A medieval knight could be stunned and forced to retreat, but killing him was extremely difficult. Without the usual weapons to strike a decisive blow, the only option was to deliver a fatal thrust with a stiletto—an earlier version of which was called the "мизерикорд"—into the joint of armor. In our story, the "Center" army group was such a knight, charging straight at its goal—our country’s capital. In real history, the Red Army in the battle near Moscow managed to stun the enemy and force it to retreat. And although the Supreme High Command believed it was possible to completely rout the enemy, that did not happen. In a figurative sense, at that moment the Red Army had no stiletto to deal a fatal blow to the opponent. But now the situation had changed, and the stiletto was to be the 20th Army of Yershakov, located in the rear of the "Center" group. Further plans assumed turning this stiletto into a dagger, along with the heavy sword—meaning the 16th Army of Rokossovsky—which was supposed to radically change the course of the war.