly following the tank group.

The Tiger tank with thick armor and an 88mm main gun provided Lin Wei with a relatively safe environment. Although the air inside the tank was a bit turbid, when faced with the question of whether life was more important or enjoyment, Lin Wei still used his fearless attitude. The spirit endured it all. The Fifth SS Group Army chose to attack in the northwest of Moscow. The dense forest here had been bombed so far that not even the roots of the trees were left. The damp ground was even blasted out of the original hard ground with craters. The smoking crater showed how violent the shelling had been.

But the armored soldiers who were used to running on the great plains of Western Europe were still intolerable to this kind of concrete ground that was both water and mud. The attacking armored groups often got stuck in the mud and could not move, and had to rely on the following infantry to get them out of the pits. Some armored soldiers who had participated in the Battle of Dunkirk suddenly thought of the swamps in northern France, but they had to admit it. What's more, the road conditions in the swamps in France are much better than here, and the bad roads even played a greater role than the Soviet Red Army.

After finally breaking through the most difficult section of the road, the armored group met their opponent. A T34 tank of the Mechanized Army was waiting for the tank of the Fifth Armored Group. It seemed that these Soviet troops had already expected that Germany would pass through that section of the road. expression of embarrassment. When the German tanks just passed through the muddy road, two hundred T34s opened fire first, preparing to give these invaders a decisive blow. Coordinated with Soviet artillery, this strike really caught the Imperial Division that rushed out first by surprise.

However, the attack carried out while the foothold is not stable will not last long, because the quality of German armored troops is much higher than that of Soviet tank troops. Moreover, there has not been a situation here where Germany relied on Panzer III and Panzer IV tanks as the main force in history. Germany is not only tactically It has an advantage in terms of weapon quality and has not suffered from historical embarrassment in terms of weapon quality. Therefore, the air volume of this attack can only cause some damage to the Imperial Division, but it is far from serious damage.

If you ask German armored soldiers what kind of battle they like best, most armored soldiers will answer that tank-on-tank battle. When the quality of tanks was at a disadvantage, they were still able to use tactics to win, not to mention now that they have a double advantage. The defeat of the Soviet Sixteenth Group Army has shown that even if they have heroic soldiers, they cannot withstand modern armored forces if they do not have matching weapon systems.

The exchange of fire was immediately known to General Paul Hausser. On the one hand, General Paul Hausser ordered the 2nd Armored Battalion, which was attacked first, to hold on. On the other hand, General Paul Hausser ordered The infantry that followed were ordered to cooperate with the armored forces to stabilize the defense, and other units were ordered to detour back to the flank of the Soviet troops. However, due to unexpected circumstances, General Paul Hausser also knew that the 2nd Armored Battalion would definitely suffer heavy losses. Quite simply, the quantitative comparison between the two sides was too great. The Soviet tank force could use its huge quantity to make up for the lack of quality. .

However, the soldiers of the 2nd Armored Battalion did not think so. Although they were greatly outnumbered, the SS soldiers whose life was war still had to fight to the death. Relying on the swamp behind them, they immediately assumed a comprehensive defense posture. . The infantry used some obstacles as shelter because there was no time to dig trenches for them.

The Panther tank is not without reason the best German tank in World War II. Although the body shape is imitated by the T-34 tank, the front armor plate and side armor plate of the Panther tank have a larger inclination, and the weight is 40 The defense power of the Panther tank is far higher than that of the T34. The driver of the Panther tank is located on the left side of the front of the vehicle. There is a hatch above it with two periscopes in front of the door. On his right is the electromechanical operator. There is an access door above the electromechanical operator with two periscopes in front of the door. There is a barrel-shaped command tower installed on the left rear of the top of the turret. There is no periscope on the command tower, only a lookout slit. Its artillery is equipped with explosive charge armor-piercing projectiles and steel-core warhead armor-piercing projectiles. The muzzle velocity of the explosive charge armor-piercing projectiles is 925m/s. When the hit angle is 90 degrees at a distance of 900m, the armor-piercing thickness is 133mm. The muzzle velocity of the steel-core armor-piercing projectile is 1120m/s. When the hit angle is 90 degrees at a distance of 900m, the armor-piercing thickness is 170mm. The artillery sight is a TZF12 binocular sight. The vehicle can carry 79 rounds of artillery shells and 2,500 rounds of machine gun shells. The mobile device adopts a double torsion bar independent suspension device and a hydraulic shock absorber. There are 8 road wheels on each side of the car body. The road wheels are divided into two rows and arranged in a staggered manner, with the driving wheel in front and the idler wheel in the rear. The crawler track is hinged, can be equipped with anti-skid teeth, and is 660mm wide. In addition, its transmission device is mechanical, and the gearbox is ZF's AK7-200 type, with seven forward gears and one reverse gear.

