The Rise of the Third Reich

"Comrades, this is Comrade Andrei Andreevich Vlasov, the commander of the 37th Army. He was my classmate in the training class of the Leningrad Higher Cavalry School and is now my superior. . From now on, our 9th Mechanized Army, together with the 4th Mechanized Army and the 14th Mechanized Army, will be under the command of the 37th Group Army."

At Rokossovsky's temporary military headquarters, Yakov met the commander of the 37th Army, Lieutenant General Vlasov, for the first time. This is a middle-aged man with a tall figure, a long face, and an old-fashioned expression. He wears a pair of black-rimmed glasses with lenses as thick as the bottoms of beer bottles on the bridge of his nose. From a distance, it gives people a feeling that it is difficult to get along with him, which reminds Yakov of his father Stalin.

"Comrades, according to the instructions of the Western Front Command, the 37th Group Army will conduct a tentative attack southward after completing the replenishment..."

Lieutenant General Vlasov was obviously not sociable. He did not say anything to the cadres of the 9th Mechanized Army to win over their feelings. He did not even look at Artillery Director Yakov - he must have known that Stalin's son was in the 9th Mechanized Army. Military - but directly talked about military matters.

Yakov thought to himself: Vlasov's character, which was not good at making friends, would be beneficial in the Soviet Red Army during the Great Purge era. Without friends, it is naturally not easy to be implicated by some lurking reactionary element. But to be honest, there are too many reactionaries in the Soviet Bolshevik Party and the Workers' and Peasants' Red Army... The German reactionary leaflets say it right: How can such a party be penetrated by the enemy inside and outside, from top to bottom? Won victory in the revolution and successfully built the Soviet Union into a socialist industrial power?

"Comrades, although this attack is only tentative, it is very likely to lead to a head-on confrontation with the German armored forces. All units must make full preparations." Vlasov was expressionless and his tone was calm. talking about the upcoming battle.

Now the leading troops of the Western Front of the Soviet Red Army have reached near Warsaw. Although there are still many ring fortresses behind the butt like nail houses, and the B-4 demolition team must be slowly demolished them, but this does not hinder the unfolding of the Battle of Warsaw.

Naturally, how the Battle of Warsaw is fought cannot be decided unilaterally by the Red Army. Maybe the Germans will abandon Warsaw and continue to lure the enemy deeper, so that Warsaw can be won without a fight. It is also possible that they will organize a battle in Warsaw.

Unsure of the German army's intentions, General Pavlov prepared to conduct a test. Use three mechanized corps to circle south of Warsaw and advance to Otwock on the Vistula River. If there is no stubborn resistance from the German army along the way, then pretend to cross the river and pretend to be ready to encircle Warsaw.

At the same time, the 4th Group Army, composed of the 16th Mechanized Army, the 1st Tank Army and the 28th Infantry Army (Motorized Force), will detour from the northern line and advance to Legionovo near the Vistula River north of Warsaw. . Then they also pretended to be ready to cross the Vistula River to surround Warsaw.

If the Germans had not had the reactionary determination to defend Warsaw, General Pavlov would have been happy to capture Warsaw, the future capital of the Polish Socialist Democratic Republic.

If the Germans were determined to defend Warsaw, they would have prevented the Soviets from crossing the Vistula. Because once the Soviet army establishes a bridgehead west of the Vistula River, Warsaw's back may be cut off by powerful Soviet armored forces at any time, and 100,000 to 200,000 Warsaw German troops will be surrounded.

Vlasov finally said: "Today is June 5, 1942. We have three days to replenish and rest. Starting from June 8, each unit will hand over the currently occupied positions to the units that arrive later, and then proceed Concentrate. On June 9, the 37th Army began to attack Otwosk!"

…

In the German Ministry of Defense at No. 73 Wilhelm Street, Adolf Hitler, who had just returned from a visit to France, was wandering around a large sand table. While wandering around, he said to Hessmann worriedly: "Marshal Reich, there won't be any problems in Warsaw." ?”

Hitler's visit to France was not a complete success. Although French President Pétain and Prime Minister Darlan both promised to declare war on the Soviet Union. However, they used the excuse that "France needs time to rebuild its reserve armored divisions" to postpone the declaration of war until after the Battle of Warsaw.

Obviously, the French wanted to see which way the wind was blowing before deciding whether to go to war with the Soviet Union. If Germany could defeat the Soviet Union in Warsaw, then Pétain and Darlan would no longer worry about the red flag being planted in Paris, and the three rebuilt reserve armored divisions would be handed over to the German divisions.

