How many hours did the 1st Guards Tank Brigade rest?
To be exact, I rested for more than ten hours.
This is determined by the weather. As mentioned before, the night in Moscow lasts for 15 hours at this time.
On the other hand, the Soviet air force and artillery had the upper hand at this specific moment, so it was certainly more advantageous to choose to fight during the day.
However, the Soviet army did not wait until dawn before launching the attack. They started preparing for battle at seven in the morning.
First of all, this is because British and American tanks are also not resistant to freezing, and they require at least half an hour to prepare.
If it were the German army, just using fire to thaw the tanks would have revealed their offensive intentions.
But the Soviet army had been lighting fires all the time, so there wouldn't be any problems.
Secondly, launching an attack at night is a strategic surprise.
The German army thought that the Soviet army would not attack at night, so the Soviet army attacked at night, and the route of the attack was unexpected... the river.
As the saying goes, "water flows to lower places and people move to higher places." The river channel is always a place with lower terrain.
Tactically speaking, it is not actually a very good offensive line, it can even be said to be very poor.
The reason is that its ice surface can easily cause tank tracks to slip, and its low terrain gives the German troops on both sides a commanding advantage, etc.
But sometimes, the most impossible things are possible, because the enemy often thinks so too.
The time enters eight o'clock in the morning.
The sky was still dark, and there was still an hour before dawn. Except for the "rustling" sound of snowflakes slowly falling in the air, there was no sound at all.
Suddenly, three red flares rose into the air.
Then fierce artillery fire broke out, mixed with the terrifying "whooshing" sound of rockets.
The artillery fire was concentrated on the line of contact between the Soviet and German armies... This line of contact was very obvious. On the German side, most of the houses and buildings were intact, while on the Soviet side they were basically in ruins.
Such bombings would send the wrong message to the Germans: the Soviets would attack again from the line of contact.
but it is not the truth.
At the moment when the gunfire sounded, the 1st Infantry Battalion advanced along the river under the cover of the 1st Tank Battalion...but at this time it was a bit unclear whether the infantry was covering the tanks or the tanks were covering the infantry.
The German army had no fortifications in the middle of the river.
This is not because fortifications cannot be built in rivers. In winter, when the temperature is extremely low, fortifications can be built anywhere. Both the enemy and ourselves can use rubble and rubble and pour melted water to build solid fortifications.
In an emergency, you can even construct a trench by simply digging down the snow.
The problem is that there is no grass on the river, there are no buildings and no trees. The construction of fortifications here is a target for the Soviet artillery.
So, the Germans put up barbed wire in the river, planted mines, and that was it.
The Germans believed that no one would attack from the river, which would be like walking into their encirclement.
But the Soviet army did just that.
The tank rumbled forward, and Shulka and his men followed closely behind the tank and pushed forward panting... Action in winter is not easy at all, with thick cotton clothes and heavy kicks that make people step deep and shallow.
What's worse is that you may get frostbite at any time without knowing it. By the time you find out, it's already too late.
This is no joke, because people who are frozen usually lose consciousness or lose partial consciousness. There are many Soviet soldiers who had to have their limbs amputated because of this.
Several mine-sweeping tanks drove ahead. They smoothly rolled the barbed wire fences and roadblocks into the snow and flattened them. Then they rushed into the minefield and crushed the mines with a "bang bang" sound.
Because of the sound of artillery and the cover of darkness, the Germans had no idea about this.
It wasn't until the sound of artillery gradually stopped fifteen minutes later that the movement here attracted the attention of the Germans.
But by this time it was too late, the Soviet army had successfully passed through the minefield and entered a safe zone.
Several illumination bombs rose into the air and illuminated the river, exposing the Soviet tank troops to the sight of the Germans.
Intensive gunfire soon started, and the German troops used various weapons to shoot at the Soviet troops in the middle of the river.
But this was of no avail... The Germans deployed anti-tank guns along the contact line, and quite a few of them were inside buildings and could not be mobilized quickly.
On the other hand, the Soviet army divided into two groups and advanced along the river bank.
There is usually a certain height difference between the river bank and the river channel. This height difference happens to be a blind spot for firepower and serves as a bunker for the Soviet troops.
Of course, if the German army rushed up directly, it could still pose a threat to the Soviet army.
The German army did exactly this. In desperation, they emerged from the building in groups and attacked the Soviet army... But this was in vain. They were quickly beaten by the 1st Guards Tank Brigade with tanks, machine guns and rocket launchers.
He beat him back hard.
The information soon reached Kubilana.
Kubil was surprised at first because he did not expect the enemy to be so bold and break through along the river.
But after looking at the map for a while, Kubile felt relaxed.
"General, organize an attack immediately!" the adjutant said to Kubil: "If it's too late, it will be too late. They may hit the Tverskaya Bridge after dawn, which is our railway!"
"No, Felix!" Kubile said: "This may be the enemy's strategy to attack in the east and attack in the west! Once we transfer our troops to the Tver River, they will launch a fierce attack from the contact line!"
The adjutant stopped talking after hearing this, because this was indeed possible.
"Calm down, Felix!" Kubiler continued: "The enemy's intentions are unknown now, we should observe for a longer time before making a decision!"
"Yes, General!"
What the adjutant didn't know was that Kubile was actually thinking of another plan.
In fact, the strategic intention of the Soviet army is very obvious. The attack along the river is to cut off the German railways and roads on the Tver River.
Kubiler understood this the moment he heard the information and looked at the map.
But Kubil pretended not to know and made a wrong decision...
However, this may not be said to be a wrong decision, at least for Kubiler.
What will happen if the enemy cuts off the transportation line?
This had little impact on the German Fourth Army Group stationed in Tver, because the main force of the Fourth Army Group was on the west bank of the Tver River.
Its impact is that the supplies and even the retreat route from Tevi Mirror to the Fourth Tank Army will be cut off.
To be precise, it is the main retreat.
So, what happened next was the collapse of the Fourth Tank Army and the 3rd Armored Group in the north.
This was not what Kubile wanted to see. Kubile just didn't want to push back the intersecting Soviet army so early.
He hoped that everyone would see this threat, and then... the head of state would have to make the decision to retreat.