The 1st Guards Tank Army was the vanguard, but the 13th Tank Corps was the vanguard.
The 13th Tank Corps was the vanguard of the Soviets. More than half of them were killed by artillery fire at the beginning of the battle. Major General Khachekovsky and his staff were hit by a 155mm howitzer in the command vehicle. The command vehicle was destroyed and the 13th Tank Corps lost its command.
In fact, even if their commander did not die in the explosion, it would not change anything.
This was because the German tanks had already moved in advance when they were preparing their artillery fire and attacked the Soviet positions.
As a result, just as the artillery stopped, the vanguard of the German army had already rushed to the eyes of the Soviets!
The soldiers were all stunned when they saw the enemy in front of them!
They were very familiar with the tactics of coordinated artillery and infantry and tanks, and they often used them in battle.
However, no matter how familiar they were, it was impossible for them to play like the Third Reich!
They appeared in front of the Soviets almost the second the artillery stopped firing, not giving the Soviets any time to react!
Were they not worried that their shells would blow up their tanks?
If Gordian was here, he would probably laugh at the ignorance of the Soviets!
It wasn't the first time that the German tanks charged under the shells!
As early as four years ago, when Guderian led the 19th Armored Corps to attack the Poles, he had done this!
At that time, Guderian's own command vehicle had rushed too fast and was almost hit by the German artillery shells, almost causing a blunder on the battlefield...
Since then, the German artillery coordination had been perfected day by day and gradually reached its peak!
Their performance today was just normal. There was no need to be so surprised!
However, such a normal performance was already shocking to the Soviets!
Thus, the outcome of this battle was without a doubt!
Fully armed German tanks, with the help of infantry, rushed into the Russian formation that had been blown up and could not even organize an effective defense.
They easily broke through the first line of defense of the Soviets and then used the main cannons of the tanks to clear the exposed targets on the Soviets 'positions one by one. Heavy machine gun positions, mortar positions, Soviet tanks and armored vehicles, ammunition depots, fuel vehicles, etc.
Compared to the previous German artillery fire, the German tank artillery fire was not as terrifying as the Gustav cannon!
However, firing at such a close distance, the accuracy of the tank gunners was simply frighteningly high!
The Soviets 'positions were quickly turned over by them like plows. Destroyed targets were everywhere, and there were smoke and burning wreckage everywhere!
……
Unlike the German army, the Soviet army was much more chaotic than the German army. Especially during World War II, the Soviet army's establishment was often changed, and because of the huge loss of personnel, many troops were not organized.
On the battlefield, it was common for a German division to chase after a Soviet army or even multiple armies!
This situation was mainly due to the fact that the size of the Soviets was generally small. Most of the time, an army only had one or two divisions, and a division only had one or two regiments. The strength of an army was less than 10,000 people!
Therefore, the Soviets often boasted that they had sent several front armies, dozens of corps, hundreds of corps, and hundreds of divisions into the battlefield. However, it was just a frightening cry. The strength of their hundreds of divisions was sometimes not even comparable to the dozens of divisions of the German army.
As the elites of the Soviets, the situation of the 1st Guards Tank Army was considered good. However, even so, their army only had about 21500 people and had about 286 tanks.
On the other hand, Guderian's 18th Armored Corps had 60,000 soldiers and more than 800 tanks. This scale was more than that of many Soviet armies!
The size of the 13th Corps of the First Guards Tank Army was similar to an armored division of the German army before the Battle of Maozhurg.
However, compared to the German armored divisions that had been replenished and rearmed according to Guderian's standards, a Soviet army was obviously inferior to a German armored division!
For example, the 14th Armored Division of the 3rd Mechanized Corps of the 1st Armored Corps of the German Southern Army Group was attacking the 13th Corps of the 1st Guards Tank Army.
The 14th Armored Division had suffered a lot of losses in the Battle of Maozhonglei. After withdrawing from the battlefield, it was reorganized and repaired. However, it was a blessing in disguise. Guderian's new 14th Armored Division was the first to be used. This new organization made it full scale with up to 400 battle tanks. Its strength had increased a lot. Therefore, this army that was judged to be destroyed by the Soviets not long ago was not only revived but also stronger than before!
The reorganization of the 14th Armored Division was a great thing for them. Not only did it allow the soldiers to rest for three months, but it also allowed them to get a new batch of main battle tanks from the base camp.
This batch of tanks was naturally not the Tiger King tanks equipped by Guderian, but the modified Leopard tanks.
Compared to the Tiger Tank, the Leopard Tank was not as famous, but in terms of power, the Leopard Tank was definitely not to be underestimated!
The Panther tank was also known as the No. 5 tank. This was a new type of tank developed by the German army after the No. 4 tank.
When this tank was developed, the main targets were the Soviet T34 and the American Sherman tank. However, after Lin Yu's intervention, this tank was strengthened. The main enhancement was the replacement of the engine and main gun.
The improved Leopard tank used the same engine as the Tiger King tank, with a power of 1200 horsepower!
With such a powerful driving force, coupled with the fact that the Leopard Tank was not considered heavy, its top speed could reach 75 kilometers per hour, and its average speed could reach 60 kilometers per hour. This made the Leopard Tank have extremely excellent maneuverability. Just like its name, it was as agile as a cheetah!
In addition to improving its power, the Leopard Tank also changed its main cannon.
The main cannon was an 88mm anti-tank cannon made by Rheinmetall. It was originally an anti-tank cannon used by the army. However, due to its excellent performance in land battles, it was chosen by the military. Therefore, it replaced the original 75mm main cannon of the Leopard Tank and became the new main cannon of the improved Leopard Tank!
Therefore, the improved Leopard Tank had greatly increased its power and firepower on top of the original foundation.
This made them one of the top three tanks in the world!
At this time, the Leopard tank that had just appeared on the battlefield of Kursk could not wait to show its fangs to the world!
This book comes from：m.funovel.com。