Red Moscow

At ten o'clock in the evening, on the German position, Colonel Pickler, the head of the 25th Armored Regiment, stood on the body of a defeated Leopard tank, waving his arms and yelling at his subordinates in a low voice: " Keep quiet and move fast!"

The 25th Armored Regiment lost almost all its tanks and armored vehicles during daytime battles, and now there are only more than 300 people left, most of whom are non-combatants. After receiving the retreat order from the division headquarters, Pickler arranged for his subordinates to start retreating at the specified time, and the destination was Königsberg.

When retreating in night battles, the Russians on the opposite side cannot be alarmed, lest the troops be followed by them during the retreat. However, Pickler believes that with his own ability, he will be able to successfully bring the remaining troops of the 25th Panzer Regiment to Königsberg. The superior had promised him that as long as the formation of the troops could return to Königsberg smoothly, he would be supplemented in a short time to re-form an armored regiment equipped with Tiger and Panther tanks.

In the process of urging the troops to retreat, he couldn't help but glanced at the direction of the Soviet army's position, gnashing his teeth and thinking, his troops were originally ordered to ambush Sokov's 48th Army, but somehow leaked the news, just dawn , was bombed indiscriminately by Soviet aircraft. Many Tiger tanks that frightened the Soviet army were blasted into piles of burning scrap iron by Soviet aerial bombs without firing a single shot.

The chief of staff climbed onto the tank and whispered to Pickler: "Mr. Colonel, our troops are almost withdrawn. There is still a complete Panzer IV tank, and the tank crews are staying in it and are unwilling to leave, saying that they would rather blow it up." Nor for the Russians."

"Damn it." Hearing what the chief of staff said, Pickler cursed in a low voice and asked, "Where are they, take me there!"

The chief of staff jumped out of the tank first, and then reached out to support Pickler who got off the tank. After the opponent stood firm on the ground, he continued: "It's right in front, about 80 meters away from here."

Pickler followed the chief of staff and asked in a low voice: "Didn't I tell you to discard all technical equipment and quietly retreat towards Königsberg? Why are there still people who are reluctant to abandon this damn tank? "

The chief of staff smiled bitterly and said: "Mr. Colonel, I have conveyed your order to everyone, but there are always some people who are reluctant to give up their technical standards."

Soon, the two came to the No. 4 tank. The chief of staff climbed forward first, then bent down and pulled Pickler up. The chief of staff knocked hard on the top cover of the turret a few times with his hand, the closed hatch opened, and a head poked out from inside. After seeing the person clearly, he said: "Your Excellency, as I have already said, any I won't give up my tank any time, so stop trying to persuade me."

"What's your name?" Pickler's voice sounded next to him: "What rank is it?"

"Huber!" The tank soldier saw clearly that the person who asked him the question was Colonel Pickler, the commander of the regiment, and replied respectfully: "I am the commander of the No. 4 tank, with the rank of captain."

"Captain Huber." Pickler asked with a straight face, "Why didn't you obey my order and discard the tank?"

"Your Excellency, Regiment Commander." Huber said aggrievedly, "After the air raid in the morning, we have only one tank left in our battalion, and we are reluctant to leave it behind."

"Don't you know that when we move at night, if we have tanks moving with us, the loud roar of the engines will give us away?"

"But I am not reconciled to throwing the tank to the Germans like this." Huber said with a stiff neck: "Our entire crew has decided that we will live and die with this tank."

"Captain Huber, if your actions affect the retreat of the entire army, can you bear this responsibility?" Pickler said to Huber earnestly: "Although we discarded this tank today , but when we get to Königsberg, the higher-ups will replenish us with new tanks. Maybe you won’t be driving this old-fashioned Panzer IV tank, but a Panther tank with better performance, or even a Tiger tank.”

"Your Excellency, Commander, you don't know something." Seeing that Pickler had repeatedly persuaded him to abandon the tank, Huber said a little unconvinced: "When this tank was under my command, my unit participated in the Kharkov In the battle, the Russians who attacked the city were beaten to the ground. In one battle, my tank destroyed four Russian tanks, five armored vehicles, and a dozen trucks, and also wiped out hundreds of infantrymen.”