The Panther's 75mm KwK42L/70 tank gun has a hit rate of 90% at 1,000 meters. I don’t know if it’s an exaggeration, but the accuracy is indeed very high, so there should be no doubt about it. The T34-85 inherits the simplicity of the T34 series, the harsh processing environment and process problems, which makes its accuracy very low. This is also the reason why the T34 uses a diesel engine because the diesel engine shock absorption technology was not mature during World War II. Although diesel engines were used. It has many advantages, but it requires a large sacrifice in accuracy. As a result, the T34 tank can only accurately hit enemy tanks within 500 meters.

The Panther tank has the upper hand in terms of mobility, defense, and firepower. However, the Panther tank also has its own disadvantages, that is, it is disadvantaged in terms of reliability and range. This has always been a problem with German tanks. Generally speaking, the Panther tank is still stronger than the T34 tank. If the conditions of both parties are equal, an exchange ratio of one to three is very common.

As soon as the battle began, the entire battlefield showed an obviously one-sided situation. A large number of Soviet tanks surrounded the German tanks. However, the battle process was surprising, because the Soviet tanks that were hit and burned, and lost their combat effectiveness were far more powerful than the German tanks. There were far more German tanks. The German infantry hiding in hidden locations are also using their anti-tank weapons to attack the side armor of the T34, and the effect seems to be very good.

As the battle progressed, the Soviet tank's numerical advantage was brought into play. Every German tank fired one shell, and it had to withstand the attack of four or five Soviet tank shells. Even the Panther tank's superior defense could not withstand it. Survive this attack. The battle was clearly moving in favor of the Soviet Union. But this does not mean that the German armored soldiers gave up resistance and climbed out of the scrapped tanks. The survivors were still trying to cause trouble for the Soviets as much as possible. Since the outbreak of the original war, this situation has generally been played by Soviet soldiers. Tragic role, but today, the protagonist has changed. It is the turn of the German soldiers to use unnecessary courage to resist the Soviet steel offensive.

All the fighting SS soldiers absolutely believed that they would win the final victory. This confidence came from the armored cluster behind them. No one could think of a party with nearly two thousand Panther tanks. The Fifth Guards Army would fail, or in other words, they would not even think of a reason for their failure. Every SS soldier knew that the Soviet Union was at the end of its rope and they could now even see the capital. Now Germany is only one step away from the final victory, and they will not allow themselves to fall short in the last step.

Many soldiers hide behind the scrapped tanks, resisting the shooting of Soviet tanks. Maybe in a minute, maybe in a second, they will lose their lives, but these soldiers are not afraid of death. If they are afraid of death, they will He won't go to the battlefield.

At an absolute disadvantage, the SS soldiers who still kept fighting back brought a huge shock to the Soviet soldiers. These German soldiers seemed to be different from what was advertised. In their propaganda, the six soldiers from the beginning of the war In the past month, Germany has lost three million troops, morale has been extremely low, and many soldiers have become war-weary. But now it seems to them that this is not the case. (Stalin once gave a speech, announcing that the Soviet army had lost more than 1.7 million people in the four months since the war began (350,000 dead, 1 million injured, 370,000 missing), killing and wounding 4 One and a half million German troops.) These soldiers in black uniforms were more fanatical than any army I had ever seen. They would do anything for victory, which deeply shocked the Soviet Red Army, which had an absolute advantage.

In just half an hour of fighting, all eighteen Panther tanks of the armored battalion were scrapped, but their results were also very obvious. The wreckage of forty or fifty T34 tanks fell on the offensive road. At this moment, the Empire The 2nd Armored Regiment of the Division launched an attack from the flank of the Soviet Guards Mechanized Corps. They arrived at the right time and appeared on the battlefield just when the Guards Mechanized Corps was at its most paralyzed. Compared with the tanks of the 2nd Armored Battalion, this German unit is obviously much more powerful.

It’s still tanks versus tanks, it’s still Panther tanks versus T34, but this time the results are very different. When T34 does not have an absolute advantage in quantity and is completely inferior in quality to the Panther tank group, it is naturally impossible to replicate the victory just now. . Of course, they still performed as bravely as ever. But this time bravery could not change the outcome of the battle, just like the situation with the Second Armored Battalion just now.

The Second Armored Regiment exchanged for the total destruction of the Guards Mechanized Corps at the cost of twenty-eight tanks being destroyed. In the remaining time, they had to wait for the Imperial Division's troops and then attack Moscow. At another attack point, the Viking Division also successfully gained a foothold. The Imperial Division and the Viking Division had established a solid forward position for the follow-up troops of the Fifth SS Army. They will wait for the troops of the three divisions of gendarmerie, police and skeletons to follow before attacking Moscow.

