Iron Cross

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The telegram from the liaison officer arrived an hour late, but the introduction was much more detailed. It not only fully explained the process of today's attack, but also explained the reason for such significant progress: It is true that there are two army groups of the Red Army on the opposite side, but unfortunately most of them are They are reserve soldiers over 35 years old. They were basically forcibly recruited from August to September. Many of them can't even fire their guns. After all, the Romanians and Italians are regular soldiers who have received many years of training. They have been trained and reorganized in the summer. The German officers commanded on the spot, and their combat effectiveness was completely different. The Russian tank troops that worried Holt were even more peculiar.

"...We conducted a surprise interrogation of a Red Army colonel who was from the staff of the enemy's 6th Army. According to his account, the front had a total of 4 tank corps and 3 group armies. Since we were attacking one of the group armies in the depth direction of Voronezh ( The 40th Group Army (which can be regarded as the more combat-effective unit of the front) broke through. The enemy front commander urgently dispatched 3 tank corps and the most elite 3 infantry divisions to reinforce and fill the gap. The troops remaining in the direction of Svoboda There is only one tank corps, and it was split into two parts for use..."

The problem is that no matter how bad the Romanians and Italians are, they still have more than 300 tanks and hundreds of anti-tank guns. After seeing this in the telegram, I can fully imagine the follow-up. Isn't this just like chopping melons and vegetables?

Holt and Reinhard looked at each other and laughed. Today, the Italians and Romanians took advantage...

"Now they want us to support them and completely surround and destroy the Russian troops. What do you think?"

"No..." Reinhard looked at the map carefully and said, "Don't rush to cooperate with the Italians to eliminate them. Sir, I have a better idea."

"Are they these?" Holt pointed to the latest numbers of the Red Army tank corps marked on the map, and Reinhardt nodded.

"The commander on the other side is very impulsive. He moves the tank corps here and there. As long as the Italians and Romanians put a little more pressure on them, they might be pushed back, and then... there should be nothing left." Reinhard laughed meaningfully.

"Order the Italian 8th Army and the Romanian 3rd Army to continue attacking, but not too violently..." Hott issued a very strange order.

Zhukov's estimate and distribution of the overall strength of Army Group South was generally correct, but his estimate of the distribution of tanks was wrong: after the latest round of deployment adjustments, the tanks of the Hoth Group were not the 600-700 that the Red Army estimated, but There are nearly 1,000 vehicles. Excluding the 300 vehicles in Italy and Romania, the German army still has nearly 700 vehicles (4 armored divisions and 1 Panzergrenadier division have more than 600 vehicles, and there are some infantry divisions); and the Manstein in the middle There are only two armored divisions in this direction, with just over 300 tanks. However, although the number of armored units in Manstein's hands is small, their combat effectiveness is very strong. One is the 16th Armored Division commanded by Lieutenant General Hube, and the other is Zepp. -The SS Hitler's Leibstandarte Armored Division under the command of Dietrich. The division was brought back to France for rest in July. After three months of adjustments and additions, it was changed from a mechanized infantry division to an armored division (the original history was adapted into an armored throwing division). The Grenadier Division (Hoffmann turned it directly into an armored division with a wave of his hand, but the actual difference is not big), the equipment is all Panzer 4G tanks, not even a Panzer III (it is the SS and the Führer's Guard) Flag team, who dares to neglect? If it weren't for the fact that Hoffmann himself controlled the Tiger and supplied it to Guderian, Manstein would have already used the Tiger at this time); and General Kleist on the right There are also 500 tanks (mainly including 3 armored divisions and 2 panzergrenadier divisions).

Golikov, the commander of the Voronezh Front who has always been a political commissar and has strong execution ability but is not very proficient in command operations, did not send too many planes for reconnaissance after comparing the situation report from the base camp with the battle report from the direction of Svoboda. (Of course, even if he sent planes to conduct reconnaissance, it would be useless. The Hult Cluster had always firmly controlled the air superiority), and made what was later considered to be a devastating decision: in view of the fact that the threat from the direction of Saratov had been removed, support was dispatched in the morning. The tank corps and infantry division suspended the rescue mission, returned to the depth of Svoboda and cooperated with the troops on the ground to annihilate the enemy.

In his opinion, the only ones attacking Svoboda were the Italians and Romanians. They did not have strong fighting will and ability. He could resist it even without many tank troops. If he had the support of tank troops, he might be able to encircle them in turn. These are more than 100,000 horses. After receiving the order to return reinforcements from the front army headquarters, the three tank corps commanders who were already walking halfway were all jumping up and down with anger. However, the military orders were overwhelming and they had to follow them. Fortunately, night had fallen and they were not afraid of German air attacks, so they decided to They formed two columns and returned to the division overnight for rescue.

