USSR 1941

Time was passing by little by little, and there were a few gunshots outside the headquarters from time to time. It was the cold guns and cold gun demonstrations between the enemy and ourselves.

The sound of the guns seems to be urging the officers with a certain rhythm, telling them that time is running out, and if the enemy reinforcements arrive, the possibility of occupying Zhankoy will be reduced exponentially.

"We may be able to attack in another direction!" Lieutenant Colonel Gavrilov said: "If it is the enemy's new tank, I don't think they have a lot of equipment!"

"Perhaps their equipment is indeed not large!" Lieutenant Colonel Zakhakovic agreed: "Because if they are equipped with a lot of such tanks, they can even launch a counterattack without any scruples!"

This is just like the reason why the t34 tanks played against the German tanks "No. It is not a matter of quantity.

In particular, there is another point that is the strength of the German army and the weakness of the Soviet army: coordination.

This weakness allowed the Germans to match and even defeat the Soviets when tanks were at a disadvantage.

Now, the German army has the advantages of coordination and the advantage of the "Tiger Type". It can be said with certainty that if the number is not completely disproportionate, the German army should launch a counterattack no matter what.

Although Katukov agrees with this, he is not optimistic about this method.

"But those are tanks!" Katukov said. "They can move with our attack, and they don't need many tanks to block our attack in this way!"

Shulka did not speak.

He knew that the analysis of Zaha Kavic and others was correct. The number of "Tiger Types" was indeed very small when they first entered the battle. Even Shulka knew that the "Tiger Types" at this time should have a high failure rate... …for the first time in its history, three of the four had to be blown up with dynamite because they failed to move.

However, this problem can be avoided as much as possible in defensive battles. For example, the Germans let them hide in tank bunkers and shoot instead of driving on rough snow.

Of course, Shulka at this time did not know that Sponek even used rails to make up for the high failure rate of the "Tiger" tank.

Therefore, in fact, they can indeed adjust the direction of defense as needed even if the number is insufficient, as Katukov said.

on the other hand,

Because Zhankoy is at the center of the circle and the Soviets are at the periphery, the distance the Germans need to adjust is much shorter than the Soviets, so they have more time to react.

The command fell silent again.

"Maybe we should attack from several sides at once!" Shulka said.

Katukov laughed: "Shulka, we only have one tank brigade, and now there are only a hundred tanks left. We don't have enough strength to attack from several sides at the same time!"

One hundred tanks, even if divided into three directions, there are only 30 tanks in each direction. The impact of this attack is too small, and the number of tanks will be reduced, and eventually they will not even have the ability to attack.

"They don't know how many tanks we have!" Shulka said.

"No, they do!" Lieutenant Colonel Zakhakovic said, "They might even know our number!"

"The enemy's spies cannot be underestimated, Shulka!" said Lieutenant Colonel Gavrilov.

"That's not what I'm talking about!" Shulka explained. "What I'm saying is that it's true that they don't know in which direction our offensive preparations are going!"

Katukov couldn't help raising his head when he heard the words, then nodded slightly, and said, "I know what you mean, Shulka, it's indeed a good idea! Why don't we play a guessing game with the enemy?"

So the plan was quickly launched. The 1st Guards Tank Brigade was divided into three parts and attacked Zhankoy from three directions.

Information soon reached Lieutenant General Sponek's headquarters.

The adjutant's first reaction was that the Russians were crazy.

"They're just bluffing, General!" said the adjutant. "We know they have only one tank brigade, and they can only attack in one direction. They think they can fool us!"

Lieutenant General Sponek didn't think so.

"Do you think it's that simple?" Lieutenant General Sponek said, "Yes, they only have the ability to attack in one direction. But... can you tell me which direction?"

The adjutant's smile froze on his face.

"We basically rely on the defense line held by those 'Tiger' tanks!" Lieutenant General Sponeck continued: "If they only attack in one direction, then the problem is easy to solve. Now... we may need to attack in three directions. Pick one, or spread them out?"

The number is indeed flawed. Although there is a heavy armored battalion of "Tigers" reinforced to Zhankoy, there are actually only 4 "Tigers".

But Lieutenant General Sponek was not a kind person, he whispered a few words to the adjutant, and then let him make arrangements.

On the other side, Shulka and Katukov were holding binoculars in the trench to observe the front position.

This is an opportunity for them. In fact, there are many Soviet scouts at the front of the position observing the front of the position, and they will shoot a few flares from time to time.

This is because the Soviet army is at least now sure that the enemy's "new tanks" are in the tank bunkers in the front position. If the German army wants to transfer them to other directions, they must be dragged out of the tank bunkers and moved in other directions.

However, at this time, a shell was fired from the direction of the German army, and then several smoke bombs hit the center of the position. In an instant, a cloud of smoke and dust rose in front of the position. What is going on.

Then, there was a faint "rumbling" sound of tanks in the smoke.

"They were fooled!" Katukov said happily: "They moved the new tanks to other directions!"

Shulka felt something was wrong.

"No, Colonel, I don't think they transferred the new tanks! They're still here!"

"You mean to say..."

"I think it's a scam!" Shulka said. "They could obviously cover the motor of the tank with the explosion of shells, but they didn't do it, or they deliberately exposed this loophole for us to find!"

Katukov opened his mouth halfway, then nodded: "If we attack with all our strength, I'm afraid we will lose another dozen tanks!"

"Yes!" Shulka said: "So, I think we need to shift the main force to the flank, no matter which flank, I don't think we will encounter the 'new tank'!"