The Rise of the Third Reich

With the support of the powerful German and French air forces, the German tanks were still sharp. They rolled over the trenches, destroyed the fortifications, and eliminated all Soviet fortresses, artillery and tank destroyers that dared to fire at them.

After the bloody battle during the day on May 1, a division-level cluster sent by the German 48th Armored Corps had already opened a gap of nearly 10 kilometers in depth and width on the front line of the Soviet 62nd Army, and even the small town of Vysokovsk was captured by the German infantry.

In the fierce battle of this day, although many Grizzlies and Tiger tanks were damaged in the battle, most of them were repairable and the losses were not serious. As for the German soldiers who fought with the tanks, more than 2,500 people died, were seriously injured or missing.

By the evening of May 1, the Red October Railway Line from Moscow to Kalinin was within the visible distance of the German armored troops! Fierce exchanges of fire also occurred on the outskirts of Klin, an important town on the Red October Railway Line, before nightfall.

On the night of May 1, the Soviet 62nd Army, which knew nothing about the night vision equipment possessed by the German army, deployed the 87th Infantry Division, the 98th Infantry Division and the 23rd Independent Tank Destroyer Regiment to launch a magnificent night counterattack.

More than 20,000 Red Army soldiers and 40 American M10 tank destroyers, under the cover of more than 200 152mm and 122mm howitzers, attacked the German positions outside the town of Klin from the southeast and north.

But their night counterattack was hit head-on by the German army! The German artillery and machine guns suddenly fired in the darkness, and without the help of flares, they rained down shells and bullets on the counterattacking Soviet army. Half of the 40 American M10 tank destroyers were blown up by 88mm and 105mm armor-piercing shells before they even found where the German tanks were!

With a large number of M10 tank destroyers destroyed, General Krylov, the Soviet general who commanded the counterattack, realized that the German night combat level was beyond imagination, but he did not immediately issue an order to stop the counterattack. The soldiers of the Soviet Red Army still launched wave after wave of attacks in a relatively dense "human sea formation", and were knocked down piece by piece by the German army with night vision equipment. After a night of fierce fighting, Soviet soldiers were dead all over the front line of the German army, and almost all the M10 tank destroyers put into the attack were destroyed.

When the German army took advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack, 24 A-19 cannons hiding in the dark and attempting to ambush German tanks were also named one by one by the German tank guns, 21 of which were blown up, and 3 were abandoned by the panicked gun crew members.

The 503rd and 504th Heavy Armored Battalions (each battalion was equipped with 44 E-50A tanks and 22 Type 4 H tanks at full strength) assigned to the German 2nd Armored Division arrived in the early morning of May 2, and formed two brigade-level assault groups with two paratrooper regiments (belonging to the 7th Paratrooper Division). They divided their troops into two groups, chasing the retreating Soviet army while encircling the north and south sides of Klin City. They chased all the way to the Red October route before stopping. The Soviet army left many corpses along the way, and a large number of officers and soldiers who had completely lost their fighting spirit raised their hands and surrendered. The number of prisoners even blocked the tanks' path.

This scene seemed to foreshadow that the Soviet army would be defeated in the tank battle a few days later!

General Krylov, the commander of the 62nd Army Group, who should be responsible for this failed counterattack, had already noticed that something was wrong. He was at the front line to command the counterattack, and of course he saw the German army firing at targets 500-1500 meters away without any lighting, and it was extremely accurate! However, he did not guess that the Germans used night vision equipment, but thought of radar fire control - the radar installed on battleships can help artillery hit targets 20-30 kilometers away at night, and night fighters can also fight in the dark with the help of radar. Then it should be possible for the Germans to invent fire control radars that can be installed on tanks...

If the Germans really have this kind of fire control radar that can be installed on tanks, then the night tank counterattack that the Red Army is preparing to launch will suffer a tragic setback like the counterattack near Klin on May 1.

But Admiral Krylov, who realized that the counterattack was likely to be frustrated, did not have the opportunity to immediately report his opinions to the Supreme Command. Because of the disastrous defeat suffered by the army group he commanded in the early morning of May 1 and May 2, the furious Stalin dismissed him from his post at noon on May 2.

Krylov, who returned to Moscow, found many acquaintances, and only found an opportunity to tell Zhukov's big red man, the Chief of Staff of the Central Front, Kokopev, two days later, what he saw and guessed on the night of May 1.

