The 1st Russian Tank Army, under the command of its commander, General Zhukov, was stationed in Sarova, which was also the largest formed unit that the Russian army could mobilize in the vicinity. The www.biquge.info will take on the main combat mission of guarding Sarova.

Georgi. Konstantinovich. Admiral Zhukov was born into an ordinary family near Luga. At the age of nineteen, he joined the Russian army, and was constantly appreciated and promoted for his outstanding performance. By the time the war broke out, he was already the commander of an infantry division. This was also the limit of what a non-aristocratic officer could achieve in the Russian army.

Subsequently, the Russian army suffered heavy losses due to backward equipment, insufficient training and incompetence of the command organization in the war, and was repeatedly defeated in battles with the Ming army, losing a large area of land. Before the start of the war, the standing strength of the Russian army had almost been completely exhausted, and the rest were all re-recruited recruits.

It is said that war is the best litmus test for soldiers, and this sentence is not wrong at all. When those officers who were born aristocracy, had proud qualifications in many military schools, and had dazzling titles on their heads, they kept falling in front of the Ming army. Large-scale changes within the Russian army became inevitable. The incompetent were eliminated by the great waves, and the capable began to rise to the top and occupy important positions.

No matter how reluctant those who had previously occupied positions were, a large number of officers from ordinary backgrounds in the Russian army began to emerge in the war. And Zhukov is one of them.

In fact, this situation in the Russian army also exists in the Ming army, and its performance is even stronger than that of the Russian army. All kinds of officers who relied on their connections were almost everywhere in the Ming army. It's just that because the overall quality of the Ming army is very high, the training of military schools and everything is also very good, as long as you are not born stupid, you can at least be trained to become an ordinary officer. So although it was the same situation, the well-born officers in the Ming army were much more capable than the Russians. This kind of thing is common in the armies of any country in the world. It's all very normal.

The Ming army also waited until Zhang Cheng came to power before it gradually improved, and after continuous adjustments and several large-scale reorganizations within the army, most of the capable people can now get a chance to get ahead. This is also the reason why Zhang Cheng has received so much support in the army.

Because the policies pursued by Zhang Cheng are in line with the interests of most people. After all, no matter what era it is, it is still ordinary people who occupy the majority. And Zhang Cheng gave ordinary people the opportunity to stand out, and as the spokesperson of ordinary people, he was naturally able to get their support.

Immediately after Zhukov entered Sarovo, he sent military police units to set up checkpoints everywhere, blocking lines of communication and intercepting all troops retreating from the front. Regardless of the unit to which they previously belonged, all were sent to the supplementary battalions for reorganization. Except for the wounded who were evacuated, no one could escape the battle, not even the generals.

In a very short time, Zhukov regrouped the Russian troops that had retreated to the vicinity of Sarova. It has greatly expanded the strength in his hands. The 1st Tank Army under his command consisted of the 13th and 28th Tank Armies, the 131st and 399th Infantry Divisions, the 158th Tank Brigade, and a number of artillery, engineer, and other units. However, due to the long hours of fighting, none of these units were fully manned. Although the defeated troops were incorporated and reinforcements were received from other places, the total strength of the army was still only more than 100,000 men.

Zhukov deployed his troops along the line of the Sato River, where barbed wire trenches and minefields were built in large numbers, and his armored units were deployed behind Sarova as a mobile force. The artillerymen were placed in the city of Sarova.

As for why artillery was placed in the city, the main reason was that the Allies lost air supremacy. In the face of the attack of the powerful Ming army's army aviation, no matter where the artillery is placed, as long as it fires, it will inevitably be discovered. Instead of being exterminated in the wild, it is better to be placed directly in the city. Perhaps the Ming Army will have an estimate because of civilian casualties. Of course, if the Ming army bombarded indiscriminately without any worries, he would have no choice. This is the helplessness of the army that is at a disadvantage.

Although the Allies had begun to mobilize air power on a large scale to fight on the front line, they were still unable to take back air supremacy from the Ming army in the face of the powerful Ming Army and Air Force.

Daming Army Aviation really didn't disappoint Zhukov, they didn't care if it was a town or not, as long as they found the target, it would immediately be bombarded. During the entire period of the Sarova defensive battle, the Russian artillery hardly played a decent role. Most of the artillery was destroyed before it could exert its strength. In modern three-dimensional warfare, while one side holds air supremacy, the other side can only passively be beaten to a large extent.

