Canteen System Assistance Notes

Due to the problems in the construction of the Soviet command system at that time, although the tank troops of the 46th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment were assigned to the 256th Division, Rurik could not directly command Major Kolobanov. If the two sides had conflicts over the combat strategy, the front would even have to make arbitration and coordination, which was very troublesome.

(It is said that this was due to the poor command of the infantry divisions in the early stages of the war, who often used tanks recklessly, causing unnecessary losses.)

However, under Commissar Titalenko's "offensive," Comrade Kolobanov understood Rurik's intentions and the significance of this battle. After a brief discussion, he quickly agreed to Rurik's plan. "Let the comrades from the reconnaissance battalion ride on the sleds! We'll pull them along—as soon as the wind abates, we'll go straight ahead and give those Nazis a big surprise!"

A long time after the plan was discussed and the tasks were assigned, the responses from the army and the front finally arrived: General Meretskov of the Volkhov Front and General Romanovsky of the 2nd Assault Army both agreed to the plan and asked Rurik to move his headquarters forward as soon as the wind and snow subsided, and hand over the currently occupied 7th Workers' Village to the 18th and 191st Infantry Divisions that would arrive later for defense.

"The marlin and bluefin tuna are ready and are continuing their journey from the 'cage site' to the 'anchor point' along with the lantern fish. Over."

The radio was filled with excessive noise. Due to excessive wind speeds and heavy snow, Rurik's Baofeng No. 4 repeater couldn't use its full 15-meter-tall antenna, reducing its range. However, for now, this expensive Khitan equipment could still connect to the Baoshanshan No. 3 vehicle-mounted radio on the T-43 tank.

"Big Marlin understands. Bluefin Tuna, good luck! If you encounter any seals or sea dogs, please report them immediately. Over." "Bluefin Tuna understands."

Rurik put down the phone and turned to walk towards the truck outside.

As time passed, the strong westerly wind was gradually weakening, and tanks and ski infantry had already set out in the heavy snow; the follow-up troops coming to take over the defense had already contacted the outer guard troops and were about to arrive at the Seventh Workers' New Village, and Rurik was about to move forward from the safe rear, deep into the war zone bathed in finite knowables and infinite unknowns.

The vehicle began to shake, and Rurik looked at the sky which was beginning to darken early and took a deep breath.

Chapter 753: Combustible Sparks (5) German Cat

"The marlin and bluefin tuna have arrived 800 meters west of the 'anchor point.' The lanternfish has parked its sled in the woods and is conducting reconnaissance."

"Big marlin understands, bluefin tuna, beware of the minefield."

"Big Marlin! Lanternfish reported to me, the snow is too heavy! We didn't encounter any seals or fur seals! The trenches are filled, the barbed wire is covered, and the minefields are also covered with snow... The powered sled didn't trigger the mines, and neither did our car!

"Fuck! We're going to attack immediately! Hiss ...

"Bluefin, calm down, don't take any chances! The lanternfish could attack right away. The herring is right behind you, and the marlin, pike, and bigmouth are coming soon. Do you need fire support?"

"No need! There are no sea dogs or seals outside, only damn snow! No! I see a smoking house, gunner, 0G-20 to the left, a house with a smoking chimney - loader! High-explosive loading, I said high-explosive round! "(Indistinct Buryat dialect swearing), working on it! Don't rush it!"

"Soka Bleu! Try this, Kraut!"

Bang!

"Hahahaha! Blow it up! Big marlin! We're bombing their houses, firing down from the roofs!"

"Ahem, Bluefin Tuna, please observe radio discipline."

"oh oh.....…"

Many of Rurik's 256th Division, who had previously experienced the Lyuban Campaign, were familiar with the divisional commander's style. The 930th Regiment, which had the largest number of veterans, was particularly familiar with this. While they still couldn't accurately describe the battle situation using military jargon, they had already managed to avoid shouting "Ura" and "Sukabul" over the radio.

Soon, as the tank battalion codenamed "Bluefin Tuna" and the mixed engineering/reconnaissance battalion codenamed "Lantern Fish" broke into the almost buried Fifth Workers' Village, the "Herring 1930 Infantry Regiment" followed closely behind and quickly arrived at the scene and joined the battle.

It was not until this time that Rurik finally got a clearer picture of the battlefield situation.

According to the report, a German battalion was stationed in this key Fifth Workers' New Village, and a fairly complete defense system was arranged, making it a relatively difficult target.

However, during the time when the T49 tanks and the mixed forces "crawled" for nearly 4 kilometers in the snow using tracks, sleds, sleds and skis, the heavy snow, which was still strong, made the German trenches, minefields and barbed wire almost ineffective, and the Germans who were warming themselves by the fire in the house were caught off guard and were held down and beaten by the commandos, who had a high proportion of submachine guns.

