The Rise of the Third Reich

"Comrade General Secretary, I have great news to report to you. With the joint efforts of the Kalinin Front Army and the Leningrad Front Army, the Leningrad encirclement has been successfully broken! Now, the troops of the two front armies have been on the Neva River. The city of Kirovsk achieved a victorious reunion! ”

"What?" Stalin was stunned for a moment when he heard Pavlov's beaming report, "Is it Kirovsk? Isn't it Tosno or Kopino?"

Tosno and Kopino are along the Red October Railway from Moscow to Leningrad, and are also the main attack direction of the left wing group of the Kalinin Front. Kirovsk is near Lake Ladoga and is not in the main attack direction of the Kalinin Front.

Pavlov and Shaposhnikov looked at each other, and Shaposhnikov said: "The fierce fighting along the Red October Railway continues... The German resistance is very tenacious, and they have many powerful weapons. Some of the anti-tank guns were self-propelled and armored. Therefore, the four assault groups of the Kalinin Front suffered heavy losses and had to make a detour to attack the German flank."

Stalin nodded without delving further, "It's good if we can break through. The Kalinin Front should be rewarded. Comrade Vlasov and Comrade Fedyuninsky should both be promoted or given the honor of Heroes of the Soviet Union."

He paused, frowned, and asked, "So what about the battle at the junction? How was the fight?"

"Comrade General Secretary, the battle at the Joint Headquarters did not go very smoothly." Marshal Pavlov shook his head. "The 5th Tank Army was besieged for several days and suffered heavy losses. The 1st and 2nd Tank Armies were blocked again in the Gorge. The Meli-Sozhi River line. In addition, the Bryansk Front's rear route is not very stable. There are two German armored groups that are outflanking the city of Bryansk. We should probably..."

Pavlov wanted to suggest giving up the Battle of Junction, but before he could finish his words, Stalin interrupted him without hesitation.

"We cannot consider giving up the battle!" Stalin said sternly, "because now is the most critical moment. Comrade Molotov will leave for Switzerland soon. At this time, we must not retreat on the battlefield, otherwise the peace conditions will be It’s unbearable for us!”

…

"Tiger tank!"

General Lu Jin, who was patrolling the outer positions of Collective Farm No. 13, suddenly heard someone shouting in his ears, and then the roar of a motor from far to near.

Another round of German offensive began - starting from the dusk of May 9, Lukin found that his tank army was about to be overwhelmed by the German "Tiger Ocean".

The "Tiger Tank", which was very rare in the 1942 war, now seems to have become a commodity on the street. Every attack launched by the Germans was spearheaded by a Tiger and another big guy, probably a No. 4 assault gun (Grizzly Bear), followed by a group of No. 4s responsible for cover, and further afield. Rhino tank destroyers specializing in black artillery dominate the formation - this tank destroyer is even more hateful than the Tiger. This guy can actually take down a T-34 tank 2000 meters or even 2500 meters away with one shot!

This kind of power is simply insane! Compared with the 88mm gun of the Rhino tank destroyer, the Soviets' own 85mm gun is really a piece of garbage!

Of course, relying on the No. 13 Collective Farm and the June 1st Forest, the 5th Tank Army commanded by Lukin can currently withstand the siege of at least two German armored armies (actually three armored armies). But it is unrealistic for the 5th Tank Army to stand out and fight. Under the threat of Tiger tanks and Rhino tank destroyers, Lukin's T-34/57, SU-85 and SU-122 can only huddle behind the fortifications. Resist, don't dare to show up at all.

However, what General Lukin is really worried about now is not his 5th Tank Army. The 5th Tank Army clearly wants to devote itself to the cause of communism. It is nothing more than delaying the time for the annihilation of the entire army, just like sticking to Collective Farm No. 13. Just like those Ukrainian traitors in the field building, they fought until the last person was brought down.

The battle at the collective farm building No. 13 is not over yet! Even though the Red Army used "tank bulldozers" to bury the bottom of the building, and kept firing at close range with S-122 assault guns, almost destroying half of the house, the reactionaries inside were still resisting... Although these people were reactionary, they were still It is an example for the 5th Tank Army to learn from!

What worries General Lukin is actually the 1st Tank Army and the 2nd Tank Army on the Gomel battlefield.

The war has been going on so far, how come General Lukin doesn’t know how powerful the German armored forces are? Tiger tanks and Rhino tank destroyers are so sharp in offense, and if used defensively, their power will only be even better.

Moreover, it has been almost four days since the siege of Collective Farm No. 13 started on May 9 (it is now the early morning of May 14). The German army is still attacking fiercely and has not sent troops south to rescue Gomel at all. mean.

This shows that...their defense in Gomel is solid and reliable!

