Iron Cross

At 3 pm on May 25, the SS Skeleton Armored Division, the main offensive force on the southern flank and the spearhead of the 4th Armored Army's offensive, approached the Ertili line and officially launched a roundabout encirclement of Tambov.

During several hours of fierce fighting in the early morning, they and three other armored divisions broke through the obstruction of the Red Army's 3rd Group Army and successfully tore the group apart. In just over 5 hours, this group had more than 80,000 troops and nearly 70 tanks. The group army was divided and surrounded by the German army. The group army commander Bartov completely lost contact with the armies and divisions under his command. Only the desperate telegram from the previous tank brigade was sent.

"Comrade Commander, there are too many enemy tanks, all of which are Tigers! We can't resist it, please ask for reinforcements!"

He had no idea that when he sent this telegram, the tank brigade was engaged in a completely one-sided battle with the armored forces of the Totenkopf Division. The Red Army had more than 70 crudely made T-34s, and the Germans had more than 200 Type 4 H and More than 50 Tigers, in less than 20 minutes, the tank brigade was completely wiped out, and only 2 tanks escaped - this was because the German army was eager to go to Ertili and let them go.

When the 3rd Army finally confirmed that it was divided and surrounded, most of the armored division tank units belonging to the 4th Army had actually passed through them. It was the infantry division and the armored grenadier division that subsequently advanced to deal with them. Although the Russians tried to defeat them, They resisted stubbornly, but neither the firepower nor the level of cooperation were as good as their opponents in person. What was even worse was that they still posed a threat from the air - whenever the Red Army commander tried to gather a large force to counterattack, the German army would always call in aircraft to attack. After being broken up many times, these tens of thousands of people were completely unable to gather together.

Now divided and surrounded, the 3rd Army of the Red Army was divided into dozens of large and small pieces, with as many as thousands of people and as few as hundreds of people. The German penetration offensive was like absorbing ink, and soon the entire blank sheet of paper was wiped out. Turn into black. Faced with the reality of being besieged, the Red Army soldiers in all armies and divisions instinctively tried to retreat, hoping to break out of the encirclement while the German encirclement was not yet tight. Thousands of Red Army soldiers covered the grass, slopes and grasslands of the endless steppes. In the depression, many German soldiers were initially dumbfounded to see such a large, disorganized, and unorganized force rushing toward them. However, officers with rich experience immediately issued orders-for this kind of mass offensive, they I’ve seen a lot in the past two years.

The leading team was first thrown into the sky by high-explosive shells ejected by the Cricket 150mm self-propelled artillery, but more and more attack waves followed, and then the MG42 machine gun began to fire violently, making a sound like tearing cloth. It sounds mind-numbing, and batches of Red Army soldiers instantly fell into a pool of blood, but there was actually a steady stream of people coming up to die.

Every attempt by the Russian army group to attack the closed front was thwarted by the firepower of machine guns, artillery and heavy weapons - occasionally bursts of flames burst into flames in the crowd, which were simple Molotos. Husband-Cocktail, but unfortunately it was destroyed far before the throwing distance. Half an hour later, more gathered Red Army troops poured in from the east like a lava storm and attacked a battalion on the flank of the German 4th Panzer Grenadier Division (part of the 4th Armored Group Army). The attacking team was like a giant wave. It rolled away, but the camp remained unwavering, as if a rock stood firm in the rough sea, but everyone was a little confused.

Just when the pressure was increasing and the defense line of the encirclement was about to be unable to hold on, the German rocket launcher battery, which came for reinforcements, finally arrived. Himmler's organ burst out with a breathtaking roar in a short period of time, and hundreds of rockets exploded in the dense crowd, making an overwhelming sound. Even the Bolsheviks with the toughest nerves could not withstand such fire and steel. Erupting, the Red Army soldiers dropped their weapons, stumbled out of hellish crossfire and deadly armored siege, and then threw up their hands in surrender.

This scene is almost a microcosm of the Red Army's 3rd and 50th Group Armies fighting on the first day of the Battle of the Castle. Their technical weapons and heavy equipment were first destroyed by deadly air strikes and large-scale artillery bombardments, and then they were attacked by German armored forces and divided and surrounded. Destroyed, and finally faced encirclement and suppression by German infantry units that followed one after another. In just one day, the two armies, with a total of 170,000 troops, lost their combat effectiveness and could not even organize a decent resistance.

Ertili, which the Skeleton Division attacked, is almost the relay point between Voronezh and Tambov. From here, it rushes 100 kilometers northeast to the city of Tambov. If it advances 60 kilometers due east, Tambov will basically be cut off. The railway line between Bov and Borisogrebsk - this is equivalent to severing the close connection between the enemy's Bryansk Front Army and the Central Front Army. Even if the Soviet army can make a detour through other roads, the convenience, Mobility will be greatly reduced.

