The Rise of the Third Reich

"Mahomes, 11 o'clock! See that big guy? It should be a Stalin tank, hit it with pointed bullets!"

Ribbentrop, who saw the Soviet tanks through night vision binoculars, did not dare to be careless at all, and quickly gave the order to his gunner Mahaus Schultz to open fire.

He felt the turret of his tank rotate slightly in response to his command, and the cannon in front of the turret pointed at a battlefield ahead that was constantly flashing lights and huge hazy black shadows.

But through the night market telescope, Sergeant Mahaus Schultz could still clearly see his prey, a tank with a huge turret, which should be the Soviet Stalin Type 2.

"Filling complete!"

A pointed tungsten core armor-piercing projectile has been loaded into the gun barrel. Sergeant Schultz did not shoot with the coaxial machine gun first as he did during daytime combat (this was to assist aiming), because the tracer bullets fired by the coaxial machine gun would reveal the position of the E-50A tank.

"Boom!" Captain Ribbentrop, who was half outside the turret, felt his tank shake violently. He knew that it was the tank's main gun that was firing shells, so he quickly raised his head and looked towards the 11 o'clock direction.

Before the sound of cannon fire completely disappeared, a huge fireball ignited in the darkness. The fireball rolled forward for a short distance, and then it became motionless like a beast that had been shot by a shotgun. .

Ribbentrop looked through his night market binoculars again and found that it was a JS-2 tank that was hit.

At this moment, fireballs of similar size suddenly appeared on the battlefield one after another. Most of those hit were JS-2 and T-34/85 tanks, while the one who opened fire was the E-50A lurking in the darkness.

All E-50As did not use coaxial machine guns for aiming assistance, but they still shot very accurately. After the first round of shooting by the 20 tanks, eleven of the eighteen JS-2 and T-34/85 tanks at the front were turned into a pile of burning and twisted metal.

However, the other Soviet tanks seemed not to react and continued to attack.

"At 10 o'clock, a T-34!" Captain Ribbentrop quickly found another target, "Hard-core armor-piercing bullets! Load! Quick, quick, quick!"

"Boom!" The E-50A tank he was riding in fired another shot, but this time the shell slightly deviated from the target and missed the T-34/85. Before Captain Ribbentrop could order another shot, the roar of artillery came from his left and right sides. Two 88mm armor-piercing projectiles pierced the air, and in an instant one hit the unlucky T-34/85, turning the large tank weighing more than 30 tons into a ball of burning fire.

"Well done!" Ribbentrop shouted, "Keep fighting and kill them all!"

Before he finished speaking, dozens of flares suddenly rose in the sky, all flying towards the direction of his company. In the blink of an eye, 20 E-50A tanks hidden in the darkness were exposed. Under the pale light.

The exposed target of Ribbentrop's company immediately became a magnet for Soviet tanks. At least hundreds of JS-2 and T-34/85 vehicles rumbled up under the cover of countless infantry.

"Brothers, don't worry about the infantry and T-34 for now. Concentrate your firepower to kill the Stalin tanks!" Captain Ribbentrop immediately made a decision and concentrated his firepower to kill the Soviet JS-2 tanks. They are the ones who can really do it. Destroy the big guys that threaten the E-50A, and the remaining T-34/85 is just a pile of side dishes on the E-50A tank plate.

As for the Soviet infantry coming in like a tidal wave, let them be dealt with by the nearby paratroopers and the artillery behind them - because the Soviet army only wanted a quick breakthrough tonight and had no intention or time to remove those who were walking along the front. Do you know how many strong German strongholds there are, and these strongholds are the eyes of the rear artillery, which can guide the artillery to fire accurately and drown the Soviet army's sea of ​​​​people with a sea of ​​fire!

…

On the same night, the tank night battle on the Rod Snow front reached its climax.

Flares rose into the air one after another. They illuminated the night sky, illuminated the battlefield, illuminated the Soviet tanks and infantry engaged in the attack, and also illuminated the German defense lines.

Similar to the situation on the Osheikino front, the Soviet army was also ambushed by German E-50A tanks equipped with night vision equipment on the Rod Snow front. The powerful 88mm gun and the night vision equipment that can be regarded as "black technology" gave the attacking Soviet tanks a blow.

However, the Soviets were well prepared. Countless flares were blasted into the sky by mortars, and soon most of the E-50A tanks appeared in prototype form. The German army also fired flares to illuminate the attacking Soviet army.

The battle between the two sides soon turned into a traditional night battle. Under the flares, the cannons screamed, the machine guns roared, and the sound of killing was loud. Dark red artillery shells shuttled back and forth on the battlefield, and explosions of various sounds filled people's ears.

