Chapter 997: Defensive Counterattack
The counterattack on the northern line... of course it has to be paused.
Otherwise, why did Zhukov say so many words about "defense is advantageous" to Stalin just now?
"Comrade General Secretary," Zhukov said, "the northern line group should now switch to defense, because the goal of the counterattack has been fully achieved."
"Goal achieved?" Stalin asked somewhat dissatisfiedly.
Now the hundreds of thousands of besieged German troops have not been eliminated, the German reactionary named Paulus has not been captured alive, and the enemy has not even begun to break out... Or to be more precise, the enemy's Paulus group has not been truly surrounded, because to the east of the Red October Railway, a highway hub called Borovichi is still under the control of the German army. Through there, the Paulus group can keep in touch with the main force of the German Army Group North.
Paulus was surrounded or something... The Germans don't know now. Is this also considered to be the goal achieved?
"It's done," Zhukov replied very confidently, "and it's better than originally thought."
"Better?" Stalin stared at Zhukov with wide eyes, "Why is it good?"
"Fortunately, the Germans hastily launched an attack in the middle," Zhukov said, "The Germans' original plan was definitely not to attack in April. They have too many heavy equipment and a long logistics line, so it is extremely disadvantageous to attack in the muddy season."
Zhukov was right about this. If there had not been a counterattack on the northern line of Moscow, the German Central Front would not have been able to march towards Moscow on April 20. Although Manstein adopted the route of splitting troops and the tactics of the Sunday offensive, it would still cause a lot of unnecessary equipment damage.
"Moreover, the attack in the muddy season is more conducive to our infantry's defense." Zhukov added, "Muddy roads are always beneficial to light troops. The relatively successful defense of the German army on the northern front from April 5 to date has also proved this. And we are now adopting the same tactics."
"Use infantry to defend tanks?" Stalin shook his head, "But tanks can still defeat infantry, just with greater losses. And Germany can now withstand the loss of a large number of equipment, right?"
This is of course. The total fuel production of the European Community countries is now about 1.8 times that of the Soviet Union, and the supply of non-ferrous metals is also very sufficient. Therefore, the military output and the number of commonly used heavy equipment are also far greater than those of the Soviet Union!
If the German Wehrmacht led by Hessmann had not liked to use the European coalition forces and reduced the number of genuine German troops on the Soviet-German battlefield, the Soviet counterattack on the northern front would have been a disastrous defeat. The combat effectiveness of the "vassal armies" such as the French, Polish, White Russian, Little Russian (Ukrainian) and Hungarian armies could not be compared with that of the German army, and there were many contradictions between the Polish, White Russian and Little Russian armies, which made it very troublesome to use them.
However, the German Army Group Center was not so mixed. Except for the foreign volunteers of the SS (whose combat effectiveness was very guaranteed), they were all German troops.
"Comrade General Secretary," Zhukov was not clear... or deliberately ignored the water problem of the "German Army" on the northern front. He could only treat the German Army Group Center as the same as the Northern Army Group. "Whether the German army can bear the loss depends on how much loss we can cause them. If we let them lose 2,000-3,000 tanks on the western front of Moscow, I think the Battle of Moscow will be won."
In fact, this number is not enough!
Zhukov didn't know the exact size of the German armored forces. Although he knew that Germany had 25 armored divisions and 20 armored grenadier divisions, the troops in wartime were usually not fully staffed. So Zhukov didn't know how many tanks and assault guns Germany had deployed in the Soviet-German battlefield?
"2,000-3,000?" Stalin was silent for a while after hearing this number, "Can it be done?"
"Yes." Zhukov said, "I believe Marshal Konev has such ability. He and the reserve front will definitely defeat the German attack west of Moscow!"
Konev performed well in the battle in 1943. Although he still lost Eastern Ukraine, it was not his fault, but the inevitable result of the disastrous defeat in the joint battle.
However, Konev still bought time to implement scorched earth warfare in most parts of Eastern Ukraine. Most of the factories in Eastern Ukraine were blown up or burned down, and the autumn harvest in 1943 was also greatly reduced due to the war.
Therefore, Germany and the European Community, which occupied the entire Ukraine, still faced great food supply pressure in 1944 and had to import a large amount of food and meat from Argentina and Uruguay. This is also an important reason why Germany intervened in South America with force. If the Brazilian coastline is not seized, Germany cannot establish a blockade to prevent the US submarines and the commerce-breaking fleet from going south, which will prevent Europe from getting enough food - if there are not so many Great Russians, Little Russians, and Belarusians, it will be enough to eat, but in order to integrate with Russia, the European Community now has to feed many Russians, so the food supply is very tight before Russia's agriculture is restored.
