The 4th Tank Brigade finally crossed the German defense line built with three-legged roadblocks... Although the three-legged roadblocks are cheap and can be laid quickly, it is not difficult to remove them.
Of course, it is not possible for the clearing infantry to move forward directly to move them away. This would be very dangerous and unnecessary in a hail of bullets and under the enemy's watchful eye.
The obstacle clearance infantry advances under the cover of tanks. When they reach the roadblock area, the obstacle clearance infantry carries the steel traction rope and crawls forward over the tank. Then they only need to hook the anchor-like hook on the traction rope to the three-legged roadblock.
The intersection part is fine.
Each traction rope will be divided into three to five hooks. They hook onto a roadblock respectively, and then send a signal backwards... As soon as the tank at the other end of the traction rope retreats, the roadblock will be towed away.
This is true to the saying, "A higher road makes a higher ground." Things on the battlefield are often like this, just like spears and shields restraining each other. At the same time, it is also a process of tit-for-tat confrontation between the enemy and ourselves, accompanied by bloodshed and death.
The 4th Tank Brigade arrived in Tver more than half an hour later than planned.
Tver is located on the main road and railway road between Moscow and Leningrad...160 kilometers away from Moscow and 484 kilometers away from Leningrad.
It is not only the main road and railway, but also controls the upper reaches of the river, where the Tversa River and the Volga River meet and then flow towards Moscow.
Among Shulka's men was a Tver man, Larinovich.
He was Shulka's old subordinate when he was the platoon leader. Shulka had almost forgotten about him until he returned to the team last week and excitedly saluted Shulka and then held Shulka's hand tightly.
, said: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, thank you. The doctor said it was you who allowed me to save my left arm. To be precise... you saved my life!"
Shurka was a little confused. There were so many subordinates coming and going, and some of them died before he even got to know each other. So Shurka really didn’t remember saving the life of the corporal in front of him, but he only knew that he was once his subordinate.
.
"Comrade Lieutenant, you must not remember!" Larinovich said: "On our way from Kiev to Odessa, my arm was injured by a landmine!"
"Oh, Larinovich!" Shulka then remembered that he had indeed bandaged him, and suggested that he follow the troops to Odessa instead of waiting on the roadside for follow-up troops to take him in.
"It turns out you were right!" Larinovich said: "There are more medicines in Odessa and I got good treatment there!"
"Why did you come to Moscow?" Shulka asked.
"Reinforcements came from Odessa!" Larinovich replied: "I came with them... Of course, I asked for it. After they knew that I was a soldier of the 333rd Regiment, they helped me smoothly.
I’ve done the formalities!”
The 333rd Regiment is already a star unit and a heroic unit featured in "Pravda", so if any soldiers request to return to the unit, they will of course be given priority.
But Shulka didn't think this was a good thing, because he had to jump into the most dangerous front line as soon as he came up.
At this time, Larinovich served as the guide for Shulka's company... Because the battle was at night, in order to prevent the troops from getting lost and to coordinate better, each company was assigned one or two soldiers who were familiar with the terrain.
Guide, otherwise the tanks will be running around like headless flies in the streets and alleys. Not only will the battle not proceed smoothly, but accidental injuries may also occur.
The tanks rumbled onto the street, and the doors of the houses on both sides were closed tightly. It was not clear whether the people were empty or hiding inside and did not dare to make a sound.
Shulka led the soldiers forward cautiously, pointing his rifle at the windows on both sides from time to time, because you couldn't be sure whether a few guns would suddenly stick out of those windows or a few grenades would be thrown out.
There was deathly silence all around, with no enemies or civilians, only the falling snowflakes from the sky and the suffocating exhaust fumes released by the tanks.
The placket of General Shulka's hat is hung on the top of the hat... This is a Soviet-style cotton ear protection hat. The soldiers call it "Shapka". It is very simple to make. It is almost like the cotton hat that ordinary people use with a red star on the front.
Cap badge.
This kind of winter ear protection hat has two flaps on both sides, which can cover the ears and the back of the neck to keep warm when put down.
As a commander, Shurka certainly couldn't put it down at this time... This was not for the sake of grace, but because he needed to hear more sounds, such as the enemy's movements, subordinates' reports, etc.
Larinovich approached Shulka and said: "Two hundred meters further on is the Volga Bridge!"
As mentioned before, the Tversa and Volga rivers meet here, so of course there will be a bridge.
The bridge will inevitably be the focus of contention between the enemy and ourselves.
In this regard, the German 571st Infantry Regiment stationed in Tver only needs to blow up all the bridges across the Volga and Tverca rivers to effectively prevent the 4th Tank Brigade from occupying Tver.
But the Germans were unwilling to do this for the obvious reason that it would cause serious damage to the German logistics.
In fact, there was a debate within the German army on whether to blow up the bridge.
Colonel Fein, commander of the 571st Infantry Regiment, preferred to blow up the bridge.
He also told Marshal Kruger the same thing on the phone.
"Your Excellency Marshal, at least we should be prepared to blow up the bridge!" Colonel Finn said: "This way we have the right to choose..."
"You mean to load explosives on the main parts of the bridge piers?" Marshal Kruger interrupted Colonel Finn without thinking: "No, Colonel! This is a stupid approach. Your mission is to defend the two bridges.
Understand? Guard them before the enemy has a chance to blow them up!"
After a pause, Marshal Kruger continued: "Do you think you have a choice when you install explosives on the bridge? God, don't you know how dangerous this is? When the Russians found that they could not breach the bridge and discovered that the bridge was equipped with explosives,
What do you think they're going to do? All they have to do is hang themselves off the bridge with a few ropes and detonate those explosives, and you can't even stop them!"
Colonel Fane was speechless after hearing this, because Kruger was right, loading explosives on the bridge could easily be exploited by the Russian army.
"What's more!" Kruger emphasized: "You have an armored train. The four 88mm anti-aircraft guns on it can effectively block the enemy's T34. I don't know what else you need to worry about!"
"Say it again!" Kruger emphasized: "Hold the bridge, and at the same time, in order to ensure the safety of the bridge, no explosives can be installed. Do you understand?"
"Yes, Your Excellency Marshal!"
Kruger hung up the phone harshly and cursed: "These cowards, they only think about their own safety and do not consider how important these bridges are to the attack on Moscow!"