The Rise of the Third Reich

"Look, it's a Soviet tank group!"

When Major Schwarzenegger's Cougar command vehicle arrived at the German position at the front of the Dobrusz Forest, he heard someone shouting in his ear.

He quickly pushed open the roof hatch and leaned out half of his tall body. The smell of smoke and gasoline was immediately extinguished, and his ears were filled with the roar of vehicle motors and exploding artillery shells.

This was originally the second line of defense for the German army, but now it is the forefront! According to what the superiors told them when conveying the order, the Soviets spent a lot of money this time and dispatched a large number of tanks. It was probably an army-level tank cluster.

The SS Wallonia Assault Brigade (affiliated to the 5th SS Viking Division) stationed at the forefront was defeated before it could even withstand the first wave of the opponent's offensive. The Dobrusz Forest where the 9th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment "Germania" is currently stationed, and the city of Wetka where the 10th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment "Western" is stationed are at the forefront.

If these two places cannot be defended, then the Soviet tank sea will rush to the gates of Gomel.

However, General Herbert Gillette did not have much reserve troops available, so he could only let Schwarzenegger's tank destroyer battalion and "Finland" battalion support the 9th "Germania" on the front line of the Dobrusz Forest. "The Panzergrenadier Regiment, composed of the 5th SS Panzer Regiment and the "Iceland" Battalion, supports the 10th "Western" Panzergrenadier Regiment in the city of Wetka.

"Damn! Is this too much?" Major Schwarzenegger saw a scene he would never forget through the light of the moonlight and flares.

The broad plains (mainly wheat fields) southeast of the Dobrush Forest have turned into a sea of ​​tanks and armored vehicles at this time. As far as the eye could see, there were moving black shadows. Judging by their size, you could tell they were either tanks or armored vehicles. There are always hundreds or even thousands.

Such a huge tank group cannot be stopped by 45 "Rhino" guns and a regiment of armored grenadiers!

Lechica, early morning of May 10, 1943.

When Major Schwarzenegger's 45 "Rhino" guns arrived at the front line, General Mackensen already understood what kind of pressure Gomel's 5th SS "Viking" Division was facing.

"I didn't expect that the main force of the Soviet armored forces actually delivered the goods to the door by themselves..." General Mackensen was really surprised when he looked at the report of the 5th SS Division.

"Commander," Lieutenant General Hube, chief of staff of the 1st Armored Group, already had a chance to counterattack at this time, "The 3rd Armored Army should be able to block them, and the 14th Armored Army can outflank the Soviet tank group... from Chel Negov goes north to attack Trubchevsk in Bryansk Oblast. At the same time, he can also order the 24th Armored Corps to approach the city of Bryansk after occupying Roslavl."

"The 24th Armored Army is heading towards Bryansk?" General Mackensen shook his head and said, "It's almost 300 kilometers. Is there enough fuel? In addition, where is Klimovich's Soviet tank group? Their strength is not weak! "

General Mackensen, who originally thought he could be leisurely, suddenly found himself besieged by the Soviets. Gomel and Klimovich were the main force of the armored group. At least there are two tank armies, and maybe a third one!

But having said that, it is indeed exciting to see so many Soviet tank armies coming together! If they can all be defeated, then General Mackensen will immediately become Marshal Mackensen.

And there is no doubt that "Little Marshal Mackensen" can surpass "Old Marshal Mackensen", and maybe he can become one of the greatest generals in German history!

"You can borrow troops and fuel from the 4th Armored Group Army." Of course, Lieutenant General Hubei refused to give up this opportunity that would allow him to be promoted to general, and he immediately came up with an idea. "Now the 4th Armored Group Army has 8 armored divisions, and The fuel is very abundant and is not needed at all on the Smolensk battlefield. We can completely mobilize a corps-level armored group to join our 1st Armored Group's combat sequence. We may be able to let this corps-level group drawn from the 4th Armored Group approach. Bryansk city...so that the 24th Armored Corps can continue to cooperate with the 11th Armored Corps to encircle and destroy Klimovich's Soviet tank group."

"Okay! That's it!" General Mackensen made his decision after thinking for less than a minute. If he doesn't eat the fat meat delivered to his door, he will regret it for the rest of his life.

The report of the commander of the 1st Armored Army was quickly sent to Marshal Manstein via radio waves, and was immediately supported by Lieutenant General Weiler, the chief of staff of Army Group Center.

"Marshal, there is no doubt that Stalin regarded the 1st Armored Group Army as the main target of attack." Lieutenant General Weller analyzed, "In order to obtain enough chances of victory, Stalin must have concentrated the maximum amount of armored forces he could mobilize. If We will destroy all these forces and the victory will be decisive."

