Yevgeny looked at the fleeing German in shame and laughed: "Company Commander, the iron chimney you brought from your fellow villager really works!"

Why did Yevgeny say this? The reason is very simple. After the zis-3 finished shooting the armor-piercing bomb, the armored train realized that the situation was very serious. In order to scare and mislead the enemy, he immediately ordered Yevgeny to go to the surrounding fellow villagers' homes to build a few longer iron chimneys.↑, these black iron pipes looked a bit like the recoilless cannons equipped by the Red Army from a distance. So the Germans were fooled.

The armored train company withstood the fierce attack of the German armored troops and miraculously defended the position. Not only did he block the German army, but also on other blocking positions, the Red Army soldiers used their unyielding fighting spirit to shatter the German army's delusion of quickly breaking through.

As of October 25, the desperate attack launched by Hitler, which concentrated a large number of armored troops, was basically out of the blue. Although the Germans were still attacking, anyone could see that they were just leaving their powers to the death. Moreover, with the reinforcements of the First Front of Belarus, the Second Front of Ukrainian, the Second Front of Voronezh Front and the Central Front arrived on the battlefield, it was the Red Army's turn to counterattack.

On October 26, the sky above the battlefield was clear and the sun was shining, and the temperature rose to 13 degrees Celsius. The ground, which had experienced the first snow, began to dry. In the early morning, the 33rd Infantry Army of the Red Army, under the cover of dense artillery fire, launched several waves of counterattacks at the bridgehead of the 4th Tank Cluster, the German army's previous attack spearhead.

Of course, the Germans were still relatively strong at this time and could withstand the fierce counterattack of the Red Army. After that, there was still plenty of energy to continue the attack. The two German armored regiments worked together to open up Highway 109 and advanced three kilometers northward. However, the German attempt to build a bridge over the Sudosti River was shattered.

Under Rokosovsky's strict order, the Red Army's armored troops carried out a difficult counter-charge under the cover of artillery and air force. They rushed to the banks of the Sudosti River, then covered the engineering battalion and boarded the bridge, loaded a ton of strong explosives to completely blow up the bridge. After the Red Army retreated, the German engineers tried to build a pontoon bridge, but the Il-2 and Su-2 attack aircraft of the Red Air Force worked together to blow up the pontoon bridge again, leaving the German heavy vehicles and tank armored vehicles still able to stare at the other side of the river.

It was not until night that the German engineers rebuilt a new pontoon bridge, so that the tank troops who had been waiting for the flowers to fade can finally cross the river. However, after the successful crossing of the river, the Germans' progress was still not smooth. The Red Army resisted tenaciously, and the two sides fought fiercely around Pochop. After a fierce battle, although the Germans barely squeezed into the city, they also exhausted all their vitality.

In order to cross the Sudosti River as soon as possible, the German army had to set up as many pontoon bridges as possible and open up some new ferry sites. For example, the SS Young Division attempted to smuggle from the upstream of Pochop. However, these Nazi bandits were stubbornly resisted by the 66th Infantry Division of the Red Army. The division not only repelled the SS Young Division, but also established a solid support point on the shore, and continued to attack the Germans with this support.

However, the Ss Young Division did not give up. The soldiers of the 25th Armored Grenadier Regiment quickly launched a counterattack, compressing the troublesome river bank support point to the extreme. On the right side of the Young Division, the 1st Cavalry Army also plucked up their last strength, emerged from the bridgehead, and rushed to the position of the 104th Infantry Army with all their strength. The German cavalry had to repel at least eight counterattacks from the 151st Division and the 66th Division of the Red Army these days.

The Second Panzer Army was still working in vain that day. They first tried to open a hole south of Pochop, but the Red Army continued to launch attacks from the flanks, blocking the Germans' attempt to break forward. Many years later, General Hort still remembers Pochop's battle: "Every meter of battle will cost blood!"

However, Hot was not confused by the fierce battle at that time. He discovered from the tactical map that the actions of the Red Army increasingly exposed an intention to encircle and annihilate his tank cluster.

In the direction of the newly rebuilt German Second Tank Cluster, when they tried to attack forward, the T-34-76, T-35 tank regiments and Su-76 self-propelled artillery regiments under the Red Army's Mechanized Army had been deployed. After assisting the 78th and 163rd Infantry Divisions to block the attack of the second tank cluster, the Red Army's tank troops launched a counterattack on the second tank cluster from the front and two wings. This also declared that the German offensive was immediately terminated and had to retreat 3 to 5 kilometers.

Of course, the Red Army's tank troops also suffered certain losses, the main reason was that the attack speed was too fast, the failure to conduct timely reconnaissance and the failure of the infantry to keep up with it in time. But at least the Red Army withstood the German attack and regained the positions. It also cooperated with the infantry to strengthen the existing positions and repel all the subsequent attacks of the German infantry. Starting from the afternoon of that day, the second tank cluster began to move into defense.