At dawn the next day, the tired and sleepy Red Army tank soldiers were ambushed by the overwhelmingly superior tank force of the Hoth Cluster about 45 kilometers northeast of Svoboda. Faced with the sudden rush of four German armored divisions and The other troops, the Russians were dumbfounded. After half a day of fierce fighting, except for a few tanks that escaped due to familiarity with the terrain, Reinhardt commanded the troops to annihilate 3 tank corps and 2 infantry divisions with negligible losses. The other infantry division saw that the situation was over, and most of them chose to surrender. . After learning that the main force of the reinforcing tank army was completely destroyed and the main force of the German 4th Armored Army appeared, Golikov had no choice but to retreat after sending a call for help to the General Staff to avoid being completely annihilated.

Facing the nearly 400 T-34, KV-1, KV-2, T-26 and T-70 tanks that were injured on the battlefield or abandoned by the Red Army due to malfunctions, everyone felt like this - —Make a fortune, especially since there are more than 200 T-34s alone that can be recycled or repaired.

"The Italians and Romanians also want to share some of the spoils, especially tanks. I think they can consider agreeing..."

Holt subconsciously wanted to reject Reinhardt's proposal, but then he thought about it. The Italians and Romanians had done a great job this time. Without their initiative to join the battle at the beginning and their efforts as bait later, the war would not have been so bad. If it goes well, it should be given some sweetness. So he waved his hand and said: "Keep all the T-34s. These are the heads of state who want to support North Africa. They can choose other tanks at will. I hope they will continue to work so hard in the next battle."

Supporting North Africa is of course an excuse. The real reason is that the policy of replacing T-34s with No. 4Gs continues to be effective. In Huot's eyes, these more than 200 T-34s (both good and bad) are more than 130 No.4Gs, which is almost the same. There was another armored division, how could he be willing to give up? After hearing that the Germans agreed to their free choice of tanks, the Italians and Romanians were as happy as if they were celebrating Christmas. Even the Croats and Slovenians were each assigned 5 T-26s and more than 20 artillery pieces.

"Sir, do you want to continue to pursue in depth? The Russians can't escape. If they fight well, they can wipe out an entire front army..."

"No..." Holt looked at the map carefully, "Quickly disengage with the Voronezh Front and let them go. Let's turn around and go south, preparing to outflank the flanks of the Don Front - this is in line with the true meaning of mobile warfare."

Reinhard gave a thumbs up to express his appreciation for General Holt's hand.

After listening to Vasilevsky's report, the owner of the Kremlin roared: "Golikov and Kuznetsov (front political commissar) are two pigs, I will hang them..."

He angrily announced: "Order to abolish the Voronezh Front Army organization, return all troops to the Bryansk Front Army, remove those pigs from their posts, and escort them back to Moscow for me."

"Comrade Stalin, Golikov feels sorry for you and the party, and has committed suicide and died for the country. In addition, what should we do with the gap opened by the Germans?"

"Let the Bryansk Front be responsible for the interception, and let Comrade Rokossovsky allocate two armies to assist. As for Golikov..." Stalin thought for a while, "Let's get a death pension."

It is not unusual for the 4th Panzer Army to succeed in a single blow against the Voronezh Front's defenses, but what shocked observers was that it was not the famous and leading charge of the Hoth Group that broke through the Voronezh Front's defenses for the second time and caused the final collapse of the Red Army. The 4th Armored Army was precisely the Axis Allied force that had always played a soy sauce role. After the news came out, even the Italian leader Mussolini and the Romanian dictator Marshal Antonescu who were far away in Rome sent text messages to Hott. The group expressed congratulations.

From October 23rd to November 2nd, in just 10 days, the Hot cluster, with a total strength of about 450,000, launched a large protrusion in the direction of Voronezh with a maximum depth of 200 kilometers and a width of more than 250 kilometers, severely defeating the Voronezh Front. As the main force, 2 of the front's 4 tank corps were completely annihilated, 1 was severely damaged, and 1 was moderately damaged. Of more than 600 tanks, only about 70 good tanks were left in the end. Three group armies retreated hastily to avoid being completely wiped out. ending, but 6 infantry divisions were completely wiped out, 14 divisions suffered varying degrees of blows, and even 2 divisions simply collapsed without fighting. The Red Army lost 16 troops (killed, wounded, and captured). Thousands of people), while the losses of the Hoth Cluster were less than 15,000 (including nearly 10,000 of the Axis Brothers and more than 5,000 of the 4th Armored Army), and the losses of only more than 50 tanks. Although the Voronezh Front still had 10 There are more than 10,000 troops, but they are in disarray and morale. If the Huot cluster continues to attack fiercely, the entire army will be annihilated.

As a result, the first phase of the battle on the southern flank of the Eastern Front ended successfully, with the Germans temporarily leading 1:0.