The Church of Michael was lost, which was a disaster for the entire Soviet defense system. It was the first landmark in the city of Moscow to be occupied since the German invasion of Marino. As long as the Germans hold on to this place, then they can claim to have a foothold in Moscow.

This is definitely something that the Soviet defenders do not want to see, because every defeat they have now is enough to affect the opposition forces behind them. The closer they get to defeat, the more people will stand up and fall against them – a reckoning with the Great Purge, a revolt against power under pressure.

The German capture of Migal Cathedral also made the surrounding Soviet defenders even more panicked, after all, in the north and south of Moscow, the Germans have not yet been able to break into the city, and they are even some distance from the suburbs of Moscow, so the defenders in these areas have a feeling that their efforts have been dragged down by fools.

"What? The Germans have invaded the city of Moscow? What are you doing? Is Vatutin, a fool?" Receiving the news that the German troops in the central region had entered the southwest of the city of Moscow, Konev, the commander of the 1st Guards Front, who was directing the troops to hold his position, frowned, and then handed the telegram to his chief of staff: "I didn't let the Germans move forward here, this idiot Vatutin, has already let the Germans hit the city of Moscow." ”

The chief of staff was obviously not convinced either, and took the telegram from the Southern General Command, and only after confirming that the telegram was sent by Marshal Zhukov himself, did he believe that the news was true. Konev was indeed right, the 1st Guards Front fought to the death south of Moscow, and now it seems that the defeat on other fronts did not delay the German attack in the slightest.

The chief of staff thought for a moment before he spoke his mind. He knew that they should not tear each other down at this time, and the German army group in front of him had been recuperating all the time, and it was indeed not an easy role to deal with: "General, Vatutin has been holding Moscow for so long, and he should still have the ability." It may be that the Germans attacked too fiercely, so they missed for a while......"

For now, in the huge encirclement of Moscow, any commander of a force who is in charge of himself will have a stronger position than ever before. If it is a normal situation, after anyone makes a mistake, everyone will often attack them in groups, so as to pave the way for their own promotion. But at a time like this, no one is willing to take up such a position of responsibility -- whoever attacks the opponent at this time will definitely take the opportunity to resign and refrain from doing it: you can do it, you can do it.

So there is a very interesting phenomenon in these Soviet defenders at this moment, that is, behind the scenes, the Moscow defenders scolded the people of the Zhukov cluster for losing south, and the people of the Zhukov cluster scolded the Moscow defenders for not being able to stop the Germans as wine bags and rice bags...... But when we met, everyone was smiling, and they didn't mention a bad word.

"Everyone knows that the German offensive must be fierce...... But...... Alas......" Konev sighed and shook his head, finally swallowing the words back into his stomach. He actually wanted to say, "But we don't have any more reasons to retreat", but unfortunately he still didn't say it after all. After all, although they have long had no reason for defeat, there are not many generals on the front line who have the courage to die for their country.

On the battlefield, plans never change fast. When Zhukov deceived the eyes of the German armored forces and miraculously returned to Moscow with the main force heading south, everyone felt that the garrison of Moscow had been strengthened unprecedentedly. However, only Zhukov and a few others knew that in fact, the plan they had negotiated in advance to reinforce Moscow was nothing more than a psychological deception against their own people.

First of all, Moder's Army Group D followed up from the south, sticking to Konev's 1st Guards Front and some other scattered troops around it, which reduced Zhukov's mobile forces to the north to reinforce Moscow to a completely negligible extent.

As Guderian's Army Group G began to turn the direction of attack and cut into the southeast of Moscow, the 3rd Guards Front, the only remaining army in the Moscow theater under the command of General Vasilevsky, was also forced into the battle - Zhukov's group of troops fled back to Moscow, only one or two divisions entered the city of Moscow to assist in the defense, and the rest of the troops were entangled by the new German enemy to the south.

So this big cake painted by Zhukov to defend Moscow was placed in front of all the Moscow defenders like a mirror. It is a pity that Stalin and Vatutin, the top Soviet officials, are very clear about whether this pie is full of meat filling or cockroaches.

