Chapter 1097: Moscow of Blood and Snow (4)
Unlike Zimuden, who contacted the local villages while walking, Zhukov rushed to Moscow with more than 80,000 Soviet troops.
"Quick! Clear the snow and the troops behind keep up! Zhukov blushed and said to his adjutant: "The front, middle and rear roads change positions every hour, and the march cannot be stopped!" β
"Comrade Zhukov, I know you are in a hurry. In fact, I'm in a hurry. But we have to take into account the objective situation, so that even if we arrive in Moscow, will the soldiers still have the physical strength to fight?! β
Chief of Staff Barwell looked at the Soviet troops who were already freezing and were about to die, and said: "If this continues, the non-combat attrition alone will be enough to make us suffer heavy losses!" β
Zhukov shook his head with an ugly face and said, "Barwell, do you know why I'm in such a hurry?!" β
Barwell looked at Zhukov with some surprise, according to his knowledge of this old comrade-in-arms, Zhukov was not the kind of person who was eager for quick success. Although sometimes Zhukov would become extremely irritable, as soon as he went to the battlefield, the general would immediately become a qualified general.
And this time, Zhukov was desperately urging his troops to hurry as if he had lost his mind. Traveling in these snowy weather is extremely physically exhausting for the troops.
At the same time, this rapid march will also lead to large-scale non-combat attrition, and there will even be soldiers who suffer frostbite due to such forced marches and amputation.
"Moscow originally had a large amount of grain stockpiled, but after the merger, due to our civil war, the committee decided to give some of the grain to the relief of the peasant associations. And the food that was taken out has not been replenished until now......"
Zhukov pulled Barwell aside and said to him in a muffled voice with a cigarette: "Before the start of the war, we had been asking the United States, Great Britain and China for the supply of weapons and ammunition, and at that time the Supreme Council believed that the Allies would bring sufficient supplies to assist in the war. β
"It is true that the Allies also carried certain provisions. But neither we nor the rest of the Allied forces could have imagined that the war would last for months, and that the supplies they were carrying would have long since been exhausted. Most of the time, they rely on temporary supplies from within the country to sustain their consumption......"
"But this heavy snowfall has led to an extremely serious problem: our logistical supply lines are broken! In other words, the rest of the Allied forces were temporarily not provided by their own countries, and were now completely dependent on Moscow's own reserves for consumption, do you understand?! β
Barwell nodded with a pale face, he was not a fool who did not understand the meaning of Zhukov's words. Moscow's reserves were already limited, and after several months of consumption by the Soviet army itself, and the opening of the warehouse to release grain from the famine, how much is left?!
Now the entire Allied army, nearly two million troops, is eating and drinking all on Moscow's reserves, and God knows how long these reserves will last.
The consumption of ammunition was even more terrifying, and news from Moscow showed that the Germans were frantically attacking Moscow. The fight between the two sides was from the street to the bathroom.
Even a living room or a kitchen has become a place of life and death. A few days ago, when the snow was not particularly heavy, Allied reconnaissance planes took off to observe the battlefield.
The whole of Moscow has been bombed into ruins, and aerial photographs can clearly see that the whole of Moscow is full of broken walls, gunsmoke and war......
In a ruin in the middle of Moscow, Adelaide, a sergeant of the American Expeditionary Force, quietly lurks in the middle of it with his sniper rifle.
He now misses his hot coffee and apple pie in his hometown, but all he sees here is death and corpses. And maybe the dilapidated and burning houses.
"In order not to let what happened in Moscow happen to our America, so we are fighting here! We have no other choice but to kill these Germans in Moscow. Or we are killed by them here and watch them burn America to ashes! β
This is a combat mobilization given to the US military by Eisenhower, the commander-in-chief of the US military. As a member of the U.S. military, Adelaide believes that what his commander said makes sense.
If you don't kill these Germans here, then they will go to the United States to kill people. It's not for any homeland, it's more for the families who live in Louisiana.
Adelaide didn't think about it anymore, because through the scope he spotted a small group of Germans trying to approach a street corner. Adelaide took a deep breath and slowly put her frozen finger on the trigger.
"Da da da ......" A light machine gun roar sounded crisply, and the Germans quickly lay down and hid behind bunkers.
The machine guns then returned fire at a point of fire on a broken wall.
