Chapter 423 Extreme Cold

If it had been half a month ago, Colonel Horning would have given a stern instruction without thinking about the self-deprecating words spoken by his personal adjutant. The strict self-discipline Colonel Horning has always tried his best not to let it appear among his subordinates. Feel free to discuss the situation with your superiors.

But right now, right now.

Colonel Horning, who was also full of complaints about the extremely bad situation in front of him, no longer had the time to take care of the minutiae. All the bad situations since the first heavy snowfall in winter had already followed one after another.

There is a lack of winter clothing and supplies, so much so that the morale of the frontline troops is so low that they can't even eat enough to eat.

Whenever Colonel Horning emphasizes that the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment is an elite force of the Wehrmacht and should enjoy the right to prioritize equipment selection and material supply, the higher-level logistics supervisor who interfaces with the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment will always respond with the same and rather inconsistent response. A helpless answer.

"Mr. Colonel, I understand that the problem you mentioned does exist now and is really causing a lot of trouble to you and your troops, but please also understand that I have really done everything I can for you and your troops. !”

"Look at these. This thick stack contains emergency telegrams that were just sent out today. They are available in every unit on the front line. Some divisions can send me more than a dozen telegrams in a day!"

"This letter is asking for supplies and ammunition, and this one is asking me for winter clothes just like you. This, look at this. Now even tanks are asking me for them. Where can I go to a division? Looking for tanks? Oh my god, I’m in charge of logistics, not allocating tanks, these things all fall on me now!”

He put his hands on his hips angrily before he finished speaking. The grumbling logistics director then told Colonel Horning the truth.

"Let me tell you the truth, Mr. Colonel. The Russian guerrillas in the areas we previously occupied have not stopped fighting since the snow fell in winter. Even the weapons in their hands have greatly changed compared to before. The size of some The larger guerrillas even have small-caliber anti-tank guns, I mean the kind that two people can push up and run away with.”

"This is obviously the Russian regular army supporting their guerrillas, or the Russian regular army that was dispersed and left in the rear now emerges from the crack in the ground and continues to fight. Regardless of the real reason, Horning Colonel, the problem we are facing now is that the Russian guerrillas are far more difficult to deal with than before."

"In the summer, I can guarantee you 100% material supplies and logistical support. During the rainy season in autumn, I can guarantee you 70%. When the first snow falls in winter, I can only guarantee you 100%." Forty, now because of the sabotage and disruption by those Russian guerrillas, I can't even guarantee you 20% of the supplies on time. Even so, please believe that I am doing my best. I am really We have reached the last moment of helplessness.”

After recalling the answer he heard from the logistics director before, he couldn't help but sigh. Now it seemed that the head of state had planned before the war to capture Moscow within six weeks to two months to eventually lead to the demise of the Soviet Union. Rosa's initial plan of action had already been completely aborted.

Not only that, the atmosphere at the Second Armored Group combat meeting held earlier was even gloomier.

Guderian, who presided over the meeting, even bluntly stated at the meeting that he would not be able to solve the problem of all winter clothing for each unit in a short period of time. He hoped that the chief officers of the various organic units under the Second Armored Group could try their best to find ways to overcome it on their own. Problem, this is the Berlin order conveyed to the 2nd Panzer Group via the headquarters of Army Group Center.

Every time he thought about this, Colonel Horning felt instantly angry. Apart from ripping off the clothes of dead Soviet soldiers and comrades in the freezing cold city of Moscow, what else could be done to achieve the so-called "overcome the problem"? ?

As one of the most elite divisions of the Wehrmacht, the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment currently has nearly half of its combat troops among the soldiers wearing winter clothes wearing dead cotton jackets stolen from Soviet soldiers.

The extremely bloody thing of the Germans wearing Soviet military uniforms to fight the Soviets was simply speechless. However, compared to this, Colonel Horning, who did not want to see his soldiers frozen to death in the snow, finally squeezed The nose presupposes this.

His mind was disturbed by his own terrible logistics supply line. Colonel Horning, who seemed to be unable to feel the slightest warmth even though he was wearing a leather trench coat, immediately issued a formal order.

"Inform the forward attack troops to speed up the attack. Tula City is the Russian arsenal, and there should be all kinds of logistical supplies in it. When capturing Tula City, special attention must be paid to preventing those Russians from setting fire to warehouses and factories. Everything is our captured loot, even if it needs to be destroyed, we must destroy it ourselves!”

Although they were freezing in the ice and snow, they still mustered up their will and fought hard. The German soldiers marching hard in the snow followed the tanks beside them and advanced step by step. Under the influence of air fighters, With their cooperation, the Soviet garrison originally stationed outside the city of Tula was compressed to the brink of collapse.

Therefore, despite the difficult situation, the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment, with a total strength of 14 combat battalions, is still confident that with the cooperation of the 3rd Armored Division, it can solve the encirclement of Tula City before the Soviet counterattack forces arrive. The premise of the battle is that the Fourth Armored Division, which is responsible for resisting the Soviet counterattack, can complete the due tasks assigned by Guderian.

In this regard, Colonel Horning, who has had combat experience with the 4th Armored Division of the National Defense Force, is relatively confident in this. After all, the 4th Armored Division can indeed be regarded as a sharp-edged main force in the 2nd Armored Group. Even Guderian himself has praised and acknowledged this in public many times.

At this moment, the situation of the Fourth Armored Division of the Wehrmacht, which Colonel Horning was thinking about, was not very good.

Since the Fourth Armored Division occupied the Tula-Serpukhov road in accordance with Guderian's orders, it has cut off the land transportation link between Moscow and Tula between the north and the south.

The Soviet counterattack forces, which continued to gather from all directions in an attempt to re-open the land connection between the north and the south, launched wave after wave of counterattacks against the 4th Armored Division like a tide, regardless of huge casualties.

Although Guderian, who had anticipated this situation, deliberately used the few supplies he applied for to restore the Fourth Armored Division to full strength before launching the operation against Tula City, this was not as good as the Soviet army's massive move. The counterattack is still a drop in the bucket.