The Rise of the Third Reich

A brutal battle soon took place at the position where the anti-war activist Brandt was located. Anti-tank guns, Panzerfaust grenade launchers, cluster grenades, MG42 machine guns, MKb-42 automatic carbines, and of course Mauser 98 rifles and flat-firing rifles The Flak30 20mm anti-aircraft gun and all useful weapons were used by German soldiers to block the Soviet Red Army tank and infantry groups.

Brandt also threw the anti-war thing out of the window. Now it is not the German army attacking Moscow, but the Soviet Red Army attacking Warsaw! If Warsaw cannot be defended, then the next decisive battle is likely to be the battle to defend Berlin! As a German and a social democrat, he was unwilling to see the Soviet red flag flying on the top of the Reichstag in Berlin.

However, there was a huge disparity in strength between the two sides. Even though Brandt and his comrades fought bloody battles and repelled several waves of charges from the Red Army, they still could not prevent the Soviet T-34 tanks and infantry from breaking through their first and second lines. A trench.

Pavlov, the world revolutionary fighter, also rushed into the second German trench. His large turntable machine gun (DP-27 light machine gun) was lost somewhere. The weapon in his hand was changed to a Mosin-Nagant rifle with a bayonet, and he charged desperately while shouting "Ula".

He had already lost his sight. In the previous waves of charges, the Germans relied on their powerful and precise firepower to inflict huge damage to the attacking Soviet soldiers. Watching his comrades fall one after another on the way to victory, Pavlov has now forgotten all about joining the party and liberating all mankind. He only thinks about killing the Germans and killing the Germans. More Germans!

Bloody close combat has already begun in the trenches, and the Germans' MKb-42 automatic carbines and Mauser 98 rifles are also equipped with bayonets. However, the Germans have never been very good at fighting bayonets. Now many soldiers have replaced them with MKb-42 automatic carbines that are not long enough, so they are no longer a match for the Russians holding long rifles.

"Retreat! Retreat now!" Brandt, who had just killed a Russian soldier holding a rifle and trying to fight with a bayonet with a short shot, finally heard the "words" he wanted to hear most, and he turned to look over. Sergeant Adolf Miller, who had a loud voice, was seen shouting and waving, calling for his men to quickly move to the reserve position in the rear.

Brandt breathed a sigh of relief, put the MKb-42 automatic carbine on his shoulder, and ran towards the place on the left where the horizontal trench and the longitudinal communication trench were connected. Just when he passed by Sergeant Miller, he grabbed his collar and said, "Killer, come to the rear with me!"

"Why me?" Brandt was complaining in his heart, but he didn't dare to run away. He could only wait for the remaining brothers in the platoon to retreat, then picked up the MKb-42 automatic carbine and fired Sergeant Miller alternately to cover. Back away.

The traffic trenches, like the trenches, were dug in a curved way to prevent direct hits from artillery shells. There were also many single or double shooting positions built along the way, allowing Miller and Brandt to run for a while. Turn around and hit a few long shots.

After running for a while, they were close to the reserve position. The German soldiers who had just retreated had already set up their MG-42 machine guns. As a burst of machine gun fire sounded like tearing linen, the Soviet Red Army did not dare to pursue it. Then... "Ula! Ula!" cheers resounded in the position they had just captured.

The reserve position is located about 1,000 meters behind the reinforced concrete anti-gun bunker where Brandt and the others were hiding from Soviet shelling. Not far to the west are the buildings in downtown Warsaw. Because the reinforced concrete anti-gun bunker has been lost, there is actually no way to hold this reserve position for a long time. This is just a position to protect the artillery of the 111th Division and a heavy tank platoon (including 5 Tiger tanks).

When Brandt arrived here, on the artillery position of the 111th Division behind the trench, some artillerymen were busy using half-tracks and trucks to pull away the 150mm and 105mm howitzers. Several huge Tiger tanks also started their motors, roaring and turning around, obviously also wanting to withdraw to Warsaw.

It seems that the "Warsaw Forest Defense Line" is about to be abandoned!

Brandt suddenly felt like he was surviving a disaster, and then he thought: The 111th Division has fought hard for so many days, should it take a period of rest after withdrawing to Warsaw? Maybe we will drive directly back to the German mainland, so that we can stay away from this damn battlefield for a while...

…

"Great! The 205th Division has captured the Warsaw Forest. That's great."

Rokossovsky, who was standing near a ferry on the Vistula River, held the telegram he had just received, laughed and said to Yakov Dzhugashvili beside him: "Now we have finally made a comeback. One round."

"Is the Warsaw Forest important?" Dzhugashvili asked.

