The Rise of the Third Reich

"Marshal Imperial, good news, the 48th Armored Corps has just captured Volokolamsk. Now they are only 80 kilometers away from Moscow's outer defense line."

On the evening of April 25, Hessmann, who was about to leave the General Staff Headquarters in Zossen and go home, received news from Guderian that the 48th Armored Corps commanded by General Balck had captured Volokolamsk.

But this is not particularly good news, because today is already the sixth day of the German attack in the center, but the assault groups closest to Moscow have only advanced to 70 or 80 kilometers west of Moscow—— The Soviet Reserve Front's defensive capabilities were still stronger than the German General Staff had expected.

Moreover, what is even more unexpected than the expectations of the German General Staff is the Northern Front Cluster of the Soviet Central Front. That is, the Kalinin Front that has been established again is still motionless!

Investigation showed that this front army, which had at least 1 million soldiers and thousands of tanks/assault artillery, still made no move to move south to join the central front army when its rear route was seriously threatened. Instead, it continued to build fortifications on the spot. It was as if they had not noticed that the German armored group was marching towards Moscow from the west and would soon threaten their retreat.

Because of the "immobility" of the Soviet Kalinin Front, the coalition's Northern Army Group and Paulus Group did not launch a major attack on the Soviet army. They just continued to attack the Soviet army on the May Day Town-Valdai line. However, in order to give the Soviet Kalinin Front something to think about, the German army's attack was not sharp. At present, they have only solved the siege of Valdai and have not captured May Day Town.

"Perhaps we should let Model and Paulus work harder." Hessman said, "First capture May Day Town, and then attack in the direction of Kalinin City, forcing the Soviet Kalinin Front to flee towards Moscow. The 4th Armored Army carried out a flank attack and launched an attack along the Red October Railway Line."

Guderian rolled his eyes and suddenly asked: "Why didn't Holt's army attack in the direction of Klin? It's only more than 50 kilometers away, and it might be captured on the 26th or 27th. And in two days, the Kalinin Front's army More than 1 million people cannot leave at all."

"Surrounding the Kalinin Front?" Hessman shook his head, "It's unlikely to succeed, right? Even if Klin is captured, the Kalinin Front can still retreat in a detour. They can even retreat to Yaroslavl Oblast... This is not as good as Take them into Moscow."

Yaroslavl Oblast is in the northeast of Moscow Oblast and is also a place full of forests and swamps. As long as the Kalinin Front retreats there, it will be difficult to capture it. They (referring to the Kalinin Front) could even withdraw all the way to the Volga-Ural region.

This will make it very difficult to "recover" the Volga-Ural region in the future.

"It is possible to succeed in encircling the Kalinin Front," Guderian expressed a different opinion. "As long as the Soviets themselves do not escape, we can encircle them."

"Aren't you going to escape?" Hersman stared at Guderian.

Guderian shrugged, "In fact, most of the armies that were surrounded in history had the opportunity to escape... The biggest reason why they were surrounded by the enemy was not to escape. So I think it is possible to encircle the Kalinin Front." !”

Hessman nodded. He knew that Guderian was right - although Hessman was a "water-filled military god", it did not mean that he had not studied military affairs attentively for many years. In fact, he has spent a lot of time and energy conducting military research over the past two decades. He even wrote several military books!

His military god is filled with water, but his military experts are real. Therefore, he knew very well that among most of the wonderful battle cases that could be commented on in military books, one party must have made a huge mistake.

No great battle can be fought without someone making big mistakes.

And most of the commanders who made big mistakes wanted to achieve a great victory that was not commensurate with the military power they had.

"What do you think the Soviet Union wants to do?" Hersman asked Guderian.

"We want a decisive battle!" Guderian said, "In the six days since April 20, our people have not seen a few JS-2 heavy tanks on the battlefield... I think they must be quietly gathering and preparing. Give us a hard time somewhere."

"In Klin?"

Guderian said this, and Hessman couldn't think clearly, and his more than 20 years of military research would be in vain.

"There is a 90% possibility." Guderian made a strangulation gesture with both hands. "If I were the Soviet Chief of Staff, I would also lead General Huth's armored group to Klin, and then make a big gamble. A handful!”

Hessman thought for a while and asked: "So... shall we bet?"

"Bet!" Guderian said without hesitation, "No matter what the fight is, it will be better than encountering 1,000 or 2,000 JS-2 tanks in Moscow."

…

"Comrade Katukov, how is the situation of your troops? Can they undertake the glorious mission of attacking the Nazi armored clusters?"

Late at night on April 25, Zhukov had already driven from Volokolamsk to Klin, which had been almost destroyed by German bombers. He met Kalinin at the headquarters of a collective farm outside the city. General Mikhail Yefimovich Katukov, commander of the 1st Guards Tank Army, came from the city.

