Battle of the Third Reich Chapter 15: Battle (4) Blocking
The blocking firing of the "Fenris" tank sniper artillery group caused serious losses to the French tank group. In the first four salvos, eight "Fenris" destroyed nineteen FT17s in one fell swoop. More than half were blown to pieces on the spot, and the rest were burned into a ball of fire.
But the French tank group that suffered such a blow did not stop their assault. The French tankers continued their assault with a firm fighting belief. The tank in the front row was hit and exploded, and the tank in the back row would immediately bypass the pile of wreckage and quickly make up for the sacrifice of comrades.
The number of tanks that France has put into the offensive is too large. Although "Fenris"'s attack is fierce and effective, it hasn't had any substantial impact on the offensive formation of the French tank group for a while.
The German soldiers were stunned at what happened before them. In the eyes of the German infantry, the French tanks seemed to emerge from the magic box as endless. Whenever a French tank was destroyed, there would be Another tank appeared in the gap.
The German soldiers watched the group of small tanks painted in brown and yellow camouflage lined up and slowly pressed towards them, and suddenly appeared in their hearts. Those French tanks may never be wiped out. a feeling of.
"Fenris" is still shooting hard, but the sequelae of continuous high-speed shooting have begun to show up.
Although those gunners are veterans who have been strictly trained, their physical strength is limited. High-intensity continuous shooting quickly consumes the physical strength of German gunners.
Although the German gunners continued to work hard with a firm will to fight, as the French tanks continued to advance, the firing speed and accuracy of "Fenris" slowly dropped.
The French tank has advanced to a position less than 800 meters away from the German position, and the German anti-tank artillery unit deployed in the German front-line position finally began to fight.
Since the 50mm anti-tank guns in the German army are not many of the latest equipment, and they are all supplied to the frontline combat troops according to Xu Jun’s order, the 101st anti-tank battalion in the Führer Guards is still equipped That kind of 37mm anti-tank gun.
Although this small-caliber anti-tank gun has proved difficult to cause damage to the heavy tanks of France and Britain in the previous stage of the battle, it is still very effective if it is used against some lightly armored targets. arms.
According to Xu Jun’s idea, now first use these ready-made equipment, and then exchange for more powerful weapons when the conditions are available. If he really encounters a target that this artillery can’t deal with, he still has "Fen Reese" this trump card.
Although the 37mm anti-tank gun cannot deal with heavy tanks, it is confident in dealing with the old tanks produced during World War I.
The 37mm anti-tank gun can penetrate the FT17's 22mm thick front armor from a kilometer away, but in order to ensure shooting accuracy, the cautious battery commander ordered the French tank to advance to 800 meters. Fire.
Twelve 37mm anti-tank guns joined the battle to greatly reduce the pressure on "Fenris". As one FT17 after another was torn into pieces or burned to scrap, the advance of the French tank group was finally blocked. Stopped, although the French tanks were still charging forward, they could no longer push forward.
The area between 800 meters and 500 meters before the German position became the death zone of French tanks. No tank could surpass this distance. In just a few minutes, the area was full of burning. Wreckage of the tank.
But the nightmare of the French tank group is not over yet. Just when they were being massacred by German anti-tank fire, the German heavy artillery began bombarding them.
Because the forward commander judged that French infantry must follow the French tank group, Dougen asked Xu Jun to use his divisional heavy artillery to bombard the French offensive group.
Xu Jun agreed to Daogen’s request without hesitation. As the heavy artillery required a long preparation time before the shelling, it was only then that he would join the battle.
But what I didn't expect was that the forward commander made a mistake in his judgment. In fact, he can't be blamed. It has always been the law of the German army to accompany the infantry when the tank attacked. How could he think that the French would not do this? They only sent tanks and did not let infantry follow.
If he knew this, he would definitely not require the use of artillery to bombard the enemy, because for the defensive German army, excessive firepower is a waste, especially now that it is necessary to save ammunition Case.
But also because of his mistake in judgment, the German artillery gave a fatal blow to the French tank group at a critical moment and at a critical position.
4 1918 type 75mm infantry guns directly under the artillery company of the infantry regiment, 4 1933 type 150mm heavy infantry guns, plus 24 1928/29 105mm light howitzers of the division artillery regiment, with 8 outside The intensive bombardment of the 1918/40 type 150mm heavy howitzer has added new wounds to the miserable French tank clusters that have been beaten.
Countless shells exploded in the blocked tank group, where the artillery commanders should have calculated the position of the enemy infantry behind the tank group.
If it is hit directly by this large-caliber artillery shell, the tank can be said to be destroyed instead of being blown up. If he happens to hit the tank turret, the commander of the Renault tank may have been smashed into pancakes with the small turret before he felt the pain of being shot. Even if he didn't hit the tank directly, it was caused by the explosion when it was close to the missing bomb. The huge shock wave is enough to lift this seven-ton small thing upside down.
An artillery front observer swore afterwards that he saw a French tank flying more than ten meters high by an artillery shell, and then fell and destroyed another tank.
Because the battlefield after the war was piled up with various debris, many of which are not recognizable in shape, no conclusive evidence can be found to confirm his words.
Although this soldier’s words may be a bit exaggerated in it, the intensity of artillery fire and the scene of French tanks trembling and struggling in the barrage did impress all the German soldiers present.
