Shulka didn't know how he got back into the group, he just knew that tears couldn't help but "whoosh" flowed down, although he knew that he shouldn't have been like this, he had thought that he would be indifferent or embarrassed to see them, but he never thought it would be like this.

Fortunately, the sound of tank motors and the darkness before dawn masked everything, and the surrounding fighters did not notice this.

At this time, the commander of Army Group Center, Feng . Bock was staring at the map in the headquarters, confused.

Although on the whole the German offensive was very smooth, only von . But Bock knew there was a lot of danger lurking in the mix.

The first is that hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops in the Vyazma encirclement still need to be digested...... Although the defeat of these Soviet troops was assured, they still held their positions or tried to break through.

Of course, the Germans could not let them escape, because every person who escaped meant that Moscow had more strength.

Secondly, the weather was getting colder, and the German soldiers did not have the necessary winter clothes.

At this time, the German army may be able to ask for cotton clothing, but the problem is that the German army's logistics and transportation capacity is limited, and if the cotton clothing is delivered, it means that the ammunition will be reduced accordingly, which means that the pace of the attack on Moscow will be slowed down, which Berlin will never allow.

So, one by one, the German soldiers draped sheets, tents, animal skins, and everything imaginable on themselves or stuffed them into their military uniforms. After every battle, the first thing German soldiers do when cleaning up the battlefield is often to remove something from the enemy to keep them warm.

But this was not the most headache for Bock, because he knew that as the weather got cold, the muddy ground would improve because of the freezing, and at the same time, the visibility would improve after the rain turned into snowflakes, which would be beneficial for both German armored forces and air power.

In other words, for at least a short period of time in the future, the drop in temperature before the severe cold is the best time for the Germans to attack Moscow.

But......

The Soviets seem to have changed their tactics.

"They put the T34 tanks together in one army?" Feng. Bock asked the adjutant.

"Yes!" The adjutant replied: "The number is the 4th Tank Brigade, they crushed the 79th Panzer Division in the Kling direction!" ”

See Feng. Bock was silent, and the adjutant added: "Your Excellency, although the T34 tanks have excellent performance, they only have about 80 of them, as long as the weather allows, we can use air superiority to defeat them!" ”

What the adjutant said made sense, the Germans had air superiority, and no matter how good the tanks were, they could not withstand the bombing of the air force, which had already been proven in previous battles.

But......

Feng. But Bock knew it wasn't that simple.

The 4th Tank Brigade operated within the Soviet lines, sometimes by train and sometimes by night.

Even more clever was the fact that the 4th Tank Brigade retreated to Moscow as soon as it was successful, for example, they disappeared without a trace that night after the 79th Panzer Division was defeated in Klin, which made it impossible for the Germans to grasp their movements and strike them effectively.

"The Russians changed their tactics!" Feng. Bock said to himself, "It seems that they learned something from the war!" ”

The adjutant didn't understand what the marshal meant, so he didn't dare to answer.

Feng. Bock looked at the map and fell into deep thought:

This 4th tank brigade is by no means as simple as the adjutant thinks...... More than 80 tanks are indeed not much, but it is with Moscow as the center and ready to attack at any time, and at this time the German army has pressed within 100 kilometers of Moscow, which means that this fourth tank brigade can appear at any point on the defense line at any time and then deal a fatal blow to the German breakthrough force.

"Your Excellency, Marshal!" At this time, a messenger soldier took a telegram and handed it to Feng . In front of Bock: "The Russians have launched a counterattack!" ”

"What?" Feng. Puzzled for a moment, thinking that he had misheard, Bock picked up the telegram and read it, and then asked, "Are you sure they are a massive counteroffensive and not just a counter-charge?" ”

Counter-charge is a very common tactic on the battlefield. Bock wanted to figure out whether the Russians were counterattacking at a strategic or tactical level.

"It's a counter-attack, Your Excellency Marshal!" "They carried out 20 minutes of artillery preparation, and then launched a counteroffensive from two directions at the same time, and the offensive was fierce!" ”

Feng. Bock was stunned, he didn't understand the point of the Russians launching a counteroffensive at this time.

Moscow got more reinforcements?

This is basically impossible, the reinforcements and supplies entering Moscow are under the surveillance of the German intelligence services, and if a large number of reinforcements enter, he will immediately get first-hand information.

Then, there is only one possibility, the Russians are afraid, they are afraid that the German army will drive straight into Moscow, and they are not willing to continue to defend in this way, so they launch a counteroffensive.

Thinking of this, Feng. Bock couldn't help but be overjoyed.

This is definitely a good opportunity for the Germans, especially ...... If the Russians were to counterattack, the 4th Tank Brigade would be among them, because it was the key to the success of the Russian counteroffensive.

Feng. Bock was still worried about how to deal with it just now, but he didn't expect it to be delivered to the door.

After thinking about it, Feng. Bock ordered: "Immediately order the 10th Panzer Division and the 4th Army to defend on the spot, and they must be blocked!" ”

"Yes, Your Excellency Marshal!"

"Your Excellency, Marshal!" The adjutant disputed this: "This is an opportunity for us, should we ...... it"

"I know!" Feng. Bock interrupted the adjutant: "So I didn't want to block them, I just wanted to know in which direction that fourth tank brigade was!" ”

When the adjutant heard this, he couldn't help but suddenly realize.

Therefore, the order to "block them" is actually fake, and the enemy who can be blocked will of course not be in the direction of the 4th Tank Brigade, otherwise it will be exactly the opposite, and then the Germans can formulate the next combat plan.

Feng. Bock was right.

Because the counteroffensive of the 49th Army in the Serpukhov direction can be said to be almost nothing.

Not only did they gain nothing, but they also suffered heavy casualties...... Zhukov was relieved of command, which meant that it was Stalin and the High Command who commanded the battle, and the characteristic of their command was that once an order was given, it would be completed no matter what the cost.

The report submitted by a surviving platoon commander after the war clearly illustrates this problem:

"The battalion received a clear order to seize the positions set up by the *** elements on the high ground outside the village of Choploye. But the enemy's fire was too heavy for us to move forward. But the order from the higher authorities was: 'You must be able to take the position in 20 minutes, otherwise the officers will be court-martialed.' The order was repeated six times, and we attacked six times. The battalion commander was killed, the commissar was killed, and there were only twenty guns left in the battalion! ”

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