USSR 1941

"A new type of tank?" Shulka couldn't help being taken aback: "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I'm sure!" Vasily nodded and replied: "I recognized it from the outline, there are at least three!"

In fact, Shulka knew that Vasily would not admit his mistake.

Because since the previous "Tiger" was captured, the Soviet army has distributed pictures and photos to various units... The "Tiger" tank is still a secret to the German army. If the German army is a secret, then the Soviet army should let it go Everyone knows.

Of course, the more important thing is that because the "Tiger" has strong firepower and defensive power, almost all anti-tank guns of the Soviet army are helpless against it, so preparations should be made as soon as possible.

Of course, Vasily has seen "tiger-style" photos. At the same time, as a sniper, he has very good eyesight, and it is basically impossible to make a mistake.

Then Shulka understood that those "Tiger" tanks were preparations for the German army to penetrate or attack the No. 2 train station along the river after dawn.

Shulka guessed right, Major General Jonas specially transferred five "Tiger" tanks from the rear to provide cover.

Paulus also disputed this.

"It's immature, Jonas!" Paulus said with some concern: "You know, before rushing into battle, I found that this kind of tank is not safe enough, and it is easy to break down in battle!"

"I know, General!" Major General Jonas replied, "but we need it, because we want to take the enemy's railway station and hold it! Being taken away by them is actually doing useless work, we seem to be running in circles, and have nothing but consume soldiers and ammunition!"

What Major General Jonas said was indeed true, and the Battle of Stalingrad was in such a predicament at this time.

At the same time, Paulus felt that Jonas's consideration was correct. What they needed was to hold on to the captured train station, so they didn't need much maneuverability of the "Tiger". A strong support point.

This is almost invincible with air supremacy.

Thinking of this, Paulus agreed to Major General Jonas' request and transferred five "Tigers" in relatively good condition to Stalingrad.

In fact, it should not be said to be "tune", these "tiger styles" were originally in Stalingrad.

This is because Paulus found that the German army was in a difficult situation in the battle of Stalingrad,

In a desperate situation, he hoped to use some other "advantageous" equipment to launch an attack on the Soviet army to change this situation.

"Tiger" is one of them, and "Giant Cannon" is also one of them.

At this time, Paulus or the German army has gradually fallen into a vicious circle. When they are in a protracted battle, they often do not think about seeking breakthroughs in strategy and tactics, but hope to strike with certain weapons and equipment. The enemy forces the enemy to surrender.

Such equipment does exist, such as the atomic bomb that the United States is about to develop.

But it is not something such as the V-series missiles developed by Germany that can do it.

In fact, the more it is at this time, the more we should consider whether a tank like the "Tiger" is suitable for the current war and whether it is cost-effective.

This is like drinking poison to quench thirst. The more you lose on the battlefield, the more you hope to have an absolute advantage in equipment and defeat the enemy in one fell swoop. In the end, you actually produced the "Mouse" that can't be used on the battlefield at all.

Five "Tiger" tanks were transported by engineers to the south bank of the Tsaritsa River by rail on flatbed vehicles.

Originally, Major General Jonas hoped to mount them on the train and transport them to the north bank along with the supplies, but problems arose after the engineers surveyed.

"We did not replace the tracks of the 'new tanks', General!" the sapper reported. "This is determined by the fact that the tanks are in a state of readiness, and they are required to be ready for combat at any time..."

"Don't talk about that!" Major General Jonas interrupted the engineer: "Just tell me what's wrong!"

"The rails are not in the middle!" The engineer replied, "You know, they were blown up before, and our people artificially moved them to the right side to avoid the crater when repairing them..."

"What impact will it have?!" Major General Jonas emphasized again, he was about to be mad by this wordy engineer.

"The 'new tank' cannot be towed on a train to cross the bridge!" The engineer finally got to the point: "Its tracks will hit the steel girders of the railway bridge and get stuck there!"

Only then did Major General Jonas realize that the problem was serious.

"Is there any solution?" Major General Jonas asked.

"There are two solutions!" The engineer replied: "One is to replace the tank with narrow tracks for transportation, and then replace it with wide tracks for combat after passing the railway bridge!"

"Then do it!" Major General Jonas asked angrily, "Why do you still report to me?"

"Because it takes at least ten hours!" The engineer explained: "It also takes time to test the car, because we can't guarantee that it will work normally after changing the tracks!"

Major General Jonas didn't realize how bad the "safety" of this new type of tank was until then.

Ten hours? This means that when the "new tank" is ready, it will be noon the next day, which may make the German army have to postpone the plan to attack the No. 2 railway station for another day...it will not be able to attack at night.

And this was unacceptable to Major General Jonas.

The reason is obvious, the longer the delay, the more the Soviet army supplemented the No. 2 railway station with reinforcements and even artillery.

After a moment of silence, Major General Jonas asked again: "So, what about another method?"

"It's the railroad tracks that are offset!" replied the engineer, "but the railroad bridge is just wide enough for the 'new tanks' to pass through, which may take two hours!"

"Then do it!"

"but……"

"No but!" Major General Jonas said, "Just do it!"

"Yes, General!"

The engineers originally wanted to remind Major General Jonas that if the tank broke down in the middle of the bridge, the consequences would be very serious.

This is one of the reasons why it takes two hours to cross the bridge in "tiger style".

The engineers need to overhaul the "Tiger" to prevent them from driving to the bridge, and they need to pass one by one, otherwise several vehicles will be stuck on the bridge if they are not careful.

In fact, from the perspective of engineers, they are more inclined to change the tracks, but since Major General Jonas gave the order, they have to execute it.

So, five "Tigers" stopped at the bridgehead and prepared to pass the railway bridge one by one.

While passing a car, the Soviet army hit the bridge along the river bank.

After thinking about it, Shulka ordered Vasily: "Contact the artillery immediately, and our mortar unit, and concentrate on bombing the bridgehead!"