Chapter 683: Defending Leningrad - Voroshilov's Mistake
"What? What? German armored troops landed on Kotlin Island? Comrade Tributz, are you sure you are not drunk?"
When Voroshilov heard the report from the Baltic Fleet Commander on the phone, his first reaction was that this guy must have drunk too much. How could the German tank group get wings and go to Kotlin Island? How did they get to the island?
"No, I'm not drunk!" The commander of the Baltic Fleet on the other end of the phone line almost cried - he didn't have many soldiers at hand! Now the main force of the Baltic Fleet has long been taken by Kuznetsov to Molotovsk to join the Northern Fleet, so he is vacant as commander. There's not much more than a Marine brigade, a garrison brigade, a few dozen planes, and a few dozen small or old ships.
Vice Admiral Tributz said urgently and quickly: "Comrade Marshal, I didn't drink, not even a drop! Now there are really German tanks on the island... Although I don't know how they got here, But they are definitely coming, there are hundreds of them, at least they are a tank brigade! Please send me some reinforcements quickly, otherwise the Kronshtadt Fortress will not be able to hold."
Of course, the situation is not as serious as the Vice Admiral said. Although he does not have many soldiers on hand, there are tens of thousands of residents in Kronstadt. They are all very reliable politically and have good military qualities. A Soviet superman who is comparable to ordinary Red Army soldiers.
"What, what? Hundreds of tanks? A tank brigade?" After listening to the Vice Admiral's report, Voroshilov even more suspected that the commander of the Baltic Fleet was drunk. How big is a tank brigade? I can't even place it on Trin Island. If the Germans really wanted to get a tank brigade to the island, they must have used magic.
As a loyal Bolshevik member, Comrade Voroshilov is of course a materialist. He does not believe in magic in the world. Therefore, he did not make a decision to massively reinforce Kotlin Island. He only sent an infantry battalion to the island and asked two close staff officers to follow him to find out the situation. This could be called a slow reaction, but it should be an ambush. Roshilov made the second major mistake in the defense of Leningrad.
That's right, it's the second one!
Prior to this, the red strategist who was relied upon by Comrade Stalin to support the Great Wall also made another stupid mistake - he hastily deployed a line on the outer edge of the southern line of Leningrad, with Luga as the center and starting from Il in the south. The Luga Defense Line is about 300 kilometers long from Shimsk on the west bank of Lake Men, stretching along the Luga River to Jinisepp, the outlet of the Luga River in the north.
Of course, the layout of the defense line cannot be said to be wrong, but this is a 300-kilometer-long defense line! Even with 1 million soldiers, it would be difficult to protect it fully. How many people does Voroshilov have in his hands? There are a total of 5 armies, 2 of which are still scattered in the vast northern area, and the other one has just suffered heavy losses from the German army. The only ones that can really be used are 2 armies, and they also have to deal with the Finnish army's attack on Karelia. offensive.
Therefore, Voroshilov could not allocate enough strength to defend the Luga Defense Line, and could only scrape together 10 infantry divisions (5 of which had just suffered heavy losses and were seriously understaffed), 3 militia divisions and A tank brigade has a total of only 140,000 to 50,000 people and more than 100 tanks. He wanted to rely on this small force to withstand the German 18th Army, which had twice as many people and several times more tanks/assault artillery.
Moreover, the so-called "Luga Line of Defense" was a non-existent line of defense at all, because Germany's General Kuechler would not give the Soviets enough time to build fortifications.
When German Marine transport submarines delivered tanks, amphibious transport vehicles and hundreds of Marine commandos to Kotlin Island. Voroshilov's Luga defense line had been partially breached.
The 8th Armored Division and the 1st SS Panzergrenadier Division of the 56th Armored Corps commanded by General Ferdinand Charles had just defeated Voroshilov's attack in Luga City. A tank brigade and an infantry division.
In this battle, the Soviet tanks were not only qualitatively inferior, but also quantitatively inferior to their opponents. There were as many as 5 German armored battalions participating in the war, and more than 400 Type 4 H tanks could be operated. The 27th Tank Brigade on the Soviet side only dispatched less than 100 tanks of various types.
So when the sky brightened on August 13, the plain outside Luga was littered with T-34, KV-1 and KV-2 tanks destroyed or damaged by Panzer IV H tanks - in the battle that had just ended. , the German army achieved an overwhelming victory, and the Soviet 27th Tank Brigade was almost completely wiped out.
The 1st SS Armored Reconnaissance Battalion commanded by Panzer Meier (Kurt Meier) did not participate in the tank decisive battle that started yesterday evening, but now they have to set off again to fight with a regiment of Russian Guards Cavalry Together, we searched in the direction of Chudowo.
