The Rise of the Third Reich

"Comrade Commander, good news! Good news!"

Pavlov, who had not slept all night, was sitting at his desk with a frown on his face, personally drafting a request for instructions to the Supreme Command on the relocation of the Western Front headquarters, when the Chief of Staff of the Front, Rimoschik, suddenly excitedly said: Opened the office door.

"Report from the 3rd Army. The 7th Tank Army defeated a German armored division on the plain east of the town of Zakrochim, destroying hundreds of Panzer 3 tanks (actually more than fifty Hungarian Turangs). Type 1)! Now the German armored division has retreated to the town of Zakrochim."

Finally got a win!

General Pavlov breathed a sigh of relief. Although the situation on the front line was still very bad, in the end there was still victory and defeat, and it was not Germany's one-sided advantage.

"Comrade Zhimachenko asked for instructions, should we give up the roundabout route to the west and return to the east bank of the Reinav River?"

Zhimachenko, commander of the Red Army's 3rd Army, now also knows that his back path is unstable. Once the German armored group that defeated the 10th Army on the Razimin line moves north, it may form a pincer attack on the 3rd Army with the German armored division in Zakrochim Town. On the contrary, if the 3rd Army was allowed to cross the Renaf River in time, it would be possible to join forces with the 9th Army (one of the three armies of the North Road Group) to attack the German heavy armored group of the 10th Army.

"What about the German armored divisions in Zakrochim?" Pavlov asked, "They only lost hundreds of No. 3 tanks, so they probably haven't completely lost their combat effectiveness, right?"

In fact, Pavlov did not fully believe in the results reported by the 3rd Army. For more than a month, he had frightened the German army and had doubts about the combat effectiveness of the invincible Soviet Red Army.

"Comrade Zhimachenko is preparing to put the 11th Mechanized Corps in the rear and cross the Reinav River with the 7th Tank Corps as the leader."

Rimoschik, Chief of Staff of the Western Front, said: "Comrade Zhimachenko believes that once the German heavy armored group discovers that the 7th Tank Army has crossed the river, it will most likely go north to seek a decisive battle. At that time, the 7th Tank Army will be able to use the T-34/57 to deal with it The German heavy tanks.”

There didn't seem to be any major flaws in the plan proposed by Zhimachenko. Pavlov thought about it several times and finally nodded and approved the plan. Rimosik turned around and was about to leave Pavlov's office to convey the order, but was stopped by Pavlov.

"Comrade Rimosik," Pavlov's voice was hoarse and he sounded very depressed, "the situation on the front line in Warsaw is not optimistic. It seems that more troops need to be used. And... we will capture Warsaw in the short term. It is likely to be unrealistic and the thunderstorm plan needs major revisions.”

Rimoschik was stunned, "Comrade Commander, we have 14 armies, can't we defeat Warsaw?"

He knew what Pavlov was thinking. The creator of the "Thunderstorm Plan" had realized that the "plan" was facing failure! But the consequences of the failure of the "Thunderstorm Plan" can be serious! Not only the leading General Pavlov will be unlucky, but Major General Rimoschik himself, who is Pavlov's main staff, will also suffer. A demotion is a must. It depends on whether he will be subject to labor reform. The mood of a great leader.

"No, no, no..." Pavlov shook his head repeatedly, "Warsaw must be liberated, and this goal cannot be given up. Moreover, our attack on Warsaw City was very successful, and 60% of the urban area is already in our hands. However, the enemy is more powerful and stubborn than we originally expected, so it is unlikely that the remaining 40% of Warsaw City can be captured in the short term. We have to prepare to fight the German army around Warsaw City for several more months, maybe until the end. 1943!”

"Fight until 1943?" Rimoschik was surprised. The Battle of Warsaw started in June 1942, and it would be a long battle of more than 6 months until 1943! This is not a siege, but a fierce city attack and defense battle! Although the Soviet army was the main attack, the German counterattack was also very sharp. Two major counterattacks severely damaged two Soviet armies!

This kind of war will last for half a year. I really don’t know how many communist fighters will be lost!

"Yes, there is such a possibility!" Pavlov said with certainty, "And the decisive battle in Warsaw is likely to evolve into the ultimate decisive battle between the GC Soviet Union and National Socialist Germany!"

"The ultimate showdown in Warsaw?"

"Yes," Pavlov shrugged. "Where else could it be? Berlin? There is a large plain between Berlin and Warsaw. It is not only undefeable, but also has very good transportation facilities. Highways and The railways are the best in the world. If Warsaw is liberated, we can use these roads and railways to advance west quickly... Unless the Germans want to delay our army by destroying the facilities they have finally built. And why should they endure this? What about losses? Why not fight us in Warsaw? Their strength is not weak."

