Steel Soviet Union

"The size of a strengthened artillery regiment, Comrade Division Commander.

"The telegram said that they currently have a total of 18 122 cannons and 12 152 howitzers. Oh, by the way, I don't know how they did it. They actually have four additional 203mm B-4 heavy howitzers. Because it's condescending. With the enhanced range, these artillery can cover most areas where the German army is located.”

"It's just that there were no specific artillery coordinates for Highland 239. In addition, the Germans continued to attack like mad dogs. The previous artillery support was used to break up the Germans' troop buildup and cut off the military line. Now as long as we can Provide the bombardment coordinates, and all these long-range artillery will pour on the Germans' heads, it's that simple."

Many things in this world are of the "you respect me a foot, I respect you a foot" type, even if it is done unintentionally, it is the same.

Malashenko's timely support saved the danger of Highland 239. Now, Highland 239, which reciprocated the favor, can also be freed up, allowing the long-range artillery that had been busy blocking the frontal attack of the Germans to directly support Malashenko's battle.

The effective range of the Soviet-made 122-gun, 152-gun, and 203-gun guns is quite far. They are among the absolute best and among the best artillery of the same caliber in the world at the same time.

Now, with the advantage of extended range derived from the height difference between high and low, there is no problem in throwing the hot projectiles of these large-caliber heavy artillery across the battlefield and onto the heads of the Germans.

There are a total of 34 large-caliber heavy artillery pieces ranging from 122 to 203. This is not only enough for the Germans to drink a pot, but they can also carry the Germans away without any problem!

Malashenko had always been curious about how Hill 239 was able to survive under the fierce attack of an entire armored corps of the Wehrmacht and an elite armored division of the SS, relying only on infantry defensive positions and not relying on tank troops. , tenacious and towering.

Now it seems that the result is obvious.

With such a powerful long-range artillery unit at hand, as long as the Red Army commander on Highland 239 has nothing in his head, he will naturally have no problem holding his position against the Germans.

Everything the Germans did in the highlands and underground, from when they got up to pee in the morning to when they finished defecating and went to bed at night, were completely covered by artillery fire. Even if the Red Army commander on the high ground feels a little unhappy and orders a few random artillery fires, the roaring shells can destroy several German camps and knock people off their feet on the spot.

In fact, this is the saddest, most helpless, and most embarrassing situation faced by the German troops in the highlands and underground. 【】

On Highland 239, the effective range of the Soviet artillery position with enhanced range started at 20 kilometers.

To be more specific, if the German army wants to avoid being bombed, sleep peacefully in the middle of the night, and get up early to urinate comfortably to vent its anger, it must place the assembly and offensive point where the troops camp 20 kilometers away.

But anyone with a little bit of field knowledge knows, how the hell is it possible to do this?

The 20-kilometer cross-country journey, not counting the poor road conditions in the mud after melting snow, would take half an hour even for a high-speed maneuvering medium tank, and it would have to be done without mechanical failure. .

Besides, at this 20-kilometer attack distance, you know they won’t bombard you with heavy artillery? Not to mention that the German tanks were thick-skinned and very resistant to beatings. One 122 high-explosive bomb would hit even the King Tiger on the head and spiral into the sky on the spot.

The huge height difference caused the Soviet artillery's incoming ballistics to be more curved and the impact angle to be larger. As long as the tank was hit, it would definitely be on the body dome or the turret top armor. In this case, there is no essential difference between heavy tanks and light tanks. They are both tragically knocked down by one shot. At most, the heavy tanks will blow away more parts and debris.

If we encounter this situation in the past, it is not that the German army has no way to solve it. On the contrary, it is very simple and easy to do.

Make a phone call or send a telegram to Marshal Meyer's air force support, and the Stuka on call will easily blast the Russian cannon into parts for the Army boys.

But now, in this desperate steel encirclement of Cherkasy, calling for air support has become a luxury for the besieged Germans.

Realizing that the Germans were planning to break out from Hill 239, the Soviet army made rapid response actions. Fighter aviation units in the airspace around the theater were quickly assembled and mobilized to focus on protecting the absolute air supremacy over Hill 239 from being destroyed.

Ever since the Germans arrived at Hill 239, the only ones circling and patrolling in the sky overhead, waiting for opportunities to hunt, were the only fighter planes with red five-pointed stars painted on their wings and tails.

Sometimes, Soviet fighter pilots who couldn't wait for their prey and were unbearably lonely would even lower their altitude to a low altitude as a prank on a temporary basis and fire two cannons at the Germans running around on the ground.

After a crackling burst of bloody wind and flying sand and rocks, the unlucky German army was able to harvest a pile of smashed limbs, broken arms and human body fragments.

Fighters that deliberately cause evil and disgusting people are actually not a big problem. Those "flying tanks" that come specially to support Hill 239: the Il-2 attack aircraft are the real nightmare for the Germans on the ground.

Rockets, aircraft artillery shells, unguided iron bombs, the IL-2 attack aircraft threw all the ground attack weapons it could carry onto the top of the German army's heads, blowing up anything visible within the field of vision. The people fell on their backs and were extremely miserable.

The German troops in the highlands and underground never thought that they would one day face such a desperate battle situation.

Sitting there and waiting for death is death, but advancing to break out seems to lead to faster death.

The cruel and ruthless Russian war machine is like a fast-moving meat grinder, rapidly harvesting the lives of German troops in a one-stop assembly line mode. The German troops who attacked Hill 239 had to pay an extremely heavy price for every step forward. It is not an exaggeration to say that they had to walk all the way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

Malashenko, who was not very clear about what happened not long ago, soon waited for the first wave of German troops to come to visit: a force mainly composed of Panthers and Panzer IV medium tanks, supplemented by three The German mechanized battle group with four Tuzi assault guns, which was even rarer, appeared in front of the position with the speed of a sudden attack, as if anxious to reincarnate.

Without any extra movement or even artillery support, the non-stop German army did not even have time to breathe or take a break. Without saying a word, they launched a strong attack on the main frontal position with the strongest defense.