When the commander-in-chief of the German Army Group F, Field Marshal Kluger, moved his headquarters forward by 10 kilometers, the Soviet Moscow City Defense Command was also being relocated, and instead of moving their headquarters forward like their German counterparts, they moved back another 3 kilometers or so in a lonely mood.

It's really sad to say that the place that was originally chosen by the Soviet commander, General Vatutin, as his headquarters is the Cathedral of the Archangel Migal. Now in that position, the German infantry was engaged in a frantic battle with their old rivals, the Soviets.

Behind a window on the second floor of the church, a Soviet Maxim heavy machine gun was firing desperately. After all, these Soviet soldiers knew in their hearts that if their firepower was exposed to the Germans for a long time, they would soon be suppressed by all kinds of German weapons. All they could do was open fire suddenly, and then pour as much ammunition as possible in the shortest possible time to inflict maximum damage on the Germans.

This is the lesson they have summed up with their lives, because the Germans are really too much to surpass them in terms of combat experience and weapon configuration. In response to this Soviet machine-gun fire point, the German soldiers could suppress it with individual anti-tank rocket launchers, or with the MG42 machine gun with a faster rate of fire, or even kill the machine gun shooter with a sniper - under all these means, the chances of the Soviet machine gun fire point surviving are really very small.

Sure enough, several of the German soldiers who tried to rush through the street, near the church gate, were hit to the ground by the sudden attack of Soviet bullets. This sudden attack confused the German army for a few seconds, but after all, the experience of this German army may be said to be the first in the world, so it was only a few seconds of confusion, they organized their own effective defense, and began to arrange counterattack missions against the exposed firepower points of the Soviet Union.

"Anti-tank group! Destroy the enemy's fire point over there with rocket artillery!" a German platoon commander with a submachine gun on his back pointed to the Soviet fire point in the distance that kept spraying tongues of fire, and loudly ordered his men to take measures.

Because the German army was expanded to the limit within a year, the armament of the grassroots German army was in fact very chaotic. According to the basic configuration table of the German mechanized infantry at that time, each infantry squad should be equipped with 3 MP-44 assault riflemen, one sniper equipped with a G43 automatic sniper rifle, 4 cover gunners equipped with G43 semi-automatic rifles, and 2 or two MG42 machine guns as a main and secondary shooter, including the deputy shooter, there are three gunners equipped with Mauser 98K rifles, and the squad leader is equipped with an MP-44 assault rifle or submachine gun.

But in fact, there is nothing wrong with this situation at all, most soldiers can only use the slightly outdated Mauser 98K rifle, an infantry squad may only be equipped with the expensive MP-44 assault rifle in the squad leader and a veteran, and some units do not even reach this ratio, and it is more common to participate in the use of some MP-38 submachine guns and other second-line equipment.

Under the roar of this platoon commander, two German anti-tank men quickly approached from the attacking team, they have been in the core position of the entire infantry platoon not far away, they are well protected by everyone, and it is also convenient for the entire infantry platoon to quickly enter the attack state when encountering a situation.

Two men ran to the designated position, leaned against the corner of a building, and began to reload their Iron Fist anti-tank rocket launchers with rockets. This bazooka has now undergone a refinement, with the use of longer rockets, and the power has been increased to a certain extent. However, this improvement was mainly aimed at the attack power of rockets against fixed fortifications, and did not improve the anti-armor capabilities of the Iron Fist Bazooka.

Because the German military found that their infantry was no longer alone against the enemy's heavy tanks, more often they needed to attack enemy firing points, pillboxes and occasional light tanks - they needed no longer an anti-tank bazooka, but an excellent multi-purpose bazooka.

Therefore, the focus of the entire follow-up research and development was set on multi-purpose ammunition, but the anti-tank function originally aimed at armored weapons was still at a relatively old stage. But in the face of the superior German armored forces, the opportunities that the German infantry were needed to resist the enemy's tanks were really not much left.

Of course, after such a change, the German paratroopers suffered the most, because this unit was probably the only one of the three German armed forces that would face a large number of enemy tanks alone. And the Iron Fist bazooka did not improve anti-tank capabilities, and it must not be very comfortable news for them.

