Bismarck

"If the Russians don't come to reinforce me, I should be able to do it, but I'm afraid they will. Besides, it's not enough for me to hold on by myself. We also need Manstein and Model to the south to hold on... Hmm? What's going on?!"

As the saying goes, what you fear is bound to come true. Rommel had just finished speaking with a worried look on his face when he saw the communications director running in with a telegram in his hand, looking furious: "Two corps commanders, Marshal Rundstedt has forwarded a telegram from Manstein!"

Their hearts skipped a beat at the same time. Long Zai Bu and Gu Bu Shuai looked at each other in panic and asked, "What did that old guy say?"

"Manstein said that the Russians rushing out of the forest opposite him are very powerful, and he can only hold out until the day after tomorrow... In addition, Marshal Rundt also said that the Russians are now attacking our troops surrounding Ryazan, and Model and List's Army Group Busch have been forced to retreat further. The marshal said that we must fight our way out of the encirclement at any cost and absolutely not allow us to move south to the temporary highway south of the city (between Podolsk and Moscow, built by German engineers), otherwise we will be unable to retreat due to traffic jams, resulting in..." The communications director hesitated for a few seconds, but still said those words: "Leading to the annihilation of the entire army..."

"Fuck him! We are fighting here just to cover their escape!"

Under the tremendous pressure of the battlefield, Rommel's temper became more and more irritable, and he uttered more and more foul language. Finally, he could not hold back the fear and anxiety in his heart, and finally let go of his dignity as a corps commander and started swearing.

Guderian stood silently by and did not try to persuade his already hysterical colleague.

Although he knew that the south of his position was actually a network of water and paddy fields, and he could not move directly to the temporary highway in the south of the city. Even if he ran over, the Soviet army that rushed out of Moscow would definitely be able to catch more than 200,000 people from the three armies who were stuck on the narrow road and trapped in a traffic jam!

However, even though it is clear, who wouldn’t feel angry when they have to take the blame for someone else and get into trouble?

He even found himself upset because he didn't know when, but in his heart, there was only an indescribable fear about the outcome of this war.

In the dark, it seemed that a thought kept turning in his mind: this time, as the commander of the German Wehrmacht Corps and the Field Marshal, might be the last battle that he could command...

The iron-gray layers of ice clouds and the fierce flying snow outside the window were as cold as the helpless feelings of the two world-famous generals.

Chapter 827: The Fox's Destruction!

The German defense line southwest of Moscow stretched from the town of Lyubertsy 20 kilometers away to Zhukov Airport 40 kilometers away, then to Ryazan 185 kilometers away, and finally to the W-shaped bend of the Oka River 260 kilometers away from Moscow. In this 240-kilometer river and forest junction, Marshal Manstein's th Army and General Model's th Army, totaling people, held the exit of the forest road with trembling teeth.

Opposite them were hundreds of thousands of Soviet Red Army soldiers who were singing the passionate "Defenders of Moscow"!

The earth-shattering artillery fire and the crowds of people all over the mountains were like a tsunami, and endless hatred burst out with bravery and fearlessness. In the sound of "Ura" that resounded through the sky, under the artillery fire that dyed the sky red for nine days, the entire defense line was like a fragile window paper, trembling in front of the Soviet Red Army's rolling iron torrent shouting "Ura".

The freezing weather froze the rivers and lakes, and solidified the permafrost and swamps. Whether it was the armored units or the combined army infantry groups reinforced with heavy tanks charging, in such terrain, there was basically no need to worry about getting stuck in the mud and being unable to move.

Especially at the exits of several forest roads northwest of Ryazan, there are even the five pairs of road wheels of the Soviet Tank Army’s most advanced T-54 tanks, which are said to be able to fly into the sky and into the ground!

This is a monster that even the 88mm anti-aircraft guns fired by the German army, which had long been equipped with tungsten core bullets, could not do anything to!

"Russian... Russians' new tanks!!"

"Artillery! Artillery! Fire, fire!!"

"Bazooka man, come on! It's all up to you now!!"

After a round of shelling, several T-54 tanks that were pierced from the sides and rear stopped with black smoke. But within a minute, the artillery positions behind the positions were blasted into a sea of ​​fire by the shells and IL-2 attack aircraft that whizzed over the heads of the army positions.

For the attacking armored soldiers, the heavy artillery soldiers with powerful firepower supporting them from the rear and the attack aircraft aviation soldiers flying in the sky are the heavy firepower guarantee for attacking in the sky! Not to mention that above the armored army, there is at least one aviation army providing 24-hour uninterrupted air cover service!