"Report! Comrade General. Heights 7 were out of touch, German artillery fire blocked them, and our signal corps could not get close to the top of the hill. An officer walked into the headquarters, stood behind Konev, stood up and reported: "An observation post has seen that the German troops have taken the commanding heights, but this news has not been confirmed. ”

"No need to confirm, it should have been lost. "Konev knows his own troops better than anyone else, and the fact that a regiment that is not the main force can hold out for 10 hours on Heights 7 is already a remarkable achievement. Now that he had lost his position, he didn't feel strange at all, so there was no need to verify: "Let the troops on the flanks withdraw, don't sacrifice in vain." ”

The officer stood up solemnly and saluted again, and wanted to turn around and go out to arrange the general's orders, but the chief of staff stopped the officer at this time, and then asked Konev: "General, Heights 7 is a gentle slope on our side, do you want to fight back and create some trouble for the Germans' next advance?"

Konev was silent for a few seconds, he also wanted to use this high ground to make some articles, but suddenly saw the telegram from Zhukov's headquarters on his desk, and remembered the news that the German army had invaded Moscow, he finally let go of his clenched fist and shook his head: "Forget it! No matter how well we fight here, the Moscow direction will be lost, and it will be in vain." ”

The chief of staff was stunned, in the way he and Konev had worked together for so long, in his eyes Konev had always been that kind of mature commander with a very steady mentality. But now, the battle for the church in Moscow has had an impact on the Soviet commander's decision-making, which could not but make him, the chief of staff who is good at calculation and measurement, have a pessimistic feeling that everything is out of control.

The Soviet Union's millions of troops came to such an end in a short period of one year in front of the German troops, and people who had personally experienced the entire war could not but sigh at the rapid changes and changes in the battlefield situation.

And in another corner of the world, there is also such an exclamation, as well as the Japanese warrior General Yamashita Fumi, who is far away in Malaysia. At this moment, he is fighting with the American forces for the scattered islands, in order to save the fate of the Japanese Empire from the collapse as much as possible. However, he knew that what he was preparing now was nothing more than some hors d'oeuvres, and the real storm was coming, and the time to come depended on the final outcome of this Battle of Bismarck of the Combined Fleet.

"Your Excellency, Your Excellency, Your Excellency, has news from the base camp that the 232nd Division behind us is boarding the ship to reinforce our operations near Malay. A communications officer bowed respectfully behind Yamashita and handed the document to the local general, who was known for murder.

I have to say that the Japanese troops were indeed very capable of fighting, and their combat effectiveness was absolutely incomparably strong in Asia at that time. Standing at such a height as the United States, Japan is still regarded as a rather difficult and formidable enemy, not to mention the Chinese army, which is inferior to Japan. Most of the claims that denigrate the toughness of Japan in World War II are jokes with three points of ridicule, and most of the tough people who have faced the Japanese soldiers are in awe of these fierce and violent monsters.

And this General Yamashita Fengwen is a ruthless man who once defeated the American troops in the Malay area, and even couldn't hold Australia. His troops are good at fighting jungle warfare and island landing warfare, and it can be said that he is the most capable Japanese senior commander in the South Seas, and if the Japanese commander in the Battle of Imphal is replaced by Yamashita Fumi, maybe the Japanese can really enter India.

"The 232nd Division......? The Combined Fleet has been defeated. Yamashita Fengwen pressed his command knife and muttered this with a very ugly face. The 232nd Division is obviously not the main Japanese division, this kind of numbering relies on troops other than 200, and its combat effectiveness can only be called a brigade at most compared with the Horse Pulling Division. At this time, the use of non-main divisions to support Yamashita Fengwen shows that the base camp does not have any decent combat strength, but it is still worried about his situation near Malay.

To say that the Japanese army is indeed better mixed than the navy now, Ishihara has not made much progress in the northeast, but he has not suffered much defeat. And he has been operating in Malaysia for several months, even if it cannot be said to be impregnable, it can definitely be regarded as a small achievement.

So Yamashita is not so pessimistic at all, and the question he is thinking about is actually how to use the Japanese 14th Front under his control to defeat the provocation of American forces and stabilize the southwestern defense line of the Empire of Japan with the Japanese 14th Front under his control on the islands of New Guinea and Kalimantan.