The 1st Guards Tank Brigade rested for a few hours

More than a dozen hours of rest, to be exact.

This is determined by the color of the day, as previously said, the night in Moscow at this time is up to 15 hours.

On the other hand, the Soviet army had the advantage of air force and artillery at this particular moment, so it was certainly more advantageous to choose to fight during the day.

However, the Soviets did not exactly wait until dawn to attack, and they began to prepare for battle at seven o'clock in the morning.

First of all, this is because British and American tanks are also not frost resistant, they need at least half an hour to prepare.

If it is the Germans, they are afraid that they will already expose their offensive intentions by thawing the tanks with fire.

But the Soviets are always making fires, so there will be no problems.

Second, it is the attack at night that has a strategic suddenness.

The Germans thought that the Soviets would not attack at night, so the Soviets attacked at night, and the route of the attack was unexpected...... Watercourse.

As the saying goes, "water flows to a lower place, and people go to a higher place", and the river is always a low-lying place.

Tactically, it's not really a good line of attack, and it can even be said to be poor.

The reason was that its ice surface easily allowed the tank tracks to slip, and the low terrain gave the Germans on both sides a condescending advantage, etc.

But sometimes, what seems the most unlikely is possible, because the enemy often thinks the same way.

It was eight o'clock in the morning.

It was still dark, and there was still an hour before dawn, and there was no sound at all except for the rustling sound of snowflakes falling slowly in the air.

Suddenly, three red flares rose into the air.

Then a heavy artillery fire erupted, mixed with the terrifying whistling of rockets.

The artillery fire was concentrated on the line of contact between the Soviet and German armies...... This contact thread is very obvious, on the German side most of the houses and buildings are still intact, while on the Soviet side they are basically in ruins.

Such a bombing would have sent the Germans the wrong message: the Soviets would attack again from the line of contact.

But that's not the case.

At the moment when the guns sounded, the 1st Infantry Battalion advanced along the river under the cover of the 1st Tank Battalion...... However, at this time, it is a little unclear whether the infantry covers the tanks or the tanks cover the infantry.

The Germans had no fortifications in the middle of the river.

This is not because it is impossible to build fortifications in the river, but in winter it can be built anywhere in the extremely low temperatures, and both sides can build strong fortifications by pouring melted water from rubble.

In an emergency, even the snow can be dug down to form a trench.

The problem was that there was no grass on the river, that is, there were no buildings and no trees, and the construction of fortifications here was a target for the Soviet artillery.

So, the Germans put barbed wire fences and mines in the middle of the river, and then they were done.

The Germans thought that no one would attack from the river, it was like burrowing into their encirclement.

But the Soviets did just that.

The tank "rumbled" forward, and Shulka and his men followed closely behind the tank and panted forward...... Winter is not easy to act at all, heavy cotton clothes, and snow that makes people a foot deep and shallow, and even worse, you can get frostbite at any time and you don't know it, and by the time you find it, it's too late.

This is no joke, because it is common to lose consciousness or partially lose consciousness when frozen, and many of the Soviets have had to amputate their limbs because of this.

Several mine-clearing tanks drove ahead, and they smoothly rolled the barbed wire and roadblocks into the snow and flattened them, and then rampaged into the minefield to crush the mines.

Because of the sound of artillery and the cover of darkness, the Germans had no idea about it.

It wasn't until fifteen minutes later that the artillery fire gradually stopped, and the movement here attracted the attention of the Germans.

However, it was too late, and the Soviets had successfully crossed the minefield and entered safety.

Several flares rose into the air to illuminate the river, exposing the Soviet tank units to the sight of the Germans.

Dense gunfire soon rang out, and the Germans fired at the Soviets in the middle of the river with a variety of weapons.

But that doesn't help at all...... The Germans placed anti-tank guns along the line of contact, and a considerable part of them were still in buildings that could not be moved quickly.

On the other hand, it was the Soviet troops that advanced along the river bank in two groups.

The river bank usually has a certain height difference from the river, and this height difference happens to be the blind spot of the fire that becomes the bunker of the Soviet troops.

Of course, if the Germans rushed up directly, they could still pose a threat to the Soviet army.

The Germans did exactly that, and in desperation, they came out of the building in groups to attack the Soviets...... But this was in vain, and they were quickly beaten back by the 1st Guards Tank Brigade with tanks, machine guns and bazookas.

The news soon reached Kubilna.

Kubil was taken aback at first, because he did not expect the enemy to break through along the river so boldly.

But after looking at the map for a while, Kubil relaxed.

"General, organize an attack immediately!" The adjutant said to Kubil: "It's too late, they will be able to hit the Tver Bridge after dawn, where our railway is located!" ”

"No, Felix!" "This could be a tactic for the enemy," Kubil said. As soon as we move our forces to the Tver, they will launch a fierce attack from the line of contact! ”

Hearing this, the adjutant stopped talking, because it was indeed possible.

"Calm down, Felix!" Kubil continued: "Now that the enemy's intentions are unknown, we should observe for a little longer before making a decision!" ”

"Yes, General!"

What the adjutant didn't know was that Kubil was actually making another calculation in his mind.

In fact, the strategic intention of the Soviet army was obvious, and to attack along the river was to cut off the German army's railways and roads on the Tver River.

Kubil understood this the moment he heard the intelligence and looked at the map.

But Kubil made a bad decision by pretending not to know......

However, this may not be a bad decision, at least not for Kubil.

What happens to let the enemy cut off the transport lines?

This had little effect on the German Fourth Army Group stationed in Tver, since the main force of the Fourth Army Group was on the west bank of the Tver River.

The effect would be that the supply and even the retreat route from Tvejing to the 4th Tank Army would be cut off.

To be exact, the main retreat.

Then, what happened next was the collapse of the 4th Tank Army and the 3rd Panzer Group in the north.

This is not what Kubil wants to see, Kubil just doesn't want to send this interspersed Soviet army back so early.

He wanted everyone to look at the threat and ...... The Führer then had to make the decision to retreat.