USSR 1941

At this time, the German Army Group B was commanded by General Weicks.

Army Group B was originally commanded by von Bock, but von Bock once again opposed Hitler's order and believed that Army Group South should not be divided into two Army Groups A and B to attack the Baku Oil Fields in the Caucasus and Stalingrad respectively.

In this respect von Bock had a point.

Simultaneously attacking Stalingrad and Baku oilfields made the mistake of repeating strategies: attacking both can achieve the goal of blocking the Baku oilfields, and among them, Stalingrad can threaten Moscow's rear, so its strategic significance is greater.

That is to say, Hitler's joint attack on any point can cause an almost fatal blow to the Soviet Union... The Baku oil field accounts for 70% of the Soviet Union's fuel supply. Once Baku falls, no matter how much the United States and Britain provide assistance. A drop in the bucket.

The problem was that Hitler was too impatient.

On the one hand, he knew that Stalingrad had great strategic significance. On the other hand, he was not satisfied with just blocking Baku. He hoped to occupy Baku and use it immediately.

This is determined by the fact that Germany has always been short of oil, because it has been lacking all the time, even to the point of turning coal into gasoline at any cost. Therefore, seeing the fat in the Baku oil field, I couldn't help but talk, just like A beggar who has been hungry for a long time cannot resist the temptation of delicious food.

So the Southern Army Group was divided into two Army Groups A and B to attack.

Von Bock disapproved of this plan, and there was even a pointless transfer of armored forces repeatedly between the A and B armies.

But Hitler was not a person who could listen to the objections of his subordinates, especially von Bock had been trying to persuade Hitler to retreat during the defense of Moscow... This suggestion was proved to be correct afterwards, but in Hitler's thinking, it was The failure of the Battle of Moscow was due to the existence of commanders like von Bock who always wanted to retreat.

The reason why von Bock was re-used was because Reichenau, the former commander of the Southern Army Group, died of a stroke, and Hitler could only choose someone from a large number of dismissed generals to command.

However, von Bock didn't know Hitler well, and Hitler couldn't bear the fact that his subordinates disobeyed his orders again and again.

So after von Bock raised his objection, he was dismissed immediately, and has never been used again.

Wei Kesi seems to have picked up a big bargain, as he thinks so, because he took over the commander of Army Group B after the German army won the Kharkov victory,

Since then, Army Group B has been fighting all the way to the city of Stalingrad.

But at this time, Weikes was frowning and staring at the map in a daze. After a long time, he said to the adjutant: "I'm beginning to think that von Bock is right, Hans!"

"Yes, General!" The adjutant replied with deep empathy: "Our troops are seriously short!"

Weikes sighed, and said: "Unbelievable, after we achieved such a huge victory, I mean...we have almost defeated the enemy's front army, but we still have to face an enemy that is several times larger than ourselves, The enemies seem to be endless!"

This is actually not because there are too many Soviet troops, but because there are too few German troops.

The total strength of Army B seems to be quite a lot in terms of numbers, about 600,000, but among them, the 2nd Army of Hungary has 180,000 people, and the Eighth Army of Italy has 100,000 people. Only the German Sixth Army and the Italian Eighth Army can really play a role. Fourth Panzer Army.

The two armies of 350,000 people defeated one Soviet front army, but there were still a large number of remnants and another front army in front of them, which made Wei Kes feel that there was no end to the fight.

Another problem is that the German army has stretched the front line too long and fought on several sides at the same time: the German army needs to surround Stalingrad from three sides, and at the same time build a defense line in the direction of Kotluban to resist the possible attack by the Stalingrad Front Army located in the north. Offensive, which makes Weicks poorly dealt with.

"So, General!" Hans suggested: "We can only solve this crisis by making a quick decision and occupying Stalingrad as soon as possible!"

Weeks nodded in agreement.

At this time, Stalingrad is like a thorn in the German defense line. While surrounding it, the German army is also taking great risks... Stalingrad is located in a narrow channel with a width of only 100 kilometers between the Don River and the Volga River Within a day, if Stalingrad launched a counterattack, it would only take one day to cut off the German army and put hundreds of thousands of German troops in a tight siege with nowhere to escape.

Thinking of this, Weiks cast his eyes on Mamayev Post, and then ordered: "Order Major General Eric, it's time to attack!"

Major General Eric is the commander of the 29th Motorized Infantry Division. In fact, they have been hiding their strength in order not to expose the strategic goal of attacking Mamayev Gang early.

Even before this, the German offensive was still dominated by the urban areas on the two wings, which diverted the attention and main defensive forces of the Soviet army to the two sides.

After receiving the order, Major General Eric immediately issued an order to attack with all his might.

All of a sudden, artillery fire was fired, and then fifty "Stuka" bombers took turns to bomb the hospitals and schools blocking the way... The German bombing was very careful. Locked in the bunker fortifications and sandbag fortifications of the Soviet army.

As for the Soviet troops in those buildings, they were dealt with by the Army's assault guns.

The 29th Motorized Infantry Division was equipped with one hundred "Phase Three" assault guns, and another thirty tanks were used for cover.

You must know that an armored division only has more than 100 tanks, and a motorized infantry division is equipped with 100 assault guns and 30 tanks. It is obvious that the equipment is concentrated so that it can quickly break through and capture strategic locations.

Assault guns did not disappoint the Germans.

In fact, the assault guns are almost invincible when they have air superiority: the air force is responsible for bombing the enemy artillery and the more obvious anti-tank gun positions, and the artillery further provides cover for the assault guns.

Then, the heavily armored assault guns can easily knock out the enemies inside the building one by one.

In fact, the Soviet army could use the strategy of shooting one shot for another place to deal with the German assault guns.

The problem is that not many people can bear the sense of powerlessness that can only be passively beaten in the face of assault guns. At that moment, almost everyone will think in their minds: sooner or later they will fall, so why stay here and lose their lives?

This is also the confidence mentioned before. After losing the confidence of victory, it is difficult to persist in fighting.

Therefore, the Soviet troops stationed at the hospital and school withdrew from their positions after half an hour of defense... Needless to say, what awaited them was to be assigned to a punishment camp.

But at that moment of life and death, who would care about this.