Chapter 252: wrecked car retreat
During this period, the German army was even surrounded by several troops.
Needless to say the infantry, there were corpses and routs everywhere along the way. If it weren’t for the difficulty of chasing and searching at night, the number of captured German soldiers would have doubled at least.
Surrounded was an armored battalion of the German army.
Colonel Jonas left a tank battalion to cover after being chased in a hurry.
This is the 2nd Armored Battalion of the 7th Armored Regiment. There are a total of 37 tanks. They chose a narrow area that is easy to defend and difficult to attack. They are ready to meet the T34 tanks... T34 tanks are not invincible, the armored battalion The battalion commander, Major Lange, deployed the tanks on both sides of the exit of the narrow passage, so that the German tanks could surround the passing T34 from three sides, that is, they could face its side armor.
But Major Langer underestimated the 4th Tank Brigade with such deployment.
The Soviet army did launch several charges from the front. Not surprisingly, they were all repelled by the firepower of the German tanks.
However, Major Lange was not too excited about this kind of victory, because he never saw the Russian T34.
"This is not normal!" Major Lange said: "Their tanks should have advanced here long ago!"
"Maybe they know we\'re in an ambush!" replied the adjutant.
What the adjutant said may be reasonable, but Major Lange still feels something is wrong, because he knows that the Russians have a different combat thinking from them. It is unlikely that the Russians will not advance because they know there is an ambush ahead. Allow them to do so.
After thinking for a while, Major Lange ordered: "Organize an attack, we have to go through the passage to see!"
The adjutant couldn\'t help being taken aback for a moment, and then responded: "Yes, major!"
Major Lange\'s approach is to draw out the enemy\'s T34, at least let him know that T34 is still on the opposite side, so he can feel at ease.
But Major Lange failed to do so, and a tank company passed through the passage smoothly. Although two of the tanks were destroyed, they were destroyed by enemy anti-tank guns.
Major Lang quickly understood what was going on, and without hesitation, he immediately ordered into the walkie-talkie: "Retreat, repeat... retreat immediately!"
But it was too late to wake up.
The communications soldier raised his head and looked at Major Lang in horror: "Major, the enemy has appeared two kilometers behind us, and we have nowhere to go!"
"Fuck it!" Major Lange cursed.
This is what he is worried about. If the enemy does not chase from the rear, it is very likely that they have already detoured to the front from other roads.
As for why the Soviet tanks went around... Of course, they built some roads that the Germans "can\'t see" for tanks to pass.
"Sir!" Immediately afterwards, the communications soldier asked in panic: "They sent a force to advance towards us from the rear. What is your order?"
Major Lange gritted his teeth and ordered: "All, blow up the tanks and disperse and retreat!"
The tank soldiers who heard the order couldn\'t help being stunned.
Blow up tanks?
That\'s a tank battalion with a total of more than 30 tanks. They blow up and retreat without even trying to break through? !
To be precise, this is not "retreat", but rather "escape".
Major Lange of course knew this, but he still ordered loudly: "Execute the order, immediately!"
"Yes, Major!" The tank soldiers responded, and then one by one got out of the tank and loaded the tank with explosives or poured gasoline on it as quickly as possible.
Major Lange\'s order is correct.
The tank battalion of the German army cannot retreat. It is obviously impossible to leave the road and go into the darkness. They are more likely to be stuck in the mud or blown up by landmines.
Retreat along the highway...the back road is blocked by T34 again.
Fight a war with T34?
There is no need to say what the result will be. German tanks are no match for T34 at all!
So, Major Lange chose to face the reality. The tanks will definitely not be taken away. Perhaps the only ones who can be taken away are these tank soldiers...Tank soldiers are also an asset, and of course the more important thing is to save their lives.
Therefore, when the fourth tank brigade arrived here, all they saw were tanks that had been blown up and burned by the Germans themselves. More than 30 tanks were neatly lined up in defensive formation. The armor was scurrying with the wind, and from time to time, several tanks exploded violently and broke into several pieces.
A lesson learned from this, Colonel Jonas no longer dared to use tank troops to cover behind. His tactic was to block the Soviet army with infantry firepower, and then the engineers quickly laid mines behind, while the main force retreated non-stop. , It was not until the withdrawal of Volokolamsk that it stabilized its position.
It was less than 12 o\'clock at this time.
Major General Rokossovsky immediately called Zhukov after receiving the news.
"We have recaptured Volokolamsk, Comrade Zhukov!" Major General Rokossovsky said: "Two hours ahead of schedule!"
"Congratulations, Comrade Rokossovsky!" Zhukov said: "You have proved that this tactic is effective, so fight!"
After putting down the phone, Zhukov turned his attention to Bulganin.
Bulganin thought for a while, then replied: "I will report the results to the Supreme Command!"
Zhukov nodded: "However, I think this tactic is only suitable for the 16th Army, because they have the fourth tank brigade, and the advantage of T34 gives them the advantage to regain the positions abandoned during the day!"
The reason why Zhukov said this was because he was worried that the Supreme Command would rashly spread this tactic to the entire army as soon as it got hot, and then Moscow would really have no power to recover.
Colonel Jonas retreated in a barrel car, and he evacuated to a safe area in less than two hours.
After settling down, Colonel Jonas directed the troops to retreat and reported to Army Commander Kruger.
"Your Excellency, Marshal, that is a trap!" Colonel Jonas said: "We were attacked by a large number of Russian T34..."
Kruger has of course heard the news of the defeat of the German army. In fact, this is completely within his expectation, because the T34 has never appeared, and the German army is constantly approaching Moscow.
The Russians certainly wouldn\'t let the Germans into Moscow, so the T34 would definitely be there.
It\'s just that Kruger didn\'t expect it to appear at night.
After thinking about it, Kruger felt that this was reasonable, because the German army\'s air superiority could not be exerted at night, but the Russian T34 could run amok.
"So!" Kruger replied: "What we have to worry about is not the problem of the Istria reservoir!"
Colonel Jonas couldn\'t help but look embarrassed. His previous judgment can be said to be outrageously wrong.
(end of this chapter)