Naturally, Panfilov would not withdraw from his position easily, after all, Colonel Katukov was not his superior.
This forced Katukov to call the headquarters of the 16th Army... At this time, the 4th Tank Brigade was under the command of the 16th Army.
"Comrade Rokossovsky!" Colonel Katukov reported: "The Germans are attacking Volokolamsk!"
"Yes!" Rokossovsky was worried about this matter: "An armored division, and another armored division is gathering in that direction!"
"Two armored divisions?" Katukov couldn't help being surprised.
"Yes!" Rokossovsky replied: "Once Volokolamsk is lost, our counterattack forces will be trapped, including your Fourth Tank Brigade..."
"No, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Colonel Katukov replied: "We will not be surrounded!"
"What?" Rokossovsky didn't understand what Colonel Katukov meant.
"The 4th Tank Brigade is in Volokolamsk!"
"What?"
"Yes, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Colonel Katukov said bluntly: "I hid the Fourth Tank Brigade there!"
"Where? You mean Volokolamsk?"
"Yes!" Colonel Katukov replied: "Hiding in residential buildings. There is one or two tanks in each residential building!"
Rokossovsky couldn't help being surprised and happy when he heard this.
He was surprised that Katukov dared to secretly disobey orders and leave the main force of the 4th Tank Brigade behind. At the same time, the tanks were hidden in Volokolamsk without him, the commander of the group army, knowing about it.
The good news is... if he only used the infantry division to resist the two armored divisions of the Germans, he really didn't have much confidence, but now that there is a fourth tank brigade and all of them are T34, things will be much easier to handle.
"Great, Comrade Katukov!" Rokossovsky said, "So, should we put the German tanks in now?"
"Yes, we are ready!" Colonel Katukov replied, and at the same time his hanging heart was completely relieved.
Although he believed that as long as he won the battle, there would be no problems, and he even thought of an excuse, but after all, he was disobeying orders, and it was indeed irrefutable if his superiors insisted on pursuing him.
Now Rokossovsky's affirmation is like giving Colonel Katukov reassurance.
Then, Rokossovsky made a phone call to Colonel Panfilov: "Withdraw your troops from Volokolamsk and prepare for a counterattack!"
"Yes, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Panfilov then knew that what Katukov said was true.
As one of the first three armored divisions formed by the German Army in 1935, the 2nd Armored Division is a veritable senior unit of the German armored forces. From the Polish campaign at the beginning of World War II to the Western Front campaign in 1940, and then
By the Balkan Campaign in 1941, the 2nd Armored Division was almost invincible.
Now, they were standing in front of the Russian army's defense line again. Their division commander, Major General Ike, held up his binoculars in high spirits and observed the advancing tank troops.
For Major General Ike, he is likely to be the first person to set foot in Moscow. As long as he can capture the position in front of him and break through the enemy's defense line... there will be a straight railway and highway directly to the center of Moscow, a distance of
It's only over a hundred kilometers away. If the speed is fast, the tanks of the 2nd Armored Division will appear on the streets of Moscow tomorrow afternoon.
Major General Ike believes that this wish can be realized, because until now, not a single Russian tank has been found, even just one.
This illustrates a problem, that is, what Marshal Bock said is correct... all the Russian tanks are attacking Tver.
Ike mentally reviewed the situation between the two armies again:
Germany has air superiority.
The Russian army has very little anti-tank equipment.
T34 tank in Tver.
So... what else can stop the 2nd Armored Division from crushing Moscow under its belt?
Major General Ike had almost seen his tanks launching an attack on the Kremlin on Red Square.
"General!" The adjutant reported at this time: "The enemy has retreated!"
"Very good!" Major General Ike gave the order without looking back: "Keep moving forward, occupy the three villages that originally belonged to us, and then immediately attack the enemy's defense line!"
"yes!"
According to the order, the tanks were divided into three teams and "rumbled" towards the three villages. Artillery and aircraft were already bombing the Russian defense lines.
For Major General Ike, occupying three villages was just the finishing touch and there could be no problems.
At this time, Colonel Becker, the commander of the tank regiment, reported to Major General Ike: "Something is wrong, General, they spread white cloth on the ground!"
"I don't think there's anything wrong with that, Colonel!" Major General Ike replied.
"Why did they do this?" Colonel Becker said: "Although I don't know the answer, I believe they must have a reason for doing this, so..."
"Maybe they just used it to cover the body!" Major General Ike thought that Colonel Becker had overreacted, so he comforted him: "Relax, Colonel, there will be no problem!"
"Yes, General!" Colonel Becker replied helplessly, and then ordered the troops to move forward.
Just then, Colonel Becker heard the sound of a motor, the sound of a tank's motor.
There is nothing strange about the sound of tank motors. There are tanks everywhere here.
The problem is that the sound of the motor is not that of a German tank...Colonel Becker, who has rich combat experience, immediately judged the sound of the Russian army's T34 motor from the sound. The roar of the engine gave people a strong feeling. It was diesel.
Engine-specific.
Colonel Becker was surprised and looked along the sound, but he did not find the enemy tank, only a private house.
The next second Colonel Becker understood, he immediately grabbed the microphone and shouted: "Alarm, enemy tanks are hiding in civilian houses, preparing to fight!"
But then I realized it was too late. A tank suddenly burst out of the house, smashing the door into pieces. Then it stopped, adjusted the position of the muzzle slightly, and then "bombed"
With a loud bang, it penetrated the side armor of a "Plank 3" tank at close range.
Perhaps it hit the ammunition, and the "Type III" tank exploded immediately. The explosion blew apart the turret and body from the inside out, and then it flipped over several times in the air and fell heavily to the ground.
"Fight! Destroy them!" Colonel Becker gave the order to his subordinates and immediately reported to Major General Ike on another microphone: "General, we were ambushed. There are enemy tanks everywhere, requesting air support..."
Before he finished speaking, Colonel Becker suddenly understood.
"God!" Colonel Becker said: "Their tanks are painted white, and the white cloth can be their camouflage!"