In just five hours, most of the Soviet troops attacking the village of Kozvo were lost... The 27th Tank Brigade had only 31 tanks left, and the two regiments of the 44th Cavalry Division, with nearly 2,000 cavalry, fell in that area.
Several kilometers of open land later even reached the point where horse carcasses and tank wreckage blocked the path, making it impossible for the cavalry to advance and had to stop charging.
The 4th Tank Brigade in the direction of Skirmanovo village would have met the same fate, because they were ordered to let the tanks abandon the infantry and attack together with the cavalry like the 27th Tank Brigade.
But Colonel Katukov resisted the pressure and refused to do so.
He reported to his superiors: "I promise to capture the village of Skilmanovo within the required time, but please allow me to use my own way!"
Perhaps because of the previous achievements of the 4th Tank Brigade, the superiors agreed to Katukov's request.
Katukov did not attack from the front like the 27th Tank Brigade, nor did he attack along roads and railways.
Because Katukov knew very well that the Germans organized troops and equipment in this area and planned to break through the Soviet second line of defense from here to attack Moscow... Volokolamsk, like Klin, has a road and railway directly to Moscow.
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In fact, the roads and railway lines around Moscow are like a spider web. Moscow is in the center, and there are a series of important nodes stuck on the roads and railways on the periphery. These nodes are impossible or difficult to get around, because
It is surrounded by muddy areas, swamps, rivers, etc. that are difficult to pass through.
To the north is Klin, and to the south are Volokolamsk, Mozhaisky, Obninsk, etc. These nodes are the pillars of the second line of defense. The Soviet and German armies are mainly located at these nodes.
Attack and defend are fighting. Once the Germans break through and fail to fill the gap in time, the consequences will be disastrous.
Katukov believes that since the enemy plans to attack from here, they must prepare a large amount of artillery fire and tanks here. These artillery fire and tanks can easily block the attack route of the 4th Tank Brigade, even if they find a suitable place to attack.
The same goes for open spaces.
Facts have proved that Katukov's idea was correct, as demonstrated by the failure of the 27th Tank Brigade and the 44th Cavalry Division in the direction of the village of Kozvo.
Even if the 4th Tank Brigade finally succeeded in occupying the target due to the number of T34s and the ability of infantry-tank coordination, the price paid would probably be unacceptable.
Therefore, Katukov's troops were divided into two parts...one part made a feint attack from the front, and the other part made a detour from the side.
"This is almost impossible!" Major Zahakavich, commander of the Fourth Tank Regiment, objected: "By taking a detour from the south, this means that our tanks have to cross a muddy field!"
"The Germans think so too!" Katukov said: "So they won't think of us attacking from this direction!"
"But if our tanks get stuck in the mud..."
"Have you forgotten that we have self-rescue trees, Comrade Zahakavich?" Katukov said: "We have received relevant training. As long as a few tanks successfully rush into the enemy's defense line, they can provide cover for the infantry.
Then...the other tanks will have enough time to follow up!"
Upon hearing this, Zahakavich could only nod his head in agreement. This seemed to be a feasible plan. As a tank commander, he was just habitually afraid of muddy ground.
Therefore, smoke grenades were added to the artillery shells in preparation for the artillery fire in the direction of Skirmanovo village.
The 2nd Tank Battalion launched a feint attack on the front road, railway and an open area in between. More than 40 tanks of the 1st Tank Battalion led the 333rd Infantry Regiment in a detour.
Shulka was one of them, but his attention was not attracted by the enemy but by the propaganda vehicle following the troops behind him.
"Comrades!" A passionate and majestic voice came from the loudspeaker: "Our country is undergoing an invasion by the enemy and has reached a critical moment of life and death. But these invaders have made a wrong calculation. Our brave soldiers are not afraid of sacrifice, and our great people are marching forward one after another.
, our cause is just, we will never take a step back, all enemies will perish..."
"What's wrong, Comrade Shulka?" the instructor asked.
"We are making a detour!" Shulka said: "We are making a detour without the enemy noticing. Does it plan to keep shouting like this?"
The instructor suddenly understood something, then turned and walked towards the promotional vehicle.
Later, it was said that the instructor had to spend a lot of effort to persuade the propaganda vehicle to turn off the horn...the reason was that it was an order from the supreme commander, and they did not dare to disobey it easily.
In the end, the instructor could only yell at them angrily: "Do you know what you are doing? I have reason to believe that you are the enemy's spies. You are using this method to expose our attack direction so that they can prepare it in advance."
Be on guard and put the shells on our heads!”
No one dared to bear the consequences of being a spy easily, so he gave up.
The attack went smoother than expected.
I originally thought that a small stream in front of the village would be a big obstacle, but local soldiers who were familiar with the terrain knew which section of the river the tanks could pass through.
"Five hundred meters downstream, there used to be a huge boulder in that part! It blocked the path of the stream and turned it around, causing the stream to often overflow into the village. Two years ago we used explosives to flatten the boulder to allow the stream to pass through. That is,
Said, the bottom of the river there is hard stone!"
It turned out to be just as they said, so T34 crossed the creek very smoothly.
If there is any trouble, it is that the stones have become smooth under the wash of the stream and have green moss on them, making the tracks easy to slip. But as long as you pass slowly, there will be no problem.
Then there was a muddy field for two kilometers before reaching the village of Skirmanovo.
Just as Katukov thought, the Germans must have believed that no tank could pass through this muddy land, and of course no infantry would be willing to attack from here... The reason is that the mud prevents the infantry from running and leaping forward quickly, and at the same time this
Except for a few bushes, the area was empty and there was nowhere to hide.
If someone attacks from here, it only takes a few machine guns to block it.
The problem was that the Soviet army was advancing with tanks and infantry, and the soldiers who were familiar with the terrain knew which areas were hard ground and which areas were veritable wetlands.
This is easy to distinguish for people who were born here. In the summer, the hard ground will become a road for people to walk. They are only covered with mud on the surface when the rainy season comes, while the wetland is even the bottom is soft, and even
It might also be a big hole.
On the other hand, the tanks carried enough logs, with more than a dozen logs tied to the sides and rear of each tank, and several trucks were even transported by car to be ready for replenishment at any time.
They are filled in the pit and are not recycled, which means that logs are actually used to pave a fast track.