The German army thought they had a great advantage. However, when they chose to divide the three infantry divisions into three battle groups in an attempt to wipe out the Soviet army in the entire area at one go, they would soon fall into the dilemma of insufficient troops. Apex 23S.
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Indeed, on a macro level, it was indeed 50,000 Soviet troops versus 110,000 German troops. But when it came to a real fight, the gap in strength between the two sides was not huge. Especially when the 370th Division attacked Lechica, the German mobile troops only had more than 7,000 troops.
In terms of military strength, the Soviet army actually had the upper hand.
The grassroots soldiers on the front line of the war had no way of understanding this. According to the only intelligence, the vast majority of German officers and soldiers believed that the shelling had shattered most of the Soviet resistance. They entered the city to eliminate the remaining enemies. The city would be destroyed within two hours.
occupied.
The Soviet soldiers were very cautious, especially the soldiers defending the city. Everyone believed that they were at a huge disadvantage. The disadvantages were dealt with, and the broken walls, bricks and rubble everywhere would become sites for ambush.
At the appointed time, the German infantry, accompanied by forty armored vehicles and assault guns, began a full-scale attack.
The German troops formed a wide skirmish line. They were neither arrogant nor impatient, and took every step very firmly.
The last large-scale battle these soldiers experienced was the French Campaign in 1940. Most of the soldiers had been baptized by the fire of war. They had fought in some French towns, stationed in morale and shouldered the responsibility of attacking the sparse guerrillas.
It is not that they know nothing about urban combat. It is just that their experience is limited to France. Although a lot of news on the Eastern Front has spread to Germany and occupied areas such as France and the Netherlands, most of the news is positive, and some bizarre
Because the gossip is popular, many soldiers know it.
One of them is that the so-called Soviet submachine guns have great advantages in street fighting. The number of MP38/40 equipped by the German front-line troops is too small, so the German soldiers prefer to fight directly with captured Soviet submachine guns.
Will there be a frightening street fight?
Thick smoke is still rising in many places in Lechica. The shelling just now is eye-opening. Most of the German soldiers are trying to kill the enemy. It is the duty of soldiers to stay vigilant. They initially thought they would be attacked in the reconnaissance camp.
However, it was blocked by the remaining Soviet troops, but the result did not happen.
This area was a place where artillery fire was raging, and there were a large number of human body fragments on the ground, many of which came from the German army. The ten severely damaged half-track armored vehicles continued to emit thick smoke, telling them what they had encountered a few hours ago.
Tragedy.
"It's terrible! What kind of weapons were used to destroy the armored vehicles? Do they have a lot of anti-war artillery?" The commander of the infantry regiment, who was responsible for the main attack on Lechica Railway Station, saw all this and couldn't help but worry about his own armored vehicles.
He himself climbed into an armored command vehicle, and through the radio, ordered the ten armored vehicles and five assault guns under his command to maintain absolute caution.
The closer you go to the city, the greater the danger. The German soldiers are ready to fight, so when the battle begins, it is not surprising that they fight back within a second.
The small group of Soviet troops deployed at the last line of defense on the outskirts of the city, when they placed the enemy only 200 meters away, suddenly fired wildly at the German troops who presented a wide skirmish line with machine guns.
The Soviet army operated the German-made MG34, and the dense bullets immediately caused casualties to the German troops in the front row.
As soon as their comrades fell to the ground, the rest of them lay on the ground, and some people retreated behind the armored body. The Germans immediately set up their machine guns and launched a frantic counterattack. As a result, a fierce battle broke out in the southwest of Lechica.
The regimental leader held a walkie-talkie in his hand and ordered: "Every vehicle, pay attention, the Russians have weak firepower, don't worry, press them up quickly. Assault guns, clear the firepower points!"
The assault gun was born for such a battle. A 75mm short-barreled tank gun with three protrusions was aimed at a Soviet firepower point and suddenly fired, cleanly blowing both the man and the gun into pieces.
Assault guns are like walking cannons, and each one is followed by a large number of infantry. Around the assault guns and armored vehicles, a large number of German troops armed with general-purpose machine guns frantically launched fire suppression on the Soviet firepower points not far away.
The fighting continued, and no matter how small the strength of the Soviet army, it was impossible to withstand it! The battle lasted for five minutes, and the German army endured the bullet attacks and continued to advance. As the German 82mm mortars and a small number of German-made RPGs began to show their power,
The Soviet army was immediately on the verge of collapse.
All this was seen by the scouts who were watching the battle in the city! They felt sorry for their fallen comrades, and at the same time they were worried about their own future.
