Supported by the powerful German and French air power, the German tanks were still sharp, running over the trenches, destroying the fortifications and destroying all Soviet fortresses, artillery and tank destroyers that dared to fire at them. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 ｉｎｆｏ

After a bloody battle during the day on May 1, a divisional cluster sent by the German 48th Panzer Corps had made a deep and wide gap close to Route 10 in the front of the Soviet 62nd Army, and even the small city of Vysokovsk was captured by German infantry.

In the fierce battle of this day, although many Grizzly assault guns and Tiger tanks were damaged in battle, most of them were repairable, and the damage was not serious. As for the German soldiers who fought alongside the tanks, more than 2,500 were killed, seriously wounded or missing.

By the evening of May 1, the Red October railway line from Moscow to Kalinin was already within visual distance of the German panzers! On the outskirts of Klin, an important town on the Red October Railway Line, there was also a fierce exchange of fire before nightfall.

On the night of May 1, the Soviet 62nd Army, which had no knowledge of the night vision equipment possessed by the Germans, engaged the 87th Infantry Division, the 98th Infantry Division and the 23rd Separate Tank Destroyer Regiment to launch a magnificent night counterattack.

More than 20,000 Red Army soldiers and 40 American-made M10 tank destroyers, under the cover of more than 200 152mm and 122mm howitzers, pounced on the German positions on the outskirts of Kling Town from three directions, north, south, south.

But their night counterattack was met head-on by the Germans! The Germans' artillery and machine guns suddenly fired in the darkness, and without the help of flares, rained down shells and bullets on the counterattacking Soviet troops. Half of the 40 American-made M10 tank destroyers were blown up by 88mm and 105mm armor-piercing shells without even noticing where the Germans' tanks were!

With a large number of M10 tank destroyers destroyed, the Soviet General Krylov, who commanded the counterattack, did not immediately give the order to stop the counterattack, although he noticed that the German army's night fighting level was beyond imagination. The fighters of the Soviet Red Army still launched wave after wave of onslaught in a relatively dense "crowd formation", and were defeated by the German troops with night vision equipment one by one. After a night of fierce fighting, the corpses of Soviet soldiers were strewn all over the German front, and almost all the M10 tank destroyers that were put into the attack were destroyed.

When the Germans took advantage of the situation to launch a counterattack, 24 A-19 cannons hiding in the dark in an attempt to ambush German tanks were also named by German tank guns, 21 of which were blown up, and 3 were abandoned by panicked crew members.

The 503rd and 504th Heavy Armored Battalions attached to the German 2nd Panzer Division (each battalion is equipped with 44 E-50A tanks and 22 No. 4H tanks at full strength) arrived in the early morning of May 2, and two paratrooper regiments (belonging to the 7th Paratrooper Division) formed two brigade-level assault groups. The pursuit lasted all the way to the Red October route before stopping. The Soviets threw corpses along the way, and a large number of officers and soldiers who had completely lost their fighting spirit raised their hands and surrendered, and the number of prisoners even blocked the way for the tanks to advance for a time.

This scene seemed to foreshadow the defeat of the Soviet army in the tank battle in a few days!

The commander of the 62nd Army, Colonel-General Krylov, who was responsible for this failed counterattack, had already sensed that something was wrong. He was at the front line to direct the counterattack, and of course he saw the Germans firing at targets 500-1500 meters away with no lighting at all, and it was extremely accurate! However, he did not guess that the Germans used night vision equipment, but thought of radar fire control - now the radar installed on battleships can help artillery hit targets at a distance of 20-30 kilometers at night, and night fighters can also fight in the dark with the help of radar. Then it should also be possible for the Germans to invent a fire control radar that could be mounted on a tank......

If the Germans did have this kind of fire-control radar that could be mounted on tanks, the night tank counterattack that the Red Army was preparing would have suffered the same painful defeat as the counterattack that took place near Kling on May 1.

However, Admiral Krylov, who realized that the counterattack was likely to be frustrated, did not have the opportunity to immediately convey his opinion to the High Command. Because of the crushing defeats suffered by the army group he commanded in the early hours of May 1 and May 2, Stalin, who was furious, relieved him of his duties at noon on May 2.

Krylov, who returned to Moscow, looked for many acquaintances, and only two days later found an opportunity to tell the other party all about what he had seen and conjectures on the night of May 1 with the big red man next to Zhukov, Kokopev, the chief of staff of the Central Front.