…

"Comrade Chief of General Staff, I have carefully reviewed the report of the Reserve Front on the night counterattack at Turvivo on the 29th. The situation is similar to what the 62nd Army encountered in the night battle on May 1st. The German tanks fired in the dark without any lighting, and they were very accurate…"

In the General Staff bunker, Zhukov, who looked a little tired, rubbed his temple and asked, "Do you agree with Krylov and think that the German army has vehicle-mounted radar?"

"There is such a possibility," Kokopev paused, "and it is very big! Otherwise, how could the German tanks fire at targets 500-1500 meters away without any lighting, and still hit them? Even if it is not a vehicle-mounted radar, it must be some kind of equipment that allows the Germans to see very far at night." "Well," Zhukov nodded with squinted eyes, "There is such a possibility." He lowered his tone, "but we can't give up the counterattack plan because the current situation does not allow us to do anything." After the great defeat on the night of May 1 and the early morning of May 2, the Soviet 62nd Army suffered consecutive setbacks during the day and night of May 2, and the day and night of May 3. The small town of Klin was surrounded by the German army on May 3, and the small town of Solnechnogorsk (also along the Red October Railway), 22 kilometers southeast of Klin and only more than 40 kilometers away from Moscow, fell on the night of May 4! Moreover, Russia's muddy season is about to end, and the road near Moscow is drying up rapidly. The German army, which has a large number of mechanized equipment, will soon restore its full mobility!

By then, the German army is likely to launch a new large-scale roundabout operation on the southern line of Moscow and completely put Moscow into its pocket. The Kalinin Front will also be attacked from both sides and fall into the pincer attack of the German Army Group North and Army Group Center.

In addition, Marshal Vasilevsky, commander of the Warsaw Army Group, reported to Moscow on May 3: The army group's supplies are about to run out and the troops are losing control!

This means that the Warsaw Army Group with hundreds of thousands of officers and soldiers will disintegrate in the near future, and most of them are likely to join the White Army - they will become enemies attacking Moscow in 2-3 months!

Kokopev reminded Zhukov: "But Comrade Chief of the General Staff, if Germany has a vehicle-mounted radar system, we will be at a disadvantage in night battles."

There are radars at night and planes during the day... Why are these Germans so difficult to deal with?

"The enemy still has a much greater advantage during the day than at night!" Zhukov shook his head and said, "According to the reports of the Reserve Front and the 62nd Army, the German tanks first opened fire at a distance of 500-1500 meters and carried out precise shooting. This shows that the effective range of their radar or something else is only 1500 meters at most...it should not exceed 2000 meters.

The reason why the night attack of the Reserve Front and the 62nd Army suffered a loss was that they were planning a surprise attack and did not launch a large number of flares in advance."

It is possible to fire flares in night battles, but you cannot fire everywhere in a night attack, let alone fire all the way, otherwise the suddenness of the night attack will be gone. Generally speaking, mortars are used to fire flares at the enemy's positions only after both sides have set up their battle formations.

Of course, the party defending the position can fire flares endlessly to the front line because they do not need to consider concealment and suddenness.

"Then fire more flares... and let the infantry clear the way for the tanks, and fire more flares when encountering the enemy," Zhukov said, "this should be able to offset some of the Germans' advantages."

Hearing Zhukov's tone, Kokopev knew that the other party had made up his mind, and an unprecedented tank night battle would soon break out!

...

"Imperial Marshal, the Central Army Group reports that the road south of Moscow has dried up and is passable." When Zhukov was determined to carry out a large-scale tank battle at night, Guderian was also discussing the next combat plan with Hessmann, "I think it's time to send the 1st Panzer Army to make a large detour on the southern line."

The 1st Panzer Army is also the main force under the Central Army Group, with 3 armored corps (6 armored divisions, 3 armored grenadier divisions) and 3 motorized infantry corps. The current commander is General Hans Valentin Hube.

This army was stationed in Bryansk in early April, ready to wait for the muddy season to attack Moscow. However, in late April, the Germans discovered that the Soviet Orel Front had retreated from Orel (next to Bryansk). So the 1st Panzer Army took the opportunity to move forward and is currently stationed in Orel Oblast. As long as they advance more than 300 kilometers to the northeast, they can bypass Moscow to the east, thus completing the encirclement of Moscow!