The person who can be the commander of the 1st Guards Tank Army is of course very proficient in tank warfare. This General Katukov can be said to be the most clever tank commander in the Soviet Union! When the world revolution broke out, he was just a tank brigade commander. He first led the troops to participate in the Battle of Lviv (which took place almost at the same time as the Battle of Warsaw, but was much less intense), and was later transferred to the 1st Tank Corps. Commander, he was promoted to commander of the 2nd Tank Army in January 1943, and participated in the Battle of the Junction that year.

Although his tank army suffered a disastrous defeat in the Battle of the Junction, the losses of the troops were still less than those of several other armies participating in the war. In addition, in previous battles, he had always performed better than other officers of the same level. Even if he lost the battle, it was not ugly. Therefore, he was ordered to join the Southwestern Front instead of General Vatutin to command the defeated tank group.

After that, he led his troops to fight in Ukraine, and it was not until the late autumn of 1943 that he led his troops to retreat to Stalingrad. At this time, the troops under his command actually had more than 30,000 people and more than 100 operational tanks!

Because of this record, he received the attention of Marshal Pavlov after leaving the Ukrainian battlefield and was appointed commander of the newly formed 1st Guards Tank Army.

In the upcoming "Klin Tank Battle", Katukov was appointed by Marshal Pavlov and served as the commander-in-chief of the "Northern Tank Group" (also known as the Katukov Group). He will be responsible for commanding a large number of elites selected from the 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th Guards Tank Armies to attack the German left flank.

"The situation of the troops is not very good," General Katukov said truthfully when faced with Zhukov's question. "The four heavy tank armies of the Kalinin Front have suffered certain losses in consecutive days of fighting. Currently, the four heavy tank armies of the Kalinin Front have suffered certain losses. There are less than 800 operational JS-2 heavy tanks and less than 900 operational T-34/85 tanks.”

"There are 1,700 vehicles..." Zhukov nodded, "It should be enough."

Unlike the four heavy tank armies of the Kalinin Front, the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies remaining in Moscow are fresh forces, and Zhukov also transferred many tank brigades from other combined armies to strengthen these two armies. Now they can also produce about 1,700 JS-2 and T-34/85.

In other words, in the upcoming Klin Tank Battle, the Soviet army can invest up to 3,400 JS-2 and T-34/85 tanks - of course, the Soviet tank's intactness rate has never been high, and now it can operate 3,400 tanks , when it comes to the battlefield, it is common to get a 20% discount. However, more than 2,700 JS-2 and T-34/85 are not too few...

…

"How many E-50s and Cheetahs are available now?"

Guderian, who had discussed with Hersmann in the evening to take a gamble with the Soviets, was on the phone with Marshal Manstein on the front line.

"There are more than 670 E-50s," Manstein replied, "and more than 160 Jaguar tank destroyers."

The E-50A tank and the Jaguar tank destroyer are the two trump cards in Manstein's hands. However, from the launch of the offensive on April 20 to this day, no matter how fierce the frontline fighting was, he has not combined the E-50A and " Cheetah" enters the battlefield.

Because trump cards should be used at the most critical moments!

"How many can join the 48th Armored Corps immediately?" Guderian asked.

"Join the 48th Armored Corps?" Manstein asked on the phone. "You want Balck (Commander of the 48th Armored Corps) to fight Kling?"

Manstein immediately guessed Guderian's intentions.

"Is that okay?" Guderian asked on the phone.

"Now there are only 11 heavy armor battalions and 3 heavy tank destroyer battalions that can immediately join the 48th Armored Corps." Manstein did not answer directly, but talked about the situation of the troops, "The E-50 that can be operated will definitely Without 400 vehicles (with a full complement of 440 vehicles, the integrity rate cannot reach 100%), the 'Cheetah' can move up to 110 vehicles.

The 48th Panzer Corps could concentrate up to 2 armored divisions and 2 panzergrenadier divisions for the assault on Klin. These troops have been exhausted. The total number of tanks/assault artillery/tank destroyers that can be operated is definitely less than 1,500, and the total number of troops is less than 60,000.

In addition, because of the muddy roads, it was difficult to keep up with the troops' fuel supply, making it difficult to support a large-scale tank battle. "

........

Finally, let me explain Luo Luo's update plan, because Luo Luo has to prepare two plans for the new book, one is determined to write realistic life articles in the early Tang Dynasty; the other is a backup plan to write about William II of Germany, so more time is needed. So starting from the end of this month, we will update it twice a day. I hope readers can understand. Thank you all for your support, hello Luoluo.