Chapter 744: German-Soviet War (66)

Soon, the Germans came with supporting artillery fire.

Dense rockets landed on the open ground 200 meters in front of the Soviet positions, destroying the area. Those unlucky "suicide squads" suffered heavy casualties from the raging shock waves and fragments before the German tanks approached. Some of the blasters even had their explosives detonated, and the whole person was blown to pieces!

A round of artillery fire almost wiped out the Soviet "suicide squad".

At this time, the sky was filled with the shrieking sound of fighter planes diving. Several German attack planes dived in, and machine gun bullets poured into the Soviet trenches like raindrops. Instantly, there was a bloody storm and screams in the trenches.

Under the almost perfect coordinated attack of the German ground and air forces, the heavy firepower on the Soviet positions was completely suppressed by German tanks and aircraft, and the scattered light firepower did not pose any threat to the Germans at all. The situation of the Soviet army became more and more serious.

"Da da da!"

The German tanks advanced slowly and slowly, and the machine guns on the tanks fiercely swept the Soviet defense line. The surviving Soviet soldiers could only huddle in the trenches in embarrassment, not even daring to raise their heads.

Soon, the tracks of a jackal tank in the front ran over the Soviet trenches. The narrow trenches were not anti-tank trenches, and were easily crossed by German tanks. A Soviet soldier holding a cluster grenade jumped up suddenly, but before he could pull the fuse, he was shot into a sieve by the infantry following the tank and fell powerlessly in the trench.

Although the tank is a powerful weapon, it still needs the cooperation of infantry in combat. The tank uses its strong defense to provide protection for the infantry, and uses its sharp tank guns to clear obstacles for the infantry's attack. At the same time, the infantry provides close protection for the tank to prevent the tank from being attacked by local infantry. It can be said that the German Army is very skilled in the tactics of infantry-tank coordination, which makes the German army invincible on the battlefield and can easily defeat those powerful enemies.

Grenade after grenade was thrown into the Soviet trenches. After the violent explosion, the German soldiers jumped into the Soviet trenches and cleanly cleared out those Soviet soldiers who were still breathing.

Breaking through the Soviet defense line in one fell swoop, the German infantry began to clear out the remaining Soviet troops in the defense line with the assistance of tanks and armored vehicles. Although there were still many Soviet soldiers who resisted stubbornly after being broken through, it was a pity that their bravery could not change the situation. The German tanks ran over these enemies mercilessly.

"Commander, the suburban defense lines in the south and west of Smolensk have completely collapsed, and these defenders are simply vulnerable." In the German headquarters in the rear, a staff officer reported the battle situation to Commander Fedor von Bock. Under the powerful attack of the German army, the resistance of the Soviet army seemed like a mantis trying to stop a car. There was no other result except being completely crushed to pieces. "According to the feedback from the frontline soldiers, the combat effectiveness of these outer defenders is very poor. Not only are their weapons and equipment old, but even the combat quality of the soldiers is about the same as that of the new recruits who have just joined the army."

"It seems that the Soviets have stationed all their elite troops in Smolensk." Commander Bock had long expected this outcome. He had received relevant intelligence before. Although the Soviet army had assembled nearly 200,000 to 300,000 troops on the suburban defense line of Smolensk, these troops were just garbage troops with very simple equipment and insufficient training; the real elite troops were all in the city.

Commander Shaposhnikov, the defender of Smolensk, was determined to fight street battles with them. How could he put the elite troops on these outer defense lines? The defenders in the city not only had a lot of large-caliber anti-tank guns, anti-tank rocket launchers, machine guns, mortars and other heavy weapons, but also a large number of tanks of various models. It can be seen that the Soviet army clearly placed all its hopes on the troops in the city. What Commander Bock didn't know was that Commander Shaposhnikov had originally planned to make a large number of Molotov cocktails, preferably one for each person to use against the German armored tanks. Unfortunately, the Soviet army was seriously short of fuel at this time, and there was no extra fuel for them to make Molotov cocktails.

Commander Bock sneered. "These Soviets have a good plan. They are defending the city and using elite troops to make us pay the price. Unfortunately, most of Smolensk has been bombed into ruins. I wonder how they can resist our army." Now that the suburban defense line has been completely captured, the German artillery can get close to fire. The artillery can follow the street fighting troops step by step. Problems that can be solved by artillery will never let the infantry take risks. Relying on powerful firepower, directly destroy the Soviet resistance. Of course, such tactics are undoubtedly a great pressure on the German logistics supply line. However, in Yannik's view, it can reduce casualties and a little pressure on logistics is nothing.

At this time, on the Soviet position on the front line, a group of German soldiers were pointing and talking around several corpses.

This is an old man wearing a Soviet military uniform, without leggings or a helmet. Looking at his face twisted by the pain before his death, he must be at least 60 years old. This is not the age for a soldier, it would be better for his grandson to join the army. What is even more surprising is that the rifle he holds tightly in his hand is not the current Soviet standard rifle Mosin-Nagant, but an old-fashioned unfamiliar rifle.

A German squad leader pried open the old man's fingers, picked up the rifle, and looked it up and down. "Interesting, this is the standard rifle of the Russian army during the Tsarist period, the Berdan single-shot rifle."

The Berdan rifle was invented by General Hiram Berdan of the United States, who was both a professional soldier and a famous inventor. He invented the Berdan primer and the Berdan rifle, and the influence of the Berdan primer in particular continues to this day. Since the Berdan primer shell has its own fire block (it has been manufactured when the shell is stamped), it is widely used in mainstream military rifle bullets, which is also one of Berdan's main inventions.

The Berdan rifle designed by General Berdan, although this type of rifle was designed for Tsarist Russia, fully absorbed the experience of the American Civil War. Although this gun was designed by an American, this weapon has a strong Russian feel, just like the later Mosin Nagant. I and II were finalized in 1869 and 1870 respectively. They are the first standard breech-loading rifles in Russia. They were the standard guns of the Russian army in the Russo-Turkish War of 1877. Their performance is slightly better than that of Snyder-Enfield, but worse than that of Martini-Henry and Remington. They fire 2-line bullets, which are approximately equal to the caliber of 75mm.

"It would be unfortunate to be killed by this thing." Looking at the old gun whose rifling was almost smoothed out, the squad leader sighed.

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