Chapter 651 Heavy Thunderstorm Thirty-Nine
“14 armies, 48 infantry, mechanized or tank armies, with a total strength of more than 1.5 million (mechanized/tank soldiers are relatively small), more than 6,000 tanks/self-propelled artillery of various types, and more than 15,000 artillery of various types…”
General Pavlov, commander of the Soviet Western Front, looked at the densely packed troop marks and numbers on a military map covering half of the wall, and smiled to Deputy Chief of General Staff Vasilevsky and said: “How could such a powerful force not be able to take down a small Warsaw? Comrade Vasilevsky, you just wait for good news.”
“But Germany’s strength is not weak either, as evidenced by the Battle of Legionovo-Wolomin, so the General Staff still hopes that the Western Front can act cautiously.” Vasilevsky, Deputy Chief of General Staff and Chief of Operations of the Red Army, frowned. He came to Minsk as a representative of the Supreme Command to assist in command.
This means that Stalin is a little bit unconvinced of General Pavlov’s military talent, which is not good news for Pavlov!
Moreover, Stalin may have doubts about whether the Western Front can capture Warsaw. Vasilevsky knew that after the Battle of Legionovo-Wolomin, Chief of the General Staff Zhukov had poured cold water on Stalin more than once, pointing out that the Western Front might not be able to undertake the task of capturing Warsaw, but Stalin did not express any opinion on this.
In addition, Zhukov further suggested that if the Western Front could not capture Warsaw, it should switch to defense in time, strive to drag the war between the Soviet Union and Germany into a protracted war, and at the same time increase the intensity of strategic bombing. Strive to weaken Germany's war potential by bombing first, and then slowly drag it down...
"There is no problem, the Western Front will definitely capture the city of Warsaw!" Pavlov's tone was extremely firm.
As the commander of the Western Front, General Pavlov was also a well-informed person. How could he not know that he might lose Stalin's trust?
For a front commander, losing the trust of Comrade Stalin is not a good thing, and it may ruin his reputation!
Moreover, once Pavlov admitted that he was unable to capture Warsaw, it was tantamount to announcing the complete failure of the "Great Thunderstorm Plan". And this "Great Thunderstorm Plan" was formulated under the leadership of Pavlov.
Comrade Stalin is not a great leader who can tolerate losers...
"The offensive will never fail!" He said to Vasilevsky, "The casualties may be relatively large, and the process of capturing Warsaw may be very difficult. But the final victory will definitely belong to the heroic Red Army of Workers and Peasants.
In fact, the failure of the Battle of Legionovo-Wolomin did not expose the overall shortcomings of the Red Army. Rather, there are shortcomings in some aspects, such as the main guns of the T-34 tanks and KV-1 tanks are too weak. For example, the air combat capabilities of the Yak-1 and MiG-3 fighters are not ideal. However, these two shortcomings now have ways to make up for them. The Supreme Command has given us many independent artillery battalions equipped with ZIS-2 anti-tank guns. The Western Front Air Force also received assistance from American internationalist fighters, with 20 squadrons of P-51 aircraft (some of them were used to escort B-1 7 bombers to destroy the Middle East oil fields, and some of them flew from Britain and Iceland to the Soviet Union), which is enough to provide air cover. "
Pavlov paused, and then said confidently: "And protracted warfare also has advantages for Germany. Now France and Italy have not declared war on us, which shows that they are afraid of the Red Army and have doubts about the German Nazis. If we are blocked at the gates of Warsaw, then Italy and France's concerns about the future of Germany's reaction will be resolved, and they will board the German chariot... This means that the reactionary camp led by Germany will have an additional 100 million people! The Soviet Union's numerical advantage will no longer exist.
Therefore, Comrade Vasilevsky, I suggest that the Supreme Command immediately approve the Warsaw battle plan submitted by our Western Front! "
After listening to Pavlov's analysis, Vasilevsky also felt that it made sense and had a strategic height. He thought for a while and nodded: "Okay, I will recommend the Supreme Command to approve the battle plan of the Western Front..."
...
"Yakov, how are you? You've been very busy these days, right?"
Rokossovsky, who returned from the army headquarters, got off a GAZ-61 car and saw Captain Yakov Dzhugashvili, who was supervising the artillery to hang a 57mm cannon on a T-34 tank.
The eldest son of Comrade Stalin is a very hard-working and serious person, not a playboy, and completely different from his brother Vasily. In the more than ten days since the Battle of Legionovo-Volomin, he has been very serious and hardworking according to the orders from above, and has devoted all his energy to the work of "tank hanging cannon".
The so-called "tank hanging cannon" work is actually a stopgap measure to make up for the insufficient firepower of T-34 tanks and KV-1 tanks. It is to hang the ZIS-2 type 57mm anti-tank cannon behind the tank, and at the same time use a tracked tractor to pull an 85mm anti-aircraft gun to follow. After encountering a German tank cluster, these three types of artillery can be quickly deployed to attack German tanks.
