bookrandom Chapter 190 Anti-tank weapons
Chapter 190 Anti-tank weapons
Kotelnikovo, the city lay in ruins, yet the atmosphere of war still lingered. Fu's 35th Army spread out along the railway line, seizing every available resource and transforming it into fortifications. The entire city had been transformed into trenches, fortresses, and a network of defensive lines. The core area, centered around the railway station, was crisscrossed with obstacles, making it difficult for the enemy to penetrate. Every house connected to the defensive positions, forming a crisscrossing network that trapped the enemy in endless fighting.
A division of the Soviet 55th Panzer Army had retreated into the city, with tanks and armored vehicles scattered across various positions, providing support fire points for the movement of positions. The airborne division was deployed in the Yariva district, which was the outpost for the German attack on the railway station.
The German offensive was so fierce that in just one day, they broke through more than ten of Fu's carefully designed outer positions. The two sides began to fight for the city. Fu deployed a total of four divisions to defend the city, including two more Soviet divisions and the 4th and 35th Divisions of the 187th Army.
The Germans used the same old tactics: heavy artillery bombardment, aircraft bombing, and then a tank-based assault force. At this time, the area around Kotelnikovo was covered in trenches several meters wide, full of obstacles to tank charges. Chinese and Soviet soldiers hid in these real and fake positions, armed with various anti-tank weapons, waiting for the German tanks to come up and die.
Suddenly, a Chinese 9-barrel short-range rocket launcher suddenly appeared and opened fire on the German grenadier squad. Nine 9mm high-explosive rockets covered a small area of the German troops, hitting a Panzer IV tank destroyer and catching fire, and two Sd.Kfz.105 half-track armored vehicles were destroyed. This German grenadier squad, about a reinforced platoon, suffered heavy losses.
German retaliatory fire immediately arrived, plowing the Chinese rocket artillery position and the surrounding positions. By this time, the Chinese had adapted to the offensive and defensive battles of the Soviet-German battlefield. The artillery group had already left the exposed position and, following the several-meter-deep trench, circled to the other side to establish a new artillery position.
The German tanks continued their attack, their tracks making sharp "crunching" sounds as they made contact with the ground and obstacles. The devastated battlefield was filled with the roar of German tank engines.
"Boom!" A German Panther tank fired a cannon at a brick courtyard. Just now, a Soviet-made Degtyarev light machine gun on a window of the courtyard fiercely fired at the German soldiers behind the tank. The German tank did not hesitate and blew up the courtyard with one shot, and also took away the resisting machine gunner in the courtyard.
Outside the courtyard, in several trenches, a dozen Soviet paratroopers dodged debris from the explosion. Bricks and tiles flew everywhere, and being hit by them could be fatal. As the German tanks continued to approach, a junior commander waved to the surrounding soldiers, signaling those responsible for covering fire to move back and those responsible for demolition to move forward and hide. This was a lesson learned by the Soviet army after more than two years of combat. To destroy a German tank, the infantry could only exploit the brief moment when the tank was separated from the supporting grenadiers. They could then emerge from their hiding places, exploit the tank's blind spot, and place anti-tank mines under the tank's tracks, destroying its power system.
Of course, Soviet infantry anti-tank weapons included more than just mines. They also had magnetic jet bombs, which would be attracted to tanks and explode using magnetic force. There were also super grenades, which were essentially heavy grenades with several times the charge. They could also be lethal when they exploded in German tank turrets or the vulnerable rear motor fuel tank area.
The Soviet army also had the most primitive gasoline bombs. A vodka bottle was filled with gasoline, ignited and thrown at the tank. The gasoline would spread on the tank shell and would soon catch fire, forcing the German tank crew to abandon the tank and escape.
Within 1000 meters, there are also heavy anti-tank sniper rifles with 20mm caliber enhanced armor-piercing bullets, which can hit the German tank tracks accurately. Of course, if the shooter has good marksmanship and hits the tank directly, as long as it penetrates the armor, it will also cause fatal damage to the enemy inside the tank.
1500 meters away, there is a 76mm anti-tank gun. At this time, the Soviet army had abandoned the small-caliber anti-tank guns such as 37mm and 45mm. The 76mm anti-tank gun is the same as the 105mm short-range 9-barrel rocket launcher equipped by the Chinese army. It is very light and can be pulled by one person in an emergency. The soft ground of the Soviet black soil makes it very easy for the Chinese and Soviet armies to dig trenches. These anti-tank giants also dug special channels to facilitate movement and quick adjustment.
The most deadly weapons to German tanks were not the weapons mentioned above. In the battle with the German army, the Soviet army seized some of the German "Panzerfaust" recoilless anti-tank guns, the "Bazooka" provided by the US military, and the improved 88mm model. The Soviet army combined the advantages and disadvantages of the two, which led to the Soviet army directly abandoning the earliest RPG-6. The RPG-7 rocket launcher turned out and arrived ahead of time.
This time, the Soviet airborne division brought 200 RPG-7s. During the German offensive over the past few days, especially in urban street fighting, the loss of tanks and armored vehicles continued to rise, and the main credit was due to the RPG-7.
Following the commander's order, the Soviet troops with machine guns and automatic weapons retreated in an orderly manner. Several anti-tank infantrymen moved forward to the ambush point, and a two-person RPG-7 rocket launcher team also found a position, waiting for the German tanks to enter the optimal shooting range.
The German Leopard modified tank was obviously unaware of the danger and led the way up the chaotic Yariva Street district. Behind it was a Type 4 tank, a Type 4 tank destroyer, and an Sd.Kfz.251 half-track armored vehicle. A team of German grenadiers moved forward cautiously along both sides of the street, always keeping a certain distance from the tank column.
"Boom!" The Panther bombarded another Soviet firing point, destroying it. A Panzer IV tank destroyer, a three-legged convoy, emerged from behind the Panther and fired at a house. The Panzer IV, armed only with a 4mm cannon, then fired its coaxial machine gun indiscriminately in all directions.
After losing several firing points, the Soviet airborne division finally separated the German tanks and infantry by a certain distance. Just as the "three-wheeled vehicle" was about to jump in front of the Panther, a Soviet soldier suddenly emerged from the ground and threw a Molotov cocktail, also known as a "Molotov cocktail", at him, and the "three-wheeled vehicle" immediately caught fire.
The Panzer 4 quickly turned its guns and fired at the Soviet soldiers, who nimbly dodged the attack using the trenches. Then, a Soviet soldier emerged from the rubble on the side of the Panzer 4 and quickly placed a magnetic bomb on the side armor of the German Panzer 4.