The Rise of the Third Reich

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"SS, honor is loyalty, move forward!"

Major Schwarzenegger picked up the communicator on the wheeled armored command vehicle and issued the order to attack to his subordinates in a voice that seemed to burst from his heart. The 38 "Rhinoceros" tank destroyers that had been lined up in an orderly manner immediately turned their motors to maximum, making bursts of deafening roars, and headed eastward in the morning light.

Of course, it is not just these "rhinos" of the 5th SS Tank Destroyer Battalion that are advancing, but tanks, assault guns, tank destroyers and self-propelled artillery covering a large plain, with a total of no less than a thousand vehicles.

More than a thousand tanks have rushed to the banks of the Sori River, and then divided into several steel torrents, rushing towards several shoals of the Sori River. The other side of the shoal has long been controlled by the German Panzergrenadiers. They launched a forced crossing operation last night. They attacked under the leadership of more than a hundred No. 4 tanks and "Grizzly Bear" assault guns, and were equipped with thousands of cannons and rocket launchers. Provide fire support. It took less than 3 hours to cross successfully, forcing the exhausted Soviet tank troops back several kilometers.

However, what was launched last night was only a prelude, and what was about to begin now was the real general attack that would bring a devastating blow to the enemy.

When Major Schwarzenegger's Puma wheeled armored command vehicle followed the "Rhinos" and waded across the Sozh River, the hum of the aircraft motor came again in the sky.

He looked up at the sky and saw the sky-blocking fighter planes roaring over, passing over the German armored group that was crossing the river, and pounced on the battlefield in front of them where the firefight was going on - the armored grenadiers and tanks that crossed the river last night were crossing the river. The fiercest battle started between Teka City and Dobrusz Forest with the Soviet counterattack troops!

"It will be over soon!" Major Schwarzenegger thought to himself, "The Soviets will lose the war soon... Maybe after the Battle of Gomel, peace negotiations will begin, and then Germany will get a glorious victory !”

…

"Countless tanks? How is this possible? How is this possible?"

Hearing the report from Front Army Chief of Staff Zhakakov, Comrade Stalin's most trusted spy king almost went crazy.

Last night, just as Vatutin led an army-level tank group southward, the Germans came under overwhelming artillery fire!

At that time, Golikov and Zhakakov had a quarrel. Golikov judged that the Germans had discovered the actions of the Vatutin cluster, so he launched artillery bombardments and feint attacks on the Sozh River line, hoping to destroy the Vatutin cluster. Pull” back.

Zhakakov's view was opposite to Golikov's. He believed that this was the beginning of a long-planned major counterattack by the German army. He believed that the purpose of this counterattack was to firmly hold the 1st Tank Army and the 2nd Tank Army on the Gomel line so that they could not move towards the city of Bryansk in time before the two German outflanking groups were in place.

The two people have different views, and naturally they have different suggestions. Golikov believed that we should retreat to the Wetka City-Dobrusz Forest line, rely on favorable terrain to launch defenses, and at the same time allow the Vatutin cluster to accelerate its roundabout, trying to catch the Germans by surprise.

Zhakakov believed that the Vatutin cluster should be recalled, and then the decisive battle should be fought on the Vetka City-Dobrush Forest line. If the situation is unfavorable, immediately retreat to Bryansk City.

Which of these two plans is correct? Mekhlis doesn't know. He graduated from the Red Professor College, which trains "social scientists". His major is proving the correctness of scientific socialism and criticizing Trotskyism. . How does he know how to fight? But he knew that he should always be consistent with Comrade Stalin. And Golikov's opinion is obviously closer to Stalin... Moreover, the retreat to Bryansk city is not something that can be decided by the Bryansk Front Army Headquarters. According to Order No. 197 of the Supreme Command in 1943, the decision to withdraw the Front Army can only be made by the Supreme Commander. The headquarters can do it.

So Maekhlis supported Golikov without hesitation, but now it seems that he may have committed a serious "crime of command error against G life" - it is not Maekhlis's fault, but Golikov's fault. It was her husband's fault, and Mahlis was already preparing to write a small report to expose him.

"The Vatutin cluster must be recalled immediately!"

"No, it's daytime now, the German planes will blow up all Vatutin's tanks."

"Then we can only take risks, because by night, we will definitely have been defeated by the Germans!"

"In that case, the Vatutin cluster should retreat to Bryansk city under the cover of darkness..."

Golikov and Zhakakov quarreled again, and this time Mahlis didn't know who to support. Just when the three heads of the Bryansk Front were at a loss, a staff officer suddenly ran in shouting.