Although this style of play seems a bit stupid, it is still much better than using the F-34 76.2mm tank gun of the T-34 and KV-1. The lessons of the Legionovo-Wovomin battle were too profound. This kind of tank gun was simply incapable of defeating the Germans' latest No. 4 tank, let alone the two heavy tanks that appeared on the battlefield for the first time.
"Comrade Commander," Yakov Dzhugashvili quickly stopped what he was doing and stepped forward to give Rokossovsky a military salute. "Are you here to inspect the work of 'tank-mounted cannons'? Do you want comrades to demonstrate it to you?"
"I'm not here to inspect the work, but you might as well take a look." Rokossovsky waved his hands and smiled, then stood next to the T-34 tank with a cannon.
To be honest, this thing seems a bit twisted. A good tank has been replaced by an artillery tractor.
"The two artillery regiments of our 9th Mechanized Corps originally did not have ZIS-2 artillery."
Dzhugashvili said to Rokossovsky very carefully: "But now we have an independent anti-tank artillery battalion. This is a newly formed unit. The artillery and personnel are all transferred from the rear. It has 16 ZIS-2 57mm anti-tank gun. In addition, each gun will be followed by a dedicated ammunition cart, which can be towed by tanks or horses. "
The most ideal tool for towing weapons such as anti-tank guns is definitely a half-track armored vehicle with strong off-road capabilities. However, there is no such vehicle in the Soviet Red Army. The Soviets have been researching half-track vehicles for many years, and the product has been finalized (ZIS-42). However, due to the limited strength of their machinery and automobile industries, they are simply unable to do so now. Will be mass produced.
"After more than ten days of intensive training, this independent anti-tank artillery regiment is now able to cooperate with tank battalion operations." Yakov Dzhugashvili continued, "Although it is not very skilled yet, it can always go to the battlefield. "
While Dzhugashvili was speaking, a crew member of the ZIS-2 artillery was already very skilled in separating the cannon from the tank, and then dragged it aside to complete the deployment.
"It seems that the problem is not big anymore," Rokossovsky nodded with satisfaction, "Comrade Dzhugashvili, your work is very effective. If our 9th Mechanized Army can be the first to rush into Warsaw, you He was the number one contributor to the liberation of Warsaw.”
"The first one to rush into Warsaw?" Yakov was stunned for a moment, and then he knew what was going to happen. "Comrade Commander, the battle to liberate Warsaw is about to begin?"
"Yes." Rokossovsky lowered his voice, "Starting from the early morning of the day after tomorrow, our 9th Mechanized Army will begin an assault in the direction of Warsaw!"
"So fast?" Yakov looked a little surprised.
After the Battle of Legionovo-Wovomin, the Warsaw front seemed a little calm. Only the fierce fighting in the Warsaw Forest in the middle continued, and there was no action on the northern and southern fronts.
In other words, the originally planned pincer offensive now only has one pincer, and the pincer offensive cannot be launched at all. Yakov originally thought that he would launch a new offensive on the northern front first, wait for the northern cluster to occupy Legionovo, and then launch the northern, central and southern routes together. Unexpectedly, the Western Front Command would definitely launch an attack now.
Rokossovsky pulled Yakov into his car, and the two returned to the military headquarters together - Rokossovsky learned the news that the Battle of Warsaw was about to begin at the group army combat meeting this morning. At the 9th Mechanized Corps combat meeting tonight, he will also announce the news to the 9th Mechanized Corps and above (including the regiment commander) and the chief officers of various military departments, so he might as well tell Yakov first.
In the car, Rokossovsky said to Yakov excitedly: "This time our South Road Group is responsible for the main attack. In addition to our 37th Group Army, the 13th Group Army and the 20th Group Army will also join. The cluster general The conductor will be Comrade Vlasov.
The North Route Cluster will serve as an auxiliary attack, with Comrade Kuznetsov (not Kuznetsov of the Navy, but a lieutenant general of the Army) in charge of the North Route, who will uniformly command the 3rd Army, 10th Army, and 11th Army. According to the plan, they would outflank Warsaw's rear after capturing Legionovo.
The middle road is the main attack like our south road. Comrade Chuikov is under the unified command of four armies including the 9th Army, the 29th Army, the 43rd Army and the 50th Army to attack the front of Warsaw!
In addition, the 4th Group Army, 28th Group Army, 30th Group Army, and 31st Group Army will serve as the general reserve for the campaign. "
"Fourteen armies!" Yakov Dzhugashvili took a breath and looked a little excited. "The total strength should be more than 1 million, right? Now the Battle of Warsaw will be won without a doubt!"