I asked you to escape, but you became a soldier in World War II

Chapter 118 Tank No. 549

Lin Chen seemed to sense Lieutenant Colonel Parosovich's unspeakable secret, but the rank gap between them was there, so he didn't say much.

Later, Lin Chen learned from Lieutenant Colonel Antonov of the Intelligence Department (who was promoted for his outstanding intelligence work) how heavy the losses of the Soviet army were in this great tank battle.

Taking the Southern Front as an example,
As of July 7, both the Soviet and German armies in the south suffered heavy casualties.

However, the Soviet losses were significantly greater than those of the Germans. The Soviet losses totaled 98613 people and 2055 tanks (the latter obviously included duplicate statistics caused by repeated injuries, the same as for the Germans), while the German losses totaled 27817 people and 1327 tanks.

其中担任德军主攻之一的第4装甲集团军仅剩478辆战车，与7月4日相比，所剩一半不到；肯普夫集群只剩83辆可用坦克（其中9辆虎式），比7月5日减少243辆。

The German armies in the north and south were still more than 100 kilometers apart. In front of the southern German army, there were not only the 15 troops of the entire Voronezh Front and Steppe Front, but also the 42 reserve troops of the Steppe Front who had not yet participated in the battle.

General Vatutin, commander of the Voronezh Front alone, had at least 1500 to 1900 serviceable tanks and self-propelled artillery.

The situation on the northern front was even worse. In fact, General Model of the Ninth Army, which was in charge of the main attack in the Central Army Group, was not optimistic about the "Fortress" operation plan from the beginning. During the offensive, he only mobilized 14 divisions as the attack force, leaving a lot of elite forces to deal with the Soviet counterattack.

It can be said that Model had long since determined that the German offensive would be futile.

The facts were exactly as he expected. The Soviet army's dense deep defense system in front of them, and the countless anti-tank guns and minefields were a nightmare for the elite German armored troops.

However, the German High Command insisted on launching a pincer attack here, which was actually extremely unrealistic.

The total strength of the German army (about 85) was compared to the 190 million of the Soviet army, and the German army had no advantage in the number of tanks and artillery. The most surprising thing was that the German army's air superiority was also extremely limited. Under such circumstances, it had to launch an attack first, and failure was imaginable.

By the evening of July 7, the German pincer attack had completely failed.

All that remained was to face the counterattack of the powerful Soviet reserve corps.
In fact, starting on July 7, the Soviet command had already begun to implement the Kutuzov Campaign to respond to Model's offensive.

The battle plan was to use three fronts to launch concentric assaults on Orel from the north, east and south in order to split the German Orel Group and annihilate them one by one.

To this end, the Soviet army formed four powerful assault corps: one on the left wing of the Western Front, two in the Bryansk Front area, and one on the right wing of the Central Front.

The total strength of the Soviet army was as high as 128 million, in addition to more than 3000 artillery pieces of various types, more than 3000 tanks and self-propelled artillery, and more than aircraft (including long-range aviation aircraft).

So from this point of view, the German offensive in the Battle of Kursk was only the first few days, and the rest was almost all the Soviet general offensive. The German army suffered huge losses that were difficult to make up for in the offensive operations, which made the later defense extremely difficult.

Especially on July 7, a military coup took place in Italy, and Germany faced the danger of its most powerful ally "jumping off" the German chariot, which was simply a devastating disaster for Germany.

The next day, the German High Command was forced to decide to transfer the SS Panzer Corps to Italy to stabilize the situation there, and several other divisions would follow. However, due to the urgency of the war on the Eastern Front, only the 7st Guards Leibstandarte Division (with 18 tanks and assault guns on July 110) was transferred.

This made the already critical situation in the Kursk region even worse.

Of course, these are not things that a small lieutenant like Lin Chen should worry about.

Because of their outstanding performance in this great battle, the army gave him the opportunity to communicate directly with the intelligence headquarters.

On the phone, Lieutenant Colonel Antonov expressed high praise for the outstanding performance of Lin Chen and others, and announced that his rank would be promoted to lieutenant, and relevant medals would also be awarded after the war.

He even joked that he was afraid that Lin Chen would not be able to fit so many medals on his chest.

Seeing that Lin Chen was so familiar with the senior officials of the General Staff Headquarters, Lieutenant Colonel Parosovich and others could not help but be shocked. He could obviously make a living by relying on connections, but he chose to rely on risking his life?

