Time continued to pass in the intertwined situation of the brutal defensive battles in the suburbs of Yelniya City and the street fighting that broke out in some city streets.
Although Zhukov had taken the initiative as the Chief of General Staff at the previous Politburo meeting in Moscow chaired by Stalin himself, trying to ensure that Marshal Timoshenko, who had lost the battle in the direction of Smolensk, would not lose his position.
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But now the cruel fact that Zhukov was turned into a reserve front commander by Stalin had to cheer up Marshal Timoshenko, who had lost an important backer in the base camp.
He realized that if the Yelniya battle ended in failure again, not to mention whether he would be able to retain his position as commander of the Western Front, judging from Stalin's temper and consistent style, he would lose the battle and lose the city.
Frontline generals will never get anything good from this iron man leader comrade.
By then, Pavlov's final fate may very well be a lesson learned from Timoshenko's mistakes.
The ruthless Comrade Stalin didn't care whether the person he ordered to be shot was a meritorious marshal or an ordinary soldier. The more he thought about it, the more frightened he became. Marshal Timoshenko decided to continue to strengthen the offensive when his troops already suffered a lot of casualties.
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After this order, the number of Soviet troops attacking Yelnya City increased instead of decreasing. More and more Soviet heavy artillery, fighter planes and even equipment such as "Katyusha" rocket launchers, which were still secret weapons, began to attack.
It began to converge towards Yelniya City, the eye of the storm, with the force of a torrent of steel.
On July 31, General Zhukov, who was beaten to the end by Comrade Stalin, officially arrived at the front line of the theater in the direction of Smolensk, took over the command of the reserve front army, and immediately commanded the troops to enter Smolensk in accordance with the combat order issued by the Supreme Command.
direction of the battle.
The battle for Yelnya, which never stopped with the roar of guns and artillery from beginning to end, was soon pushed to August 4th.
At this point in the brutal and aggravating battle that burned up bones, flesh, and overstretched will, the 1st Heavy Tank Breakthrough Battalion commanded by Malashenko can no longer be called a "pure heavy tank battalion."
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Fierce fighting for many days and continued deployment to the front-line offensive after replenishment have caused the First Heavy Tank Battalion commanded by Malashenko to lose a total of more than 60 kV1 heavy tanks, as well as many
There are half this number of T34 medium tanks and other light combat reconnaissance vehicles.
Although these Soviet tanks have been repeatedly added to the first heavy tank breakthrough battalion under Malashenko, except for a smaller number of brand-new tanks transported from the rear using railway transportation lines.
The vast majority of them were improvised from skirmishers who were defeated by the Germans or suffered heavy losses and were no longer able to organize effective combat effectiveness. Whether it was in terms of troop coordination capabilities or offensive tactics, compared to
The original No. 1 heavy tank under the command of Malashenko will definitely have to be discounted when it breaks through the battalion's full strength.
But there is no doubt that these lost tanks and vehicle crews are all units of the Red Army. The combat losses that become more and more heavy day by day are difficult for even the Soviet army, which has never cared much about troop casualties, to withstand. Technical weapons, especially
The continuous and massive losses of precious heavy tanks gradually began to make the Soviet army, as the attacker, have a stronger need for armored forces, increasingly feeling that it was unable to sustain its success.
In contrast, it was not only the Soviet army that was increasingly experiencing difficulties in fighting and supplying important technical weapons. The German army, which with an absolutely inferior force had to withstand the Soviet army's roaring tsunami bombardments and successive group charges, had an even more difficult life.
Some combat infantry companies have even been reduced to less than 50 men by the Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment, which is almost on the verge of collapse.
The block defenses were once again overwhelmed by the unknown dozens of infantry-tank coordinated assaults of the First Heavy Tank Breakthrough Battalion under Malashenko. The Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment, which was completely unable to devote any more troops to counterattack to fill the block breakthrough, finally had no choice but to
They chose to withdraw from the neighborhood, shrink the defensive circle, and make concessions to the Soviet siege forces in order to preserve their remaining strength.
The exhausted Grossdeutschland Infantry Regiment, which was already in disrepair, was immediately integrated into the combat order of the SS Reich Division with the newly arrived 46th Army Reserve to support them, and was mixed into a temporary battle group.
SS Lieutenant General Hausser, the commander of the Imperial Division, served as the battle group commander in order to form a new unified defense line in the Yelnya City theater where the Soviet army was approaching step by step and in a steady stream.
On the same day, Adolf Hitler, the Nazi leader of Germany, also flew from the direction of Berlin, the heart of the empire, to the front line of the Russian theater. In order to personally inspect the magnificent results of the German army, he also held a meeting with the main front-line generals under his command.
A combat meeting to discuss the deployment of the German army's next specific action plan.
This frontline combat meeting, chaired by Hitler himself, was held in Novi Borisov, where the headquarters of the German Army Group Center is located.
The German generals who attended this important combat meeting were except for some senior generals who were in command positions and were leading their troops in a fierce fight with the Soviet army.
Including Field Marshal von Bock, commander of the German Army Group Center, General Hermann Hoth, commander of the 3rd Armored Group affiliated with Army Group Center, General Guderian, commander of the 2nd Armored Group, and other front-line combat command generals.
As well as the adjutant Schmundt who accompanied Hitler, the director and representative of the Operations Department of the Sixth Army Headquarters, Colonel Hausinger, and other senior figures from the German base camp who came with Hitler to attend the meeting, it is enough to see that Hitler himself had a deep understanding of this front line.
The importance attached to combat meetings.
The huge headquarters of the German Army Group Center was packed with seats. The German generals who came to participate in this meeting could be said to be a gathering of famous generals with shining stars. Even if they were randomly selected, they would all be famous among the famous German generals.
And at the end of the conference table where these German generals were supporting them like stars, Hitler, the German leader with his trademark mustache, looked very proud because the frontline war was progressing smoothly.
"Gentlemen! Before today's combat meeting begins, I would like to congratulate and sincerely praise everyone here!"
"You have fulfilled the promise you made to the German people with your actual actions. You have used the iron and blood of German soldiers to exchange the plows and hoes of our people for fertile land and living space that can be cultivated. This is very worthy of praise.