Rzhev is the place where Moder was made in history.

The reason was not only that Moder held Rzhev while the Germans were retreating and relied on it to launch a counteroffensive against the Soviets from the flanks, but also because the Soviets launched a larger counteroffensive against the Germans there a few months later...... Located less than 200 kilometers from Moscow, Rzhev was the closest part of the German repulsed line to Moscow, and in principle it would take only three hours for German armored forces to reach Moscow.

The Germans did exactly that, and here they gathered several panzer divisions to launch a surprise attack on Moscow.

The Soviets, of course, could not stand this situation, so they launched a campaign codenamed "Operation Mars" to attack Rzhev first.

But what everyone didn't expect was that the Soviet army, which had an absolute numerical superiority, could not take Rzhev after paying more than 400,000 casualties when attacking Rzhev.

The battle is not known only because the more famous Battle of Stalingrad took place at the same time on the other side.

This result also led Zhukov to be criticized as a general who "will not fight without absolute superiority in forces."

Shulka knew the importance of Rzhev, and at this time Moder's defense in the direction of Rzhev was not very strong, so it was easier to take it.

This is also one of the reasons why Shulka suggested the capture of Rzhev.

In the evening of the same day, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade departed.

The march was very smooth, and the enemy was hardly visible except for a large number of Soviet troops and supplies to the front.

This was the home advantage of the Soviet army, and although the people in some places did not have much affection for Moscow, they did not hesitate to side with the Soviet Union once they realized that the Soviet Union could win.

As a result, it was almost impossible for German soldiers to hide in villages, towns or among the common people, who would report to the Soviets as soon as possible and even spontaneously capture or kill these German soldiers.

There was no place for the Germans in the villages and towns, and the fields were cold and without food, so the Germans had no choice but to surrender if they did not want to die.

This allowed the Soviets to quickly wipe out the remnants of the enemy, which was not the case with the Germans, who were always attacked and harassed by a large number of partisans, and a large part of these partisans were transferred from the regular army.

The 1st Guards Tank Brigade was very noticeable on the march, as many of the Soviets had never seen their tanks.

Every now and then, someone asks, "Hey, what kind of tanks are these?" ”

At this time, the fighters of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade will answer: "It's a British tank!" ”

"Are you British? Or trained in the UK? ”

……

The fighters looked confused.

For Soviet soldiers, the use of British and American tanks was strange or new.

The next day the 1st Guards Tank Brigade arrived on the outskirts of Rzhev.

Rzhev is about 100 kilometers from Tver, which takes more than a dozen hours for "Matilda...... It's definitely a torturous thing.

This made Shulka a little impatient, and he said to Katukov: "If we can, we should use our own tanks, especially the 'T34'!" ”

"We will!" Katukov agreed: "I have already reported to my superiors that it turns out that the tanks they gave us are piles of garbage, although we did win the battle with them!" ”

This requirement is very reasonable, after all, the use of British and American tanks by the 1st Guards Tank Brigade can only be said to be an expedient measure when the tanks are insufficient, or it can also be said to be a test or learning of the combat effectiveness and advantages and disadvantages of these tanks.

But no matter what, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade at this time still had to fight with them.

Shulka and Katukov and others first met Colonel Egorovich, commander of the 243rd Division.

The 273rd Division was a division from Siberia and was assigned to the 39th Army to attack Rzhev in coordination with the 1st Guards Tank Brigade.

As soon as he came up, he said to Katukov: "You guys are finally here, we need your tanks to cover, get ready, we will attack in an hour!" ”

Katukov couldn't help but be stunned and asked, "Is there nothing else?" ”

"Is there anything else you need?"

"The enemy's firepower, troops, and a few other things!"

"We can conduct a fire reconnaissance before the attack!" Egorovich replied without thinking.

Fire reconnaissance is a tactic commonly used by the Soviet army, and its purpose is to find out the enemy's firepower deployment and weaknesses.

However, although it is a fire reconnaissance, it is actually a tentative attack...... They usually use a company or even a battalion to attack the enemy without knowing anything, and even if only a few of the men in this company or battalion withdraw and tell the others something, it is considered successful.

However, this approach was practically useless, because the reconnaissance of a company or a battalion remained at most on the periphery of the enemy's defensive line, and when the main force attacked and broke through the perimeter line, its depth was still unknown.

"No!" Katukov stopped Yegorovich, a cautious Jew who did not like the barbarism, brutality, and the use of soldiers' lives to carry out such meaningless "fire reconnaissance".

"We can contact the Air Force and ask them to give us some information!" Katukov said.

Colonel Egorovich spread his hands indifferently.

It seems that in his opinion, it is unnecessary to do all this, and to fight a war is nothing more than to command the troops to rush forward, as for what is the situation of the enemy...... When the soldiers rushed forward, it was natural to know.

Shulka believes that this is one of the reasons why the Soviets lost to Rzhev in the battle a few months later, when they had an absolute superiority in numbers.

After a while, the information that Katukov needed was sent by the staff to the command.

Looking at the map against the information, Katukov frowned as he marked it.

Shulka also sees the problem:

The area around Rzhev is swampy, and only Rzhev is "hardland" nearby...... Being "hardground" in a swamp means that it must be higher than the rest of the world, otherwise it will inevitably be obscured by the swamp.

That is, Rzhev is the only highland in the region.

The Germans used the river and terrain to place barbed wire, mines, and troops around the heights.

It is no wonder that when the Soviet army was in the "Mars Project", hundreds of thousands of people could not take this area.

"They can only vaguely photograph the movement of the trenches!" "But I think they will also have anti-tank guns on the main roads, and there will be artillery in depth, if you add the air force ......," Katukov said.

Shulka knew what that meant, it was a nightmare for a slow-moving British tank.