What Pavlov said was not only a judgment, but also a reason to massively increase the number of troops in Warsaw. It sounds reasonable, but there is still some lack of basis. Just when Rimosik wanted to find some content from various reports sent from the front to support Pavlov's judgment. A strong evidence came from the front line!

At 10 a.m. on July 21, the Soviet 11th Mechanized Corps, which was confronting the "Manteuffel Cluster" near the town of Zakrochim, reported that at least one more division of German armored groups had arrived in Zakrochim. On the south bank of the Vistula River near the town, preparations were made to cross the river on two road bridges controlled by the German army.

…

"At least one armored division? That's three armored divisions..."

In the Kremlin, Stalin, the great leader of the world revolution, looked a little anxious while holding the report he had just received from the Western Front.

"Comrade General Secretary, there are probably more than three armored divisions of the German Army in Warsaw!" Zhukov, Chief of the General Staff of the Red Army, looked even more anxious than Stalin, with a majestic and high-spirited face full of sadness.

"More than 3?"

"Yes," Zhukov nodded, "According to the intelligence we have, the Germans have a total of 21 armored divisions, of which 1 is confirmed to be on the island of Ireland, 3 are confirmed to be in Warsaw, and 2 are confirmed to be in the Middle East. There are 15 more. The whereabouts of the armored divisions are unknown! I don’t think they are sleeping, right? They must be somewhere and are preparing to catch us off guard!”

Stalin smoked his pipe and asked nonchalantly: "Comrade Zhukov, where do you think they will be?"

"There are four possibilities," Zhukov replied, "in the Baltic, near Warsaw, near Lviv! Or... deployed in the above three places."

"Their purpose is..."

"When we are exhausted in Warsaw and Lviv, we will launch a counterattack and severely damage the Southwest Front Army and the Western Front Army." Zhukov's brows knitted together.

Now the main force of the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army is in the west, and there are four front armies in the west, namely the Western Front Army, the Southwest Front Army, the Northwest Front Army and the Reserve Front Army. Among them, the Western Front and the Southwest Front have the largest number of troops, because one of these two fronts is responsible for liberating Poland and the other is responsible for liberating Western Ukraine. Moreover, according to the judgment of the Red Army's Supreme Command, if the German army wanted to invade the Soviet Union, it would either take the "classic route" of Warsaw-Minsk-Smolensk-Moscow that Napoleon once traveled, or it would attack the resource-rich Ukraine. It is unlikely to attack Leningrad, which has a strong city defense and is also the cradle of the communist revolution.

Because attacking Moscow can force the Bolshevik Party of the Soviet Union to sue for peace, and taking Ukraine will not only obtain the rich black land, but also make more than 10 to 20 million Ukrainians determined to follow the German boss into darkness.

But what are the benefits of attacking Leningrad? Are we really going to restore the Romanov dynasty and let Olga, the has-been queen, make a grand appearance again? If the Germans really want to do this, then the 180 million Soviet people will not stop fighting.

This possibility is really slim, although this woman carefully planned and spent a lot of effort to bring the Romanov dynasty and the Hohenzollern dynasty together through marriage. But now it is not the Hohenzollern dynasty that is in power in Germany, but the Junker military leader Hessmann and the Nazi Party Chancellor Hitler. Hitler was born into the proletariat and had no connection with the Russian Empress. It was impossible for him to sacrifice the lives of the middle- and lower-class people in Germany to help Olga restore her state.

Hersman seems to be very close to Empress Olga. There are rumors that the queen once wanted to marry Hersman, but Hessman was obsessed with Countess Chloe, and the queen refused to marry for this reason.

But Stalin knew that was pure nonsense. Hessmann might have had sex with Olga (actually he had not), but he would never really fall in love with Olga, let alone help her to recover. Because the Soviet Bolsheviks actually came to power with the help of Hersman... and the Bolsheviks killed Olga's family, Hersman was actually the murderer who indirectly killed Olga's family. How could he help Olga recover?

Moreover, according to the precise intelligence obtained by the Soviet Bolshevik Party and Government Bureau, the Germans had no intention of subjugating the Soviet Union... all they wanted to do was contain and weaken the Soviet Union.

After thinking about this, Stalin tapped the table with his pipe and asked Zhukov in a low voice: "Do you think the ideas proposed by Comrade Pavlov are feasible? Do we still have a chance to occupy Warsaw?"

"No... at least not yet." Zhukov told the truth.

"So...should we evacuate Warsaw and turn to defense?" Stalin's tone was very slow, obviously unwilling to give up the opportunity to liberate Warsaw.

"At least we should be prepared," Zhukov understood Stalin's thoughts. "We should increase the number of troops to Poland while strengthening the reserve front army, and hand over all defense tasks of Minsk and northern Belarus to the reserve front army."