Chapter 348 Mobilization
Lieutenant General Ludwig Kubiler hid in a house full of farm tools and civilians while stomping his feet while looking at the map.
Since von Bock was dismissed and was replaced by Marshal Luge, commander of the Fourth Army, Kubiler took over as commander of the German Fourth Army.
However, Kubiler is not at all happy that he got this coveted position.
If it was at other times, Kubil might have celebrated because of it, but at this moment, he stared at the map in front of him with a heavy expression and said nothing.
Kubile knew very well that it was not a good thing to be promoted to the commander of the Fourth Army at this time... because the German army was about to face a defeat, which was obvious.
If the head of state agrees to let the troops retreat at this time, then maybe the situation will not be so bad, because the German army can retreat like the Soviets while laying landmines on a large scale and building a fortification line in the rear.
The problem is that the Führer does not allow this. The German army is still attacking at this time, yes...it is still attacking when the enemy is about to counterattack!
This will inevitably lead to failure, and as the commander, I will undoubtedly be responsible for this failure, and the irony is that I have no right to command my own troops at all.
A gust of cold wind blew, and the adjutant opened the door and came in. There were snowflakes on his head and shoulders. After entering the door, he rubbed his hands that were about to be frozen, and then stretched them out to salute Lieutenant General Kubil.
"The situation is very bad, General!" the adjutant reported: "The tanks can hardly move. We spend a lot of time every day starting them. Countless soldiers died of frostbite due to the unnecessary consumption of gasoline!"
"I know this, Frank!" Kubiler interrupted the adjutant and asked, "What's the situation with the Russians?"
"They suddenly lost their voice!" The adjutant replied: "It seems to be frozen by this ghost weather, minus thirty-eight degrees... No one would want to fight in this situation, would they?"
Kubile thought for a while, then shook his head and said, "No, Frank, we might not, but they will!"
"You mean..."
"They are people who live in this land, Frank!" Kubile raised his head and said, "They experience a similar cold every year, not to mention that many of them come from the colder Siberia!"
"They will counterattack?" The adjutant's eyes widened when he heard this.
"I think so!" Kubil replied, "It's time to counterattack!"
"But what else can we do?" The adjutant said anxiously: "The head of state forbids us to retreat!"
Kubile was silent for a while, then ordered: "Remove the armored troops, Frank!"
"But the Führer..."
"We have to do this!" Kubil said: "Otherwise, the enemy will rush in front of our tanks before they start!"
"Yes, General!" The adjutant answered, turned around and went to make arrangements.
Kubile's approach is indeed very advanced, and this is not considered a retreat, because he only transferred the armored troops to the second line to rest.
On the other side, before the sky was bright, the Soviet army had already started its final mobilization:
"Comrades, the day of the counterattack has finally arrived!" Commissar Fuming stood on a tank and shouted to the soldiers below with a loudspeaker: "Load your rifles and sharpen your bayonets. We have endured for a long time. Anger is about to explode in this winter!"
The soldiers responded with a few voices:
"Kill 'em!"
"Get these damned facists out!"
…
"From the beginning of the war to the present!" Commissar Fuming continued: "The Germans have always taken the initiative, but how can the sacred Soviet land tolerate the trampling of these fascist invaders? After all, they are no match for this snowstorm. !Although we have suffered heavy losses, this also makes our anger even stronger. We want to avenge our comrades-in-arms and the thousands of Soviet people who died under the knives of the fascists!"
"Wow!" The soldiers raised their weapons and responded loudly.
Then the troops entered their respective staging areas.
Although it is only a staging area, there are still trenches and fortifications... Trenches are never lacking in the Soviet defense line. When the Soviet army resisted the German army on the second line of defense for a period of time, the Soviet people almost dug the trenches to the ground. Moscow.
Shulka led his subordinates into the trench, and beside them were tanks... These tanks were painted white as before, and a gap was dug in front of the trench to build a **** so that the tank could quickly drive out of the trench.
Colonel Katukov nervously watched the pointer on the pocket watch jump up and down, then turned his head and ordered: "Tank start!"
"Tank on!"
"Tank on!"
…
With a bang, the tanks started firing one after another.
But of course, because the 1st Guards Tank Brigade used British and American gasoline engine tanks, these tanks also had the problem of not adapting to the extremely cold climate, so some tanks failed to start.
This is why Colonel Katukov gave the order fifteen minutes earlier.
Then, the infantrymen hurriedly lit a fire at the tank engine to roast it.
Shuerka ignored this, he held up his binoculars and looked in the direction of the distant German positions, but there was no movement.
This is not normal.
Because Shulka knows that it takes time for the German tanks to launch, and at this time... when the tank engines of the Soviet camp are "rumbling", even a fool knows that the Soviet army is about to launch an attack.
So, the German army should be as busy as the Soviet army, that is, start the tank with fire.
But they didn't.
There are two possibilities: either the Germans were too slow to react, or their tanks were not on the front lines.
Shulka believed it was the latter, that is, the German army first noticed that the Soviet army was about to attack, so they pulled the tanks back to the second line to give them time to react.
"Colonel!" Shulka shouted to Katukov, who was more than ten meters away: "Germany may be prepared, their tanks are not on the front line!"
Katukov raised his binoculars and looked into the distance, then replied: "You are right!"
But that's all, and then there is no more text.
The correct approach should be... When you realize that the German army has withdrawn the tanks from the front line, you should immediately report to your superior, that is, Rokossovsky.
Rokossovsky would then contact the 2nd Guards Tank Brigade to tell them to be careful, as well as the artillery and air force, to allow them to save ammunition while bombing so that they could be useful in subsequent battles.
But Katukov didn’t do that.
(end of this chapter)
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