Chapter 1000: Unable to Defeat and Unable to Escape

The brutal battle took place around the May Day Town on the Red October Railway Line, and the area where the Diyev battle group was located was the most intense place.

With the support of tanks and assault artillery, the German army launched two waves of infantry charges in succession. They wanted to use infantry to seize the Soviet front line, but the Soviet infantry, mainly Kazakhs, was unexpectedly tenacious. Although they suffered considerable casualties, they still repelled the attacking German army twice with the artillery support of the 8th Guards Infantry Division.

The German commander, who felt a little bit uncomfortable, finally couldn't hold back and ordered the tanks and assault artillery to continue to move forward and crush the Soviet army. The anti-tank guns that had been holding back suddenly showed their power!

"Bang! Bang! Bang..."

Some deafening anti-tank rifle gunshots rang out one after another on the position held by the Diyev group. The tracks of the several "Grizzly" assault guns that rushed to the front were suddenly broken. The huge vehicle body slid forward for a short distance under the action of inertia, and then stopped abruptly in the mud.

At this moment, a dozen figures covered in mud suddenly jumped out of the mud in front of these "Grizzlies" and rushed towards several "Grizzlies" with broken tracks, as fast as a gust of wind.

These people had no guns in their hands, only a "Red Iron Fist" that was exactly the same as the German "Iron Fist" 60 anti-tank rocket launcher. As long as they rushed to within 20 meters of the "Grizzlies", they could use the weapons in their hands to destroy the 100mm thick and 40-degree inclined front armor of the "Grizzlies" fighting compartment!

The German soldiers on the "Grizzlies" assault guns also reacted quickly. The parallel machine guns on the front of the vehicle body and the machine guns on the top of the vehicle body fired at the same time. The German infantry responsible for covering the assault guns also picked up the Mkb42 and fired wildly, turning most of the "mud men" into "blood men". However, Diyev still saw two Kazakh warriors rushing to within 20 meters of the "Grizzly" assault gun (the Soviet-made Panzerfaust 60 was not accurate at 60 meters, and was only really useful within 20 meters, and the armor-piercing thickness did not reach 200mm, and could only barely destroy 130mm right-angle uniform steel).

One of them knelt on one knee, put the "Red Iron Fist" on his shoulder, and pressed the firing button without hesitation, regardless of the machine guns and carbines shooting at him. In an instant, a small warhead dragged a flame and slammed into a 30-ton Grizzly assault gun. And at the same time as the huge and dazzling fireball rose, a bullet fired by a Mkb42 carbine also hit the Kazakh warrior. This Oriental man, who did not leave any name in later history, knelt there, staring at the assault gun he destroyed with his eyes, a smile appeared at the corner of his mouth, and then he fell down suddenly.

At the same time, another Kazakh warrior also completed the attack, and he completed the launch while standing. When the rocket was fired, he lay down with extremely fast movements and avoided the bullets fired at him.

When the huge fireball rose from the front of the Grizzli assault gun that he destroyed, he climbed up with extremely agile movements, turned around and ran towards the trench where Diyev was, and finally survived miraculously.

However, Diyev had no time to praise the Kazakh warrior, because the German armored group and infantry were not blocked by several anti-tank guns. When the Kazakh warrior ran back, the German infantry and tanks had already rushed to the first trench of the Soviet army.

However, several of the Grizzli and Type 4H tanks ran over mines, and several vehicles were hit by the Soviet anti-tank guns again, and all lost the ability to move forward.

At this time, the three ZIS-3 76mm cannons and two SU-57 tank destroyers that had been waiting for the opportunity opened fire at the same time. Three immobile Grizzlies and No. 4 were hit and turned into fireballs.

The other Grizzlies and No. 4 tanks also stopped moving as if frightened. Among them, No. 4H tanks turned their guns and aimed at the hiding places of Soviet cannons and tank destroyers!

"Comrades! For the motherland, for the cause of GCism, charge!" Jiyev knew that this was the most critical moment, so he gave the order to charge without any hesitation, and jumped out of the trench with an RPG-43 anti-tank grenade with strong armor-piercing ability.

The grenade he used was also the Soviet infantry's first anti-tank weapon. It weighed 1.2 kilograms, used shaped charge, had an effective armor-piercing thickness of 75mm, and a special canvas stabilizer device to ensure that the warhead touched the target first. It was used to attack the top of the tank.

Under Jiyev's order and leading role, the Kazakh soldiers in the trenches also launched an attack with grenades or PPSh submachine guns. RPG-43 anti-tank grenades with fire or a "tail" (the kind of canvas stabilizer parachute that pops out with a spring) flew towards the German tanks and assault guns one after another. Instantly, several Type 4 and Grizzlies were turned into fireballs.