When Meyer's half-track armored command vehicle passed by the battlefield that had just cooled down, he saw a large number of Red Army prisoners of war who were either downcast or numb, escorted by old white men of the Russian Guards carrying rifles. Go in the opposite direction.
"Major, the Bolsheviks have failed again. It seems that we will be able to enter Petrograd soon." Makarov, who was riding beside Meier on horseback, could speak fluent German and laughed heartily. , looking confident.
"It was indeed smoother than expected." Meier also nodded, and then commented: "They (referring to the Red Army) were a bit reckless. The battle last night was completely in vain. If they play like this, in another week, say Maybe we can get into Petrograd."
"Yes! In another week, we will definitely be able to enter Petrograd!" The elderly bearded Belarusian colonel nodded heavily, then took out a metal wine bottle, drank a swig of vodka, and then laughed.
His and Panzer Meier's optimism is not unreasonable. In fact, the German army has now entered Leningrad - Kotlin Island is under the jurisdiction of the city of Leningrad, so the residents on the island all hold Leningrad weapons. The Soviets who had their hukou registered!
But entering the city of Leningrad is one thing, occupying the city is another.
"Members of the Bolshevik Party, members of the Youth League, the working class of the glorious city of Kronstadt, comrades of the Red Navy family members, now the Bolshevik Party of Kronshtadt calls on you: immediately take up all weapons and fight against those who dare to invade the Soviet Union. Imperialism and its lackeys attack the sacred land..."
Voroshilov's reinforcements have not yet arrived, but the mayor of Kronstadt immediately issued a call to arms to all residents after consulting Leningrad City Secretary Zhdanov.
In the small city of Kronshtadt, all the loudspeakers started playing Kronshtadt W's message to the people of the city over and over again starting from 8 a.m. on August 13.
At the same time, many temporary recruitment points with red flags waving appeared on the streets of Kronstadt. There was a long queue in front of every recruitment point.
This is not the countryside of Pskov, but the heroic Kronstadt! The people who can live here are all Soviets who are extremely loyal to the Bolshevik Party and the cause of communism - those who are not loyal enough have been shot or sent to labor reform!
So not only did the men come forward to join the militia camp, but the women of Kronstadt also came forward and prepared to defend the Bolshevik regime with their blood and lives - they didn't just hear the "Forbidden Magician" singing chants Just the tearful old lady from the collective farm, but the family members of the "red N category" officers who have long been bathed in the glory and kindness of the party. And it is not the "Red N Generation" who will not know what war is a few decades later, but the "Red Generation" and "Red Second Generation" who are full of passion and are ready to liberate all mankind, and Captain Ribbentrop is such a pioneer. The dead German Superman is almost the same breed.
Therefore, after the German supermen captured Kronshtadt Airport and the military camp of the 2nd Marine Brigade of the Red Navy, they were blocked outside a naval officer candidate school 2 kilometers west of the city of Kronshtadt. The teachers and students of the school were originally Red Navy soldiers. When the Germans attacked the airport and the 2nd Marine Brigade barracks, they armed themselves and relied on the school's solid west wall to set up defenses. In order to deal with the German tanks, they even dragged several 85mm and 76.2mm anti-aircraft guns outside the west gate of the school, and successively destroyed two No. 3 tanks and the LWS amphibious transport vehicle.
Although these inconvenient anti-aircraft guns were quickly destroyed by the 75mm short-barreled gun of the Panzer III tank, the attack of the German Marine Commandos was still repelled by the Soviets. When Scholz arrived with two to three hundred airborne commandos, another attack launched by the battle group commanded by Captain Ribbentrop had just been repelled.
"Captain, how is the situation?" Otto Scholz saw Captain Ribbentrop, who was naked and with gauze wrapped around his right shoulder, in a huge crater (blasted by the fortress' 305mm cannon). . The unlucky little Ribbentrop leaned half out of the tank to direct the battle. As a result, he was targeted by a Soviet sniper and shot through his right shoulder blade. However, he refused to leave the line of fire and take the Bv-222 aircraft back to Tallinn to recuperate. Instead, he stayed on the battlefield and continued to command.
"The situation is not good!" Little Ribbentrop replied, enduring the pain in his shoulder. "The main force guarding the naval school is their midshipmen. Everyone is a Bolshevik, very tenacious! And there are still more The militiamen came from Kronstadt to support... There were men, women, and some elderly people among the militiamen, but they were all capable of fighting. Is it possible that everyone was a member of the Bolshevik Party? "