The Soviets pursued the Germans all the way and drove the Germans out of Volokolamsk in five hours.

During this time, the Germans were even surrounded by several troops.

Needless to say, the infantry was littered with corpses and routs along the way, and if it weren't for the difficulty of pursuing and searching at night, the number of captured German soldiers would have doubled, to say the least.

Surrounded was an armored battalion of the German army.

Colonel Jonas was in a hurry to be chased, leaving a tank battalion to cover.

This was the 2nd Panzer Battalion of the 7th Panzer Regiment, with a total of 37 tanks, which chose a narrow area that was easy to defend and difficult to attack, and was ready to meet the T34 tanks...... The T34 tank was not invincible, and the commander of the armored battalion, Major Lange, deployed the tank on both sides of the exit of the narrow passage, so that the German tanks could surround the passing T34 from three sides, that is, face its side armor.

But Major Lange underestimated the 4th Tank Brigade by deploying it in this way.

The Soviets did launch several charges from the front, and unsurprisingly, they were all repulsed by German tank fire.

However, Major Lange was not too excited in the face of such a victory, because he never saw the T34 of the Russians.

"That's not normal!" Major Lange said: "Their tanks should have advanced here a long time ago!" ”

"Maybe they know we're in ambush here!" The adjutant replied.

The adjutant may have had a point, but Major Lange felt that something was wrong, for he knew that the Russians had a different operational mindset than they did, and that the Russians were unlikely to refrain from advancing because they knew that there was an ambush ahead, and that their commissar and instructor would not allow them to do so.

After thinking about it, Major Lange gave the order: "Organize an attack, we will cross the passage to see!" ”

The adjutant couldn't help but be stunned for a moment, and then responded: "Yes, Major!" ”

Major Lange did this in the hope of luring out the enemy's T34, at least to make him feel at ease knowing that the T34 was still on the other side.

However, Major Lange was not able to do so, and a tank company made it through the passage without any problems, and although two of the tanks were destroyed, they were destroyed by enemy anti-tank guns.

Major Lange quickly understood what was going on, and without hesitation, he immediately ordered on the walkie-talkie: "Retreat, repeat...... Retreat now! ”

But it was too late to wake up.

The signal soldier raised his head in shock and looked at Major Lange: "Major, the enemy has appeared two kilometers in the rear, and we have no way to retreat!" ”

"Fuck it!" Major Lange yelled.

That's what he feared, and if the enemy hadn't pursued him in the rear, it was likely that he would have gone around the front from other routes.

As for why Soviet tanks went around...... Of course, it was to build some roads that the Germans "couldn't see" for tanks.

"Sir!" Immediately afterwards, the signal soldier asked in a panic: "They have divided a force to advance towards us from the rear, what is your order?" ”

Major Lange gritted his teeth and ordered: "All, blow up the tanks and disperse the retreat!" ”

The tank crews who heard the order couldn't help but be stunned.

Blowing up a tank?

That's a tank battalion with a total of more than 30 tanks, and they didn't even try to break through and blow up and retreat like this?!

To be exact, this is not a "retreat", but rather an "escape".

Major Lange knew this, of course, but he still gave the order: "Carry out the order, immediately!" ”

"Yes, Major!" The tankmen answered, and one by one they got out of the tanks and loaded them with explosives or gasoline as fast as they could.

Major Lange's order was correct.

The German tank battalion had no way back, and it was obviously not feasible to leave the road and go into the dark, they were more likely to get stuck in the mud or be blown up by mines.

Retreat along the road...... The back road was blocked by T34 again.

A fight with the T34?

There is no need to say more about what the result will be, the German tanks are not opponents of the T34 at all!

Therefore, Major Lange chose to face the reality, the tanks will definitely not be taken away, and the only ones who can be taken away may be these tank soldiers...... Tank crews are also an asset, and of course, the more important thing is to save their lives.

So, when the 4th Tank Brigade arrived here, all they saw was tanks that had been blown up and burned by the Germans themselves, more than 30 tanks were neatly lined up in defensive formation, red flames were scurrying in the wind on the tank armor, and from time to time a few tanks exploded violently and broke into several pieces.

Having learned a lesson, Colonel Jonas no longer dared to cover behind with tank troops, and his tactic was to block the Soviets with infantry fire, and then the sappers quickly laid mines behind, and the main forces retreated non-stop until they withdrew from Volokolamsk.

It was not yet 12 o'clock.

Major General Rokossovsky immediately called Zhukov as soon as he got the news.

"We have recaptured Volokolamsk, Comrade Zhukov!" Major General Rokossovsky said: "It was a full two hours ahead of schedule!" ”

"Congratulations, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Zhukov said: "You have proved that this tactic works, just fight!" ”

After putting down the phone, Zhukov set his sights on Bulganin.

Bulganin thought for a moment and replied: "I will report the results of the battle to the High Command!" ”

Zhukov nodded: "However, I think this tactic is only suitable for the 16th Army, the reason is that they have the 4th Tank Brigade, and the superiority of the T34 gives them the advantage to recapture the positions abandoned during the day!" ”

The reason why Zhukov said this was because he was afraid that the Supreme Command would rashly extend this tactic to the whole army as soon as its head was hot, and then Moscow would really have no power to return to heaven.

Colonel Jonas evacuated in a barrel cart and was evacuated to safety in less than two hours.

After settling down, Colonel Jonas directed the retreat of the troops on one side and reported to the commander of the army group, Kruger.

"Your Excellency, that's a trap!" Colonel Jonas said: "We were attacked by a large number of T34s by the Russians......"

Of course, Krueger had heard the news of the German rout, which in fact was completely expected by him, as the T34 never appeared, and the Germans were constantly closing in on Moscow.

The Russians, of course, were not going to let the Germans enter Moscow, so the T34 would definitely appear.

It's just that Kruger didn't expect it to appear at night.

After thinking about it, Kruger felt that this was reasonable, because in the night the German air superiority could not be brought into play, while the Russian T34 could run amok.

"So!" Kruger replied: "We are not worried about the Istrian reservoir!" ”

Colonel Jonas couldn't help but look embarrassed, his previous judgment could be said to be ridiculously wrong.