The Rise of the Third Reich

In late May 1943, when Germany, the United States, and the Soviet Union were engaging in rounds of behind-the-scenes interactions around the issue of war, the battle between the Soviet Union and Germany on the battlefield not only did not stop, but became increasingly fierce.

On the southern front of the Soviet-German battlefield, the Dnieper River defense line held by the main force of the Soviet Southwest Front had begun to fall apart, and a small number of Soviet troops withdrew to the Crimean Peninsula. Most of them were divided and surrounded along the Dnieper River, making a last-ditch resistance.

In the Kharkov-Donetsk area on the southern front, the Soviet Southwest Front received reinforcements from the Reserve Front (this is the newly established Reserve Front) and the Caucasus Front, and was able to piece together hundreds of thousands of troops in Harbin. The city of Kohkov held on and temporarily blocked the German 1st Armored Division and the 5th SS Panzergrenadier Division from the banks of the Desna River. However, the situation is still extremely serious!

On the middle and north roads of the Soviet-German battlefield, the period from May 20 to the end of May showed the calm before the storm. Except for the fierce battle in Smolensk, no large-scale conflicts broke out between the Soviet and German armies.

But as long as the senior generals on both sides look at the increasing number of arrows and troop numbers on the map (some of which are their own and those of the enemy), they can smell the increasingly strong smell of gunpowder.

"Chief of the General Staff, First Director of Munitions, currently in the Leningrad-Smolensk area, the Soviet army's tendency to prepare for a decisive battle has become clear."

On June 1, Marshal Kuchler, commander of the German Army Group North, arrived at the General Staff Headquarters in Zossen and personally reported the military situation on the front line to Hessmann and Guderian, and at the same time submitted a decisive battle plan.

"After careful analysis of the enemy's situation, the Army Group Headquarters believes that it would be very risky for the Soviet army to launch the attack first." Küchler pointed with his pointer at the somewhat intertwined front lines on the map, "Because our army is in Leningrad - There is no front that can be held in the Pskov area. If our army group wants to switch to defense, it will have to retreat from the city of Leningrad, which will greatly boost the morale of the Soviet army and have a negative impact on the ongoing peace efforts. Extremely disadvantageous.

Therefore, the suggestion of the Army Group Headquarters was to launch an attack before the Soviet army was ready, and to engage in a decisive battle with the Soviet mechanized group outside Leningrad. After winning the decisive battle of the mechanized cluster, launch the offensive against Leningrad! "

Kuchler roughly explained his plan in a few words - first, fight a tank battle outside Leningrad!

After winning, start to attack Leningrad...or force Stalin to sue for peace!

"How many armored divisions does Army Group Northern need to win the tank battle outside the city?" Hessmann asked with a frown.

In fact, he did not want a decisive battle with the Soviet army near Leningrad, but the Soviet army launched a decisive battle on the Leningrad-Smolensk line.

If the Soviet Union wants to fight, of course Germany has to accompany it!

And as Kuchler said, the German army did not have a defensive line that could hold on around Leningrad. If the Soviet Union is allowed to prepare to strike first, Army Group North is likely to suffer.

Küchler said: "In addition to the mechanized units that Army Group North already has, two armored divisions and two panzergrenadier divisions are needed."

It’s not much!

The German General Staff has far more reserves than Kuchler requires. Since the current German army is basically fighting on a single line and has gathered most of Europe, and oil is far more abundant than in history, it can use more mechanization. The troops are also very sufficient.

Of course, there can never be too much foreign cannon fodder used in attacking fortresses. After all, with the current technology and preparation conditions, attacking a fortified city will always cause considerable casualties.

"Marshal of the Empire," Guderian had already given advice at this time, "I support Marshal Kuechler's plan."

Well, Guderian supported it, so it shouldn’t be wrong.

Hersmann nodded in agreement - he is now a bit like Hindenburg, the Chief of General Staff during World War I, and Guderian, the first munitions director, is similar to Ludendorff... In name, Hersmann is in charge. In fact, Hessmann listened to Guderian (who asked him to be Guderian!).

"How many additional troops are needed to attack the city of Leningrad?" Hersman then asked about the reinforcements needed for the offensive against Leningrad.

"20-30 divisions."

This time Kuchler didn't dare to ask for less.

Tank battles in the wild are easy to fight. In the recent "Battle of the Junction", the two sides fought several times, and each time the Germans won a resounding victory. Moreover, the German (French) army also has Breguet attack aircraft and Hs129 attack aircraft that specialize in fighting tanks, so the chances of winning are very high. But it is difficult to attack the city. The troops of Army Group Center of Smolensk have not captured it until now, let alone the fortified city of Leningrad?