"Comrade Commander, Comrade Military Commissar, urgent call from the 48th Army, a group-level German armored group was discovered near Zhukakov!"

"What?" Golikov jumped up when he heard the news, "Is this true? A group army level..."

"Really, it's absolutely true! The security force of the 48th Group Army encountered them last night, and the air force reconnaissance this morning also confirmed it!"

The three people who were arguing were stunned, and no one could say a word.

An army-level armored group? Didn't you say it was just a military-level cluster? Didn't it mean that the Central Front Army's troops could delay them? Now we have reached Zhukakov, which is only 50 kilometers away from Bryansk... What should we do?

How could the 48th Army stop a German Panzer Army? Even if Bryansk can be held temporarily, the German armored group can move freely outside Bryansk.

This means that the two tank armies here in Gomel and the two armies in Trubchevsk will be surrounded.

If you include the 5th Tank Army, which is currently besieged in Collective Farm No. 13 in Klimovich. Five of the six armies of the Bryansk Front were pocketed by the Germans.

Just when the three of them were completely at a loss, there was a sudden explosion of bombs outside.

Golikov and the other three people quickly rushed out of the headquarters located in a forest farm warehouse. It was on the edge of the woods, and the battlefield ahead could be clearly observed from here.

They only saw at least hundreds of twin-engine attack planes circling in the sky, dropping strings of bombs from time to time, stirring up clusters of smoke pillars, exploding into clouds of fireballs, and almost submerging the Soviet positions. The tanks, tank destroyers, assault guns and anti-tank guns deployed there must have suffered heavy losses!

Farther away, khaki smoke filled the air, as if a sandstorm was blowing. But this is not a desert. There is only one reason for such smoke and dust, that is, a large number of tanks and armored vehicles are crushing the ground with their tracks...

The German armored assault has begun!

…

Moscow, Kremlin.

Stalin was sitting in a high-backed armchair in the war room of the Supreme Command. He seemed to have suddenly aged ten years, his eyes were dull, his mouth was trembling slightly, and his hands were hanging down weakly.

Marshal Pavlov and Marshal Shaposhnikov were like two elementary school students who had made mistakes. They stood in front of the great leader tremblingly, with beads of sweat on their foreheads and faces, and they kept rolling down.

It looks like the battle at the junction is going to fail miserably!

Just now, the Bryansk Front Army Headquarters sent an urgent message. An "army-level" armored group broke through the Sozh River and launched an assault on the main force of the 1st and 2nd Tank Armies from the front. There were also at least 500 aircraft of various types provide air support.

The 1st and 2nd Tank Army units suffered heavy losses and were in a tough fight!

At the same time, the 48th Group Army stationed in Bryansk City once again confirmed the enemy's situation - the enemy force that was rapidly destroying Bryansk City was an "army-level" armored group! At present, their leading troops have rushed to the outskirts of Bryansk City and are engaged in a fierce battle with the 9th Mechanized Army under the jurisdiction of the 48th Group Army.

On the northern battlefield of the Battle of the Junction, the 5th Tank Army was also in a desperate situation. The fierce fighting for many days had exhausted the strength of the army. Currently, there are less than 100 tanks/assault artillery available for use. The entire army's The remaining troops were compressed in Collective Farm No. 13, and it was only a matter of time before the entire army was annihilated.

Although in places like Leningrad, Smolensk and Left Bank Ukraine, the situation looks okay. But Stalin knew that the Soviet Union invested the real main force in the Battle of the Junction-three tank armies! If they were wiped out by the Germans, the vast western Soviet plains would become a battlefield where German armored groups could roam freely.

"What to do? What to do now?"

I don't know how long it took before Stalin opened his mouth with difficulty and asked the two marshals in front of him in a low voice.

Pavlov and Shaposhnikov looked at each other and saw a look of despair in the other's eyes.

"Tonight... put in the Vatutin group!" Shaposhnikov said, "Fight with the German armored group on the plain south of the Dobrusz Forest."

"Can we win?" Stalin asked.

"We can only know this if we fight." Pavlov answered the question. "If we don't fight, the Vatutin cluster will have no choice but to retreat towards Chernigov tonight and try to join the Southwest Front. . However, once the main force of the German armored group currently attacking the 1st and 2nd Tank Armies wins, they will pursue it southward and invade Ukraine from the north, together with the German Army Group South..."

Stalin waved his hand, "Needless to say... join the Vatutin cluster tonight for a decisive battle!"