Imperial Overlord

Those bombers that bombed Soviet airfields did not appear there by accident. The Luftwaffe was ordered to provide the strongest possible support in the event of an attack by Manstein's forces.

Therefore, the German Imperial Marshal Green, who was in charge of commanding the air force operations on the Eastern Front, gave Manstein the greatest support.

More than 400 bombers were concentrated to conduct regional air suppression for the battle for the No. 4 highway bridge.

Including 180 Stuka bombers and more than 220 JU-88 twin-engine medium bombers. Escorted by more than 100 ME-109E fighter jets, these aircraft attack all ground targets in the area.

These planes took off for patrol and bombing when Manstein launched the general attack, and they were lucky to directly discover the Soviet field airport where the plane was about to take off.

The Soviet field airfield was not badly concealed, it avoided most of the German reconnaissance planes and was not destroyed by bombing.

But this time, the Luftwaffe seized the opportunity. In an instant, a bomb fell, blowing the plane parked on the runway into a state of parts.

At the same time, the German rocket artillery units poured their rockets onto the Soviet positions, and the dense explosions made the attacking Germans feel scared.

The Soviet chief of staff, who was preparing for artillery, had just returned to his artillery position at this time.

As a result, he painfully discovered that the timing of the German all-out attack was just right, and the timing of the Soviet troops' counterattack on the No. 4 Highway Bridge was completely destroyed by the Germans.

At least in this well-planned attack, Manstein's commanding ability, as well as the execution and coordination capabilities of the various German services, far surpassed the Soviet Army.

In this case, the Soviet army seemed passive everywhere, and it was not something that was difficult to explain.

After a major purge, the Soviet army was somewhat unable to keep up with the rhythm in response, and the gap in the quality of commanders was very obvious.

Especially when Germany entered the battle of the special forces, its vigilance was insufficient. After the loss of the No. 4 road bridge, it immediately fell into a comprehensive passive state.

Sitting in the headquarters, Budyonny, who still didn't know what happened near the No. 4 highway bridge, received several passive messages at this time.

First of all, the German bombers happened to attack the Soviet field airfield, and the task of bombing the No. 4 road bridge could only be postponed to be carried out by further aviation units.

Another passive piece of news is that the attack by the Soviet troops on the front line to the vicinity of the No. 4 road bridge failed, and the Soviet positions were squeezed, getting further and further away from the road bridge.

It is obviously impossible to expect the road bridge to be recaptured or destroyed by ground forces. Now Budyonny could only find another way to stop the German army advancing towards Vitebsk.

"How many people do we have in Vitebsk?" Budyonny turned to his chief of staff, wondering how long Vitebsk could hold on.

"About 10,000 people..." The chief of staff's face was very exciting, and the number of answers made Budyonny's face even more exciting.

Originally, there was still a long distance from the front line, and the defense of Vitebsk was not as strong as imagined.

The defense of the city itself is borne by the troops of the 2 corps in front, as well as the No. 4 highway bridge natural insurance.

When the troops stationed in these areas are retreating step by step, little by little, when they retreat to Vitebsk, that is when the defense of Vitebsk is truly completed.

However, the ideal struggle did not appear. Instead, the German army played a black tiger and took down the crucial road bridge directly.

The Soviet army near Vitebsk collapsed completely, and the peripheral troops of the two armies were shut down and beaten, squeezed within the narrow line of defense.

Behind the two Soviet troops, including the bridge and the reserve troops of the three divisions, all became the appetizers of the Manstein cluster.

What is even more embarrassing is that after losing tens of thousands of troops, and the surrounding troops were unable to reinforce due to the distance, the garrison of Vitebsk appeared weak.

There are only 10,000 soldiers. For the German army, it is like a free gift, without any pressure.

Manstein's mechanized infantry rushed into Vitebsk on April 28, the day the attack began, four hours earlier than planned.

Although street fighting broke out, the Soviet garrison was not strong enough to establish an effective defense line in each neighborhood.

All Budyonny could do was to urge his troops to move desperately towards Vitebsk, trying to get enough reinforcements before the Germans took over there.

But the rest of the troops were too far away, they couldn't get to the designated position in time, and could only watch the German army attack Vitebsk.

Most of the Soviet troops did not dare to leave their positions. They were afraid that once they fell into the field, they would be surrounded and annihilated by the German armored forces in the field.

Therefore, the Soviet troops who dared to reinforce the direction of Vitebsk were actually not the main force. Their numbers were small and their combat effectiveness was not strong.

After all, most of the surrounding Soviet troops also have their own tasks. It is impossible to leave everything behind and risk their lives to move closer to Vitebsk.

Therefore, despite Budyonny's constant orders to defend Vitebsk, no reinforcements approached there that night.

In the city, the Germans and the Soviet defenders fought fiercely all night. On the second day, in the early morning of April 29, 1941, the German army planted the banner of victory on the front of the city of Vitebsk.

One of the two bridgeheads that the Soviet army inadvertently built to threaten the German flank was removed by the German army after one day and one night.

And at the same time that Manstein stormed Vitebsk, Guderian, the head of the scythe, also showed his daring aggression.

When the red flag of the Soviet Union was still flying at the top of the city of Vitebsk, Guderi installed the armor group to organize his luggage and rushed to Smolensk.

This time, the headquarters where Budyonny is located, that is, the headquarters of the Soviet Budyonny Corps in the middle, has completely become the front line.

Smolensk, the most important target that Stalin ordered the Budyonny Legion to guard, also became a real front-line city at this moment.

Guderian's armored troops moved forward along the railway line and the Dnieper River, while the Soviet army had to continue to retreat because of its disadvantage and gathered around Smolensk.

Now, the Germans have only the last threshold from their ultimate goal of Moscow: as long as Smolensk is captured, Moscow is in front of them! .

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