After all, the combat effectiveness displayed by this group of German troops is astonishing. They are definitely stronger than the officers and soldiers of the 634th Division, which is known as a powerful enemy. Whether it is artillery bombardment or infantry-tank coordination, this is the combat effectiveness that the German front-line troops should demonstrate.
The situation on the front line surprised Lavrenti.
He asked the scouts who hurried over: "Are you saying that the Germans have broken through our defenses before we were able to contain them for even ten minutes? Are you reading that correctly?"
"It's absolutely true, comrade leader! *** is about to enter the city."
"Damn it! What is supposed to come has finally come!" Rafe made a determined decision. He was not the kind of person who was willing to stay in a simple command post and strategize. The world of bullets and bullets belonged to him.
He winked at Yevgeny, his close comrade-in-arms, and picked up the submachine gun placed on the table with a broken leg. "Now, we have to fight on the front line with our brothers."
"Okay." Yevgeny also picked up a submachine gun and followed Lavrenti out of the room.
Most of the Soviet soldiers were hiding in the city, and only some streets had extremely obvious fortifications. With short-lived soldiers, the soldiers used bricks and various sundries to pile up machine gun positions at various intersections.
Originally, the Soviet army had multiple 45mm anti-tank guns, but after being bombed, only two were left for use. As a last resort, the soldiers who retreated established recoilless rifles as fixed firepower points, hoping that they could penetrate the enemy.
The armor of the assault gun is really difficult.
No matter what the soldiers thought, the German army was about to enter the city and street fighting was about to occur.
The German army annihilated most of the defenders outside the city, and only a small number withdrew into the city. The German commander believed that the Soviet army did suffer heavy casualties, and those who escaped were able to resist tenaciously, but they were still no match for their own side.
The German army led with five assault guns, each followed by a platoon. As the first echelon of the attack, they officially entered the city of Lechica along the destroyed railway embankment.
These German soldiers were fighting in the capital with the attitude of fighting in the streets. They saw scenes of broken walls and ruins everywhere, as well as a collapsed building not far away that was still clearly a railway station platform. Their hearts beat wildly.
Even the 150 mm caliber heavy artillery has limited destructive power against real reinforced concrete buildings, so the city was not blown to the ground.
The officers and soldiers of this company and five assault guns walked slowly towards the train station. The soldiers' muzzles kept marking both sides, especially the collapsed houses on the left side of the attack direction, for fear of an enemy ambush.
There is indeed an ambush there.
There are some three-story buildings around the train station. After the shelling, almost all of their second floors collapsed, leaving only a large number of corners where people can hide.
The railway station was a key point of the Soviet defense. Lavrenti arranged a battalion to guard it. Because he was going to fight a fierce battle, he made a desperate decision to defend the place himself.
Lavrenti had long noticed these enemies who were slowly entering the city first, and he focused his attack on the five assault guns.
"Brothers, prepare the bottles and fire sources, and listen to my orders and prepare to throw."
The soldiers obeyed their superiors' orders and had glass bottles filled with gasoline ready, just waiting for the German armored targets to pass through the rubble downstairs.
However, the battle broke out first in the northwest of the city!
That is the defense zone of Rosakov and Doronin. Although Doronin's remaining troops are currently under the command of Rosakov, when the German army entered the city, Doronin, who had the honor of having a strong artillery force, directly ordered the mobile units under his command to fight.
The recoil gun team opened fire on the German assault guns that had just entered the city!
The battle begins!
Three shells hit the assault gun at the head, but the enemy's low and extremely sloping armor caused the shells to draw sparks, all of which bounced to the surrounding incomplete buildings.
The assault gun was tickled, and all the shells exploded, causing a large number of fragments and splashing gravel, causing a large number of casualties to the German infantry in the rear. This single blow alone caused more than ten casualties.
Then the recoilless gun group also suffered an immediate loss. The assault gun that quickly counterattacked directly blew up one of the groups.
The battle in the northwest of the city became a real clarion call, and the street fighting that the German soldiers did not want still happened. Fortunately, everyone had already prepared for the worst. Since it was unavoidable, let's fight the Russians here!
The German army seemed to be on stimulants. All attacking troops changed their cautious and slow style and began to attack the city in an all-out manner. The German mortar groups accompanying the attack established artillery positions outside the city. Each regiment had more than 20 guns.
82 mm mortars, and their artillery shell reserves are also quite abundant. Just when the infantry began to fully enter the city, the mortars directly attacked the rear of the city. The artillery hoped that this attack could clear out as many enemies as possible.
check.
These mortars did achieve some achievements. Some Soviet soldiers were well ambush. Before they could fire a shot, they were hit by shells falling from the sky and died heroically.
The German troops responsible for attacking the north of the city were the first to fall into street fighting. Even though they were heavily bombarded, the Soviet troops occupied a favorable position. More and more German troops entered the city, and the Soviet troops began three-dimensional attacks from the ground and upstairs.
