USSR 1941

The entire plan of the Soviet army is divided into three steps.

The first is the front-line infantry, and an order will let them understand the direction of the battle in the future.

The daytime tasks are somewhat similar to Kyiv's "rolling barrel defense". The troops are divided into several parts, and then a line of defense is separated by a few kilometers. It is not difficult to say that it takes a few hours for the German armored division to advance a few kilometers in muddy and minefields and then organize an attack, and then a symbolic defense period will come.

The task at night is relatively heavy, that is, to recapture the enemy's position, and it is carried out with almost no rest... This is caused by the insufficient strength of the Soviet army.

As mentioned before, because the Soviet army is in passive defense and the reserve forces are used for counter-offensive, although the total force is not less than the German army, in some areas there are always situations where the Soviet army is less than the German army.

For example, the 316th Division has more than 8,000 troops at this time, and the total strength of the 5,000-strong Tank Fourth Brigade is only 13,000.

However, the German army has two armored divisions and an infantry division with nearly 30,000 people. This is not counting the advantages of artillery and air force.

This makes the schedule of the 316th Division very tight. During the day, it retreats layer by layer, and after a few hours of rest, it will immediately launch a counterattack, and the counterattack is still only allowed to win but not to lose...Once the counterattack fails to reach the designated area, it means that the next day The German army will push forward one step, that is, it will be closer to Moscow, and more seriously, it may threaten the flanks of the friendly forces on both wings.

This was followed by preparations for the 4th Tank Brigade.

Needless to say about their preparations, they withdrew to twelve kilometers that night for night combat training, flares, tracers, communications, etc.

One of the more troublesome things is communication.

When the visibility is high during the day, waving the signal flag can easily be seen by the infantry behind the tank. At night, it is a big challenge to conduct a unified command, and it is even difficult for the infantry to communicate with the tank... Theoretically speaking, night combat is very important for the tank. It is more advantageous for the German army, whose communication equipment is more advanced and equipped with every tank.

However, this point was finally solved by supplementing the signal lights. The infantry and the following infantry used flashlights covered with black cloth to communicate with each other, expressing different meanings with bright and dark or circled.

The most important thing is actually engineers.

Engineers had a lot more to do...laying mines, wire, and barricades, and blowing up bridges, which had to be repaired at night so that the Soviets could counterattack at night.

In addition, several "secret passages" had to be built, that is, roads that looked muddy on the surface but actually tanks could pass through.

Each of these is not a small project that requires a lot of manpower, but this is not a problem for the Soviet army, because the Soviet army has many civilians serving as engineers on the front line.

Looking at the civilians who were tensely constructing fortifications on the battlefield, Shulka was a little worried... I don't know if they are one of them?

By "they" I mean Shulka's family, whom Shulka knew were fortified in the area.

"Don't worry!" The instructor patted Shulka on the shoulder and said, "I have already transferred them to Moscow, I mean your parents!"

Shulka looked at the instructor in doubt: "How do you know them?"

"Is there anything else I don't know?" the instructor asked back.

So Shulka understood that someone made a small report to the instructor... Sometimes the content of the small report is not completely bad. A "message".

"Thank you, comrade instructor!" Shulka said to the instructor.

"You don't have to thank me!" the instructor replied: "We need to let the heroes fight at the front line with peace of mind, and besides...they can also be our publicity targets!"

"Propaganda target?"

"Yes!" The instructor nodded: "A family of heroes, the whole family is fighting on the front line, this is a good example for others!"

Shulka couldn't help but smiled bitterly. He didn't want this, but after thinking about it, he felt that this was indeed a good thing. At least it could keep them away from the battlefield, so he stopped talking.

The next day, it was a rare good weather, the sun just happened to be fresh and the air was fresh.

Waking up early in the morning, Colonel Jonas, the commander of the German 5th Armored Division, stood next to a "No. 3" tank in the vague snowflakes with a telescope and watched the movement in the direction of the Soviet army.

"Get ready to attack!" Colonel Jonas coldly ordered to the adjutant beside him.

"Yes!" The adjutant then communicated the order over the radio.

As a result, fires were lit under the German tanks... The tanks designed by the Germans did not consider fighting in severe cold conditions from the beginning of the design. (Note: During World War II, gasoline was mostly not added with antifreeze, and it was easy to freeze)

After observing for a while, Colonel Jonas put down the binoculars, his blue eyes showed some doubts: "Their strength seems to be less than before!"

"Perhaps they retreated!" said the adjutant, "or escaped!"

Colonel Jonas shook his head and replied: "This is only a hundred kilometers away from Moscow, and it is also the last line of defense. They have nowhere to escape!"

After a pause, Colonel Jonas said, "I think they are using some kind of tactic, although I don't know what it is!"

"Tactics?"

"Yes!" Colonel Jonas put away his binoculars, looked at the map carefully for a while, and then suddenly understood something: "The reservoir, the Istria reservoir, they may retreat there for defense, even...if necessary You can also blow it up!"

"Blow up the reservoir? Would the Russians do that?" The adjutant couldn't believe it, after all, it would flood the downstream.

"If we threatened Moscow, do you think they wouldn't do that?" Colonel Jonas asked.

The answer is yes, the Russians sacrificed everything to defend Moscow.

"We should warn the other troops!" Colonel Jonas said, "Let them beware of this, and... we should try to capture the reservoir before they blow it up, otherwise we will have to go north and continue to advance towards Moscow! "

In a way, Colonel Jonas was right to be concerned.

To be precise, what Colonel Jonas is worried about has happened in history, that is, Rokossovsky's defensive measures.

However, what Colonel Jonas did not expect was that the Soviet army had adopted another defensive tactic at this time.

Compared with blowing up the reservoir, this defensive tactic is what he needs to worry about.