All,
Drive on Minsk
1 July 1941
0930 Local Time
Kampfgruppe Klink road deep into the night following LtCol Schultz's successful assault on the enemy-held village as the Panzer Korps raced to encircle Minsk. The Korps halted at approximately 0100, but it was 0230 before anyone got to sleep after refueling the vehicles, replenishing ammunition, performing maintenance on the vehicles, cleaning weapons, and getting something to eat. And they were up before sunrise, on the road again by 0500. After several hours of traveling east the column again halted, enemy panzers had arrived in force and were being engaged. Then word came back that a Panzer Battalion attempted to flank the Soviet armor to the south but ran into swampy ground and minefields, were still working to extricate themselves. Recce units reported an anti-tank screen to the north (what would later become known as a 'Pak-front' when the Germans themselves used it); word came back from the Korps commander, he wants Kampfgruppe Klink to clear it immediately in order to restore freedom of movement for his panzers.
"Shall I handle this for you, my Colonel?" LtCol Schultz asked. "Yes, Schultz, I believe this requires your particular talents," Colonel Klink replied.
The Soviet ATG (bottom right) spots a Panzer II (top left) and sends 45mm armor-piercing round at it…
Uh-oh… The Panzer brews up and the crew bales out.
German infantry attempt to break into the Soviet defensive position! A hero emerges, but for which side?
To see how the fight went, please check the blog at:
link
What a fight, and the next one is, too! Coming up later this week.
V/R,
Jack
