The Rise of the Third Reich

On the morning of April 10, 1944, Kozlovo, the front line of the Soviet-German battlefield.

Chuikov, who had just been promoted to general, set up his headquarters in this small town less than 10 kilometers away from the front line where fierce fighting was taking place. He is now the commander-in-chief of the flanking group under the Central Front, and nearly 600,000 troops, including the 7th Guards Tank Army and the 8th Guards Tank Army, are under his unified command.

According to Marshal Zhukov's latest order: the task of the flanking group is to capture Andreapol and Toropets, and at the same time use a favorable part to cross the swamps and forests to threaten the Red October Railway Line. If possible, the Red October Railway Line should also be cut off.

To be honest, Marshal Zhukov's requirements are not high. Because the German army did not deploy heavy troops in the forests and swamps in the western part of Kali Province, according to the guerrillas' reconnaissance, the German army now has a relatively strong German mechanized infantry in Toropets, which came from the direction of Velikiye Luki along the "forest road" opened by the Soviets themselves. There are many heavy equipment, including the Type 4 tank, the Rhino tank destroyer, the Grizzly assault gun, the Wild Bee self-propelled artillery, etc.

However, the western part of Kalinin Oblast has officially entered the muddy season, and many of the originally hard frozen soils have now become swamps. How can a heavy-armed force only fight a defensive battle in such a terrain, so Chuikov does not take this division seriously.

The worst case scenario is that Toropets cannot be captured - capturing Toropets is a threat to Velikiye Luki, but Chuikov does not think that the Red Army has the ability to launch a second Velikiye Luki campaign, and this threat is actually false.

And now the key is actually Andreiapol!

This small town is stuck on the throat of the Soviet army's roundabout group to the north and east. Although the Soviet army can approach Valdai in the northeast (in Novgorod Oblast, close to the Red October Railway, 170 to 80 kilometers away from Andreiapol) and Upper Volochok in the northeast and east without taking Andreiapol, the main transportation lines are not smooth. It is no problem to let some light assault troops bypass Andreapol, but it is difficult to transport supplies and heavy equipment.

In this way, even if the Soviet army's flanking group can approach the Red October Railway Line, it is impossible to fight a battle with the German army there.

So such a threat is false.

Zhukov's favorite, the commander of the 7th Guards Tank Army, Fezhuninsky, walked into Chuikov's headquarters at this time. His uniform was wet and his wide-brimmed hat seemed to have been fished out of the water.

"Is it raining heavily on the front line?" Chuikov asked when he saw Fezhuninsky's appearance.

"It's very big!" Fezhuninsky said angrily, "Those people in the Meteorological Bureau should go to labor reform. They said it would be sunny today, but now it's raining non-stop... I think it will rain for a few more days!" "The weather forecast," Chuikov shook his head, "is based on guesswork, how can we trust it completely? But the rain is not bad for us, at least the German planes can't be deployed." "But the speed of melting snow is also accelerating," Fezhuninsky said, "If we don't bypass Andreyapol now, even the BT-7 tanks won't be able to pass in a few days." The BT-7 also weighs more than ten tons and can't move in the mud swamp. Moreover, the Red Army's infantry also has a lot of heavy equipment and baggage. Once the road "melts", those artillery and trucks will not be able to move. What's the point of relying on some light infantry to bypass it? "If we make a detour now..." Chuikov asked thoughtfully, "How many days can the troops fight with the supplies, fuel and ammunition on hand?"

"A BT-7 can travel more than 400 kilometers with a full tank of diesel," said Fezuninsky, "so there is no need to worry about fuel. At worst... treat these tanks as disposable!"

The BT-7 and the SU-57 modified from the BT-7 are not very valuable. If they fight against the German armored forces on the grassland, they will definitely be sitting ducks. So as long as the detour can be completed and the German army is forced to retreat in large strides, it will not be a pity to consume more than 2,000 BT-7s and SU-57s of the 7th and 8th Guards Tank Army.

"As for the artillery and shells," Fezuninsky thought for a while and said, "as long as they can cope with 5-7 days of fierce fighting, it will be enough."

"5-7 days?" Chuikov looked at Fezuninsky.

"Yes!" Fezhuninsky nodded, "Because the Germans have already mastered the air superiority, our troops can only rely on the ammunition and supplies they carry with them to fight, and they can only maintain it for about a week. Once the troops break through too deep and the fighting lasts too long, there will be problems with ammunition, fuel and supplies. The Red Army encountered similar difficulties in the wars of 1942 and 1943, but now it is the most serious!"

