In response to Marshal Bock's flat question, Guderian did not hesitate at all and blurted out in the same tone.
"Minus 50 degrees, Marshal, this is the temperature that was sent just half an hour ago."
Guderian's answer seemed somewhat expected, and Marshal Bock, whose tone was still very calm, finally gave Guderian a slightly helpless order.
"Suspend the offensive, Guderian, but don't retreat yet. This is a matter that can only be decided by the head of state."
December 5th was a decisive day for the Battle of Moscow and the entire Soviet Union.
On this day, all frontline German offensives, including Guderian's Second Armored Group, were stopped in a semicircular position 300 kilometers outside Moscow. The German army's last hope of ending the war in 1941 was completely defeated.
Shattered into nothing, the Kremlin standing on the snow-covered land is like a star within reach, but in fact it is far away in the horizon.
Guderian, who was still determined, at least did not show too much pessimism, but this was not the case for other German generals at the same level as Guderian on the front line.
Field Marshal Kruger, who served as commander of the Fourth Army, said pessimistically to his chief of staff Blumentritt: "From now on, we will become sinners in German history, at least in the history of 1941."
in this way."
In response to Field Marshal Kruger's pessimistic words, Fourth Army Chief of Staff Blumentritt pessimistically wrote in his diary summarizing today: "Our last hope of defeating Russia in 1941 has already passed at the last moment.
Minutes were completely lost."
In his recollections of the Battle of Moscow many years later, Guderian once mentioned: "This is the first time in my life that I have had to make such a decision. There is nothing more difficult or worse than this. We are facing
The Moscow offensive has failed, all the sacrifices made by our heroic troops and the endurance of the ice and snow have been in vain, and we have suffered the most tragic kind of defeat."
During the period from November 16 to December 5, when the last strategic group-level general offensive against Moscow was launched, the German Army Group Center froze to death, died in battle, and lost a total of 155,000 officers and soldiers, and lost more than 700 tanks in terms of technical weapons.
, various types of light and heavy artillery and fighter aircraft are not included.
The powerful offensive that Hitler boasted as the decisive victory over Typhoon had completely ceased on December 5. Correspondingly, General Zhukov, who was strategizing, was planning an attack that would make the German army never forget the Soviet winter of 1941.
An unprecedented counterattack, and preparations have been made.
It was exactly as Marshal Bock guessed when he talked to Guderian on the phone.
When the rising sun just crossed the horizon in the early morning of December 6, the Soviet battle group-level field artillery unit, which had been prepared overnight, began to tilt its firepower crazily. Various types of heavy artillery, including the 203mm Stalin Hammer, made the German army feel
With the most enthusiastic fire in the cold winter, the Soviet counterattack troops, chanting "Ula" slogans, burst out of the embankment like a flood.
It was also in the early morning of December 6th that Malashenko, who had only received the order from Comrade Lao Zhu to launch a full-scale counterattack the night before, was not surprised. After all, based on the original historical time points, it was almost the same.
Recently, Malashenko, who had foreseen the coming counterattack from the decline of the German army, had already made preparations.
The remaining 4 infantry divisions that arrived overnight for reinforcements combined with Malashenko's headquarters and the 3 undermanned infantry divisions that had previously launched a counterattack, resulting in a total of 7 infantry divisions plus a Guards heavy tank breakthrough regiment directly under the front army.
, launched a fierce attack on the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment and the remnants of the 4th Armored Division, which still had no idea how far their opponents had been strengthened.
The formation in which seven Soviet divisional artillery regiments opened fire at once was like shaking the earth. The roar of the artillery was so loud that even Malashenko, who was making final preparations for departure in the tank, was shaken to the point of numbness.
Malashenko, who had already expected that the shelling would be very violent, was still a little surprised by the current situation.
"I have never seen such a violent shelling, Comrade Commander, it can deafen people's ears."
Some of the ringing ears tried their best to hear clearly what Iushkin, who kept opening and closing his mouth, was saying. Malashenko, who was checking the on-board radio station in his commander's seat, immediately raised his tone and spoke in a high-pitched voice.
Decibel spoke loudly to Iushkin.
"The firepower of seven divisional artillery regiments is nothing. You should go to the counterattack direction north of Moscow and take a look. The artillery battalion directly under the group army has been mobilized there. The 203mm B-4 howitzer is large and full, and it can be fired with one shot.
Let the Nazi fascists feel the greatness and enthusiasm of communism."
It is necessary to use a relaxed and happy atmosphere to regulate psychological stress before going to war.
Hearing the lighthearted and joking words from Malashenko's mouth, the other three crew members who were a little nervous amidst the rumbling gunfire all smiled in unison.
The artillery fire of seven divisional artillery regiments was ready for a fierce bombardment, but finally ceased completely after lasting for an hour. The surviving German soldiers who staggered out of the artillery cave had no time to stand firm, and the mountain roared and the tsunami roared.
The ordinary roar of Ula forcibly drowned out the cold wind in the early morning, followed by the roar of the diesel engine.
"Oh, damn! Russians, Russians are everywhere! Stop them!"
The surviving soldiers of the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment on the front line were trying their best to resist the madly charging Soviet troops. Colonel Horning, the commander of the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment who had not even fastened his shirt buttons in the rear field command post, was holding a telescope in his hand and frowning.
With a twisted expression that was about to twist into a twist, he stared at the surging red wave in his field of vision.
"What the hell! Who can tell me how these Russians managed to summon so many troops overnight!? Yesterday the Air Force reconnaissance report said that only three unmanned infantry divisions and at most one armored regiment were moving towards us. What now? What do you think?
Use the binoculars to see for yourself! Doesn’t the helmet of those Russians have three infantry divisions with less than 100 men written on them!?"
In anger, he smashed the binoculars in his hands to pieces. Colonel Horning felt that he had been deceived by the Air Force and felt that his head was about to smoke.
None of the other officers and staff members in the command post who were bowing their heads and busy doing things dared to answer the words of Colonel Horning who was in a state of rage. At this time, anyone who dares to go up and get into trouble is seeking death, even if the Russian bayonet has already been
The same goes for putting it on the tip of your nose.