In addition, Konev's defensive operations on the Crimean Peninsula also achieved certain success. The troops under his command repelled several attacks by the Ukrainian Defense Forces between November 1943 and March 1944, and sent more than 150,000 troops through the Kerch Strait to the Taman Peninsula to join the Caucasus Front (the Crimean Peninsula was not completely besieged, and there were many loopholes in Germany's blockade of the Kerch Strait).
Because of these two achievements, Konev's rank of Marshal and the title of Hero of the Soviet Union are worthy of the name. Zhukov and Pavlov were therefore optimistic about Konev's ability, transferred him from the Crimean Peninsula, and recommended him to serve as the commander of the Reserve Front Army (Orel Front Army).
"What is Comrade Konev going to do?" Stalin asked about the specific deployment. He actually recognized Konev's ability and believed that the Red Army would definitely win the defensive battle in the west of Moscow.
Zhukov said: "Comrade Konev will adopt defensive counterattack tactics to defeat the German army on the battlefield west of Moscow!"
"Use infantry and mechanized infantry to defend first?" Stalin then asked.
"You are right," Zhukov said. "The current deployment of the Reserve Front Army is a large-depth deployment. The front-line troops are not strong. The main force adopts a defensive method of gradually strengthening the defense and placing it in the deep zone. Try to use muddy ground The resolute defense of roads and infantry weakened the German army. After the goal of defensive operations was achieved, the General Staff planned to deploy a powerful tank group on the western front of Moscow to conduct a counter-assault to attack the exhausted German armored group.
Therefore, the General Staff recommended that the counterattack operations on the northern front be suspended, and the 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th Guards Tank Armies used on the northern front be transferred out and deployed together with the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies. Go to the outer defensive position in the west of Moscow. "
"What about the northern cluster?" Stalin asked.
"While the tank armies are withdrawing, the infantry stops attacking and stands firm." Zhukov replied, "Only in this way can we prevent the two German army groups from launching an assault on Moscow at the same time."
…
While Zhukov reported to Stalin Moscow's Western Front defensive counterattack plan, Marshal Konev, who had a shaved head and looked very majestic, was watching the battlefield situation from the bell tower of a cathedral in Sychevka.
Through the eyepiece of an American telescope used by Konev, the vast, muddy, and somewhat desolate plains were visible. The forward positions belonging to the First Red Flag Army are just outside the city of Sychovka, extending to the south and north of the city respectively. Although it was a "deep deployment" and the first line was just a "cannon fodder line of defense", the Soviet army spent a long time preparing for the Battle of Moscow. Therefore, the defense line outside Sychovka has obviously formed a complete defense system. There are layers of minefields, barbed wire fences, anti-tank traps, anti-tank ditches, trenches, anti-tank strongholds, and infantry anti-artillery bunkers. All personnel and equipment movements are carried out through the communication trenches, so at first glance, it seems that no one is defending the position.
A round of German artillery bombardment had just ended. The artillery shells made countless mud pits at the front of the Soviet position, but it did not cause too many casualties. A dozen gray-painted fighters also appeared in the sky, which were nasty Fw-190F/G fighter-bombers.
Beginning in the second half of 1943, this kind of fighter-bomber gradually became the mainstream of ground attack aircraft on the Eastern Front battlefield, replacing the original Ju87 dive bomber. Together with the German Hs-129 anti-tank attack aircraft, it became every The nightmare of a Red Army soldier.
The 1st Red Flag Army transferred from the Far East had not been harmed by German aircraft before, so it did not have much experience in air defense. It used DShK anti-aircraft machine guns to shoot into the air without waiting for the enemy aircraft to descend to a low enough altitude. As a result, the target was exposed prematurely. , attracted a rocket attack. Clumps of white smoke slowly rose above the Soviet defense zone...
It seems that many communist fighters from the Far East have died heroically!
Konev sighed softly and pointed the telescope at the farther end of the horizon. German tanks and assault guns had already appeared there, spitting out black smoke and staggering forward at a very slow speed. It seemed very strenuous.
It seems that the mud in April is indeed not conducive to the attack of tank groups!
Konev stared for a while longer, but did not find the Tiger or the legendary E-50A tank. He only saw some Grizzly assault guns and No. 4 H tanks - this combination is basically what the German Panzer Grenadier used to attack the enemy. Standard combination.
The Grizzly cannon approached the enemy position and shot at the enemy position. The No. 4 H tank covered the Grizzly and attacked the opponent's tank destroyers and anti-tank fire points. The following armored grenadiers were supported by the Grizzly assault gun and the No. 4 tank. A strong attack.
Konev knew that the Red Army coming from the Far East could not stop these powerful German troops. However, as long as a steady stream of cannon fodder was filled in, coupled with a 200-kilometer defense depth, the German offensive kinetic energy could still be exhausted.
Then it depends on the strength of the Red Army Guards Tank Army!