Even after the battle broke out, German soldiers in other parts of the village took their weapons and wanted to rush out of the houses to fight, but they found that the wooden doors of the houses were blocked by snow. They had to fight with the Soviet soldiers who came on skis on the second floor and on the ceiling. Many German soldiers who jumped out of the windows fell into the snow that was nearly a person high. When they struggled to climb out, they didn't know where their weapons were buried.

Fighting in such a passive environment, even the still highly skilled German troops were not much better. After about an hour of fierce fighting before sunrise, the "Three Fishes" captured this crucial town at a very low cost, suffering fewer casualties than the Germans, and not losing a single T43 tank, the most crucial of which was the German tanks.

Not a bad start, Rurik thought.

Advancing on a snowy night was a difficult undertaking. Even though Rurik had been following the proper roads, the entire force's movement was still as slow as a tortoise's crawl. Without tanks pulling sleds, they spent nearly half the morning and half the morning covering the few kilometers to reach the recently captured Fifth Workers' Village.

However, due to the good news of victory in the first battle, everyone's morale was good; the troops were well-equipped to withstand the cold, and the losses caused by non-combat were not too great.

The division's transport company had a few trucks. Although they were few in number, they still brought in some supplies and loaded the wounded, the remains of soldiers, and the hundred or so German prisoners they had just captured. The independent communications company, equipped with the Baofeng No. 4 relay station, was working with the division's 6.74th Independent Communications Battalion to establish a communications network. Following closely behind, the 312th Independent Anti-Tank Battalion ("Pike") and the 97th Regiment ("Big Mouth Fish"), responsible for defense, also entered the Fifth Workers' New Village and began to take over the German fortifications.

"But what on earth is this?"

Now, Political Commissar Titalenko and the deputy division commander were squatting on the east side of the Fifth Workers' New Village with the last of the 934th Regiment "White Salmon" as well as the division's artillery and SU-160 troops. Only Rurik was left alone with his chief of staff, facing the wreckage of a strange-looking vehicle.

"Is this a self-propelled artillery piece?"

The battle was not over yet, and their own logistical supplies were not very abundant. As soon as they got off the train, Rurik arranged for his two infantry commanders to organize their soldiers to collect machine guns, mortars and artillery left by the Germans to strengthen themselves: submachine guns and machine guns were used by everyone, and artillery could be used for direct fire if they could not understand the German firing table. At worst, they could use the shells as mines.

Anyway, the Soviet and German armies had no resistance to seizing and using each other's weapons. Rurik ordered his soldiers to steal the Germans' submachine guns and boots more than once, and he also saw many Germans wearing Soviet military boots and holding Soviet-made submachine guns - it was like a strange cycle.

However, he had never seen this strange self-propelled artillery before. Rurik tried hard to search his memory and finally determined that, at least in the tank and armored vehicle identification manual issued by the front, he had never seen such a strange-looking guy.

"Comrade Division Commander, don't worry! This thing is very fragile. When I found it, my loader had just loaded a high-explosive round into the gun barrel - the kind that can't penetrate a real tank - and in a hurry, my gunner fired directly at it and destroyed it directly."

Regimental Commander Kolobanov used to drive a KV tank. He spoke to Rurik with a beaming smile, saying that this strange self-propelled artillery was nothing to worry about.

"But, Comrade Kolobanov-Zinov, you see, this gun has a caliber of over 150 millimeters and is aimed at the west side of the battlefield, probably to defend against the Leningrad Front."

Rurik gestured to the caliber of the tilted gun barrel. "Its armor may not be able to stop your 100mm gun, but there's only a German battalion here, and we'll have to stop their divisional forces here later! How many more mobile artillery pieces like this can they have?"

Upon hearing this answer, Kolobanov, who had been smiling, faltered. He wasn't some blindly optimistic fool; he had fought in many battles. However, while he was well-versed in tank and armored vehicle combat, he wasn't as well-versed in infantry combat. After a moment's thought, Colonel Kolobanov asked:

"So, what's your suggestion, Comrade Kapovich?"

"My idea is that your two tank companies should be separated and not exposed on the front line..."

Just as a division commander and a regimental commander were discussing subsequent defensive strategies, south of the Fifth Workers' Village and north of the Siniavino Plateau, two lime-gray behemoths painted with iron crosses and "two vertical and one horizontal" camouflage emblems, and a particularly "mini" Type 3L tank in comparison, were slowly crushing the snow and moving forward.

