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

Chapter 123 SU-152 Self-Propelled Artillery Battalion

At present, this unit has been devastated, with only a few light tanks and T34/76 tanks left, and only more than soldiers.

In order to restore the combat effectiveness of this unit, the Supreme Command injected a large number of new recruits into the unit and transferred key personnel from other units, so that it had two tank regiments under its jurisdiction. Each tank regiment had two tank battalions, and each battalion was equipped with 2 various armored vehicles.

In addition, it was unprecedentedly equipped with a heavy self-propelled artillery battalion, equipped with 12 SU-152 self-propelled artillery.

The SU-152 self-propelled artillery (English: SU-152 Assault Gun) is a new type of self-propelled artillery called KV-14 developed by the Soviet Union to counter the German army's new tanks.

It is equipped with a 152mm ML-20 gun with a direct-fire range of up to 700 meters.

All self-propelled artillery were equipped with 10-RK-26 radio and TPU-3 intercom. However, it still used the chassis of the KV-1s tank.

Due to the emergence of the Tiger tank, the Red Army leaders required the SU-152 to have strong anti-tank capabilities. The SU-152 self-propelled artillery can vertically penetrate 2000 mm armor at a distance of 110 meters, so if several of these self-propelled artillery were fired at the same time, it would have a huge killing effect on the German Tiger tanks and even the Ferdinand heavy anti-tank destroyer.

During the Battle of Kursk, the SU-152 performed very well in combat and soon earned the title of "Animal Killer" because it demonstrated its admirable ability to destroy various types of German armored vehicles named after animals (tigers, leopards, elephants).

Although the 4th Independent Guards Tank Brigade has only the word "independent" added to its original designation, its rank is higher and it is directly under the 5th Guards Tank Army.

Although Lieutenant Colonel Parosovich was still the brigade commander, he was promoted to the rank of colonel, which made him a division-level cadre.

Since there was no rank of colonel in the Soviet army, Colonel Parosovich was only one step away from becoming a general.

This tank brigade is quite different from ordinary tank divisions and brigades. It is not equipped with a corresponding infantry regiment. Instead, it is somewhat similar to the German Army's independent heavy tank battalion organization, concentrating all the heavy tanks at one point and then making a breakthrough!
Equivalent to the army's spearhead brigade.

Therefore, its tank equipment is also the most powerful and advanced among the current Soviet armored forces.

As for Lin Chen's arrangement, it was a bit subtle. He was assigned to be the company commander of a company in the heavy self-propelled artillery battalion, and his rank was promoted to captain again.

This speed of promotion is unique among Asians, although it is indeed slower than that of their native people.

Lin Chen took his old subordinates to re-examine their new equipment.

This SU-152 heavy self-propelled artillery has a total weight of 45 tons and a crew of 5 people. Its biggest shortcoming is that it only has 20 rounds of ammunition in reserve. However, considering its firing rate of only 2 rounds per minute, it is barely acceptable.

The group army provided this heavy artillery battalion with Dodge trucks donated by the United States, and Lin Chen also received 5 of them, which greatly enhanced his self-propelled artillery maintenance and support capabilities.

The equipment can be said to be the best configuration that the Soviet army can provide. The only thing that makes him not very satisfied is the troops.

Most of these soldiers were young farmers recruited from various places, and a small number were workers. Their fighting enthusiasm and morale were undoubtedly high, but their cultural level was relatively poor.

Before, Lin Chen commanded infantry or tank soldiers, which had relatively low cultural requirements. Now he is commanding a heavy artillery unit. If he has a low cultural level and does not understand many professional terms of artillery, how can he shoot accurately?
He reported these situations to the brigade commander Colonel Parosovich (the new battalion commander had not yet arrived), but all he got in return was a barrage of complaints from Colonel Parosovich.

"I've rarely seen this kind of heavy self-propelled artillery. You need experienced soldiers. Where can I find them for you? These equipments are the latest ones developed and put into production. They were equipped to us as soon as they came out. Are you still not satisfied? If you don't have experience, you can figure it out by yourself!" After giving a lecture, Colonel Parosovich did not forget to make a big promise.

