The sudden appearance of a huge Soviet tank cluster near Losino-Petrovsky also startled Major General Su Yi, who was responsible for commanding 67 Panther tanks to cover the "Tank-Annihilation Horizontal Formation". No matter how awesome his Panthers are, they can't stand up to the overwhelming Soviet tanks! If he is broken through by Lao Maozi's tanks, then the entire 2nd Armored Army will be left with nothing to eat! After cursing Trotsky in his heart, our Major General Su quickly made adjustments and ordered his 67 Panther tanks to also form a horizontal formation, but they faced north and faced south, protecting At the same time, he ordered an armored grenadier regiment temporarily assigned to him to set up all anti-tank weapons and prepare for a deadly battle. The sound of "boom boom boom" artillery fire soon started. As soon as the 67 Panther tanks adjusted their formation, they began to use their 70 times caliber 75mm main gun to shoot at the Soviet tanks 2,000 meters away. The firepower of the Panther tanks is not insignificant. Even at a distance of 2,000 meters, no Soviet tank can withstand their blow. After several rounds of shelling, dozens of blazing "big torches" appeared on the battlefield.
"Hurry up, load!" Artillerymen Liu Wanqing and Wang Qing of the 192nd Regiment of the 64th Infantry Division jointly carried a 75mm recoilless rifle and led three loaders into an artillery fire point at the front. The recoilless gun, which weighed 87 kilograms including the gun mount, was set up and aimed at the front of the nearest Soviet T-28/1935 tank. "His grandma, take advantage of me!" As the backbone of the artillery firepower at the infantry regiment level of the National Defense Forces. The armor-breaking ability of this 1933-type 75mm recoilless rifle is actually not weak. It can penetrate a 95mm homogeneous steel plate at a right angle within a distance of 500 meters! The T-28/1935 tank used to deal with the Soviet army seems to be slightly inadequate - if the Soviet tanks were produced strictly in accordance with the design requirements and did not cut corners at all.
But the problem is. The Soviet Union's industrial capabilities have long been unable to support this massive world war, so they can only use crude weapons to make up for the loss of quantity at the expense of quality. For example, the armor steel used in the T-28/1935 tanks currently deployed on the Losino-Petrovsky battlefield is ordinary, er, it should be said to be hot-rolled steel plates of poor quality, not what is on paper. Case hardened steel plate. The consequence of this is, of course, a significant drop in the actual level of protection. According to post-war research, the actual protection capabilities of Soviet tanks during this period dropped by more than 25% compared to the design! In other words, the upper front of the T-28/1935 tank body is 70mm armored steel. At most, it is equivalent to 52.5mm armored steel. Even if it is arranged at a 55-degree angle, it cannot withstand the bombardment of the Chinese army's 75mm recoilless rifle within 500 meters.
"Boom!" With a loud bang, a T-28/1935 tank burst into flames.
"Come again!" Seeing the heroic performance of his recoilless rifle. Liu Wanqing's energy immediately rose. Wait until the shells are loaded. He aimed at another Su-76 assault gun that was farther away. This kind of artillery is actually the Russian version of the Stalker. It was first equipped with a 75mm anti-tank gun. Now it has been replaced by a Russian 76.2mm anti-tank gun. It is slightly larger, but the armor is not thickened. Poor 55mm, considering the quality of Soviet armor steel, this Russian Stalker is really not very durable. "Boom, boom, boom." Same as Liu Wanqing's artillery crew. The artillery crews belonging to the recoilless rifle batteries of each Chinese infantry regiment on the battlefield now have the opportunity to show off their prowess. in the past two years. How can these men who play recoilless guns have a chance to fight tanks? The Russians have few tanks on the Eastern Front, and there are also Air Force aircraft and tanks and tank destroyers of the armored forces vying for business, so recoilless artillery has no chance at all. "Reload, reload, reload quickly, why are you still standing there?" Liu Wanqing became more and more excited as he fought This is not a big talk about serving the country and the nation. The Chinese National Defense Force in this era has clear rewards and punishments! Every time these recoilless gun crews destroy a tank, it is a real and great contribution. As mentioned above, these achievements can be exchanged for houses and land after the war!
In the blink of an eye, Liu Wanqing's artillery crew killed four more Soviet tanks. When he urged the loader to load again, his luck had ended. The heroic performance of the anti-tank firepower of the Chinese infantry has attracted the attention of the Soviet commanders. In fact, they had already jumped to order the tanks to stop and bombard them with main guns to cover the infantry charge to seize the Chinese positions. But aren¡¯t they ineffective now? Without radio communication, we could only rely on horse-riding communication troops to run around delivering orders on such a large battlefield. Naturally, the efficiency was not ideal. Otherwise, how could a recoilless gun crew kill 6 tanks! ?
