Winters in Russia are cold, of course, this is nonsense, but for a foreigner like Shinenz, this is not nonsense. Previously, Shi Nengzhi felt that the coldest winter was still in the Long March, and for a complete southerner, the winter in Shaanxi, Gansu and Ningbo was by no means so lovely.

This feeling lasted until he took part in the Great Patriotic War, and before the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, he also did not think how cold the Russian winter was. The heating is baking, how can it feel cold? Anyway, in the first winter in Russia, the only thing that Savor had was that it was heaven!

He had never heard of such a high-end pleasure as heating, and even more so because the supply of heating was basically realized in Moscow. Compared with backward China, when the local owners and wealthy people could enjoy the ondol, how could the residence with heating facilities not be a paradise.

Anyway, Shi Nengzhi's only thought at that time was that he must strive for the victory of the revolution as soon as possible, and after the victory of the revolution, he must install heating for every household in China, so as not to let a poor proletarian brother suffer from hunger and cold!

Of course, when he went out into the Russian wilderness and attacked the positions of the Nazi bandits in the snowy weather, he felt again: "It's fucking cold!" ”

In all fairness, the current Red Army is much happier than the Red Army in history, and the Red Army in history can only wear ugly khaki cotton jackets to fight. In addition to the khaki padded jacket, the overcoat also looks so bulky. Let's put it this way, when the Red Army soldiers were quietly standing guard, such a configuration of winter clothes seemed thin. But when they charge the enemy's positions with their steel guns or bayonets up, such winter clothes will make them heat up quickly.

That is to say, the Red Army's winter clothes that year were not enough to keep warm and too much to keep warm, either they were frozen with their third grandson, or they were so hot that they were sweating profusely. This hot and cold sauna caused many Red Army soldiers to suffer from colds or typhoid fever.

And now, because of the existence of a certain immortal, the Red Army's winter clothing configuration has been greatly improved, and there is no longer a dead but not too warm earthy yellow padded jacket, which has been replaced by down or polyester fiber filling materials, which are light and cold-resistant.

Like now. After running 1,500 meters, he only felt a little hot, and he could return to normal after a little rest.

"The first platoon is on the left, the second platoon is on the right, the fire platoon is supporting, and the third platoon acts as a reserve, go!"

After a simple and powerful order, the company of the Relief Hold quickly dispersed over the endless field. Dressed in winter camouflage burqas, they were able to fool many German troops, which greatly reduced casualties.

The task of Shan Neng was to capture Heights 235.7, and in and around this heights, about two platoons of German troops were stationed, and they controlled the road below the hill, and without driving them away, the Fifth Army would not be able to continue its advance towards Konotop.

The battle began a few minutes later, and finally sharp-eyed German sentries spotted Red Army soldiers in camouflage uniforms. The 98K began to shoot slowly and forcefully, and then the MG-34 began to roar as well.

However, Shi Neng was not too nervous. He has seen a lot of this kind of scene, and when he first went to the battlefield, he felt that the firepower of the German army was very rebellious, much more awesome than the devil, when would it be good for our Eighth Route Army to fire like this.

But now, Shi Neng no longer has any feelings, but feels that the firepower of the German devils has weakened. For every shot fired by the 98K, the Red Army fighters were able to return three shots with the SKS30, and the Red Army's PK machine gun was a little stronger than the MG-34, so much so that many squad leaders had to frequently remind the machine gunners to pay attention to saving ammunition.

In Shine's opinion, the Germans also underestimated his troops. How can a mortar still hold its breath? If you don't make a sound, you're welcome!

Finally, the German gunners could not hold back, and after a sharp whistling, mortar shells exploded around a platoon. However, Shi Neng is still not too nervous, the first platoon is the backbone platoon, all of them are veterans, for them to dodge shells is the same as playing. They were not afraid of enemy shelling, but were even more afraid of the German machine guns.

"Observer, have you found the enemy's gun emplacement?" Shi Neng urged impatiently.

"Almost," the young sergeant wrote and drew on the drawings, quickly calculated a series of coordinates, and in less than two minutes, he contacted his artillery squad by field phone: "Coordinates XXX, height XX ......"

Less than a minute later, another, more shrill voice rang out, all too familiar to Shine, the Red Army shelling. Yes, in order to enhance the deterrent effect of artillery shelling, the Red Army deliberately made a small article on the shells and installed a tool similar to a whistle, which made the shells more harsh in the air. Of course, the effect is also very good, and it can scare the German recruits to the bust.

Thundered! Thundered!

The heavy shelling dumbed down the mortar and machine-gun fire points of the German troops, and the Red Army soldiers, who had just buried their heads in the snow, quickly got up and strode forward with rifles......

An hour later, a red flag was raised on the 235.7 heights, and after paying the price of minor casualties, Luneng captured the hill cleanly and beautifully, and when he ordered the soldiers to rest, the roar of diesel engines sounded from the other side of the road, and the long-dormant Red Army tank units could finally get back on the road. At that moment, Shi Nengzhi saw old Hemstra again, and when the old man passed him on a tank, he shook his beard and gave him a hearty laugh: "Man, goodbye to Konotop!" With that, the old man threw a cigar to Silkon.

