Chapter 854: The Final Battle - A Big Gamble (Second Update)

"Look, it's a Soviet tank group!"

When Major Schwarzenegger's Puma command vehicle just arrived at the German position at the front of the Dobrush Forest, he heard someone shouting in his ear.

He quickly pushed open the roof hatch, half of his tall body was out, the smell of gunpowder and gasoline was immediately extinguished, and his ears were filled with the roar of vehicle motors and artillery shells.

This was originally the second line of defense of the German army, but now it is the forefront! According to the situation informed by the superiors when conveying the order, the Soviets spent a lot of money this time, and the number of tanks dispatched was extremely large, which was probably a tank group at the army level.

The SS Walloon Assault Brigade (affiliated to the 5th SS Viking Division) stationed at the forefront did not even withstand the opponent's first wave of offensive and was defeated. Now the Dobrush Forest where the 9th SS "Germania" Panzer Grenadiers Regiment is stationed, and the city of Vetka where the 10th SS "West" Panzer Grenadiers Regiment is stationed is the forefront.

If these two places cannot be defended, then the Soviet tank sea will rush to the city of Gomel.

However, General Herbert Gillette did not have too many reserve forces available, so he could only let Schwarzenegger's tank destroyer battalion and the "Finland" battalion support the 9th "Germania" armored grenadiers regiment at the front of the Dobrush Forest, and the 5th SS armored regiment and the "Iceland" battalion to support the 10th "Western" armored grenadiers regiment in the city of Vetka.

"Damn it! Isn't this too much?" Major Schwarzenegger saw a scene that he would never forget in the moonlight and the light from the flares.

On the vast plains (mainly wheat fields) southeast of the Dobrush Forest, it has become a sea of ​​tanks and armored vehicles at this time. As far as the eye can see, there are moving black shadows. Judging from their size, you can tell that they are either tanks or armored vehicles. There are always hundreds or thousands of them.

Such a huge tank cluster cannot be stopped by 45 "Rhino" guns and a little more than a regiment of armored grenadiers!

Rechitsa, early morning of May 10, 1943.

When Major Schwarzenegger's 45 "Rhino" guns arrived at the front, General Mackensen also understood the pressure that the 5th SS "Viking" Division in Gomel was facing.

"I didn't expect that the main force of the Soviet armored forces would actually deliver the goods to our door..." General Mackensen was really surprised when he looked at the report of the 5th SS Division.

"Commander," Lieutenant General Hube, the chief of staff of the 1st Armored Army, had the opportunity to counterattack at this time, "The 3rd Armored Army should be able to stop them, and the 14th Armored Army can outflank the Soviet tank group... From Chernigov to the north to attack Trubchevsk in Bryansk Oblast. At the same time, you can also order the 24th Armored Army to approach Bryansk after occupying Roslavl."

"The 24th Armored Army rushed to Bryansk?" General Mackensen shook his head and said, "It's almost 300 kilometers. Is there enough fuel? In addition, what about Klimovich's Soviet tank group? Their strength is not weak either!"

General Mackensen, who originally thought he could be very leisurely, suddenly found himself besieged by the Soviets on the spot. Gomel and Klimovich were all the main forces of the armored group. There were at least two tank groups, and maybe a third!

But then again, it was really exciting to see so many Soviet tank groups rushing over together! If they could be wiped out, General Mackensen would immediately become Marshal Mackensen.

Moreover, "Marshal Mackensen Jr." will undoubtedly surpass "Marshal Mackensen Sr.", and may even become one of the greatest generals in German history!

"We can borrow soldiers and oil from the 4th Panzer Army." Lieutenant General Hube was unwilling to give up this opportunity to be promoted to general, and immediately thought of an idea, "Now the 4th Panzer Army has 8 armored divisions, and the oil is very abundant, which is not needed at all on the Smolensk battlefield. We can completely draw an army-level armored group to join the combat sequence of our 1st Panzer Army. We may let this army-level group drawn from the 4th Panzer Army approach the city of Bryansk... In this way, the 24th Panzer Army can continue to cooperate with the 11th Panzer Army to encircle and annihilate the Soviet tank group of Klimovich."

"Okay! That's it!" General Mackensen made a decision after thinking for less than a minute. If he doesn't eat the fat meat that is delivered to his door, he will regret it for the rest of his life.

The report of the commander of the 1st Panzer Army was quickly sent to Marshal Manstein via radio waves, and immediately received the support of Lieutenant General Weller, Chief of Staff of the Central Army Group.

"Marshal, there is no doubt that Stalin regarded the 1st Panzer Army as the main target of attack." Lieutenant General Weller analyzed, "In order to gain enough chances of winning, Stalin must have concentrated the most armored forces he could mobilize. If we eliminate all these troops, victory will be decisive."