If this recoilless gun continues to be so awesome, tanks will have been eliminated long ago!
"Ula! Ula!"
Finally, some Soviet infantrymen reacted, jumped off the tanks and trucks, and began to charge with rifles with bayonets in their hands. However, at this time, the coordination of infantry and tanks was delayed again. When the Soviet infantry charged, most of their tanks and powerfulThe artillery did not fire in time to suppress the firepower on the Chinese army's position.
Instead, they were doing their own thing. The Soviet tanks and assault artillery on the south side of the Lossino-Petrovsky battlefield began to turn to the right - because their flanks were being attacked by 67 Panther tanks commanded by Suy. , the Black Panther is much more effective at hitting tanks than the recoilless rifle - so the right wing of the Soviet tank cluster could not wait for Konev's order and began to turn right to exchange fire with the Chinese Black Panther. However, as soon as they turned, they exposed their weak flank armor to the recoilless rifles of the Chinese infantry. As a result, they immediately fell into the crossfire of the Chinese army.
Some Soviet tanks in the middle of the Lossino-Petrovsky battlefield began to reverse, because the Chinese army in front of them not only had a dozen 75mm recoilless guns, but also an artillery unit with 18 75mm anti-tank guns. The battalion has also arrived. Compared with recoilless rifles, these anti-tank guns are more powerful against tanks. They immediately set off a steel storm on the battlefield that can destroy tanks! The Soviet tanks that were hit head-on did not wait for orders from above and started to reverse. However, the tanks behind them were still charging at full speed. The two collided with each other, causing chaos.
However, the Soviet tank cluster on the north road of the Losino-Petrovsky battlefield has been lucky enough to break through the first line of defense of the Chinese army! It turned out that the location where they attacked happened to be the junction of the Chinese 22nd Army and the 23rd Army, and the defense was somewhat loose. However, after breaking through the first line of defense of the Chinese army, these Soviet tanks did not turn right to attack the flank of the Chinese 22nd Army, but continued to move forward to assault the Chinese army's reserve position. As a result, they stood together with a regiment of the 66th Division of the Chinese Army and an anti-tank gun battalion that had just arrived there.
The entire battlefield was in complete chaos!
It can be said that the Soviet tank cluster completely lost effective command and could only rely on instinct to fight with its opponents on the battlefield. Their tank cluster assault quickly turned into a chaotic melee.
"Send a flare, everyone turn right and attack!" Fortunately, Konev has not forgotten what his mission is. There is no point in entangled with the Chinese infantry, and there is no need to break through the Chinese army's reserve position - even if it is broken through, it will be of no use. , the Chinese army will soon invest reserve forces, including armored units, to fill the gap. Now, attacking the flanks of the Chinese armored cluster is the top priority, otherwise they will fall short by waiting for them to adjust their formation. So when his command was ineffective, he had no choice but to order everyone to turn right. And this order for everyone to turn right and attack caused new chaos.
First, the south road of the Soviet tank cluster has completed its right turn and began to attack the flank of the Chinese armored cluster. Therefore, the order to turn right was meaningless to them, so they executed the order to assault. Less than 200 tanks and assault artillery, accompanied by tens of thousands of infantry, began to charge in a chaotic manner without any formation. .
The original middle road also started to turn right after seeing the signal flare, but the Soviet general responsible for commanding this road was relatively calm. Instead of letting his subordinates shout "Ula" to launch a long live charge when their minds got hot, they decided to divide the troops into two. In part, the infantry went to confront the infantry on the Chinese army's position, attracting their firepower to cover the flanks of the tank cluster, while the tank cluster began to reorganize its formation, forming a wedge-shaped assault formation before assaulting, but this would take a lot of time. For a long time, there was no way to form a continuous impact with the tanks that had started charging on the south road.
As for the North Road, which was progressing most smoothly, after receiving this order, it hurriedly turned around and began to attack the flanks of the first line of defense of the Chinese 22nd Army. At the same time, it exposed its flanks to the anti-tank guns on the Chinese Army's reserve position. . For a time, the fiercest melee broke out around the entire Losino-Petrovsky battlefield.
For the Chinese army at this time, the most pressing issue was undoubtedly the flanks of the 22nd Army. Wei Lihuang had received strict orders from Li Zongren to hold his position no matter what, so he had no choice but to bite the bullet and take all those who could go to the front line. The troops filled in and temporarily built a thin line of defense on the right side of the 22nd Army. Use recoilless rifles and anti-tank grenade launchers to start a bloody battle with the Russian army!
But on the southern road of the Losino-Petrovsky battlefield, where Suy's Panther tanks were responsible for defense, the opposite scene appeared. Soviet tanks began to suffer merciless slaughter! (To be continued)