Chapter 855: The Final Battle - A Critical Moment (Third Update)

May 11, 1943, night.

On the front of the Soviet-German battlefield, from Leningrad in the north to the lower reaches of the Dnieper River in the south, fierce battles broke out everywhere that night. Around Leningrad, although the commander of the German Northern Army Group, Marshal Küchler, received the order of "permission to abandon the encirclement" on the morning of the 10th, until the night of the 11th, Marshal Küchler, who was determined to capture Leningrad to make himself famous in history, still did not give up the encirclement. The German army under his command also firmly blocked the Soviet Kalinin Front's rescue troops in the Lyuban area southeast of Leningrad.

In Smolensk, 560 kilometers south of Leningrad, the battle was also at its climax. Although the Red Army's 3rd Army retreated in the Battle of Katyn Forest and Smolensk was surrounded on three sides, the Red Army's Central Front was still determined to defend Smolensk.

On the night of the 9th and 10th, the Central Front sent a large number of reinforcements to Smolensk (sent from Moscow), preparing to fight the German army to the end in Smolensk.

In the southern part of the four states of Smolensk, Bryansk, Mogilev and Gomel, a larger-scale decisive battle between armored and tank army groups was in full swing.

From the battlefield situation map of the Soviet Supreme Command, the battle that broke out at the junction of the four states was roughly divided into two decisive battlefields in the north and south. The northern battlefield was in Klimovichi (in Mogilev State), with the 13th collective farm as the core. The Red Army's 5th Tank Army and a German army-level armored group heading north from Lechitsa launched a decisive battle. At present, the Red Army's 5th Tank Army is on the defensive.

During the day on the 11th, the Red Air Force's reconnaissance aircraft discovered two large armored groups heading south in Smolensk north of Klimovichi, at least army-level troops. Their target is obviously the back of the 5th Tank Army!

About 150 kilometers south of the Klimovichi battlefield is the Gomel battlefield of the southern battlefield where the battle of the junction took place. Unlike the defensive situation of the Red Army on the northern battlefield, the advantage seems to be on the Red Army's side in this area. The 1st and 2nd tank armies split into two routes and launched a pincer attack on Gomel, the capital of Gomel Province, via the Dobrush Forest and Vetka City. On the night of May 9 and May 10, continuous breakthroughs were made, and the attack has now reached the vicinity of Gomel City. There are only more than 30 kilometers left to achieve the initial goal of the success of the campaign, the east bank of the Dnieper River.

Victory seems to be at hand!

The battle on the Ukrainian battlefield also started on May 10. The German army launched a forced crossing operation in many places along the Dnieper River. By the evening of May 11, it had made breakthroughs in many places such as Kiev, Kanivo, Dzerzhinsk on the Dnieper River, and Zaporizhia, opening up landing sites and bridgeheads.

The Ukrainian battlefield seemed to have reached a climax overnight!

Stalin, the fatherly leader of the Soviet Union, withdrew his eyes from the huge military map, glanced at Marshals Pavlov and Shaposhnikov standing beside him, and asked: "How is the German defense in Velikiye Luki? Can it withstand the assault of the 3rd Tank Army?"

Tonight, Kalinin's left-wing group (including the 3rd Tank Army, the 2nd Assault Army and the 20th Army) will launch the Battle of Velikiye Luki. Hundreds of tanks/assault artillery will suddenly appear in the north of Velikiye Luki through several "forest roads" secretly cut down, first cutting off the railway from Pskov to the south. Then they will go straight to Velikiye Luki, which is the German army's material and fuel storage center (most of the fuel there has been distributed to several armored armies, but there are still many other supplies and ammunition), and capture or surround it!

If this raid succeeds, not only will the German troops on the Smolensk battlefield lose a large amount of supplies and ammunition, but the main logistics line will also be interrupted (since the German 4th Panzer Army and the 3rd Panzer Army have already joined forces, the logistics will not be completely cut off), and supply may be difficult!

In this way, not only the siege of Leningrad may be broken, but even the Smolensk Campaign may see a major turnaround.

"Comrade General Secretary, according to repeated investigations, the German army's forces in the area of ​​​​Volta Luki are relatively empty, with only infantry, cavalry and a small number of mechanized troops, and no armored clusters. Therefore, it is impossible to resist the assault of the 3rd Tank Army..." Shaposhnikov paused and added, "But they may still be able to defend the city of Velikiye Luki. Because the Germans have been operating in the city of Velikiye Luki for a long time and have built a large number of fortifications around it.

If the troops of the 3rd Tank Army, the 2nd Assault Army and the 20th Army cannot capture Velikiye Luki in the first place, the German armored forces on the Smolensk front may reinforce Velikiye Luki."

