The Rise of the Third Reich

From April 16th to 20th, the fighting between the two sides was still fierce in the Kalinin region. On the battlefield in the eastern part of the state, in the Upper Volochok-Udomlya area, heavy armored troops, mechanized infantry, and motorized infantry from both sides fought fiercely on the muddy land covered with lakes and swamps.

The European coalition is in a defensive posture in this area. Relying on the fortifications built last autumn and winter, it has invested a large number of mechanized infantry (armored grenadiers) and motorized infantry. Under the attack of Fw-190 fighters and Hs-129 attack aircraft, With the support, they carried out resolute defensive operations to resist the increasingly fierce Soviet attacks, and made a posture to attack the Soviet roundabout troops in the Wuyi Town-Wadel area.

The Soviet army put in a desperate posture to seek a decisive battle, investing 4 Guards tank armies (1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th) and a large number of infantry on a frontal battlefield of less than 80 kilometers. On the 16th, On the nights of , 17th, 18th and 19th, we launched successive strong attacks. Trying to take advantage of the opportunity that German aircraft are unable to dispatch at night, use the powerful JS-2 tanks and T-34/85 tanks as sharp knives to penetrate the coalition's defenses and completely crush or expel the coalition's Paulus cluster.

However, after investing thousands of JS-2 tanks, T-34/85 tanks and more than 150,000 infantry in successive attacks, the Soviet army's attacks on Volochok and Udomlia still suffered setbacks. Not only did they fail to break through the coalition's defenses, they also paid a heavy price in the damage of more than 500 tanks (of which more than 200 were completely destroyed) and more than 30,000 casualties and missing persons.

By the day of April 20, the front lines of the two armies in Upper Volochok and Udomlya had hardly changed from those on the 16th.

The most intense fighting between the two sides occurred in the western part of Kalinin State (west of the Red October Railway Line) in the densely forested and swampy areas.

While the Soviet heavy equipment was blocked in Upper Volochok and Udomlya, the detour group commanded by General Chuikov was once again strengthened. While Chuikov was able to organize a large army to besiege Andreapol, he also sent an assault group with the 18th Army of the Red Army as the main force, attacking from Kuvshinovo along the route Firovo-Ozerki-Vade. We will attack and advance along this line. Firovo and Ozerki are both towns to the west of the Red October Railway. If the 18th Army of the Red Army can occupy there, it will be able to open up contact with the 7th Guards Tank Army that besieged Wadel, so Andrei Boll's gains and losses are irrelevant.

Starting on the 17th, the 18th Army of the Red Army began to attack crazily northward. It is hoped that the two key points of Firowo and Ozerki can be captured before the road dries out. The Soviet offensive went relatively smoothly at first. The 16th Mechanized Corps, the main force of the 18th Army, repelled a Polish infantry brigade guarding Firowo on the night of the 18th and recaptured the city.

However, on the second night, the 16th Mechanized Army, which continued to advance, encountered the German army near Ozerki near Bologoye, and formed a 20- to 30-kilometer-long snake formation on the highway. The Soviet convoy was illuminated by a sudden flare, and then was attacked by the No. 4 H tank and the "Oliga Hammer" ambushing in the nearby woods. In just ten minutes, two to three hundred vehicles of various types were turned into burning balls of fire.

A fierce melee ensued on the muddy road. Both sides used hundreds of self-propelled artillery and more rapidly deployable light artillery (including mortars, infantry guns, mountain artillery, and the ZIS-3 cannons that were so bad in the Soviet army) to shoot at each other. The infantry of both sides also charged and countercharged each other along the road. In the edge area connecting the forest and the road, every inch of land has become a "key point", and hundreds or even thousands of artillery shells from both sides often fall. The two sides changed hands several times before deciding on ownership!

Because it was a close-quarters battle at night, the casualties were very heavy from the beginning. The German army was obviously trying to annihilate the Soviet 16th Mechanized Army, but the Soviet army showed the tenacity and ferocity of the communist fighters. After encountering a surprise attack, they immediately launched a counterattack, and also engaged in close combat and night combat, which they are best at. In the past two years, especially in 1943 when air superiority was mostly controlled by the German army, the Soviet army has been relying on night combat to deal with the German army. . Close combat has always been a specialty of the Russians. Even the infantry of Tsarist Russia are famous in Europe for their bayonets that see red in close combat.

Therefore, although the German army succeeded in ambush on the night of the 19th, they obviously underestimated the Soviet army's determination and ability to fight at night and in close combat. After a hard fight, they failed to defeat the Soviet 16th Mechanized Army, and finally had to retreat around 2 a.m. the next day, leaving corpses and damaged equipment on the ground, giving victory to the Soviet army. .

