Chapter 839: The Final Battle—The King of Snitches (Fourth Update!)
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 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!" Mae Helis said as he thought smugly, "Now the Bryansk Front under my leadership 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 said. He was not the kind of general who had a stubborn temper and dared to contradict the king of snitches. Moreover, he also understood what Maekhlis was 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. The 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 9th... 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 most light tanks. Its maximum speed of 85 kilometers per hour also exceeds 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 Command ordered our Bryansk Front to stop the German southern armored group from moving northward and approaching Smolensk City." Kazakov reported, "At the same time, we should concentrate our forces at the junction of Mogilev, Bryansk and Smolensk Oblasts to defeat the German southern armored group."
"Then we should resolutely implement this instruction!" Mehlis said seriously, "I don't think you two will question the Supreme Command?"
"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 frightened by Mehlis, and hurriedly expressed their support for the Supreme Command-the king of snitching stood in front of them! And they were not strong commanders like Timoshenko and Zhukov. Golikov was a little weak, and when he was the director of the intelligence agency, he just picked up the words that Stalin liked to hear. And Kazakov was just a lieutenant general chief of staff, and the king of snitching dealt with him like a joke!
"That's good!" Mehlis was very satisfied, "So how do we plan to implement the instructions?"
"I've already come up with an idea," Kazakov said, "Use the 5th Tank Army to set up defenses in Mstislav, 80 kilometers south of Smolensk, to block the German army for a few days. Then use the 1st and 2nd Tank Armies to flank the German armored group from Gomel. At the same time, request the 9th and 12th Armies of the Southwestern Front to counterattack Lechitsa from Chernigov to the north to block the retreat of the German armored group in the south. . "
"Very good! This is very good!" Mehlis clapped his hands, "There is a front blockade, a rear blockade, and a flank attack... 8 armies (including the 38th, 40th, and 48th armies that may not arrive in 10 days), more than 3,000 tanks, this is very sure! Comrade Golikov, Comrade Kazakov, let's report this plan to the Supreme Command immediately!"
...
When Golikov, Kazakov and Mehlis jointly reported the combat plan to the Supreme Command. The opponent they wanted to defeat, the headquarters of General Eberhard von Mackensen, commander of the German 1st Panzer Army, had just arrived at Rechitsa on the west bank of the Dnieper River.
Although the strength of the army he commanded was far inferior to the 4th Panzer Army commanded by General Hoth on the northern front, it was still a very powerful army and one of the four main armies of the German army on the Eastern Front. The other three are the 2nd Panzer Army, the 3rd Panzer Army and the 4th Panzer Army. The 2nd Panzer Army belongs to the Southern Army Group and is deployed on the Ukrainian battlefield.
The 1st Panzer Army now has the 3rd Panzer Corps (consisting of the 1st and 2nd Panzer Divisions, the 1st Panzer Grenadier Division of the Wehrmacht and the 5th Panzer Grenadier Division of the SS), the 11th Panzer Corps (consisting of the 6th Panzer Division, the 10th Panzer Division, and the 1st SS Panzer Grenadier Division), the 14th Panzer Corps (consisting of the 11th Panzer Division, the 2nd Panzer Grenadier Division of the Wehrmacht and the 4th Panzer Grenadier Division of the Wehrmacht), the 52nd Motorized Infantry Corps (consisting of the 102nd, 111th, 127th, and 128th Infantry Divisions), the 64th Motorized Infantry Corps (consisting of the 60th, 88th, 89th, and 105th Infantry Divisions), the 1st Cavalry Division, the 14th Ukrainian Cavalry Division of the SS, the 20th Polish Cavalry Division of the SS, the 29th Polish Cavalry Division of the SS, the 10th Motorized Anti-aircraft Artillery Division of the Air Defense Forces, the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th Rocket Artillery Brigades, and the 5th and 10th Independent Motorized Chemical Corps Battalions. There are 23 divisions, 3 brigades and 2 battalions in total. In addition, the 1st, 2nd, 10th, 6th and 11th Armored Divisions each have a heavy armored battalion.
Because of the strength of the troops under his command, General Mackensen never worried about "going deep alone" or being beaten up by the Soviet army with superior numbers.
However, there are still things that make this general headache, mainly the huge fuel consumption of the 1st Armored Army! There is no line to support the 1st Armored Army. All the fuel was transported to Korosten near Kiev last winter and stored. The quantity is not very sufficient, and it is more than 200 kilometers from Korosten to Lechitsa. There is no railway in the distance, so the fuel can only be transported by roads with poor road conditions, and it is attacked by guerrillas from time to time. Now, the reason why Mackensen's army stayed in Lechitsa was not to build a bridge to cross the river (because the Soviet army retreated hastily, the troops of the 5th SS Panzer Division seized two highway bridges, which were enough for the army to cross the river), but to wait for the fuel convoy from Korosten.
Another thing that bothered General Mackensen was that his powerful armored army would soon reach the meeting point of the three armored armies stipulated in the "Purple Plan", while the 3rd and 4th armored armies were entangled by the stubborn resistance of the Soviet army, and it seemed that it would take some time to break through.
Could it be that the 1st Panzer Army, which was not rich in fuel, could only stop on the battlefield and do nothing, waiting for friendly forces to defeat the enemy and come to meet?