Three hours later, other troops had completely passed through the swamp area. It was already three o'clock in the afternoon. Before it was dark, Lin Wei ordered the Imperial Division and the Viking Division to march to Moscow immediately, at least to give Stalin a warning. The German army has arrived, are you ready

After Lin Wei considered it, he telegraphed General Paul Hausser, "The Imperial Division passes through the Voloskomsk Highway, and the Viking Division passes through the Leningrad Highway. The two divisions will try to control the northwest city of Moscow. At the Academy of Sciences Rendezvous on the street, eliminate the Soviet Red Army and militia in the northwest! The task of the Imperial Division is very important. It must control the Tushino railway station on the Voloskomsk Highway and cut off the Volkhov Front's possible support troops via the railway! The Viking Division must be careful when attacking, the Soviet Red Army may blow up the dam of the Khimki Reservoir, so be vigilant! Occupy the northwest city and open the door to victory for the empire!"

At the same time, Lin Wei telegraphed Marshal Bock, "The Fifth SS Armored Group Army will firmly attract the Soviet Red Army's large forces in Moscow. Marshal Bock, the safety of the Fifth SS Armored Group Army completely depends on Army Group Center." Can the strategic goal of the group be achieved! If Army Group Center successfully encircles the Soviet Western Front and Reserve Front, the Fifth SS Panzer Army will be safe. On the contrary, I may become the first and possibly the last in Germany since the war began. A fallen commander-in-chief! In order to make progress smoothly, I hope that the National Defense Forces can launch an attack southeast of Moscow, that is, northeast of Army Group Center, so that we can smoothly break into Moscow! If everything goes well, in a week , Army Group Center can launch scheduled attacks from the north and south!"

Half an hour later, Lin Wei received a call back from Marshal Bock, "I guarantee with my personal destiny that the SS troops who broke into Moscow and you yourself, the Wehrmacht will give you the final support and guarantee. I have ordered Guderian to initiate Good luck with the offense, little guy!”

Now the straight-line distance between Linwei and Moscow is eight kilometers. What is the concept of eight kilometers? That is, if Lin Wei walks to Moscow, it will only take an hour. It was already dark, and the soldiers of the Leader's Guard found a small village, but it looked like it had been abandoned for a long time. If nothing else, this will be the place where Lin Wei spends the night today.

Entering a small room of only five square meters, Lin Wei immediately lay down on the kang that was just a little warm. At this time, Crawford handed Lin Wei the telegram just sent by Marshal Burke. Lin Wei read with joy. Smiling, "Will I lose? This is impossible!" Lin Wei thought of the hundreds of thousands of poison gas bombs stored in Smolensk, and felt more and more that he had a chance to win.

Early the next morning, Lin Wei got up refreshed, brushed his teeth and washed his face. If everything goes well, after today's attack, the German army will arrive in Moscow's urban area for the first time. At the same time, Lin Wei did not relax his vigilance. Lin Wei knew Although the Sixteenth Army was defeated, the harsh conditions there prevented the German army from completely controlling the position. If something went wrong, their retreat might be cut off at any time. In fact, this was exactly the case. After Stalin learned that the Fifth SS Army had broken through the position of the Sixteenth Army of the Soviet Red Army and was approaching the city of Moscow, he immediately ordered the Soviet Sixteenth Army to retake the position and let the Second Army next to it The Sixteenth Army Group cooperated. Re-block the gap northwest of Moscow.

At the same time as Stalin issued the order, Marshal Bock also ordered the Second Armored Army commanded by Guderian to occupy Tula, which had been unable to be conquered for a long time. Then immediately advance to the northeast toward Kasila, Ryazan, Kolomna and east of Moscow. At least that was the case on the surface. In fact, the telegram sent by Marshal Bock to Guderian was to do everything possible to create the illusion of a large-scale attack and attract the attention of enough Soviet troops.

"Fake attack? When did my army become a feint attack force!" Guderian was a little confused, but he still accepted the order, because the strength of the Second Armored Group Army has declined sharply. There is no reason for Derian to ask to be the main offensive force. However, Guderian still formulated the attack plan to perfection, but if Marshal Bock was here, he would definitely remove Guderian from his position, because this was not a feint attack plan at all, but a clear plan Main attack plan.

Not only did Guderian regard his armored group as the main direction of attack, but also because Guderian's reputation was too great. Therefore, the Soviets regarded him as the spearhead of the German offensive. Although, at this time, his army still had thirteen divisions. But due to heavy losses under the city of Tula. So he only had 400 tanks left for attack. And before launching an attack. Army Group Center added two hundred tanks to the Second Armored Army, but its combat strength was still only 600 tanks. Each infantry regiment under Guderian lost an average of more than 300 people in previous battles. Even so, Guderian still launched a new offensive. This time, he did not attack the well-defended Tula. And prepare to cut off the railway connection between Moscow and the southern Red Army, cutting off the road between Moscow and Stalingrad. Only Guderian could make a huge offensive plan when there was a shortage of major generals.