......The gunfire on both sides suddenly rang out, and the broken eaves and walls were suddenly filled with gunsmoke. Adelaide knew that it was the Soviet troops guarding the street corner who were setting up an ambush.
But Adelaide still didn't make any moves, and since the Allies began to use snipers to kill and injure German troops, the Germans quickly took countermeasures.
A large number of German units were also equipped with snipers, on the one hand to assist in the operation, and on the other hand to counter the snipers of the Allied forces.
Adelaide knew she couldn't shoot at this time. Because the opposing snipers have not yet made any moves. If he shoots, he will undoubtedly reveal his position.
And once your position is discovered by the opponent's sniper, then there is no doubt that you will be sniped immediately. Now Adelaide needs patience, and he needs to be more patient than the German snipers.
At the same time, it was necessary to observe the positions of German snipers. Now the competition is the eyesight, patience and concentration of the snipers on both sides.
"Boom, boom, boom......" The Soviets carried out their small-caliber mortars and bombarded the ruins where the Germans were hiding.
The explosion kicked up puffs of snow, and screams rang from the ruins occupied by the Germans.
"Bang!" A crisp shot rang out, and the German snipers finally couldn't help but shoot at the position of the mortar. A Soviet mortar man fell in response.
And Adelaide also discovered the location of this German sniper, who hid it well. Hiding in the ruins like Adelaide, even the muzzle of his gun is hidden in the snow.
Had it not been for this gunshot, which revealed his location, Adelaide might not have been able to spot him.
"Bang!" Adelaide didn't hesitate, and fired directly at the German sniper position indicated by the ballistics, and then slid out of his sniper position.
"Da Da ......" Adelaide had just withdrawn from the sniper position, and the sniper point he was at was swept away by German machine guns. Adelaide didn't look back, and he quickly moved to the next sniper point.
It wasn't until he laid the ambush that he observed the results of his sniping just now. There is no doubt that the German sniper was killed by him. Bloody stains could be clearly seen on the snow, and the muzzle of a gun was exposed to the snow.
Adelaide let out a breath of cloudy air and made a light scratch on the butt of his rifle. It was the eighth German soldier he had sniped.
"Tom...... Rumble!! Unfortunately, Adelaide was only enjoying a moment of victory before it was shelled by the Germans. The entire ruin where he was was had collapsed, and Adelaide could see nothing but darkness......
I miss my mother's apple pie...... It was Adelaide's last thought and I wanted to go home......
Such a fight is unfolding in every corner of Moscow. The two sides did not speak any language, and the only way they could communicate was bullets and shells.
At every street corner, the Germans planted their flags immediately after the occupation. Because no one can say for sure how long they will occupy this place. And when the Allies reclaim it, they will pull down the German flags that have been planted here.
Then evacuate urgently, because once the German flag is pulled down, it means that the German artillery will arrive here.
Many ruins of Moscow have been bombed more than once, shelled more than once. The violent explosion burned everything that could be burned here, and if it weren't for the chΓ‘o wetness caused by the snow, maybe the whole of Moscow would have burned.
Death and cold invaded everyone in the German and Allied armies. Small detachments entered each position, and the two sides continued to invest troops and frantically strangle.
The Soviets found a large number of glass bottles, which they poured into them to make incendiary bombs and distribute them to the Allies. The Allies used these improvised gasoline bombs against the German armored forces.
Gunfire and explosions rang out everywhere throughout Moscow, and German tanks tried to knock down buildings all over Moscow in a flat push manner.
They bombarded every inch of what they thought they might be hiding, and more than a hundred German tanks had been destroyed since the start of the campaign to attack Moscow.
Despite the heavy casualties inflicted by the Allies, the Germans were kept out of the core of Moscow. Although some of the ruins were occupied by the Germans, these occupying forces faced constant Allied attacks and sniping.
The fighting continued, and neither side had any intention of stopping. German fighters and bombers were no longer able to make sorties. But their heavy artillery units continued to help the infantry units bombard the Allied blocking points.
Both Montgomery and Eisenhower received reports of casualties from their own forces, and the number of reported numbers continued to increase daily. Every scarlet name that is shocking represents the loss of a life......
There was no wailing in the field hospital in the bomb shelter, and the medicine was gradually depleted in the heat of the battle. Medicines are scarce and scarce, and the wounded who are alive are struggling to help those who continue to fight...... (To be continued.) )