Chapter 78:
“You all know that today is the day of the offensive, right?”
“Yes, comrade commander!”
It was a well-known fact among the Soviet officers in any decent position that the next direction of the main attack would be the northern front, after the surrender of Romania and Bulgaria.
“We must drive out the northern group of armies for the sake of Leningrad’s safety! Fortunately, they are the weakest of the enemy’s three groups of armies, so let’s finish them off before spring comes.”
The northern group of armies commander, Ivan Konev, gave a stern pep talk to his officers.
In the south, his rival, Zhukov, had already achieved victory.
He knew that there were rumors that some people were pushing him to counterbalance Zhukov, whose stature was becoming too large.
That meant he had solid support.
Thousands of tanks, nearly ten thousand guns of various calibers, and massive reinforcements trained with new methods!
The secretary-general wanted a decisive victory, and he preferred to break the northern group of armies, which could be called a weak link, rather than launching an offensive against the central group of armies, the largest and most powerful group of the German army.
He hoped that the central group of armies would not be able to advance properly despite having enough troops.
“Let’s show those fascists what we’re made of this time!”
Of course, it was also a strategically correct choice, even before considering the political aspects.
The secretary-general had a keen insight into the weaknesses of the Soviet army.
He had instructed them as such at the previous Stavka meeting.
“Our army is still not comparable to the fascists in terms of skill. They are veterans who have fought for over three years, and we are… hmm… lacking.”
“We apologize!”
“No, no, there’s no need for that. Anyway, our army’s overall level is not up to theirs. Then we have to crush them with overwhelming mass, and isn’t it better to push the smaller one first?”
“We will follow your orders!”
For the counterattack operation in the north, Stavka spared no effort to mechanize each unit.
The main headquarters had slogans posted according to the secretary-general’s instructions.
<Each division has a mechanized battalion, each corps has a mechanized regiment, each field army has a mechanized brigade!>
“Doesn’t the secretary-general have too much obsession with armored units? This is like that traitor Trotsky’s… ugh!”
“Hey! How dare you doubt the secretary-general? Just do as you’re told.”
The secretary-general was obsessed with producing and deploying tanks and training tankers to an extent that anyone would shake their heads.
As a result, it was a blessing for the soldiers who had to fight on the front lines.
The directly controlled mechanized units that were deployed like this became the most powerful reserve force and anvil for their respective commanders to stop the German counterattacks.
At first, the commanders at all levels were confused by the overwhelming firepower they were given for the first time, but they began to learn how to operate armored units through several battles.
Of course, those who failed miserably were purged or demoted, so the senior commanders of the Soviet army had to desperately learn how to operate armored units.
***
The train stations in and around Leningrad, which could be called the base of the northern front, were filled with new tanks that drove out of the city by themselves.
The citizens cheered as they saw the dark khaki tanks that were neatly repainted.
“Woah! Long live the Red Army! Long live the tank corps!”
The hundreds of tanks that ran with their huge main guns proudly stretched out and roaring engines were truly a spectacle.
Now they were the sword and fist of the Red Army and Soviet citizens who would smash those fascists!
The tank armies that were the hammer of the offensive came up by train from the south and were deployed on the front lines.
They were armed with proper heavy tanks, not old light tanks or anything like that.
They were eager.
[The northern front will carry out an offensive as planned]
Now Stavka gave its final order.
“Red Army hurrah! Hurrah! Hurrah!”
***
The doctrine of the Soviet army always aimed to use its powerful artillery power without reservation.
At an early meeting where they discussed the lessons from the Winter War, Secretary-General Stalin said this:
<Artillery is God in modern warfare!>
There was more explanation after that.
<If we use only a little ammunition, we have to sacrifice more troops. We have to choose one of two things. Whether we save soldiers and use more shells or save shells and sacrifice more soldiers.>
<Our artillery won because we poured 230 thousand shells in one day. Some people criticize us for using too much ammunition. I think these people are problematic. Wouldn’t it have been better if we poured 400 thousand shells instead of 230 thousand? (Omitted) We should not save ammunition in modern warfare. Saving ammunition is a crime. If we didn’t save ammunition and poured it, we could have reduced the casualties and ended the war five times faster.>
So, just before the infantry’s advance began, countless cannons spewed fire.
***
Bang! Bang! Boom! Boom!
Whooosh! Whiiiiik!
122mm M-30 howitzer, 152mm M-10 medium howitzer, and various rocket launchers!
They each made their own firing sounds and flew towards the unfortunate German army.
The shelling turned the ground upside down, which was so hard that they had to dig with a shovel and frozen hands and feet as if it were a single piece of iron.
“Damn it! It’s an attack!”
The soldiers struggled to get up from their exhausted bodies.
They didn’t know what time it was, and they couldn’t tell if their wristwatches were showing the right time.
The simple truth that the sun rises in the morning and sets in the evening did not apply here.
They just moved as ordered.
“Damn it… What time is it now… Don’t those bastards ever sleep?”
“I think it’s noon.”
“Then why is the sky like that?”
Pskov was at 57 degrees north latitude. Leningrad was at 59 degrees.
It was not high enough to have polar night, where the sun does not rise all day long in winter, but except for a few hours a day, it was either a dim dawn or a dark night.
On top of that, January in northern Russia was a harsh season when only blizzards blew.
In the cold and fatigue, they wore out and picked up guns instead of shovels and picks for digging the ground.
“Ugh! My hand is stuck!”