The two shooters quickly prepared for the attack, and then the surrounding German soldiers began to frantically look for opportunities to open fire and counterattack, bullets flying back and forth between the positions of both sides. For a time, the firepower of the German troops was scattered, and the relatively average advantage was brought into play, and the condescending machine-gun position of the Soviet Union was suppressed by the German firepower for a short moment.

Yes, only for a short moment, but this was absolutely enough for the German anti-tank group. They reached out with their deadly bazookas, aimed them at their target, and fired a huge rocket at their target. A puff of white smoke quickly rushed towards his target, and then the second-floor window of the Archangel Michael Cathedral was completely destroyed by a huge explosion.

"Attack, attack!" As the explosion sounded, the German commanders shouted at their troops to move on, and one by one the German soldiers jumped out of their hiding trenches and rushed to the other end of the wide street. The Soviet soldiers had apparently not recovered from the explosion, and their return fire was sparse and did not have the effect of continuous suppression.

By the time the Soviet defenders finally found their way back in the explosion, the Germans had already set up MG42 machine guns in some suitable positions, and the dense fire began to pour on the positions of the Soviet defenders, and now it was the turn of the Germans to suppress the Soviets with machine guns. After a brief period of bullet flying, a hidden Soviet machine-gun fire point opened fire again, inflicting more casualties on the Germans than a dozen soldiers.

The battle for the Cathedral of the Archangel Michael evolved from the very beginning to a decisive battle in the nearby streets. The Soviets seemed intent to defend the landmark to the death, while the Germans were tempted to rest after capturing the stronghold. Both sides seemed to want to accomplish their mission, so they threw in an unprecedented force in a frantic battle.

As the battle progressed, several German armored vehicles were slowly approaching along the road, surrounded by large numbers of German infantry. Led by a Leopard tank, a German 4-in-1 self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, known as a sharp weapon of urban street warfare, approached his target little by little, and behind this self-propelled anti-aircraft gun, an assault gun and an armored personnel carrier.

According to past combat experience, many of the German armored forces operated in this mixed formation of small units, which was more efficient to cooperate with, and also allowed the armored forces and infantry to deal with a variety of emergencies. Now this kind of formation is used in urban street fighting, and it can also highlight the characteristics of combat flexibility.

The frontal assault was inseparable from the Soviet defenders, and the German assault detachment began to spread out its attack formation from the flanks. The most heavily armored Leopard tank at the head would first open its line at the crossroads, and then the subsequent armored units would begin to attack the Soviet troops inside the church under the cover of the Leopard tank - this attack method was used by the Germans countless times, and it was very skillful.

After a brief discussion with the commander of a nearby German infantry battalion, the German armored units began to fight. The Leopard tank rushed out of the streets, but the next script seemed to become a little unfamiliar to everyone.

As soon as the German tank burst out of the corner, it was dazed by a head-on shot that nearly penetrated the reinforced front armor plate of the late Leopard. Every crew of the German armored forces was a battle-hardened elite, and after being hit by this gun, they dragged the fragments of broken external steel plates and retreated to their starting positions in embarrassment.

Because of the powerful cannon of the Soviet defenders, the Germans could only return this time, and they found a disguised Stalin tank at the end of the street, occupying a vantage point that could not be easily killed. The defensive positions of the Soviet defenders in this area were clearly well designed, covering each other and being properly arranged.

"If we go on the offensive, the casualties could exceed 200 people. The German battalion commander who was in charge of the nearby attack put down the binoculars in his hand and reluctantly complained to the commander of the German armored detachment who came to support: "Without your support, a frontal assault would be too reckless." ”

"The tracks and gearbox of the Leopard tank were damaged by the shock, we are waiting for the maintenance team to come, there is no cover of the tank, and in the face of one of the enemy's highest threat tanks, it is obviously better to be more restrained. The commander of the armored detachment also agreed with the infantry battalion commander: "Maybe it would be safer for us to arrange our defenses on the spot." ”

The battalion commander looked at the spire of the church not far away, sighed and nodded, "That's the only way to do it." I will have 1st and 2nd companies set up defenses on your left and right flanks, and 3 companies as reserves, behind you to cover you if necessary. ”