"We are still struggling in the mud!" Hort summarized the situation in his diary that day: "In order to understand the situation on the front more clearly, I moved the command post forward to a small village on the west bank of the Sudosti River. However, the migration took a long time because everything was stuck in mud and could not move. The second tank cluster failed to complete the task of cooperating with our army's operations. They could not move on the banks of the Sudosti River, and they had no ammunition and food. The unfathomable mud pond trapped all the supplies!"

The Fourth Tank Cluster made almost no progress in the next few days. Hort ordered his troops to expand the "space" as soon as possible, but even though it strengthened a large number of artillery, the 6th Army of the Red Army guards on the opposite side also repelled the German attack one by one with the cooperation of the 17th Air Force attack aircraft.

On October 29, the temperature began to drop again, and the temperature during the day was only 000 degrees above 3 degrees. Fortunately, it had not rained or snowed recently, which allowed the mud to be relieved. The officers and soldiers of the 4th tank cluster raised their last touch of spirit and continued to rush forward unyieldingly. By noon, they pushed forward 500 meters with the support of artillery and air force! Then they could no longer take even half a step forward.

As of this night, the Second Belarusian Front Army had endured a full half-month storm test. In the end, they deserved the honor of the Red Army and blocked the German army's front. The 27th Army, which came reinforced, arrived at the battlefield. The 35th Infantry Army, who was affiliated, desperately nailed the German tanks that were bypassed from the broken defense line with the support of the Mechanized Army and two self-propelled artillery brigades. According to their post-war report, in the battle that day, a total of 37 German tanks, assault guns and armored vehicles were destroyed and injured, 67 machine guns, 26 cannons and mortars were eliminated, and 3,000 enemy troops were killed.

At this time, the "Red Beard" plan that Hitler had high hopes for was declared bankrupt. The German army failed to approach Bryansk in all directions. The average distance from the Bryansk city was more than 20 kilometers. In the half-month battle, the German army lost 2,638 people, 094 injured, and 2,108 missing. In addition, 156 tanks, 124 assault guns and self-propelled artillery, and 609 semi-tracked vehicles. In addition, there were a considerable number of tanks and cars that needed repairs.

As for the Red Army, the Second Belarusian Front admitted that after being besieged by the German army, it paid the price of 35,691 casualties, of which 9,251 were killed and missing. As for the losses of the tanks, there were about 100 vehicles.

Although the losses of both sides were not particularly large in terms of numbers. However, the losses of the Red Army could be supplemented immediately. As of October 1942, the four major tank factories of the Red Army could produce 500 t-34,300 t-35 each month. As for the German army, even if Sperer continued to strengthen production efficiency, its tank production still had great problems. Moreover, with the counterattack operations carried out by the Red Army immediately, the German army that lost the initiative on the battlefield and was beaten away again would lose a large amount of tanks.

General Hort also wrote in his diary with concern: "The Russians' intention to counterattack has become very obvious. They not only strengthened the defense of important areas again, but also established a complete line of defense. And they also operated a large number of armored troops behind this line of defense!"

On November 1, the sinister situation became clearer, and the Fourth Tank Cluster recorded in the log: "It has been found that the enemy has attempted to launch a counterattack. We previously thought that the enemy was only partial reinforcements, which is inaccurate. Judging from today's aerial reconnaissance results, the enemy's convoy consisting of at least 3,000 vehicles transporting personnel and equipment. In addition, hundreds of trains have been added to the railway, and a large number of tanks, armored vehicles and artillery are gathering..."

The limited reconnaissances conducted by the Luftwaffe on the Red Army activities north of Pochop were later proved to be very accurate. In fact, three days ago, the interested Red Army troops began to travel to the Pochop front.

Marshal Boke also realized that the situation of the 4th tank cluster was very dangerous. He believed that the "Red Beard" plan had no meaning to continue and asked the entire army group to immediately enter defense.

Hitler's answer to Bock's warning was that he didn't need to be so nervous at all. All this was just a "death struggle" of the Russians. He advocated continuing the attack until the Russians collapsed.

Bock responded worriedly: "The Russians may not collapse. It is very likely that the 4th tank cluster will collapse before they collapse!"

Not only Bock was nervous, Hort also repeatedly reflected on his head, hoping to immediately terminate the "Red Beard", pull out the 2nd and 4th tank clusters from the enemy's pockets, and immediately prepare for the Red Army's counterattack. However, these two suggestions were ruthlessly rejected by Wolf Knot. However, Hort's warning was actually too late, because the Red Army's full counterattack was only three days at most, and in such a short time, the German army could not make effective adjustments.

At this moment, the three fronts of the Red Army had already prepared for a comprehensive counterattack. According to the counterattack plan formulated by the General Staff, the Second Belarusian Front Army was still responsible for the work of attracting the attention of the German army on the front, while the First Belarusian Front Army went straight behind the German army from the right wing. The Second Ukrainian Front also launched a fierce attack from the left wing, and the two wings were quickly interspersed to cut off the German retreat. Then the Second Belarusian Front Army, the 37th and 38th Army of the Voronezh and some troops of the Central Front attacked from the front, and completely crushed the Germans like a stone mill.

