The Red Army soldiers lay prone on the cold ground, their eyes shining with excitement.

The Nazis have shown signs of decline and cannot be as arrogant and unstoppable as they were two years ago.

Encouraged by political cadres, the morale of the Red Army soldiers was high, and they set a small goal for themselves:

Hit Berlin!

But when the time came to 3:30 in the morning, a scene happened that confused the soldiers.

There was sudden artillery fire from the rear of the Nazi position, and shells passed through the middle area of ​​the two sides' positions and hit around or in front of the Red Army column that was preparing to launch an attack.

He was shaking violently, and a wave of heat hit his face.

Some unlucky soldiers were hit by enemy shells and had no chance of achieving their small goals.

The attacking queue suddenly became commotion, and the soldiers looked at their commanders one after another.

The officers were also confused, not knowing whether to advance or retreat for a while.

"Has the intention of the attack been exposed?"

The front line was suddenly shrouded in artillery fire, and commander-in-chief Zhukov was horrified.

Many generals called and asked what to do?

The Central Front of the Third Reich was equipped with at least 20,000 artillery pieces of various calibers. At this moment, the cannons were pouring out shells wildly. The scene was shocking and powerful.

Mao Xiong's artillery has been calibrated to shoot at Zhu Yuan, and they will fire without hesitation as soon as they are ordered to fire.

The artillery commander thought about various emergencies, but he never expected that the enemy's artillery would strike first.

When they saw enemy artillery shells falling on the area where the tank and infantry armies were preparing to attack, some artillery commanders decisively issued orders to fire back.

When Army Group Center launched counter-artillery preparations, one division's Katyusha rocket launcher position was covered by a hail of bullets, and the rocket launch vehicle and all the rockets on its rails were destroyed.

The rocket exploded, and the rising flames directly dyed half of the sky red.

Manstein's Southern Army Group also launched artillery counter-preparations, but their artillery fire was not as intense as Army Group Center, and the damage caused to the Central Xia Western Expedition Army in front of them was limited.

When Qi Guangxiu, Chen Sancai, Lai Xiaochuan and others of the Young Guards saw the flash of artillery fire on the northern skyline, they thought it was Lao Maozi who had launched an attack in advance.

The careless Chen Sancai also said a few words that did not speak of martial ethics.

Just two or three minutes later, artillery shells from the German army on the opposite side began to fall on the Young Guards' position.

The generals were no longer in the mood to watch a show and began to understand the seriousness of the matter.

The artillery unit of the Western Expeditionary Army immediately launched artillery counterattack, trying to push back the enemy's firepower.

During the period from 3:30 to 4:00, the artillery of both the enemy and ours became the protagonists of the battlefield, with a large number of artillery shells whizzing past each other.

This period is also a time when the command system at all levels of Mao Xiong is in chaos. Many people are hesitant and unsure of whether to advance or retreat.

At 4:30 in the morning, the shelling from both sides continued, causing losses to each other.

The chaos in the command system slowly calmed down, and Zhukov decided to continue to launch a counterattack as planned.

The artillery counter-preparations of Army Group Center caught Zhukov off guard, but judging from the reports from the frontline troops, the losses suffered by the tank and infantry armies were limited.

After all, the front stretched for hundreds of kilometers, with millions of troops deployed on this front. Army Group Center did not know the exact location of each unit's attack.

At 5 o'clock in the morning on October 10, it was already dawn. After Zhongxia and Mao Xiong's artillery gained the upper hand in the artillery battle, the ground assault group began to take action.

The tanks rumbled into action, leading the infantry to charge forward in the morning light.

Fighters and bombers also began to take off, and ground and air assaults were carried out simultaneously.
Chapter completed!