The German shells finally landed on the positions in front of Moscow, no matter how long the Germans had been preparing, but at this moment, the battle for the attack on Moscow began.

A Soviet signal soldier ran into the command room of the Moscow garrison command in a panic, stood upright and reported the shocking incident that had just been released. Although this incident should have happened a long time ago, at the moment when this kind of thing came to an end, it still made people panic: "Report! Comrade Commander! Railway Bridge No. 4 in the upper reaches of the Moscow River...... Hey, what about Comrade Commander?"

"Comrade Commander has led people to inspect the front line on the outskirts of the city, and now I am temporarily the commander here, and I will tell me anything about it. ”

"Yes! Comrade Chief of Staff, I have just received information from the front that the Germans have conquered the positions on the upper Moskva River, and that one division is guarding there...... Suffering heavy casualties, they asked for reinforcements, or immediately retreated. ”

"Reinforcements? I still want reinforcements! After all, it's only a peripheral position, so how can there be any reinforcements! Tell me about the main situation! How long will the No. 4 railway bridge still be defended? Can it be blown up in time?"

"Report to Comrade Chief of Staff that most of the railway bridge No. 4 was damaged by explosives, because the blasting did not completely destroy the bridge due to the impact of fierce fighting, only part of it was blown up. So ......"

"So now it's too late for a counterattack, even if it's a support force! You should have let go of that position a long time ago! Gather all the troops guarding the bridge, and don't fight in that kind of outlying position and in front of the German armour. It was necessary to rely on the support of the main defensive positions to slowly deplete the German army. "The chief of staff of the Soviet army still has two brushes, and under the auspices of these generals who are not in vain, Moscow's ring defensive positions are well managed, and it seems that Moscow is destined to become the next Stalingrad.

"Yes!" the signal soldier quickly replied, and then hurried out to convey the new battle order. Losing railway bridge No. 4, the defense of Moscow in front has lost another large piece, and perhaps Comrade Stalin is going to lash out again.

With a helpless sigh, the chief of staff walked to the front of the precise map of Moscow Oblast with his hands behind his back, which has been covered by dense trenches and pillboxes, it can be said that there are countless soldiers holding their positions within every kilometer, and the Germans want to go to the city of Moscow step by step, they will have to pay the price of blood.

And what supports the belief of the defenders of Moscow is nothing more than the 570,000 elite infantry defenders of Leningrad in the south, with the addition of these defenders, Moscow can hold out for at least a few more months, and in a few months, maybe the Soviet Union will arm a million more troops and fight another battle with the German army in front of them.

"Report! Comrade Chief of Staff! The infantry positions on Heights 66 were heavily bombarded by German artillery, and the 353rd Regiment of the defending troops called us and asked us to replenish the losses of personnel, otherwise Heights 66 would be in danger of being captured by the Germans. Another signal soldier walked into the office with a telegram in his hand, and behind him, he was followed by a signal soldier from another direction.

The second signal corpsman also brought no good news, he immediately put the telegram on the commander's desk, and then immediately reported: "The artillery positions deployed in Tuchkovo have been bombed by the Luftwaffe and have suffered heavy losses, and I request that an engineer unit be sent to repair it immediately!"

"Send sappers? What sappers can we send now? Comrade Stalin of the reserve unit strictly ordered that they should not be moved out of Moscow, and the rest of the troops were basically sent to the upper reaches of the Moscow River! The engineer regiment directly under the Front Army is still not there!" The chief of staff heard these requests, and while marking them on the map, he asked his assistant behind him.

His assistant shook his head in embarrassment and told the chief of staff the worst-case scenario: "No, one of the two battalions under the command of the engineer regiment has just gone to the damaged anti-aircraft artillery position, and the damage over there is even more serious. The personnel of another battalion are rushing to repair the waterworks destroyed by German planes, and I am afraid that they will not be able to withdraw for a while!"

When the chief of staff heard this, he had no choice but to nod: "Well, for the sake of long-term operations, the waterworks must not be lost, let the troops around Tuchkovo ...... Retreat. ”

Retreat? Is the chief of staff not in his mind? Over there, the main direction of the German offensive along the road, Panzergrenadiers and tank assault guns are densely packed, and if the troops are allowed to leave their positions and retreat at such times, they will inevitably be overtaken by the Germans who are more mobile -- what is the difference between this and suicide?

But when you think about it, it is relieved that in this case, the various positions are too busy to take care of themselves, and how can there be any reinforcements to keep the outlying positions like Tuchkovo?