Savonage habitually put the cigar under his nose and sniffed it, and after smoking the cigar once, he had to admit that it was much better than the tobacco leaves in his hometown. Since the last time he helped the old man, every time they met, the old man would give him a cigar. It seems to have become a silent agreement between them, and maybe after the capture of Berlin, they can sit together and smoke and chat.

Zhukov's Fifth Army was honestly not making much progress, as the troops were tired, after all, they had just taken part in the battle to relieve the siege of Kiev and had held off the German onslaught in the latter stages of the campaign. The troops are in dire need of recuperation and replenishment. Secondly, the resistance of the German army was relatively stubborn, and every step closer to Konotop had to pay a price.

Similarly, the 6th Army, which had belonged to Rokossovsky, was in trouble, but their problems were not quite the same as those of Zhukov. In the words of Fat Ivan: "This damn weather! It's a damn road condition! This damn enemy plane! ”

The weather was terrible, the 6th Army was accompanied by heavy snow almost all the way, and the goose feather snow accumulated a foot thick overnight, and no car could advance in such snow, and Fat Ivan's company was trapped in the snow for a whole day, and it was not until the next morning that the division headquarters sent two T-34s with bulldozers to rescue them.

Over the next two days. Fat Ivan, the armored train, and Evgeny had to temporarily put down their steel guns and pick up shovels to fight the snow, and they could only move forward meter by meter, and many times the roads that had just been cleared were immediately covered by a new blizzard, causing them to constantly rework.

This high-intensity physical labor lasted for three days, during which Fat Ivan lost a full circle. And just after the blizzard finally ended and the weather finally cleared, the damned German planes came again. German fighters and attack aircraft taking off from Chernihiv constantly attacked the 6th Army, creating problems for them by all means. The 6th Army was constantly switching between the state of march and the state of air defense, which delayed a lot of time.

The only one who could march forward without distraction was Vasilevsky's 37th Army, which, although delayed by the blizzard, was able to travel with peace of mind under the protection of its own air force. The only thing that works against them is that they are the furthest from the intended goal. In this regard, Vasilevsky was also depressed, and he wrote in his memoirs:

"Previously, in order to defend Kharkov, the 37th Army was placed on the Bogodukhov line. But the enemy went to Kursk. There were only two paths in front of the army group, the first was to advance to Sumy. Cut off the retreat of Guderian's assault group, but the work was already given to Comrade Zhukov's Fifth Army. So we had only a second way, first returning to Kharkov along the road, and then turning back north to Kursk to reinforce the 38th Army. ”

"Compared to the 5th and 6th armies, the 37th Army had relatively few troubles, and the only thing that could hinder us was the blizzard. The main forces of the army group were trapped in Belgorod for three days. During these three days. We tried everything we could, but we couldn't move. We weren't back on the road until the blizzard stopped on the fourth day. However, it was still stop-and-go, and two feet of snow covered all the roads, whether it was roads or railways, and they had to be re-dredged. I had to mobilize all the citizens along the railroad to help, and it was a huge people's war. The Soviet people and the Soviet Red Army marched hand in hand. Forced to make a way on the snow-covered and icy roads......"

Vasilevsky spoke highly of this "people's war", believing that it was this "people's war" that guaranteed the Red Army to win the Battle of Kursk, and that without this "people's war", his 37th Army would never have been able to reach Kursk on time.

However, Vasilevsky should actually be grateful to the three air assault brigades of the KGB, because if they had not arrived at Kursk in time, Konev's 38th Army would have lost at least half of the Kursk city, not to mention the collapse of the defensive line. It was the divine soldiers of the Air Assault Brigade who stabilized the line of defense and won Vasilevsky three days less!

And these three days are the most significant three days! Years later, Konev was apprehensive when he mentioned these three days: "The situation was too dangerous, the defense line was already precarious, and I had already thrown in all the reserves, but the German offensive was too fierce!" At that critical moment, Andrey. Comrade Petrovich sent valuable reinforcements that helped us withstand the surging German offensive, and it is quite safe to say that without Comrade Andrei, there would have been no victory in the later Battle of Kursk! ”

Makes a lot of sense, doesn't it? Comparing the memories of Konev and Vasilevsky, it is not difficult to see that the difference is not small. Vasilevsky did not say it directly, but the meaning was obvious, he first believed that it was his 37th Army that arrived on the battlefield to stabilize the situation, and secondly, he believed that the key point of this battle was that he mobilized the masses along the way in time. In short, he and the 37th Army were the key.

But Konev is different, he thinks that a certain immortal is very important, and if there is no reinforcement sent by a certain immortal, Vasilevsky will not be used at all, so the key lies in the correct decision of a certain immortal. To put it bluntly, it is a sycophant of an immortal.