In order to paralyze and deceive the German army, the Red Army did a lot of preparations: "All vehicles headlights are prohibited from turning on the headlights, and the convoys that retreated to the rear must be formed into an increased operation group and drive on the lights. In addition, some vehicles were organized to form a special convoy, carrying a small number of troops to pretend to retreat north.

As usual, the Red Army attached great importance to the use of artillery during this battle. They assembled 5,425 artillery and rocket launchers on the 31-kilometer-long attack front, and only 14 artillery per kilometer against the opposing Axis defenders. The Red Army had an absolute advantage in the number of artillery soldiers of 12.5:1.

The Germans not only did not have the advantage of artillery, but the most important thing was that morale was also a problem. The previous half-month attack almost exhausted all the morale and energy of the participating troops. What's worse was the supply issue, which always plagued the German army's combat operations on the Eastern Front. After every large-scale offensive operation, the German army needed a considerable recovery time, and this time, it was obvious that the Red Army would not give them much time to recover.

On November 5, the Red Army's First Belarusian Front took action first and launched a thunderous offensive. In the words of the commanders of the German Second Tank Cluster: "The Russians smashed divisions one after another at us, and finally successfully broke through our defense line. Air reconnaissance reports that the Russians had a height of 1,500 to 2,000 tanks. This number of steel torrents made us suffocate!"

What Hot was worried about finally happened. After fierce and long artillery preparations, the First Front of Belarus and the Second Front of Ukraine broke through his left and right wings in one fell swoop. His staff officer Colonel Scher recalled:

"I received a report early in the morning. I learned that the enemy had broken through many of our defense lines. And the Russians had no idea of ​​rest. Soon, with the support of the Air Force attack aircraft, continued to launch a ** attack. The defense line of the second tank cluster was said to have been broken, and the southwest direction was not much better. The Russian tanks were rumbling over them. The flank of the 20th Armored Division was surrounded, and they asked them to allow them to retreat if possible. At the same time, the 18th Motorcycle Division in the southern section of the defense line reported that it had passed

The fierce hand-to-hand combat partially repelled the Russian attack, but the Russians obviously did not intend to give up. They requested reinforcements... By noon, the situation became worse and worse... Reinforcements were requested everywhere, either needing artillery support, but the reserves had already been used up, and even the headquarters had lost contact with some troops. The messengers and communication soldiers were often gone forever, and those who escaped by chance failed to complete the task... The situation became more and more chaotic, and the general ordered us to prepare for retreat immediately..."

I have to say that Hort was relatively lucky. He had just evacuated the headquarters, and the Red Army bombers visited here. A Su-2 attack aircraft accurately threw 4 250 kilograms of bombs into Hort's headquarters and bombed some of the command staff who had not yet been evacuated.

The panicked commander, inconsistent intelligence, and the continuous harassment of Red Army fighter jets, had a catastrophic impact on the already exhausted German army. Countless troops were trapped in the scene of fighting alone, countless motor vehicles either fell into the mud and could not move, or disappeared from the bombing and shelling of the Red Army. Tanks and vehicles that had exhausted fuel or ammunition were abandoned by German soldiers, and everyone fled backwards at all costs.

In the next few days, the command of each German unit changed rapidly, either the commander was killed, missing, or simply captured. Some soldiers faced such embarrassment. An hour ago, his company commander was still a certain captain, but an hour later he was replaced by a certain lieutenant or a certain lieutenant, or simply a sergeant or a sergeant.

In the Red Army, although the front-line troops have made breakthroughs, Ubolevic is not satisfied with the progress on the battlefield. The progress of the Red Army, especially the advancement speed of the First Front Army of Belarus, did not reach the expected speed. Some areas are still in a tug of war, so they have to invest a large number of reserve teams in advance, which has a relatively large impact on future battles.

The performance of the Red Army in the Second Battle of Bryansk not only attracted the attention of Ubolevic, but outside the Soviet Union, the British and Americans also paid close attention to this battle. For example, Churchill, who had just encountered a disappointed nose in North Africa, wrote in the memo:

"Once the Red Army wins in Bryansk, this blow to the Germans will be unprecedented. Germany will lose all the initiative on the battlefield and may even trigger an avalanche effect... I have to pay attention to this possibility. Once Germany collapses in 1943, it will be a bolt from the blue for the empire. The polar bear's bear paw will drive straight into Western Europe and go directly to Western Europe, which will completely change the pattern of Europe and even the world!"

In fact, Churchill had some other words not written in the memorandum, such as he instructed MI6 to cause trouble for the Soviet Union as much as possible and to help a group of Germans as much as possible so that they would not collapse too quickly.

Learwen was speechless about Churchill's request, because the old smoker looked down on her too much. Intelligence agencies are not omnipotent. Faced with a purely powerful competition like the Eastern Front, conspiracy and intrigue are not very effective. Moreover, considering someone's unscrupulousness, even if MI6 can cause trouble for the Soviet Union, he will inevitably face ten times or even a hundred times of revenge, which is not worth it at all... (To be continued.)

ps: Bow to thank Offen, Admiral Hood, Yankee Station, drunk Wufeng and Comrade Juventus!
Chapter completed!