Chapter 156 Bloody Death Battle (Part 1)

In 1941, when there was a severe shortage of infantry anti-tank weapons and weak firepower, it was extremely difficult for the German infantry divisions to face the steel torrent of Soviet heavy tanks alone without the support of armored troops.

After Malashenko broke through the first frontal defense position, the 268th and 292nd Infantry Divisions of the German Wehrmacht immediately mobilized their reserves to fight, trying to quickly annihilate Malashenko's heavy tank battalion and a small number of accompanying infantry and drive them out of the position to fill the gap.

However, dozens of KV1 heavy tanks with thick skin and flesh stood like castles on the German defense position and stood firm.

In the last position breakthrough battle, the SS Imperial Division used a trick to hit the vital point and suffered a great loss. After leading his troops to attack the German infantry field defense position again, Malashenko attached great importance to the application of coaxial machine guns and anti-infantry suppression.

Malashenko, who had torn a hole in the German first field defense position, was not in a hurry to move forward. Dozens of KV1 heavy tanks rose from the ground above the German position like a copper wall, and hundreds of body-mounted machine guns and turret coaxial machine guns were arranged in a line and fired at the same time.

The Soviet infantry hiding behind the KV1 heavy tanks, which served as a temporary shelter, relied on their good vision to suppress any German infantry who dared to approach.

The Soviet 24th Army, which launched a charge on foot following the Malashenko heavy tank battalion, soon rushed in from the torn gap.

Looking down at the battlefield at this moment from the sky, countless Red Army soldiers shouting loudly were like a flood rushing on the battlefield.

On the other side, the two German infantry divisions that were ordered to defend the Yelnya theater also fought to the death.

Soon after the battle began, it entered a brutal white-deterioration phase. Almost all German troops who could hold guns, whether they were logistics support or even civilian staff of the command, were thrown into this rapidly rotating bloody meat grinder.

The Soviet side, which launched a huge force of an infantry army plus an independent heavy tank breakthrough battalion, undoubtedly had an absolute force advantage on the local front in this area.

The German army, which had to defend the entire Yelnya theater and stretched the cross-section of the defensive position to a long distance, gradually began to be unable to support it. The terrible situation of being unable to quickly gather a large number of troops with the strength of the Soviet offensive forces to carry out a counterattack was exactly what Zhukov wanted to do with the tactics of concentrating local superior forces.

After inspecting the German defensive positions on the spot, Zhukov had already anticipated the weaknesses of the German defensive positions. This tactic of concentrating superior forces to win by quantity sounded very brainless and very simple.

But the purer and simpler things are, the more impeccable they are. The difficulty in breaking through is not a conspiracy but a naked and clear-cut tactic.

As the saying goes, pure strength is the most difficult to deal with, and this is the core essence of Zhukov's battlefield command art.

The cruel and fierce battle for positions lasted only a few hours before the first round of competition was decided.

Even if the two German infantry divisions with superior combat experience and infantry light weapons fought to the death, they could not use their flesh and blood to offset the technical equipment advantages of Soviet tanks and artillery.

The German commander, whose casualties rose geometrically in just a few hours, finally decided not to continue to use human lives to fill this meaningless gap.

The two German infantry divisions, who tacitly accepted that the first line of defense had been lost, immediately began to retreat to the second line of defense that had been preset in the rear while carrying important technical equipment and troops in alternating cover.

Throughout history, many powerful armies that were once famous have all fallen on the road of retreat without exception. The desire to survive is undoubtedly the biggest obstacle to the success of the retreat. The result of being left behind to cover the rear and serve as a scapegoat is enough to crush the morale of a legendary army and make it completely defeated.

But in the current German army sequence in 1941, these young German soldiers who are full of fanatical faith in the Führer are eager for the motherland to rise again and regain the glory that once passed away during the First World War.

Hitler is not the only one walking alone on the road of madness.

Where the Führer points, millions of people go.

When the glorious cause of national and ethnic rejuvenation becomes a real responsibility, and it weighs on the hearts of every young German soldier who grew up in the humiliating environment of the motherland's defeat. These young German soldiers who want to carry out the Führer's will to the end regardless of justice and right can give everything they have without hesitation, even if it means losing their own lives.

One after another, the rear guard troops of the German army held on to the incomplete defensive positions, and delayed the pursuit of the Soviet army with a crazy attitude of fighting to the death and doing their best.

The KV1 heavy tanks rumbling over the German foxholes had not yet driven too far away. The German soldiers bathed in the dark engine exhaust of the KV1 heavy tanks immediately leaned out of the foxholes, and the blazing Molotov cocktails were jumping with the last glory like the dying life.

One after another, the KV1 heavy tanks were caught in flames and were forced to stop to put out the fire or simply abandon the vehicle and flee. More German troops with the same intention were killed on the spot after being discovered by the accompanying Soviet infantry.

The Molotov cocktail that was originally intended to be thrown into the heat dissipation window of the engine compartment at the rear of the Soviet tank was smashed by a rifle bullet on the spot. A mixture of artificial rubber and liquid gasoline was poured all over the body, turning the undead German soldier into a Became a complete fireman.

The loud and shrill screams caused by the fierce flames were even worse than the screams of the living ghosts crawling out of purgatory.

He raised the rifle in his hand and pulled the bolt, wanting to end this painful life. However, the right hand that had just put his index finger on the trigger was forced down the muzzle of the gun by a generous palm.

"Save your bullets to kill more Nazi invaders, soldier. I don't want to do it a second time."

The order from the political commissar made this ordinary Soviet soldier dare not say anything more. With a panicked look on his face, he immediately clenched the rifle in his hand and ran forward with his comrades beside him, leaving nothing behind. The miserable wailing sound, which continued to decrease in decibels as life passed by, still echoed over the battlefield.