As soon as the Skeleton Division launched an attack on the defense zone of the 305th Division, Sokov learned the news from the observation post. He quickly ordered Koida: "Comrade Colonel, immediately order the 568th Regiment and the Artillery Corps to prepare for combat."
"Comrade Commander," Koida, who also knew the situation, asked hesitantly after hearing Sokov's order: "Is it a bit too early to order the troops to prepare for combat?"
"It's not early at all." Sokov waved his hand at the other party and continued, "Comrade Colonel, you have never fought with the Skeleton Division and don't understand their horror. You must know that in the March battle, one of their divisions defeated one of our guards. The troops standing in front of them now are the 305th Infantry Division with incomplete establishments. To be honest, I have no idea how long they can resist."
"Comrade Commander, can the artillery regiment be used later?" Koida reminded Sokov: "Even if the enemy breaks through friendly positions and carries out armored assaults, the bazooka they own can destroy most of the German tanks."
"The strength of the Skeleton Division has exceeded your imagination." Sokov said to Koida: "Even if you are the one who fights the Skeleton Division, I am worried that I can't stop it, let alone only one regiment in that direction. Also, the defeated friendly forces will seriously affect our morale."
After hearing Sokov said this, Koida immediately realized that what the 568th Regiment would face next would be an unprecedented fierce battle, and asked quickly: "Then tell me, how should we use the artillery regiment?"
"When the enemy carries out armored assault, the artillery regiment stops the enemy and shoots it." Sokov knew that the 188th Division's artillery regiment had only 24 cannons with a caliber of 76.2 mm. It was difficult to destroy the enemy's tanks, but it was very effective to require the opponent's armored vehicles with weak armor or the infantry following behind: "Tell them that you can let go of the tanks in front and specifically deal with the armored vehicles and infantry following behind. As for the tanks, it will be handed over to the warriors equipped with anti-tank weapons to deal with them."
The German army, which broke through the 305th Division's position, continued to rush towards the 568th Regiment's position as if he was injected with chicken blood. The German tank soldiers saw that there were fleeing Soviet commanders and fighters in front of him, did not use machine guns to strafusely use machine guns as before, but galloped at full speed, preparing to tear a gap in the defense line before the defenders on the second line of defense came back to their senses.
When they were five or six hundred meters away from the trench, the screams of shells shaking through the air came from the air. But the tank soldiers sitting in the tank were not worried at all. Based on their rich experience, these were artillery artillery with a caliber of less than 100 mm, and even if the tanks were hit, they could not cause a fatal blow to themselves.
Most of the first round of artillery shells fired by the Soviet army fell around the German tanks and exploded. The soil raised fell over the tank bodies. Even if the shells occasionally hit the target, they could not destroy the German tanks and slow down their advancement.
The artillery commander, who had originally questioned Sokov's order, saw the shells fired through the telescope, and adjusted his tactics in time after adjusting his tactics in time. He shouted loudly: "Replace high explosive bombs, change high explosive bombs. Aim at the German infantry and armored vehicles to fire."
The armored vehicles and infantry charging behind the tank did not encounter any decent resistance when breaking through the first line of defense, so they thought that the Soviet army on the second line of defense was even more vulnerable. Therefore, the infantry charging straightened their backs and had not yet realized the bullets.
The shells fell into the German army's queue and exploded, and the soldiers near the explosion site were immediately blown away. If it were an ordinary army, in this case, the soldiers around would definitely lie down on the spot, or use the bomb crater and use a short leap forward to charge towards the Soviet positions bit by bit.
But now the attacker is the most fanatical SS members. They ignored the fallen companions and walked past the bodies or wounded of their companions on the ground and continued to charge forward, trying to rush into the second position of the Soviet army in the shortest time, and tear a gap here as if they had just broken through the first line of defense.
When the tank rushing in the front was about to rush through the Soviet trench in another ten or twenty seconds, he suddenly found that there were many Soviet soldiers carrying rocket launchers on their shoulders in the crater ahead, kneeling on one knee to aim at him. The tank soldiers who were quick to react immediately fired with machine guns to knock down the Soviet soldiers squatting in the crater. But before more tankers could come to their senses, they saw warheads dragging long white smoke belts flying towards their tanks.
After a series of loud "boom boom boom" sounds, the five tanks that rushed in the front were easily destroyed by the Soviet anti-tank hands. The anti-tank hands who completed the shooting immediately retracted into the crater and loaded by the ammunition hands. Once the loading was completed, they emerged again and immediately pulled the trigger after selecting a new attack target.
"Battlehot, it's a rockethot." A German tank battalion commander was sitting in a tank behind. He had experienced exchanging fire with Sokov troops. When he saw the tank in front was destroyed, he was quite surprised. He thought that the Soviet army had deployed some anti-tank guns nearby, so he quickly ordered the driver to stop so that he could observe in the distance.