It took a process for the Soviet army to lose air superiority. At the beginning, with its huge numerical advantage and the P51 supported by the United States, the Soviet Red Air Force still had the strength to fight.

However, as Germany obtained more and more fuel and British aviation technology, it was difficult to see Soviet aircraft in the air on the Eastern Front.

So from the second half of 1943, the commanders of the Red Army front had to fight with the ammunition, fuel and supplies in their hands.

If it was not a defensive battle, the supply would be guaranteed for 5-7 days, and there would be no guarantee after that.

And Fezhuninsky, who had been leading troops on the front line, was deeply touched by this.

“If we can capture Andreapol within 5-7 days,” Fedyuninsky added, “then we can switch to defense in the forest area west of the Red October railway line, relying on favorable terrain and German At least until the mud season is over, there’s no problem.”

"We should be able to capture Andrea Bol in 5-7 days!" Chuikov smiled, "It's just tens of thousands of German paratroopers."

He said to Fedyuninsky: "Comrade Fedyuninsky, let's make a suggestion together, let the 7th Guards Tank Army advance... towards Valdai. At the same time, use the first part of the 16th Army to cross Andrey. Forests and swamps around Bol, approaching Kuvshinovo and Verkhny Volochok."

…

"Only 5-7 days?"

Joseph Stalin, who was holding a pipe in his mouth, frowned after listening to Zhukov's report.

Since the Central Front of the Soviet Union was already fighting at the door of Moscow, Zhukov, as the Chief of General Staff, became the commander of the front, and Stalin, who also served as the People's Commissar of Defense, was actually the political commissar of the front (the nominal political commissar was Moscow State W The first S is Shcherbakov). Therefore, Zhukov had to report the latest progress to Stalin face to face every day.

"Yes," Zhukov said, "The weather forecast shows that the rain will end on the 11th at the latest. At the same time, the temperature will rise rapidly and the roads will become very muddy. Considering the threat of the German Air Force, logistics transportation will start on the 12th. It will become very difficult. The troops on the front line can only rely on the ammunition and supplies stored in their hands to fight, so 5-7 days will be the limit. "

"What happens next?" Stalin asked.

"Retreat...or switch to defense on the spot." Zhukov paused and added, "In addition, the intelligence department also reported that a large number of German armored vehicles were discovered heading south through the Leningrad-Smolensk railway."

"Have the Germans transferred part of the armored troops on the northern route to the central route?" Stalin took a puff of cigarette, "Will the central German army be the main force attacking Moscow?"

"The General Staff believes that the German army may still encircle it from the southern route of Moscow," Zhukov said. "Now that our troops are concentrated in the Kalinin Oblast battlefield, and the south of Moscow is relatively empty, the German command department may have the strength to attack the enemy." Luka made a detour, outflanking Moscow’s south and rear, thus pocketing Moscow as a whole!”

Due to the restoration of the Russian Empire and the large investment of the French army (the French army's large investment is also related to the restoration of the Russian Empire, because the French are willing to see a powerful Russia appear in the European Community to contain Germany), the Soviet Red Army is in a state of quality and quantity. double disadvantage. The German side now has the strength to attack from all directions at the same time to surround Moscow.

Once Moscow is besieged, the Red Army in the encirclement of Warsaw, Crimea and Minsk is likely to collapse. And Moscow itself will become another Warsaw... Relying on the strength of the Central Front, there is absolutely no way to break the German siege. At that time, the most valuable troops in Moscow and the Soviet Union will slowly die in the long siege!

Zhukov then said to Stalin: "Comrade General Secretary, now we have achieved a successful counterattack on the northern front, which will effectively delay the German attack... As long as we can advance the northern front to Andrei Bol- The Kuvshinovo-Torzhok-Likuslavl line will have enough space to buy time for the decisive battle in the middle and south.”

Zhukov had quietly removed any attempt to capture Toropets, because after confirming that a powerful mechanized infantry unit had entered Toropets, he realized that capturing it was no longer realistic.

However, Zhukov was still unwilling to give up his efforts to push the northern line northward - this was not meaningless on the Soviet-German battlefield, because the large-depth tactic of exchanging space for defense was popular on the Soviet-German battlefield. If we can create a depth of tens of kilometers in the city of Kalinin and north of the Volga River, we can deploy several "cannon fodder armies". As long as there are enough anti-tank guns and fortifications, these "cannon fodder armies" can also destroy the German army. The armored swarm held off for at least a few weeks.

In this way, the Soviet army would have the opportunity to concentrate all the Guards Tank Army to break the German attack force in the middle or south. In fact, there was no need to defeat it. As long as they were beaten until they had no strength to encircle Moscow, it would be considered a victory.