The Rise of the Third Reich

"Let General Huber attack!" Hessmann, as usual, did not say no to Guderian's suggestion. He looked at the situation map around Moscow and said, "Now the Soviet army's attention must be occupied by the 48th Armored Corps. Once the attraction is over, their southern front will inevitably be empty. The 1st Armored Army should be able to cover the more than 300 kilometers in 5 days... Even if the 48th Armored Army is at a disadvantage, we will be able to put Moscow in our pocket. "

The combat effectiveness of the 48th Armored Corps is of course no small matter. If Hessmann was at a disadvantage, it would be a tense fight with the Soviet army, which was inextricable. If the 1st Armored Army, which has 6 armored divisions and 3 panzergrenadier divisions, can stab the Soviet army in the back at this time, Moscow will be trapped in a tight siege anyway.

In fact, the large detour of the German 1st Armored Army provided insurance for the 48th Armored Army's assault.

Moreover, in the days after the German 1st Armored Group launched a roundabout operation, as the roads in Moscow and Kalinin States gradually returned to normal, the German Army Group Center and Army Group North would launch large-scale offensives. In order to cooperate with the assault of the 48th Armored Corps and the detour of the 1st Armored Army.

Hersman looked at the map and whispered to himself: "...As long as the 48th Armored Corps can win, the war against the Soviet Union should be basically over in 1944."

The basic end he was talking about did not mean the destruction of the Soviet Union, but the siege of Moscow and the capture of one of the Caucasus and the Volga-Urals industrial zones. As long as these two goals are achieved, the Soviet Union will no longer be a powerful industrialized country - without the industry of the Volga-Urals and the oil of the Caucasus, the Soviet Union's industrial production will be reduced by at least 70 to 80% on the current basis.

There is no such thing as a sea of ​​Red Army tanks!

Considering Hitler and the Nazi Party's "special feelings" for the Soviet people, it was impossible for the German army to completely destroy the Soviet Union. Therefore, after encircling Moscow and capturing the Caucasus or the Volga-Urals Industrial Zone, the German army will "retreat to the second line" and let White Russia fight against Red Russia in the future.

When Hersman was deciding whether to hit the Volga-Urals or the nearby Caucasus as his next goal, there was a knock on his office door. Hessman turned around and saw Natalie, his personal secretary, standing at the door. His face was full of charming smile: "Ludwig, Vasilevsky agreed to surrender after the siege of Moscow... However, he will not accept any titles and official positions awarded by Olga. He and the officers and soldiers of the Warsaw Army will become Prisoners of War.”

Vasilevsky now has nothing to do with hundreds of thousands of starving troops. The morale of the troops has completely hit the bottom, and it is impossible to follow Vasilevsky and devote himself to the cause of communism.

It wouldn't make much sense for Vasilevsky to kill himself, and once he dies, the troops below are likely to defect from the establishment.

So this famous marshal of the Soviet Union in history came up with a way out to surrender and become a prisoner of war - he took the big guys to the prisoner of war camp to eat first, and he had no control over whether he would submit to the queen after arriving at the prisoner of war camp.

In addition, according to European practice, troops will destroy their weapons before surrendering as prisoners to avoid being used by the enemy.

Therefore, now that Vasilevsky leads his troops to surrender, it can be considered worthy of the cause of communism.

"Okay." Hessman shrugged and said to Natalie, "Let your people go and tell Vasilevsky's representatives: We will give prisoners of war due treatment and treatment in accordance with the provisions of the Geneva Treaty. Decent.”

The current German army has an "old European" style. They think they have chivalry, so they are not likely to abuse prisoners. At most, the prisoners are asked to move bricks for exercise...

…

Moscow Region, Vysokovsk.

The headquarters of the German 48th Armored Corps moved here during the day on May 4. General Hermann Balck, commander of the 48th Armored Corps, issued an order to move the entire army in the early morning of May 5th. Defense status, and the order to start building anti-gun fortifications.

The reason why he issued such an order was because the assault of the 48th Armored Corps had fully achieved its purpose. Although Klin City was not captured, Solnechnogorsk was captured as well. Moreover, Klin City was also besieged, and the Soviet 62nd Army was also crippled.

Now that the 48th Armored Corps is in place, it's time for the Soviet Red Army to take action.

Regarding the Soviet Red Army's counterattack, Balke also had a number in mind, which was nothing more than a sea of ​​tanks + a sea of ​​people + artillery + night attacks. Starting from the second half of 1943, the Soviet army basically adopted these tactics.

The German army now has night vision equipment and is not afraid of night battles at all. The power of the E-50A tank and the "Cheetah" tank destroyer is also obvious, so there is nothing to be afraid of in the sea of ​​tanks. As for the sea of ​​​​people, they are not afraid of it. Will the German armored soldiers be afraid of the opponent's large number of people?

