The Rise of the Third Reich

On the morning of May 4, Comrade Lev Zakharovich Mekhlisky, the former director of the General Political Department of the Red Army who was highly trusted by Stalin and now the military commissar of the Bryansk Front, and nicknamed the King of Snitches, At that time, I saw the frowning General Golikov and Lieutenant General Kazakov in the front army headquarters in Bryansk.

"What happened?" The king of small reports also became nervous. This is a critical moment related to the survival of the Soviet regime. Desperate bad news will come anytime and anywhere...

"Comrade Military Commissar, our front now has an additional tank group," answered Bryansk Front Chief of Staff Kazakov. "The 5th Tank Army, which was originally under the command of the Western Front, now belongs to our Bryansk Front."

Mahlis breathed a sigh of relief and smiled: "This is good news. It shows that Comrade Stalin trusts us very much."

"The main thing is to trust me!" Maihelis said as he thought smugly, "Now the Bryansk Front led by me has become the main front of the Red Army... If we can win a few battles in the next war, Then the status of political bureau member is also possible!"

"Comrade Military Commissar," Golikov is not the kind of general who has a stubborn temper and dares to contradict the king of snitches, and he also understands what Myhellis is thinking, "Comrade Stalin has placed high hopes on us, so Kalashnikov and I Comrade Zhakov feels the great responsibility.”

"Yes, our responsibility is indeed great." Merihs asked, "How does the high command want us to fight?"

Kazakov frowned and said: "The Supreme High Command ordered us to severely damage or annihilate the German armored group that broke through the Dnieper River."

"Is it difficult to do it?" Merihs asked with some confusion when he saw the expression of the chief of staff of the front army, "We have three tank armies and three ordinary armies including the 38th, 40th and 48th armies. With a total strength of more than 500,000 and more than 3,000 tanks/assault artillery, is there any reason why it cannot defeat a German armored group?”

Judging from the strength on paper, there is indeed no reason for the Bryansk Front to lose.

"But the 38th, 40th, and 48th Group Armies have not yet been loaded and shipped, and they may not be able to reach the battlefield in 10 days." Kazakov shook his head, "So the only tanks available to us are the 1st, 2nd, and 4th tanks. The 5th Tank Army. And these three armies are not together. The 1st Tank Army and the 2nd Tank Army are coming from Moscow and Kalinin. If everything goes well, they will arrive near Gomel, Belarus. The 5th Army is still in Smolensk..."

"Smolensk is not far from here," Myhelis interrupted, "only more than 200 kilometers away."

"But Smolensk is a key area for German bombing. Troops cannot move at all during the day. The assembly and mobilization can only be completed at night." Golikov explained, "If we want to mobilize the 5th Tank Army to Bryansk , then it will take at least 3 nights to walk the more than 200 kilometers of night road, and then it will probably take 2 days to move from Bryansk to Gomel.”

"May 9... was only two days late." Mahlis could not understand the significance of two days for an armored decisive battle.

Although the 1st and 2nd Tank Armies of the Bryansk Front have more than 2,100 tanks/assault artillery on paper, with more than 200 kilometers of maneuvering and air strikes from German aircraft, 1,500 tanks/assault artillery are intact and ready to be driven. The battlefield is protected by Marx.

The German armored group that is crossing the Dnieper River in large numbers most likely has about 1,500 tanks/assault artillery. There seems to be little difference in quantity, but the difference in quality is huge.

Among the Soviet army's 1,500 tanks/assault artillery, a considerable number are light tanks such as T60/T70, which can only be used for reconnaissance.

Nowadays, there are no "reconnaissance tanks" in the German armored forces, replaced by wheeled Sdkfz.234 series (Puma) armored vehicles. Type 2 in this series of wheeled armored vehicles is equipped with a 50mm/L60 gun. Its firepower far exceeds that of most light tanks. Its maximum speed of 85 kilometers per hour also exceeds that of all tanks. It is the most ideal armor. Reconnaissance vehicle.

Furthermore, although the Soviet Union has produced a large number of T-34/57, KV-85, SU-85, and SU-122 series tanks and assault artillery that can fight Tiger tanks in the past few months. However, the combat effectiveness advantage of Germany's medium and heavy tanks still exists. With comparable numbers, the Red Army tank units had no hope of victory.

In addition, Germany now has great air superiority. The Luftwaffe's own Hs.129 attack aircraft and the French Air Force's Breguet attack aircraft can both serve as tank killers. The Soviet Il-2 attack aircraft was unable to function at all under the attack of the Fokker Zero D.

Therefore, without an overwhelming numerical advantage, Golikov and Kazakov simply did not dare to engage in a decisive battle with the German armored group.

But the High Command (actually Stalin) thought otherwise!

"What did the Supreme Command's instructions say?" Mahlis also felt that the question was a bit difficult, but as the "King of Small Reports", he knew that he must always obey the will of the great leader. This is the most important thing!

