Chapter 857 The Final Battle—It’s About to End (First Update)
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"SS, honor is loyalty, move forward!"
Major Schwarzenegger picked up the communicator on the wheeled armored command vehicle and issued the order to attack to his subordinates in a voice that seemed to burst from his heart. The 38 "Rhinoceros" tank destroyers that had been lined up in an orderly manner immediately turned their motors to maximum, making bursts of deafening roars, and headed eastward in the morning light.
Of course, it is not just these "rhinos" of the 5th SS Tank Destroyer Battalion that are advancing, but tanks, assault guns, tank destroyers and self-propelled artillery covering a large plain, with a total of no less than a thousand vehicles.
More than a thousand tanks have rushed to the banks of the Sori River, and then divided into several steel torrents, rushing towards several shoals of the Sori River. The other side of the shoal has long been controlled by the German Panzergrenadiers. They launched a forced crossing operation last night. They attacked under the leadership of more than a hundred No. 4 tanks and "Grizzly Bear" assault guns, and were equipped with thousands of cannons and rocket launchers. Provide fire support. It took less than 3 hours to successfully cross, forcing the exhausted Soviet tank troops back several kilometers.
However, what was launched last night was only a prelude, and what was about to begin now was the real general attack that would bring a devastating blow to the enemy.
When Major Schwarzenegger's Puma wheeled armored command vehicle followed the "Rhinos" and waded across the Sozh River, the hum of the aircraft motor came again in the sky.
He looked up at the sky and saw the sky-blocking fighter planes roaring over, passing over the German armored group that was crossing the river, and pounced on the battlefield in front of them where the firefight was taking place - the armored grenadiers and tanks that crossed the river last night were crossing the river. The fiercest battle started between Teka City and Dobrusz Forest with the Soviet counterattack troops!
"It will be over soon!" Major Schwarzenegger thought to himself, "The Soviets will lose the war soon... Maybe after the Battle of Gomel, peace negotiations will begin, and then Germany will get a glorious victory. !”
…
"Countless tanks? How is this possible? How is this possible?"
Hearing the report from Front Army Chief of Staff Zhakakov, Comrade Stalin's most trusted spy king almost went crazy.
Last night, just as Vatutin led an army-level tank group southward, the Germans came under overwhelming artillery fire!
At that time, Golikov and Zhakakov had a quarrel. Golikov judged that the German army had discovered the actions of the Vatutin cluster, so he launched artillery bombardments and feint attacks along the Sozh River in an attempt to destroy the Vatutin cluster. Pull” back.
Zhakakov's view was opposite to Golikov's. He believed that this was the beginning of a long-planned major counterattack by the German army. He believed that the purpose of this counterattack was to firmly hold the 1st Tank Army and the 2nd Tank Army on the Gomel line so that they could not move towards the city of Bryansk in time before the two German outflanking groups were in place.
The two people have different opinions, and naturally they have different suggestions. Golikov believed that we should retreat to the Wetka City-Dobrusz Forest line, rely on favorable terrain to launch defenses, and at the same time allow the Vatutin cluster to speed up its roundabout, trying to catch the Germans off guard.
Zhakakov believed that the Vatutin cluster should be recalled, and then the decisive battle should be fought on the Vetka City-Dobrush Forest line. If the situation is unfavorable, immediately retreat to Bryansk City.
Which of these two plans is correct? Mekhlis doesn't know. He graduated from the Red Professor College, which trains "social scientists". His major is proving the correctness of scientific socialism and criticizing Trotskyism. . How does he know how to fight? But he knew that he should always be consistent with Comrade Stalin. And Golikov's opinion is obviously closer to Stalin... Moreover, the retreat to Bryansk city is not something that can be decided by the Bryansk Front Army Headquarters. According to Order No. 197 of the Supreme Command in 1943, the decision of the Front Army to retreat can only be made by the Supreme Commander. The headquarters can do it.
Therefore, Maekhlis supported Golikov without hesitation, but now it seems that he may have committed a serious "crime of command error against G life" - it was not Maekhlis's fault, but Golikov's fault. It was her husband's fault, and Mahlis was already preparing to write a small report to expose him.
"The Vatutin cluster must be recalled immediately!"
"No, it's daytime now, the German planes will blow up all Vatutin's tanks."
"Then we can only take risks, because by night, we will definitely have been defeated by the Germans!"
"In that case, the Vatutin cluster should retreat to Bryansk city under the cover of darkness..."
