The Rise of the Third Reich

While Hessmann and his wife and son were visiting the fairy-tale "water castle" Glücksburg, he and Her Majesty the Queen's nemesis Marshal Zhukov were talking to Bav in the war room of the Supreme Command in the Kremlin. Marshal Love lost his temper.

"Comrade Pavlov, what are you doing? Why are you repeatedly weakening the Kalinin Front, the Reserve Front and the Western Front? In just a few days, you have deployed three tank armies from these three fronts! Why is this? "

The reason Zhukov was summoned to Moscow was to report on the preparations for the "Great Luki-Leningrad Battle" - this battle was planned since Zhukov served as the commander of the Leningrad Front.

According to his plan, the Kalinin Front Army will launch a feint attack on the German army's Leningrad encirclement in three days to attract the German army's attention and cover the next stage of the operation in the direction of Velikiy Luki.

The operations in the direction of Velikiy Luki echoed the operations in the direction of Smolensk. Only if the fortified city of Smolensk is difficult to defeat, the surprise attack on Velikiy Luki would be meaningful. Because once the Red Army in the direction of Smolensk is defeated by the German army, the main German force moving south from Veliky Luki can easily establish contact with the German armored group that breaks through from the middle of the Belarusian salient. Even if Veliky Luki is lost, it will It is impossible to be in danger of disrupting the logistics line.

In addition, the battle in the direction of Smolensk once ended in victory for the German army. Then after the victory, the German army would not be attacked from both sides. Once their rear route was attacked, they could easily turn their guns and send reinforcements. If the German Army Group North encircling Leningrad breaks the siege and moves south, the Kalinin Front will be crushed by millions of German troops on the north and south roads, and even Zhukov will be beaten to a pulp.

Therefore, Zhukov raised objections when the 1st and 2nd Tank Armies were transferred from the "Kalinin" and "Reserve" front armies. Now that I heard that even the 5th Tank Army had been transferred from the Western Front, I couldn't help but get furious in the Kremlin.

"Comrade Zhukov, the Supreme Command is preparing to fight a battle at the junction of Bryansk Oblast, Smolensk Oblast and Mogilev Oblast, and concentrate superior forces to defeat the German army's southern cluster."

Pavlov frowned and explained to Zhukov. He looked very tired and had obviously not had a good rest for several days. This is because Stalin's two intervention commands destroyed the battle situation that he and Shaposhnikov had arranged. In order to adjust and formulate new plans according to Stalin's instructions, Pavlov and the staff of the Supreme Command All you have to do is overwork yourself.

But what pained Pavlov and Shaposhnikov the most was not working overtime until late at night every day, but that their ideas were completely different from Stalin's! The idea of ​​​​the two of them is to fight a protracted war, delay it until the United States defeats Japan, and the Soviet Union can be saved!

Although Stalin also knew that the delaying strategy was safer (in fact, Stalin agreed with such a strategy), when he specifically intervened in command, he always wanted to achieve a decisive victory.

But judging from the current strength comparison between the Soviet Union and Germany, such a big victory cannot be achieved no matter what!

But Pavlov and Shaposhnikov were both senior commanders with weak personalities, and they did not dare to contradict Stalin like Zhukov and Timoshenko did. So both of them were in pain. They knew that Stalin was giving blind orders, but they still had to obey.

To be honest, they are all a little envious of the German military commander now - he is so good, the General Staff has the final say! No general who can become the Chief of General Staff and the First Director of Munitions would be as unprofessional as Stalin...

"Nonsense! This is all nonsense!" Zhukov immediately jumped up after listening to Pavlov's explanation and the deployment of the "Junction Battle", "Comrade Pavlov, do you know how to fight? Why? Can it be deployed like this? If the 5th Tank Army is removed from Smolensk, Smolensk will soon be surrounded! By then the Northern Lutheran Army will be divided and move south!

Moreover, it is impossible for the 4th Group Army to replace the 16th Group Army... The 16th Group Army is a group army that can be mobilized at any time, while the 4th Group Army is a group army that is in a defensive state! By the time the 4th Army handed over the defense area and completed its assembly, the German army had already passed near Minsk. Therefore, it is impossible for the 4th Army to deploy defenses in front of the German armored group in the center, but to attack the flanks of the German armored group. But this is simply impossible to succeed! How could a combined army composed mainly of infantry attack the flank of a German armored army? Therefore, the German armored group that breaks through from the middle will soon advance to the "junction area". In this way, the 5th Tank Army will be besieged by three German armies! What kind of ‘junction battle’ will we fight then? "

"If that happens, the 5th Tank Army can withdraw to Moscow..."

