Chapter 382 Support Point
Shulka and the officers and soldiers of the 1st Guards Tank Brigade certainly didn't know what happened on the front line.
The few days of stationing in Tver were a festival for the 1st Guards Brigade... The battle line moved westward, and the sound of gunfire and artillery became farther and farther away, and soon Tver became the second line.
So, what the soldiers did in Tver was to drink, chat, and then take turns standing guard outdoors to watch teams of ski troops pass by.
Dimka's accordion played its role again, and the soldiers always crowded into the room where he was, singing and dancing to the beautiful melody, and sometimes carnival all night long.
Although Shulka knows that this is not good, because it will make them not have enough energy to face the upcoming war.
But Shulka did not stop them.
Partly because there really isn't much to do in this weather.
Training? At minus forty-five degrees, if you stay outside for an hour, you may be frozen to death.
So it is very difficult to fight at this time, whether it is the German army or the Soviet army.
In fact, the conditions of the German army were much worse than the Soviet army, because there were many German stragglers scattered to Tver to surrender to them...those were German troops from the German Fourth Tank Army.
The Fourth Tank Army should be said to be the most pitiful. They fought bravely under the command of Hopner. This was true in the direction of Leningrad, and the same was true when they were transferred to attack Moscow.
It is precisely because of this that the Fourth Tank Army was able to break into the Soviet defense line and threaten Moscow from the north.
However, what they didn't expect was that the farther they attacked, the more difficult it would be to retreat at this time, especially when they attacked with a tank or a car, and when they came back they were hunted down on foot and hid in hiding.
Many people couldn't survive in this cold and hungry environment outdoors, so they could only surrender to the Soviet army trembling.
When the soldiers received these German prisoners, they found that many of them were wearing self-made "sack clothes", that is, they cut a few holes in the sacks and tied them tightly to keep out the cold, while others wrapped bandages around their coats Inside, there are circles like zombies, and there are various tricks such as stuffing hay and shredded newspapers into military uniforms to tighten them.
A considerable number of them have various degrees of frostbite.
But of course, the Soviets didn't care about that, the soldiers just put them in schools and left them to fend for themselves.
There is also a small episode in this.
Last night, about one company of German troops retreated to Tver. Because they entered Tver in the dark and occupied a building with weapons, the Soviet army did not dare to act rashly.
"We need a moment to start the tanks!" the instructor said to Shulka: "They're frozen!"
This is not to say that the Soviets cannot take the building occupied by the Germans. In fact, only a bazooka and an infantry charge can do it.
The problem is that this is not necessary. It can be solved with tanks to minimize casualties. No one is willing to risk their lives with a gun and rush forward.
"Maybe we don't need tanks!" Shulka said, "They probably came to surrender!"
"We shouted at them!" said the instructor, "But they didn't respond!"
"That means they are still hesitating!"
"Yes, they are still hesitating!" The instructor replied: "But we don't have so much time to spend with them!"
This is a typical Soviet temper, they are always single-minded, either surrender, or beat you to surrender.
"Give them some padded jackets!" Shulka said.
"What?" The instructor looked at Shulka suspiciously.
"Give some more food!" Shulka said: "Tell them, we have a warm stove here, so they can have a good night's sleep when they are full!"
The instructor was stunned for a while, then nodded and said, "I'll try it!"
So, the instructor came forward with a few captives, illuminated an open space in front of the building with a searchlight, threw some cotton jackets and cans of canned food, and shouted: "Come here, Germans! We have food and clothes here." Yes, we allow you to sleep in front of the fire, as long as you surrender! Otherwise, tanks and our relentless attack await you!"
This trick really worked. After being silent for a while, the German army stretched out a white flag made of bandages out of the window, and shouted: "We surrender, I hope you can keep your promise!"
They couldn't stand the temptation of those cotton coats and the stove.
It may seem unimaginable, but in this extreme case, they are more alluring than anything.
It’s like some captives confessed afterwards: “As long as I can eat and sleep in front of the fire, they are willing to shoot me!”
From this we can also know how hungry and cold the German army was and how exhausted they were.
The instructor really fulfilled his promise, and he even provided some French brandy for these German prisoners.
This made the German prisoners a little shocked, and relaxed thinking that they would be treated as normal prisoners.
But Shulka knew that this was an extravagant hope... The instructor did this just because he didn't want to break his promise in front of his subordinates. He believed that as an instructor, he should do what he said, otherwise his dignity would be damaged.
On the third day, Katukov called a meeting of the officers.
"The battle situation is not as smooth as we imagined!" Katukov said, pointing to the map: "The pressure mainly comes from the 9th Army in the south. Not only did they not collapse under our army's attack, they also launched a counterattack... We have 9 After breaking into the German defense line, the troops of the 1st division were surrounded by them in the Sychovka area! The superior ordered us to reinforce the 29th Army and rescue the 9 divisions that were surrounded!"
The officers in the conference room talked a lot. They didn't expect that the German army would have the ability to counterattack or even surround the Soviet army under such circumstances.
Shulka knew that this meant that Model's early plan had succeeded...His first step was to stabilize the 9th Army's defense line and threaten the flank of the Soviet attacking force to buy time for the collapsing and retreating German army.
The second step is to use a series of key support points that were just held by the German army.
For example, Holm, Staraya Rusa and Demyansk, these places are all important traffic routes in the swamp.
Model asked the Air Force to provide reinforcements to these places no matter what, and to go all out. Because this is the key to the German army's ability to withstand the Soviet attack.
The German Air Force did this, and the German Air Force even sacrificed many pilots for this.
But it turns out that Model is right, these key support points did work... When the temperature turns warmer next year, the supply lines of the Soviet army will naturally be cut off by these support points.
As a result, many regular Soviet troops had to stay west of the line of defense and become guerrillas.
(end of this chapter)
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