When Major Schwarzenegger led his heavy tank destroyer battalion to the front line, a new round of Soviet offensive had just begun.

Although the Soviets suffered heavy losses in the last round of offensive, this tank battle can be said to be the Soviets' last roar!

It’s no longer time to count casualties!

Therefore, General Katukov, who was good at fighting skillfully, still invested a large number of tanks and infantry in a strong attack. In addition to the big JS-2 and T-34/85, there are many little guys in the attacking queue, such as BT-7 tanks and SU-57 tank destroyers. Although these little guys can't hit the solid front of the E-50A Armor, but can be used against German armored vehicles and infantry.

In particular, the ZIS-2 57mm gun mounted on the SU-57 tank destroyer is very accurate and can accurately hit various armored vehicles that cooperate with the E-50A at a distance of 1,500 meters. Sometimes they would also attack the flanks of the German front lines under the cover of BT-7 tanks, trying to use ZIS-2 artillery to hit the side armor of the E-50. Although it paid a heavy price, it still achieved some results and destroyed several E-50As.

This almost suicidal sneak attack also played another role, which was to disperse the firepower of the E-50A tank. The E-50A tanks, which were not too many in number, now had to attack the T-34s and JS-2s that were coming in front of them like a tide, and they also had to use some of their strength to deal with the SU-57s and BT-7s that were constantly attacking from the side. They were suddenly overwhelmed. .

Major General Marx, the commander of the German 1st Armored Division who was responsible for guarding the Rodschno-Oscheikino line, saw that the front line was somewhat shaken, so he could only deploy several heavy tank destroyer battalions that were originally prepared for the daytime counterattack on May 7. the battlefield.

The huge "Cheetah" tank destroyer with a 105mm caliber cannon quickly stabilized the battle line after entering the battlefield. Major General Marx put these "Cheetahs" into the front, and at the same time deployed some E-50As to strengthen the defense on both wings, blocking the Soviet army's almost crazy attack. On the battlefield around Rod Snow, the Soviet army suffered tens of thousands of casualties and lost more than 200 tanks in about 10 hours of fierce fighting from the night of May 6th to the early morning of May 7th! Because the battlefield was completely controlled by the Germans after dawn on May 7, all the tanks lost by the Soviet army were actually "lost" and there was no possibility of repair.

In Osheijno, the Soviet attack also suffered a setback. All five attacks they launched suffered a disastrous defeat. After a hard night's battle, the front of the German front was full of burning steel debris and the corpses of Soviet soldiers. The Soviet losses here were no less than those at Lord Snow.

On the southern front of the battlefield, the Soviet army, which was stunned by the sudden artillery attack launched by the German army, only reacted around 1 a.m. on May 7 and reorganized the attack. But after all, the opportunity was lost and there was no way to form an effective joint force with the Soviet army on the northern front. After hastily launching two rounds of offensives, the sky gradually became brighter, and the Soviet Army's Southern Front Cluster Headquarters had no choice but to order a halt to the offensive.

However, these two rounds of offensives also cost the Soviets a heavy price in the form of more than 20,000 casualties (killed or seriously injured), missing persons, and the loss of more than 200 tanks.

After a night of hard fighting, the truly knowledgeable senior leaders of the Soviet army have understood that the idea of ​​​​wiping out the German armored group that broke into northern Moscow region may not be realized.

The combat effectiveness of the German armored group is simply unbeatable by the Soviet Red Army! However, no one, including Zhukov and Pavlov, dared to suggest to Stalin that he should stop the attack. Moreover, they don’t know what to do now?

There are now nearly 3 million Soviet Red Army troops on the ground in Moscow and Kalinin Oblasts (actually there are not that many anymore), and most of the mechanized equipment of the Soviet Red Army is also concentrated. If the counterattack in northern Moscow region is lost, the 3 million-strong army will soon be divided into two large pieces... and Moscow will also be surrounded!

But now that the war has started, what else can the Soviet Red Army do except bite the bullet and carry out this unwinnable counterattack? Abandon Moscow and run away? Or gather all the troops into Moscow and defend it?

Not to mention whether he can run away or whether he can get his troops into Moscow. So what if it can be done? The loss of Moscow and the siege of 3 million troops in Moscow were equally fatal to the Soviet Union.

Because of the concentration of troops to defend Moscow, the west of the Ural Mountains will soon become the territory of the Russian Empire. How long can Moscow be defended as an isolated city?

And abandoning Moscow guarantees the troops...Without Leningrad and Moscow, the hearts of the people will be scattered. Without the hearts of the people, how can the troops be maintained?

The red country of the Soviet Union has now reached its most dangerous moment!