"Lin, you have created countless miracles here. This time, I still believe that you can create a miracle. Others can't, but you can! As long as you can figure out a method, you may be able to teach your subordinates quickly and let these heavy guys shine in the next counterattack!"

After hearing this, Lin Chen smiled bitterly. He really didn't know how to do it. Although he was a special forces soldier in his previous life and had fired artillery before, they were all anti-tank rocket launchers or light mortars.

After crossing over, they fired a 88mm anti-aircraft gun, which was the pinnacle of their efforts.

But the SU-152 is very different from traditional artillery. How to command it? How to coordinate it? How to maximize its combat effectiveness? These are all unknown.

Finally, after much persuasion, Colonel Parosovich finally got some brief instructions from the ordnance department and invited a group of guys with actual combat experience to give lectures.

But their attitude is really not flattering.

When they saw that almost no one here had ever served in artillery, they immediately concluded that it would take until next year for this unit to become combat-ready.

When Lin Chen saw that such superficial classes had almost no effect, he decisively changed his thinking. He let these people teach him, and then he taught it to the backbones, passing it on from one level to the next. This method was not inefficient but the effect was much better.

At first, when these experts and scholars saw Lin Chen's resume, they were quite disdainful.

An apprentice in a machinery factory? Rubbish! Can you learn such high-level artillery technology?
However, when they were formally taught, Lin Chen's learning ability surprised them.

Conventional physics and mathematics knowledge were just formalities. Lin Chen could even name most of the professional terms in artillery terminology. As for how to accurately calculate artillery fire density and coordinate calibration, Lin Chen could even draw inferences from one example and put forward his own opinions.

Some new ideas and technologies make these experts feel anxious. If they did not feel a little embarrassed, they would have taken out their notebooks to record them.

In particular, Lin Chen's analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of this self-propelled artillery was very thorough.

The advantage of this type of artillery is its large caliber. Its support to the front line is no less than that of traditional towed artillery. If artillery fires against each other, its effect will be much greater. Of course, the premise is that it must be used in a concentrated manner. But the disadvantages are too obvious.
First of all, this type of self-propelled artillery has no close combat capability. The batch of vehicles that Lin Chen got did not even have machine guns installed. This means that this type of vehicle can only be used in the rear and cannot rush to the front line. So what is the point of equipping it with such thick armor?
Secondly, the accuracy of this artillery is very poor, and it must be compensated by salvo fire, which is more demanding for logistics, and the Soviet army's logistics are not outstanding. Then its role is not as good as that of Katyusha rockets.

Those experts were obviously shocked by Lin Chen's words. They also found the shortcomings of this batch of advanced vehicles, but they did not analyze them so thoroughly. The main reason was that these weapons had just been released and had not been tested in actual combat for a long time. A new weapon must go through a long period of actual combat, combined with the actual combat effects of the equipped troops, plus a lot of research and analysis before it can be improved.

Whether it is an airplane or a tank, many of them have multiple modifications. Even in modern times, the weapons and equipment of various countries are being improved while undergoing actual combat.

"Then is there any good way to solve it?" Finally, an expert could not help but raise the question. Although they are all experts, they are still quite curious about academic knowledge. Who doesn't want the weapons they research or participate in to be powerful on the battlefield?
"It's actually quite simple. On the existing basis, we can reduce the armor and increase the number of guards. We can refer to the German Wasp self-propelled artillery. In this way, our vehicle will have a great advantage. After all, its caliber is very large. If the production volume is increased, it will form a powerful mobile long-range firepower."

Through teaching, Lin Chen put forward some of his own viewpoints, which benefited these guys a lot. In exchange, they also imparted what they learned without reservation, allowing Lin Chen to thoroughly understand how to command artillery and how to operate this kind of self-propelled artillery to bring out their ultimate performance.

Colonel Parosovich was naturally very satisfied. He even deliberately did not assign a battalion commander to the heavy artillery battalion where Lin Chen was. In fact, he just wanted Lin Chen to temporarily take over the position of battalion commander as a company commander, because he felt that no one was more suitable to command this elite force than Lin Chen.

At the same time, he fully met Lin Chen's request for escort forces, and promised to allocate a tank company to him after the troops were fully equipped to ensure its safety.