Zhukov was not a passive character, and he also knew that passive defense had little practical meaning in the face of the powerful Ming army. In the face of the tide of Ming attack, the end of passive defense is to be consumed by endless pressure, and then the whole army is annihilated.

After receiving a report that the front-line troops had come into contact with the Ming army, Zhukov immediately sent the 13th Tank Division under the 32nd Tank Army in his hands. The division is composed of two tank regiments, one motorized infantry regiment, one motorized artillery regiment, and numerous logistical supplementary units, with a total strength of more than 10,000 troops.

Although most of the Russian army's troops are difficult to supply and are not ready to be replenished, they can still provide priority supplies for elite tank troops. After all, under the crisis of the ruin of the country and the collapse of the family, even the nobles knew that they had to work together to resist the enemy. Once finally defeated, the so-called nobles may end up worse than those commoners.

The 32nd Tank Division of the Russian Army has about seventy KV tanks and about one hundred and twenty T34 tanks. In addition, this division has more than forty light tanks, including the BT series. If nothing else, the 32nd Tank Division is quite strong, at least in numbers.

Zhukov sent the 32nd Tank Division across the Sato River to prepare for a quick and effective counterattack against the Ming forward reconnaissance forces. The main purpose is to take advantage of the fact that the Ming army's forward troops have just arrived and have a stable foothold to catch the Ming army off guard, as long as they win, it can greatly enhance the depressed will to fight at the moment. After all, many of Zhukov's officers and soldiers were routed from the front. Their will to fight cannot be raised by the gendarmes alone.

Of course, Zhukov did not think of launching a fierce counterattack to defeat the Ming army. After several years of brutal warfare, Zhukov already understood the gap between the two sides very well. His order to the 32nd Tank Division was also very simple, to retreat immediately after defeating the Ming army's vanguard reconnaissance force. He would promote the battle against a reconnaissance force as the repulsion of an armored division of the Ming army, thus greatly boosting morale.

And the vanguard of the 6th Panzer Army of the Ming Army was the troops of the 29th Panzer Division of the Ming Army. This armoured unit has been the vanguard of the entire Legion Army since its departure from Arzamas.

The 29th Armored Division of the Ming Army lost a lot of vehicles along the way due to battle damage and mechanical problems. When they reached the vicinity of Sarova, there were only about 170 tanks left in their hands. However, it has a large number of Tiger and Leopard tanks.

The Russian 32nd Tank Division quickly crossed the Sato River via a pontoon bridge, and after a short rest, drove towards the village of Kremenki, which was not far away. There, the 29th Panzer Division of the Ming Army, which had already been notified by reconnaissance aircraft, was already ready.

In order to cooperate with the counterattack of the 32nd Tank Division, Zhukov sent all the aircraft units assigned to his command in the nearby area and did his best to provide air support to the 32nd Tank Division. Although the strength is still insufficient, it can still be done with air cover in a short period of time. The tank duel between the two sides was not supported by air power, and it became a short and pure tank duel.

The Russian army has the advantage in the number of tanks on both sides, but when it comes to quality, the Ming army is completely superior to the Russians.

At this time, the Russian army had learned a lot from the years of war with blood and lives as tuition. The armored units of the Russian army received a large amount of radio equipment from their American allies, and they are no longer the units that the tank crews had to communicate with flags at the beginning of the war.

At half past one o'clock in the afternoon of July 4, the 32nd Tank Division of the Russian Army, with KV tanks as the core and T34 as the auxiliary, formed an armored group and drove towards the vicinity of the village of Kremenki.

The village of Kremenki is on the eastern bank of the Sato River, about fifteen kilometers from Sarova. This distance is nothing for armored forces. It took just over half an hour for the 32nd Tank Division to reach the vicinity of the village of Kremenki. And the 29th Armored Division of the Ming Army, which was already ready to go, also deployed a deadly trap against the Russian army at this time.

Relative to the Russians, the well-trained, well-equipped and experienced Ming army was adept at playing to its advantage. They deployed anti-tank artillery battalions and anti-aircraft battalions directly under the division headquarters near Kremenki village to entangle the Russian armored forces, and at the same time concealed their armored forces in a small forest south of Kremenki village, preparing to launch a flank attack on the Russian armored forces from the flank when the Russian army was deep in the village, so as to encircle and annihilate the enemy troops.

In fact, the Russians received information that there were only a small number of Ming vanguard troops in Kremenki Village, and only a few dozen tanks and armored vehicles. This is why Zhukov quickly ordered a counterattack. (To be continued.) )