Pavlov spoke very quietly, and looked around from time to time. Only when he found no one else did he let out a sigh of relief, and then said: "And the Bryansk Front can also immediately suspend the 'junction operation' and move the 1st and 1st tanks. The 2nd Army retreated to Moscow, and the 38th, 40th, and 48th Army were transferred to Kharkov."

"What! What?" Zhukov was shocked and looked at Pavlov blankly, "Fighting the Battle of Moscow...is it agreed to by the superiors?"

Pavlov shook his head, "I don't know from above... but the situation will definitely develop like this! Georgy Konstantinovitch (a relatively affectionate and respectful name for Zhukov), this is also the main reason for calling you back. !”

"I understand!" Zhukov nodded, and then waved his hand, indicating that Pavlov did not need to say more - trouble comes from the mouth, and it is useless to talk more. This kind of bullying and concealment, as long as everyone understands in their hearts.

Zhukov paused and then said: "I will definitely break the Leningrad encirclement...at least temporarily, so that Leningrad can get supplies and can hold on longer."

Pavlov nodded and said: "That's great... But don't go into Leningrad anymore. Just let Vlasov lead the troops in, because Moscow needs you more than Leningrad."

…

"Marshal, General Model reported that his army has captured Borisov." On the morning of May 5, Lieutenant General Otto Weller, chief of staff of the German Army Group Center, happily took the report he had just received and left. Entered Manstein's office.

"So fast?" Marshal Manstein raised his head from a pile of documents and looked at Lieutenant General Weller, somewhat surprised.

Borisov is a critical location, located on the Minsk-Smolensk railway line. Once occupied by the Germans, the retreat route of the Soviet troops in Belarus will be cut off, so Manstein originally expected there to be a fierce battle there. occurring.

"There was almost no fighting," Lieutenant General Weller said. "The Soviets gave up on Borisov, and at the same time the Soviet troops in the entire Belarusian salient were retreating, probably to shrink their forces and hold on to Minsk."

"Then let them defend it!" Manstein shook his head, "Minsk is not important, so what will happen if we defend it?"

Because the German army's main supply line is now the Riga-Pskov-Velkoye Luki railway line (which will be extended to Smolensk in the future), it doesn't matter if Minsk cannot be taken, but Smolensk is a must. .

After taking Smolensk, the German army could advance along the railway line towards Moscow. With railway support and logistics, the Battle of Moscow was easy to fight.

"Let the engineers lay the military railway from Molodechno to Borisov as soon as possible." Manstein took the report from Weller and issued an order while reading it.

Molodechno is located 63 kilometers northwest of Minsk and was occupied by the German army last autumn. Subsequently, the German engineers laid a military railway from Vilnius to Molodechno (about 100 kilometers), and the military railway from Molodechno to Borisov was also included in the "Purple Plan" According to the plan, once the laying is completed, the German army will have another "fuel-efficient" transportation line.

"Let the 3rd Armored Group divide its troops into three groups according to the plan, monitor Moscow all the way; advance all the way to Olyosha; and all the way to Mogilev." Manstein continued.

The 3rd Armored Group Army advanced into Oryosha in order to approach Smolensk and establish contact with the 4th Armored Group Army. Going to Mogilev is to establish contact with the 1st Armored Group Army coming from the south. At the same time, the 4th Armored Group Army will also detach a part to go south after completing the outflanking of the west of Smolensk. Joined forces with the 3rd Armored Group Army and the 4th Armored Group Army.

After the "junction" (referring to the junction of Smolensk Oblast, Mogilev Oblast and Bryansk Oblast) was completed, the Soviet Western Front was basically cut into pieces, and it was only a matter of time before the entire army was annihilated.

Now the vanguard of the 1st Armored Group (3 cavalry divisions) has finally reached the rendezvous point, while the 3rd Armored Army has captured the key Borisov. Although the 4th Armored Army is still fighting with the Red Army outside Smolensk It was a fierce battle, but the strength of this army group was obvious and it was impossible to fail.

Therefore, in Manstein's view, the Soviet Western Front is finished, and now they need to worry about their Kalinin Front, Reserve Front and Southwest Front (the Germans do not yet know about the Bryansk Front).

Among them, the Kalinin Front is probably the one that needs the most attention. Because this wave of German offensive has not yet encountered the huge Soviet tank group! And they are likely to be concentrated in large numbers on the Kalinin Front Army and the Reserve Front Army, and will be used in the Leningrad siege operation.