The Germans usually fight day and night. The reason is that they emphasize speed, as fast as lightning. Only by breaking through, advancing, breaking through and advancing day and night can they always maintain a state of preparedness and unpreparedness to defeat the enemy.
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But the premise for them to do this is that the enemy is easily defeated without preparation.
Otherwise, for example, like the current "Stalin Defense Line", where the Soviet army has countless permanent fortifications and machine gun positions, and also has certain preparations, if it still emphasizes speed and breaks through at night, it will be as good as death.
What a difference.
Therefore, the Germans had to wait until daybreak.
Only at dawn can German aircraft and tanks be more effective...At this time, aircraft and tanks basically have no night fighting capabilities.
The commander of this German army was General von Kleist. He rushed to the front line at three o'clock in the morning. After an hour's rest, he immediately entered into intense preparations for the attack.
This is the style of General Kleist. He has always believed that in addition to artillery and defense, the more important thing for armored forces is speed.
It was also relying on this that Kleist was able to lead his 1st Armored Army to break through the Maginot Line in France and surround a large number of Allied forces at Dunkirk. Now he appears again in front of the "Stalin Defense Line"
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Admiral Kleist originally thought that everything was under his control.
However, at dawn, when he was observing the Soviet front line with high-powered binoculars from a high place, he was a little surprised...he could not see the Soviet defense line.
Admiral Kleist did not like accidents because he knew that on the battlefield an accident would often be followed by another accident.
So, at this moment, he hesitated for a while, put down the telescope and asked the adjutant: "What's going on? The information we got is that there are many bunkers here!"
The adjutant quickly took out the map, spread it out in front of himself and the general, and then said with a puzzled face: "Yes, General, there should be a bunker here!"
The Germans have made full preparations for this war, and of course they will not let go of their reconnaissance of the "Stalin Line of Defense".
But... the "Stalin Defense Line" disappeared before their eyes, at least in this section.
After thinking about it, General Kleist decided that he didn't need to worry about anything, because if these bunkers existed, his troops had the ability to destroy them and continue to advance. If they did not exist, it would mean a faster advance.
So General Kleist ordered: "Attack as planned!"
The whistling sound of artillery shells soon started. They passed over the head of General Kleist from the air and then went straight to the front of the Soviet defense line... There was a field fortification laid out by the Soviets.
The shell accurately landed on the road in front of the fortification where the tank was expected to pass. While making a loud noise, it also threw barbed wire, roadblocks, landmines, etc. into the air.
After 20 minutes of continuous bombardment, the artillery fire extended eastward, and then tanks with black cross sprays creaked out of their hiding places one after another, forming a battle formation and advancing with German soldiers. The aircraft pursued them from behind.
Come up, get ahead of the tank group, and conduct precise bombing on valuable targets.
On the other side, Shulka, who was hiding in the bunker, was not as comfortable as Kleist. All he felt were waves of vibrations from the ground, and even shells directly hitting the bunker, which sounded like a bell.
"Buzzing" sound... The bunker is hollow. Although a direct hit by a cannonball cannot penetrate it, the huge impact and vibration of the explosion will produce a disgusting echo inside.
The electric lamp hanging on the top of the bunker for lighting also swayed, dimming and brightening, like an old man living on his last breath, and then went out completely after a violent vibration. Only a sound came from the gap in the plank at the perforation.
There was a little light, and along with the light came dust and smoke.
Finally, the sound of cannons gradually weakened.
Shulka got up from the ground and rubbed his abdomen... The echo and vibration made him a little nauseous, but this was obviously much better than being exposed without protection before.
"Comrade squad leader!" the veteran shouted loudly: "What should we do?"
Only then did Shulka realize that it was his time to take command... If it was outside, then it would not be the squad leader's turn to take command, and the platoon would be the combat unit.
But fighting in a bunker is different. A bunker can only accommodate about one squad of soldiers, which gives the squad leader the opportunity to take command, although Shulka does not want this opportunity.
From this point of view, Shulka is not qualified as a squad leader because he does not know how to give orders when necessary.
What the veteran asked actually reminded Shulka, which meant that... at this time, he had completely agreed with Shulka's leadership.
"Get ready for battle!" Shulka ordered loudly.
The soldiers responded and took their respective positions.
"Follow my order and fire again!" Shulka said as he ran to the center of the bunker and looked out through the periscope.
This periscope is very cleverly designed. The other end of the periscope is located on the top of the bunker. There is a chimney-like cement wall there for protection, so that the outside window will not be hit by cannonballs, bullets or other things... It should be said that it is reduced.
The probability of being damaged. If a bullet or shrapnel happens to be shot through the viewing hole, it will also be damaged.
Shulka couldn't see anything in the smoke and dust, and he even wondered if there was too much dust covering the window.
But he soon discovered that this was not the case, because a huge thing had appeared in the smoke... The black gun barrel, the towering body, and the rattling tracks that kept rolling forward. This scene scared Shulka out of habit.
Shrink your head.
The next second, Shulka realized what he saw in the periscope, and he was still hiding in the bunker.
I took a peek around, but fortunately... the soldiers were all observing the battlefield through the gaps in the perforations, and didn't notice him.
Otherwise, he would be really embarrassed this time, and he might get another ugly nickname.
He aimed his gaze at the periscope again and saw the steps following the tank.
The Germans obviously didn't notice anything unusual. This could be seen from the fact that every German infantryman leaned out from behind the tank and moved forward. There were even several tank commanders who had opened the hatch cover and leaned out half of their bodies to observe.
This was exactly what Shulka wanted, to allow the Germans to break into the Soviet bunkers unprepared, and they thought these bunkers were just wooden houses.
The problem is...the two oncoming tanks happened to have their frontal armor facing the anti-tank guns.
The 37mm anti-tank gun cannot penetrate the frontal armor of the "Plank 3" tank.