Shulka was betting that the German army's original intention was not to have these "Tiger" garrisoned at the bridgehead.
If so, then there is really "trouble" as Vasily said.
The reason is that the German "Tiger" tank has thick skin and thick flesh, and the bridgehead is the commanding heights with an empty space on both sides. Even if the Soviet army has a rocket launcher, it will be difficult to get close to it and destroy it.
In other words, at this time, the German army only needs to place a few "Tiger" vehicles at the bridgehead to form a steel defense line, and then only need a small number of infantry to hide behind the tanks and use the firepower and protection of the tanks to easily defend the bridgehead.
There is no doubt that if this happens, the Soviet army's goal of occupying the bridgehead and blowing up the railway bridge will immediately be ruined.
But Shulka thinks that's not the case.
He thought the Tigers were preparing to cross the railway bridge.
In this case, before the German army realized that the Soviet army's goal was to occupy the bridgehead, the task of the German "Tiger" was still to cross the railway bridge.
Therefore, the indiscriminate bombardment of artillery shells may cause these frightened birds to make wrong judgments and decisions.
Vasily acted quickly. While he organized the mortar troops to immediately bombard the bridge, he also asked the artillery observers to contact the artillery regiment responsible for covering the bridge.
The decision to let the mortar troops take action first was a wise one, because the artillery observers did not need to report the coordinates at all. The fire and smoke from the explosion of the artillery shells indicated the position of the artillery regiment on the north bank of the Tsaritsa River.
A few minutes later, rows of artillery shells roared over and then exploded at the bridge head.
The German army was instantly stunned by the bombing, or it could be said that it panicked.
The commander of the "Tiger" tank was a captain named Walter.
At this time, the German "Tiger" tank crew must be the best of the best... The new tank has high hopes, so each crew member is an outstanding soldier selected from rich combat experience.
The same is true for Captain Walter. Before becoming the platoon leader of the "Tiger" unit, he was an armored company commander and commanded more than a dozen tanks and made great contributions.
It is said that he should be able to stay calm on the battlefield, analyze the situation between the enemy and ourselves, and make the right choice.
The problem is that the tank commanded by Captain Walter is a "Tiger".
Captain Walter still remembers that when they were recalled to train to use the "Tiger" tank, the instructor said to them in an unquestionable tone in the first lesson: "Before this, if you are still in the battle due to various reasons,
, if you have the idea of giving up on the tank due to reasons such as being hit or malfunctioning, then I want to tell you now, you must give up this idea from now on! Because the 'Plank 6' tank you will drive is absolutely worth it.
You sacrifice your lives to protect it, and until the end, you have to detonate or ignite it in the tank cabin!"
(Note: The original serial number of the "Tiger" was "Plank No. 6" tank)
This has two meanings:
One is that new tanks are extremely valuable and cannot be given up until the last moment or even at the last moment.
The other is because it has many secrets and cannot be completely captured by the enemy in battle.
There is nothing wrong with these words, but they will put an invisible pressure on Captain Walter...
If Captain Walter was driving a Panzer III or Panzer IV tank at this time, he would not hesitate to order the troops to prepare for battle and even lead the infantry towards the enemy.
But he is now commanding the "No. 6", and there are only a few "No. 6" in the entire army.
Captain Walter's first reaction was: protect these tanks and don't let anything happen to them.
At the same time, Captain Walter also knew that this "Plank No. 6" tank would malfunction at every turn... Even if the enemy's mortar shells directly hit the tank, it would not be able to cause damage to it, but its vibration may cause it to malfunction, such as the turret.
Problems such as being unable to rotate.
Therefore, Captain Walter immediately ordered through the walkie-talkie: "Hurry up and cross the river! Repeat, hurry up and cross the river!"
Major General Jonas on the other side did not think so. He made the opposite judgment.
Even when the adjutant told Major General Jonas that the Russians were attacking the bridgehead, Major General Jonas immediately realized that he had been fooled.
"No, no..." Major General Jonas said with the intelligence: "This is wrong, their target is not the artillery!"
"Not artillery?"
"Yes!" Major General Jonas said: "Their target is the railway bridge, the railway bridge... Immediately ordered the artillery to stop and prepare for battle, and ordered the bridgehead troops to station in place. They must hold on and send the guard company up for reinforcements.
them……"
But Major General Jonas was still a step too late.
This is because the intelligence needs to be transferred to the division headquarters for Jonas to make a judgment and then issue an order. At the same time, the German infantry needs to contact the tank unit after receiving the order. During this transfer time, Captain Walter was already commanding several "
The Tigers drove onto the railway bridge one after another.
"The general ordered you to come back!" Captain Weiss, the frontline commander, contacted Walter: "You should defend the bridgehead with us!"
"I don't think this is a good idea!" Captain Walter replied without thinking.
This is really not a good idea.
In order to avoid the artillery shells, Walter had taken the risk and ordered all four "Tiger" vehicles to drive onto the railway bridge... The railway bridge was small in area, and there were steel beams on the top. Although it was relatively sparse, it still had a certain anti-cannon effect.
"Tiger" is basically safe as long as it drives along the railway bridge to the other side without breaking down.
But now, they are letting the "Tiger" return!
This means there is a much greater chance of something breaking down and getting stuck on the bridge.
"Listen!" Captain Weiss said: "This is an order. The enemy's goal is the bridgehead. The enemy intends to occupy this place and blow up the railway bridge. Do you know what this means?"
Only then did Walter realize that he had been fooled, or rather suspected that he had been fooled.
If the enemy's goal is to capture the bridgehead and blow up the railway bridge, as Captain Weiss said, then the tanks should not have driven onto the railway bridge in the first place.
In other words, the purpose of the Russian bombing just now was actually to force them away.
At this time, Walter felt as if he was riding a tiger and was unable to get off. He could neither advance nor retreat on the railway bridge.
After thinking about it, Walter ordered: "Car No. 9 and Car No. 10 continue to move forward. Car No. 6 and Car No. 7 return to the bridgehead position!"
This is the quality of German commanders. They usually do not rigidly execute orders from their superiors.
For example, now, Walter should order all four tanks to return.
However, considering that returning all four tanks would be difficult and would even block the railway bridge, the best choice would be for two tanks to continue moving forward and two tanks to return for reinforcements. (To be continued)