The blow by the artillery force to the French tank group was devastating, and the tank group collapsed completely.
No army can continue to maintain their offensive momentum after being hit by such fierce firepower, and no brave army can withstand such a heavy loss.
French tanks dropped the burning steel wreckage and began to retreat. After the German artillery chased and fired, fewer than ten FT17s fled back to the starting position.
The German infantry soldiers who hadn't fired a shot so far finally breathed a sigh of relief. They shuddered as they looked at the burning wreckage in front of them.
The fighting will of the French tankers makes everyone who sees their attack can’t help being in awe, if these tankers are not driving this old and tattered tank but a new type of tank with heavy armor. , And there is no such "Fenris" on his side, then this attack will have a completely opposite ending.
The flames on the wreckage of French tanks burned more and more with the blast of vehicle-mounted ammunition, and the various tracer bullets scattered in a beautiful arc, which looked like fireworks in the festival.
But none of the German soldiers admired the sight in front of them, because every German soldier knew the high price behind these fireworks.
The billowing black smoke from the burning of the tank wreck covered half of the sky, making the battlefield that had been dim due to the haze weather even more desolate.
Because the German positions are now facing the sun, the positions that have been obscured by heavy smoke become as dim as the evening.
At this time, something surprised everyone. Before the German soldiers recovered from the excitement of the last fierce offensive and defensive battle, the French army launched another offensive.
The sharp whistle almost overwhelmed the explosion of ammunition, and the German soldiers felt the ground began to tremble slightly again.
"God! The French are crazy, and they dispatched tanks again!"
An artillery observer exclaimed loudly. Although the wreckage and thick smoke obscured his sight, he was sure that the rumble from the French position he heard now was definitely the roar of the tank engine.
"Attention, the French are attacking again! Get ready for battle!"
The commander of the anti-tank gun position shouted orders to his subordinates.
The artillery commanders hurriedly kicked and pulled their subordinates who had just sat down to catch their breath back to their battle positions.
A group of tired ammunition handlers hung the canteen that had just opened the lid before taking a sip to their waists, and then carried the cannonball boxes to their respective cannons.
The loader opened the still hot bolts and filled the barrel with armor-piercing shells.
The aiming hand puts the eye on the eyepiece of the scope, and both hands hold the handle of the high and low machine and the steering wheel.
The tired German anti-tank gunners stared at the black smoke-shrouded position, and everyone was waiting for the enemy to appear.
"It looks like it’s not good, it’s really bad!"
Major Rawls withdrew his gaze from the artillery lens, then frowned and spoke to his staff.
"You can't see anything, it's all covered by smoke."
The staff officer put down the telescope in his hand and replied worriedly.
"Our current field of view can only reach 500 meters. The French successfully used their tanks to create a smoke barrier." Rawls shook his head and said.
Now the commander of the "Fenris" tank sniper artillery battalion has completely calmed down from the excitement of destroying the French tank group in front.
The French would launch a second attack so soon after suffering such a loss, which he never expected.
The thick smoke from hundreds of French tanks burning created a smoke barrier for France. Of course, this could not be the purpose of the French’s previous attack. If this is the case, then it’s really terrible. .
This situation can only be said to be an accident. It can also be said that it is the last gift that the French tankers gave their comrades at the expense of their lives.
"You can't see anything from five hundred meters away! It seems that these tanks can burn for half an hour, and the wind is not strong now. Let's not expect the smoke to disperse quickly."
Then Rawls ordered the staff: "Immediately report the situation here to the headquarters, order the artillery company to be responsible for the forward position according to the fan-shaped firing angle. No matter what the French sends, as long as it drills from the smoke Come out, we will fly it!"
"Yes, sir!"
"The artillery was ordered to immediately stop shooting, from 104 to 170, covered by artillery fire."
Dogen put down the phone and walked quickly to the observation window. The sight in front of him made him very worried.
The German army's current vision is poor. If the French launch a tank assault of the same scale as the last time, they will probably be able to break through the barriers of anti-tank guns and artillery and rush into their own positions.
The thought of the consequences of this situation made Daogen's heart chill.
"Huh? Colonel, what sound do you hear?"
a staff officer said suddenly in confusion.
"What?" Dougen turned around and asked ~IndoMTL.com~There is a voice in the sky, it's not our plane. "
"Airplane? It's impossible." Daogen raised his head and looked into the sky. The thick clouds were low, and the billowing smoke enveloped half of the sky.
"Today the cloud height is only 300 meters, our aircraft is completely unable to provide close support. And our own reconnaissance aircraft is too soft to take off because the runway is too soft, there should not be any German aircraft in the air." Another staff officer walked over. Speaking of.
"It is indeed the sound of an airplane, and there is more than one."
Dogen carefully distinguished the direction of the sound.
"I saw it, there! Sir!"
The former staff officer suddenly yelled, pointing to the front of the position.
Dogen hurriedly looked in the direction of the officer's fingers, but he was once again stunned by the sight in front of him.
"S.... Spade Type 7..."
Dogen recognized at a glance what was coming out of the smoke wall. He almost groaned and said to his staff: "That's a French fighter, and it was France in the last war. The best fighter, an antique from 22 years ago. I want to understand, those French people must have ransacked which museum before attacking us~ IndoMTL.com~ Book friends are welcome to visit and read, the latest and fastest , The hottest serial works are all at ~IndoMTL.com~