Post by steven on Jul 16, 2015 11:30:43 GMT
We return to the Russian Front.
Its 1941 and the Germans launch Operation Barbarosa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.
We join the action at the Battle of Raseiniai, the first encounter with the KV tanks!
It was here that German forces encountered a unit equipped with the Soviet KV heavy tanks for the first time. Gen. E.N. Soliankin's 2nd Tank Division from Soviet 3rd Mechanised Corps attacked and overran elements of the German 6th Panzer Division[7][c] near Skaudvilė on 23 June. The Germans' Panzer 35(t) tanks and antitank weapons were practically ineffective against the Soviet heavy tanks—some of them were out of ammunition, but closed with and destroyed German antitank guns by literally driving over them.[8][9][f] Attempts to destroy these armoured giants concentrated on first immobilising them by firing at their tracks and then by tackling them with artillery, AA Guns, or by blowing them up at close range by high explosive charges of the Sticky Bomb type. An account by the Thuringian 1st Panzer Division describes this battle.
The next day, a single KV-2 heavy tank, at a crossroads in front of Raseiniai, managed to cut off elements of the 6th Panzer Division which had established bridgeheads on the Dubysa. It stalled the Division's advance for a full day while being attacked by a variety of antitank weapons, until it finally ran out of ammunition.
So can the Germans overcome the behemouths of the Soviet Army!!
All are of course welcome to play!
Its 1941 and the Germans launch Operation Barbarosa, the invasion of the Soviet Union.
We join the action at the Battle of Raseiniai, the first encounter with the KV tanks!
It was here that German forces encountered a unit equipped with the Soviet KV heavy tanks for the first time. Gen. E.N. Soliankin's 2nd Tank Division from Soviet 3rd Mechanised Corps attacked and overran elements of the German 6th Panzer Division[7][c] near Skaudvilė on 23 June. The Germans' Panzer 35(t) tanks and antitank weapons were practically ineffective against the Soviet heavy tanks—some of them were out of ammunition, but closed with and destroyed German antitank guns by literally driving over them.[8][9][f] Attempts to destroy these armoured giants concentrated on first immobilising them by firing at their tracks and then by tackling them with artillery, AA Guns, or by blowing them up at close range by high explosive charges of the Sticky Bomb type. An account by the Thuringian 1st Panzer Division describes this battle.
The next day, a single KV-2 heavy tank, at a crossroads in front of Raseiniai, managed to cut off elements of the 6th Panzer Division which had established bridgeheads on the Dubysa. It stalled the Division's advance for a full day while being attacked by a variety of antitank weapons, until it finally ran out of ammunition.
So can the Germans overcome the behemouths of the Soviet Army!!
All are of course welcome to play!