The battle for the assault on Tver soon began.

As Shulka said, the first thing the Soviets did was to blow up the houses scattered across the river.

This was not difficult for the Soviet army, even if the Soviet infantry and artillery coordination was not good, and the quality of the artillery observers was insufficient, but the house would not walk without legs, and then it was a question of how many shells and bombs to use.

However, Rokossovsky thought that the attack was slow and sent planes to bomb it.

Katukov couldn't help but ask suspiciously: "Don't we have three days?" ”

"The situation has changed, Comrade Katukov!" Rokossovsky said: "The enemy is making a planned retreat to Tver!" ”

"Didn't their Führer not let them retreat?" Katukov asked suspiciously.

This was no secret to the Soviet army, before which the Germans could not bear the cold and surrendered to the Soviet army, and there were also prisoners captured by the Soviet army, and their confessions were that Hitler did not allow the Germans to retreat.

"We think so too!" Rokossovsky replied: "That's why the Supreme High Command thought that there were three days to attack Tver, but now it seems that this is not the case!" In short, the sooner you take Tver, the better! ”

"Yes, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Katukov replied.

In fact, this is the secret crossing of the German generals...... As the saying goes, "there is a policy at the top, and there is a countermeasure at the bottom." Although Hitler strictly ordered his troops not to take a step back, the generals who fought on the front line knew very well that if they were not allowed to take a step back, the German army would be doomed.

As a result, the German generals on the front, including the commander of the Fourth Army, Kubil, were taking advantage of the Soviet offensive to make a hidden retreat.

To put it simply, it is to exaggerate the offensive of the Soviet army in a certain position in the battle report.

For example, in Tver, if we talk about offensive pressure, there is only one tank brigade in reality, but Kubil reports: "There is at least one mechanized corps, and it is clear that the enemy wants to break through Tver and cut off the retreat of our army!" ”

"Do we still have reserves?" Hitler asked.

"Yes, and an armored regiment!" Kubil replied: "But the Russians are on a full-scale offensive, and throwing our troops into reserves too early will make our army very passive!" ”

"Then, let the troops from other directions rush to reinforce it!"

"Yes, Your Excellency!" Kubil replied.

So, in the name of reinforcements, it was actually retreating, because the fact was that the troops at the front were transferred back.

This was actually a command style of German generals, especially those of the Wehrmacht...... A considerable number of them did not listen to Hitler and preferred to direct the battle according to their own ideas, so it is not surprising that Hitler did not trust the Wehrmacht.

Many people in modern times believe that the defeat of the German army in the Battle of Moscow was due to Hitler's order not to retreat a single step back.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

Hitler's order "not to retreat" was given before the Soviet counteroffensive began.

What really allowed the Germans to hold the line......

On the one hand, the German generals fought and walked instead of retreating, but in fact they were gradually retreating.

On the other hand, it was the Soviet army that suffered heavy losses in the defense of Moscow and was unable to follow.

If, as Hitler ordered, "not a single step backwards," the result would inevitably be a complete collapse.

Of course, Rokossovsky and others did not know this.

This "reinforcement" of the German army put pressure on the Soviet troops, so the offensive on Tver accelerated.

One plane after another swooped down from the sky and bombed the German positions across the riverbed.

However, it was disappointing that the aerial bombs were dropped one after another, but not many of them hit the target...... Soviet pilots had suffered heavy casualties in previous battles, and many of the pilots who participated in the war were recruits who had no experience in combat or even dropped bombs from aviation schools.

It should be said that the situation at this time was not bad, because with the war later, even these recruits who had flight training in aviation schools were almost lost, so they were sent to the air to participate in the war after a few months of hurried training.

But the Soviets were incredible, and even then their air force was able to recover from it, and even there were many ace pilots among them.

However, at least until now, these ace pilots have not appeared.

In the end, the houses on the other side of the river were blown up by Rokossovsky with a barrage of rocket launchers...... At this time, although the Soviet army had switched to a counteroffensive, supplies were still in short supply, which was one of the reasons why the German army did not collapse.

Then, with Katukov's order, the tanks of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade set off.

Thirty "Matilda" drove ahead, and Soviet soldiers followed behind.

Although the shortcomings of the "Matilda" tank have been criticized, it has a certain power under the sound of "rumbling" motors and tracks when launching a cluster attack on the battlefield.

Not long before the German artillery fire was immovable...... However, only a few shells could hit the Soviet camp.

The reason was that at this time the Soviet army had the initiative in the air, to be exact, at this particular point near Moscow, and it was still in the extreme cold that the Soviet Air Force had the upper hand.

As a result, the Soviets could use their air forces to suppress German artillery fire.

Almost as soon as the Germans opened fire, dozens of fighters and bombers hovering in the air dived into the enemy's artillery positions...... When they fire, their position is exposed, and what awaits them is a barrage of indiscriminate bombardment.

The tanks continued to advance, and the Germans emerged from the defense line on the opposite shore to set up all kinds of weapons.

Then, when the Soviets opened the upper river (the width of the river was about 300 meters), the Germans opened fire with an order.

Dense gunfire and artillery rang out like popping beans.

Mortars, anti-tank guns, machine guns...... The entire battlefield was covered with snow powder, and many ice cubes were blown away, turning into sharp shrapnel and hurting people everywhere.

Shulka was scratched in the face.

At that time, he didn't feel it at all, because the blood was quickly frozen, and it was only after the war that he was in pain.

However, the thickened armor of the Matilda tank did not live up to its expectations, and the bullets and shells hit its front armor with a "clangling" sound, but it still continued to move forward in the face of the rain of bullets.

Only two of them stopped, I don't know if it was because of a malfunction or because the tracks were broken.

Shulka poked his head out of his rifle and looked ahead.

The difference in height of the river bank ahead was about 1.5 meters, and under the action of ice and snow, it became an insurmountable obstacle for tanks.

Without bazookas, the battle really didn't know how to fight, unless sappers could pave the way for tanks at the muzzle of enemy guns and grenades.

But this is not the case today.