The Rise of the Third Reich

Early April is the beginning of the mud season in Russia. Because the warm and moist air blowing from the south will enter the cold Moscow, there are usually 5-7 days of sleet and snow. Even when there is no rain or snow, the sky is often filled with clouds. It is very disadvantageous for the air force to dispatch.

However, the mud season is also not suitable for launching attacks, especially using mechanized troops to attack.

"Comrade Zhukov, Comrade Pavlov, can we launch an attack during the muddy season in April?" Stalin asked, looking at his two most trusted marshals.

Zhukov and Pavlov exchanged glances, and then Zhukov replied: "Comrade General Secretary, the Red Army can launch a counterattack at any time."

Pavlov said: "There are also advantages to launching a counterattack during the mud season. For example, the enemy cannot anticipate it, and the mud season is also not suitable for the dispatch of German armored forces."

"It is even more unsuitable." Zhukov added, "According to the intelligence we have, the German army has upgraded their tanks in the past six months, turning Tiger tanks into the main force, and each armored regiment is equipped with one Tiger pose of camp.

At the same time, the Germans also equipped a large number of another E-50 heavy tank weighing 55-60 tons. This would put the Germans at a greater disadvantage during the mud season. "

Now the main tank of the Soviet Red Army is not the 45-ton JS-2, but the 32-ton T-34/85. This tank inherits the excellent maneuverability of the T-34 tank, with a maximum highway speed of 55 kilometers per hour, and a cross-country The speed reached 30 kilometers per hour. It also has wide tracks that can maintain a high speed on muddy land.

"In addition, we also have a large number of BT-7 tanks," Zhukov paused and then said, "The tank brigades transferred from the Far East and Siberia are mostly equipped with relatively light tanks, of which BT-7 has the largest number. This tank weighs only 13.9 tons, has good maneuverability, has a top cross-country speed of up to 50 highway/hour, and can launch attacks through muddy land.

And the firepower of the BT-7 tank is not too weak. It has a 45mm tank gun, which can penetrate 51mm vertically placed homogeneous steel plates at a distance of 100 meters when using armor-piercing projectiles with excellent performance. Although it is not a threat to Germany's main tanks, it is enough to deal with German armored vehicles and infantry. "

The BT-7 tank was outdated when the Soviet-German War broke out in this time and space, so it was sent to the Far East and Siberia to prepare for use against the Japanese.

However, due to tight conditions on the Western Front, most of the troops equipped with BT-7 tanks were transferred near Moscow. These "useless" tanks are of little use in normal tank operations. Whether it is the E-50, Tiger or No. 4 H tank, the BT-7 cannot deal with it.

But the BT-7 also has its own advantages, that is, it is very suitable for maneuvering on muddy land-it was originally developed to fight on land with poor road conditions, with a weight of 13.9 tons, wide tracks and powerful The V-2 diesel engine allows the BT-7 to run quickly on muddy land.

Moreover, there are a lot of BT-7s, and the number of inventory and equipment units exceeds 4,000 units, which is enough to fight a war of tank attrition.

"But how can we deal with the German Tigers and E-50s?" Stalin was still a little worried.

“Mainly using T-34/85 and JS-2,” Zhukov replied, “They will play an important role in breaking through the German front. And fast tank units equipped with BT-7 tanks will play a role in penetrating behind enemy lines.

In addition, we have also modified many SU-57 tank destroyers using the chassis of BT tanks. This tank destroyer should be able to deal with Tiger tanks. "

The appearance of the SU-57 tank destroyer is a bit like the historical German Stalker tank destroyer. There is no turret. A powerful ZIS-2 57mm anti-tank gun is installed directly on the body of the BT-5/BT-7 tank, and an armored roof is installed on the body.

The original intention of designing this weapon was to convert all BT-5/BT-7 into tank destroyers for use in street fighting in Moscow.

But now this weapon has a better use - to carry out an exciting counterattack.

In addition, the Soviet infantry's anti-tank capabilities have also improved significantly in the past few months. In addition to the Soviet Union's imitation of the Red Iron Fist-60 (copying the Iron Fist-60), the Red Army also obtained tens of thousands of bazooka rocket launchers - this is an anti-tank weapon developed by the Americans in 1942, which can fire at 100 meters. Break down a vertically placed 130mm thick homogeneous steel plate at a distance. Although the front faces of the Dora Tiger tanks and E-50 tanks do not pose a threat, they can deal with the front faces of the No. 4H tanks.