"The result is not bad." It was the first time Pickler heard that his subordinates had such brilliant results. He asked quickly, "How did your superior reward you later?"

Hearing Pickler's question, Huber said proudly: "I was only a sergeant at the time. Because of the achievements on the battlefield, I was promoted to second lieutenant by my superiors and won an Iron Cross."

"It's amazing, it's really amazing." Pickler also felt proud of the achievements of his subordinates, but he did not forget the mission of coming here: "But even so, Captain, you can't defy My order, stay here and don't go."

"Your Excellency, Commander, I have thought about it carefully." Huber replied, "Even if the troops want to retreat, there must be people behind to cover them. What if the Russians find out that we are retreating and catch up, there must always be someone." Let's stop them. I think our tank team is capable of such a task, please allow us to stay, Commander."

The Chief of Staff had tried to persuade him several times here, but this Huber just refused to give up, anyway, he refused to give up his tank. The chief of staff was also dissatisfied with Huber when he repeatedly hit a wall. He took the opportunity to say to Pickler: "Mr. Colonel, since they are willing to stay for cover, let them stay."

Pickler still wanted to command the remnants of the 25th Armored Regiment to retreat, so he naturally wouldn't be distracted by a Panzer IV unit that didn't want to leave, so he nodded and agreed to the Chief of Staff's proposal, and then told Huber Said: "Alright then, Captain Huber, since you are willing to stay, I will leave it to you to cover the retreat of the troops."

When the two left the tank, Pickler sighed softly and said, "It's a pity that such an excellent tank soldier died in vain. If they can follow us back to Königsberg, maybe they can be wiped out on the battlefield." More Russians."

"This is something that can't be helped." The chief of staff said gloatingly, "You go out to persuade him yourself, but he refuses to give in. Even if he dies at the hands of the Russians, there is nothing to regret."

"Let's go." Pickler urged, "Let's go before the Russians find out about our actions."

When he came to the barrel cart parked on the side of the road, Pickler looked back at the Soviet position in the distance again, thinking that this army had caused huge casualties to him, and he didn't know if there would be a chance for revenge in the future. But at this moment, he suddenly discovered that there were flashes of light, large and small, on the Soviet army's position where there was no movement in the distance.

"No, it's shelling! Lie down!" Pickler immediately fell to the ground with his head in his hands after shouting.

The flash is in the front, and the roar of the artillery is behind. No one knows when the Soviet army deployed artillery on the position, and used direct-point shooting to bombard the position where the retreating troops gathered. Before the Chief of Staff recovered his senses, a shell landed beside him and exploded. Two pieces of shrapnel flying horizontally hit his vitals, allowing him to receive his lunch in an instant.

In the dense sound of gunfire, one after another of screams can be vaguely heard; with the help of the illumination of the fire, one can see the stumped limbs and broken arms flying high. The retreating team became confused, and everyone was scurrying around like headless chickens, hoping to have good luck dodging the shells. But in today's intensive artillery fire, most people's thoughts are an extravagant hope, and they fell in pieces under the artillery fire.

Pickler, who was the first to lie down, was miraculously uninjured. He got up from the ground and ran from one place to another. Did not bring him the slightest harm. But he was in a mess at the moment, his mind went blank, and he kept thinking: "It's over, it's over! My 25th Armored Regiment is completely over."

After the shelling stopped, the Soviet position regained calm.

Pickler, who got up from the ground, stared blankly at the Soviet positions that were still roaring with artillery fire not long ago. He couldn't understand why the Russians on the opposite side didn't attack. They were waiting. What?

On the positions of the 48th Army, thousands of commanders and fighters squatted in the trenches, only waiting for an order from their superiors, and then launched an attack on the German positions that had just been shelled not long ago. But what surprised them was that the order to attack was delayed.

The fact that the troops have not launched an attack on the German army for a long time is naturally Suokov's intention. Through Sidolin, he told the commanders of the troops participating in the war: "If you attack the German positions as soon as the shelling is over, you can indeed take some advantage. However, the troops will be greatly restricted in terms of command in night battles. As quick as the day, once the German army wakes up from the chaos, the war may fall into a stalemate.

