The battle situation was just as Lieutenant General Kubil had estimated. The Soviet artillery and air force bombed Tver indiscriminately, followed by tanks and infantry to launch a fierce attack.
Kubiler first contacted the fighter planes, and when he was sure that the fighter planes could provide reinforcements to the front line, he ordered Major General von Funk, who was in charge of the front line command: "Attack!"
"Attack!" Major General Feng Funke immediately conveyed the order.
German tanks came out of the bunker one by one... The low temperature in winter is also good. It is very convenient to hide the tanks. You only need to dig down the snow and put a layer of canvas on top. The snow falls quickly.
All traces will be covered up.
"Go forward!" Von Funk said on the walkie-talkie: "The enemy tanks are T34, and there are initially estimated to be 70 of them! This is our opportunity, because they are attacking Tver, which means they will expose their back armor in front of you.
...The time has come to wash away the shame, kill them!"
"Kill them!"
…
The German tank crews roared wildly in the tank.
Colonel Lavrentin on the other side had not even noticed this at this time. The sound of tanks was covered up by artillery fire and aircraft bombing, but more importantly, all Lavrentin's attention was focused on Tver.
"The enemy is very cunning!" Colonel Lavrentin said to his staff while holding up a telescope to watch the battle situation on the front line: "They use the river to set up defenses, and it is difficult for our tanks to attack it!"
As mentioned before, Tver is the confluence of the Tversa and Volga rivers.
The last time Tver was captured by the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, several bridges were blown up during the retreat.
This forced the German army to build several pontoon bridges on the Volga River to ensure transportation.
But of course, there is no need to rely on pontoons for attack now. The river has frozen and tanks can drive directly through it. (Note: The freezing period of the Volga River is from the end of November each year to April of the following year)
Lavrentin said that the enemy was cunning because the Germans took advantage of the ice in the river. They piled sandbags and stones on the river bank and then poured water on them. The water soon froze into a wall with these roadblocks.
, this wall makes it difficult for tanks on the river ice to cross.
Occasionally, a few tanks barely managed to pass, but because their chassis was raised high, they were exposed to the enemy's anti-tank guns... and then they exploded into a ball of fire with a "boom" sound.
"We should let artillery fire blow up this ice wall!" Colonel Lavrentin turned to the staff and ordered: "Tell the artillery the coordinates!"
"Comrade Colonel!" the staff officer said with some worry: "The fact that the Germans can build this ice wall means they know that we will attack Tver..."
"So what!" Colonel Lavrentin said: "You think this wall can stop us? This is wishful thinking!"
"No, comrade colonel!" the staff officer replied: "I'm worried that they have other preparations!"
"You are overthinking, Comrade Fyodor!" Colonel Lavrentin said: "Today is their end, they have no choice but to escape..."
Before he finished speaking, a shell roared from behind and exploded nearby.
Colonel Lavrentin cursed loudly, thinking that one of his own shot accidentally and almost hit one of his own.
Looking back, I realized that this was not the case... Groups of German tanks in the rear, also painted white, appeared in Colonel Lavrentin's sight. The black cross on the turret looked very abrupt in the sunlight.
Colonel Lavrentin was stunned for a moment, and then immediately ordered: "Germans, they are behind us! Turn around and fight!"
"Plane! Let the plane block them! Can't they see it?"
"Why didn't they warn us?"
…
The pilot can't actually see it.
The reason is that on the one hand, their mission is to bomb Tver, and on the other hand, the German tanks are painted white and headed for Tver... Looking down from the air, the white color is against the background of the snow, so all that can be seen is the discharge of the tanks.
exhaust fumes and some vague shadows of tanks.
It's even difficult for pilots to tell the model of a tank.
Therefore, they took it for granted that it was the follow-up force of the Soviet army and paid no attention to it.
On the other hand, the German ambush was only ten minutes away from the Soviet army, and the Soviet pilots had no time to react in such a short period of time.
But in fact, even if the Soviet pilots realized this, it would not be of much use.
Because at this time, more than a dozen German fighter planes suddenly swooped down from the clouds. With the piercing sound of their engines, bullets fired from the machine guns came straight towards the Soviet fighter planes. Several Soviet fighter planes were beaten and fell on the spot.
ground.
"Artillery, let the artillery hold them back..." Colonel Lavrentin shouted.
He needs time to pull the attacking tanks back to fight. It only takes a few minutes. Whether it is artillery or air force, it only takes a few minutes to block the German tanks... Then Lavrentin can organize a defense and rely on the excellent performance of the T34 to block the German attack.
.
However, the Soviet army was not without artillery, and its artillery shells also had a certain reserve due to long-term preparations.
The problem lies in the Soviet army's backward communication equipment and helpless coordination capabilities.
For example, at this time, the Soviet artillery has been brought under the unified command of the group army... This was Shulka's suggestion to Zhukov. It was a helpless choice. The military quality of the frontline commander was not enough to command the offensive and artillery at the same time, so he had to
Concentrate artillery use.
The result of this is that when artillery support is needed, there is a transition process: first, you have to contact the group army headquarters, and then the group army directs the artillery operations.
And for emergencies like this one... it can be said that the coordinates would have been ineffective if they were transmitted to the artillery.
Just like now, each artillery shell actually hit the rear of the German tank group.
As for the guidance of aerial reconnaissance planes, it is even more impossible... Several Soviet reconnaissance planes were shot down or entangled by German fighter planes at the first opportunity.
So the German tanks rushed towards the Soviet tank group as fast as possible with the sound of "rumbling" motors, and broke in from the rear.
The T34 tank didn't even notice this until the infantryman lying behind the tank shouted on the phone: "Germans, German tanks, they are behind us!"
The T34 tank group was suddenly in chaos, and they hurriedly turned back to deal with the enemies behind them.
But this doesn't seem to be a good choice, because in front of them is Tver.
The German army had hidden anti-tank guns in buildings and was waiting for this moment.
As a result, the T34s that were turning around were destroyed by the enemy...there were shells everywhere, in front, behind, and even cannons from German aircraft in the sky.
T34 had no choice but to run around clumsily on the ice like a headless fly.