However, many German tanks successfully fired indestructible armor-piercing shells. A SU-57 that was being transferred was blown up on the spot, and three ZIS-3 cannons were completely destroyed.

At the same time, all the machine guns on the Type 4 tanks and Grizzlies roared, killing the Soviet troops who rushed out of the trenches.

The German infantry who charged with the tanks and assault guns also followed, firing strings of flames with the powerful Mkb-42 carbines. Soon, Diyev and his comrades were pushed back into the trenches.

However, Diyev did not order a retreat, but once again shouted the slogan: "Although Russia is big, there is no place to retreat: Moscow is behind us!"

Fierce fighting then broke out in the trenches held by the Diyev group. Grenades and grenades flew out from every corner of the trenches, and the warheads of the "Red Iron Fist" also flew towards the German steel chariots with fireworks from time to time. There were even some of the most loyal GCist fighters hiding in the trenches with cluster grenades, waiting for the German tanks to run over and then pull the grenades to die with the German tanks!

However, the gap in strength between the two sides was very large. The German side lost mainly vehicles, and the personnel in the vehicles might not all be killed (most of the vehicles could be repaired), while the Red Army side suffered real personnel sacrifices. As the Red Army soldiers fell under the muzzles of the German guns and guns, they could no longer prevent the German tanks and infantry from breaking through their first and second trenches.

The infantry close combat that followed was extremely unfavorable to the Soviet army. Because most of the German infantry were equipped with powerful Mkb42 carbines, which are automatic muskets that fire intermediate bullets, similar to the famous AK-47 in history. The Soviet infantry was still using Mosin-Nagant rifles and PPSh submachine guns.

When the battle reached near noon on April 23, the troops commanded by Captain Diyev were left with only the last 28 people, and were squeezed into a forest on the edge of the defense line. After refusing the surrender of the traitors (White Army personnel who followed the Germans), these 28 GCist fighters made a final resistance and all died heroically that afternoon!

On April 23, the same tragic battle continued to take place around the May Day Town held by the 8th Guards Infantry Division. Lieutenant Ferstov, the company commander of the 1076th Infantry Regiment, and Captain Pavlov, the political deputy battalion commander of the 1077th Regiment, also led hundreds of GCist warriors from Kazakhstan to fulfill their oath to the red flag in the bloody battle of the day, just like Diyev, and all died heroically in the battle outside May Day Town!

The heroic sacrifices of Soviet heroes such as Diyev, Ferstov, and Pavlov (all three of them were posthumously awarded the title of Hero of the Soviet Union soon after) were not meaningless.

Their heroic fighting caused the German Wehrmacht Armored Grenadier Division 8 and 9, which were responsible for the attack, to lose 122 armored vehicles in a day's battle, of which 38 were completely destroyed, and the number of casualties and missing officers and soldiers was as high as more than 1,500!

When the German Army Group North Command and the General Staff received the casualty loss figures reported by the two grenadier divisions, they were all shocked-although the German army "let go" in the attack on May Day Town, such losses were still completely beyond their expectations!

However, it was not only the Germans who were surprised on the night of April 23. The Soviet Red Army Command was also surprised.

They were not surprised by the bravery and tenacity shown by their Red Army soldiers, but by the German Air Force's indiscriminate bombing on April 22 and 23.

The Soviet Red Army was certainly not bombed by German planes. In fact, since the outbreak of the Great Patriotic War, German planes have dropped countless bombs on the Soviet people, and the Soviets have long been accustomed to bombing.

But this time, the intensity of the German Air Force's bombing of the Kalinin-Tver battlefield and the northern part of Moscow Oblast surprised Stalin, Zhukov, Pavlov and others.

Starting from the daytime of April 22, the German Air Force suddenly launched air strikes on the roads and transportation hubs controlled by the Soviet army on the Kalinin-Tver battlefield with unprecedented intensity.

Do-217M bombers with a bomb load of up to 4 tons and Ju188 (a reduced version of Ju288) bombers with a bomb load of 3 tons were dispatched frantically. At least 3,000 sorties were dispatched in two days, dropping tens of thousands of tons of bombs, many of which were delayed-detonation butterfly bombs.

As a result, the roads leading to Moscow from Kuvshinovo, Torzhok, Likuslavl and Andreyapol were all bombed into the appearance of the moon's surface.

In addition, more than a dozen very important bridges were destroyed by the Germans with remote-controlled guided bombs.

Therefore, the retreat of the mechanized troops planned by the Soviet High Command is now difficult to carry out.

The large Soviet troops on the northern line could not be withdrawn!