Chapter 1139: Climax

“Fire! Fire!” Amidst the dense gunfire, in a support position behind the German line, a 120mm mortar unit was desperately pounding its targets. This weapon was the infantry’s direct fire support. Of course, there were also smaller 80mm and 60mm mortars. These weapons formed the basic heavy firepower system for the infantry at the company and platoon levels.

The commander was shouting at the top of his lungs from the side. A gunner used a crowbar to pry open a new wooden ammunition box. Inside, a row of new mortar shells was neatly packed. Before the soldier could even toss the lid aside, the other men scrambled to grab the shells. Without needing to be told, they placed them at the mortar’s muzzle, waiting for the aimer to adjust the firing angle.

“Down 4, traverse 2! Done!” the soldier adjusting the mortar roared. The soldier holding the shell with both hands released his grip. The shell slid down the barrel, was ignited by the firing pin at the bottom, and was thrown from the tube by the immense force, arcing toward its target.

The shell landed on the high ground in Vorontsov Park, obliterating the trunk of a tree that had already been stripped bare by bullets. The nearby Soviet troops suffered heavy casualties, and a machine gun emplacement went silent. The German soldiers waiting nearby, seeing this, were immediately galvanized. Shouting their slogans, they scrambled up from the ground.

“Heil Führer! Charge! Attack!” The German soldiers, their bayonets gleaming, swarmed the small hill. The Soviet soldiers on the hill were clearly unwilling to accept defeat. They did not choose to retreat; instead, they gripped their weapons and entangled with the charging Germans.

Shining bayonets clashed against dark ones with a crisp sound. Flying bullets struck soldiers locked in the melee, their struggling bodies, riddled with bleeding holes, collapsing. Brutal bayonet combat erupted alongside the fierce firefight. Everyone used every means possible to kill as many of their opponents as they could. Wave after wave of German soldiers roared as they charged the hill. On the other side, hundreds, even thousands, of Soviet defenders swarmed over like madmen.

When the first German soldier reached the high ground and planted his feet, he was met by a dense mass of Soviet soldiers charging up the opposite slope. Before he could even lower his body, he was shot in the chest and fell. The German soldiers who followed him had no time to savor the joy of victory; they could only bite the bullet and join the fight to defend the hill they had just captured.

“Drive these German bastards back!” Below the slope, a Soviet commissar waved his pistol, loudly encouraging his men. Beside him, one Soviet soldier after another, bayonets fixed, shouted as they charged up the gentle incline.

“Show these Soviet pigs what we’re made of!” On the hill, a German company commander, firing his rifle, tilted his head and gave the order to attack. Beside him, a machine gun team was setting up their MG42 at top speed.

A bullet passed through a German soldier’s knee. The unlucky fellow crumpled to the ground. As he fell, he still held his rifle in a death grip, the bayonet on its muzzle still embedded in a Soviet soldier’s chest, blood gushing from the bayonet’s fuller.

The machine guns finally roared to life, lending a slight air of modernity to this battle that had devolved into bayonets, numbers, and, in the end, even teeth. Bullets flew through the crowd, hitting enemies and comrades alike. Many Germans fell to friendly fire, just as Soviet machine guns were also slaughtering their own soldiers. Soon, there were no standing targets left on the battlefield. Those who had wised up lowered their bodies, hiding among the corpses.

The soldiers on both sides remembered their firearms. Gunshots rang out sporadically, and from time to time, a soldier would die with an agonized scream. Several German soldiers on the high ground planted a victory flag. The Soviet soldiers on the slope below looked at the flag with grievance, an indescribable pain and sorrow in their hearts.

Outside Moscow, in Butovo, an armored unit from Zhukov’s group finally moved out. This unit began to counter-attack westward along the Moscow Ring Road. This was a feint, a plan devised by Konev and Zhukov to try and slow the German offensive. This armored unit would advance only as far as Trade Union Street before returning to its starting point, after which the main force would withdraw into Moscow to engage the Germans in urban warfare.

