The battle reports coming from the front made Shulka speechless. Several rounds of artillery fire only destroyed three enemy machine gun fire points and two bunkers. This result was even smaller than the results achieved by the mortars and rocket launchers of the front-line infantry regiment.
The main reason is the lack of preparation that Shulka has always been worried about.
Although the self-propelled artillery unit established contact with the frontline artillery scouts through telephone lines, the coordinates and correction parameters reported to each other conflicted, leaving the artillery unit somewhat at a loss as to how to fight.
Only after the war did we find out that one of the telephone lines was connected in the dark to the artillery observer of the infantry regiment's mortar unit. As a result, the corrected parameters of the mortar company were reported to the self-propelled artillery battalion.
Then there was confusion in the supply: when the engineers were transporting ammunition forward, they couldn't tell which ones were of 76MM caliber and which ones of 85MM caliber... The two calibers of artillery were relatively close. In contrast, the 15-caliber cannon was easy to identify.
The boss's door is right there.
As a result, there were several cases of shell mismatch.
This seems understandable, because it is rare for artillery to have more than a dozen guns of different calibers, especially since these guns are mounted on tank chassis, and it is difficult to see the difference in appearance.
Finally, there is the problem of poor coordination between the gunner and the tank driver and crew... The most difficult part of this is actually the driver, especially the 15MM artillery.
The reason is that the driver has to stay in the driving position in the cabin and be ready to move the artillery at any time, but the recoil of the self-propelled artillery is almost all borne by the tank chassis, so the sound of every shell fired is almost above the head.
The entire chassis will vibrate violently, and the driver will be shaken to pieces within a few shots, and his external perception will decrease exponentially.
The gunner is an artilleryman who does not know this, so he yells at the cab to convey the order, which is often not received in time and appears to be very slow.
Fortunately, these self-propelled guns were within the enemy's blind spot, so they did not cause many casualties when the Germans suppressed artillery fire, except for several gunners who were injured by flying bricks and shrapnel.
These are all trivial matters, because Shulka has already prepared the gunner replacement.
This is another reason why self-propelled artillery is suitable for battlefields... It is very difficult to train a group of tank crews. In fact, if you want this group of tank crews to be able to command and control operations, you have to train for a period of time. If some of the crew members are injured, it is often very serious.
It is difficult to replenish, causing the entire crew to be paralyzed or the combat effectiveness to be greatly reduced.
Self-propelled artillery is much better. What it supplements is artillery. It is much simpler to control a gun than a tank.
Therefore, this offensive war has actually turned into a bad war.
As for Shulka's opinion... the self-propelled artillery simply did not exert its due combat effectiveness, and of course it was unable to force out the enemy's "Tiger" tanks.
To put it simply, there would be no big problem if the Germans continued fighting like this, as long as they waited for daybreak.
However, the German army chose another approach.
The German commander was Colonel Doppler, and his idea was relatively conservative, which was the original way of fighting, to defend until dawn.
But Major Duden, commander of the "Tiger" tank company, didn't think so.
"Colonel!" Major Duden reported to Colonel Doppler through the walkie-talkie: "I think we should launch a counterattack. We have the 'Pop 6' tank. We can kill them like an ant!"
"It is night, Major!" Colonel Doppler replied: "We are not in a position to counterattack at this time!"
"No, Colonel!" Duden, who was holding a telescope on the tank turret, replied while observing: "You should look at the battlefield situation instead of staying in the office, and then I believe you will make the same decision as me!"
Major Duden's words made Doppler a little angry, because this was not what a subordinate should say to his superiors at all.
But Colonel Doppler was helpless.
This is not just because Major Duden is the commander of the "No. 6" tank company... As we all know, the officers who command such tanks should have a sense of superiority. They themselves are legendary existences.
What's more, this Major Duden was transferred from the SS.
After thinking about it, Colonel Doppler replied calmly: "I will consider your suggestion, Major!"
With that said, Colonel Doppler hung up the phone.
If that's the case, then tonight's battle may be over.
But Colonel Doppler hesitated for a while, then took his armed belt and binoculars from the wall and got out of the basement.
The location of Colonel Doppler's headquarters is connected to a three-story ruins by a communication trench, which can serve as an observation post.
Doppler climbed up the ladder made of shell boxes, and then looked condescendingly in the direction of the Soviet army.
After observing for a while, he had to admit that what Major Duden said was right. The Russian artillery bombardment was very chaotic, and the infantry charge was ineffective. Almost all of them died.
But one thing made the Germans very afraid...the enemy artillery was only two miles away from the forward position, which could be seen from the fire emitted from its muzzle.
After thinking about it, Colonel Doppler ordered the signal soldier: "Contact Major Duden!"
"Colonel!" Duden called back on the walkie-talkie.
"Are you worried that those artillery pieces pose a threat to you?" Colonel Doppler asked.
"Yes!" Duden replied: "We are not prepared. I mean, we are not prepared to deal with such large-caliber artillery. I think you have also seen that the Russians may have a 150MM caliber howitzer, and
They are very close to us...if they discover the hiding place of our tanks, they may cause heavy casualties to us!"
In order to rush to the front line as soon as possible the next day and participate in the battle, the German "Pat 6" tank was of course one of the reasons for its failure. Another reason was that the enemy had almost no artillery that could pose a threat to it, so the German army boldly moved the "Pat 6" tank to the front line as soon as possible.
No. 1 tank was deployed less than one mile away from the forward position.
This was not a problem originally, but the problem is that now the Russian army uses large-caliber howitzers to bomb the German front lines, but the German artillery fire is ineffective in suppressing them.
Therefore, if we continue to fight like this, it is very likely that a blind cat will encounter a dead mouse, that is, the shell will hit the "No. 6" tank hiding in the bunker.
The German army can choose to try their luck on the spot, or they can choose to retreat, but it is obvious that Major Duden is more inclined to counterattack, because he believes that under the cover of the "No. 6" tank, the German army can easily break through the enemy's defense line and eliminate those hateful enemies.
artillery.
"They're vulnerable, Colonel!" Major Duden said, "Because they're artillery!" (To be continued)