"Shit, even the Russians' radios are broken. Stanley! Can you get in touch with anyone?" "Captain Mueller! The radio is full of noise!"

"God damned shit!"

Listening to the report from the radio operator in the headset, Captain Mueller of the German 502nd Heavy Armored Battalion was very annoyed and couldn't help cursing twice.

Just now, he had crawled out of the commander's cupola atop the turret, braved the cold wind, and raised a captured Gem Mountain walkie-talkie. He tried to call the friendly forces ahead, and then tried to call the battalion headquarters in the rear, but neither could connect successfully. It seemed that even though the westerly wind had died down, the heavy snow and the surrounding forest still blocked the transmission of radio signals.

“Bad terrain, bad weather.

"Where did the Russians in the north get so many gray beasts that they could actually overwhelm the 2Z7th Division like this." Recalling the order given to him by the battalion headquarters, Tank Commander Muller became even more unhappy - not long ago, because the friendly forces in the north were attacked by the Russians, it was necessary to send additional armored forces to Peter Fortress (also known as Schlüsselburg) to assist the friendly forces in retreating." The 26th Infantry Army, which was responsible for commanding them, issued an order to let the 502nd Battalion send a force to the north for support.

Support is fine, but why did they specifically ask for Tiger tanks? Why can't those Panzer III tanks be used?

We only have 9 Tiger tanks left in the 502nd Battalion!

"We're already on the move without even finishing our meal..." Captain Mueller thought as he climbed back into the car. It was quite warm inside, and the warm air from the engine made him feel much more comfortable.

However... it is more or less a good thing for me to lead the charge - facing the Tiger, all the Russian tanks are weak and fragile. I can hit more targets and add a few more "rings" to my gun barrel. Although there have been rumors on the northern front recently that a "super version" of the Russian KV tank has appeared, equipped with a new artillery that can prove that it can penetrate the Type 4 tank with enhanced front armor, but I believe that facing the Tiger, it is definitely powerless to resist.

The confident Captain Mueller pressed the intercom button on his throat: "Boys, are you hungry?"

"Yes, sir."

"I haven't even had lunch yet!"

"I've been having stomachaches from eating cold sausages these past few days..."

"Good! According to the map, we're just ahead of the Fifth Labor Settlement, where the 227th Division is stationed. We'll go ask them for a hot lunch later!"

Chapter 754: Burning Snowfield (6) Water Blocking Valve

Before the real fierce battle came, Rurik did not expect that he would have such an interesting gain.

In the slowly falling snow, the retreating scouts encountered guerrillas operating in the area. A very young guerrilla reported to them that they had spotted three German tanks, two large and one small, heading their way.

Because Soviet offensives often attempted to contact local partisans familiar with the terrain, Rurik took this intelligence very seriously. He immediately coordinated with Commander Kolobanov of the 46th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment to evacuate one company of five T-43 tanks into the village's houses, while another company and scouts, codenamed "Lantern Fish," sought cover in the woods outside the village. Meanwhile, an anti-tank battalion equipped with 107mm recoilless rifles and Zzis 3 anti-tank guns took up positions, ready to snipe at approaching German tanks.

Unexpectedly, the Germans parked their three tanks on the road about 500 meters outside the village, dismounted, and walked into the village. Shouting incoherently in German, they walked toward the samovar cart where rice was cooking. They seemed oblivious to the fact that the man across from them, wearing German boots and holding an MP40 submachine gun, was a Soviet. Only when they were close enough to see the details of his clothing did one of the Germans finally scream in fear.

"Russians! Enemy attack!"

As a result, although several crew members quickly fought back with a handheld rifle that could fire continuously and the firepower was very strong, the resistance of the few people was quickly suppressed by the Soviet army; the only driver of the Type 3 tank who was left with his vehicle wanted to drive away, but was hit by a T-43 hiding in the woods, and turned into an angry and unlucky child.

The crew of about ten people were either dead or injured, leaving only two still breathing. Rurik immediately ordered the military doctor to take them away for treatment and give them some warm food to calm their nerves.

Thus, Rurik gained two brand-new "Catcats," the wreckage of a Panzer III L tank that could be used as a shelter, and several inexplicably depressed German crews. The Germans also enjoyed hot buckwheat rice with sour cream, fish, tofu, and red bean paste tea, which was a truly wonderful experience.

However, this "joyful" battlefield episode soon ended.

The German heavy tank, a tank never seen before, was so heavy that even the T-43 tanks stationed in the village had to be lined up with two T-43 tanks working together to drag it in. However, just as Rurik was about to tow the second tank, scouts outside the village reported that a large German force was approaching.