……

"Comrade Chief of the General Staff, I carefully examined the report of the Reserve Front on the night counterattack operation of Tarvivo on the 29th. The situation was similar to what happened to the 62nd Army in the night battle on 1 May, where the German tanks all opened fire in the completely unlit darkness, and they were all accurate......"

In the bunker of the General Staff, listening to Kokopev's report, Zhukov, who looked a little tired, rubbed his temples and asked: "Do you agree with Krylov's opinion that the Germans also have on-board radars?" ”

"There is such a possibility," Kokopev paused, "and it is still very large!" Otherwise, how could the tanks of the Germans fire at a target at a distance of 500-1500 meters without lighting at all, and still be able to hit? Even if it is not an on-board radar, it must be some kind of device that allows the Germans to see far at night. ”

"Well," Zhukov squinted and nodded, "there is a possibility. "But we can't give up on the counterattack plan because the current situation doesn't allow us to do anything." ”

After the defeats on the night of May 1 and in the early morning of May 2, the Soviet 62nd Army suffered successive defeats during the day of May 2, the night of May 2, and the day and night of May 3. The small town of Kling fell into German siege on May 3, and the small town of Solnechnogorsk, 22 kilometers southeast of Kling and just over 40 kilometers from the city of Moscow (also along the Red October Railway), fell on the night of May 4!

And the muddy season in Russia is coming to an end, and the road near Moscow is rapidly drying out. The Germans, with their large mechanized equipment, will soon regain full mobility!

At that time, it is very likely that the German army will launch a new great detour operation on the southern front of Moscow, and completely put Moscow in its pocket. And the Kalinin Front will also be flanked by the enemy, caught in the middle of the German Army Group North and Army Group Center.

In addition, the commander of the Warsaw Army Group, Marshal Vasilevsky, reported to Moscow on May 3: the supply of the army group is running out, and the troops are losing control!

This means that the Warsaw Army, with hundreds of thousands of troops, will collapse in the near future, and most of them will most likely join the White Army - they will become the enemy attacking the city of Moscow in 2-3 months!

Kokopev reminded Zhukov: "But Comrade Chief of the General Staff, if Germany had an on-board radar system, we would be at a disadvantage in the night battle." ”

There are radars at night and airplanes during the day...... Why are these Germans so difficult to deal with?

"The enemy's advantage during the day is still much greater than at night!" Zhukov shook his head and said, "According to the reports of the Reserve Front and the 62nd Army, the tanks of the Germans were the first to fire at a distance of 500-1500 meters, implementing accurate fire." This means that their radar or something has an effective range of only 1,500 meters at most...... It shouldn't be more than 2000 meters.

The reason why the night attack of the Reserve Front and the 62nd Army suffered was due to the fact that under the idea of a surprise attack, a large number of flares were not fired in advance. ”

Flares can be fired in night battles, but in night raids, you can't fight everywhere, let alone go all the way to fight all the way, otherwise the suddenness of the night raid will be gone. Normally, mortars were fired at enemy positions only after the two sides had set up battle formations.

Of course, the side holding the position, because it does not need to think about concealment and suddenness, can endlessly fire flares at the front line.

"Then fire a little more flares...... It would also allow the infantry to clear the way for the tanks and fire more flares when they encountered the enemy," Zhukov said, "which should neutralize some of the advantages of the Germans." ”

Listening to Zhukov's tone, Kokopev knew that the other party had made up his mind, and a tank night battle of unprecedented scale would soon break out!

……

"Reich Marshal, Army Group Center reports that the roads in the area south of Moscow have dried out and are passable." While Zhukov was making up his mind to fight a night tank battle, Guderian was also discussing the next battle plan with Hersman, "I think it's time to send the 1st Panzer Army on a great detour on the southern front." ”

The 1st Panzer Army is also the main force of Army Group Center, with 3 Panzer Corps (6 Panzer Divisions, 3 Panzergrenadier Divisions) and 3 Motorized Rifle Corps. The current commander is Hans. Valentine. General Hubey.

The army group was stationed in Bryansk at the beginning of April, preparing to strike in the direction of Moscow after the muddy season. However, in late April, the Germans discovered that the Soviet Orel Front had retreated from Orel (right next to Bryansk). Therefore, the 1st Panzer Army also took the opportunity to move forward, and is currently stationed in the territory of the Orel region. As long as you advance more than 300 kilometers to the northeast, you can detour back to the east of Moscow, and thus complete the encirclement of Moscow!