.
In particular, there was an east-west street named "Jianshe Street" before the war. It was relatively wide and became a must-pass for the German army. The infantry commander immediately hoped that the troops would pass through this street and fight directly to the river, thus completing the attack on the north of the city.
The occupation of the area was to completely block the possibility of the Soviet army fleeing north.
As a result, such a street became the burial place of more than 200 German soldiers.
The attack came very suddenly. A large number of glass bottles were thrown out of the rubble. The bottles shattered and the spilled gasoline ignited. The rising black smoke also served as a cover.
The dense bullets from submachine guns and machine guns instantly left the Germans with nowhere to hide.
The source of the German army's confidence, the assault gun, which was considered a weapon for attacking fortresses, directly became a major target for the Soviet army to focus fire. The Guerrilla Republic's own RPG, the official version of the Soviet RPG, and a large number of incendiary bottles caused all the assault guns to break down in a short time.
Under the flames that skyrocketed, drivers jumped out of their cars to escape, but almost all of them died from bullets fired from all directions.
The company that took the lead in the attack was basically wiped out, and the company that followed the attack suffered heavy casualties.
The German battalion commander responsible for attacking this street was immediately stunned!
Yes, even in France, the brothers have never experienced such a battle. Although they have heard many rumors about street fighting on the Eastern Front, this time, the Russians actually used such an extremely bloody method to shatter the arrogance of Germany.
"Damn the Russians! Gentlemen, let's withdraw first and blow them up with mortars!"
The German mortar troops outside the city once again showed their power, and they achieved some results. However, most of the Soviet soldiers burrowed into the prepared bunkers, just like groundhogs burrowing into the ground. In short, the feeling of being shelled at close range was terrible.
, many people's eardrums were blown and perforated. Those who entered the fighting fever were so full of adrenaline that they ignored these painful feelings for a while.
At the same time, the German troops who attacked the train station suffered exactly the same attack.
Lavrenti saw the opportunity right. In his left hand was a cluster grenade bundled into a ball, and in his right hand were two bottles trapped together by hemp ropes with burning mouths. Many soldiers look like this. They learn war in war.
The tactics they adopted today have reached world-class standards and will also be one of the tactics used in street fighting in the future.
The five assault guns lined up in a horizontal line were hit by a large number of bottles, and their bodies were covered with burning gasoline. The cluster grenades that were then invested caused heavy casualties to the German army.
Fortunately, the railway station area was relatively open, so the Soviet army could not ambush many people, so the damage suffered by the German army was destined to be small.
Sudden heavy casualties caused the surviving people to retreat quickly. The Soviet army took the opportunity to set up machine guns on top of the ruins of the building and used fierce firepower to push back the German troops.
Of course, the German troops would never withdraw from the city because of such a fire blockage.
The urban layout of Lechica is somewhat like the skeleton of a fish. The roads along the river are the spine, and the east-west streets facing the west are the ribs.
Just ten days ago, the Soviet army captured the city. After a very short street battle because the faith of the German defenders collapsed, the Soviet army liberated the city.
This time it was the German army who came to attack, and they encountered unprecedented resistance.
The reason is that the 370th Division is not fully prepared for street fighting. The biggest problem lies in their weapons. The most basic weapons of the three attacking regiments are bolt-action rifles. Facing a large number of Soviet troops equipped with submachine guns and SVT40
The firepower gap between the army and light weapons directly caused the one-sided battle situation in the city on the afternoon of the 28th.
Even though the German army has assault guns and armored vehicles, the German division commanders have to face the fact that these armored vehicles, in a narrow place, not only cannot show firepower, but they are the target of concentrated fire, and most of the damage comes from
The ruins of the wall overhead.
Division Commander Gnus was greatly impressed by the battle reports coming from the two regiments on the front line.
The contents of their reports were astonishing, that is, the vanguard troops were violently attacked by the Soviet army, resulting in shocking casualties, and the follow-up troops were hindered by the Soviet machine gun barrage. One of the regiment leaders even suggested: "The Soviet defenders are strong
, our artillery did not kill him immediately. It is better for our army to retreat temporarily, continue to bombard the city, and attack again."
When Gnus heard this, he realized that this was the best plan at the moment.
However, the chief of staff objected: "I highly doubt that the Russians have dug a large number of air-raid shelters in the city. We have fired six thousand artillery shells with little effect. Can we kill them completely by firing all the artillery shells?"
Genus was speechless, and he directly gave up his thoughts of tactical evasion.
"I also have a third regiment. Schumacher's regiment attacked from the south of the city and attacked along the riverside road. The defenders in the city were completely surrounded!"