“Blow on it to melt it. Damn it… What kind of cold is this…”
The iron lump was frozen solid and did not allow any moisture.
The skin stuck as soon as it touched, and the soldier who picked up the gun without knowing had to curse and peel off his palm.
“Isn’t it better than having your dick frozen off while peeing and scratching?”
“Ugh… what a horrible thing to say… hehehe.”
“Didn’t he have to cut it off because of frostbite?”
The soldiers’ jokes continued until the shells fell near the ice-covered lake and shook the ground.
They felt a surge of fear that they could be blown to pieces at any moment.
The shelling was like a disaster.
It was something that ordinary soldiers could not do anything about.
They could only pray as they watched the disaster fall from the sky like lightning.
Soon, a saying circulated among the soldiers as a joke.
<Artillery is the god of the battlefield. But the gods are too busy fighting each other to care about humans.>
The soldiers hoped that the saying was true.
Anyone would, when they saw their unlucky comrades shattered by a direct hit or reduced to unrecognizable pieces by shrapnel.
When the rain of gunpowder ended, the next wave was steel.
The soldiers prepared for the next assault as the shelling gradually subsided.
Humans could not endure such harsh conditions, but soldiers had to. If not, they would die.
Not that they wouldn’t die if they endured.
***
The mechanized units charged through the gap opened by the massive shelling and cavalry tactics.
The Red Army was a harsh and tough place, but they did not order humans to clash with steel with their bare bodies.
“Ura! Ura! Ura! Charge!”
The tank tracks plowed the ground that was already torn by the shelling.
The extreme cold was not the best environment for the machines to operate, but the ground was frozen enough for the heavy tanks to maneuver.
The Soviet tanks advanced toward the breach that was unfortunately created by a direct hit on their soldiers.
[Heavy tanks forward! Advance and destroy the enemy’s anti-tank gun positions!]
[Understood. 3rd Company, advance!]
The bulky KV tanks broke through the German’s first line of defense and headed for the second line where anti-tank guns and other heavy weapons were installed.
They were outdated models that were hard to praise even as a joke in terms of steering performance, mobility, and firepower, but their armor was truly excellent.
Clang! Clang!
The German PaK 36 anti-tank gun bounced off with a crisp metallic sound.
The German soldiers had no choice but to flee in panic.
“Damn, it’s a heavy tank!”
“Hahaha!! You pigs, take this!”
The Soviet heavy tanks fired high-explosive shells and machine-gun bullets in response to the anti-tank gun.
The German anti-tank positions on the steep hill began to fall silent in an instant.
“Huh? I hear enemy tank engines.”
[We have reports of enemy tanks encountered at the second line of defense. 3rd Company, 3rd Company!]
The sharp sound of the light tank’s 140-horsepower engine was very different from the heavy 600-horsepower engine of the enemy medium tank. Now, any experienced Soviet tank crew could easily recognize it.
“Armor-piercing shell, load!”
“Armor-piercing shell loaded!”
The 41.5-caliber 76.2mm gun could not guarantee to penetrate the front of the enemy’s new tank at close range.
If it was a new armor-piercing shell, maybe… Of course, that was not the only thing they had to worry about.
The blizzard still raging in the sky provided an environment where enemy aircraft could not fly.
Likewise, the Soviet aircraft made of wood or canvas could not fly either, and the Germans fired their anti-aircraft guns at the Soviet tanks instead.
“Aaaah!”
“Damn it! Anti-aircraft gun at 2 o’clock!”
A KV tank was hit by an anti-aircraft shell and spewed smoke as it collapsed.
A tank crew jumped out of the hatch with flames on his body and rolled on the ground.
Whether it was an internal fire or not.
Fortunately, the rest of the tanks were able to watch out for the threat thanks to their sacrificed comrades.
Tootootung! Tung! Tung!
The grenade launcher mounted on the medium tank made a thumping sound as it fired at the bushes where the anti-aircraft gun was suspected to be hiding.
The other tanks also fired their machine guns and high-explosive shells.
[The 2nd Company that broke through the defense line is joining us! Report the situation!]
“Three enemy medium tanks! Looking for hidden anti-aircraft guns.”
The Germans were still a formidable enemy.
Just as the Soviets had grown, the Germans had also learned and mastered how to deal with Soviet tanks in the past six months.
Of course, they were powerless in front of an overwhelming number of enemies.
The enemy medium tanks that faced the KV company eventually retreated behind their defense line when the T-34 company joined them.
“Die, you bastards! Die!”
[The enemies are retreating! Hooray!]
The gray-uniformed German soldiers with blood dripping from them began to abandon their trenches and retreat one by one.
The Soviet tanks fired their machine guns happily behind their backs.
“Don’t leave anyone alive! Those who trampled on our motherland cannot go back! Ura! Ura!”
“Red Army Ura!”
Bang! Bang!
Whether it was to cover their retreating comrades or to tell them to die together. The German shelling came from afar and
fell near the tanks.
Damn shelling.
The tank crews muttered as they drove their tanks in a zigzag pattern.
They crossed the trench line, crushed the barbed wire they had installed with their tracks, and crossed the second line of defense that the Germans had built.
To suppress the enemy’s artillery fire, their own artillery fire began to be heard from afar.
Soon, the gods of the battlefield would start fighting among themselves.
The tank crews advanced excitedly. On a human battlefield without gods, tanks were supreme.
“Fire! Fire! Long live our motherland!”
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om