USSR 1941

  Chapter 116 Hope

  Major General Basarab is the commander of the Romanian 1st Armored Division.

  Although this is the first time that the Romanian army has participated in combat, it does not mean that Major General Basarab has no combat experience... He is a veteran of the First World War, the difference is that he commanded a cavalry regiment at that time.

  Major General Basarabu thought this was not a very suitable time to attack, because the artillery of the 1st Armored Division didn't even have time to keep up.

  As I said before, most of Romania’s logistics supplies use mules and horses, including cannons are also towed by mules and horses... The few cars are allocated to the tank regiment to transport gasoline, so the artillery has almost no cars to use.

   This is almost a nightmare for artillery.

  Because the car can not only be used to tow the cannon but also carry a certain number of shells.

   Without cars, it means that all of this must rely on human and animal power.

To make matters worse, it was raining heavily at this time, and the roads in the Soviet Union that were not well maintained were run over by the tanks and cars walking ahead, so there was a helpless scene for the Romanian artillery following: the horses were ahead Dragging the cannon with great difficulty, the coachman lashed his horse vigorously beside him, and the artilleryman shouted slogans in the rain and pushed the cannon wheel. Finally, the cannon was pushed out of a mud pit, but fell into another pit in a blink of an eye...

  So the artillery was more than a hundred kilometers behind the tank regiment.

   "Your Excellency, Admiral!" Major General Basarab reported to Schobert: "Our artillery failed to keep up. Without the cover of artillery, it is difficult for us to launch an effective surprise attack on the Russians!"

  Major General Basarab's words are reasonable, especially when the speed of Romanian tanks is so impressive, it is even more necessary to prepare artillery fire to deal the first blow to the enemy and make it impossible to deal with it calmly.

   "Let the artillery go to hell, Major General!" Schobert said: "When they arrive, I'm afraid the Russians will hit the Black Sea coast!"

   What Schobert said is also reasonable. More than 100 kilometers, for the Romanian artillery who only advance 20 to 30 kilometers a day, it will take five days at least.

"Use your tanks, Major General!" Schobert added after a while: "Rush towards them as fast as you can, understand? Their tanks are even less than yours, as long as you charge forward, they will quickly It will collapse!"

   "Yes, Admiral!" Major General Basarab replied helplessly.

   There is actually a misunderstanding in this.

  The Soviet armored forces are indeed vulnerable in the eyes of General Schobert, because the German armored forces once defeated 1,000 tanks with 100 tanks.

  But now the Romanian 1st Armored Division is using 200 tanks against the 100 tanks of a motorized division in Su.

  In addition, the Romanian army is prepared to fight unprepared, so Admiral Schobert believes that at least this battle is sure to win.

Admiral Schobert hoped that the victory of this battle would slow down the advancing speed of the Soviet army and allow the German infantry divisions defending in front to have more preparation time... The German infantry divisions are tensely digging counterattacks 30 kilometers ahead. Tank ditches were laid with mines.

   But it's not like that when it comes to fighting.

   "Fire!"

  As Captain Venyakov shouted, the battlefield became lively as if a pot had exploded, and pieces of bullets and shells poured in the direction of the Romanian army.

  The Soviet soldiers didn't even see the target clearly, all they could see was a shadow in the rain, and Shulka was the same.

  But at this time, I can't take care of so much anymore. Anyway, it is right to shoot in the direction of the enemy.

  If it is just a comparison of tanks, neither the enemy nor the enemy will take advantage.

  The tanks equipped by Romania are slightly insufficient in firepower, because both the R2 and R35 are 37MM tank guns, and the R35 is still a short-barreled 37MM gun with insufficient armor-piercing ability. (Note: The French R35 was replaced with a long-barreled gun in 1940, but the Romanian Army did not)

  But at this time, the distance between each other is close enough to penetrate each other, so the advantage of the Soviet 45MM gun is weakened.

  So the tanks on both sides suffered casualties. After a while, the battlefield was full of flames from burning tanks, as well as the screams of soldiers ignited by the flames.

  But Shulka knew that this actually meant that the Romanian Army had failed.

The reason is simple. There are only one tank battalion and one infantry battalion of the 131st Motorized Division lined up on the road, while the Romanian army is the main two tank regiments... The Romanian army is blocked and cannot break through, which means they The flanks of the Soviet army were exposed in front of the follow-up troops of the Soviet army.

  In fact, this is an inevitable result, the speed of the tank is too slow.

  Slow speed means that you cannot break through quickly, that you cannot respond in time, and that you are passively beaten.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, a shell slammed into the Romanian army's position. The smoke and water vapor from the shells were like a big hand covering the Romanian army... The artillery of the Soviet army was driven by cars. , They took advantage of the time just now to set up the cannon and complete the test firing, and then fired pieces of shells towards the enemy.

  The artillery shells fired for ten minutes, and then a tank unit burst out from the side and went straight to the gunpowder.

  Shuerka couldn't see what happened, because the battlefield had long been shrouded in a "white fog".

  All he could see was a flash of light and screams in the "white mist" from time to time.

   But even so, everyone knows that the enemy is doomed, because no one is charging towards the road defense line anymore.

  Lieutenant Venyakov did not order the charge, which is correct, because in this case the charge could easily lead to friendly casualties.

   After waiting for another ten minutes, the sound of gunfire gradually subsided and gradually faded away.

   "Is this the end?" Leonyev asked in surprise, "We won?"

   "I think so!" The old soldier answered, even he couldn't believe that the battle was won so easily.

   "It's easier than you think, isn't it?" Shulka seized this opportunity to advertise to the recruits: "As long as you follow the orders, you can defeat the enemy and survive!"

   "That's right!" the recruits replied: "We have defeated the enemy twice!"

   "The casualties this time are much smaller than last time!"

   "And there are no fewer enemies than last time!"

  …

  The actor wanted to say something but was stopped by Shulka with a wink.

  The veterans all know that there is a reason for the small loss this time. The enemy is the Romanian army with weak combat effectiveness. This may even be their first battle.

  However, Shulka thinks it is better not to say these words, at least it can make the recruits more relaxed, or give them a little more hope.