"The Polish Army Group will be formed soon," Hessmann thought for a moment and said, "All of them will be assigned to Army Group North. This army group has 20 Polish divisions. In addition, I will give you 15 more German infantry divisions. Is that enough? ?”

35 divisions were given, which seemed like a lot. However, the number of German infantry divisions is now not as large as when the war began. The establishment has been reduced from 2 brigades and 4 regiments to 3 regiments, and the total strength has also been reduced from 17,200 (full strength) to 14,200 people. Thirty-five divisions have a total strength of less than 500,000 at most. Coupled with the existing strength of Army Group Northern, plus the 2 armored divisions and 2 armored grenadier divisions previously promised to Kuechler, the strength of Army Group Northern has almost increased to 1.4 million, and it should be able to defeat Lenin. Gullah.

"Not enough," Kuchler shook his head. "After all, the combat effectiveness of the Polish division cannot be compared with the German division. Moreover, among the existing troops of Army Group North, there are Belarusian and Finnish troops with weaker combat effectiveness."

"It doesn't matter," Hessmann smiled and shook his head. "The attack on Leningrad was just a feint attack... After the tank battle outside Leningrad was victorious, we took advantage of the situation to surround Leningrad, and then carried out a feint attack to scare Stalin. ”

…

Almost on the same day, Zhukov and Pavlov were also calculating the number of troops they had available for the Fourth Battle of Leningrad.

"There are 10 tank corps and mechanized corps, and about 2,000 tanks/assault artillery. There are 35 infantry corps, and 5 assault group armies. In addition, there are 45 divisions in Leningrad, most of which were adapted from militia divisions. Come...the combined strength of the Leningrad Front and Kalinin Front exceeds 2 million."

Zhukov first counted the strength on his fingers, then nodded and said: "With 2 million people, we should be able to scare the Germans, and there are also 200 JS-2 heavy tanks... Victory should be expected."

The "victory" he referred to was not the annihilation of the German Army Group Northern, but merely the forcing of Army Group Northern from the vicinity of Leningrad.

In order to achieve this goal, the decisive battle plan formulated by Zhukov and Pavlov was actually a feint plan. The attack on the German Baltic states was a feint, as was the attack on the city of Pskov.

According to the plan, the Kalinin Front Army will be divided into three clusters. The left-wing cluster will pretend to attack Baltica, the middle cluster will pretend to attack Pskov, and the right-wing cluster will regain lost ground with the Leningrad Front after the German troops retreat near Leningrad.

If everything goes well, the 2 million-strong Soviet Red Army will not engage in a head-to-head decisive battle with the German army.

Because a battle involving 2 million Red Army soldiers would not be decided within a few days. The battle site between the two sides was close to the Baltic Sea and the German border, so the German high command had plenty of time to mobilize reinforcements from various places. According to the situation grasped by the Soviet intelligence department, Germany now has sufficient reserves, and at least one powerful armored force. In East Prussia, there is also a powerful French mechanized army (including 3 reserve armored divisions and 3 mechanized divisions) that has recently arrived in Poland and is ready to reinforce the decisive battles in Leningrad and Pskov.

Therefore, using bluff tactics to force the German Army Group North back in order to prolong the war was, in Zhukov's opinion, the most ideal choice.

Pavlov also nodded and said with a smile: "I think the key to this battle is to unleash the power of 200 JS-2 heavy tanks... I think the Germans must have seen our JS-2 tanks for the first time. It would be very shocking. Maybe the Germans would wait for their new tanks to enter service before launching a new offensive. That would be ideal."

…

"William, I know you are a brave and capable naval soldier, but this time the mission of the Atlantic Fleet is not to fight a decisive battle with the European Combined Fleet, but to break the Germans' superstition about the Ju288."

While the Soviet and German commands were busy planning another Battle of Leningrad, Admiral Stark, Commander of the Allied Atlantic Fleet and Commander of the U.S. Atlantic Fleet, was also sending a message to Commander Halsey of the U.S. 3rd Fleet. It is appropriate for the general to give face-to-face instructions.

"I understand," Halsey nodded and said, "Our aircraft carriers and battleships must be reserved to deal with the Japanese, so we cannot waste them in the Atlantic Ocean."

Admiral Stark smiled and said: "That's right! But we must scare the Germans... We must let them understand the fact that in the Atlantic, we, the United States, cannot be defeated. If the Germans want If they fight a protracted war of attrition, they will eventually go bankrupt.”

Halsey burst out laughing, "I know that the Germans have to understand that they have absolutely no power to defeat the United States on the Atlantic... Even if they are willing to pay a price ten times greater than that required to destroy the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front, Impossible to win!"