USSR 1941

The battle situation was just as Lieutenant General Kubiler estimated. The artillery and air force of the Soviet army bombarded Tver indiscriminately, followed by tanks and infantry.

Kubiler first contacted the fighter plane, and when he was sure that the fighter plane could provide reinforcements to the front line, he gave the order to Major General von Funke, who was in charge of the front line command: "Attack!"

"Attack!" Major General Von Funke immediately conveyed the order.

The German tanks came out of the bunker one by one... The low temperature in winter is also good. It is very convenient for the tank to hide. It is almost only necessary to dig down the snow and spread a layer of canvas on it. The snowflakes are very fast. All traces will be covered up.

"Forward!" Von Funke said in the walkie-talkie: "The enemy tanks are T34, and the initial estimate is 70! This is our chance, because they are attacking Tver, that is, they will expose their back armor to you. ...The time has come to wash away the shame, kill them!"

"Get rid of them!"

...

The German tank soldiers roared in the tank.

Colonel Lavlentin on the other side didn't even realize this at this time. The sound of the tanks was covered by the artillery fire and the bombing of the planes, but more importantly, all of Lavlenkin's attention was focused on Tver.

"The enemy is very cunning!" Colonel Lavlentin said to the staff while watching the battle situation on the front line through the binoculars: "They use the river channel for defense, and it is difficult for our tanks to attack!"

As mentioned before, Tver is the confluence of the Tvercha and Volga rivers.

The last time Tver was captured by the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, several bridges were blown up during the retreat.

This forced the German army to build several pontoon bridges on the Volga River to ensure transportation.

But of course, now there is no need to rely on pontoon bridges to attack, the river has been frozen and tanks can drive directly across. (Note: The freezing period of the Volga River is from the end of November to April of the following year)

Lavlenkin said the enemy was cunning because the German army used the ice of the river. They piled up sandbags and stones on the river bank and poured water on it. The water quickly became a wall with these roadblocks. , this wall made it difficult for tanks on the ice of the river to cross.

Occasionally, a few tanks barely passed by, but because the chassis was tilted high, they were exposed to the enemy's anti-tank guns...then they were blown into a ball of fire with a "boom".

"We should let the artillery fire blow up this ice wall!" Colonel Lavlenkin turned around and ordered to the staff: "Tell the artillery the coordinates!"

"Comrade Colonel!" the staff officer said with some concern: "The Germans can build this ice wall,

That means they know we're going to attack Tver..."

"So what!" said Colonel Lavlentin. "You think this wall can stop us? It's wishful thinking!"

"No, Comrade Colonel!" The staff officer replied: "I'm afraid they have other preparations!"

"You're thinking too much, Comrade Fyodor!" Colonel Lavlentin said. "Today is their last day. They can only escape..."

Before the words fell, a shell roared from behind and then exploded nearby.

Colonel Lavlentin cursed, thinking that one of his own men had almost hit him by mistake.

Looking back, I found that this is not the case... A group of German tanks that were also painted white in the rear appeared in the sight of Colonel Lavlentin, and the black cross on the turret looked very abrupt in the sunlight.

Colonel Lavlenkin was stunned for a moment, and then immediately ordered: "Germans, they are behind us! Turn around and fight!"

"Planes! Let the planes block them! Can't they see?"

"Why didn't they warn us?"

...

Pilots can't actually see it.

On the one hand, the reason is that their mission is to bomb Tver, and on the other hand, the German tanks are painted white and drive to Tver... Looking down from the air, these whites are against the background of snow, so all you can see is the tanks discharging Exhaust fumes and some vague shadows of tanks.

It is even difficult for the pilots to distinguish the model of the tank.

So, they took it for granted that it was the follow-up troops of the Soviet army and didn't pay much attention to it.

On the other hand, the location of the German ambush was only ten minutes away from the Soviet army, and the Soviet pilots had no time to react in such a short time.

But in fact, even if the Soviet pilots realized this, it would not be of much use.

Because at this time, a dozen German fighter planes suddenly swooped down from the clouds, and with the screeching sound of motors, bullets from machine guns shot straight at the Soviet fighter planes, and several Soviet fighter planes were beaten to the ground on the spot. ground.

"Artillery, let the artillery stop them..." Colonel Lavlentin shouted.

He needs time to pull the attacking tanks back to fight, it only takes a few minutes, whether it is artillery or air force, as long as the German tanks are blocked for a few minutes... Then Lavlenky can organize the defense and rely on the excellent performance of the T34 to block the German attack .

However, the Soviet army is not without artillery, and its artillery shells also have a certain reserve because of long-term preparations.

The problem lies in the Soviet army's backward communication equipment and helpless coordination capabilities.

For example, at this time the artillery of the Soviet army has been brought under the unified command of the group army... This is Shulka's suggestion to Zhukov. It is a helpless choice. Concentrate artillery.

The result of this is that when artillery support is needed, there is a turning process: first, the headquarters of the group army must be contacted, and the group army will then command the artillery to fight.

And in such an urgent situation like the one before... it can be said that the coordinates are transmitted to the artillery and it is already invalid.

As it is now, the shells are actually hitting the rear of the German tank group.

As for the guidance of aerial reconnaissance planes, it is even more impossible... Several Soviet reconnaissance planes were shot down or entangled by German fighter planes in the first place.

So the German tanks rushed to the Soviet tank group at the fastest speed with the sound of "rumbling" motors, breaking in from the rear.

And the T34 tank didn't even notice this until the following infantry lying behind the tank shouted on the phone: "Germans, German tanks, they are behind us!"

The T34 tank group was in chaos in an instant, and they hurriedly turned around to deal with the enemies behind them.

But that didn't seem like a good choice either, because in front of them was Tver.

The German army has hidden anti-tank guns in the building and is waiting for this moment.

As a result, the T34s that were turning around were destroyed by the enemy... There were shells everywhere, the front, the back, and even the cannons of the German planes in the sky.

There was no way for T34 to avoid it, so it could only clumsily scurry around on the ice like a headless chicken.