After all, real-life tanks can't just be deployed by pressing E to enter a vehicle. Even though some crews in the 46th Guards Heavy Tank Regiment knew how to operate the German Panzer III, they couldn't master the vehicle thoroughly enough to operate smoothly in just a few hours. Helplessly, the frontline soldiers could only remove as many shells and ammunition as possible from the tanks, angle them to block the village entrance, and pile up sandbags and snowpacks for camouflage and protection, using them as a steel bunker.

According to the guerrillas' intelligence, there were as many as seven of these large and heavy tanks, as well as more than a dozen familiar Type 7 tanks. Almost not long after the two heavy tanks were captured, they quickly set out from Siniavinotai and headed towards the Fifth Workers' New Village.

"This is probably a German tank unit that wants to recapture or destroy these heavy tanks."

This is completely understandable. When Political Commissar Titalenko brought the T43 tank unit "over", Rurik also received a similar order. Therefore, after the latest tank was captured, the German army must have wanted to destroy it to prevent its own secrets from being leaked.

Tanks without adequate infantry escorts weren't indestructible. Rurik knew that seemingly powerful tanks also had many weaknesses. But he had never seen a German tank this large, heavy, and seemingly indestructible. The identification manuals issued to him didn't give an accurate description of the model, only vague silhouettes.

Even after observing the two tanks that had just been captured, Rurik could only make the following judgment: "This tank has thick armor, is very heavy, and uses an 88mm gun."

He couldn't quantify the breakthrough capability of this German heavy tank, nor could his 107mm and 76mm anti-tank guns, as well as the T-43s hiding on the side of the village, pose a threat to it. If these two anti-tank guns couldn't pose a threat to it, then the infantry would have to move in close to destroy it...

Rurik hardened his resolve and began to carefully plan the positions of his 930th and 937th Regiments. He ordered them to occupy the German defensive positions and deploy machine gun mortars.

Artillery and other light and heavy firepower points, and make sure that anti-tank firepower cannot penetrate the defense, and use infantry to resist

Preparations to destroy the enemy's heavy tanks.

He glanced at the German map he had taken out of the tank, and then looked at his watch: It was already past 2 p.m. on the 14th, and it would be dark in about two hours, so the German army could probably organize an offensive.

The weather today is still not very good. The wind has basically stopped, but the snow is still falling.

The 930th Regiment, code-named "Herring", and the 937th Regiment, code-named "Big Mouth Fish", dispersed to the two wings of the Fifth Workers' New Village, while the 312th Independent Anti-tank Battalion, code-named "Pike", under the leadership of the commander and deputy commander, set up an inverted V-shaped anti-tank position in the village buildings.

The Fifth Workers' Village flanked by rolling forests and swamps, though beneath the Leningrad snow, the swamps had frozen solid and the trees had shed all their leaves. Soldiers from the reconnaissance battalion, wearing down jackets and carrying walkie-talkies, covered their snowy nests with white cloaks, watched the approaching German troops from afar.

The Germans were obviously very anxious. They did not send out elite scouts as usual to carefully clear out possible guerrillas and reconnaissance troops around before launching an attack. They also did not bring half-track personnel carriers or trucks to conduct flank penetrations. They only had some ordinary infantry mounted on tanks.

However, their tank formation was quite neat. After dropping off about a company of infantry in the woods outside the village, the Germans pulled out some tanks to form the first wave of the attack—the heavy tanks formed a sparse diagonal line, while the Panzer III tanks with short-barreled 75mm "cigarette" guns were lined up on both sides of the heavy tanks, providing both cover and accelerating flanking attacks. The infantry followed behind the heavy tanks, stumbling forward in the snow.

"Big Marlin, Lanternfish reporting in: 4 Seals (heavy tanks), 6 Sea Dogs (medium and light tanks), approximately 100 Starfish. Over." "Big Marlin, copy. Remain hidden. Over."

During rapid attacks, the Germans typically avoided artillery preparations, instead keeping some direct-fire artillery on standby in the rear, ready to destroy any incoming fire points. Now, the remaining tanks were clearly acting as direct-fire artillery, Rurik thought. Next, the German infantry engineers, with their black-rimmed epaulettes, would likely outgun the tanks and clear the German mines their own engineers had just dug out and placed directly in the snow.

"Big Marlin, Pike reporting in, two Sea Dogs, cover the minesweeper on Starfish. Should we open fire?"

"Be prepared. Once the 'SEAL' enters the minefield, you can open fire immediately. Follow the agreement."

The recycled German anti-tank mines did not constitute a minefield of sufficient depth, and the Germans were obviously aware of the minefield conditions in the Fifth Workers' New Village. After removing the mines left by the Russians on the snowy surface, the German tanks skillfully changed their formation, preparing to pass through this thin minefield in column formation.