Therefore, in Balke's view, the only threat to the 48th Armored Corps was the artillery of the Soviet Red Army.

Of course, the threat posed by Soviet artillery to the German army in this time and space cannot be compared with that in history.

Because there is also a French helper in Germany who plays artillery. Now the French Army has sent tens of thousands of cannons to the Soviet-German battlefield. Therefore, the number of cannons on the battlefield far exceeds that of the Soviet army by the coalition forces.

In addition, the coalition air force has now achieved an overwhelming advantage on the Eastern Front battlefield. Therefore, the threat to the Soviet artillery group was also very high. The Soviet army could only use their artillery cautiously during the day when the weather was good.

However, Balke still dare not underestimate the threat of the Soviet artillery, because his armored corps was inserted alone between Moscow and Kalinin. Its location is conducive to the Soviet army concentrating its forces for attack, and of course it is also conducive to the Soviet army. Artillery was concentrated in large numbers.

Therefore, in the early morning of May 5, General Balck, commander of the 48th Armored Corps, decided to shrink his troops appropriately and at the same time began to build defensive positions that could withstand Soviet artillery fire.

The contraction of the German army was quickly discovered by the Soviet troops on the northern front line of Moscow State. While breathing a sigh of relief, they immediately reported this change to the Central Front Command.

"Comrade Chief of General Staff, the German armored group has stopped attacking."

When Kokopev reported the latest changes on the front line to Zhukov, there was no smile on his face. Because the Germans stopped advancing, it meant that the Soviet army must counterattack immediately, otherwise the Germans would soon build fortifications in the triangle between Voloramsk-Lama River-Solnechnogorsk. In particular, Voloramsk and both sides of the Rama River, a tributary of the Volga River, will be heavily fortified to prevent the Soviet army from moving south along the Rama River from the northern line to steal the German army's retreat - the Soviet northern line tank cluster Now it is concentrated between the lower reaches of the Rama River and the Volga River (the area south of Kalinin City). Going south along the Rama River is the best offensive route.

If the German troops were tightly fortified in Voloramsk and along the Rama River, it would be difficult to implement the pincer plan.

"Start the action tonight," Zhukov said calmly. "The artillery and tanks have entered the position, and the fighting will begin tomorrow night. Fight hard!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Deputy Chief of General Staff Rokossovsky walked in hurriedly and brought a piece of frightening bad news.

The German armored group that occupied Orel not long ago has finished its rest and is moving towards the territory of Tula Oblast.

Their mission is probably to outflank Moscow and join forces with the German armored forces that broke into northern Moscow and cut off the Red October railway line.

In this way, Moscow fell under the siege of the German army!

Zhukov nodded slowly: "Okay, we still have 5-10 days to beat the damn Germans... As long as the Germans between Voloramsk-Lama River-Solnechnogorsk The armored group is defeated, maybe Moscow will not be surrounded..."

Kokopev suddenly asked: "What about the Kalinin Front? They may soon be attacked by the German Army Group North. Their current situation is very unfavorable. Not only are they attacked from the front and back, but they may also fall into a situation of being surrounded and divided. Should we let them move towards the Yaroslavl region?”

Zhukov looked at Chief of Staff Kokopev steadily and said with a wry smile: "Comrade Kokopev, do you think that without the resistance of the Kalinin Front, the Front will be able to fight against the two German army groups at the same time? However, the Kalinin Front must be saved, and the best way to save them is to attack. As long as the German armored forces attacking the Red October Railway are defeated, the crisis between the Kalinin Front and Moscow will be resolved at the same time.”

"I see……"

Zhukov nodded, then turned to look at Deputy Chief of General Staff Rokossovsky: "Konstantin, Konstantinovich, can you serve as the commander of the Steppe Front?"

"Grassland Front Army?" Rokossovsky was startled. He didn't understand why Zhukov proposed to command the Grassland Front Army at this time?

Zhukov nodded: "Comrade Govorov is going to serve as the commander of the Far Eastern Front... This is what Comrade Stalin has just decided. The Far East must have an experienced commander who is good at fighting defensive warfare. So I would like to recommend You serve as the commander of the Steppe Front Army, and Comrade Pavlov agrees to recommend you to the Steppe Front Army.”

"Okay, I can replace Govorov." Rokossovsky thought for a while and agreed to Zhukov's suggestion - staying in Moscow now is not a good thing...

"That's great," Zhukov smiled, "I have one more thing to ask you."

"what's up?"

Zhukov looked around and saw that no one else was present except Kokopev.

"Prepare to evacuate troops and supplies to the Caucasus!" Zhukov said, "Transfer important supplies first. Once Moscow is besieged, the troops will evacuate immediately!"

"Ah?" Rokossovsky was stunned again and again, and then asked after a long while, "Is this what the supreme commander meant?"

Zhukov shook his head and said very seriously: "This is to save the Supreme Commander. It is what we should do. Do you understand?"