USSR 1941

"Why didn't they retreat?" Shulka asked. "Haven't they realized that this counterattack was wrong?"

The instructor spread his hands and replied: "At least not so far, we have been winning!"

Shulka choked at the words.

What the instructor said was indeed that the 16th Army regained Volokolamsk and hit Tver, and then severely taught the German army in the Volokolamsk area... This series is a series of victories.

In other words, Katukov took the risk of disobeying orders to set up an ambush in Volokolamsk and defeated the German army, and this credit instantly went to the Supreme Command.

"At least, they should also know that this approach is dangerous!" Shulka said: "After the troops are used for counter-offensive, we no longer have a reserve team, but the enemy will not easily relax their attack on Volokolamsk!"

"Of course!" the instructor replied: "But you have held it, and they believe you can continue to hold it!"

It's ironic, in other words, that people like Shulka have to fail for them to understand how serious the problem is.

Sure enough, before the discussion between Shulka and the instructor was over, the German army launched an offensive.

Although Shulka and the others were on the second line, the roar of shells in front of them and the howling and dive-bombing of fighter planes were right in front of them. From time to time, a few fighter planes even swooped down to shoot at them.

Regarding the direction of continuing the offensive, there are actually differences within the German army.

Kruger, the commander of the Fourth Army, believed that Volokolamsk should be bypassed. This is the most commonly used tactic of the German army...when it encounters a hard nail, it bypasses and surrounds from the rear, while the Soviet army often fails due to lack of mobility or Is not flexible enough to be surrounded again and again.

But this time von Bock denied this approach.

"We can't go around!" Von Bock said to Kruger on the phone: "Because our main enemy is the 4th Tank Brigade, those T34s... Even if we succeed in going around, we will still end up with this brigade. Troops face to face. So, we have to move forward!"

From this point of view, von Bock was right.

Although the counterattack strategy of the Soviet Supreme Command was wrong, if one day the German army broke through the Soviet army's second line of defense somewhere and pointed at Moscow, then the Soviet Supreme Command would not be so stupid as to still let the fourth tank brigade Settled in Volokolamsk and insisted on attacking Tver.

They will use all means, such as the mobility of trains or tanks themselves, to fill in the gaps broken by the Germans.

Therefore, one day the German army will face the powerful T34 tanks of the Fourth Tank Brigade.

In other words, it doesn't make much sense for the Germans to bypass Volokolamsk. It is just a waste of precious gasoline to start a decisive battle with the Fourth Tank Brigade in another place.

During the conversation with Kruger, von Bock also said very seriously: "We all think that the last barrier of the Russians is the Mozhaisky line of defense, and that our greatest difficulties are mud and cold... I don't think so , the last barrier and the biggest difficulty is the fourth tank brigade, as long as this unit is eliminated, our road to Moscow will be unimpeded!"

"But how should we deal with those T34s?" Kruger asked: "Our tanks and anti-tank guns simply cannot penetrate them!"

"That's something you need to consider!" Von Bock hung up the phone after finishing speaking.

It's not that von Bock is evading the problem, but that he thinks such a tactical problem should be considered by them.

So the remnants of the 2nd Armored Division of the German Army, as well as the 5th Armored Division and the 35th Infantry Division that arrived later launched a fierce attack on the defense line of the Su 316th Division.

Shulka carefully observed the German fighter planes, and found that in addition to swooping and bombing, they mostly hovered in the sky.

Obviously, they were searching for the 4th Soviet Tank Brigade.

Shulka believes that this is the German tactic... using fighter planes to deal with the 4th Tank Brigade or to block the 4th Tank Brigade from the front line.

Looking at the sky again, as the temperature dropped, the rain had completely stopped, and all that would fall were snowflakes, which had even begun to deposit on the ground, and even sunlight was seen in the sky.

The drop in temperature was a good thing for the Soviets, but it was also a bad thing, because it increased visibility exponentially, so the German air power began to play its role again.

"This is a big problem!" The instructor also realized this, and said, "Our tanks may have to stay in the bunker and can't move!"

"Comrade Shulka!" At this moment, a signal soldier called to Shulka who was hiding in the bunker: "Comrade Major wants you to go to the headquarters!"

Shulka responded, handed over the affairs of the position to Pukarev, and then followed the signal soldier to the regiment headquarters.

Shulka couldn't help being stunned when he arrived at the headquarters. A large number of officers were crowded in the narrow space in the basement of the regiment headquarters. Among them was Major Zakhakovic, the commander of the 4th Tank Regiment whom Shulka knew. , and several other officers who were unknown, including two major generals.

Shulka stepped forward and saluted.

Major Gavrilov nodded, and then introduced: "This is Comrade Shulka!"

A major general stepped forward and shook hands with Shulka enthusiastically, saying: "Nice to meet you, Comrade Shulka, I am Rokossovsky, Commander of the 16th Army!"

Rokossovsky?

Shulka couldn't help being taken aback when he heard the words... Another legendary figure, although he is still a major general at this time, he will soon become a man of the same name as Zhukov.

"This is Major General Panfilov, commander of the 316th Division!"

"Nice to meet you, Comrade Shulka!" Major General Panfilov also shook hands with Shulka very politely.

It was obvious that this was a regimental meeting, but they seemed to have Shulka on purpose.

Sure enough, Rokossovsky went on to say: "We've heard a lot about you, Comrade Shulka!"

He led Shulka to the front of the map and said: "Not to mention anything else, the way of ambushing the Fourth Tank Brigade in Volokolamsk surprised all of us!"

"Especially the Germans!" said Panfilov.

The officers at the headquarters all laughed at the same time.

"Yes, especially the Germans!" Rokossovsky said. "It was a beautiful victory. At that time I even thought that the enemy would break through Volokolamsk. I didn't expect you to give them a hard attack." one strike!"

At this moment, Shulka really wanted to say... We should withdraw Tver's troops, but in the end he held back his words.

Because he knew it was meaningless to say this, they couldn't make this decision.

"Now!" continued Rokossovsky, "we seem to be in trouble!"