The Rise Of Australasia

In terms of actual combat effectiveness of tanks, Russia is indeed generally behind the mainstream European countries at present.

There's not much that can be done about this, as the wariness and blockade of Russia by the European countries is understandable, explaining why Russian tank development has always been so slow.

Moreover, prior to this, the industrial foundation of Tsarist Russia compared to other powers was relatively weak, with poor research and development capabilities for equipment, and frequent skimping on research funds and incidents of substituting inferior goods for good ones.

Under such circumstances, that Russia has managed to develop tanks and mechanized equipment that can actually be used on the battlefield is already quite an achievement.

The Defense Industrial Administration of Russia, the organization that developed the armored troops, was only established in 1924, which is just 13 years ago.

In these 13 years, Russia's tanks have evolved to the second generation, or more accurately, two and a half generations.

The first-generation tank was the T-12, which laid the foundation for the development of Russian tanks and gave rise to many well-known tank series thereafter.

And the second-generation tank, which Pavlov despised for its lack of substantial armor protection, was the T-26 light tank.

But the Russians apparently saw the current layout in the area of tanks and developed an improved model, named the BT-7 fast tank.

Returning to the war at the front, regardless of Russia's efforts in tanks, they won't be able to catch up with the tank development of mainstream European countries in the short term.

If we only talk about Germany, it didn't take them very long to develop their armored troops either. But at this time, Germany is a huge conglomerate after annexing several countries. When Germany, Poland, Austria, Belgium, the Netherlands, and other countries combine their military production and research capabilities, obviously, an ordinary country can't compare.

The actual performance data gap of the tanks on both sides, as well as the ideological gap in the practical use of tanks, resulted in a huge combat capability gap between the two militaries.

The entire 4th Army Group of the Western Front Army didn't resist for too long in front of the German 2nd Armored Army Group and was swiftly annihilated by the German armored troops.

A large number of armored troops crossed the Bug River one after another and carved out a gap in the Russian infantry, then the military continued advancing towards Pinsk and Baranovichi further east.

Clearly, the goal of this armored group was not just Brest, but also Pinsk and Baranovichi, located behind Brest.

And behind these two urban cities lies the real Russian territory: Horihorolsk and Minsk.

Once the armored troops had made an incision, the task of capturing the whole of Brest fell to the German Army.

Soon, the aggressively advancing German military collided head-on with the somewhat confused Russian army, and a fierce battle ensued, marking the first bullets fired between the infantry of Germany and Russia.

Although the Russian military was defending, because the German armored troops had already created a breach, any terrain advantage of the Russian troops was rendered null and void.

Their defense positions were incomplete; some were even easily toppled by the advancing German troops.

Actually, there wasn't much that could be done about this situation, even the day before the war broke out, the domestic message in Russia was heavily proclaiming that it was impossible for Germany to declare war on Russia.

If that is what the government was proclaiming, how could the people and the military not believe it?

This led to some complacency among the front-line troops towards the German military, and when suddenly confronted with an attack from them, they were initially somewhat bewildered.

During this period, an interesting incident occurred when the German listening department intercepted a telegram from the Russian military, with messages from the Russian front-line troops and the rear headquarters.

"Our unit is under artillery fire, requesting instructions!" reported the Russian front-line troops faithfully.

"Have you lost your mind? Why are you sending a clear-text telegram?" This was the response from the Russian rear General Staff.

From this, it can be seen that the German military's surprise attack on Brest caught the Russians completely unprepared, a completely unexpected event.

The two militaries had a vast gap in their operational thoughts.

General Bock, the Commander-in-Chief of the German Central Army Group, planned to have two armored formations advance from the south and north, respectively, using Brest as a dividing line. They aimed to interlock and cut through the Russian army, advancing deeper with encirclement tactics, and threatening the city of Minsk in Russia.

The advantage of this was to avoid a positional war with the Russian army and prevent them from stalling for time with human lives.

Of course, to achieve this objective was a test for Germany's armored troops. To enable such an extensive severance over hundreds of kilometers, it was imperative that the German armored forces had sufficient combat power, and that the tanks were reliable and performed with stability.

However, considering the Germans' rigid and meticulous nature, the probability of issues arising with their armor might be among the lowest of all the armored troops in various countries.

