Chapter 368 Reinforcements
After the railway supply was cut off by the Soviet army, General Hopner of the Fourth Tank Army was the one who reacted the most.
The supply of the Fourth Tank Army mainly relies on railways.
This is undoubted. Road transportation has disadvantages such as small transportation volume, fuel consumption by the car itself, and roads are often blocked by snow, while railways can transport a large amount.
At this time, after the Soviet Army occupied the Tver Bridge, it immediately cut off the railway and another road, leaving only one road that can barely transport... The reason for using "barely" is because the Soviet Air Force has seized the only remaining road at the same time. The bombing of the transportation lines of the 4th Tank Army made the transportation even worse.
Hoppner immediately called the wolf den, because he knew that it was meaningless to communicate with Kubiler at this time.
"Your Excellency the Fuhrer!" Hoepner said to Hitler: "Our soldiers are bravely resisting the Russian attack. They insist on the front line in the severe cold of minus 40 degrees. They have not flinched, even if there are people every day. Frozen to death. But...we are running out of bullets and shells, cars and tanks don't have enough fuel, they are fighting the enemy with bayonets and teeth, so the casualties are very heavy, and a large number of tanks are abandoned for non-combat reasons!"
Hoppner was smart enough to know that he couldn't say "retreat" or how difficult the troops were. Instead, he described the 4th Tank Army as a valiantly resisting force.
In fact, this is indeed the case. Anyone who persists in fighting at minus forty degrees can be called "heroic", but what Hopner did not dare to say is right or wrong. Surrender, and the number is still increasing.
This is not surprising at all, such extreme cold, such supplies, and more importantly, many German troops at this time believed that they could not win this battle or even this war.
So, under the idea that "surrender is not shameful if you can't change the situation of the war" that prevails in Europe, surrender is a matter of course.
"I know, General!" Hitler replied: "Don't worry, you will get the supplies you need soon, the Russians will not stay in Tver for too long! No, it should be said, they will stay in Tver forever!"
After hanging up the phone, Hitler immediately contacted Kubiler.
"You command an army group, but let a brigade of the enemy penetrate into our throat!" Hitler said: "The soldiers of the Fourth Tank Army are fighting bravely, but they are in danger because of your mistake and lack of ammunition. You Take responsibility for this, Lieutenant General!"
Kubile felt helpless for a while.
He did command an army group, but the problem was that his opponent was not the only brigade that penetrated into Tver.
What's more, it is not only the Fourth Tank Army that is in danger due to lack of ammunition and supplies. The entire German army is in such danger, including Kubil's troops.
But of course Kubiler could not refute Hitler in this way.
"Yes, Your Excellency the Head of State!" Kubil replied: "I will wipe them out and resume transportation!"
"What are you going to do?" Hitler asked.
Kubile did not expect Hitler to ask such a question, because even Hitler would not interfere with the specific tactical command of the front line before that.
Kubile looked at the map and replied: "I will send the 29th Infantry Regiment to reinforce the Tver Bridge, Your Excellency the Head of State!"
"Just an infantry regiment?" Hitler asked back.
"We don't have any extra troops!" Kubil replied.
"As far as I know, General!" Hitler said: "Your Sixth Panzer Division is not far from Tver!"
"But this is urban street fighting, Your Excellency the Führer!" Kubil replied, "This kind of battle is not suitable for tank combat, and the Russians have new equipment..."
"Forget their new equipment!" Hitler interrupted Kubiler impatiently: "We will face it one day, Lieutenant General! We cannot give up fighting the enemy just because they have new equipment!"
Kubile couldn't help being speechless when he heard the words, because Hitler's words really made sense.
At least it sounds reasonable, but in reality... we should get more information about this new equipment, try to find its weaknesses and fight with it with confidence, instead of pushing the tank unit forward again without knowing anything about it.
"As for whether it is suitable for armored forces to fight!" Hitler said: "If it is not suitable, why are Russian tanks suitable? They used armored forces to take down the Tver Bridge!"
Kubile was speechless.
This is a military issue. The tanks used by the Soviet army are "Matilda" tanks with thick armor and slow speed. This tank does not have much mobility, so although it is difficult to enter the city street fighting, at least it has a certain mobility. The loss is not great.
More importantly, the Soviet army actually had rocket launchers to assist its tank troops to have such a strong combat effectiveness in street battles and then occupied the Tver Bridge all the way.
But if the other way around.
German tanks with excellent maneuverability and mediocre defense are obviously not suitable for street fighting, especially if the enemy has new equipment with a long range and extremely high penetration.
Kubile knew this, but he couldn't explain it to Hitler.
In fact, sometimes Hitler was not completely ignorant, but deliberately chose not to see it.
Just like when Rommel, who commanded the African Army, complained to Hitler, Hitler also pretended not to see it, and put out a lot of meaningless data to convince Rommel that he had enough.
"No matter what!" Finally Hitler came to a conclusion: "We must resume transportation and ensure the smooth flow of railways, understand? This is related to the safety of the Fourth Tank Army and the entire defense line!"
"Yes, Your Excellency the Führer!"
After putting down the phone, Kubile had a feeling of "I can't tell the pain".
He spent a few minutes thinking about it. If he hadn't deliberately delayed the time to allow the Russian army to go deep, would the situation have become like this?
Kubile thinks the result will not change.
Because the Russian army will still leave the river to attack any part of the city, and these parts are even random, only one thing is fixed, and that is the Tver Bridge.
Therefore, it is difficult for the empty German army to block it, at most it is to buy more time to make the defense on the Tver Bridge tighter.
Thinking of this, Kubil felt better, because at least this result was not caused by his own wrong judgment.
At this time, the adjutant walked in nervously from outside the headquarters, and reported: "General, we know the number of this enemy team. It is the 1st Guards Tank Brigade, which is the previous 4th Tank Brigade!"
"What? It's the 1st Guards Tank Brigade?" Kubil raised his head in surprise when he heard this.
(end of this chapter)
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