Ludwig. Lieutenant General Kubil hid in a house full of farm implements and houses, stomping his feet while looking at the map.

Zi Feng. After Bock was dismissed and replaced by Field Marshal Luger, commander of the Fourth Army, Kubiler took over as commander of the German Fourth Army.

However, Kubil was not at all happy that he had been given the coveted position.

At any other time, Kubil might have celebrated, but this time he stared at the map in front of him with a heavy expression.

Kubil knew very well in his heart that it would not be a good thing to be promoted to commander of the Fourth Army at this time...... Because the Germans were about to face a defeat, this was obvious.

If the Führer had agreed to allow the troops to retreat, perhaps the situation would not have been the same, because the Germans could retreat while laying mines and building fortifications in the rear, as the Soviets did.

The problem was that the Führer did not allow this, the Germans were still on the offensive at this time, yes...... At this time, when the enemy is about to counterattack, he is still attacking!

This will inevitably lead to defeat, and as a commander, he is undoubtedly responsible for this defeat, and ironically, he has no authority to command his own troops.

A cold wind blew, and the adjutant pushed the door in, with snowflakes on his head and shoulders, and rubbed his frozen hand a few times before he could stretch it out and salute Lieutenant General Kubil.

"It's bad, General!" "The tanks were almost immobile, and every day we had to spend a lot of time starting them, and once they were started, we didn't dare to turn them off, because they would quickly freeze again," the adjutant reported...... This is a needless consumption of gasoline, and countless soldiers have been frozen to death and frostbitten! ”

"I know that, Frank!" Kubil interrupted the adjutant and asked: "What is the situation on the Russians' side?" ”

"Suddenly they lost their voices!" The adjutant replied, "It seems to have been frozen by this ghost weather, minus 38 degrees...... No one would want to fight in such a situation, would they? ”

Kubil thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "No, Frank, we may not, but they will!" ”

"You mean ......"

"They're the ones who live on this land, Frank!" Kubil looked up and said, "They experience cold like this every year, not to mention that many of them come from even colder Siberia!" ”

"Will they counterattack?" The adjutant's eyes widened when he heard this.

"I think so!" Kubil replied: "The time has come for a counteroffensive!" ”

"But what else can we do?" The adjutant said with some anxiety: "The Führer does not allow us to retreat!" ”

Kubil was silent for a moment, then ordered: "Remove the armored forces, Frank!" ”

"But the Führer ......"

"We have to do it!" "Otherwise, the enemy will rush in front of us before our tanks are even activated!" said Kubil. ”

"Yes, General!" The adjutant answered, turned around and went to make arrangements.

Kubil's approach was indeed very advanced, and it was not a retreat, because he was only moving the armored forces to the second line to rest.

On the other side, before the sky dawned, the Soviet army had begun its final mobilization:

"Comrades, the day of the counteroffensive has finally arrived!" Standing on a tank, Commissar Fumin shouted to the soldiers below, holding a bullhorn: "Load your rifles, sharpen your bayonets, our long-endured anger is about to explode in this cold winter!" ”

The warriors replied a few times:

"Kill them!"

"Get these damn fascis out!"

……

"From the beginning of the war to the present!" Commissar Fomin continued: "It has always been the Germans who have taken the initiative, but how can the sacred Soviet land tolerate the trampling of these fascist invaders? After all, they can't compete with this snowstorm! Although we suffered heavy losses, it also made us even more angry, and we wanted to avenge our comrades-in-arms, and we wanted to avenge the thousands of Soviet people who died under the fascist butcher's knife! ”

"Ula!" The warriors responded loudly with their weapons raised.

The troops then moved into their respective assembly areas.

Although it was only a staging area, it was still built with trenches...... Trenches were never lacking in the Soviet defensive line, and when the Soviet army held off the Germans on the second line of defense for a while, the Soviet people almost dug the trenches all the way to Moscow.

Shulka led his men into the trenches, and around them were tanks...... The tanks were painted white as before, and a gap was dug in front of the trench to create an inclined plane so that the tanks could quickly drive out of the trench.

Colonel Katukov nervously watched the hands on his pocket watch jump slightly, then turned his head and ordered: "The tank starts!" ”

"Tank start!"

"Tank start!"

……

With a "boom", the tanks fired one after another.

But of course, because the 1st Guards Tank Brigade used British and American gasoline engine tanks, these tanks also had the problem of not adapting to the extremely cold climate, so some tanks could not be started.

This is also the reason why Colonel Katukov gave the order fifteen minutes in advance.

Then the infantrymen hurriedly lit a fire at the tank engine to bake it.

Shulka ignored this, he held his binoculars and looked in the direction of the German positions in the distance, but there was no movement.

This is not normal.

Because Shulka was well aware that it would take time for German tanks to launch, and at this time...... When the tank engines of the Soviet camp "rumbled", even a fool knew that the Soviets were going to attack.

Therefore, the German army should also be as busy as the Soviet army, that is, start the tanks with fire.

But they didn't.

There were two possibilities for this: either the Germans were too slow to react, or their tanks were not on the front line.

Shulka believed that it was the latter, that is, the Germans sensed the Soviet attack first, so they pulled the tanks back to the second line to give them time to react.

"Colonel!" Shulka shouted to Katukov, who was more than ten meters away: "Germany may be prepared, their tanks are not on the front line!" ”

Katukov raised his telescope and looked into the distance, then replied: "You are right! ”

But that's all, and then there was no follow-up.

The right thing to do should be...... Realizing that the Germans had withdrawn their tanks from the front, they should immediately report to their superiors, that is, Rokossovsky.

Then Rokossovsky would contact the 2nd Guards Tank Brigade to tell them to be careful, as well as artillery and air force, so that they could save ammunition during the bombing and leave room for them to play a role in the subsequent battles.

But Katukov did not do so.