Manstein nodded, Lieutenant General Weller's analysis made sense. What appears now in Klimovich should be a Soviet tank group, and the Soviet tank group that appears in Gomel is even larger, at least two tank armies. If all of them were eliminated, the Soviet Red Army's armored strength would be reduced by at least 50%. Even if...the Soviet Red Army takes the opportunity to break the siege of Leningrad (now the outside of Leningrad is also being fought), it will be cost-effective.

"Give General Hott the order to mobilize the 2nd Armored Corps and the 60th Armored Corps to launch an assault on Bryansk City, under the unified command of General Heinrich (Commander of the 2nd Armored Corps)..." Manstein considered it Afterwards, it was decided to send two armored corps to attack the city of Bryansk - although this would be very fuel-intensive and would also cause a shortage of troops on the Velikiy Luki-Smolensk line.

But Manstein was worried that the Soviets still had heavy deployment of troops near Bryansk - the Soviet Supreme Command could not use only three tank armies to deal with the 1st Armored Army, and would inevitably mobilize several ordinary armies.

Therefore, it is not safe to use one armored corps to attack the city of Bryansk. Two armored corps must be dispatched.

"In addition," Marshal Manstein said at last, "call the General Staff and suggest that Army Group South launch an operation to forcibly cross the Dnieper River on the Ukrainian battlefield!"

…

Is this going to put all the bets on it?

When Hessmann saw Manstein's telegram, he suddenly felt a little numb. Manstein's move put all his capital on the line... Not only did Army Group Center deploy all its elite troops, but Army Group South, which had originally planned to launch an offensive after the "battle near Moscow," also had to invest in advance.

In other words, it is not necessary to engage in a large-scale encirclement. Instead, just use a sea of ​​tanks, aircraft, infantry, and artillery to "drown" the Soviets.

To be honest, Hessman, the "fake military god", really had no idea about such a "big gamble".

Fortunately, there is a real military god named Guderian beside him.

"Heinz, what do you think?" Hessmann asked expressionlessly.

"Marshal Manstein's request should be approved." Guderian did not see how guilty Hessman was. He just analyzed the overall situation on the battlefield and said, "The current situation is very favorable to us. The main force of the Soviet tank group is It’s already been proven, so we should raise the stakes.”

This probably means that we have a big hand, so why not increase the bet? So now we should put down all our capital and make Stalin lose all his capital!

"And the area where the decisive battle is currently taking place is at the junction of the Bryansk Oblast, Smolensk Oblast, Gomel Oblast and Mogilev Oblast." Guderian went on to say, "The location where the decisive battle will take place is more remote than we originally expected. Close to Ukraine... If we win a decisive victory in the battle, the Soviets will no longer be able to hold on to the Dnieper River defense line. Therefore, the plan to go south to outflank the Ukrainian Soviet army after the "battle near Moscow" is actually impossible to realize. The main force of the army group was very timely.”

"Yes." Hessmann nodded. He had to listen to what Guderian and Manstein said. "What about the Leningrad encirclement? There won't be any problems, right?"

"The encirclement of Leningrad should be lifted." Guderian said, "If the Soviets want to enter the city, let them enter. As long as we can win the battle at the junction of the four states, the Soviet army will lose us in 1943." The ability to conduct field operations. At that time, the Southern Army Group will be able to capture the left bank of Ukraine with the cooperation of the 1st Armored Army, and even attack and capture Stalingrad. After capturing Smolensk, the Central Army Group will be able to approach Moscow. It doesn't matter whether Grad is besieged or not. If I want Leningrad, I can just besiege it again... maybe hundreds of thousands more Red Army troops can be besieged. As long as the siege lasts for another year, the city of Leningrad will still be the Queen's. of."

Guderian's suggestion was actually because he also made a mistake in judging the main attack direction of the Red Army's Kalinin Front. He did not expect that Zhukov would raid Velikiy Luki, but thought that the Kalinin Front would take advantage of the start of the Battle of the Junction on the southern front to launch the second Leningrad siege battle. The strength of the Northern Army Group is somewhat weak, and it is likely that it will be severely damaged by the Kalinin Front.

Hessmann thought for a while and felt that Guderian's opinion was reasonable. "Then give the order to Army Group North and allow them to abandon the siege when appropriate."

Although Hersmann's son Rudolf seemed to fall in love at first sight with Prince Yusupov's daughter Elena (the previous name was spelled incorrectly, not Elizabeth, but Elena) in Glücksburg, Hersmann still There is no intention to turn Leningrad into Her Majesty’s Petrograd. Negotiating peace with Stalin was Hessmann's first choice, so he didn't want to take Leningrad at all...