The sky is getting brighter and the smoke is gradually dispersing.
The battlefield was silent for a while, and then the sound of tank motors was heard in the rain curtain on the opposite side. German tanks, covering the infantry, lined up and rushed towards the Soviet position.
Most of the ones coming up were the No. 1 and No. 2 tanks, and there was also a No. 3 tank, but they were following the No. 1 tank.
It is understandable that the German army did this.
First of all, the No. 1 and No. 2 tanks are light in weight, and they are more suitable for driving on muddy roads... If the No. 1 and No. 2 tanks cannot pass, the No. 3 tank, which is twice as heavy as the No. 2 tank, should stop.
Followed by the No. 1 and No. 2 tanks, they are smaller in size and can more flexibly avoid bomb craters and rush towards enemy positions.
The tank slowly drove forward amidst the sound of its motor, and the German soldiers crossed the tank and pushed forward.
Infantry often do this when attacking for the first time. The reason is that there are likely to be mines, barbed wire and other obstacles in the mud... It is impossible to blow up all these things and clear a path for the tanks with a blast of artillery shells, so the infantry needs to move
Clear obstacles in front, and even guide the tanks behind to attack to a safe position.
Otherwise, the tank may not be able to advance very far before being blown up and paralyzed in place.
Of course, these obstacle-clearing infantrymen have to take great risks. On the one hand, they have to withstand the threat from landmines, and on the other hand, they have to withstand enemy firepower. Under such circumstances, they have to work hard to complete the mission.
The second, third and subsequent attacks are relatively better, because these obstacles will not appear repeatedly, unless the enemy has not attacked overnight and has placed obstacles again.
However, in this attack, the German clearing infantry felt that their task was much easier than before.
The reason is that there are not many obstacles and mines on the ground, and more importantly, due to low visibility, the Soviet army has not implemented fire suppression against them.
What they don't know is that it's not that there aren't many obstacles, but that they just don't see them.
Then……
With a thud, a soldier fell into the mud pit.
The German army didn't pay much attention to it at first, thinking that it was just a mud pit formed by chance. This kind of situation often happened during the march.
But soon, several more soldiers fell into the mud pit one after another.
The pit was filled with mud, and the surface was covered with a layer of solid soil. The clearing infantry was not mentally prepared to miss the mark.
You must know that these mud pits are used to trap tanks, so the width is about two meters, but the length is not necessarily... This is the minimum standard for anti-tank trenches. If the width is too small, tanks can directly pass over them like running through trenches.
This length and width may be a pit for a tank, but for soldiers it is just a big bathtub filled with mud.
As soon as the obstacle clearing infantry fell down, they swallowed several mouthfuls of mud like a dog eating shit. It took a long time to wipe the mud from his mouth and nose when he came up, and he was able to breathe heavily.
Although the time before and after was short, it felt like I had saved my life.
Some of the clearing infantrymen might even have died inside without a comrade to pull them up after they fell.
The clearance infantry wanted to alert the tanks behind them, but at this moment gunfire and artillery fire rang out in the Soviet position...
These guns and artillery are not meant to kill the enemy.
At this time, the enemy was still more than 300 meters away from the Soviet defense line. Only a faint shadow of movement could be seen in the rain curtain. It was not easy to hit the target.
This is done to put a little pressure on the enemy and make the connection between the clearing infantry and the tanks a little more difficult.
Sure enough, under the suppression of guns and artillery, the obstacle-clearing infantry hurriedly found bunkers to escape.
At this point the tank passed them and continued its advance.
This is a standard procedure for German combat. Tanks and infantry are covering each other or cooperating. However, the tank soldiers do not know that the clearing infantry does not want the tanks to come forward.
Then, an accident happened...
First, a tank plunged into the mud pit with a "boom" sound. It stirred up a large amount of mud and was unable to move.
Moving forward, the front armor was against a nearly two-meter-high earth wall, and the tracks were inserted diagonally downward into the mud pit. The more the tracks turned, the deeper they sank.
Retreat... The German tanks have a reverse gear, but retreating has no effect. The reason is that there is mud below. Under the gravity and the reverse rotation of the tracks, the result is still deeper and deeper.
So the best way is to stop.
Then a Panzer No. 2 tank rolled over... This kind of situation is relatively rare. It usually has half of its body rolling on the ground and the other half hanging on the trap, and then it loses balance and rolls into the trap.
This situation is quite sad. Tanks No. 1 and No. 2 did not have escape doors due to their smaller chassis. In fact, the same was true for the No. 3 tank. All crew members could only enter through the top hatch. It was not until the No. 4 tank that a driver was added.
Special entrance and escape door for personnel.
So a rollover blocked the hatch, and all the crew could only wait inside the tank, waiting for water and mud to seep in from the gaps, and then more and more, more and more...
This slow way of death is often the most painful, because you will have to go through a painful struggle for a long time before you are alive, and you will be sealed in a tank and almost isolated from the world, making you unable to respond to calls every day.
Commanding the German penetration was Army Armored Corps General von Schwepenburg.
It is a habit of the 2nd Armored Group for generals to come to the frontline to command in person. This habit was pioneered by Guderian, the father of armor and commander of the 2nd Armored Group. He believed that only by commanding from the frontline can commanders gain a more comprehensive, deeper and faster understanding.
Intelligence, and then we can flexibly, targetedly and timely change tactics for command.
This is a good habit, which has made Guderian famous and has also become the object of imitation by his subordinates. This habit has even spread to other armored units and even other arms.
As the commander of the 24th Motorized Corps of the 2nd Armored Group, Schwepenburg was certainly no exception.
At this time, he was standing next to a No. 3 tank three hundred meters behind the offensive line, holding a telescope to observe the battle situation on the front line.
The tanks that appeared to be in trouble one after another surprised Schwepenburg.
After thinking about it, he put down the telescope and said two words to the adjutant beside him, "Retreat!"
Then Schweppenberg walked to the map and remained silent.
Schweppenberg knew what the Russians were up to. The tank falling into the pit was not an accident or a bomb crater. It was a trap dug by the Soviets.
If there were traps like this all the way to Tula city...
Schweppenberg did not dare to think about it any further. This meant that even all the tanks in the army could not reach Tula.
Soon, Schweppenberg realized there was only one way he could go: the railroad.