Chapter 934: Decisive Battle (4)

Boom!

The crew of the Panther tank that had just passed the steel bridge heard a dull crash.

"It seems to have been hit?" Just as the loader was muttering uncertainly, the commander shouted. "Two hundred meters at 11 o'clock, an anti-tank gun, load the grenade!"

The loader quickly stuffed a grenade into the gun barrel and closed the breech block. "The grenade is loaded!" Just as the loader reported, the commander saw the bomb that fell from the sky blow up the anti-tank gun.

The commander smacked his lips in frustration and ordered the gunner. "Hans, find a target and shoot the shell out." Once a tank shell is stuffed into the gun barrel, it must be fired. Retracting the barrel is time-consuming and laborious, and it is also quite dangerous. "There seems to be movement at 12 o'clock."

"Got it." The gunner stepped on the trigger, and with a loud "bang", the tank body shook violently, the barrel recoiled, and the shell automatically retreated into the shell collection basket below. The commander saw a flash of fire on the Soviet position in the distance, and then a cloud of gunpowder mixed with mud rose.

German tanks crossed the anti-tank trenches continuously and rushed towards the first Soviet position. A few unlucky tanks hit the "surviving" mines, and their tracks were blown up and paralyzed in place, waiting for the maintenance vehicles in the rear to come for repair.

As the German tanks approached, there were sparse gunshots and artillery sounds in the Soviet position, but these weak resistances were quickly wiped out by the German tanks and attack aircraft in the sky.

"Comrade Commander, the German army has broken through the first position in the southwest!" In the Soviet front-line command, the staff officer with a pale face reported the battle situation to Zhukov.

"..." Although Zhukov knew that it was the main attack direction of the German army, the opponent's combat effectiveness once again exceeded his expectations. "What about the enemy forces in other directions?"

"The enemy forces in other directions are also very fierce, and I'm afraid they won't survive today. Especially those..." The staff officer hesitated for a moment and whispered in a low voice. "Especially those 'Russian Liberation Army', their offensive can only be described as crazy, and their offensive speed is almost catching up with the main force of the German army."

"Eager for revenge?" Zhukov sighed helplessly. If it weren't for the "Order No. 270" issued by Comrade Stalin and losing their loved ones, maybe these people wouldn't have fought so hard. After all, according to common sense, prisoners of war choose to join the puppet army just to survive, and such troops have no combat effectiveness at all.

"Order No. 270" made these surrendered prisoners of war and Stalin become sworn enemies, especially when Comrade Stalin's eldest son Yakov was captured, Comrade Stalin announced his decision to sever the father-son relationship with him, which was used by the German propaganda department to publicize and deepen the hatred of these prisoners against Stalin; the result is that the combat effectiveness of these prisoners of war is so explosive.

But if these soldiers were so brave and desperate in the battle with the German army, the Germans would not have been able to reach the gate of the capital in one go.

Zhukov shook his head and simply stopped thinking about these annoying problems, and came to the huge sand table.

Although the depth of the first line of defense is more than 50 kilometers, the terrain around Moscow is not complicated. Most of it is flat area. The defenders have no natural barriers to rely on, which means that the German armored forces can gallop invincible.

The chief of staff pointed to the signboard representing the German attacking force on the sand table and reminded with a worried look. "Comrade Commander, the German armored forces will soon collide with our 104th Guards Tank Division."

"Guards" refers to the elite divisions in the army. The earliest concept of Guards appeared in the slave society, mainly referring to the commander's entourage. In the 12th century, Italy named the elite troops specializing in guarding the national flag as "Guards", which is also the earliest origin of the title of "Guards". In other words, the "Guards" in the traditional sense are actually the ancient Chinese Imperial Guards and Royal Guards, which are a guarding force rather than a field force. During the reign of Napoleon I of France, it was stipulated that only French soldiers who had experienced more than 20 battles had the right to be incorporated into the French Guards.

The Guards have a long history in Russia. As early as the period of Peter the Great of Russia, the first Guards was established. During World War II, in order to boost morale, the Soviet government began to award the title of "Guards" to some Red Army troops, ships, corps and legions that performed bravely and made special contributions in the war. After obtaining the title, not only the salaries of officers and soldiers were increased, but also priority was given to equipment and personnel replenishment. This is indeed a genius move. The awarding of honors one by one has boosted the morale of the Soviet army, consolidated the team spirit, and increased combat effectiveness exponentially, making great contributions to the victory of the Great Patriotic War.

For example, it was changed to the 100th Division of the 1st Guards Infantry Division (later changed to the 1st Guards Mechanized Army). From June 26 to 28, 1941, in the battle outside Minsk, the unit severely damaged the 35th Infantry Division and the 25th Armored Division of the German Army, annihilated one infantry regiment, one armored regiment, and one and a half motorcycle battalions, and destroyed more than 100 tanks, 13 armored vehicles, and 23 anti-tank guns. In early September 1941, the division launched an offensive in the 24th Army Assault Group, broke through the German defense positions north of Yelnya, cut off the Yelnya-Smolensk railway line, and surrounded the German army group in the area from depth, which was of great significance to crushing the German army and recovering Yelnya.

During the entire Soviet-German war, the Soviet army awarded honorary titles to 17 group armies, 82 corps, 315 divisions, 59 brigades, and 177 regiment-level units. Some units were abolished after the disintegration of the former Soviet Union, and some remained in Russia in later generations.

But now at the critical moment of life and death, in order to boost the morale of the troops, Stalin gave all the troops guarding Moscow the title of "Guards". The morale did not improve much, but it felt a bit like a bad street.

"The 104th Guards Tank Division?" Zhukov frowned slightly, unable to remember the configuration of this division.

The chief of staff naturally knew that Zhukov was suffering from some amnesia and quickly reported it. "Comrade Commander, this tank division is equipped with 70 KV-1 tanks, 30 IS-2 heavy tanks, and various other types of self-propelled artillery. I think the strength of this division is enough to eat up the forwards of the German armored forces and destroy them. Destroy their spirit! Besides, there is the 105th Guards Tank Division nearby that can serve as reinforcements."

Zhukov nodded when he heard this, seeming to agree with what he said. "Instruct the 104th Guards Tank Division to attack immediately and destroy this German forward force!"