Chapter 65
Fawcett's troops rushed towards their destination, and news came from the front that they had already joined forces with the Southern Army Group and surrounded the Southwestern Front in Kiev. However, Eckert remained taciturn and even more cold and averse to the SS and Nazi Party members he encountered.
After joining the main force, they participated in the Soviet Red Army's encirclement of the Kiev region. Favniel drove a captured KV-2, crushing its creators and previous users with great pleasure, watching as 150mm shells exploded one after another among the Soviet infantry, artillery positions, and tanks, which was truly a delightful experience for body and mind. The Soviets, like the Germans, had no good way to deal with the approaching KV-2, and when it was on their own side, they cheered, but when it was on the enemy's side, it was infuriating.
In September, the Battle of Kiev ended. Favny met many old friends on the battlefield. Dick Clown Karl was still commanding his No. 4 tank, with a few more kill marks on the barrel; Big Yang had become a squad leader and Favny met him in a field hospital, where he had been stabbed by a Soviet bayonet but had smashed 3-4 Russian heads with a shovel; Shtutkhofer, a combat engineer corporal, was also having a great time, probably another Iron Cross on the way. Berweigen was busy painting new kill marks on his beloved No. 3 tank and received his Tank Assault Badge together with Favny; Junker's No. 3 had been crushed by a Soviet T-34, he himself was injured, half of his crew members were killed, but they also destroyed several tanks, Iron Cross and Wound Badge in hand; Oberleutnant, the artillery captain, didn't get much benefit, his 37mm gun was now being scolded as a door knocker, no one could move it, preparing to replace it with a 75mm anti-tank gun. Dornberger, still a gunner, followed the tank commander and also got a second-class medal, but this young man had collected many accessories to mail to his girlfriend; As for Dek, who was driving No. 3 assault gun, he destroyed many artillery positions along the way and was in high spirits.
Favni knew that the hard battle was yet to come, and the difficult days were still ahead. Then he and his companions turned again towards Moscow for another fight.
Along the way, many Soviet troops put up extremely determined resistance against them, even if there were only a few anti-tank guns, they would not retreat, and dared to set up positions to resist in front of the German iron tide, even if it was just delaying the German attack for a few minutes. Favniel felt that the Soviet army's resistance had clearly begun to strengthen, the Soviet army, which was initially beaten into chaos, began to recover its organization, and the coordinated combat capability of infantry, tanks, and artillery was significantly strengthened, and it was no longer a one-sided slaughter by the German troops.
On the Belyov, Mtsensk line, Fawley's tank troops encountered tough nuts - Soviet Red Army Guards infantry and tank combined units.
"Fire!! Quick! Reload armor-piercing shells!!" Both sides were shouting loudly in their own languages, the Soviet Red Army's tanks were fewer than Germany, but they still bravely launched an attack. The battle started from 1500 meters away, German tanks took advantage of optical aiming and launched a preemptive strike first. However, Soviet tanks were more organized compared to several weeks ago, rapidly closing in on German tanks for close combat. The tank guns on Germany's No.3 and No.4 tanks failed again, neither the 50mm armor-piercing shells nor the 75mm howitzer shells could penetrate the thick sloping armor of the Soviet tanks, while Germany's special armor-piercing shells were limited in quantity. As a result, the entire formation was scattered by the Soviet T34s. Fortunately, the T34 had not been in service for long, and the Soviet tank crew's operation was not yet proficient, with inadequate coordination, often malfunctioning, so in the end, the German army successfully repelled the Soviet Red Army, but suffered heavy technical equipment losses, and had to stop and wait for reserve troops.
Fawcett lost his heavy tank - a captured KV2, which had repeatedly attracted the fire of Soviet troops but was not knocked out. During the attack, this heavy tank suddenly started smoking - the engine burst and the transmission was also damaged, requiring major repairs. They once again jumped out of the tank like moles to escape, but this time their luck wasn't so good. Fawcett himself was fine, but his radio operator was killed, and a loader was wounded. After returning to base, he had no new car to drive, and most of the vehicles in the unit also needed repairs and parts replenishment, especially wheels and tracks, transmission wear and tear, suspension system problems, so within at least a week, they could not continue to attack with much tank force. And their biggest enemy was not just the desperate resistance of the Soviet Red Army, but also the Russian autumn rain, which made the ground muddy and impassable, and tanks often got stuck in the mud and had to be towed out, while infantry movement also slowed down. "Damn this rain! Damn this mud!" were the most common words spoken by German soldiers.
A week later, Fawzi finally received a repaired Panzer IV E and resumed the attack. Driving slowly through the mud, they had to stop from time to time to use winches to pull themselves or friendly tanks out of the mud pits, much slower than before, with fatigue rising exponentially. Fortunately, the Soviet forces on the other side were in the same situation, and their supplies and technical equipment were not as good as those of the German army. They relied solely on strong morale to resist step by step. However, they could not withstand the German attack after all, and the Bryansk battle ended with the destruction of most of the Soviet forces on October 23rd. On October 10th, Fawzi's troops broke through the Soviet defense line after a hard journey and advanced rapidly, but the Soviet air force launched a concentrated raid from the sky. Fawzi kept driving his tanks into the woods to avoid the air raid, while the German air force was desperately killing off the swarms of Soviet planes that flew in like mosquitoes, shooting them down one by one. The Soviet Red Army's air-to-ground attack had little effect and suffered heavy losses, but they also managed to slow down the advance of the German ground tank troops - for a day.
On the 23rd, most of the Soviet forces on the Vistula were annihilated, and two consecutive encirclement battles eliminated 670,000 Soviet troops. However, the German army was also exhausted. Favniel was fine, but he saw that his companions were already exhausted, and logistics supplies and maintenance were starting to fall behind. The friends who had been in high spirits a few weeks ago still had high morale, but they could no longer hide their deep physical and mental exhaustion.
By the end of October, due to the muddy ground and exhausted troops, the Germans stopped their offensive. At this time, Moscow was already in sight...
In early November, the weather turned cold overnight and the ground began to harden. The various units also completed their rest and reorganization, and Favni's troops prepared to begin their assault on Tula's defensive positions.