Just when the two signal corpsmen had not yet left the headquarters, the third soldier hurriedly walked in from outside: "Report! Comrade Chief of Staff! The troops near Tuchkovo have lost contact, and it is estimated that the place has fallen, and the last telegram was sent by the political commissar there, saying that he swore to live and die with the position...... Then, the contact was lost!"

Relying on hastily arranged defensive positions in the field to resist the German armored forces does seem to be more difficult. Even towns like Tuchkovo were routed by German armored forces in a matter of hours. The chief of staff of the Soviet army smiled bitterly, not knowing what to say.

His assistant was not as calm as he was, and when he heard the news that the first line of frontal positions had been broken through, he was shocked and said: "What? You said that the communication was cut off? That's a whole three divisions of more than 7,000 troops! It didn't even hold back for two hours before it was completely wiped out? How could it be so fast?"

The German armored vehicles and tanks over there covered the infantry and pressed directly on them, accompanied by a large number of air forces and heavy artillery, and the Soviet troops could not raise their heads at all. Relying on flesh and blood to hold on there for more than an hour, it is already a achievement worth showing off, do you still want the infantry to repel the tanks?

One of the major generals in the room seemed to have been to Tuchkovo, so he had to stand up and explain their misery to the troops on the front: "Comrades may not know the situation, but I have been to the front line myself, and the Germans sometimes use hundreds of armored vehicles and assault guns to cover their infantry in a single attack. The fact that our army's inferior forces were able to hold out for more than an hour was already the result of a brave battle. ”

The chief of staff had already studied the tactics of the German army in Stalingrad, and nodded at this moment to agree with the major general's speculation: "The Tuchkovo position can hold on for so long, and the crisis has lasted for so long, I am afraid that it is the attrition trap that the damned Germans deliberately lured us to continue to reinforce ...... to see that we were not fooled, and their plan had no chance of success, so they directly annihilated the defenders there in the end."

That major general can be regarded as a general who knows the troops, and at this time he has no choice but to make his own decision: "It is too late to mobilize troops to counterattack, and holding the position is the first priority! There is no need to investigate the matter of losing the position, and it is only right to hurry up and strengthen the existing defensive position!"

"That's right!" The chief of staff glanced at the major general, and quickly nodded in agreement: "Immediately urge the construction personnel of the nearby positions to step up the time to consolidate the defensive positions and report the battle situation on the front line to the Kremlin!

He suddenly remembered something again, and then called out to the last signal soldier who had left: "Go and ask me clearly, the main position of the anti-aircraft artillery and the waterworks cannot be lost, and there must be a time when it will be repaired! Ask clearly! Go quickly!"

"Yes! I'll ask!" the signal soldier hurried out of headquarters.

Looking at his subordinates who ran out in a panic, the major general also felt that his face was gloomy. However, at this time, they are already bitter people tied to the fate of Moscow, and they are really in no mood to pursue it. So the major general wailed and scolded: "What a bunch of rubbish!"

......

A car stopped in front of the command headquarters, and inside it was the supreme commander of the Soviet troops in the direction of Moscow, General Vatutin. He was already the last barrier between Stalin and the Germans, but at this time his forces were overstretched, and there was really no way to prevent the Germans from attacking further in the direction of Moscow.

The general, who had just returned from inspecting some of the second line of defense, jumped out of his car, summoned his adjutant, and gave an order despite fatigue: "Let the technicians sent by the United States adjust the radar and air defense system, because yesterday the German bombing destroyed a radar station, and there was a hole in our air defense network." ”

Yesterday's German bombing destroyed a radar station built by the United States for Moscow, and as a result, the anti-aircraft anti-aircraft artillery positions were left without guidance, and as a direct consequence of an important waterworks being bombed by the Germans, Stalin personally called and reprimanded all the personnel in the defense command.

"Even if it blows up the radar station...... That was only one bombed up, a whole anti-aircraft artillery regiment, and not a single position could detect the German planes in advance? Now this is the front line! They are still so careless, do they have to see the Germans to know that danger is coming?" Vatutin shouted at the officers who followed him as he walked into his headquarters.

"Comrade General, if there is no radar for night bombing, the anti-aircraft artillery will not dare to fire indiscriminately, after all, the light of the fire will leak our defensive positions, and every move is in the calculation of others...... The Germans are too far ahead in the field of high technology, they know the nature of radar, and they interfere with our radar system by throwing platinum strips......"

Vatutin, who is not a technician, was annoyed when he heard this technical explanation: "Shut up! If you have time to explain, you might as well think about how to improve our air defense network! The Germans have already begun an all-out offensive!"