Battle of the Third Reich

Marching in the rain at night is a chore, and most armies in the world will try to avoid getting their troops into such trouble. …. …

The already poor visibility became worse under the dense rain screen. In order to maintain concealment, the Germans also equipped the lights with night control lampshades. This metal hood only leaves an elongated slit in the front of the lights. Under normal circumstances, the light is just enough to illuminate the front 20 meters of the car. The road within it also effectively reduces the probability of being discovered by enemies in the distance and in the air. But at this time, this kind of equipment seriously restricted the speed of German operations. The weakened lights were difficult to penetrate the dense rainwater. The visible distance has been reduced to about ten meters. The speed of the convoy can only be slowed down accordingly. When considering speed, the most important thing is to ensure the safety of driving.

The German army actually has more advanced notek night control lamps, but because it has just been put into mass production, the production progress can't keep up with it, and it requires a professional repair shop to modify the circuit and panel, so only a small number of vehicles are equipped with the kind. Night lights. Zeissler’s armored grenadiers didn’t even have time to change to the high-end equipment, and even the half-track vehicles that were distributed to them were new products that had just been released from the production line. When they got their hands, the engine didn’t even go through the running-in period. .

The 251 semi-tracked vehicle has a design that German soldiers love and hate, that is, there is no top cover. The design of the fully open top cover was the popular style of the world at that time, and it was also the product of military thought at that time. According to the technology at the time, it was not without the ability to design these vehicles in a fully enclosed style, but the senior officers at this time still insisted on their own understanding. The lessons of the First World War affected the development of equipment for more than a decade after the war. The closed troop transporters were regarded as a waste of materials and space, and they were iron coffins used to murder soldiers.

The generals believe that once such a vehicle is attacked by anti-tank weapons, the soldiers hiding in the closed compartment will be seriously injured, and it is difficult to escape from the car. The open combat room is different. Not only is it convenient to get on and off, but also has The widest angle of view makes it easy for soldiers to observe the surrounding environment. At the same time, it is convenient for soldiers to shoot at the target on the vehicle.

At that time, the blitz tactics were still being researched and explored. The concept of building armored divisions appeared in the German army. The generals proposed the idea of ​​forming an infantry unit with the movement of the armored division. So they proposed to develop a kind of protection and combat. Able to transport soldiers in complex environments with tank vehicles.

Since the subordinates have such a demand. The high-level will of course be satisfied. The sdkz251 semi-tracked personnel carrier came into being. The problem was that the German national strength was not restored at that time, and the reconstruction of the National Defense Army required money everywhere. Therefore, it was necessary to make careful calculations in equipment procurement. Economic and mass production as a hard standard were placed on all German military equipment at that time. During the research and development process.

251 is not exempt. As a general armoured personnel carrier prepared by the German army for a large number of equipment, the 251 was required to be developed on the basis of the German semi-tracked tractor at the time. It could be replaced with the existing equipment in terms of parts and basic structure as much as possible, which was convenient It can be quickly put into production without changing the original production line too much. The most important thing is to save a lot of costs and keep the total price within the minimum range of the German procurement standards. So in the future, some people say that the performance of German half-track vehicles is very ordinary, and even mediocre. The problem lies in the source of research and development.

Of course Zeissler would not agree with this view. In his view, these vehicles represent the highest level of German military technology, even if there are some flaws, but it does not affect its excellent performance on the battlefield, at least so far it has not disappointed Zeissler.

"There is another kilometer to reach the next intersection. According to the latest report from the battalion, we have a paratroopers reconnaissance team on the side, which should be not far from us. If we can see each other during the day." Zeissler sat in the captain. At the location, check the waterproof map in the hand by the flare next to the radio.

"We are a little late, sir. The road is too difficult to walk." The captain was wearing a motorcycle raincoat. Standing on the machine gun shooter stand behind the cockpit against the wind and rain, he held the **** of the mg34 machine gun in hand and stared nervously at the taillights of the vehicle in front.

Indeed, the British road opened the eyes of the Germans. They found each other seemed to live in the Middle Ages. The roads in the country are all one-way streets in one water, and the direction is very strange. Through the forest, the village turned from the beginning to the east and then turned to the north. The British did not seem to have a straight line concept, and there were bends everywhere. .

What is even more hateful is that the British roads rarely have eye-catching street signs. The Germans had to stop a little at each intersection, and carefully watched the surrounding landmarks and road conditions against the wind and rain, for fear of going the wrong way. Zeissler suspected that the group of **** must have been filled with whiskey when building roads, otherwise how could they create such a maze-like road traffic network.

"We still have time, after this intersection, the road behind is much more spacious, we can reach Kingston at about 3:30. This rain is too heavy, the headquarters will understand our difficulties." Zeissler turned his head I looked at the captain and continued to look down at the map.

"I received a radio signal. There must be a British radio station nearby. They are talking by voice." The signal soldiers shrank under the canvas canopy at the rear of the car. This temporary rain protection equipment was not originally provided by the vehicle. Zeissler In the seized goods warehouse, I got some rain sheds equipped with Renault crawlers. The size and shape are also suitable. Although it is troublesome to set up, the waterproof and rainproof effects are still good.