By the way, the French's three reserve armored divisions were rebuilt after France joined the European Community after the Mediterranean Campaign. The tanks and various armored vehicles equipped are all German-style weapons produced under license from Germany.

The tanks selected were also No. 4 H type, the assault gun was No. 3, and the self-propelled artillery was "Wasp", but they were all produced by French factories.

Moreover, the establishment standards and training methods of these three divisions, and even the combat manuals and doctrines, were all copied from the German armored divisions, so their combat effectiveness is quite good.

In addition, Pétain also promised Hitler to rebuild the powerful French artillery as soon as possible so that it could serve Germany's Eastern Front battlefield. Compared with the three French reserve armored divisions, the French artillery was the real coveted force.

The French have been leading the way in making cannons since hundreds of years ago! Even during World War I, there were Schneider cannons that were technically as good as the Krupp cannon.

Moreover, during the interwar period, the Germans were restricted by the Treaty of Versailles for a long time and could not develop new artillery. France, however, did not fall behind and continued to lead in artillery research.

During the Western Front campaign, the French artillery was definitely more powerful than the German artillery. A powerful artillery force is not just about how many cannons there are, but also about technically sophisticated artillery. These French artillerymen are still alive today, and the Schneider Company's ability to build cannons has been forgotten so quickly.

If French factories and artillery officers and soldiers can be used to form a reserve artillery force that is comparable to Soviet artillery, then Germany's Eastern Front battlefield will be foolproof.

Thinking of this, Hessmann assured Hitler: "There will be no problems in Warsaw. The Eastern Front Headquarters has just transferred 5 heavy armor battalions to Model, and also reinforced the 5th SS 'Viking' Division." After defeating the 6th Army in Warsaw, Model now has more than 270,000 troops. "

The "Viking" division is the original Viking Corps. After Norway joined the European Community, this regiment was reorganized into the 5th SS "Viking" Division. Because it was reorganized from a corps into a division, this division's establishment is super sufficient. It is the division with the largest number of people among the more than 300 divisions in Germany, with nearly 30,000 people.

Moreover, the "Viking" division is also a powerful Panzergrenadier division. In addition to having the 5th SS Panzer Regiment (only 1 tank battalion) and division-level troops of other Panzergrenadier divisions, it also has 9th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment "Germania", 10th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment "West", SS Panzergrenadier Regiment "North", 23rd SS Panzergrenadier Regiment "Nortsch" Corps, the 24th SS Panzergrenadier Regiment "Danish", the SS "Finland" Panzergrenadier Battalion and the SS "Walloon" Assault Brigade (also Panzergrenadier), etc., as many as 5 regiments and 1 brigade Panzergrenadiers of the 1st Battalion!

In addition to having a large number of personnel and well-equipped equipment, the training level of the 5th SS "Viking" Division has always been among the best among all SS units.

Although the "Viking" Division as a whole has not participated in combat so far, all units under the "Viking" Division have been deployed to participate in combat operations in the Western Front Campaign and the Balkan Campaign.

In addition, many officers in the "Viking" division were drawn from various SS units that had participated in actual combat and had considerable experience.

"You gave the Viking Division to the 6th Army?" Hitler nodded, "Then I'm relieved... If the Viking Division and five heavy armored battalions are put together, it will be equivalent to the strength of an armored corps!"

…

"Now our 6th Army finally has some armored forces."

Model adjusted his military uniform, then walked around the headquarters next to the Warsaw train station with his hands behind his back, a look of excitement on his face.

In just a few days, the 6th Army has transformed from an infantry group into an army with a powerful armored group.

The 5 heavy armored battalions had 220 Tiger or Panther tanks, while the 5th SS "Wiking" Division had 88 Panzer IV H tanks, 54 Panzer III assault guns and 18 "Wasp" self-propelled guns. . If these two forces are mixed, a large-scale armored cluster with 380 tanks/assault artillery will be formed.

"Commander, we still have two smoke generator groups, which are 108 self-propelled rocket launchers."

Major General Artur Schmidt, the chief of staff of the 6th Army, was even better at calculating than Model. He crossed his fingers and said: "In addition, the 1st Cavalry Division of the Wehrmacht and the 8th SS Cavalry Division have now retreated. These two cavalry divisions can be used as motorized troops in Warsaw and mixed with the 5th 'Viking' Division and 5 heavy armored battalions into a temporary armored group. "

"That's a good idea." Model nodded, "That's it... let's send a report to Army Group Center. Just say that the Soviets are likely to outflank the west bank of the Vistula River, and our army needs to send an armored group to counterattack. to prevent Warsaw from falling into siege prematurely.”