Under the battlefield suppression and fire support of heavy artillery and attack aircraft, the armored soldiers and infantry, who were originally slightly hindered, shouted "Ura" again, and under the guidance of the red flag in the front, they rushed out from the deep and endless forest one after another, ready to die.

With the overwhelming attack and the overwhelming fighting will, the French bandits who were trying to stop a chariot with their bare hands were having their sinful bodies crushed inch by inch by the wheels of the Soviet Red Army tanks!

"No... There are too many of them, Captain, what should we do...?"

"Damn it, we can only organize a suicide squad to blow up the tanks... Who will blow up the Russian tanks for me!" The company commander gritted his teeth and waved his hand. On the other side of his finger, one after another five pairs of steel behemoths with five pairs of road wheels were using their brutal firepower composed of 100mm naval guns and 12.7mm anti-aircraft machine guns to ravage this small company-level position. Even though the German position was equipped with two 88mm anti-aircraft guns, they had no way to deal with this low-profile but indestructible monster. Under the cover of the tanks, large groups of Soviet Red Army soldiers wearing white cotton coats, white capes, and holding PPSh submachine guns formed a skirmish line formation, scattered on both sides of the tanks, sometimes sprinting at full speed, sometimes lying down to hide, and sometimes raising their guns to shoot. The powerful firepower of rounds per minute and the duration of rounds of bullets turned into a rain of bullets like a gust of wind, pressing the German troops on the position so that they couldn't even raise their heads! Even if there were a few brave warriors who rushed out with explosives or blasting tubes occasionally, they would not be able to run more than three or five meters before they turned into a shabby corpse with blood holes all over their bodies and fell heavily on the snow.

"Uh..." Seeing this scene, a group of German soldiers with a strong desire to survive looked at each other in silence.

Looking at his subordinates who had already lost all their courage, the company commander gnashed his teeth in anger, but he could do nothing.

Also feeling extremely frustrated and helpless was the commander of their Fourth Army, General Model.

With a large army attacking from outside and the Ryazan defenders fighting back bravely from inside, the Fourth Army, caught in a pincer attack from both sides, had a hard time moving forward.

People were rushing in and out of the headquarters, and what they saw was a panic. News of failed operations kept coming one after another, like a heavy mountain, pressing down on everyone and making it hard for them to breathe.

As the head of the legion, Model must be the one under the most pressure...

"Report to the corps commander. The Russian defenders of Ryazan have fought their way out and have now taken control of the bridgehead position in the north of the city..."

"Why don't you organize firepower to block the river? Hurry up!"

"Report to the corps commander. The town of Zapoliye (18 kilometers away from Ryazan) has been lost. The Russian vanguard is only 15 kilometers away from Ryazan. They have at least one tank division..."

"Zapoliye is lost? Then we must defend the town of Polkovo (behind Zapoliye)! ... Also, pull all our tank battalions as a reserve up there. There is a bend of the Oka River on the roadside there. Let the tanks bombard the Russian army from the other side of the river! Also, call the Air Force immediately and have them send planes to bomb the Russian follow-up troops!"

"Commander, the Ryazan Airport (10 kilometers west of the city) was bombarded! It was the remaining artillery of the Russians in Ryazan City... The Air Force said that this airport cannot be deployed now. If it is to be deployed, aircraft must be urgently dispatched from the rear airport, but it may not be in time..."

"Damn it! If this airport cannot be used, we will lose air superiority..." Model's mouth twitched fiercely. He gritted his teeth and made up his mind: "Let our corps' 170mm long-range cannon bombard the Russians - use short-term rapid fire, and disperse and move immediately after the attack, so as not to be caught by Russian planes..."

"But, in this case, our firepower can only delay the Russians for a while... Commander, do you think we should consider moving back...?"

"Turn in..." Model gritted his teeth, still a little unwilling, but soon, another signalman rushed into the headquarters holding a piece of paper:

"Commander, Kleist (on the right wing) sent a telegram saying that their front-line positions can no longer hold out and they are now retreating to the second line of defense on the Voronezh River... In addition, they also reported that Timoshenko's Saransk Front's 200,000 troops are coming towards us along the Penza-Ryazan Highway, and we should make preparations early..."

"What? This...!" Hearing the news, Model jumped up from the stool, veins popping out of his forehead. The muscles on his face trembled unconsciously, and the corners of his mouth moved, but finally he seemed to lose his strength and slumped down on the chair with a dejected look on his face.

