Chapter 372 Controversy
However, Lucas's desperation guess certainly cannot become a reality.
Not only could it not become a reality, but the reality was the opposite of their guess... Although the accuracy of the bazooka is indeed weakened at night, it is of course more accurate during the day than at night.
But this weakening is negligible for infantry, and can even be compensated with flares if necessary.
And the tanks of this era, the ability to fight at night, especially in the city, can almost be described as "no", because even if there is a figure shaking in front, the tank crew is not sure whether it is the enemy or their own, so they dare not open it easily. gun.
So the night battles organized by Lucas failed again and again, and they were even counterattacked by the 1st Guards Tank Brigade and suffered considerable losses.
Needless to say why they were counterattacked... The Soviet soldiers carrying rocket launchers had very small targets. They could easily infiltrate into the German positions under the cover of buildings and ruins and launch an attack unexpectedly.
The only good thing about this outcome was that Hitler finally believed that the "new equipment" the Russians were using at Tver was real and not a lie told by the frontline generals in order to be able to retreat.
"We think it's a kind of weapon like an anti-tank grenade!" the staff officer reported to Hitler: "The Russians put the anti-tank grenade on the rocket thruster, so they can launch it at about 100 meters and destroy our tanks! "
Hitler couldn't help raising his head from the map when he heard this, and then said angrily: "What a simple and effective idea, we have rockets and anti-tank grenades, but we don't know how to combine them! These idiots, utter idiots, are the ones who make us completely passive on the battlefield!"
In fact, the Germans are world leaders in rocket research, which can be traced back to 1910. Even Soviet rocket technology was shared with the Soviet Union by Germany under the Rapallo Agreement.
The problem is that the rockets of this era have many shortcomings, such as poor accuracy, short range, unstable trajectory, and a large amount of smoke generated during launch, which is easy to be discovered by the enemy.
So the Germans, who are pursuing accuracy and precision, use rocket technology more to launch smoke bombs...The launch of smoke does not require too much precision, and the approximate position is enough to meet the requirements.
At this point, they don't have the kind of thinking of the Soviets at all: if the precision is not enough, you can use the quantity to make up, and any precision is ignored in the face of a huge quantity.
It was not until the Germans encountered "Katyusha" during the Soviet-German War that they suddenly realized that they hurriedly developed their own rocket launchers.
"I will let them develop similar anti-tank equipment!" The adviser said: "But, Your Excellency! What should we do now? Admiral Hopner once again sent an emergency telegram..."
Hitler raised his hand to stop the staff officer from continuing.
He knows the difficulties of the Fourth Tank Army, so he doesn't want to waste time on this.
After thinking for a while, Hitler replied: "Tell General Hoepner to hold on until tomorrow, and we will solve the supply problem after tomorrow dawn!"
"Yes, Your Excellency the Führer!"
The staff did not dare to ask more questions, but Hitler already had plans.
At night, he transferred more than forty fighter planes of a flying brigade to the direction of Tver on standby, and at the same time asked Kubil to draw up a new attack plan.
The Soviet Army certainly did not know these arrangements of the German Army.
The resistance and tenacity of the German army was somewhat beyond Shulka's expectations.
Shulka originally thought that the German army was already on the verge of collapse due to the cold weather and lack of preparation. Now that the Soviet army's full-scale counterattack is added, and the 1st Guards Tank Brigade cut off the supplies of the 4th Tank Army, the German army should be very fast. It's about to collapse.
But now the sky is getting brighter. It has been 20 hours since the Soviet army occupied the Tver Bridge and cut off the German army's transportation line, but the German army still shows no sign of collapse and retreat.
The cooking soldiers distributed the rations before dawn, because everyone believed that there would be a new battle after dawn.
"Eat them up!" The cooking soldier said: "We may be able to eat the food of the Germans for the next meal!" (meaning the retreat of the German army)
The soldiers couldn't help laughing.
The ration is canned American stew, one can is for eight people, one big smoked fish, two slices of sweet bread for each person, two pieces of sugar and a little salt... This is used to supplement the sugar and salt lost by the body.
This is quite a good ration, especially when it was difficult to supply in the defense of Moscow.
Only the 1st Guards Tank Brigade had this kind of enjoyment during battles.
I don’t know who started it, and several soldiers quarreled during the meal, including Fedosiev.
Shulka listened carefully, and then seemed to understand something.
"Come on!" Fedosiev said: "Infantry is nothing without the support of tanks!"
"Oh yeah?" the veteran responded, "So where have you been these days? While we're destroying enemy tanks!"
The actor then responded: "What use are you for? Tanks have their own missions, as do infantry. If you want to break through the German trenches, the tanks will either sink or drive directly into the trenches. A tank without infantry is like a blind man!"
"That's because we use those broken tanks!" Fedosiev replied: "If we drive T34..."
The Cossack directly took the bazooka and patted it in his hand, interrupting Fedosiev's words: "Do you think the T34 can stop its attack?"
The soldiers around couldn't help but "coax" and laughed.
This period may be the most depressing time for the tank soldiers in the 1st Guards Tank Brigade.
As the tank soldiers of the tank brigade, they were supposed to be the protagonists in the army. Infantry, artillery and even the air force existed to cover them.
But now, with the rocket launcher, the status of the tank has been reduced exponentially... It was originally the equipment of the king of land warfare, but it only needs one cheap rocket to settle it.
Shulka interrupted while chewing the smoked fish in his mouth: "You think we don't need tanks, do you?"
"Captain!" the veteran said: "If the battle is like this, it seems that we really don't need tanks!"
Veteran refers to street fighting.
"Then!" Shulka raised the lunch box in his hand: "Are you planning to fight the enemy infantry face to face?"
Everyone is silent, because the current Soviet army is indeed using rocket launchers to deal with enemy tanks, and then using tanks to crush enemy infantry.
But of course, these are actually soldiers' jokes. No one would think that tanks are not important, even with bazookas.
(end of this chapter)