…

"Open the gap with T-34/85s and JS-2s, then follow up with fast troops equipped with BT-7s and SU-57s... This should force the German group north of the city of Kalinin to retreat."

Pavlov, who returned to the General Staff of the Red Army with Zhukov, summoned Shaposhnikov, who served as the president of the Red Army University, Deputy Chief of General Staff Rokossovsky, Director of Artillery Govorov and Deputy Chief of the Central Front Army Commander Malinovsky (the commander of the Central Front is concurrently served by Zhukov) and others discussed the counterattack to be launched.

Deputy Chief of General Staff Rokossovsky was also quite confident about the counterattack that would be launched. He pointed to the German North Attack Group (Paulus’s 6th Armored Group) on the map and said: “According to reconnaissance, the German The North Route Cluster included a large number of White bandits, Polish puppet troops and French troops. Not only was their combat effectiveness very problematic, but there was also a great contradiction between the White Army and the Polish puppet troops. Therefore, the Germans had to use French troops to separate their front lines. separate."

The Poles and Belarus have never dealt with each other. If Piłsudski hadn't dragged Olga from signing a treaty with Lenin more than 20 years ago, she would have restored the Russian Empire long ago. The French army is better than the Poles and Russians. So they were arranged to act as a firewall between them—to fight against the Poles and Russians.

"In addition," Rokossovsky added, "because the German army handed over its flanks to the Poles, French and White Russians, it gave us the opportunity to conduct penetration operations."

"Infiltration?" Zhukov raised his eyebrows, "Using our people to impersonate the White Army?"

White Russians and Red Russians are both Russians. There is no difference in appearance and language, so it is easier to get confused.

"No," Rokossovsky shook his head, "They are pretending to be Polish puppet troops and German troops! Because the White Army will definitely be wary of our people, and it is not easy to fool them. But the Poles and Germans will not do this Preparation will give us the opportunity to penetrate, and there are many revolutionaries from Poland and Germany on our side."

Rokossovsky is right. Now the main force of the White Army are Red Army traitors. How can they not recognize the Red Army? Moreover, these people have been educated by the Party for many years, and they are very vigilant against special agents and spies!

In contrast, the Poles and Germans were relatively paralyzed. After all, they had not encountered several "Red Waves" and "Red Germans" on the battlefield.

However, "Hongbo" and "Hongde" do exist!

As early as the Great Patriotic War was still a world revolution, the Polish Bolshevik Party and the German Bolshevik Party established their respective people's armies with the help of the Soviet Union. Although the number is small, the combat effectiveness is not weak.

In particular, the training level of the German Red Brigade, composed of Germans who believe in GC doctrine, is no worse than that of the "Guards" of the Soviet Red Army.

Because Rokossovsky himself is a Pole and a member of the older generation of Polish proletarian militiamen and revolutionaries, he is responsible for the Polish People's Army, the German Red Brigades, and other internationalist fighters, so he understands the situation. of.

"This is a good idea," Zhukov clapped his hands. "We still have a lot of captured German equipment. There are not many Tiger tanks, but there are a lot of No. 4 tanks, No. 3 assault guns and various armored vehicles. Military uniforms and firearms , there will be more artillery, and the Red Brigade can be fully equipped.”

Although the Germans have not fought a single battle-level defeat in this time and space, they have not won every battle. Especially when fighting a behemoth like the Soviet Union, setbacks are inevitable.

Therefore, many German-made weapons and equipment were captured by the Soviet Union. Now it is not difficult for the Soviet army to use these equipment to create a "German mechanized infantry brigade".

"There is no need for tanks and assault guns," Rokossovsky thought for a while and said, "If you want to infiltrate, it is best to have a company-level battle group... A reconnaissance company posing as a German army is most suitable. It can be from Polish puppet troops or The White Russian army penetrated the front line and then destroyed the German rear areas and lines of communication to create conditions for the main force to outflank."

Zhukov and Pavlov looked at each other and smiled. Rokossovsky's method is very good, and it will definitely make the German army's northern cluster more chaotic. The German army occupied Smolensk last autumn (the Soviet army gave up on its own initiative), so now it is necessary to attack Moscow. The German army is divided into two northwest routes. The western route is dominated by the 3rd Armored Group Army and the 4th Armored Group Army. It is not easy to mess up the all-German army. However, in addition to the German 6th Armored Army, the Northern Lutheran Army also had a large number of White Russian, Polish and French troops, as well as some Hungarian troops, which was a bit chaotic to begin with. If another one or two thousand "Red Germans" infiltrate, there will definitely be more chaos.