The Rise Of Australasia-Chapter 1238 - 917 Rear Attack_2

Chapter 1238: 917 Chapter: Rear Attack_2

Chapter 1238: 917 Chapter: Rear Attack_2

The Russian army, caught in a pincer movement, was about to face severe pressure and also had to resist the bombing from the German Air Force.

In such a situation, the Russian army was simply unable to counter the German military’s offense. They could only do so if they had a larger number of airplanes and tank troops, and if they were under no pressure regarding ammunition logistics.

But obviously, even if the Russian army were given two more years, they could not achieve ample supply of ammunition and logistics.

Ten minutes flew by, and the German armored groups had already finished inspecting their tanks. After a brief rest, they mightily advanced towards the distant Russian positions.

As the German troops drew nearer, the Russian army felt the unusually strong tremors of the earth and heard the increasing roar.

Since this location was dozens of kilometers from the front-line Białystok positions, the sound of artillery from the front line had weakened by the time it reached here and couldn’t mask the noise of the advancing German armored troops.

However, even if the whereabouts of the German armored troops were exposed, the current Russian army had no means to deal with this armored cluster.

If the Western Front Army still had nearly 300 aircraft, dealing with these tanks would not be a problem. At the very least, they could threaten the tanks and force them to retreat.

But now, the entire Western Front Army had less than 100 aircraft, and most of them were at the military airports of Białystok.

Although Pavlov had already issued orders, it was extremely difficult for these airplanes to rush to the rear through the barrage of gunfire on the front line.

Moreover, the German armored troops advance was supported by German forces at the front. A large number of German aircraft had already taken off, and the Germans would not allow these planes to reach the rear and threaten their own armored troops.

“My God, German tanks!”

A sudden cry of alarm was quite audible in the Russian positions. Many Russian soldiers looked in the direction of the sound, and on the distant horizon, a vast number of gray-black German tanks were coming in a mighty surge.

“Enemy attack! Engage the enemy! Prepare anti-tank weapons!”

The Russian military commanders quickly reacted, directing their soldiers to make various preparations for response.

It was clear that the Russian army also had corresponding anti-tank weapons. The so-called anti-tank weapons were essentially cannons that had been modified to carry armor-piercing shells.

The problem was, the Russian anti-tank cannon was designed with the development of Russian tanks in mind, and it was somewhat effective against Russian tanks.

But when the enemy was swapped for the thick-armored and fast-moving German tanks, the effect was not as significant.

Additionally, because the German tanks were surprised in a rapid assault and very fast-moving, many anti-tank weapons simply didn’t have the time to deploy.

In about a few dozen seconds, the overall silhouette of the German tanks could be seen. The Germans did not hesitate, and upon entering firing range, a torrent of shells poured forth from the main guns of their tanks without hesitation.

The leading forces were the German heavy and medium tank units, against which the Russian anti-tank weapons didn’t have much of an answer.

And because of this, after only just over ten minutes, the Russian positions had been abandoned in disarray, and even the leading German tanks had penetrated into the Russian lines.

After entering the positions, the surprise attack slowly transformed into a massacre of the Russian army by the German military.

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In the rear, the majority of the Russian troops were infantry; tanks and artillery had already been sent to the front line. These infantrymen, when facing the German “iron beasts,” felt a sense of true desperation.

The foremost Russian positions were quickly occupied by the German forces. Guderian left behind a part of the rear-guard forces, mostly light tanks and mechanized units, while the remaining armored troops continued to advance westward.

Along the way, the Russian positions encountered were all swiftly overrun by the German armored troops as easily as slicing through vegetables, just like the first position at the outset.

This indeed demonstrates the suppressive power of tank divisions over infantry units. Without the support of other types of forces, infantry are completely helpless when facing the onslaught of tank troops.

Even with superior equipment, they could not breach the defense of the German armored troops. After continuously advancing several kilometers, the number of German tanks lost remained in the single digits, which proved the exaggerated combat power of the German armored troops.

While Guderian led his armored clusters in an invincible advance, Pavlov on the other side naturally received reports that the rear was under attack.

Without any hesitation, Guderian ordered all mechanized units from the third and fourth army groups in the rear to head to the attacked location, to possibly block the German military’s offensive.

According to the structure of the Western Front Army, each army group has a mechanized army and a cavalry army. Although the mechanized army contains only one tank division, the rest being one mechanized infantry division and a motorized division, it represented about the most powerful mobile force that Pavlov could muster in a short amount of time.

But the bad news was, these mechanized troops were at a distance from the German armored clusters. Even the nearest mechanized units of the third and fourth army groups needed at least half an hour to reach the location under attack.

Half an hour was enough time for the German military to push the frontline forward by several more kilometers.

By adopting the strategy of breakthrough with heavy tanks, encirclement with heavy tanks, and killing with light tanks, this advance was like cutting through butter, easily destroying the Russian army.

By the time the Russian armored troops encountered the German armored troops, indeed, half an hour had passed.

The clash between the two sets of armored troops lasted less than an hour before it culminated in the total rout of the Russian mechanized forces.

After all, Russian tanks lagged greatly behind German tanks both in numbers and in specific performance.

Because of a late start, Russian tanks were almost universally behind in development. Russian tanks had thinner armor, weaker firepower, and less impressive power.

This meant that Russian tanks became nothing more than live targets on the battlefield when facing German tanks, and were bombed one by one.

As for those mechanized infantry and motorized soldiers, they were even less likely to stop the advance of the German armored troops.

Consequently, even though the Russian military encountered the German military, they were still unable to halt the German offensive.

The Russian rear defensive line was shattered by this armored group, and the remaining infantry were simply incapable of mounting an effective resistance.

Pavlov had high hopes for the air force, with several dozen airplanes taking off successfully, but they were quickly intercepted by the German Air Force.

In a small-scale aerial battle, the Russian Air Force was nearly annihilated and fell on their mission to support the rear.

Three hours after initiating their attack, Guderian’s armored cluster had completely broken through the Russian army’s first defensive line in the rear and was heading deeper into the line.

On the main battlefield, the German military also launched a fierce attack on Białystok. Even Grodno and Brest, which formed a triangular defensive position, came under attack and bombardment by the German military, catching the Russian army somewhat off guard.

Pavlov wanted the Russian military at the main battlefield to send reinforcements to the rear, but the German forces on the main front successfully pinned down the Russian troops.

As soon as Pavlov directed troops from the main front, the Germans would launch a fierce attack on the vacated gap.

With German airplanes dominating the sky, any movement by the Russian military could hardly escape German notice, and the Germans would never remain indifferent to any exposed weaknesses of the Russians.