Stalin nodded, Shaposhnikov's analysis was still very thorough. It is easy to raid Velikiye Luki, and it is not difficult to cut off the railway line, but it is difficult to capture the city of Velikiye Luki-after all, it is a siege! Moreover, in order to pass the "Forest Road", Fezuninsky's army could not carry many heavy artillery, while the German army carried a large number of heavy artillery to attack Smolensk. In the case of artillery not having an advantage, sieges and the like cannot be forced.

...

"Comrades, for the Soviet motherland, charge! Ura! Ura! Ura..."

Lieutenant Pavlov shouted, raised his submachine gun, and ran wildly in a large forest full of towering ancient trees. Behind and around him were officers and soldiers of the 13th Guards Infantry Division and the 14th Guards Infantry Division, wearing yellow-green military uniforms like him, holding rifles and submachine guns.

Nearly 18,000 officers and soldiers, without artillery preparations or guidance from tanks/assault artillery, took advantage of the night and set off from hidden positions like a tide, walked through nearly 5 kilometers of forest, and then garrisoned here. The White Russian cavalry troops on the edge of the forest launched a sea of ​​​​people attack!

"Ula! Ula! Ula..."

Colonel Sergey Bunyachenko, commander of the 1st Belarusian Cavalry Division, who had just taken off his clothes and was leaning on the cot, looking at photos of his wife and children by the dim oil lamp, suddenly heard a sound like a roaring wave in his ears. of shouts.

The former Red Army colonel who betrayed the cause of human liberation did not react for a moment. His whole mind was immersed in the longing for his wife and children - he felt that they were suffering, maybe somewhere in Siberia, maybe in Kazakhstan. Stan. In the dark Gulag labor camp, I was tortured for the mistakes of my husband and father...

Whenever he thinks of this, Colonel Bunyachenko always feels regretful... Why not commit suicide?

"Colonel! That's not good!"

A young traitor suddenly rushed in from outside the tent, crawling and crawling. When he saw the colonel leaning on the cot, he did not salute, but just shouted: "The Red Army, the Red Army is coming!"

Only then did Colonel Bunyachenko realize that the bursts of "Ula" shouts in his ears were made by Red Army officers and soldiers.

"Why are you panicking?" Colonel Bunyachenko glared at the man, who turned out to be his adjutant. "Send my order and the entire division is ready for battle!"

Before Bunyachenko could finish his words, the piercing sound of gunshots like tearing linen came from outside.

This is the sound of MG42 machine gun firing!

Bunyachenko has deployed several machine gun positions near the camp of his troops. Now one or two of them are firing, which shows that the Red Army has arrived very close to the camp!

"Damn!" Bunyachenko felt the seriousness of the problem, and he immediately rushed out of his tent. At this time, the gunfire suddenly became intensive, crackling like fried beans, and occasionally there were grenades and mortars. The roar of exploding artillery shells.

The battle has been intense from the beginning! The troops around Bunyachenko were on high alert, and it was not a surprise attack. After the shouts and gunfire rang out, the resting officers and soldiers immediately picked up their weapons and entered the battle.

However, Bunyachenko did not have many troops. He only had the headquarters of a cavalry division, a direct team and a cavalry regiment, totaling less than 2,000 people. But his opponent Feijuninsky invested a total of 18,000 people at one time, and they were all elite members of the Guards Infantry Division, directly overwhelming the opponent with a sea of ​​​​people.

The battle between the Red Army and the White Army took place on the edge of the large forest 30 kilometers north of Velikiy Luki. The winner was decided in a very short time without any suspense. Although the 2,000-strong White Army resisted tenaciously, they were quickly defeated. Most of them became martyrs of Tsarist Russia. A few escaped and went into the woods. Almost no one surrendered...

Bunyachenko himself fulfilled his oath to Her Majesty the Queen and fought to the death - his body was later recognized by an officer of the 13th Guards Infantry Division of the Red Army, which in turn led to the death of his wife and eldest son (who had reached the age of 16 years old) was shot in a Siberian labor camp!

After sweeping away this outpost in the large forest, the 13th and 14th Infantry Divisions of the Red Army Guards did not delay and immediately rushed to the railway line 20 kilometers away (not in the same direction as Velikiy Luki, Velikiy Luki to the south and the railway line to the west).

At the same time, dozens of T-34 tanks equipped with buckets transformed into "T-34 woodcutters", tearing down trees along the way to open roads, and drove out of the large woods in the shortest possible time. 10 kilometers of roads for tanks to pass through.

In the early morning of May 12, hundreds of tanks and more than 100,000 Red Army soldiers appeared on the railway line between Velikiy Luki and Pskov, like magic soldiers descending from the sky!