Antonov also asked Lin Chen for his opinion on the current situation. Should he return to the headquarters immediately to report on his work, or stay on the front line to continue to make new contributions? Although his contributions were enough, as a soldier, who would think that his contributions were too much?
The most important point is that Antonov also felt a little sorry for Lin Chen. If he was not of Chinese descent, with his military exploits, he could easily become a colonel-level officer, and he would probably have even obtained the Soviet Union's highest medal of honor.

The value of the intelligence obtained by his Red Star Special Operations Team has alarmed the supreme leader, who usually never praises others easily, and made him say "good" three times in a row.

"Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, our special operations team has made great sacrifices. I hope the country will not forget them." Lin Chen must fight for the rights of his men.

"Asshole, what are you talking about? Do you think we are all black-hearted capitalists? Don't worry, they are all heroes. They will definitely receive the honors they deserve, and the pensions they deserve will be generous and generous! Those who are still alive will all be promoted and rewarded!" Lieutenant Colonel Antonov's voice suddenly became louder.

"Sergei was promoted to Sergeant, Kirilenko was promoted to Staff Sergeant!"

To be honest, he was also very saddened by the heavy casualties in the special operations team. These were elite veterans drawn from various places, and now they were all killed. It was really heartbreaking.

"But they are all great, and their sacrifice is worth it! I have memorized all their names!" Lieutenant Colonel Antonov gave a very high evaluation. "Thanks to your contributions, we have a clear grasp of the German army's pre-war deployment. Hehe, don't say that the German army only has 85 troops. Even if there are another 20 German troops, we can still defeat them!"

"Next, we will counterattack. What do you think?"

Lin Chen glanced at Lieutenant Colonel Parosovich and others beside him, and after a brief thought, he answered decisively, "Comrade Lieutenant Colonel, I want to stay at the front line and make new contributions to the counterattack!"

In fact, Lin Chen had his own considerations for making this decision.

Firstly, he had a lot of confidential information that was buried in the German-occupied area during the temporary breakout, and now it was a good opportunity to retrieve it by counterattacking.

Secondly, from what Lieutenant Colonel Antonov said, one can also sense that the higher-ups certainly hope that he can continue to play a role. After all, it is still too early for victory in the Great Patriotic War.

The third and most important point is that because of his Chinese descent, he had made such a great contribution, but in the end he was only a lieutenant. This was indeed a bit unfair, but how many things in life can be fair? Compared with Hanta, Lieqi and others who died tragically on the front line, he was undoubtedly much luckier.

If promotion is slow, then you should make more contributions and use your merits to carve out a path for yourself!

"On the front line, your rank of lieutenant can only make you a company commander. Do you want to join the infantry or armored forces? Or a reconnaissance unit?" Lieutenant Colonel Antonov also had to fully consider his role. "Reconnaissance company? Please spare me! I have fired tanks from both sides of the enemy several times in a row recently. I think it is quite exciting to drive a tank. If conditions permit, I will temporarily become a tank soldier."

Are you kidding? Lieutenant Colonel Parosovich and others are right here. This is the territory of the 4th Guards Tank Brigade. They say they want to do other things. What's the matter? Are they being mean to us?

How can you say such stupid things? But then again, tank soldiers are at least much better than infantry. The Soviet infantry's casualty rate was ridiculously high. Not to mention that they could only be company commanders, even if they were battalion commanders or regiment commanders, the death rate on the Eastern Front was also extremely high.

Of course, he was not afraid of death, but that did not mean that he did not cherish his life. With the end of the Battle of Kursk, the Soviet army began to gradually gain air superiority on the Eastern Front. If the tanks were not threatened by German aircraft, they would be relatively better.

"Okay, then I'll arrange it! You call the highest commander there!" Lieutenant Colonel Antonov started to solve the problem directly.

When Lin Chen handed the phone to Lieutenant Colonel Parosovich, Lieutenant Colonel Parosovich was still a little nervous. Although he was a lieutenant colonel, he had no connection with the people in the headquarters. So even if the other party had the same rank as him, he was still someone he looked up to.

"Hello, sir. I am Lieutenant Colonel Parosovich, commander of the 4th Guards Tank Brigade. Please give me your instructions!" He stood straight and tried to make his answer as polite as possible.

"Comrade Lin Chen is the captain of the special operations team directly under our General Staff Headquarters. He is a hero, a valuable asset of the great Soviet Union, and a super combat backbone of the Soviet Army. I hope you can arrange his work properly. Is there any difficulty?"

Hearing such high praise from the other party, Parosovich dared not neglect it. He immediately put his feet together and answered loudly, "It's not difficult. We guarantee to complete the task!"