The word "retreat" sounded so weak in the ears of the staff officers gathered around.

........................

"What? The consequence of Kleist's failure means that Model has no choice but to retreat now? Then Manstein probably won't be able to hold out for much longer... Send a telegram to Guderian and Rommel immediately and ask them how they are doing now!"

In the chaotic headquarters of Army Group Center, the two old marshals Rundstedt and Bock were running around like ants on a hot pan.

Things like retreat will affect the entire body!

Thanks to the muddy swamps of the Soviet Union, there are only a few main east-west roads within 200 kilometers south of Moscow! Even if the engineers opened up a few temporary roads, it was not enough to support the retreat of hundreds of thousands of troops - or even a retreat. Especially now that we are paying attention to the retreat of 120,000 troops from two armies trapped in the southeast of Moscow, we can't take it lightly!

Not to mention that Guderian and Rommel's position actually contained the combat effectiveness of almost half of the Soviet Union's general reserve front! Six combined armies and one guards armored army with 300,000 people and 900 tanks is not a small number that can be ignored for the Soviet army with a total strength of 800,000 people and 1,400 tanks!

However, because of this, their retreat was much more difficult than that of Manstein and Model who were further south!

The only temporary east-west road within 30 kilometers south of Moscow was under the coverage of Soviet artillery fire. And the road further south was a must for Manstein's retreat! Not to mention that Guderian and Rommel could not retreat yet - if they "turned in" like this, there would be traffic jams. The Soviet army trapped in the city and forests of Moscow by the two of them would be able to rush out of Moscow along the well-connected transportation lines, and the entire Central Army Group would be cut into several sections!

Not to mention, air supremacy in the airspace around Moscow has become increasingly unfavorable for the German army.

Although the German air force still had a slight advantage in terms of air force strength in the theater, the Soviet Air Force had a higher proportion of fighter aircraft, which largely offset the gap in total combat power, which was not large to begin with! Moreover, among the several airports around Moscow, three of the four occupied airports were no longer usable due to the Soviet counterattack. The remaining Zhukovsky Airport was located southwest of Moscow and was about to be abandoned!

It was snowing heavily, and the snow on the ground was half a person's height. The runway of an airport that was about to be abandoned was empty, not to mention that there was no plane, and no one even cared about clearing the snow...

Although there are several airports west of Moscow, the total strength of the Soviet Air Force is only slightly inferior to ours, and the performance of its fighter jets is also only slightly inferior, but the number of its fighter jets is exactly twice as high as ours. It is an indisputable fact that even though the German Air Force is experienced in battles, it can no longer suppress air superiority!

The attack of the air forces of equal strength was basically a mutual attack. Even though Goering ordered the bomber unit to block the Soviet battlefield regardless of losses, his own airports and the retreat routes of the army were also bombed by the Soviet light bombers. As a result, even if the German Air Force tried its best to fight the Soviet Air Force, there was no extra force to change the situation.

The situation was becoming more and more critical, the roar of artillery fire and the roar of tanks were getting closer and closer. The overwhelming sound of Ura was also constantly transmitted through the radio microphone. Even veterans like Bock and Rundstedt, who had been through many battles, still felt insecure when they heard the faint sound of Ura.

Especially Guderian and Rommel, who were trapped in the street fighting in Moscow and were desperately trying to break out - it was only a matter of time before Manstein behind them would retreat. However, if a passage could not be opened before Manstein retreated, the only consequence for the two armies would be complete annihilation!

However, if it is not absolutely necessary, no one wants to abandon them...

"How is Kluge's Ninth Army doing now? Can you spare some troops to provide support?"

Bock looked at the chief of staff beside him, but the only response he got was a shrug and a spread of hands...

After all, the Ninth Army, which is now due west of Moscow, has very few troops left - with a force of more than 70,000 people and 50 tanks, it has to defend a front line width of hundreds of kilometers. Moreover, the threat from the Soviet Kalinin Front opposite is no less than that of the General Reserve Front!

You have to know that now that the Soviet army in Moscow has begun an all-out counterattack, Kluge is 20 kilometers away from Guderian - not to mention that the two gangs are separated by the western part of Moscow!

At a time when the Soviet Red Army was counterattacking on all fronts and his own combat power was still weak, Kluge was also doing his best. However, he only had more than 70,000 men and 50 tanks. In addition to withstanding the Soviet Red Army's counterattack in the direction of Moscow, he also had to assist in defending Hoth's Fourth Panzer Army to the north. Hoth, who only had 80,000 men and 100 tanks, faced the Kalinin Front with 870,000 mercenaries and 1,800 tanks! Even if there was also Loeb's Northern Army Group to support them, the total force was only about 300,000...

