Chapter 663: The Empire Strikes Back Part 2

After listening to Pavlov's seemingly confident words, Major General Rimosik still shook his head: "Comrade Commander, the 4th Army, 28th Army, 30th Army and 31st Army are still on the west bank of the Bug River. The average distance to Warsaw is more than 100 kilometers, and they have other tasks to be responsible for..."

The Soviet Union's Western Front has a total of 20 armies, 10 of which have already reached the vicinity of Warsaw. A powerful tank army and a regular army remained in Minsk to prevent a German breakthrough from the direction of Ukraine. One group army is cooperating with the Southwest Front to besiege Lviv, and three other group armies are deployed in front-line positions facing the Baltic-Lithuanian direction.

There are also 4 armies, namely the 4th Army, 28th Army, 30th Army and 31st Army as Pavlov said, which are deployed in the liberated area on the west bank of the Bug River. They are not only the general reserves of the Warsaw Battle Group , is also responsible for defending the retreat of the Warsaw Battle Cluster, and is also the backing for the construction of people's power in the liberated areas of Poland.

If all four armies move to the Warsaw front, not only will the rear of the Warsaw battle group become very empty, but the Polish local people's political power that was finally established may also be overthrown by reactionary forces because of the loss of strong backing.

Therefore, all four armies cannot be transferred to the front line in Warsaw unless absolutely necessary. If Pavlov wanted to mobilize them all, he would have to mobilize other troops to fill the gaps. The only troops that the Western Front Command can mobilize now are the two armies in Minsk. If Pavlov didn't want the area around Minsk to become empty, he would have had no choice but to ask Moscow for more troops.

"Comrade Commander," Major General Rimoschik suggested, "it's better to ask for help from the Supreme Command..."

"It's not necessary at the moment," Pavlov thought for a while and then shook his head. "At most, it's just a military-level armored cluster, which we can deal with."

Although Tiger tanks and Panther tanks are very powerful, they are not many in number. The Western Front has a strong strength of 20 armies. If it asks the Supreme Command for help because of a German army-level armored group equipped with heavy tanks, then the great leader of the world revolution will definitely think that General Pavlov is useless. Fool.

"Order the 3rd Army to continue its roundabout mission," Pavlov thought for a moment, then added, "and be ready for a decisive battle with the German armored group at any time!"

Major General Rimoschik, Chief of Staff of the Western Front, changed his expression slightly, looked at Pavlov and asked: "Comrade Commander, do you think the German army has sent a large number of troops to Warsaw?"

The Battle of Warsaw has been going on for more than a month, and the Western Front Command has generally known how many troops the Germans have in Warsaw. Rimowski knew that the German army had only one armored division (actually 6 tank battalions) in Warsaw, and the German armored group currently breaking through the 100th Army's defense line should be this armored division.

If the 3rd Army encountered a German armored group on the north bank of the Renaf River, most of the armored group would be new.

"This is very possible!" General Pavlov frowned, "Currently the progress made by the Northwest Front Army and the Southwest Front Army is very limited, and the Southwest Front Army's encirclement of Lviv has not yet been completed.

The Northwest Front's attacks on the Baltic and Finland have also been repeatedly frustrated... I am worried that the northwest and southwest directions will have limited containment effect on the German army. As for the British attack on the island of Ireland, although some progress has been made, the British army's combat effectiveness is limited, and the number of German reinforcements it can attract will not be large. Therefore, the German high command must now have sufficient troops to support Warsaw! "

He was silent for a while and said solemnly: "If the 3rd Army encounters another German armored group on the north bank of the Reinav River, then it is basically certain that the German army has massively reinforced Warsaw, and there will be no need to ask the High Command for reinforcements by then. Late."

Major General Rimosik already understood Pavlov's thoughts. This comrade general cared very much about the great leader's trust. And Stalin's trust was running low with the disastrous defeat in the last Legionovo-Wovomin battle. If he opens his mouth to ask for help from the Supreme Command again, I'm afraid Comrade Pavlov is in danger of becoming a reactionary... Unless Germany also sends a large number of troops to Warsaw, then the Western Front will have reason to ask Moscow for more troops. .

However, Pavlov's judgment that the 3rd Army might encounter a German armored group on the north bank of the Renav River-Vistula River was correct. The 3rd Army of the Red Army would soon be with the 3rd Army coming from the direction of Posen. The German 48th Panzer Corps encountered.

"Your Majesty Commander, do you have anything to ask me about?"

While Pavlov and Rimoschik were discussing the frontline situation, Lieutenant General Hermann Bakker, commander of the German 48th Armored Corps, also walked into the room of Marshal Lundstedt, commander of the German Army Group Center. office.

