The ensuing battle went smoothly. With four rocket launcher battalions and an artillery regiment, Rokossovsky was even more powerful and immediately launched an attack on the Krasny Polyana area.
Krasnopolyana is a small town located northwest of Moscow. On the first day the German army occupied it, they began to deploy 240 mm caliber K3 long-range artillery.
The German army used the technology of a cone-bore gun for this long-range artillery. Its bottom is 240mm and the muzzle is 180mm. This design makes the gun eject from the chamber at a high speed, so it can increase the range as much as possible... Its range reaches 37 kilometers.
, not to mention used to bomb Moscow 27 kilometers away.
But as Stalin said, this kind of bombing did not have much practical significance. The reason was that the German army was at the end of its war effort. Coupled with logistical difficulties, they simply did not have enough artillery shells to bomb Moscow.
But von Bock was unwilling to give in. He hoped to "reach" Moscow in this way, even if it was just to fire a few shells in. Maybe the Russians would be frightened by these shells and choose to surrender.
However, at this moment Rokossovsky launched an attack on Red Polyana.
Rokossovsky formulated a complete attack plan.
He organized some T26 and KV tanks to attack Red Polyana and put them all into use in the first batch.
As the saying goes, "If you don't let go of your children, you won't catch the wolf." Rokossovsky knew that if he didn't do this, it would be impossible to draw the German armored regiment out of the town to fight the Soviet army.
Sure enough, the Germans were soon fooled. Their tanks drove out of the town one by one and formed an offensive formation to confront the Soviet troops.
The German army is very confident that it can win in such a tank battle, especially when its opponents only have T26 and KV tanks.
But what the Germans didn't expect was that the Soviets had no intention of engaging in a tank battle with them.
There was only a strange "whooshing" roar, and a black rocket flew toward the German tank formation. Then there was only a "rumbling" explosion. Before the Germans could react, the tank troops were covered in flames and smoke.
build.
At this time, the Soviet army really started to attack. After hearing a shout of "Ula", the Soviet army rushed into the town of Krasno Polyana and successfully recovered it.
The news soon reached von Bock, who sighed and remained silent.
"Marshal!" said the adjutant: "I will let them take back Red Polyana immediately!"
Von Bock weakly shook his head: "Our troops have been exhausted after months of continuous fighting. The cold climate here is another severe test for them. More importantly... the enemy's resistance has become stronger and stronger.
We are becoming more and more powerful, even if we take back Red Polyana, it will be useless!"
"Marshal, what do you mean..."
"I think the Russian reinforcements have arrived!" Von Bock said: "We have lost our last chance!"
If Stalin heard what von Bock said, he would definitely regret it.
Because it was just to push the German army back from Krasnopolyana, von Bock was alerted to the danger and hoped to retreat.
If the German army retreated at this time, the losses might not be huge. After all, the German army was still attacking and the Soviet army was not ready for a counterattack.
Therefore, even if the overall situation is unfavorable to the German army, they can still retreat calmly and establish a line of defense 100 kilometers away, which is the first line of defense of the Soviet army.
The problem is that Hitler is not willing to fail, or he can't let go of this face... He has already blown the lie, thinking that the German army will capture Moscow soon, and he announced it to the whole world.
Of course, the conceited Hitler would not allow the frontline troops to make him embarrassed in front of the whole world.
Therefore, he rejected von Bock's request to retreat without thinking.
"Are you crazy, retreating at this time?!" Hitler said: "Moscow is right in front of you. It is only 30 kilometers away from you. It only takes one day... no, half a day, and your tracks can knock down its walls. We
Can’t give up now!”
"Your Majesty the Head of State!" Von Bock said: "The temperature here has dropped to minus 30 degrees Celsius. Many of our weapons have been frozen. The physical fitness of the soldiers has reached the limit. We have no strength to move forward anymore.
, even if it’s just one step..."
"No, I never agree!" Hitler interrupted von Bock: "It's only one step away. We have put in so much effort and several months of war just for this moment. The advantage has always been with us. In the past
Yes, it is still the case... We only lost 500,000 people, while the Russians lost 5 million people. They were ten times as many as us. If you no longer have the power to advance, it means that they also have no power to defend! Again
Moscow can be taken in one battle, this is the last moment!"
"I don't think so, Your Excellency the Führer!" von Bock said: "Because the enemy used a lot of artillery in the battle at Krasnopolyana, I think their reinforcements have arrived in Moscow..."
"They have no reinforcements at all!" Hitler interrupted von Bock again: "That is an illusion they want you to see. If you retreat at this time, you will play into their hands!"
Things are often like this on the battlefield. Sometimes you can't tell who is reasonable and who is unreasonable, because both sides are speculating.
Von Bock's belief that enemy reinforcements had arrived was just speculation.
Hitler's belief that this was a deception tactic is also speculation.
Speculation could not defeat speculation, so in the end Hitler had to prevail.
There was also an episode. German Army Commander-in-Chief Brauchitsch personally rushed to the Central Cluster Headquarters to inspect. He was convinced that it was impossible for the troops to continue the offensive. If they continued to attack, it would be tantamount to self-destruction, so he did not get Hitler.
With permission, a retreat order was secretly issued.
But when Hitler learned the news the next day, he immediately revoked the order and roared at the order to continue the attack.
At the same time, Hitler also dismissed Army Commander Brauchitsch from his post, and von Bock, who had been trying to persuade Hitler to retreat, was also removed from his post and was replaced by Marshal Ruge, commander of the Fourth Army.
"These bastards, these idiots!" Hitler was furious: "Can't they see that victory is right in front of them?!"
Victory is indeed right in front of us, but everything has two sides. The other side of victory is failure, but Hitler has not yet realized this.
Perhaps Hitler already realized it.
Because it is a taboo for military strategists to change generals at this critical moment, and he changed several generals in a row, which in itself indicates failure.