Chapter 240 Ambush
Panfilov will naturally not withdraw from the position easily, after all, Colonel Katukov is not his superior.
This forced Katukov to make a phone call to the headquarters of the 16th Army... At this time, the 4th Tank Brigade was under the command of the 16th Army.
"Comrade Rokossovsky!" Colonel Katukov reported: "The Germans are attacking Volokolamsk!"
"Yes!" Rokossovsky was worrying about this: "An armored division, and another armored division is gathering in that direction!"
"Two armored divisions?" Katukov couldn't help being surprised.
"Yes!" Rokossovsky replied: "Once Volokolamsk is lost, our counter-offensive forces will be in a tight siege, including your fourth tank brigade..."
"No, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Colonel Katukov replied: "We will not be surrounded!"
"What?" Rokossovsky did not understand what Colonel Katukov meant.
"The 4th Tank Brigade is in Volokolamsk!"
"What?"
"Yes, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Colonel Katukov put it bluntly: "I hid the Fourth Tank Brigade there!"
"Where is it hiding? You mean Volokolamsk?"
"Yes!" Colonel Katukov replied: "It's hidden in the houses, and each house has one or two tanks!"
Rokossovsky couldn't help being surprised and delighted when he heard the words.
What surprised him was that Katukov dared to secretly disobey the order to leave the main force of the fourth tank brigade, and at the same time, he, the commander of the army group, didn't know that the tank was hidden in Volokolamsk.
The good news is... If he just used the infantry division to resist the two armored divisions of the Germans, he really didn't have much confidence, but now there is a fourth tank brigade and all of them are T34, things are much easier.
"Great, Comrade Katukov!" Rokossovsky said: "So, shouldn't we put the German tanks in now?"
"Yes, we are ready!" Colonel Katukov replied, and at the same time a hanging heart was completely relieved.
Although he believes that as long as he wins the battle, there will be no problems, and he even thought up an excuse, but after all, he disobeyed the order, and if the superior insists on pursuing it, it is indeed irrefutable.
Now Rokossovsky's affirmation seems to have given Colonel Katukov a reassurance.
Then, Rokossovsky made a phone call to Colonel Panfilov: "Withdraw your troops from Volokolamsk and prepare for a counterattack!"
"Yes, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Only then did Panfilov realize that what Katukov said was true.
As one of the first three armored divisions formed by the German Army in 1935, the 2nd Armored Division is a veritable senior unit in the German Armored Forces. From the Polish campaign at the beginning of World War II, to the Western Front campaign in 1940, and then to the Balkan campaign in 1941, the 2nd Armored Division can be said to have almost never served.
Now, they are standing in front of the Russian army's defense line again, and their division commander, Major General Ike, is holding up a telescope to observe the advancing tank troops.
For Major General Ike, he is very likely to be the first person to step into Moscow. As long as he can take the position in front of him and break through the enemy's defense line... There will be a straight railway and road to the center of Moscow, within a distance of More than one hundred kilometers, if the speed is fast, the tanks of the 2nd Armored Division will appear on the streets of Moscow tomorrow afternoon.
Major General Ike believes that this wish can be realized, because until now, no Russian tank has been found, even just one.
This shows a problem, that is, what Marshal Bock said is correct... Russian tanks are attacking Tver.
Ike once again checked the situation between the two armies in his heart:
Germany has air supremacy.
The Russian army has very little anti-tank equipment.
T34 tanks in Tver.
So...what else can stand against the 2nd Armored Division from crushing Moscow under its tracks?
Major General Ike has almost seen the scene of his tanks launching an attack on the Kremlin in Red Square.
"General!" Then the adjutant reported: "The enemy has retreated!"
"Very good!" Major General Ike gave the order without looking back: "Go ahead, occupy the three villages that originally belonged to us, and then immediately attack the enemy's defense line!"
"yes!"
According to the order, the tanks were divided into three teams and "rumbled" towards the three villages. Artillery and aircraft were already bombing the Russian defense line.
For Major General Ike, occupying the three villages is just the finishing touch, and there is no possibility of any problems.
At this time, Colonel Becker, the head of the tank regiment, reported to Major General Ike: "Something is wrong, General, they spread the white cloth on the ground!"
"I don't think there's anything wrong with that, Colonel!" Major General Ike replied.
"Why did they do this?" Colonel Becker said, "Although I don't know the answer, I believe they must have a reason for doing this, so..."
"Maybe they just used it to cover up the corpse!" Major General Ike thought that Colonel Becker was overreacting, so he comforted him: "Relax, Colonel, there will be no problem!"
"Yes, General!" Colonel Becker replied helplessly, and then ordered the troops to move on.
Just then, Colonel Becker heard the sound of a motor, the sound of a tank motor.
There is nothing strange about the sound of tank motors, there are tanks everywhere here.
The problem is that the sound of the motor is not a German tank... Colonel Becker, who has rich combat experience, immediately judged the sound of the motor of the Russian T34 from the sound. The roar of the engine gives people a strong feeling, it is a diesel engine endemic.
Colonel Becker looked along the sound in surprise, but he didn't find the enemy tank, only a civilian house.
Colonel Becker understood in the next second, he immediately grabbed the microphone and shouted: "Alarm, enemy tanks are hiding in civilian houses, ready to fight!"
But it was too late when I realized that a tank "peng" rushed out of the house, smashed the door of the house, then stopped, adjusted the position of the muzzle slightly, and then "boomed" With a bang, it penetrated the side armor of a "No. 3" tank at close range.
Perhaps it hit the ammunition, and the "No. 3" tank was immediately martyred. The explosion separated the turret and the body from the inside out, and then turned over several times in the air and fell heavily to the ground.
"Fight! Destroy them!" Colonel Becker gave the order to his subordinates and immediately reported to Major General Ike with another microphone: "General, we are ambushed, enemy tanks are everywhere, request air support..."
Before he finished speaking, Colonel Becker suddenly understood.
"God!" Colonel Becker said: "Their tanks are painted white, and the white cloth can be their camouflage!"
(end of this chapter)
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