So the best thing to do is to hold back temporarily after the shelling is over, so that the Germans have an illusion that the Soviet army is afraid of the disadvantages of night battles, so they dare not attack easily. This can force the Germans to make up their minds to stop resistance and choose to retreat quickly. After they start to retreat, the troops will attack again. No one of the Germans who are busy fleeing is willing to stay behind and cannot organize effective resistance. In this way, our army can achieve greater success at a very small cost during the pursuit results. "

The commanders who participated in the offensive mission had received Sokov's order. They knew that if the timing of the attack was not well grasped, the troops might suffer huge casualties and the battle would fall into a stalemate. Therefore, the best way is to When the Germans begin to retreat in an unorganized manner, chasing after them and attacking can achieve great results.

Ten minutes after the retreat of the German army began, three red flares suddenly rose in the sky, which was the signal for the attack.

The commanders at all levels, who had been waiting impatiently for a long time, drew out their pistols one after another, crawled out of the trenches on hands and feet, pointed in the direction of the enemy's retreat with their hands, and shouted loudly: "Comrades, brothers, go!"

The soldiers shouted loudly, climbed out of the trenches, and rushed to the German position without hesitation with their weapons in hand.

At this moment, on the German position, except for the tank that was lucky enough not to be blown up, there was no longer any force that could resist the attack.

Seeing the Soviet troops coming up like a tide, the gunner asked Huber tremblingly: "Mr. Captain, with so many Russians rushing towards us, should they be bombarded or machine-gunned?"

Hu Beier raised his hand and slapped the gunner on the back of the head, cursing: "You have a brain problem. If the Russians rush up, can we stop them with just one of our tanks?" He then ordered, " Turn off the lights and no one is allowed to fire without my order."

After a while, the inside of the tank became pitch black. The driver opened the front baffle, observed the approaching Soviet troops, turned to Huber and said, "Mr. Captain, the Russians are getting closer and closer to us." What shall we do?"

"Damn, what are you doing with the flap open?" Huber scolded angrily, "Close it quickly, and then we stay in the tank and don't make a sound, so the Russians will think it's a destroyed tank, There will be no opening of the hatch for inspection."

Just as Huber judged, the Soviet commanders and fighters who rushed up did not find any living Germans. Occasionally, some people saw the No. 4 tank with the help of firelight, but they all thought it was destroyed by artillery fire and did not go up at all. Before checking, go after the retreating enemy.

After the position became quiet again, Hu Beier got up and opened the top hatch on the turret, grasped the surroundings, and confirmed that the Soviet army who rushed up had left here, then patted the hatch with his hands, and lowered his head to order the drivers below Member: "Drive!"

Hearing Huber's order, the driver didn't dare to neglect, and quickly started the tank. Although the roar of the engine was extremely loud, it was covered by shouts and gunshots from a distance. If you were not near the position, you would not be able to find it at all.

"Mr. Captain!" the driver shouted at Hu Beier: "Where are we going?" According to the driver's thinking, the escape route had been cut off by the Russians, and even if the tank was activated, there was nowhere to go.

But Hu Beier had already planned in his heart, he lowered his head and shouted to the people below: "Follow the retreat of our regiment one after another!"

When the other people in the tank crew heard this, they were dumbfounded. Everyone is not blind. I saw with my own eyes that the Soviet troops flooded the position like a tide and were chasing the retreating friendly troops. If we drove along the retreat route, wouldn't that be sending sheep into the tiger's mouth?

Seeing that the driver did not move for a long time, Huber immediately retreated into the tank, and asked the driver sharply, "Why haven't you carried out my order?"

"Mr. Captain," the driver said in a panic, "there are Russians in front of us. If we drive up like this, we will die in vain?"

"The Russians are chasing the retreating friendly forces. We never dreamed that we would launch an attack from behind them." Huber said triumphantly, "Although we only have one tank, we can still cause them considerable casualties." After finishing speaking, he pushed his hand on the driver's shoulder, "What are you still doing in a daze, why don't you drive faster!"