In order to ensure the safety of the troops, three of the remaining four Type 3 tanks left the team and detoured towards the nearest woods with some infantry.

However, at this moment, a cloud of brown-gray smoke suddenly rose from the Fifth Workers' New Village, less than a kilometer away. Then, several scorching shells flew towards the leading Panzer III tank! Bang, bang, bang!

A cloud of dust and powdery snow rose up around, and the leading Type 3N tank screamed and tilted to the side of the road, almost overturning on the side of the road.

Its hull was struck by an armor-piercing round, instantly disabling it. However, the opposing Soviets had also exposed the deployment and location of their anti-tank guns. The three Tiger tanks not participating in the attack immediately launched a counterattack with high-explosive rounds in the direction of the enemy smoke. The Tiger tanks in the attacking formation, without hesitation, drove down the roadbed, overtaking the Tiger III that had moved out of the way, and advanced to the front.

The Germans' own anti-tank mines could not destroy the Tiger's tracks, while the enemy's Zis-3 was completely unable to threaten their front armor!

The four Tiger tanks of the 502nd Battalion confidently positioned themselves at the forefront. Assessing the enemy's anti-tank firepower, they lowered the tanks' front armor, shielding the vulnerable front driving wheels and lower hull. The drivers deployed in a diagonal formation, maintaining a steady pace to facilitate the infantry's follow-up attack. The accompanying German machine gunners expertly located makeshift shelters like logs and snowdrifts, setting up their machine guns to cover the infantry's attack on the outskirts of the Fifth Workers' Village.

However, this good situation obviously did not last long.

The Panzer III tanks, circling the flank forest, were suddenly attacked, their armor pierced within ten seconds. Even as their dying cries of "Russian tanks!" continued to hum in everyone's headsets, the flanking forest erupted with the crackle of popping gunfire and the dull roar of a second round of artillery fire.

The whistling shell traveled hundreds of meters before striking the Tiger's less-than-sturdy side. Although the tank maintained a certain heading angle due to the driver's diagonal formation, the 100mm hooded armor-piercing round fired by the D-10T gun was more than capable of piercing the Tiger's less-than-sturdy vertical armor!

崩!

Two more bullet holes suddenly appeared on the turrets and hulls of the two Tiger tanks. One of the tanks exploded with a muffled sound, and thick smoke quickly billowed from every crack in the hull, quickly transforming into long flames. The other tank's fender, which was almost completely filled with spare ammunition, was obviously detonated - its upper half was completely destroyed in a violent explosion, and the huge turret and it flew into the sky!

"Medium...heavy tanks, unknown model! Four, no—five! At eight o'clock!"

Caught in the crossfire, the German tanks were forced to make a difficult decision. The Tiger tanks that hadn't been destroyed were forced to turn their hulls and aim their more sturdy fronts at the Soviet tanks that were suddenly firing from the woods to the side. To the tank commanders, the Soviet tanks, their ugly checkered armor and thick, long cannons atop them, looked ridiculous. However, these "smiling" tanks showed no sign of the usual Soviet "stomp on the gas and charge in for hand-to-hand combat." Instead, they resembled the grim grim reaper with his hammer and sickle, swinging his scythe at them again and again amidst the mist of powder snow and dust.

"Fire!"

The remaining Panzer IIIs were equipped with armor-piercing rounds, once considered "secret weapons," while the Tiger tanks unleashed their most powerful armor-piercing rounds, firing at the Soviet tanks looming in the trees. However, regardless of the fact that some of the ammunition detonated prematurely due to the interference of the trees, striking the air, the armor-piercing and armor-piercing rounds that hit the enemy's turret and hull only ripped off some of the box-shaped armor - in this round of attacks, only one Russian tank of unknown model seemed to have sustained damage and remained motionless.

But the next second, as if the Fifth Workers' Village had been ignored, a huge cloud of dust erupted again - the 107 recoilless rifle that had been fired without firing was about to explode.

The mouth was aimed at these tanks that exposed their sides.

Even after being weakened by the grille, the armor-piercing shells still had enough penetration to penetrate the tanks that were twisting left and right, and used the jet to fill the cramped interior of the vehicle.

It turned into a scorching hell with sparks flying.

"It's time, herring, bigmouth, to attack!"

Chapter 755: Burning Snowfield () Raging Waves

On January 15, 1943, the wind had basically died down and the snow was gradually subsiding.

In the counterattack before sunset on the 14th, the troops commanded by Rurik destroyed their 4 new heavy tanks and 6 Type 3 tanks in an effective coordination.