Manstein nodded, and Lieutenant General Weller's analysis made sense. Now there should be a Soviet tank army in Klimovich, and the Soviet tank group that appeared in Gomel is even larger, at least two tank armies. If they are all eliminated, the armored forces of the Soviet Red Army will be reduced by at least 50%. Even if... the Soviet Red Army took the opportunity to lift the siege of Leningrad (now the battle outside Leningrad has also started), it is worthwhile.

"Give General Hott the order to mobilize the 2nd Armored Corps and the 60th Armored Corps to launch an assault on Bryansk City, under the unified command of General Heinrich (Commander of the 2nd Armored Corps)..." Manstein considered it Afterwards, it was decided to send two armored corps to attack the city of Bryansk - although this would be very fuel-intensive and would also cause a shortage of troops on the Velikiy Luki-Smolensk line.

But Manstein was worried that the Soviets still had heavy deployment of troops near Bryansk - the Soviet Supreme Command could not use only three tank armies to deal with the 1st Armored Army, and would inevitably mobilize several ordinary armies.

Therefore, it is not safe to use one armored corps to attack the city of Bryansk. Two armored corps must be dispatched.

"In addition," Marshal Manstein said at last, "call the General Staff and suggest that Army Group South launch an operation to forcibly cross the Dnieper River on the Ukrainian battlefield!"

…

Is this going to put all the bets on it?

When Hessmann saw Manstein's telegram, he suddenly felt a little numb. Manstein's move put all his capital on the line... Not only did Army Group Center deploy all its elite troops, but Army Group South, which had originally planned to launch an offensive after the "battle near Moscow," also had to invest in advance.

In other words, it is not necessary to engage in a large-scale encirclement. Instead, just use a sea of ​​tanks, aircraft, infantry, and artillery to "drown" the Soviets.

To be honest, Hessman, the "fake military god", really had no idea about such a "big gamble".

Fortunately, there is a real military god named Guderian beside him.

"Heinz, what do you think?" Herschmann asked expressionlessly.

"Marshal Manstein's request should be approved." Guderian did not see how guilty Hessman was. He just analyzed the overall situation on the battlefield and said, "The current situation is very favorable to us. The main force of the Soviet tank group is It’s been proven, so we should raise the stakes.”

This probably means that we have a big hand, so why not raise the stakes? So now we should put down all our capital and make Stalin lose all his capital!

"And the area where the decisive battle is currently taking place is at the junction of the Bryansk Oblast, Smolensk Oblast, Gomel Oblast and Mogilev Oblast." Guderian went on to say, "The location where the decisive battle will take place is more remote than we originally expected. Close to Ukraine... If we win a decisive victory in the battle, the Soviets will no longer be able to hold on to the Dnieper River defense line. Therefore, the plan to go south to outflank the Ukrainian Soviet army after the "battle near Moscow" is actually impossible to realize. The main force of the Army Group was very timely.”

"Yes." Hessmann nodded. He had to listen to what Guderian and Manstein said. "What about the Leningrad encirclement? There won't be any problems, right?"

"The encirclement of Leningrad should be lifted." Guderian said, "If the Soviets want to enter the city, let them enter. As long as we can win the battle at the junction of the four states, the Soviet army will lose us in 1943." The ability to conduct field operations. At that time, the Southern Army Group will be able to capture the left bank of Ukraine with the cooperation of the 1st Armored Army, and even attack and capture Stalingrad. After capturing Smolensk, the Central Army Group will be able to approach Moscow. It doesn't matter whether Grad is besieged or not. If I want Leningrad, I can just besiege it again... maybe hundreds of thousands more Red Army troops can be besieged. As long as the siege lasts for another year, the city of Leningrad will still be the Queen's. of."

Guderian's suggestion was actually because he also made a mistake in judging the main attack direction of the Red Army's Kalinin Front. He did not expect that Zhukov would raid Velikiy Luki, but thought that the Kalinin Front would take advantage of the start of the Battle of the Junction on the southern front to launch the second Leningrad siege battle. The strength of the Northern Army Group is somewhat weak, and it is likely that it will be severely damaged by the Kalinin Front.

Hessmann thought for a while and felt that Guderian's opinion was reasonable. "Then give the order to Army Group North and allow them to abandon the siege when appropriate."

Although Hersmann's son Rudolf seemed to fall in love at first sight with Prince Yusupov's daughter Elena (the previous name was spelled incorrectly, not Elizabeth, but Elena) in Glücksburg, Hersmann still There is no intention to turn Leningrad into Her Majesty’s Petrograd. Negotiating peace with Stalin was Hessmann's first choice, so he didn't want to take Leningrad at all...