Golikov and Zhakakov quarreled again, and this time Maekhlis didn't know who to support. Just when the three heads of the Bryansk Front were at a loss, a staff officer suddenly ran in shouting.
"Comrade Commander, Comrade Military Commissar, urgent call from the 48th Army, a group-level German armored group was discovered near Zhukakov!"
"What?" Golikov jumped up when he heard the news, "Is this true? A group army level..."
"Really, it's absolutely true! The security force of the 48th Group Army encountered them last night, and the air force reconnaissance this morning also confirmed it!"
The three people who were arguing were stunned, and no one could say a word.
An army-level armored group? Isn't it just an army-level group? Isn't it said that the troops of the Central Front can delay them? How come they are now in Zhukakov, which is only 50 kilometers away from Bryansk... What can we do?
How can the 48th Army stop a German armored group? Even if Bryansk can be defended temporarily, this German armored group can move freely outside Bryansk.
This means that the two tank groups in Gomel and the two groups in Trubchevsk will be surrounded.
If we count the 5th Tank Army, which is currently besieged in the 13th Collective Farm in Klimovich. Five of the six groups of the Bryansk Front were put into the pocket of the Germans.
Just when the three were completely at a loss, there was a sudden sound of dense bomb explosions outside.
Golikov and the other three rushed out of the headquarters set up in a forest warehouse. It was at the edge of the woods, and the battlefield ahead could be clearly observed from here.
They only saw at least hundreds of twin-engine attack aircraft circling in the sky, dropping strings of bombs from time to time, stirring up clusters of smoke columns and exploding balls of fire, almost drowning the Soviet positions. The tanks, tank destroyers, assault guns and anti-tank guns deployed there must have suffered heavy losses!
And in the farther place, the khaki smoke and dust were filled, as if a sandstorm had blown up. But this is not a desert. There is only one reason for such smoke and dust, that is, a large number of tanks and armored vehicles are rolling the ground with tracks...
The German armored assault has begun!
...
Moscow, Kremlin.
Stalin sat in a high-backed armchair in the operations room of the Supreme Command. The whole person seemed to have suddenly aged ten years, his eyes were dull, the corners of his mouth trembled slightly, and his hands drooped weakly.
Marshals Pavlov and Shaposhnikov were like two elementary school students who had made mistakes. They stood in front of the great leader tremblingly, with beads of sweat on their foreheads and faces, and they kept rolling down.
The battle at the junction seems to be a disastrous defeat!
Just now, the Bryansk Front Command sent an urgent telegram, an "army-level" armored group broke through the Sozh River and launched an assault on the main forces of the 1st and 2nd Tank Armies from the front, and at least 500 aircraft of various types provided air support.
The 1st and 2nd Tank Armies suffered heavy losses and are in a tough battle!
At the same time, the 48th Army stationed in Bryansk City once again confirmed the enemy situation - the enemy force that is rapidly solving the problem in Bryansk City is an "army-level" armored group! At present, their vanguard has already assaulted the outskirts of Bryansk City and is fighting a fierce battle with the 9th Mechanized Army under the 48th Army.
On the northern battlefield of the Battle of the Junction, the 5th Tank Army was also in a desperate situation. The continuous fierce fighting for many days had exhausted the strength of this army. At present, there were less than 100 tanks/assault artillery that could be used. The rest of the entire army was compressed in the No. 13 collective farm. It was only a matter of time before the whole army was annihilated.
Although the situation in Leningrad, Smolensk and Left Bank Ukraine looked okay. But Stalin knew that the Soviet Union invested the real main force in the Battle of the Junction - 3 tank armies! If they were wiped out by the Germans, then the vast western plains of the Soviet Union would become a battlefield for the German armored clusters to roam freely.
"What should we do? What should we do now?"
It was unknown how long it took before Stalin opened his mouth with difficulty and whispered to the two marshals in front of him.
Pavlov and Shaposhnikov looked at each other and saw despair in each other's eyes.
"Tonight... deploy the Vatutin Group!" Shaposhnikov said, "and fight the German armored group on the plain south of the Dobrush Forest."
"Will we win?" Stalin asked.
"We can only know this after we fight." Pavlov took over the question and answered, "If we don't fight, the Vatutin Group can only retreat to Chernigov tonight and strive to join the Southwestern Front. However, once the main force of the German armored group attacking the 1st and 2nd Tank Armies wins, they will pursue to the south and attack Ukraine from the north, and join the German Southern Army Group..."
Stalin waved his hand, "No need to say... deploy the Vatutin Group tonight and fight a decisive battle!"