Chapter 1022

"What are we bombarding? God forbid, will Moscow be in ruins like Stalingrad? " A soldier in charge of lifting shells sat on the ammunition box bored and complained to his colleagues. Although the weather was not so hot, he could only take off his waistcoat.

The other soldier was also sweating. After all, it was not easy to load the German 210 mm howitzer. They had to use specially prepared shell tongs and assemble one shell by four people. It's a very boring and boring job, which is the same as the brick workers in the streets. But comparatively speaking, their place is very safe, so even this kind of work is a hot job in the army.

In fact, frankly speaking, Germany is not at the forefront of the world in artillery design. On the contrary, they are still very backward. At least in the field of large caliber gun design, Germany has stagnated for so many years that a large part of their experience comes from World War I design.

However, this is a kind of weapon after all. When the performance of other weapons is excellent enough, the poor performance of one or a small number of weapons will be covered up, and there is no problem in making do with it. So when Krupp started producing 210 caliber guns, it didn't worry too much about range or other performance indicators.

They were only ordered to produce as many large caliber guns as possible in as little time as possible to make up for the embarrassing situation of the German front-line heavy artillery fire shortage. Because more and more battles began to break out in the whole eastern front, the German team was not quite adapted to such difficult battles.

Most German generals have not fully understood what the Soviet Union's attitude of fighting for every inch of land is for. They can't imagine what it is for them to persist in the war until the last moment after they have destroyed their hometown.

In their previous experience, there are a lot of examples, which prove that surrender is the best choice when they can't fight. Paris has basically never experienced war. Up to now, it is still one of the most important cities in Europe. People have not suffered and have not changed much of their way of life because of the war, There are also Leningrad renamed St. Petersburg in the same city... On the contrary, there are many examples, such as London, which is still under reconstruction, and Stalingrad renamed St. Rudolph.

"You may not have heard that one of my friends is in the infantry battalion of the 712 artillery. He told me that a few kilometers away, there is a huge artillery position, where the shells are so big that they need to be loaded with cranes, and they are also firing in the direction of Moscow Another artillery man sitting in another ammunition box said as he fanned himself with his hand.

Hearing this news, the faces of other soldiers were shocked. They didn't believe that their country had assembled such a huge Artillery Force on a front: "my God... There is an artillery position? But here, I heard that there are more than 40 210 caliber heavy guns, right

To be exact, the German defense forces have assembled 53 210mm heavy guns from Stalingrad, 6 240mm heavy guns from France, and 30 280mm heavy guns - nearly 90 large caliber guns - in front of Moscow on the eastern front.

So Moscow's artillery disaster came. The German army used its own long-range artillery to bombard the city irregularly. This irregular bombardment slowed down the speed of the Soviet Union's reorganization of the city, and the streets began to be filled with the smell of decay.

Two days have passed since the German army bombed and shelled the parade in Moscow. In these two days, the German army poured 890 large caliber shells of more than 210 caliber into Moscow. These shells exploded in the streets, destroying one building after another.

"Get up! Five more rounds! come on. This round of shelling is up to us to carry out! " A German artillery commander stood in the distance and gave a loud command. He waved his arm so hard that everyone could see his gesture.

So everyone stood up from their positions. Some people pried open the wooden ammunition box just sitting under their buttocks with iron chisels, and a shell appeared in front of everyone.

The four men set up the shell with cannonball tongs, chanted slogans, sent the shell to the position of the cannon not far in front, and worked together to push it into the bore. It's exciting to think that the shell will soon be fired and fall on the heads of the Soviets, and the explosion will be powerful enough to destroy an entire building.

A few minutes later, a new round of shelling started again. Everyone covered their ears and squinted at these heavy guns. Although they were slightly backward in design, they could not catch up with the American artillery in range. They were shocked by the powerful recoil force. They felt the deafening sound and looked at the flames and smoke from the muzzle. The last time the German army poured ammunition on such a large scale into a city, it was the first World War.

Several photos were spread out and placed on marshal lundstedt's combat command desk. Compared with the dim basement, this temporary house has bright glass windows, exquisite chandeliers and a whole cabinet of red wine and vodka. It's said that it was a country villa of a senior Soviet official. When the German army occupied it, there were two maids cleaning it.

When the army headquarters of lundstedt commandeered here, the two good-looking maids had been "used" by many German troops, so lundstedt had to use guards to continue to clean here. Because of this, it was a bit messy than when it was just occupied“ Marshal! This is an aerial photo taken before the bombing and during the last reconnaissance. Because of the height problem, the streets here, here and here are rather blurred... "The staff officer of the air force pointed to several blurred places in the aerial photo, Then he pointed to a map of Moscow lying on the table: "but we can still compare the map and find some corresponding positions." Lundeshtai nodded, took the magnifying glass, compared the photos several times, and then agreed: "this altitude is the lowest that the reconnaissance plane can descend. Although the military aerial camera we purchased may be the best in the world, we still need to improve some accuracy." As a commander of the German army and a front-line General of the group army, lundstedt is also a veteran of the battlefield. He often compares the aerial photos in his hand and analyzes the intelligence inside. For a long time, even if he is not an air force commander, he can know the shooting height by looking at the photos, and can almost guess the type of reconnaissance aircraft he is using. The air force staff officer beside him nodded with a smile and agreed with the Marshal's conjecture: "this is the photo we took at a low altitude the day before yesterday. We can still find these blocks." Then he pulled out a few clear partial photos that he had just got from behind, which were taken this morning at a reduced height, pointed to the place that was beyond recognition, and said to marshal lundstedt, "our shelling destroyed these blocks. From the photos, this is the building that was before the bombing, and now it has completely disappeared."“ In the photos, some of the pinnacles of the Kremlin have disappeared, some have collapsed, some have broken directly... "From a professional point of view, the staff officers of the air force one by one introduced to lundstedt the achievements that the German army had confirmed in those photos“ So, these huge craters were caused by 280 mm railguns, right? " Randstadt picked up one of the photos and asked the air force staff officer around him, "they're bigger and more concentrated than the other craters..." "yes, marshal!" The air force staff officer nodded, then picked up several other similar photos and put them together. Then he pointed to the three rows of photos and compared them: "the top is the mark of air force bombing, the middle is the crater of 210mm and 240mm caliber guns, and the bottom is the one left by 280mm train gun."“ The head of state means to carry out another air force bombing to completely destroy Moscow's defense system. " Lundstedt pointed to the relatively intact blocks on the map, and then ordered to the air force staff officer beside him: "there are more napalm incendiary bombs in the inventory. Use these blocks to see the effect." The officer was stunned at first, then nodded, stood at attention and replied, "yes, marshal! I went back and started preparing for the bombing. Then I'll leave first, marshal! Head of state akado? Long live Rudolph“ Head of state akado? Long live Rudolph Lundstedt returned a salute, and then looked at the war zone map hanging on the wall, where the E group army had firmly occupied the position in the northern part of Moscow; On the positive side of Moscow, the A and f armies were just like the top of the mountain, ahead of the Soviet Army - now, as long as goodrian's g army reached the designated position, Moscow would fall into a huge encirclement of several main German army groups.