He is not a young artillery officer. In a relatively normal army, he should be a very senior artillery lieutenant colonel or colonel. Naturally, he should know how critical the gains and losses in the Warsaw Forest are.

However, the current Soviet Red Army has not completely emerged from the shadow of the Great Purge, and only then will a lieutenant like Dzhugashvili serve as the artillery director of the mechanized army. Moreover, Dzhugashvili was actually an engineer who built cars. He had only studied military affairs for one year. Apart from a little professional knowledge of artillery, he knew nothing about anything else. And officers like him are everywhere in the current Soviet Red Army.

"Of course, the Warsaw Forest is very important." Rokossovsky shrugged and said, "Warsaw is a city built on a large plain, and there are very few dangers that can be used for defense. The Warsaw Forest is one, and it is also used by Poland. People have worked hard. Another dangerous point that can be defended is the Vistula River, and now it has been breached by us. "

The 9th Mechanized Army broke through the Vistula River in the Otwosk area between June 9th and 10th, and today the 205th Division broke through the Warsaw Forest again. It can be said that the city of Warsaw is now an undefendable city, and there are more than 1 million attacking troops coming in three directions. No matter how you look at it, it’s all in the hands of the Workers’ and Peasants’ Red Army!

"But they still have armored groups..." Dzhugashvili looked at the T-34 and KV-1/KV-2 tanks of the 9th Mechanized Corps that were crossing the river through the pontoon bridge. Some of the tanks were towing a gun and a It's an ammunition truck, but it looks a little twisted.

"We will have no problem," Rokossovsky said with a confident smile, "because the 9th Mechanized Army will not give the Germans an opportunity to take advantage of it. Our current task is to move along the Vis Just advance across the Wa River and establish a front line, push the front line to the south of Warsaw, and then cover the infantry to attack the city. "

With the lessons of the Legionovo-Wovomin battle, Pavlov certainly would not make the same mistake again and let the armored forces advance rashly. Moreover, there is a master in the 9th Mechanized Army who can never make mistakes!

Therefore, the advance route of the 9th Mechanized Corps was carefully studied - they will advance along the Vistula River, and once they encounter German armored forces, they can immediately set up a battle formation with their backs to the Vistula River. On the other side of the Vistula River, an infantry corps will move in parallel with artillery, so that the artillery group can be deployed at any time to support the 9th Mechanized Army with firepower.

Behind the 9th Mechanized Army, there is the 14th Mechanized Army escorting them. If the Germans dare to pursue the 9th Mechanized Army, the 14th Mechanized Army will form a group with the 9th Mechanized Army.

In addition, aerial cover and reconnaissance are also in place. Not only are a large number of Yak-1s and MiG-3s covering the sky above the 9th Mechanized Army, but there are also many P51s driven by American pilots flying over Comrade Dzhugashvili. Circling will definitely allow Comrade Dzhugashvili to eat a piece of Russian fried rice with peace of mind.

"The Russians' southern front is advancing very slowly, as if they are fighting trench warfare...but it is invulnerable!"

In Warsaw Castle, Model was looking at a huge map in his new headquarters and was a little confused.

According to the reconnaissance of the Air Force and the SS Polish Cavalry, the Soviet troops on the southern front advanced extremely carefully, almost step by step. It was not like an armored assault in the era of mechanized warfare, but more like trench warfare.

The unexpected advancement method of the Soviet Army's Southern Front Cluster inadvertently disrupted Model's deployment of a short assault - he originally thought of the 5th SS "Viking" Division, the Hungarian Mechanized Corps and 5 heavy armored units. Battalion, launched an attack on the Soviet army in the south, striving to win another victory like the Battle of Legionovo-Wovomin. However, judging from the current situation, it is impossible to realize this idea.

"Commander, maybe the Soviets just want to fight a head-on offensive and defensive battle with us in Warsaw." Major General Artur Schmidt, chief of staff of the 6th Army, said, "The Soviets' military strength far exceeds ours, even if they fight 3 to 1 exchange ratio, Warsaw may also be taken away by them.”

Model shook his head and said: "The Soviets cannot take away Warsaw... The battle in Warsaw will be the beginning of the Soviet Union's destruction!" He paused, "And the key to our defense of Warsaw is that Warsaw cannot be surrounded by the Soviets. Since the Soviets have no signs of outflanking from the south for the time being, we should focus on the north. "

"Or Legionovo?" Artur Schmidt asked.

"Yes, it's still there!" Model nodded, "The Vistula River turns northwest there. As long as we can repel the Soviet Northern Route Army again in Legionovo, then their siege of Warsaw will be impossible. Realize. As long as Warsaw is not surrounded, the 6th Army will receive continuous reinforcements, then we can consume the Soviet army at an exchange ratio of 3:1 to 5:1. "