On the night of May 5, on the battlefields in the north of the Moscow region, there was a calm that characterized the pre-war war. Pen % fun % Pavilion www.biquge.info

Certainly not the kind of silence that didn't make a sound, and the rumbling of artillery still rang out in many places, it was the Soviet artillery firing aimlessly. Under the cover of the rumbling cannons, steel behemoths staggered through the night.

Because there were still German night reconnaissance planes circling in the sky, the Soviet tanks and other combat vehicles that drove in did not turn on their headlights. The turret (fighting compartment) canopy and cockpit door of combat vehicles such as the JS-2, T-34/85 and SU-57 are open. The captain and the driver poked their heads out, and with the faint moonlight pointing the way, they carefully steered the vehicle, following the more conspicuous white lines (spilled by white lime) on the ground.

In addition to these tanks and assault artillery taking advantage of the darkness of May 5 to enter the concealed sortie positions, countless Soviet artillery pieces were also silently shifting their positions -- in order to ensure the victory of this great counterattack, which had a bearing on the future and fate of the Soviet Union and the Bolshevik Party, the Soviet high command not only did its best to mobilize tanks and assault artillery, but also concentrated a large number of artillery. Including the most common 152mm, 122mm howitzers, the almost "disposable" ZIS-3 cannon (76.2mm), the A-50 cannon (122mm) that can destroy the E-19A tank, etc., there are more than 3,000 of them!

In addition, the Soviets have taken out millions of shells of various calibers from underground warehouses in Moscow, and trucks and mules and horses are now being transported to the front of the battlefield.

Nearly 100,000 sappers and able-bodied infantrymen are now carrying shovels and other construction tools. Their task was nothing else, to dig artillery bunkers for more than 3,000 Soviet body-barreled guns and to arrange various camouflage.

In addition to these body-barreled artillery, which was not very mobile, the Soviet army also concentrated a large number of Katyusha rocket artillery, with a total concentration of more than 800 units. Now these "Katyushas" are also advancing along the roads leading to the front line, and they will all be deployed this evening.

Tomorrow evening, these more than 800 "Katyushas" will be the first to roar and launch tens of thousands of powerful rockets into the heads of the German invading army!

And on the same night, the German army, knowing that it was going to be flanked by the Soviet army, also stayed awake all night, building fortifications all night long, preparing for battle!

They received reinforcements during the day on 5 May, as the ground had dried out and the capacity of the roads had improved considerably. So the big trucks of Opel, Steyr, BMW and Mercedes brought a large amount of ammunition and gasoline to Admiral Balk, and also brought several artillery regiments equipped with 150mm howitzers, and several German vehicle-mounted rocket artillery regiments also drove up, each regiment was equipped with dozens of rocket launchers called "Hersmann's organ" and the same number of Type 41 rocket launch boxes that could be thrown after the battle.

The Luftwaffe did not laze off because the roads were passable for trucks, but instead increased the airdrops - because the other German troops on the Western Front in Moscow did not need to be airdropped supplies, and all Fokker 42s could serve the 48th Panzer Army. These planes dropped not only ammunition and gasoline, but also large quantities of "tank killer" and "doll" bazooka launchers and ammunition.

The official code names of the two bazookas are RPzb54 (Tank Killer Bazooka) and Paketenwerfer 43mm Bazooka (Doll) of the 88th type. The former is a cylindrical rocket launcher with an effective range of 180 meters. The latter is an upgraded version of the former, with a small gun mount that looks like a small gun with an effective range of up to 300 meters. "Tank Killer" and "Doll" are now together with "Iron Fist" and are the anti-tank trio of the German light forces. The "Iron Fist" is usually assigned to platoon and company units, the "Tank Killer" is assigned to the battalion level, and the "Doll" is deployed at the regimental level with a mix of 75mm anti-tank guns or 50mm anti-tank guns.

And now the "tank killers" and "dolls" that have been airdropped are for the use of paratroopers assigned to the 48th Panzer Army. Because the German paratroopers are now highly trained, everyone is proficient in the use of a variety of weapons, including bazookas.

In addition, on the airdropped "Doll" bazooka, the FG-1250 night vision telescope was installed. German paratroopers using this "night battle doll" were able to ambush Soviet tank clusters at night with the help of the "Owl" night battle searchlights.

However, if you want to rely on the "night battle doll" to give the Soviet tank sea a ruthless blow, the German paratroopers themselves have to withstand the sea of fire from the Soviet artillery!

……

On the night of May 5, 1944, on the battlefield north of Moscow.

