Shulka guessed right. The German army was indeed stalling for time. Otherwise, the German troops stationed in Tver only had one regiment of more than 2,000 people. It would obviously be unreasonable to split up the troops and go out to fight the Soviet army outside Tver city when the troops were insufficient.
unwise.
The reason for this was that the 5th Engineer Battalion, which Kruger used to reinforce Tver, needed preparation time.
There is no doubt that this 5th Engineer Battalion is not an ordinary engineer battalion, it is actually an armored train unit...
After launching the attack, the German army used the captured armored trains to form four armored trains, namely armored trains 10, 11, 21 and 22.
Among them, armored trains No. 10 and 11 are Polish armored train carriages captured from the Soviet army... The characteristic of Polish armored trains is that the armor is too thin, only 5mm, which can barely stop bullets.
The German army mainly used these armored trains to deal with guerrillas.
This is actually correct. The reason is that armored trains rely heavily on railways. As long as the railways are blown up, they will almost lose their combat effectiveness...except for Polish light armored trains.
The Polish light armored train is a strange thing. It is just a bunch of tanks loaded on a flatbed truck. It can be used as an armored train when maneuvering on the railway. Once needed or the railway is blown up, these tanks can all be used from
Drive down on a flatbed truck and fight.
Obviously, this armored train is still very useful in dealing with guerrillas, so it is also known as the "Railway Legend".
The reason why armored trains are equipped by engineering battalions is mainly because they are responsible for the safety of railways... With armored trains, you can basically have no fear of any armed forces in the rear. It is impossible for guerrillas to have equipment that can threaten armored trains, so even engineering
The barracks can also complete tasks easily.
Another advantage of the equipment of the engineering battalion is that they can get off the car at any time to build roads and rails, which is beneficial to ensuring smooth railways... What the German army needs most at this time is smooth railways.
However, the German 5th Engineer Battalion was a little different.
The 5th Engineer Battalion is equipped with Armored Train No. 22, which was pieced together and modified from captured Soviet armored train carriages. The most important modification is the installation of four 88mm anti-aircraft guns... This is obviously not to deal with guerrillas.
Team.
This was Manstein's idea.
The 88mm anti-aircraft gun has proven its value in actual combat. It is not only an anti-aircraft weapon, but more importantly, it also has excellent armor-piercing capabilities. At this time, the German army is encountering the "T34 crisis" and has almost no equipment that can deal with the T34 tank.
On the other hand, the 88mm anti-aircraft gun is inconvenient to maneuver... The weight of this thing when maneuvering reaches 5,000 kilograms, and one shell weighs about 10 kilograms. This is an absolute nightmare on the muddy roads of the Soviet Union and the tight logistics of the German army.
So, why not mount an 88mm anti-aircraft gun on an armored train and use it as a rail maneuver to reinforce frontline troops?
As a result, Armored Train No. 22 was born.
It should be said that it is a hybrid equipment used by the German army for emergency purposes. The Germans who advocate mobility finally abandoned this thinking and installed the 88mm anti-aircraft gun on the "Tiger" tank... The benefits of the tank are obvious, and it is not subject to
Railway restrictions.
Armored train No. 22 was even in the testing stage. Manstein wanted to replace the engineer battalion with better quality and more professional infantry and artillery, but before he could make the emergency replacement, Kruger was sent to Tver urgently.
The commander of the 5th Engineer Battalion is Major Michael, a young man from Magdeburg. His father is a construction worker and he has also worked in construction for several years and has expertise in construction, so it is no surprise that he was assigned.
Engineer Corps.
Major Michael proved to be a good fit for the job, and his knowledge of construction made him stand out as a major in the engineering corps.
But Michael has always been dissatisfied with his army.
He always complained to his subordinates: "What I want is to fight the enemy face to face on the battlefield, rather than holding a shovel in the rear to build roads and bridges!"
"Sir!" the adjutant persuaded Major Michael: "In fact, we are also face to face with the enemy..."
"Oh, really?" Major Michael retorted: "The enemies you are referring to are those guerrillas? Come on, as long as we know how to shoot, we can drive them back!"
"You're right, sir!" the adjutant said, "but you know, any position..."
"Everyone needs someone to work, right?" Major Michael interrupted the adjutant impatiently: "Yes, I know! I have heard this hundreds of times, Dim... Next, I think what you want to say
Even engineers are equally important. They ensure that soldiers on the front line have enough ammunition, so what we do is equally great..."
The adjutant was speechless for a moment, because this was indeed what he wanted to say.
However, Major Michael did not expect that he would have such luck. His dream of going to the battlefield and fighting the enemy face to face finally came true.
On this day, Major Michael and his men were patrolling between trains on an armored train as usual. Major Michael was sitting in the command car drinking coffee while looking boredly at the snowflakes outside the window and the groups of people building roads.
The common people and the German soldiers who were stomping their feet from the cold.
Life in an armored train was indeed wonderful, but it made Major Michael feel like he was doing nothing, like a "wretch in a shell" as the infantry sarcastically put it.
At this time, a communications soldier hurriedly ran from the communications room to Major Michael, then stood up and reported: "Sir, urgent order!"
"Guerrillas?" Major Michael asked casually. He was already numb to such emergency orders. To him, the so-called emergency orders were just listening to the sound of gunshots and cannons, and then corpses outside the train.
"No, Major!" the signal soldier replied: "It's Tver. Our superiors ordered us to reinforce Tver!"
"Tver?" Major Michael couldn't help but be startled. He heard that the place was being attacked by the Russian army.
Major Michael couldn't believe such a good thing. He took the telegram and looked at it. It was just as the signal soldier said, to reinforce Tver.
"Didn't they say they were going to replace someone?" Michael asked casually.
"No, no!" the signal soldier replied.
"Go and confirm!" Major Michael stood up excitedly. He was worried that his superiors only needed armored trains, and when they arrived at the destination, they would replace the 5th Engineer Battalion with combat troops.
But the order came quickly: "Get ready for battle, you are going to face the enemy's elite tank troops!"
This choice is wise, because combat troops may not be as skilled in operating armored trains as the 5th Engineer Battalion.