Steel Soviet Union

In response to Marshal Bock's flat question, Guderian did not hesitate at all and blurted out in the same tone.

"Minus 50 degrees, Marshal, this is the temperature that was sent just half an hour ago."

Guderian's answer seemed somewhat expected, and Marshal Bock, whose tone was still very calm, finally gave Guderian a slightly helpless order.

"Suspend the offensive, Guderian, but don't retreat yet. This is something that can only be decided by the head of state."

December 5th was a decisive day for the Battle of Moscow and the entire Soviet Union.

On this day, all frontline German offensives, including Guderian's Second Armored Group, were stopped in a semicircular position 300 kilometers outside Moscow. The last hope of the German army to end the war in 1941 was completely shattered and turned into nothing. The Kremlin, standing on the snow-covered land, was like a star within reach, but in fact it was far away in the horizon.

Guderian, who was still determined, at least did not show too much pessimism, but this was not the case for other German generals at the same level as Guderian on the front line.

Field Marshal Kruger, who served as commander of the Fourth Army, said pessimistically to his chief of staff Blumentritt: "From now on, we will become sinners in German history, at least in the history of 1941." in this way."

In response to Field Marshal Kruger's pessimistic words, Fourth Army Chief of Staff Blumentritt pessimistically wrote in his diary summarizing today: "Our last hope of defeating Russia in 1941 has already passed at the last moment. Minutes were completely lost.”

In his memories of the Battle of Moscow many years later, Guderian once mentioned: "This is the first time in my life that I have had to make such a decision. There is nothing more difficult or worse than this. We are right The Moscow offensive has failed, all the sacrifices made by our heroic troops and the suffering endured in the snow and ice have been in vain, and we have suffered a most tragic defeat."

From November 16 to December 5, when the last strategic cluster-level general offensive against Moscow was launched, a total of 50,000 officers and soldiers of the German Army Group Center were frozen to death, killed in battle, and missing, and more than 700 tanks were lost in terms of technical weapons. , various types of light and heavy artillery and fighter aircraft are not counted.

The powerful offensive that Hitler boasted as the decisive victory over Typhoon had completely ceased on December 5. Correspondingly, General Zhukov, who was strategizing, was planning an attack that would make the German army never forget the Soviet winter of 1941. An unprecedented counterattack, and preparations have been made.

It was exactly as Marshal Bock guessed when he talked to Guderian on the phone.

When the rising sun just crossed the horizon in the early morning of December 6, the Soviet battle group-level field artillery unit, which had been prepared overnight, began to tilt its firepower crazily. Various types of heavy artillery, including the 203mm Stalin Hammer, made the German army feel With the most enthusiastic fire in the cold winter, the Soviet counterattack troops, chanting "Ula" slogans, burst out of the embankment like a flood.

Also in the early morning of December 6th, Malashenko, who had only received the order from Comrade Lao Zhu to launch a full-scale counterattack the night before, was not surprised. After all, it was almost the same based on the original historical time points. Recently, Malashenko, who had foreseen the coming counterattack from the decline of the German army, had already made preparations.

The remaining four infantry divisions that arrived overnight for reinforcements combined with Malashenko's headquarters and the three undermanned infantry divisions that had previously launched a counterattack, resulting in a total of seven infantry divisions plus a Guards heavy tank breakthrough regiment directly under the front army. , launched a fierce attack on the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment and the remnants of the 4th Armored Division, which still had no idea how far their opponents had been strengthened.

The formation in which seven Soviet divisional artillery regiments opened fire at once was like shaking the earth. The huge roar of the artillery was so loud that even Malashenko, who was making final preparations for departure in the tank, was shaken to the point of numbness. Malashenko, who had already expected that the shelling would be very violent, was still a little surprised by the current situation.

"I have never seen such a violent shelling, Comrade Commander, it can deafen people's ears."

Some of the ringing ears tried their best to hear clearly what Iushkin, whose mouth was opening and closing, was saying. Malashenko, who was checking the on-board radio station in his commander's position, immediately raised his tone and spoke in a high-pitched voice. Decibel's opening words spoke loudly to Iushkin.

"The firepower of seven divisional artillery regiments is nothing. You should go to the counterattack direction north of Moscow. The artillery battalion directly under the group army has been mobilized there. The 203mm B-4 howitzer can be used in large quantities and can be fired with one shot. Let Nazi fascists feel the greatness and enthusiasm of communism.”

It is necessary to use a relaxed and happy atmosphere to regulate psychological stress before going to war.

Hearing the lighthearted and joking words from Malashenko's mouth, the other three crew members who were a little nervous amidst the rumble of gunfire all smiled in unison.

A full seven divisional artillery regiments were ready to bombard with full firepower, but finally died down completely after an hour of continuous fire. Before the surviving German soldiers who staggered out of the shell-proof hole had time to stand firm, the roar of Ula, like a mountain roar and a tsunami, forcibly overwhelmed the cold wind in the early morning, followed by the roar of the diesel engine.

"Oh, damn! Russians, Russians everywhere! Stop them!"

The surviving soldiers of the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment on the front line were trying their best to resist the frantically rushing Soviet troops. Colonel Horning, the commander of the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment who had not even tightened his shirt buttons in the field command post behind, was holding a telescope in his hand and frowning. The twisted expression on the verge of twisting into a knot looked at the surging red wave in his field of vision.

"Hell! Who can tell me how these Russians managed to summon so many troops overnight!? Yesterday the Air Force reconnaissance report said that only three undermanned infantry divisions and at most one armored regiment were moving towards us. What now? What do you think? Look through the binoculars and see for yourself! Are there three unsatisfied infantry divisions written on those Russian helmets?”

In anger, he smashed the binoculars in his hands to pieces. Colonel Horning felt that he had been deceived by the Air Force and felt that his head was about to smoke.

None of the other officers and staff members in the command post who were bowing their heads and busy doing things dared to answer the words of Colonel Horning who was in a state of rage. At this time, whoever dares to go up and get into trouble is seeking death, even if the Russian bayonet has already been The same goes for pressing it on the tip of the nose.