300,000 against 900,000, or the enemy preemptively attacks all fronts, how to retreat? Urgent, waiting online... (@白-崇熙)

He was able to ensure that the current front line had not retreated for the time being, and the maximum range of the 170 heavy howitzers under his command had been maintained at the edge of the Moscow city area - especially the breakthrough point planned by Guderian and Rommel, the edge of the university town southwest of Moscow. He had already tried his best.

Not to mention, from the microphone of the radio, the desire to survive was extremely strong. It could even be said that the tone of the two corps commanders, Guderian and Rommel, who were commanding the fleeing troops to fight desperately, in their battle reports was becoming more and more anxious, even more and more desperate...

"We are building a pontoon bridge at the bend of the Moscow River south of the river. The Russians are firing fiercely and we have suffered heavy casualties... But further south is the bend of the Moscow River and paddy fields. The terrain is divided and the main force cannot retreat from there..."

"The Russians at the railway hub have gathered at least two armies, fighting us house by house! We sent our reserve troops, but they have too many people. The best we can do is buy time until noon on the 4th..."

"It's very difficult to break out. The enemy has sent in reinforcements. Can Kluge send in reinforcements? Request them to send troops urgently to support us... What? He has less than a battalion of tanks left? Damn it, how could this be..."

"Air Force, is the Air Force there? The Russians are crazy. They have deployed a large number of heavy artillery in the city. They have even dragged out 203mm heavy howitzers... Our assigned artillery has been suppressed now. I repeat, our heavy artillery has been completely suppressed. Request Air Force reinforcements..."

"Urgent report! It's urgent! We have lost contact with our remaining troops in the Balashka Industrial Zone. The 164th Division and the 21st Armored Division are believed to have been wiped out... Their tank armies have rushed into the city and are advancing to the southwest and southeast! The 90th Light Armored Division in the second-line position in the dormitory area in the eastern suburbs of the city reports that the situation is critical and requests urgent tactical guidance..."

"Army Group Headquarters? We don't have enough troops... The Russian heavy tanks and heavy infantry have repelled one group and then two. Our reserve troops have been deployed to the workers' new village in the east of the city and the residential area of ​​the railway freight marshaling yard to fight a tactical counterattack against them. But they have too many people, and 70% to 80% of our reserve troops have been deployed... I only have 10,000 troops left. If the loss continues, I won't be able to hold out until noon on the 4th... Request air force support, request air force support!"

"Headquarters, headquarters! This is Guderian! We need urgent tactical guidance and emergency air support... We have built seven or eight pontoon bridges at the river bend south of the city. We are now two kilometers away from the exit of Lenin Highway in the university town, but... but there are too many enemies... The Russians have sent three armies reinforced with heavy tanks from the north, pushing us back. Our contact with Rommel at the factory area on the side is in danger of being cut off... We have suffered too much loss, and we can no longer attack. There are less than 12,000 people in the entire army who can still fight, and there are only a few tanks left (boom!)... I repeat, we are out of ammunition and food, and we can no longer continue the attack with our current strength. We request emergency air support, request emergency air support..."

Guderian's hoarse voice on the radio was already very anxious, even with a hint of tears. The deafening sound of gunfire and the unique rattling of machine guns also came through the microphone - this showed that the battlefield was very close to Guderian. If even the headquarters had been trapped in the battlefield, this situation could only mean one thing, that Guderian and Rommel were in a desperate situation!

Rundstedt and Bock, who were standing around the radio station, looked at each other with very ugly expressions on their faces.

At this moment, a flash of red light suddenly appeared outside the headquarters bunker. The two old marshals turned their heads and looked through the window. They saw the wreckage of a fighter plane with blazing flames, crashing headfirst into an open space not far from the headquarters. Even though the tail of the upside-down fighter plane was half blown off, it was still vaguely recognizable as the wreckage of a BF-109 fighter plane...

Looking at the black smoke billowing in the sky, the faces of the two old marshals, Rundstedt and Loeb, were very ugly. The Soviet Air Force had twice as many fighter planes as their own, and the performance gap between the fighter planes was not very large. Even if the German pilots had a higher combat quality, as long as they could not control the air superiority, they could not guarantee the efficiency of supporting ground operations. Not to mention, the airports near Moscow also had an absolute advantage for the Soviet Air Force...