The sound of gunfire and light artillery fire began at 8 p.m. and crackled around the German-controlled Volokolamsk-Rama-Solnechnogorsk triangle. The sound of machine guns, rifles, submachine guns, and automatic carbines (assault rifles) from Soviet and German armaments was heard one after another, and occasionally mixed with the roar of mortars and various flat-fire guns. This is a fierce exchange of fire between the reconnaissance patrol units of the Soviet and German armies!

It turned out that after dark on May 5, Soviet and German scouts and patrol units began to move with dozens of times more enthusiasm than during the day. They all seemed to want to control the battlefield between the two armies in darkness and prevent enemy reconnaissance detachments from infiltrating, while also trying to infiltrate behind the opposing lines in order to find out what they were doing tonight.

So on the eve of the outbreak of Armageddon, the battle between the small units of the two sides suddenly broke out on the whole front, all kinds of light armored vehicles rushed to kill each other, the infantry fired fiercely, and the infiltration squads wearing each other's military uniforms also showed their skills, until the front of the two armies was stirred into a pot of porridge.

Staff officers at all levels of the German army also reached the forefront under the cover of the troops, and began to observe the situation on the spot and determine the intentions of the Soviet army. The situation is now clear that the Soviets are desperately mobilizing forces and are clearly preparing for a large-scale offensive. It's going to be tomorrow or the night after tomorrow!

Imperial Marshal Hersman, who had just taken a long nap, hastily finished his dinner and returned to the first war room. Almost immediately, a large amount of battlefield information was obtained from Army Group Center. The conclusion is obvious, the Soviets, as expected, are ready to concentrate all their forces on the 48th Panzer Army! A large number of tanks, artillery and infantry were in place, and the Soviets were fighting for each position that could be used for the starting position of the tank cluster.

"Tomorrow? Or is it the day after tomorrow? ”

Hersmann asked Guderian, who was meeting next to the map station to study the situation of the battle, with 2nd Quartermaster General Jodel and 3rd Quartermaster Zeitzler. These three quartermasters, together with the three operations officers of the Operations Bureau, were the think tanks that Hersmann relied on in the Wehrmacht General Staff. The operations of the European coalition forces on the Eastern Front, in fact, they were responsible for commanding.

"There's a 75% chance it's after dark tomorrow." Guderian, of course, understood what Hersmann's question meant—Hesmann was asking when the Soviet general offensive would be launched?

"That's tomorrow!" Hersman walked to the map table and looked at the dense troop numbers and red and blue arrows on the map with his hands behind his back.

"So...... Can we start first? Hersman looked at it for a moment, then asked suddenly.

"First?" Guderian was a little puzzled, "You mean to let the 48th Panzer Army attack first?" ”

"No, of course not." Hersman shook his head, "I mean, can you preemptively carry out a round of artillery and air strikes on the possible assembly positions and artillery positions of the Soviet troops 1-2 hours before the Soviet army launches an attack?" ”

This is a trick used by the Soviet army in Kursk in history, and now Hirschman also wants to use it.

The two generals, Zeitzler and Jodl, were shocked to hear Hersmann's suggestion.

"I think so," Zeitzler said, "that the Soviets will be basically in place tonight by maneuvering at night, and although they may not necessarily enter the position where the attack was launched, they will not go too far." Our shelling and air strikes should pay off. ”

Yodel pondered: "Based on past experience, the Soviet long-range artillery will enter the firing position this evening. The other attacking units will move into reserve positions tonight and then again tomorrow evening or after dark, and when the attacking forces are in position, the shelling will begin.

If we were to arrange artillery and air strikes in advance, then it should take place tomorrow between 7 and 8 p.m. But...... Doing so also made it possible to expose the target and point the way for the Soviet artillery counterattack. ”

"Just hit with rocket artillery, Vespa self-propelled guns, Rhino tank destroyers and Gepard tank destroyers." Guderian waved his hand indifferently, "It is possible to let the Air Force's Do217, Ju188 and Fw189 rise into the air, as long as the Soviet artillery group fires a counterattack, the Do217 can carry out an air attack, and the Fw189 can also guide our towed howitzers to counterattack." ”

Many Soviet artillery pieces did not have muzzle suppressors, so firing at night was easy to detect by German aircraft. However, the German planes were also ineffective at night, and the Fw-190F/G and Hs-129 were difficult to make sorties (their attack altitude was too high, and they were easy to hit something at night), so they could only use Do217 and Ju188 to drop bombs horizontally.

In addition, the Fw 189 artillery school firing aircraft can also work at night, and the artillery observers on it can roughly determine the position of the Soviet artillery group by visually spotting the Soviet artillery muzzle flame and tracer shells, so as to guide several German towed artillery regiments to fire.

There is no need to really destroy how many Soviet artillery, as long as they dare not let go of their hands and feet, the pressure on the 48th Panzer Army in the night battle on May 6 will be greatly reduced!