While walking towards his former enemy headquarters bunker, General Lu Jin thought about the prospects of the Junction Battle, and the more he thought about it, the more frightened he became.

When he returned to the headquarters, Major General Dubkov, chief of staff of the group army, told him that commandos from the 110th Motorized Rifle Brigade of the Red Army once again broke into the No. 13 collective farm building.

"Very good!" General Lu Jin nodded, "I must find out all the Ukrainian traitors inside this time. I really want to see, what kind of people are they?"

…

At this time, the commander of the Bryansk Front of the Red Army, Golikov, and the political commissar Mykhlis had already gone to the Gomel front to supervise the operations. Both of them look extremely sad now, because their two tank armies have repeatedly attacked the German troops on the Gomel-Sozh River line since May 10, but they have never been able to achieve a breakthrough!

Two tank armies, more than 1,500 tanks/assault artillery and hundreds of thousands of heroic Red Army soldiers were actually firmly blocked by the Germans in the east of the city of Gomel and the Sozh River (a tributary of the Dnieper River). They were unable to break through. city, and suffered heavy losses. In less than five days of fighting, the 1st and 2nd Tank Armies lost more than 500 tanks and assault artillery. Most of them were destroyed by various German anti-tank guns and tanks/tank destroyers, while a small number were destroyed by air strikes.

On the night of May 13, Stalin's patience finally ran out - Molotov had taken a detour to Switzerland on a Roman Airlines (Italy) flight. Peace negotiations with the highest levels of Germany were about to begin soon. At this time, Stalin was eager to give his troops some leverage.

If the Bryansk Front can advance the front to the bank of the Dnieper River, or even cross the Dnieper River... then a very decent peace for Stalin may come soon.

So late at night on the 13th, Stalin issued an order to the Bryansk Front Army Headquarters in the name of the Supreme Command, asking them to advance the front to the Dnieper River as soon as possible at all costs!

After receiving the order, Golikov and Maihelis immediately adjusted their deployment and gave up their plan to break through the German defense line from the front on the Gomel-Sozh River. Instead, they took a detour from the south, bypassing the Sozh River, and directly Loyev crossed the Dnieper from where the Sozh River merges into the Dnieper.

Loev is downstream of Lechica. According to reconnaissance, there is no heavy German defense, so it should not be difficult to break through. Once the Soviet tank troops cross the Dnieper River in Loyev, the logistics line of the German Army's South Armored Group with Lechica as its logistics hub will be threatened. Although it would not lead to a siege, it should be possible to retreat east of the Dnieper River.

In order to achieve this goal, Golikov mobilized troops overnight, gathered the elite troops of the 1st Tank Army and the 2nd Tank Army, and pieced together a concentrated force consisting of 500 tanks/assault artillery. He appointed General Vatutin, commander of the 1st Tank Army, and he commanded a detour to attack Loyev.

At dusk on May 14, Golikov and Myhlis watched the Vatutin cluster leave the Dobrusz Forest and rush towards Loev, more than 60 kilometers away.

However, neither of them would have thought at this time that the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions attached to the German 3rd Armored Corps, as well as part of the 6th and 10th Armored Divisions transferred back from the No. 13 Collective Farm battlefield, were also already in search of resources. They were assembled on the plain east of the Rihe River and were about to launch a large-scale counterattack. According to General Mackensen's original plan, these armored divisions were preparing to enter the decisive battle after the Soviet army broke through the Gomel-Sozh River defense line. of.

However, I did not expect that after several days of fighting, the Soviet army was unable to break through the 1st Panzergrenadier Division of the Wehrmacht (which strengthened the 1st Tank Destroyer Battalion) and the 5th SS "Wiking" Division (which strengthened the 2nd Tank Destroyer Battalion). Battalion) and the 128th Infantry Division (belonging to the 52nd Motorized Infantry Corps) and other three divisions. Instead, they were defeated by 4 tank destroyer battalions (more than 150 Rhinos) and 4 heavy anti-tank gun battalions (72 PAK43 88mm anti-tank guns).

Therefore, General Mackensen simply decided to launch a major counterattack in the early morning of May 15th and hit the Sozhi River.

Meanwhile, an even greater disaster for the Soviet Union occurred at the junction of the Smolensk, Kaluga and Bryansk regions. The German Heinrich Group (composed of the 2nd Panzer Army and the 60th Panzer Army) had just escaped the entanglement of a Soviet army group (sent by the Central Front) and was now rushing overnight towards the city of Bryansk, which was defended by only one army group. !

The German 14th Armored Army, which moved north from Gorninov in the south, also fought with the Soviet 38th Army and 40th Army near Trubchevsk (these two armies were attracted by the 14th Armored Army) , and the defenses near the city of Bryansk were therefore empty) troops launched a fierce battle.