After hanging up the phone, he turned around and smiled kindly, "Second Lieutenant Lin Chen, which company do you want to command?"
-
When Lin Chen walked out of the brigade headquarters, he was still in a very happy mood. Parosovich took out all the companies in his brigade for him to choose from, and promised that he would be the company commander when he arrived. This sincerity was enough.

Because the rank of lieutenant can actually only make him a deputy company commander, but Lin Chen is from the General Staff Headquarters after all, and to him he is just a temporary wheat picker, so he has to give him enough face.

The Soviet tank brigade was generally the smallest tactical unit in the Soviet army during World War II, with approximately 1200 to 1500 people.

For this type of armored tactical unit, the number of people is not the most critical factor. What best reflects its combat effectiveness is the number and quality of tanks.

The tank brigade has a brigade headquarters consisting of 43 people. In order to better perform its tasks, the brigade headquarters has a command company with a total of 142 people, including a reconnaissance platoon, a communications platoon, an engineering platoon and a logistics platoon.

Of course, how could this unit be called a tank brigade if there were no tanks?

It has two tank battalions, each with a total of 146 people.

Each tank battalion has three tank companies, including:
A KV tank company, equipped with KV tanks, with a total of 5 KV-1 tanks and 47 personnel;
一个T-34坦克连，装备T-34坦克，总计有10辆T-34坦克和48人；
一个T-60坦克连，装备T-60坦克，总计有8辆T-60坦克和17人。

In addition, the tank brigade also has a maintenance company with a total of 108 people to provide maintenance and technical support for the above-mentioned tanks.

Like the 4th Guards Tank Brigade, many support units were added in addition to tank units.

For example, there is an anti-aircraft artillery company with a total of 58 people, and an anti-tank artillery company equipped with a 76mm anti-tank gun with a total of 52 people. In addition, the tank brigade also has a motorized infantry company with a total of 402 people, which is even more than one-third of the total number of ordinary tank brigades.

Lin Chen had no interest in the performance of the KV tank. When the Soviet tank brigade was organizing an attack, the KV tank company was at the front to attract the German anti-tank fire. With its armor that seemed powerful but was actually relatively fragile in the middle and late stages of World War II, its survival rate was really not good.

As for the T34, the main equipment now is the T34/76, whose protection and firepower are even inferior to the German Type 60 tank to a certain extent. As for light tanks like the T, they have no sense of existence and are completely used to clean up the battlefield.

So Lin Chen chose another option. He planned to command a T34 tank company, but for his own vehicle, he chose a captured and intact German Type IV H tank.

The H-type tank is the most produced type of the Panzer IV tank. Its German military number is Sd.Kfz.161/2, and the total production volume reaches 3774 units.

Due to enhanced protection, the combat weight increased to 25 tons and the maximum armor thickness reached 80 mm.

The tank's wide side skirts and the rear of the turret are equipped with protective plates to enhance the protection of the weak parts of this type of tank. Some H-types also have additional armor installed on the upper front armor of the hull.

The 48-caliber 75mm gun gave it the ability to compete with Allied medium tanks.

The most crucial point is that, based on Lin Chen's previous driving experience, this is truly an extremely excellent medium and light tank with extremely reliable performance and decent firepower. Moreover, the Soviet army had captured a lot of it, so the ammunition was sufficient.

Originally, Lin Chen also wanted a Leopard tank, but after inquiring, he found out that no Leopard tanks had been captured on the southern front, and the war on the northern front was in full swing, so it was impossible to transfer it over.

As for the Tiger tank, that's just overthinking. Tiger tanks are extremely rare among the German army, not to mention the Soviet army.

My brothers and I went through life and death to get such a vehicle, which was badly damaged and had been towed to the rear for major repairs. After the repairs, it would probably be used for scientific research. How could I possibly use it for myself?

The Ferdinand heavy anti-tank destroyer is even more impossible, so the most suitable one is really the Panzer IV.

Parosovich was very efficient and quickly got Lin Chen a Type 4H tank. Of course, it was painted in the Soviet green color.

The red five-pointed star is very eye-catching, with a line of Russian words painted in white paint on the side: "Soviet Warrior!"

Lin Chen was speechless. Was it necessary to be so ostentatious?
The tank’s number was exactly No. 549, which Lin Chen had used so powerfully before.

With his own tank, the next step is his company.

His Second Company was the main tank company under the First Battalion, but the number of tanks was not fully staffed, with only four pitiful T34/76 models, and they were all badly damaged.

But even so, Lin Chen should be satisfied. After such a big battle, a tank company with five tanks is considered good. Many tank brigades and even tank divisions have been reduced to empty shells.

(End of this chapter)