As Shulka said, the first thing the Soviet army did was to blow up the houses scattered across the river.
This is not difficult for the Soviet army. Even if the Soviet infantry and artillery coordination is not good and the quality of artillery observers is insufficient, the house cannot move without legs. Then there is the problem of how many shells and bombs to use.
However, Rokossovsky felt that the attack was too slow and sent planes for bombing.
Regarding this, Katukov couldn't help but asked doubtfully: "Don't we have three days?"
"The situation has changed, Comrade Katukov!" Rokossovsky said: "The enemy is retreating to Tver in a planned way!"
"Didn't their leader not allow them to retreat?" Katukov asked doubtfully.
This is no secret to the Soviet army. Before this, some German troops could not endure the severe cold and surrendered to the Soviet army. There were also prisoners captured by the Soviet army. Their confessions were that Hitler did not allow the German army to retreat.
"We think so too!" Rokossovsky replied: "That's why the Supreme Command thought it had three days to attack Tver, but now it seems that this is not the case! In short, the sooner we capture Tver, the better!
"
"Yes, Comrade Rokossovsky!" replied Katukov.
In fact, this was a secret crossing by the German generals... As the saying goes, "There are policies above and countermeasures below." Although Hitler strictly ordered the troops not to take a step back, the generals fighting on the front line knew that if they were not allowed to take a step back, the German army would be doomed.
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As a result, the German generals on the front line, including the commander of the Fourth Army, Kubiler, were taking advantage of the Soviet attack to make a hidden retreat.
To put it simply, it means exaggerating the Soviet attack at a certain location in the battle report.
For example, in Tver, if we talk about offensive pressure, there is actually only one tank brigade, but Kubil reported: "There is at least one mechanized army. It is obvious that the enemy wants to break through Tver and cut off our army's retreat!"
"Do we still have reserves?" Hitler asked.
"Yes, there is still an armored regiment!" Kubiler replied: "But the Russians are on an all-out attack, and committing the reserves too early will make our army very passive!"
"Then, let the troops from other directions come for reinforcements!"
"Yes, Your Majesty the Head of State!" Kubil replied.
Therefore, what is called reinforcements is actually a retreat, because the fact is that the troops on the front line have been moved back.
This is actually a command style of the German generals, especially the generals of the Wehrmacht... quite a few of them don't actually listen to Hitler and prefer to command the battle according to their own ideas, so Hitler doesn't trust the Wehrmacht too much.
Makes sense.
Many people in modern times believe that after the German army was defeated in the Battle of Moscow, it was because of Hitler's order "not to take a step back" that the German army did not collapse across the board.
The truth is exactly the opposite.
Hitler's order "not to take a step back" was issued before the Soviet army began to counterattack.
What really allowed the Germans to hold on to their defenses...
On the one hand, the German generals were fighting and retreating, and instead of retreating, they were actually gradually retreating.
On the other hand, the Soviet army suffered heavy losses in the battle to defend Moscow and was unable to succeed.
If we were to follow Hitler's command of "not taking a step back," the result would be total collapse.
Of course, Rokossovsky and others did not know this.
This kind of "reinforcement" from the German army put the Soviet army under pressure, so it accelerated its attack on Tver.
One after another, planes swooped down from the sky and bombed the German positions across the river bed.
However, what is disappointing is that the aerial bombs were dropped one after another but not many of them hit the target... Soviet pilots suffered heavy casualties in previous battles. Many of the pilots who participated in the battle were urgently transferred from aviation schools.
New recruits with no actual combat experience or even dropping bombs.
It should be said that the situation at this time was not bad, because as the war progressed, even these recruits who had received flight training in aviation schools were almost lost, so they were sent to the air after hurriedly training for a few months.
Join the war.
But the Soviets were incredible in this way. Even so, their air force was able to recover, and there were even many ace pilots among them.
However, at least these ace pilots have not appeared yet.
In the end, Rokossovsky gritted his teeth and used rocket launchers to blow up the houses on the other side of the river. Although the Soviet army had turned to counterattack at this time, supplies were still in short supply. This was one of the reasons why the German army did not collapse.
one.
Then, following Katukov's order, the tanks of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade set off.
Thirty "Matildas" drove in front, and Soviet soldiers followed behind.
Although the "Matilda" tank has been criticized for various shortcomings, it still has some power when it launches a group attack on the battlefield under the "rumbling" sound of its motor and tracks.
Not long after it was fired, the German artillery fire started to block the fire...but only a few shells could hit the Soviet camp.
The reason is that the Soviet Army took the initiative in the air at this time, to be precise, at this specific location near Moscow, and the Soviet Air Force still had the upper hand in extremely cold conditions.
As a result, the Soviet army could use its air force to suppress German artillery fire.
Almost at the moment the Germans opened fire, dozens of fighter jets and bombers hovering in the sky dived toward the enemy's artillery positions... Their opening fire meant their positions were exposed, and what awaited them next was an indiscriminate bombardment.
The tanks continued to advance, and the German troops emerged from the defense line on the other side and set up various weapons.
Then, when the Soviet troops moved up the river (the width of the river was about three hundred meters), the German troops opened fire with an order.
The intensive gunshots and artillery sounds sounded like exploding beans.
Mortars, anti-tank guns, machine guns...the whole battlefield was filled with snow powder, and many ice cubes were blown away, turning into sharp shrapnel that hurt people everywhere.
Shulka received a scratch on his face.
He didn't feel anything at all at that time, because the blood was quickly frozen, and he only felt pain after the battle.
However, the thickly armored "Matilda" tank lived up to expectations. Bullets and artillery shells hit its front armor with a "clang" sound, but it continued to move forward despite the hail of bullets.
There were only two of them, and I don’t know whether they stopped due to malfunction or broken tracks.
Shulka raised his rifle and looked forward.
The height difference of the river bank in front is about 1.5 meters. Under the action of ice and snow, it has become an insurmountable obstacle for tanks.
Without rocket launchers, we really don't know how to fight this battle unless the engineers can pave the way for the tanks under the enemy's guns and grenades.