Anufrievich finally ordered Colonel Katukov to command two tank brigades to block the German attack.
Of course, although there are two tank brigades, the total number of tanks is actually only seventy, and most of them are light tanks, which are not as powerful as an enemy tank regiment.
Then the results of the reconnaissance came out. The enemy was an armored division, that is, the 11th Armored Division and the 106th Infantry Regiment.
Major General Anufrievich hurriedly reported the news to his superiors. After more than an hour of waiting, the Supreme Command finally issued the order to retreat.
"They finally admitted their mistakes!" Major Anufrievich muttered quietly, but no one could hear him.
What Anufrievich said was that another meaning of the Supreme Command's order to retreat was to admit the complete bankruptcy of this counterattack plan... The counterattack in the direction of Serpukhov suffered heavy casualties before it was launched, Voloko
Although Ramsk launched a defensive line and attacked Tver, they were forced to retreat in the face of being surrounded.
Therefore, apart from losing a large amount of equipment, troops and morale of the troops, it can be said that nothing was gained.
The troops began to retreat towards Volokolamsk in a steady stream. At this time, the German army divided into several directions to attack, so that the tank troops commanded by Katukov were overwhelmed... Of course, Katukov had a small number of tanks and could not divide the troops anymore.
Otherwise, it will be easy to be defeated by the enemy one by one.
As a result, the Soviet army's retreat to Volokolamsk was quickly cut off, and nearly 20,000 people were trapped in the encirclement.
At the Western Front Command, just as Zhukov was frowning and thinking about how to face the situation at hand, the phone rang.
The call was from Stalin, who named Zhukov.
This surprised Zhukov, because before this, his superiors had always contacted Bulganin, and then Bulganin gave him orders.
After Zhukov answered the phone and identified himself, Stalin's voice rang on the other end of the phone: "Do you think we can hold Moscow? I feel a little heavy! As a party member, please make an objective evaluation of the current situation at this time.
!”
Although this did not admit anything, there was no doubt that Stalin had given up hope in the situation before him.
Although the Soviet army fought vigorously in the Volokolamsk area, the recapture of Tver failed completely. Not only did Moscow fail to open the railway line to obtain reinforcements and equipment from Leningrad, but it lost its last bit of reserve force...
The 20,000 people who were surrounded by Weil were only part of it. The Soviet army invested 100,000 people in this counterattack plan and deployed advanced and in-demand equipment, such as "Katyusha" rocket launchers and counterattack missiles squeezed out from various defense forces.
Tank gun.
But now, except for the few thousand people left in the direction of Serpukhov and the main force of the 4th Tank Brigade who did not follow orders to leave Tver, there are only 20,000 people surrounded in Tver.
"Yes!" Zhukov replied: "I firmly believe that we can hold Moscow!"
After a pause, Zhukov added: "But, I need to increase the strength of at least 2 army groups and 200 tanks!"
"Very good!" Stalin replied: "You call the General Staff and discuss the assembly points of the two armies you want. I will give you these troops, but it will take some time, but there are still no tanks. You
Be sure to persevere!”
Then Stalin hung up the phone.
Soon, Bulganin received a call from the Supreme Command, and then he said to Zhukov: "Comrade Zhukov, the Supreme Command ordered me to obey your orders and assist your command!"
In other words, command power returned to Zhukov again.
Zhukov did not dare to neglect. He called Rokossovsky and asked: "How is the situation? You are now under my command!"
The second half of the sentence seems to be nonsense, because the 16th Army has always been commanded by the Western Front, that is, Zhukov.
But Rokossovsky understood the meaning of these words and immediately replied: "The situation is not good, Comrade General! We are facing two difficulties now!"
"What difficulty?"
"The first thing is whether we should rescue Tver!" Rokossovsky said: "The Germans don't seem to be in a hurry to completely close the encirclement, nor are they in a hurry to annihilate the besieged troops. You know what they want to do!"
"Yes!" Zhukov nodded.
Obviously, this is the German strategy of "encircling a point to bring reinforcements". They hope to induce the Soviet army to reinforce Tver, and the Soviet army has only one unit capable of reinforcing Tver...the 4th Tank Brigade.
"What about the other difficulty?" Zhukov asked.
"We can no longer implement the 'saw tactics' as before!" Rokossovsky replied.
Zhukov immediately understood the reason.
The essence of the "saw-saw tactic" is to retreat during the day when you are in a weak position, and then counterattack at night when the enemy's air force cannot perform its role.
But now, Tver has been surrounded by the Germans and the main force of the 316th Division and the 4th Tank Brigade are still retreating as planned... which means giving up hope of rescuing Tver!
So Zhukov was also in a dilemma.
To save or not to save?
If we try to save, it is very likely that not only will we not be able to save anyone, but more people will be trapped in the encirclement.
No rescue, that is a force of 20,000 people. In addition, it also carries "Katyusha" equipment that the Soviet army is in short supply, anti-tank guns, and even dozens of T34s.
You must know that at this time, even the fourth tank brigade does not have enough T34s. These dozens of T34s and 20,000 people are likely to be the last pillar of the entire Soviet defense line.
Of course, this is the responsibility of the High Command, and their counterattack plan is simply to send these scarce equipment into the enemy's encirclement.
However, this is not the time to pursue responsibility, and of course it is impossible to pursue responsibility.
After thinking about it, Zhukov ordered: "Solicit the opinions of the 4th Tank Brigade. I want to know if they are sure of rescue!"
"Yes, Comrade General!" Rokossovsky replied.
But having said that, Rokossovsky knew in his heart... Zhukov's so-called "soliciting the opinions of the 4th Tank Brigade" was actually not talking about the 4th Tank Brigade, but the "breakout hero" Shulka
.
Of course, as a general, Zhukov would not say to his subordinates: "Ask that Shulka and see what he can do!"
If we say this, General Zhukov is also the commander of the Western Front and can even be said to be the commander of the entire Moscow defense war. There is no place to show off.
So Rokossovsky took a few guards and took a car to the frontline headquarters.