"The Supreme High Command ordered our Bryansk Front to prevent the German armored group from the south from approaching the city of Smolensk from the north." Kazakov reported, "At the same time, it should be at the junction of Mogilev Oblast, Bryansk Oblast and Smolensk Oblast. Concentrate your efforts to defeat the German armored group on the southern route."

"Then we should resolutely implement this instruction!" Mahlis said seriously, "I don't think you two are questioning the Supreme Command, right?"

"No, absolutely not! We will resolutely implement the instructions of the Supreme Command!"

"We firmly support all decisions of the Supreme Command!"

Golikov and Kazakov were startled by Mekhlis and quickly expressed their support for the Supreme Command - the person standing in front of them was the king of snitches! And they are not strong commanders like Timoshenko and Zhukov. Golikov was a bit weak to begin with. When he was the intelligence chief, he always picked up what Stalin liked to hear. And Kazakov is just a lieutenant general and chief of staff, and the king of snitches is treating him like a joke!

"That's good!" Mahlis was very satisfied, "Then how are we going to carry out the instructions?"

"We already have an idea," Kazakov said, "to use the 5th Tank Army to set up defenses at Mstislav, 80 kilometers south of Smolensk, to delay the German army for a few days. Then use the 1st and 1st Tank Army to block the attack. The 2nd Army flanked the German armored group from Gomel. At the same time, it requested the 9th and 12th armies of the Southwest Front to counterattack Lechica from Chernigov to block the retreat of the German armored group on the south. "

"Very good! This is very good!" Mahlis clapped his hands, "There are front seals, rear blockades, side attacks... eight armies were put in (including the 38th, 40th and 48th Army), more than 3,000 tanks, this is very confident! Comrade Golikov, Comrade Kazakov, let’s report this plan to the Supreme Command immediately!”

…

When Golikov, Kazakov and Mykhlis jointly reported the battle plan to the Supreme Command. The opponent they wanted to defeat, the headquarters of General Eberhard von Mackensen, commander of the German 1st Armored Army, had just arrived at Lechica on the west bank of the Dnieper River.

Although the strength of the group army he commanded was far inferior to that of the 4th Armored Group Army commanded by General Hoth on the northern front, it was still a very powerful group army and was one of the four main group armies of the German army on the Eastern Front. The other three are the 2nd Armored Group Army, the 3rd Armored Group Army and the 4th Armored Group Army. The 2nd Armored Group Army belongs to Army Group South and is deployed on the Ukrainian battlefield.

The 1st Panzer Army now consists of the 3rd Panzer Corps (composed of the 1st and 2nd Armored Divisions, the 1st Panzergrenadier Division of the Wehrmacht and the 5th SS Panzergrenadier Division), the 11th Panzer Corps (composed of the 1st Panzergrenadier Division of the Wehrmacht and the 5th SS Panzergrenadier Division). 6th Panzer Division, 10th Panzer Division, 1st SS Panzergrenadier Division), 14th Panzer Corps (composed of 11th Panzer Division, 2nd Panzergrenadier Division of the Wehrmacht, 4th Panzergrenadier Division of the Wehrmacht) , 52nd Motorized Rifle Corps (composed of the 102nd, 111th, 127th, and 128th Infantry Divisions), 64th Motorized Rifle Corps (composed of the 60th, 88th, 89th, and 105th Infantry Divisions), 1st Cavalry Division, SS 14th Ukrainian Cavalry Division, 20th Polish Cavalry Division of SS, 29th Polish Cavalry Division of SS, 10th Motorized Anti-aircraft Artillery Division of Air Defense Corps, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Rocket Artillery Brigades, 5th and 10th Independent motorized engineering barracks. A total of 23 divisions, 3 brigades and 2 battalions. In addition, the 1st, 2nd, 10th, 6th and 11th Armored Divisions each have one heavy armor battalion.

Precisely because of the strength of the troops under his jurisdiction, General Mackensen did not worry about "going deep alone" at all, nor was he afraid that his group army would be beaten by the Soviet army with superior numbers.

However, there are still things that give this general a headache, mainly the huge fuel consumption of the 1st Armored Group Army! There were no lines supporting the 1st Armored Army. All the oil was transported to Korosten near Kiev and stored there last winter. The quantity was not very sufficient, and it was more than 200 kilometers from Korosten to Lechica. There was no railway during this period, so we had to rely on poor road conditions. The roads transporting oil are also attacked by guerrillas from time to time. Now, the reason why Mackensen's army stayed in Lechica was not to build a bridge to cross the river (because the Soviet army retreated hastily, the troops of the 5th SS Armored Division seized two road bridges, which were enough for the army to cross the river) , but to wait for the fuel convoy coming from Korosten.

Another thing that worries General Mackensen is that his powerful armored group will soon reach the meeting point of the three armored armies stipulated in the "Purple Plan", and the 3rd Armored Group and the 4th Armored Group will They were all entangled by the tenaciously resisting Soviet army, and it seemed that it would take some time to break through.

Could it be that the 1st Armored Group, which did not have enough fuel, could only stop and do nothing on the battlefield, waiting for the friendly forces to defeat the enemy and come to join forces?