However, the victorious Red Army suffered even more heavy losses. More than half of the 16th Mechanized Army suffered casualties. There were destroyed Soviet vehicles and densely packed corpses on and on both sides of the 30-kilometer road.

The entire 16th Mechanized Corps was almost completely disabled, and the attack on Ozerki had to be postponed as a result.

Meanwhile, the race for Andrea Boll is also raging. Because starting from the 12th, weather conditions allowed German aircraft to take off to support operations. Therefore, the Soviet army's battle for Andrea Pol can only be carried out at night, and night is conducive to German paratroopers to use their anti-tank firepower and individual firepower - the German paratroopers are not only equipped with many cannons with a range of up to 300 meters "Doll" rocket launcher, and the FG42 paratrooper rifle is standard. Therefore, the individual firepower and individual anti-tank firepower far exceed that of the Soviet infantry.

Moreover, paratroopers have always been an elite unit of the German army and are not comparable to ordinary infantry of the Soviet army. So Andreapol fought until April 20, and was still firmly in the hands of the German 2nd Parachute Division.

…

"What's going on? You can't even defeat a little Andrea Bol! What does the 8th Guards Tank Army do? A tank army can't take down ten thousand German paratroopers!"

During the day on the 20th, Marshal Zhukov, who was sitting in the underground command center of the General Staff Headquarters, suddenly felt a little irritable and lost his temper at Pepekov, who was reporting Andrei Bol's battle situation to him.

"Comrade Chief of General Staff," Pepekov looked at his immediate superior with some strangeness, "The counterattack on the northern front is going quite smoothly now, although Andrea Bol cannot win. But in Fivolo - We are fighting relatively smoothly on the Ozerki front line, and it is expected that we can capture Ozerki within a few days. This way, the troops in the Wadale-Wuyi Town area can receive sufficient support, and victory is still expected. "

Of course, the "anticipated victory" Pepekov mentioned did not refer to the annihilation of the Paulus Cluster. This is not the historical period of the Battle of Stalingrad. It is completely impossible for the Soviet army to eliminate as many as 500,000 or 600,000 people and possess tanks. / Paulus cluster with thousands of assault guns - although Stalin had illusions about this, Pepekov, the chief of staff Zhukov relied on, would not be so stupid.

What Pepekov considered victory was actually forcing the Paulus cluster to break out to the north. As long as the Paulus cluster retreats to Okulovka, north of May Day Town, the cluster will be 380 kilometers away from Moscow and will basically not pose a threat.

"But what about the Western Front?" Zhukov looked back at Pepekov, "Where do you think the armored divisions that the Germans transferred from the Northern Front went?"

"It's the center," Pepekov replied, "that is, the western front."

There is no doubt about this, because since the beginning of the Soviet-German War, the German army has always followed the principle of "concentrating superior forces." Their superior forces are always gathered on one battlefield.

The battlefield where the German army now concentrates its superior forces is undoubtedly Moscow!

Therefore, the Soviet General Staff could guess the outline of the combat plan in the drawer of Hessman's desk with their eyes closed - first encircle Moscow, then the Volga-Urals region or the Caucasus region.

Moscow has not yet been surrounded, so the elite German armored groups will not leave. The reason why they were transferred from the northern front must be because it is more advantageous to fight from west to east. The terrain north of Moscow is indeed not as conducive to mechanized attack as west and south of Moscow. Anyone with military knowledge will know this.

"There are no major problems on the Western Front," Pepekov said. "Marshal Konev's reserve front has taken over the position. He has adopted a large-depth defense strategy to ensure that the German army cannot form a breakthrough in the short term. If the German army wants to We also have enough troops to intercept them by going south, and it is still muddy season, and the roads are not conducive to the Germans. Their offensive will probably start in May, and we still have time."

Now that they had guessed the possible deployment of the German army (in fact, there were just a few moves here and there), the Soviet army naturally also made targeted arrangements.

"So victory on the northern front can still be expected," Pepekov said. "What we should do now is to invest more troops and storm Volochok, Udomlya and... Report!"

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by a report. A staff officer hurriedly arrived in front of Pepekov and Zhukov like a gust of wind.

The staff report said: "Report from the Reserve Front Army Headquarters that the Rzhev-Sychokav-Vyazma front line stationed by the 1st Guards Army is suffering from heavy artillery and bombing by the German army! Marshal Konev believes that the German army is The offensive in the above-mentioned areas has begun, and he suggested ending the counterattack on the northern front and fully defending Moscow."