But these were not given for free. He asked Lin Chen to help him train tank soldiers. As a senior tank commander in the brigade, Lin Chen not only had to take charge of the military training of the heavy self-propelled artillery battalion, but also the military training of the entire brigade.
Not enough tanks? Just build a model out of wood first, and get familiar with how to operate and coordinate, which are very important.

In the later period, even some veterans transferred from other armored units took the initiative to ask him for advice. After all, not everyone had combat experience against Tiger and Panther tanks.

Lin Chen was also willing to share with them his thoughts, insights and experiences from actual combat.

In particular, he was able to describe in great detail and intuitively the advantages and disadvantages of the mainstream tanks of both the Soviet Union and Germany through some typical actual combat experiences, and talked about how to overcome and improve them, which was an eye-opener for those present.

At the very least, it is impossible to fully understand these situations by relying solely on the original closed-door research or only touching the tip of the iceberg.

Through this series of exchanges and learning, Lin Chen finally mastered how to use and command these "big guys".

He started a military training competition in his own camp, and through learning from each other, everyone's skills improved rapidly. In particular, they repeatedly simulated how to use artillery to quickly clear obstacles for the assault troops, assuming that the German defenses ahead were very strong.

However, what puzzled other regiments and battalions in the brigade was that Lin Chen had extremely high physical requirements for the self-propelled artillery soldiers. In addition to daily cross-country running, he also required everyone to be able to swim and at least be able to swim five kilometers.

These made many local troops laugh, and some even joked that Lin Chen wanted the artillery troops to be able to swim back after being defeated.

Lin Chen did not explain these doubts in detail, but repeatedly emphasized that his subordinates must practice every minute.

Colonel Parosovich not only did not stop Lin Chen's practices, but instead required all regiments and battalions to follow suit, and even organized personnel to learn from his experience.

He has learned his lesson through actual combat. Lin Chen definitely couldn't have done this without any purpose. He must have his own unique way of doing it.

Students with poor academic performance should not try to be original. They should just follow the good students step by step. They may not be able to surpass their teachers, but at least there will be some effect.

With the strong support of Colonel Parosovich, the combat spirit of this unit has been completely renewed and the desire to fight is unprecedentedly high.

All this reached a new climax after the arrival of tank equipment.

Most of the tanks equipped to this brigade are KV85 tanks, plus some T34/76 tanks, some T60 reconnaissance tanks, and even some anti-tank assault guns.

A lot of trucks were provided by Britain and the United States, making this unit a quasi-mechanized unit.

However, Lin Chen and Colonel Parosovich both understood that being equipped so well and given so much meant that they would have to take on more difficult combat missions in future operations.

Now that the future combat positioning is clear, this unit will begin emergency drills.

Lin Chen suggested that they should mainly learn the German Army's blitzkrieg tactics and use long-distance maneuvers to break through the German Army's long defense line.

"We lack this kind of experience. If we fail to capture the enemy after we break in, it will be easy for the Germans to cut off our supply lines and then divide, surround and eat us. You have to know that our brigade is not only the best-equipped in the entire Fifth Army, but is probably also the strongest armored unit on the entire Eastern Front."

Colonel Parosovich was still a little worried. It was true that the German army had achieved great victories in the early stages of the Great Patriotic War, but they had conducted repeated experiments in Western Europe and had accumulated a lot of experience in tank troop penetration operations.

However, many of his troops were new recruits and had no relevant experience. If he rashly rushed into battle and was defeated on the battlefield, he would become a sinner in the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression.

"Comrade Brigade Commander, we can practice it first. What if we need it? Then we can show our power! This method of combat can greatly reduce casualties in the troops. The German Seventh Armored Division used this method to sweep across Western Europe, but its own losses were minimal."

Lin Chen tried his best to persuade Colonel Parosovich, "Of course, we must also have the ability to attack and fight. Even if we fight a war of attrition, our troops will be an iron fist that smashes the German defense line!"

Colonel Parosovich thought about it again and again and reluctantly agreed.

"Okay, then we will focus on attacking strongholds, supplemented by long-distance raids and penetrations, and step up training to improve the combat effectiveness of the troops."

(End of this chapter)