Twenty Stalin tanks and 40 T-34 tanks charged aggressively toward the German flank. A rare tank battle on the outskirts of Moscow had begun. The SS armored unit on the German flank quickly received intelligence that a Soviet tank force was attacking. Twenty King Tigers and 30 Tiger tanks were concentrated at the main defensive point.

The two sides opened fire at a range of 800 meters. Shells whistled over the defensive positions. The German King Tigers drew first blood at this range, destroying the first few Soviet tanks. The German Tiger tanks then began to move out to the flanks. The Soviet unit, realizing it was in danger of being enveloped, began to pull back.

By the time it returned to its starting point, Zhukov’s counter-attack force was left with only 7 Stalin tanks and 9 T-34s. His final counter-attack in the defense of Moscow had come to an end. After this, the Soviet forces never attempted another counter-attack, because such attempts clearly would have no effect.

Zhukov subsequently moved his command post to the underground bunker in Lenin-Dachny Park. The next day, German tanks and armored vehicles smashed Konev’s troops and pushed into the Butovo district. The battle there raged until July 11th, when Konev, as the Front commander, personally gave the order to abandon the ruins. Only then did the Germans take full control of the area.

The German troops who captured Butovo finally saw the dawn of a phased victory. After resting for a day on July 12th, they kicked off the attack on the Warsaw Highway on the 13th. The Soviet defenders fought to the death, protecting the southern Moscow railway line and transport hub behind them.

Once the Germans controlled the Biriulyovo district, the southern Moscow railway and its temporary freight station would fall into their hands. If the Germans got their hands on more railway lines, the logistics system for the million-man army encircling Moscow would become even more robust and complete.

To stop the Germans from taking Biriulyovo, the Soviets threw in two full divisions, fighting the Germans for every inch of ground. Unfortunately, the German armored forces were able to play to their strengths here. After paying a terrible price, the Soviets still could not stop the rampage of three SS panzer battalions.

On the afternoon of July 14th, a calm little river appeared under the muzzles of the German machine guns: the Gorodnya River, a famous stream in the south of Moscow. Downstream from this river, separated only by the Tsaritsyno Ponds, were the famous ruins of the Tsar’s Palace.

New German troops appeared south of the Razvilka area, plunging Moscow into a complete encirclement. These troops were from Italy—the Italian Expeditionary Force, positioned next to Field Marshal Model’s Army Group D. Of course, they were just there for show. The main force completing the encirclement was Guderian’s Army Group G from the far east.

Unlike the Moscow defenders, who had no more reinforcements, more and more German troops were appearing on the battlefield. Just as Stalin was fantasizing that his troops were counter-attacking and had already won a decisive victory, a world-famous unit appeared on the southeastern bank of the Moscow River.

A King Tiger’s barrel was painted with 17 thick white rings, symbolizing that this tank had destroyed 170 enemy tanks. On the side of the tank’s turret, a hollow white number was painted, inconspicuous: 112.

Next to it were tanks 111, 114, 115, and 116. This was the only company in the entire army without a “113” tank, and the only one with a tank numbered 116. Because for this unit, “113” was a legend—a legend their battalion commander was unwilling to speak of.

Lowering his binoculars, the young man with the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with Golden Oak Leaves, Swords, and Diamonds at his neck revealed a youthful face. The slightly oversized headphones on his head gave him the uniquely dashing look of the German panzer troops.

“Are all the Soviet bastards dead? There wasn’t even any resistance to stop us along the way.” A corner of his mouth turned up. Markus, the new commander of the 502nd Heavy Panzer Battalion, was one of the few “courageous” battalion commanders in the army who led his unit from a tank. Under his leadership, the 502nd’s combat record was consistently in the top three of the entire army, and they were the first King Tiger battalion in the Wehrmacht to be re-equipped with 105mm guns.

Now he was leading his troops in a fierce assault toward Moscow. Behind him was the famed 3rd SS Panzer Division. And further back, the hundreds of tanks of the 1st Panzer Corps rolled forward. The battle for Moscow had finally reached its most brutal and bloody climax.

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