It's better to conquer them than to command the steel torrent

Chapter 182 | It's a complete mess... Let's go!
Ivanros's army concentrated almost half of its best resources on the northern front, determined to penetrate deep into the heart of Valland and completely destroy it.

Of the more than 1,000 tanks, more than 600 were T-34s, an unprecedentedly high proportion. The 1st Minsk Front can be said to have carried the expectations of the entire military and civilian population.

The up-and-coming Lieutenant General Zhukov was appointed commander of the northern assault force, which was less than 200 kilometers from its starting position (near Neubrandenburg) to its target, Hamburg.

Speed ​​is of the essence in warfare, and Lieutenant General Zhukov was well aware of this crucial principle.

Since he only had one motorized infantry division under his command, in order to enable more infantry units to keep up with the speed of the tank units, he concentrated all the trucks under his command, plus more than a thousand trucks captured during the Fourth Alexandrovna Offensive, and managed to assemble another two thousand trucks.

This unit was practically a mobile car manufacturer exhibition, with trucks from seven or eight brands, including Opel, Mercedes, Krupp, MAN, and Ford, regardless of whether there were spare parts available for maintenance, treating them as disposable items.

All tanks were fully fueled, and two standard 200-liter gasoline or diesel drums were strapped to the hulls of the T-26, T-34, and BT-7 tanks to save rest time during the upcoming long-range advance.

How can we stop Ivan Ross's army from penetrating deeper into our territory? The strategic reserves of those two armored corps are the key.

The Varland army, having been driven deep into the heart of the country, has gradually lost the strategic initiative and is now caught in a dilemma: whether to relieve the siege of Polin or to block the Ivanros army on the northern front.

In order to reverse the passive situation, the General Staff of Varland put forward a plan—to transfer the two armored corps to the east bank of the Elbe River, and when the enemy on the northern front moves westward, launch an attack from the south of the enemy, cut the enemy that has penetrated deep into the territory in half, and then encircle and annihilate them!
This concept has a major premise: whether armored forces are confident in defeating the enemy in field battles.

Ivanros's T-34 triggered the infamous 'T-34 Crisis,' which significantly impacted the morale of the Valland army.

In open field, the T-34 posed a significant threat, with only a handful of weapons, including the 88mm anti-aircraft gun, capable of destroying it. However, the 88mm anti-aircraft gun was too cumbersome to engage in combat flexibly, while enemy tanks could exploit their mobility to outflank and encircle the enemy.

The standard response was to develop a high-powered anti-tank gun. The Varland military industry began developing the 50mm Pak38 anti-tank gun three to five years ago, and it was about to go into production. However, they found that this thing was still not effective against the T-34, so they hurriedly started a project to develop a larger caliber 75mm anti-tank gun.

This is the famous Pak40 75mm anti-tank gun—a powerful weapon used from 1942 until the end of the war. It took two years to develop in the original plane of history. Obviously, even if the Valland military industry did not eat or drink, it would be impossible to mass-produce 75mm anti-tank guns in a few months.

In desperation, the Varland forces resorted to desperate measures, mounting the Flak 36 88mm anti-aircraft gun onto a Panzer IV tank and converting it into a makeshift self-propelled anti-tank gun.

This emergency measure would overload the suspension system of the Panzer IV and significantly reduce its lifespan. However, it was the best solution, barely giving the field troops the weapon to destroy the T-34 in mobile warfare, so that they were not completely helpless.

Besides the Panzer IV tank, other feasible vehicles were also used by the beleaguered Varland military industry to modify 88mm anti-aircraft guns, such as the SdKfz9 heavy half-track tractor.

【Picture】

At the start of the new year, over 100,000 Imperial Russian strike forces split into two columns and advanced deep into enemy territory, their advance aimed directly at Hamburg and Wittelberg. Behind them, the Imperial Russian 15th and 28th Armies steadily followed.

On January 3, just as the Imperial Russian forces were advancing triumphantly, the 7th and 9th Panzer Corps of Imperial Germany launched an attack from south to north, with the 14th and 20th Corps following closely behind, determined to cut the invading enemy in half.

A large-scale skirmish broke out southwest of Lake Plaue.

The battle was brief but intense. The Imperial Russian assault forces, which had already reached the city walls, were forced to halt their advance and divert a portion of their tank units to return and reinforce the city...

Ultimately, four Imperial Russian infantry divisions and one tank division suffered devastating losses and were forced to halt their offensive. The Imperial German forces also paid a heavy price and failed to achieve decisive victories at the operational level through encirclement and annihilation.

Both sides claimed victory.

In the last two days, unable to withstand the repeated urging from Fort St. Petersburg, London finally began to substantially intervene in the war.

The United Kingdom dispatched two divisions, escorted by the Royal Navy, to land in Norway, capture the important port of Narvik, and then advance eastward, crossing northern Norway into Wieden, intending to sabotage the Jelivare iron ore mine in Wieden.

Norway offered no resistance.

Meanwhile, another reinforced corps-sized expeditionary force (three infantry divisions and one armored division) landed in Denmark and then advanced south.

After the European war, Denmark gradually became a semi-independent vassal state of Walland. Therefore, even though Denmark was unwilling to be caught in the middle, it could only put up symbolic resistance, but it was like a mantis trying to stop a chariot when faced with the well-equipped British army.

The British Expeditionary Force clashed with Walland's garrison in Denmark as a diversionary tactic, as central Denmark was only a couple hundred kilometers from Hamburg and the important port of Kiel, and the fully motorized British Expeditionary Force posed a significant threat.

This is a complete breakdown in relations, and it is intolerable.

As expected, the Valland Empire declared war on the United Kingdom, which also declared war on the same day.

However, the Republic of Marianna is not in a hurry to declare war on the United Kingdom, and Fontainebleau is still watching and waiting to see if the Kingdom of Italli will declare war on Varland.

As is well known, from Mariana's perspective, Italia, her restless neighbor, was a very important factor.

At this critical juncture, the military technical advisory group finally received transit permission.

According to the plan, this batch of people returning to China consisted of more than 30 people, most of whom were engineers or other technical personnel, while military advisors like Mr. Shang were in the minority.

Impatient, Shang Ke immediately gathered everyone onto the vehicle; many of them were woken up from their sleep.

"All of Europe is in chaos right now. If Italy follows suit and declares war, then all the countries will be at war with each other. At that point, it will be a miracle if people can even get away; tanks will be doomed. We need to get out of here now!"

A cold wind howled as railway workers at a branch line station hurriedly started a fire for the train.

That night, the train loaded with spoils roared out of Jell.

The train sped along, entering the Valland region through the vast, snowy winter night...

(End of this chapter)