When he saw clearly that the weapon that destroyed his tank was actually the rocket launcher that once made him frightened, he couldn't help but feel scared. He quickly told all the tanks through the on-board radio station: "All tanks listen to my orders, stop moving forward, stop moving forward, retreat to a place five hundred meters away, and then fired fire at the Russian positions. I repeated it again, all the tanks stopped moving forward and immediately retreated to a safe distance of five hundred meters away..."
After giving the order, the tank he was in reversed and quickly retreated to a safe distance of 500 meters away. Although there would be attacked by Soviet artillery fire, the opponent's gun was small in diameter and could not destroy his own tank. During the retreat, he reported to the commander of the armored regiment through the on-board radio station: "Mr. Colonel, we were attacked by the Russians' rocket launcher and had to choose to retreat."
"What, you were attacked by a bazooka?" For the officers and soldiers of the Skeleton Division who had fought with the Sokov troops in March, this kind of bazooka that could easily destroy tanks within a range of 100 meters was a nightmare for all armored soldiers. When they learned that their troops were attacked by a bazooka, the regiment commander was frightened and sweated: "According to the information we have, the defense on our front is just ordinary Russian troops. How could they have a bazooka? You can't make a mistake, right?"
The commander's words made the tank battalion commander hesitate a little. He was worried that he had read it wrong, so he issued a retreat order incorrectly. He was about to instruct other tanks that were retreating to carefully observe the direction of the Soviet position and whether there were anti-tank rocket launchers.
At this moment, the infantry lineup that lost the tank cover and was still rushing forward with the armored vehicles, was attacked by dense rockets falling from the sky. The tank battalion commander clearly saw through the lookout hole that turned into a sea of fire, with countless broken limbs and broken arms rising from the sea of fire, as well as fragments of various weapons.
Seeing this situation, if the tank battalion commander still couldn't figure out what they had encountered with Sokov's troops, then he, as the battalion commander, could be beaten to the end. He shouted loudly: "Mr. Colonel, yes, we encountered Sokov's troops. They were not only equipped with bazooka, but also portable rockets. Our infantry were all finished."
"Retreat, retreat immediately." The regiment commander shouted in panic: "We cannot waste our precious tanks in this meaningless battle."
The tank regiment retreated. Although it retreated in time, it still lost one-third of the tanks. When the armored vehicles attacked, they were destroyed by Soviet artillery fire. When they retreated, they lost a part of them. Only half of the armored vehicles retreated to the newly occupied Soviet front-line positions. The worst was the German infantry. The attack on the second line of defense was a full battalion of 850 people. In the end, there were only more than 30 people retreated, and the battalion was beaten into an empty shell.
Max Simon, who learned that his attacking troops had suffered huge losses, was a little angry. After learning about the situation from several regiment-level officers, he learned that the opponent he encountered might be Sokov's troops, immediately went to the command center to find Hauser to investigate.
He came to Hauser, threw his military cap on the other party's table with great force, and asked angrily: "Master, why don't you tell me that it is Sokov's troops who fight us."
This was the first time that Hauser saw his subordinates dared to question him like this, and he said with a stern face: "General Simon, what are you talking about? Your front is just the 305th Division with incomplete Russians, not Sokov's troops at all."
"Yes, the first line of defense that my division broke through was indeed defended by the Russians' 305th Division. But their second line of defense was Sokov's troops holding onto it." Max Simon said furiously: "It was because of your wrong intelligence that I lost a full battalion in less than ten minutes of battle."
"This is impossible." Hauser learned through his acquaintance in the headquarters that the troops blocked the front of the Sixth Armored Division were the 188th Division commanded by Sokov, and the 305th Division with weak combat power ahead of him. Therefore, he said with confidence: "My intelligence comes from the Army Command. I think Marshal Manstein would not use such a thing to deceive me."
Hearing the other party lifted Manstein, Max Simon didn't know what to say anymore. He picked up the military cap on the table, put it on his head again, and said to Hauser: "Mr. Commander, I ask you to figure out what's going on. Why did Sokov's troops appear in front of my division."
"Are you sure that the defenders who repelled your attack were Sokov's troops?"
"My subordinates saw with their own eyes the new rockets used by the Russians and the anti-tank-specific rocket launchers." Max Simon said excitedly: "As far as I know, only the troops commanded by Sokov are equipped with these two new types of equipment."
"I understand, General Simon." When Haussel heard this, he immediately realized that some information might have been wrong, and quickly said to Max Simon: "I immediately call Marshal Manstein to find out who it is and should be responsible for this defeat in the offensive."