USSR 1941

Introduce a friend's book: "The Strongest Mercenary on the Surface" by Feng Thirty-Five

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Shulka later learned more information about the overall battle situation from Katukov... One of the characteristics of the troops, especially the Soviet army's operations, is that each combat unit does not know much about the overall situation.

For example, now, they only need to know that they are counterattacking, and the specific task is to follow the 2nd Guards Tank Brigade as a reserve team, and then the combat time and assembly location are almost the same.

Other information The superiors thought that as a soldier, you don't need to know much.

The German army... To be precise, the German army at this time is completely different. Their regimental commanders and even lower-ranking officers basically know what the entire combat plan and even strategic goals are. This makes them more aware of what they are doing and why they are doing this on the battlefield. Do, when an emergency occurs, they know very well which ones can be abandoned and which ones must be defended. Sometimes they can adapt to the situation and launch raids in a better way to cooperate with the main force to achieve strategic goals.

This can be said to be a quality, a quality other than combat capability.

Shulka was originally a member of "there is no need to know too much", but Katukov didn't think so. A few people stayed.

"We are actually counterattacking in three parts!" Katukov pointed to the map and said: "The Kalinin Front Army in the north has 5 army groups and 1 cavalry army, and they are attacking on the front lines of Rzhev and Vyazma. To the south are the 9 army groups and 2 cavalry armies of the Western Front. We belong to the Northwest Front Army and have a total of 3 army groups!"

As soon as he heard this, Shulka realized that the tasks of the Northwest Front were likely to be interspersed quickly... The Kalinin Front and the Western Front had 5 and 9 armies at every turn, while the Northwest Front had only 3 armies.

Sure enough, Katukov went on to say: "Our task is to break through Klin, occupy Tver within three days, and then continue west along the railway line!"

As I said before, Tver is the intersection of railways and highways. Occupying this place before the German army retreats means blocking the German army's retreat. In other words, if they want to escape, they can only discard heavy equipment such as cars, tanks, and artillery and escape.

"German 'Blitzkrieg'?" Lieutenant Colonel Gavrilov asked.

"Yes!" replied Katukov, "so to speak!"

This is indeed somewhat similar to "blitzkrieg", using fast troops to penetrate and surprise the enemy's rear traffic arteries or strategic locations.

The issue is……

"Then we shouldn't be using the 'Matilda' tank!" Shulka said. "And the 'Valentine'!"

At this time, the Soviet army was learning the tactics of the German army, but obviously they did not learn the proper way... In order to implement the "blitzkrieg", the Germans even sacrificed the firepower and defense of the tank to ensure the speed and safety of the tank.

But now, the 1st Guards Tank Brigade is going to use the "Matilda" and "Valentine" tanks to carry out "blitzkrieg"? !

"That's why!" Katukov replied: "We are only serving as the reserve team... The 2nd Guards Tank Brigade goes into battle in the front. If we cannot break through and the attack is blocked, it is time for us to play a role!"

This arrangement seems to make sense, because there is no problem even if it is not fast, and the 1st Guards Tank Brigade has experience in attacking and occupying Tver...

"I wonder what our end goal is!" Shulka asked.

"Cooperate with the Western Front to encircle and wipe out the enemy's Central Army Group!" Katukov replied.

This strategic goal surprised Shulka, which is obviously unrealistic. Although the Germans are at the end of their battles, the Soviet Union is not far behind. If it is only to open a buffer zone for Moscow and build a new line of defense It is possible...to encircle and wipe out the German Central Army Group, which is simply impossible.

What Shulka didn't know was that knowing the full strategic goals of the Supreme Command would have left him speechless.

The strategic goal of the Kalinin Front Army is quite realistic. Their goal is to advance northward, that is, towards Leningrad, and try to encircle the German army north of Moscow while also releasing the siege for Leningrad.

The nine armies of the Western Front were divided into two parts:

One part is 5 armies plus a cavalry army, encircling the German Central Army Group with the Northwest Front Army, which is Shulka's unit.

The other part is 4 armies plus a cavalry army. They cooperated with the Black Sea Fleet and the Shallow Water Fleet to attack Kaluga and Bryansk, and then got in touch with Kyiv.

The idea is very good, because in this way, from north to south, the Soviet army can form a complete and stable line of defense from Leningrad, Moscow, Kyiv to Odessa.

If this line of defense can be formed, the German army will be divided into several pieces and surrounded, and then repeat the situation where the German army surrounded the Soviet army in large numbers at the beginning of the war.

The Supreme Command wanted to take revenge and drive the Germans out completely. Or it can be said that they hope to take advantage of this time, that is, when the temperature drops and the German army is not prepared enough, to kill the German army with one blow.

But Shulka knew that was impossible.

"I think we should be more cautious, Comrade Katukov!" Shulka said: "The Germans still have considerable strength!"

"Yes, Comrade Katukov!" said Lieutenant Colonel Gavrilov. "Although we have the upper hand in terms of strength with reinforcements, I don't think we can achieve a complete victory!"

Katukov didn't speak, he just looked at several people silently.

Then everyone else understood that it was not up to him to decide.

Shulka was powerless to change this, so he turned to Holm, southwest of Tver.

This unknown town will soon become the focus of contention between the enemy and us and have a great impact on the battle situation.

The reason is that Holm is surrounded by a swamp, and Holm is a road node through the swamp.

These swamps can pass through without any obstacles when they are frozen at low temperature in winter. Under the overly optimistic strategic goal, the main force of the Soviet army will naturally bypass Holm to pursue the German army.

However, Holm was never captured by the Soviet army.

Therefore, when the war lasted until the spring of the second year, when the ice and snow melted and the swamp turned into a swamp again, a large number of main Soviet troops were surrounded by the Germans because they could not return.

This can be said to be the learning process of the Soviet army with little combat experience.

However, it is always the officers and soldiers fighting on the front that suffer losses in this process. Among them, there may be the Northwest Front Army that performs interspersed missions, and of course Shulka is also included.