USSR 1941

The 4th Tank Brigade finally crossed the German line of three-legged barricades... Although the three-legged barricades were cheap and quick to lay, it was not difficult to remove them.

Of course, it's not the wrecker infantry who go straight up to move them away, which is very dangerous under the hail of bullets and the enemy's watchful eyes, and it is not necessary at the same time.

The obstacle-removing infantry advances under the cover of the tank. When reaching the roadblock, the obstacle-removing infantry carries the steel traction rope over the tank and crawls forward, and then only needs to hook the hook like an iron anchor on the traction rope on the three-legged roadblock. The intersection point is fine.

Each traction rope will have three to five claws of this kind, and they hook a roadblock respectively, and then send a signal backward... As soon as the tank at the other end of the traction rope retreats, the roadblock will be dragged away.

This is a testament to the saying, "The height of the road is the height of the foot, and the height of the foot." Things on the battlefield are often like this, like spears and shields that restrain each other, and it is also a process of tit-for-tat between the enemy and us, accompanied by blood and death.

The 4th Tank Brigade arrived in Tver more than half an hour later than planned.

Tver is located on the main road and railway between Moscow and Leningrad... 160 kilometers from Moscow and 484 kilometers from Leningrad.

Even it is not only the main road and railway, but also controls the upper reaches of the river, where the Tveltsa River and the Volga River meet, and then flow towards Moscow.

Among Shulka's men was a Tver native, Larinovich.

He was Shulka's old subordinate when he was the platoon leader. Shulka almost forgot about him until last week when he returned to the team, he saluted Shulka excitedly, and then held Shulka's hand tightly. , Said: "Comrade Second Lieutenant, thank you, the doctor said that you let me keep my left arm, to be exact... you saved my life!"

Shulka was a little confused, there were so many subordinates coming and going, some of them died before they knew each other, so Shulka really didn't remember saving the life of the corporal in front of him, but only knew that he was once his subordinate .

"Comrade Lieutenant, you must not remember!" Larinovich said: "On our way from Kyiv to Odessa, my arm was injured by a mine!"

"Oh, Larinovich!" Shulka remembered now that he had indeed bandaged him, and at the same time suggested that he go to Odessa with the troops instead of waiting for follow-up troops to take him in by the roadside.

"It turns out you're right!" said Larinovich. "There are more medicines in Odessa, and I got good treatment there!"

"Why have you come to Moscow?" Shulka asked.

"Reinforcements from Odessa!" Larinovich replied: "I came with them... Of course, I asked for it. After they knew that I was a soldier of the 333rd regiment, they helped I've done the formalities!"

The 333rd Regiment is already a star troop and a hero troop listed in Pravda, so if there are soldiers who request to return to the team, they will of course be given priority.

But Shulka didn't think it was a good thing, because he was going to be on the most dangerous front line as soon as he came up.

At this time, Larinovich was the guide of Shulka's company... Because it was fighting at night, in order to prevent the troops from getting lost and to coordinate better, each company assigned one or two soldiers who were familiar with the terrain to be the guide. Guide, otherwise the tanks will run around like headless chickens in the streets and alleys, not only the battle will not go smoothly, but also accidental injuries may occur.

The tank "rumbled" onto the street, and the doors of the houses on both sides were closed tightly. I don't know whether people went to the empty buildings or hid inside and dared not make a sound.

Shulka led the soldiers forward cautiously, aiming their rifles at the windows on both sides from time to time, because you can't be sure whether those windows will suddenly stick out a few guns or throw out a few grenades.

There was a deathly silence around, no enemies, no civilians, only the falling snowflakes dangling from the sky, and the suffocating exhaust fumes released by the tanks.

The hood of General Shulka’s hat is hung on the top of the hat... This is a Soviet-style cotton ear protection cap, which the soldiers call "Shapka". cap badge.

This winter ear muff features two flaps on both sides that cover the ears and the back of the neck for warmth when down.

As the commander, Shulka certainly couldn't put it down at this time... It's not for the sake of demeanor, but because he needs to hear more voices, such as the enemy's changes, reports from subordinates, and so on.

Larinovich approached Shulka and said, "Two hundred meters ahead is the Volga Bridge!"

As I said before, the Tveltsa River meets the Volga here, so of course there will be bridges.

The bridge will inevitably be the focus of competition between the enemy and ourselves.

From this point of view, the 571st Infantry Regiment stationed by the German army in Tver only needs to blow up several bridges across the Volga and Tverta Rivers to effectively prevent the Fourth Tank Brigade from occupying Tver.

But the Germans were reluctant to do so, for the obvious reason that it would take a heavy toll on German logistics.

In fact, there was also a debate within the German army on whether to blow up the bridge.

Colonel Fein, commander of the 571st Infantry, preferred to blow up the bridge.

That's what he told Field Marshal Kruger on the phone.

"Your Excellency Marshal, at least we should be prepared to blow up the bridge!" Colonel Finn said, "This way we have the right to choose..."

"You mean to install explosives on the main part of the bridge pier?" Marshal Kruger interrupted Colonel Fein without thinking, "No, Colonel! This is a stupid approach. Your task is to defend the two bridges. Got it? Hold them before the enemy has a chance to blow them up!"

After a pause, Marshal Kruger said again: "You think you have the right to choose when the bridge is loaded with explosives? God, don't you know how dangerous this is? What do you think they're going to do? They just hang themselves off the pier with a few ropes and detonate those explosives, and you can't even stop them!"

Colonel Fein was speechless when he heard the words, because what Kruger said was right, installing explosives on the bridge could easily be used by the Russian army.

"What's more!" Kruger said with emphasis: "You have an armored train, and the four 88mm anti-aircraft guns on it can effectively block the enemy's T34. I don't know what else you need to worry about!"

"Say it again!" Kruger emphasized: "Defend the bridge, and at the same time, to ensure the safety of the bridge, no explosives can be installed, understand?"

"Yes, Your Excellency the Marshal!"

Kruger hung up the phone fiercely and cursed: "These cowards, they only think about their own safety, and they don't even think about how important these bridges are to the attack on Moscow!"