Apart from the battle in Brest, to the north in a city named Grodno, a war between Germany and the Russian army was also underway.

For the Russian army, there was bad news: the intense German attack and the rampant bombardment by a large number of airplanes had significantly damaged the communication command system of the Russian Western Front Army.

Many telephone lines buried shallowly were directly severed by explosions, and those exposed on the ground didn't need to be mentioned—they had been visited many times by German paratroopers and were even cut into several pieces.

Pavlov, stationed at the headquarters of the Western Front Army, was also extremely anxious at this time. In his recent call with the Russian General Staff, Pavlov had already assured that he would not let the German army break through the Western Front's line of defense.

But judging from the current situation in Brest, the German army had clearly breached the Russian army's line, and even had the capability to threaten Pinsk and Baranovichi.

The situation was a severe test for Pavlov, as Grodno, where the headquarters of the Western Front Army was located, was also facing an attack by the German forces. Moreover, contact with the frontmost Tenth Army Group had been lost.

In order to reach the Tenth Army Group stationed at Bielsk, Pavlov decided to personally travel to a city tens of kilometers to the west.

By the time he got there, Pavlov found that Bielsk was in chaos, and the situation was very bad for the Tenth Army Group.

"Grubiev, did you not receive my call?" Pavlov immediately inquired about the situation from General Grubiev, the Commander of the Tenth Army Group.

"No, sir, Commander. The Germans have severed our telephone lines, the fuel depot is out of fuel, and even the tanks are gone. The Germans have tanks and airplanes. Damn it, what are we supposed to fight with?" explained Grubiev, his words laden with despair about the war.

"Supreme Command's Order Number Three requires your unit to counterattack immediately and seize key positions such as Osovets, Wisna, and Bielsk." Pavlov relayed the order from the Russian Supreme Command, but his expression made it clear that he didn't quite endorse this seemingly preposterous order.

After all, the present state of the Tenth Army Group was such that they were being pressed hard by the German forces. To ask an army already under severe pressure to immediately counterattack was tantamount to sending them to their deaths, wasn't it?

"Damn it, what are you saying?" Predictably, the Commander of the Tenth Army Group, Grubiev, sprang up instantly, looking at Pavlov with a mix of anger and disbelief.

"It's an order from the Supreme Command, General Grubiev. Obviously, it's the directive of those officials who don't understand war at all; I am merely the messenger," Pavlov shook his head, indicating that he was not in agreement.

"These damned bureaucrats! Do they want my soldiers to go to their deaths?" Grubiev slammed his fist on the desk causing the various objects on it to jump several centimeters.

"First organize the soldiers for defense. At the very least, we must prevent the Germans from breaking through Bielsk. As for the counterattack, there's no rush for now. I'll relay our concerns to the Supreme Command. At least until the supplies arrive, I allow you some respite and to only conduct strategic defense," Pavlov spoke reassuringly as he patted Grubiev's shoulder.

Compared to other nationalities, Russians were rougher and more physically developed. But at the same time, they tended to be straightforward thinkers and tackled problems simplistically.

Pavlov believed that if he insisted on ordering Grubiev to have the Tenth Army Group counterattack now, given Grubiev's angry reaction a moment ago, he would likely outright refuse to execute the order.

Because it was not a reasonable command at all, it was a direct order for Grubiev's troops to march to their deaths. More importantly, this death march was meaningless for the overall war. Even if one was willing to make sacrifices for their country, it should not be in this manner.

Hearing what Pavlov had to say, Grubiev's angry expression finally eased a lot, and he nodded, responding to Pavlov: "I understand, Mr. Commander. Rest assured, as long as the Tenth Army Group is in Bielsk, the city will definitely not fall into German hands."

As he spoke, a glint of determination and fervor flashed in Grubiev's eyes. For a soldier, the highest honor is actually being a warrior on the battlefield and giving everything for one's country.

Even if the Supreme Command had just issued an absurd order, it still couldn't affect Grubiev's patriotic heart. To him, that order only confirmed that fools who knew nothing of war had infiltrated the Supreme Command. It couldn't at all change Grubiev's resolve to give everything for his country, even his life.