Moreover, if the Soviet planes had already hit this place, then the headquarters would have to move immediately - although the relevant maps and documents had been basically loaded onto the vehicles, the efficiency of communication could not be guaranteed during the retreat in the chaos...

After looking at each other again, there was only a dark bitterness in Rundstedt and Bock's eyes.

Even air supremacy can no longer be guaranteed...

Guderian and Rommel's cries for help continued over and over again on the radio, but the two silent old marshals could no longer promise their students and subordinates anything - after all, Guderian was a student and capable subordinate of Field Marshal von Bock, and Rommel was also a corps commander with the rank of marshal and outstanding military exploits.

If it wasn't a last resort, no one wanted to abandon them. But now, how could they say it was "not a last resort"? Even now, when the war situation was getting more critical, they couldn't even say "please hold on for the last five minutes" - not to mention that they couldn't say it, even the little mustache leader had sent a telegram of encouragement and a commendation. But what's the point of saying this now? There is no shortage of medals and honors on the battlefield, but you have to be alive to get them first!

Unfortunately, the German army on the battlefield now has no reinforcements - even if there are, they are only those SS Rangers who were originally killing, setting fire, intercepting and committing all kinds of evil in the second line! Although this group of people are not a mob without military training, Himmler also asked them to obey the military command with all their strength, and even the Wehrmacht itself did this a lot, but even so, this group of people can only barely fill the second line position, and don't even think about rescuing Guderian and Rommel!

They even had to harden their hearts and order Kluge, Manstein and Model to abandon their positions and retreat immediately - just to use the time that Guderian and Rommel were surrounded to tie down the Soviet army, and to preserve the strength of other troops to the maximum extent for the next year...

The desire to survive on the radio was getting stronger and stronger, but the hoarse voice calling for help was getting weaker and weaker. Listening to the cries of his subordinates bleeding and crying on the battlefield was a torment even for the old marshal who was used to seeing life and death.

However, the final result was that after Rommel and Guderian cried out for help in extremely hoarse voices, a burst of submachine gun fire suddenly came from the radio, followed by a hoarse but angry voice in broken German with an obvious Russian accent, which abruptly interrupted Guderian and Rommel's final cry for help: "stehen bleiben! H"ande hoch alle! (Don't move! Put your hands up!)"

Hearing this voice, the two marshals were suddenly stunned, and their minds went blank. Bock, who was holding the microphone and was about to say something, couldn't help but loosen his grip. The microphone fell to the ground, and only the cheers of the defenders of Moscow came out of the headphones.

Marshal Rundstedt on the other side made the sign of the cross silently, stretched out his hand, turned off the switch of the radio, then silently patted the shoulder of Bock, who was standing next to him. Bock had a stunned look on his face, but a look of relief, and shook his head silently.

After a long silence, Bock took off his military cap, closed his eyes, and made the sign of a cross on his chest, as if he was standing there in silence for the doomed but unknown fate of his students and subordinates.

Soon, the bad news spread throughout the Eastern Front, even alarming Hitler in the German Army High Command:

At one o'clock in the afternoon on December 1942, 12, outside the city of Moscow, the German Second and Fifth Panzer Armies were completely wiped out!

…………The following is the epitaph…………

Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the "Desert Fox", was an infantry battalion commander who made his mark in World War I and was awarded the Blue Max Medal. He was the author of the textbook "Infantry Attack", the commander of the 7th Armored Division who had a brilliant performance in the blitzkrieg against France, and the commander of the "African Corps" in the North African battlefield. Although he ignored logistics, he was one of the three greatest armored attack maniacs in German history in World War II. At the same time, he maintained his chivalry, always restrained his subordinates to treat battlefield refugees and prisoners of war as kindly as possible, and was a true knight who was a warm man to his wife. Before he was inexplicably involved in the rebellion group of the General Staff and finally forced to commit suicide by taking poison to save his family, he lived in a Siberian prisoner-of-war camp for free as a defeated general outside the city of Moscow.