This is the most important part of the planned plan for the Castle Battle. Cut off the connection between the two before the enemy can react, so that the Central Front Army will not dare to react to the German army's encirclement and annihilation of Tambov's Soviet army. Wait for Tambov After the complete encirclement, if the central front army is willing to rush over again, the German army will not mind encircling the point for reinforcements.

At 3:15 in the afternoon, the Soviet troops in the direction of Ertili were still advancing desperately, preparing to try their best to reinforce the friendly forces on the front line. Unexpectedly, the Germans had already reached them. The Red Army soldiers advancing in neat columns were horrified to see that there were More than 200 tanks and armored vehicles rushed down from the hills to attack their marching column. More than 200 artillery pieces and machine guns on armored vehicles spit out tongues of fire at close range. The few tanks in the team were quickly destroyed, and black smoke columns were destroyed from the ground. The wreckage of the tank appeared and rose into the sky. The trucks that had been hit by the bullets turned sideways and began to burn. Many soldiers were killed by the shells while on the truck. More people jumped out of the truck and searched for a nearby hiding place. Fighting back, some people even launched a desperate counterattack under the mobilization of political commissars, but how could they, poor and weak, withstand the torrent of armor?

The ferocious firepower of the German army caused horrific casualties. Seeing that the situation was over, the surviving Soviet soldiers hurriedly fled, but they encountered a raging creek. The water level rose after the end of the rainy season. In the end, more than 2,000 people were desperate. I can only raise my hands and surrender.

At 16:30 in the afternoon, Zhukov arrived at the military airport behind Tambov under the escort of two aviation fighter divisions. Originally, he wanted to land at Tambov nearby, but he did not expect that the front reported that German fighter jets had completely controlled the entire sky. None of the airports near Tambov were intact. For safety reasons, his plane could only land at the rear. Then he hurriedly took a jeep to the front headquarters in Tambov. When he arrived at the headquarters It was already past 8 o'clock in the evening.

To his surprise, the headquarters was in a panic. All he could see was the scene of impending disaster. The staff members were coming in and out with frustrated faces. The orderlies had even begun to burn important documents and telegrams. The atmosphere at the scene was so panicked that no one thought to greet Zhukov when he came in. He rushed directly into the headquarters.

"Hold on, hold on..." As soon as he entered the door, he heard Leutil yelling into the microphone at the top of his lungs, "I have sent the 1st Guards Tank Corps to reinforce you!"

"What's going on?"

As soon as Letel saw Zhukov, he almost burst into tears. He took two steps forward and saluted hurriedly, and then asked anxiously: "Comrade Zhukov, reinforcements...are the reinforcements coming?"

"The two fighter divisions have arrived and can go into battle tomorrow."

"Hey, what use are they!" Unexpectedly, Leytel was not happy at all. Instead, he stamped his feet bitterly. "At least 1,000 planes and 1,000 tanks are needed to restore the situation..."

"What's going on on the front line?" Zhukov was also stunned. "Before I set off, didn't you say that the enemy was still attacking the first line of defense and that we were resisting bravely? Although the losses were greater."

"That was true at that time, but the situation is completely different now." Letel pulled Zhukov to the map. "A few hours ago, the enemy troops on the southern route occupied Ertilli and were trying to cut off Tambov. On the communication line with Borisogrebsk, the enemy troops on the northern route have occupied Lipetsk. They have just received news that they are attacking Michurinsk. If they succeed, not only will the second line of defense completely collapse, but Tambo The line of communication between Husband and Moscow would also be cut off, so I sent a Guards tank corps up."

"So fast?" Zhukov was surprised when he looked at the map: Michurinsk is less than 70 kilometers away from Tambov, and Erdili is only a little over 100 kilometers away from Tambov. If we advance at this speed, it will be as fast as Tomorrow, or the morning after tomorrow, Tambov will be surrounded by German troops.

"Why are the troops fighting so badly?" His face was ashen. "I remember that you deployed the 3rd and 50th armies on the front line! They had received reinforcements not long ago, and their combat effectiveness is not bad!"

"It was deployed like this, but the two armies were unable to contact each other in the afternoon, and judging from the fact that the German armored units had appeared behind them, their defense lines were completely penetrated." Leitel complained to Zhukov, "We are just two infantry armies, but the enemy has dispatched two armored armies, not part of the force, but the entire main force! I have heard of 7-8 armored divisions or armored grenadier divisions, and there are endless ones The enemy’s infantry, tanks, and aircraft are much more numerous than ours!”

While he was talking, another wave of German planes came to bomb. Zhukov heard clearly that it was not a deafening explosion, but a muffled sound, and then there were flames everywhere - a large number of incendiary bombs. One of them exploded near the headquarters. The heat wave that was ejected was very clear even from a distance of more than 60 meters. A team of guards rushed forward and extinguished them with sand, gravel and rubble.