Marshal Rundstadter, who is 67 years old this year, looks a little out of sorts and has obviously not slept all night. Although he is not the commander of the front line in Warsaw, he is the commander of Army Group Center after all. He launched the campaign with the 6th Army When the counterattack was about to begin, he naturally couldn't sleep.

Moreover, the Polish SS cavalry operating on the north bank of the Renav River last night also reported that a very large Soviet armored group had crossed the Renav River from Serotsk. Aircraft reconnaissance conducted later also discovered a Soviet convoy marching with its car lights on, thus confirming what the Polish cavalry had discovered.

Then old Field Marshal Rundstedt could no longer sleep, and spent the entire night in the headquarters discussing the enemy situation with Model and Guderian on the phone. The result of the discussion was that the 6th Army continued to carry out short-term assault operations, while the Central Army Group sent the 48th Panzer Corps, first by train from Posen to Błone on the Bzura River, and then by road to Zakrochim on the north bank of the Vistula River.

"Marshal, we have to go more than 300 kilometers," Lieutenant General Hermann Bakker frowned after learning his mission from Rundstedt, "and the Soviets only need to advance more than 30 kilometers... Do you think we may arrive first?"

"Of the more than 300 kilometers you have to go, more than 270 kilometers are by rail, and only less than 30 kilometers need to be taken by road." Rundstedt smiled faintly and said, "And the areas we pass through along the way are firmly controlled by us, there will be no enemy blocking, and even no Soviet planes in the sky will disturb us. The more than 30 kilometers of the Soviet road are not easy to walk. Our two cavalry divisions, the 8th SS Division and the 1st Cavalry Division of the Wehrmacht, plus a Hungarian tank brigade will form a temporary battle group, under the unified command of Major General Manteuffel, the commander of the 1st Cavalry Division, to block the Soviets on the north bank of the Vistula River. I think they will complete the blocking mission very satisfactorily."

Use two German cavalry divisions to block a Soviet mechanized army! Rundstedt's words sounded like a fairy tale, but it was not surprising in the current German army. Because the 1st Cavalry Division of the Wehrmacht and the 8th Cavalry Division of the SS were both elite troops, and they were different from the 20th Cavalry Division of the SS, which was composed of Polish volunteers.

These two cavalry divisions were actually half cavalry and half mechanized troops. Except for the three regiments that marched on horseback (they did not ride horses during combat), all divisional units were the same as the armored grenadier divisions, and also had motorized anti-tank battalions, assault gun battalions, motorized anti-aircraft gun battalions, motorized chemical battalions, and armored reconnaissance battalions.

Although they were not equipped with tanks, they had many weapons such as the No. 3 assault gun, 75mm anti-tank gun, half-track armored vehicles, and wheeled armored vehicles.

The six cavalry regiments under these two cavalry divisions also have one No. 3 assault gun company and one 75mm anti-tank gun company towed by a Sd.kfz.251 half-track light armored vehicle, just like the armored grenadiers. Therefore, their anti-tank combat capabilities are very outstanding. Although they cannot repel the Soviet mechanized army, they can definitely delay their actions.

Moreover, while the "Manteuffel Cavalry Group" and the 48th Armored Army were dispatched, the counterattack of the "Reinhardt Army Group" of the German 6th Army was also continuing. If their counterattack went smoothly, the Soviet 3rd Army's own retreat would soon be threatened. At that time, they would have to turn east and fight against the German Tiger tanks and Panther tanks that broke through.

While Lieutenant General Hermann Bakker was busy commanding the 48th Panzer Corps to set off, Major General Popov, commander of the Soviet 10th Army, which was responsible for defending the Radzimin area, was busy arranging the remnants of his 22nd Tank Corps and the 100th Infantry Corps to fight against the German armored group.

The "Reinhardt Group", with 132 Tiger heavy tanks as its main force, has now crushed the resistance of the Soviet 328th Division, defeated the 331st Division, the reserve of the 100th Army, and forced the 330th Division, which also belonged to the Soviet 100th Army, to abandon its defense line and retreat. It even broke the headquarters of the 100th Army during the assault and killed the commander, Major General Barons.

So when the "Reinhardt Group" temporarily stopped the attack at around 10 noon on July 20, 1942 (because the Tiger tanks needed to be refueled and urgently repaired), the Soviet 100th Army had been seriously injured, and only the 330th Division was barely able to fight (the division abandoned a large number of artillery and baggage during the retreat and became a rifleman).

"Comrade Commander, I'm afraid we can't resist. The attack power of the German heavy tanks is beyond imagination..." Major General Bakharov, commander of the 22nd Tank Army, immediately realized the seriousness of the problem.

Major General Popov also nodded and agreed with Bakharov's opinion. He smiled bitterly and said: "The road to the victory of GCism needs to be paved with the blood of martyrs. Comrade Barons has fulfilled his oath. Now it's our turn!"