"Your English is good, listen to what is said in it?" Zeissler said to the captain.

"Understood." The captain turned around and stooped into the canopy. He took off the helmet and put on the radio headset.

"Here, this is not English, it seems to be Cyrillic. Please wait a moment..." The captain recognized it carefully with his headphones.

At this time, the crawler suddenly slowed down, and then slowly stopped against the roadside.

"It's not my problem. The car in front stopped and the pilot car turned back." the driver shouted.

"The **** of the weather, I don't know what they found." Zeissler buckled the raincoat and put on a helmet, and got out of the captain's seat.

"Sir, we heard gunshots in front, and there are flashes and firelight two kilometers ahead of the right. It may be that our people are fighting the enemy." Chief Sergeant Franken, who is leading the reconnaissance mission, stood in the tricycle's car The bucket shouted loudly at Zeissler.

"Did you see the specific direction?" Zeissler shouted at the edge of the carriage and yelled at the chief master.

"Turn right in front of the woods, there is a road leading to the battlefield, it looks like a village. The rain is too heavy, you may not hear it here. We see clearly in front, fight there DEK was hilarious. I sent the two brothers Frederick to check it out. They were very clever. It should give us the exact news soon." The master chief raised his head, holding the helmet in one hand and holding in the other. Motorcyclist's shoulder.

"Did they bring the radio?"

"Bring it, but the rain is too heavy, I don't know what the signal is." Franken wiped the rain on his face.

"Order the troops to prepare for battle and wait for you to get on the second car. Let the No. 1 car in the heavy weapons platoon follow the company. I need them to contact the friendly army."

There is a 251/3-type medium-sized radio communication vehicle in the heavy weapons platoon. Because it is sometimes necessary to uniformly deploy heavy firepower in combat, the regiment and even the division will directly take over the command of the heavy firepower unit, so each armored grenadier company is given Heavy firepower platoon is equipped with this medium-sized communication vehicle.

This semi-tracked radio communication vehicle is equipped with four different types of radio stations, including several bands of long-distance short-range inter-vehicle walks. It can directly communicate with armored forces and air units, and can also communicate with army units with similar equipment. connection.

With the command of the company commander, the armored grenadier company restarted, and the vehicles in the middle of the team turned off the headlights. Only rely on the red tail lights to maintain the distance between each other.

"Company commander, it's Frederick." The signal soldier shouted in front of the walkie-talkie.

"which one?"

"Brother."

Zeissler took the walkie-talkie in the hands of the signal soldier. The signal was affected by the rain and there was some interference during the call, but finally he could still tell what was said.

"Company commander, we are now on the edge of the battlefield, and we met with friendly forces. They were the reconnaissance team of the 1st Battalion of Paratroopers. There were two company men. They were ambushed in the village. Almost one platoon of paratroopers was attacked by the enemy. Surrounded by the village. They are trying to save them. Now they are asking for our help. Wait, the paratrooper commander will talk to you." Fredric Jr. finished and gave the walker the command of the paratrooper. official.

"I'm Lieutenant Commander von Clausen of the Second Company of the 1st Battalion of Paratroopers." A steady voice sounded, giving Zeissler a good first impression.

"I'm Lieutenant Zeissler, commander of the second battalion of the 37th Regiment." He took the walkie-talkie back to the captain's seat and picked up the map.

"Nice to see you here. We need your help urgently now."

"No problem, Lieutenant, my people will be here soon, please wait for a while." Zeissler opened the armor cover of the observation window and glanced towards the front of the road.

"Understood, I look forward to meeting you." The other party returned the walkie-talkie to Fredric.

"Company Commander. When you reach the intersection, turn left and take the next path, you will see us."

"Understood, you just wait in place, don't act rashly."

"Observe, sir."

Zeissler put the walkie-talkie on the console next to the captain's seat, inserted the map into the map bag on the side, and then raised his hands and rubbed his face hard.

"I hate fighting in the rain." Lieutenant Grenadier took a deep breath of damp and icy air, and he refitted the helmet and tightened the leather jaw strap. Turning his hand to pick up the walkie-talkie, Zeissler bowed his head and got out of the captain's seat.

"Have you heard of the country yet? Maybe it's a commercial radio station of a foreign company." He put the walkie-talkie on the storage rack next to the communication desk and leaned his head to look at the captain who was still listening to radio communications.

"It's very familiar. I must have heard it before, some words can be heard. One of them seems to be an officer, who is reporting to whom, they are not using our walkie-talkie, there must be a command post nearby...Warsaw? I heard Warsaw... yes, they are Polish, and yes, this group of bitch-bred guys are **** Poles." The captain shouted loudly, while slamming **** a small iron table next to the radio A slap.

"Polish?" Lieutenant Grenadier looked at the captain in surprise.

"There is absolutely nothing wrong. I heard their calls on the front line of Warsaw." The captain nodded to his chief.

"It's these people fighting the paratroopers, the bereavement dogs in exile in Britain." Zeissler's mouth curled up, a dangerous smile. (To be continued.)