Due to time constraints, the troops quickly entered the retreat phase.
Although the Soviet army had recaptured Tver at this time, Tver was obviously undefendable for the Soviet army... surrounded by enemies, once daylight came, all advantages would be lost and even the supply lines would be cut off.
Therefore, although the Supreme Command did have a suggestion for Zhukov to stick to Tver, Zhukov rejected it without any hesitation.
"Either Tver or Moscow!" Zhukov replied to the Supreme Command: "My ability is only to choose one of the two. I want to know which one you want me to defend?!"
The answer is certainly not Tver.
Zhukov is right, although Tver's strategic position is very important, both for the German and Soviet forces.
The problem is that the Soviet defense line at this time has been compressed to the Mozhaysk area, which is the second line of defense.
Occupying Tver will form an assault base outside the defense line that can easily be surrounded by the enemy. It will not be protected by friendly forces on both wings. The so-called restored railway communication line from Leningrad to Moscow is also very fragile without air superiority.
Especially... At this time, the Soviet army was short of troops, and the troops occupying Tver were the last reserve force of the second line of defense.
Therefore, the war situation was indeed as Zhukov said: either Tver or Moscow.
If there is any problem with this sentence, it is that if you choose Tver, you will eventually lose Moscow because it was captured by the German army.
Perhaps it was because the Supreme Command had just made a mistake and left the mess to Zhukov, so this time they did not insist on their own way of removing Zhukov's command like last time. They chose to support Zhukov's idea.
So the troops quickly entered the retreat process:
The 4th Tank Brigade continued the pursuit, driving the German troops to a retreat... This kind of pursuit was necessary, especially when retreating.
Otherwise, as soon as the troops stop, the enemy may reorganize and launch a counterattack against the Soviet army. At this time, the retreating Soviet army will be in trouble.
This is also one of the reasons why troops in actual combat often have to attack before retreating and even have to push the enemy back even just a few dozen meters before they dare to retreat... Otherwise, they are likely to be pursued by the enemy, and the retreat can easily turn into a rout.
Shulka and others did not return to the team.
The reason is that on the one hand, the battle to pursue the enemy on the front line is not tense, and there is not much difference between having one more company and one less company.
On the other hand, armored trains cannot leave the tracks, so they are naturally not suitable for chasing enemy troops.
Shulka received a new mission: protecting the railway line.
The task was assigned by Katukov, who took over the command of the 4th Tank Brigade when the two armies joined forces.
"Congratulations, Comrade Shulka!" After Katukov answered the phone, the first thing he talked about was not the mission but chatting with Shulka. This was rare for a well-trained commander like Katukov.
"You succeeded in rescuing me!" Katukov said. "Of course there were others! I heard that you captured an armored train and used it to cross Tver?"
"Yes, Comrade Katukov!" Shulka replied.
"I also heard... that you did not die at the hands of the enemy but almost died at the hands of your own people?"
It seemed that the cavalry had reported the incident to Katukov, and Shulka and others said nothing at all. After all, the battle was still going on, and they knew that it was not the time to hold people accountable.
"Yes, Comrade Katukov!"
Katukov on the other end of the phone laughed: "Don't worry, Comrade Shulka. We will punish the careless lieutenant, but I need you to complete a new task now!"
"Yes, Comrade Katukov!"
"Drive the armored train and protect the safety of the railway!" Katukov said: "You know, we have just captured the railway and repaired it. There are many German skirmishers near the railway, and they even have mortars in their hands.
Cannons and howitzers, your mission is to ensure the smooth flow of the railway and protect the safety of the trains, do you understand?"
"Understood!" Shulka replied.
This is a good use of everything. Armored trains are originally suitable for dealing with guerrillas and skirmishers to protect the safety of the railway, and now they can be used immediately.
So this became Shulka's easiest task ever.
First, they drove the armored train to the train station and contacted the logistics department... The armored trains need to be uniformly dispatched, otherwise the entire railway will be paralyzed if they drive randomly on the track according to their own temper.
Then, they went to the munitions office to replenish some ammunition.
The battle just fought almost used up all the ammunition on the armored train.
This seems to be an irony. The German army did not use much ammunition when using armored trains... They mostly used 88mm anti-aircraft guns, machine guns, small-caliber anti-aircraft guns and the like, which were hardly used.
On the contrary, after arriving in the hands of Shulka and others, no matter what kind of equipment the bullets were, the shells poured out like running water. The ammunition reserve on the entire supply car was quickly exhausted, and even the 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun
The bullet has been broken.
In actual combat, the 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine gun is actually more useful, because it can deal with all targets except tanks, and can even deal with the "No. 1" and "No. 2" tanks at close range or with side and rear armor.
(Note: The armor thickness of the "No. 1" tank is 13mm, and the armor thickness of the "No. 2" tank is 10 to 30mm)
It also has the advantage of fast fire rate and high damage.
So naturally, when replenishing ammunition, 12.7mm high-machine bullets were loaded in large quantities.
Finally, a radio station was put on the car and two wrecker carriages were hung to add some engineers, and a mission like a tour began.
The wrecker carriages are located at both ends of the armored train. They generally have only a flat plate and a low, hard iron scraper at the front.
The low height can make it easy to derail as it sinks under its center of gravity. The tight and hard setback head can break the obstacles on the rail into two pieces from the middle and then sweep them out of the track. As for landmines and the like, not to mention,
It will cause almost no damage.
Initially Shulka thought this thing would have no effect, but he soon discovered that he was wrong.
Not ten minutes after the armored train set off from Tver, it split a carriage into two and violently knocked it out.
The carriage was placed at the bend of the track, so the armored train couldn't hold back at all. Then several more mines were detonated...it seemed to be anti-tank mines, so the armored train stopped quickly and retreated for a while.
If the railway track is blown off, it can easily cause the train to derail.
Then the German skirmishers who were ambushing on both sides of the railway track were in trouble. They thought they were waiting for an enemy train, but they didn't expect it to be a big guy loaded with weapons and covered with armor!