General Heinz Guderian, the "blitzkrieg hero", the father of the German armored forces, was a figure who did not follow the rules and was famous for his wild imagination in the infantry and cavalry during World War I. After the defeat in World War I, he relied on his creativity as a transport officer to pioneer the armored blitzkrieg tactics from automobile transportation. In the early stages of the Polish, French and Soviet-German wars, he relied on his years of dedicated research and his daring personality to bring him super strong offensive power, making epic military exploits for the Third Reich. Although he was considered to lack a big picture view in the late stage of the Smolensk Campaign and his mustache, who had military economics concepts, strongly argued that "Moscow should be attacked first", his pioneering armored warfare concepts and his military exploits were enough to earn him a marshal-level rank and status. At the same time, as a German general, he always maintained strict military discipline, stopped the German army's persecution of civilians at least twice (Smolensk in 41, Warsaw Uprising in 44), and even executed illegal SS soldiers (in the Warsaw Uprising in 44, he shot the notorious Kaminski and another SS Ranger commander and drove the two troops away from the battlefield). Because of the above actions, Gu was not identified as a war criminal after the war and died peacefully in his later years.

…At this time, on several roads south of Moscow and north of Tula, a large army was evacuating westward in an orderly manner…

"So, even if I give the order to allow Otto's SS Rangers to do bad things, we just need to leave them behind to cover the retreat - the dead cannot talk... As long as we can withdraw, we can gather the troops, and then wait for the Russians to attack at the end of their strength and launch a beautiful counterattack - well, probably here... At that time, I will really be the pillar of the army. Even if I want to be the chief of the general staff or something, few people can say anything about me anymore."

Manstein pointed at Kharkov on the map with a smile on his face, his smile as calm as a breeze.

Chapter 828: Bismarck's Concerns

In a warehouse in the center of Tula, Sergei Yongfu and Shura, who were already skinny and pale from hunger, and shivering from the cold in the drafty fortifications, were now gathered around the fire with their subordinates, gulping down porridge like crazy from hunger. Behind them were several T-34/85 medium tanks being warmed up, and groups of fellow soldiers who were also eating in front of the fire.

"Ahh, the counterattack is finally coming. I'm almost starving to death waiting..."

Although Shura's sister's sacrifice and the bloody battlefield made him cold and sharp, he was still growing up and had a funny personality. After being hungry for a month, he drank a large bowl of porridge in two or three gulps. While drinking, he grabbed a baked potato the size of half a fist and stuffed it into his mouth without caring whether it was hot or not.

"Alright, alright, be careful. Don't survive on the battlefield and get choked to death here."

Seeing him wolfing down the food, Yang Yongfu on the other side gave Shula a cold look - although he had also finished a big bowl at the moment, and was also pouring tons of food into his mouth just before he spoke, too.

However, deep down, Yang Yongfu's heart was actually full of excitement.

After all, the long-awaited counterattack has finally arrived!

The Tula defenders who were trapped in the siege and tens of thousands of citizens who refused to retreat in the face of the enemy and grabbed rifles and demanded to fight to the end had been besieged by the German fascists for a whole month.

After a month of siege, the food supply in the city had inevitably become very tight.

It was bad luck. A month ago, the former city defense commander, Lieutenant General Lukin, was transferred by his superiors for his meritorious service in defense and was promoted to the commander of Moscow city defense. The successor to the city defense commander was the former commander of the 4th Guards Tank Brigade, Katukov. However, within a week of taking over, the German devils launched a large-scale deep raid and directly surrounded the Tula defenders behind enemy lines 150 kilometers away from the front line.

Even if the German army was determined to occupy Moscow and did not spare more strength to launch a larger-scale attack on the besieged Tula, the food consumption of more than 100,000 soldiers and civilians in a month was not a small number. The advancing war meant that this city, which was busy with the construction of fortifications and war preparations, had no way to raise enough food nearby.

With food in short supply and a large population in the city, General Katukov had to severely limit everyone's rations. Even the soldiers and workers who still insisted on working in the military factories in the city, if they did not have combat missions or did not have to do heavy physical labor, had only a potato and a cup of porridge every day, which was barely enough to keep them alive.

After a month, everyone looked pale and thin, staggering with every step, and looked very weak.

But now, all this is finally coming to an end!

There is an airport 2000 meters away from the northern suburbs of Tula, and it is the only large airport within a radius of hundreds of kilometers. Moreover, before the German occupation, the military and civilians of Tula had already transferred the precious aviation gasoline to the underground bunkers built in advance in the city and buried it safely.

Now the large force has begun counterattack in the east. If the control of this airport can be restored, the main force of the counterattack will be enough to ensure air supremacy on the battlefield in the first place!

Speaking of counterattack, Katukov was originally the commander of the Guards Tank Brigade. The terrain here was plains and small hills. Although a month of siege had made the soldiers and civilians in the city starving, the consumption of ammunition and fuel was not very severe. On the contrary, the tanks and artillery damaged in previous battles had basically been repaired.