So who is more truthful? Hehe, let's put it this way, these two people's butts are actually sitting crookedly, and they both belong to the post-war face of the group, and they can't really reflect the situation on the battlefield.

Just looking at the memoirs of both of them is not enough. It will be interesting to see what other people recall, among which Ubolevich's is very important, after all, he was the commander of the Kursk Front, although he was not in Kursk at that time, but this did not prevent him from looking at the Kursk battle from a more global perspective.

Regarding the plight of the 38th Army, Ubolevich reacted in his memoirs: "Ivan. Things are not going well with Spantenovich. The wave after wave of German offensives put extreme pressure on the 38th Army, forcing him to throw in all his reserves. In view of the continuous influx of the main battle corps of the German army into the battlefield, it can be concluded that the pressure on the 38th Army will be even greater in the future. Ivan. Spantenovic assured him that he would be able to hold his ground, but that was not enough in my opinion......"

Why does Ubolevich think it's not enough? Wasn't Konev good enough to hold his position under the furious German offensive? Of course it's not good enough, Ubolevich never wants to see the 38th Army being crippled like this, this group army is a small number of group armies with complete combat effectiveness, and he also wants the group army to play a role in the future encirclement and annihilation operations, how can it be crippled by the Germans like this!

After recognizing this. Everyone should understand what kind of state Konev is in, so to speak. Konev can hold on to his release, but at a great cost, a price that Ubolevich and Li Xiaofeng do not want to see, and they want the former to play a bigger role in future battles.

Therefore, the reinforcement of Konev was not because he could not hold out, but to reduce the attrition of the 38th Army. Once you understand this, you can look back and you will be able to taste more from the memories of Vasilevsky and Konev.

Obviously. The significance of the actions on Vasilevsky's side was to be discounted, even if they arrived a few days late. Konev will not collapse either, nothing more than crippled. The impact on the entire Kursk campaign was not particularly great, it was nothing more than that the 38th Army entered a rest ahead of schedule, and it could not be in the limelight in the encirclement and annihilation operations in the later part of the campaign.

Vasilevsky said this and that, there is only one reason, or because of merit. After all, in the defensive battle of the first stage of the Battle of Kursk, only Konev's 38th Army was the highlight. If he didn't go to reinforcements in time, the 37th Army would really not be able to catch a single hair. Obviously, this is what Trotsky did not want to see, one way or another. Lao Todu had to grab some points for Vasilevsky, and he could only instruct Vasilevsky to boast about himself, anyway, this is not excessive, after all, the 37th Army did repel the Germans as soon as it arrived on the battlefield, this is a fact, and it is normal to blow it a little.

So why did Konev smear himself in the face? He is not a Trotskyist, and his relationship with Vasilevsky is like that, there is no need to blacken himself to fulfill the fact that others are not. Hehe, Konev is definitely not Vasilevsky who wants to fulfill, he wants to fulfill a certain immortal.

Note that his two arguments are worth pondering, it was Ubolevich who agreed to transfer the air assault brigade, and it stands to reason that Konev should be grateful to this immediate superior, and not completely forget that Ubolevich only mentioned Li Xiaofeng. The reason for this is entirely political.

If Konev doesn't highlight that his side is very embarrassed and critical, how can he highlight the glory of Li Xiaofeng's decision-making? He's devoting himself and body to the prestige of a certain immortal! This sycophant is level. This is also the key to why after the war he was able to become the deputy chairman of the Military Commission, and Rokossovsky could only be the chief of the General Staff.

Well, put aside all this political nonsense. Although the battle for Kursk was fierce and brutal, it was far from the time to decide the winner. Although the Germans were slowly advancing, on the whole, they were not able to crush the Red Army in one go.

Under the command of Konev, the 38th Army, with the support of the KGB Air Assault Brigade, slowly shrank, exchanging space for time, and not only successfully waited for Vasilevsky's 37th Army, but also met Ubolevich's request to lure the enemy into depth.

By the time the 37th Army began to take over the defensive line of the 38th Army in some of the key areas, Guderian's assault group had already reached the perimeter of Kursk. All armored units, including the 46th Panzer Army, have fallen into the great quagmire of Kursk.

Of course, they are not too deep, that is, to the foot and neck, at this time, if they wake up in time, they can still draw their feet, at least it is too late for the strong man to break his wrist. But at this time, the Germans were completely unaware of the potential risks, and instead rushed towards Kursk.

"We should be more cautious and not take risks!" Guderian said angrily to Paulus.

These days, Guderian finally understood one thing, that is, Paulus was not all the way with him, this man was completely bewitched by the mustache, felt that Kursk was within reach, and thought that taking Kursk would mean that the door to Russia was wide open, and then he could play a triumphant song all the way to Moscow.

But Guderian wants to say, these are all nonsense, how can the Russians watch us break through to Kursk, and at this time the enemy's reinforcements are probably already halfway there...... (To be continued......)

PS: Bow and thank you to Jinguan Chengzhongke, Xuanyuan Extreme Saint Emperor and Comrade Juventus!