Iron Bone 2193_Read the full text of Iron Bone for free_Chapter 2193 The dramatic reversal comes from
From last summer to the end of June this year, due to the Soviet counterattacks launched from north to south on the Soviet-German battlefield, the German army lost a large amount of land and the front was repeatedly compressed to the west.
In order to boost morale and regain the strategic initiative on the Soviet-German battlefield, the German high command decided to launch a large-scale offensive in the direction of Moscow.
In Hitler's view, as long as Moscow can be occupied, all Stalin's previous efforts will undoubtedly be in vain. The benefits of occupying Moscow are undoubtedly huge. Moscow is the north-south transportation hub, and many railways and highways are based on Moscow.
If Moscow, the heart that connects east, west, north and south, is lost, the Soviet fronts will be divided into disconnected parts, so that the German army can calmly outflank and annihilate them.
In view of this, Hitler made up his mind to completely remove Moscow, a thorn in his side and a thorn in his flesh. The German army tried to create a "Battle of Stalingrad in 1944" to completely complete the unfinished business of the winter of 1942.
In order to win the battle, the German high command began large-scale preparations in April this year and formulated a combat plan code-named "Fortress". The German army has Tiger, Panther tanks and "Ferdinand" powerful weapons.
The artillery had the upper hand in terms of firepower, while the Soviet army had the advantage in terms of troops. In addition, in terms of weapons, the front armies and group armies mainly used the equipment of the Anjia Army around 1940, but they were also equipped with KV and IS heavy-duty weapons developed by the Soviet Union.
Tanks and Su-series self-propelled anti-tank guns and self-propelled artillery. Both sides are equally matched.
The German army's strategic intention is to launch a pincer offensive and attack Moscow from both the north and the south at the same time.
On the southern front of the theater, the thirty-two divisions of Army Group South, composed of the German Fourth Armored Division and the Tula Group, under the command of Marshal Manstein, who regained Hitler's trust, attacked from south to north;
Line, Marshal Kluge commanded the thirty divisions of Army Group Center to attack from west to east.
In addition, the German army also prepared forty divisions as strategic reserve forces.
According to the battle plan, the northern and southern armies will meet under the city of Moscow to complete the encirclement and launch a fatal blow to the city of Moscow.
Faced with the powerful strength of the German army, the Soviet Supreme Command decided to fight tooth for tooth and use all its strength to confront the enemy.
The Soviet army’s strategic deployment is:
General Rokossovsky led six armies of the Kalinin Front to defend the northern front; General Bashchin led six armies of the Western Front to defend the southern front; with the Bryansk Front and the Northwest Front as strategic reserves, the newly formed Central Committee
The front army moved from Kazan to the eastern part of Moscow, ready to enter the city for fierce street fighting at any time.
The total strength invested by the Soviet army was 3.1 million, equipped with 7,200 tanks and assault artillery, 40,000 cannons and 6,180 aircraft. The overall commander was Marshal Zhukov.
At a quarter past eleven in the evening on July 4th, the German army took the lead in launching the Third Battle of Moscow.
The battle became intense from the beginning. Due to the early detection of the German army's movements, the headquarters of the Soviet Supreme Command decided to hold on under the city of Moscow, consuming the German assault group in the defensive engagement and creating a space for the Soviet army to shift to a counter-offensive and then to a strategic general offensive.
Favorable conditions.
The Kalinin Front of the Soviet Army was ordered to resist the German attack from Bryansk and Smolensk to the west of Moscow through Vyazma. The Western Front fought the German attack from Tula and Kaluga to Serpukhov and Maloyaros in the south of Moscow.
Lavitz's first-line offense.
It is scheduled that after completing the defensive mission, the Soviet Kalinin Front Army will turn to counterattack in the direction from Vyazma to Kirov, and the Central Front Army will also join the pursuit operation.
The Western Front Army under General Vatutin and the Bryansk Front Army under the leadership of Commander General Konev cooperated with the Southwest Front Army led by General Malinovsky to completely crush the German Tula Strategic Group and push towards Kursk.
In response to the Southwest Front and Don Front, Kursk was captured and the war situation in the south was reversed.
As for the line from Stalingrad to Astrakhan on the lower reaches of the Volga River, the Stalingrad Front, the Southern Front and the Caucasus Front were ready to attack, waiting only for the Germans to reveal their flaws before launching an attack.
However, no matter how the subsequent war situation changes, the top priority is to defend Moscow, otherwise there will be no discussion.
After many years of directing operations, encountering many setbacks, and achieving brilliant victories, Zhukov has grown into a leading tactician. Zhukov is full of confidence in the defense system of the city of Moscow.
Generally speaking, the guiding ideology that battle formations and defensive positions are arranged in deep echelons is the basis for Zhukov's organization of defenses near Moscow. These defensive positions have a very complete trench system and other fortification systems.
In more than a year, the Soviet army built five to six defense zones in the west and south of Moscow, including two defense zones within the tactical area, a group army defense zone, and three front defense zones. In order to prevent any eventuality
, the Bryansk Front Army and the Central Front Army also built a national defense area on the north bank along the Moskva River.
The total depth of the engineering construction reaches 200 kilometers. Among them, the most complete fortification is the defensive tactical area, which reaches a depth of 15 to 20 kilometers for the first time during the war. The main defense zone of the tactical area consists of two to three lines of defense.
Each defensive position consists of two to three trenches, which are connected by communication trenches.
The defensive positions are 1.5 to 2 kilometers deep, with the main defense zone and the second defense zone having the strongest fortifications. The fortifications near Moscow were first prepared as defense against tanks. The basis of the defense was anti-tank support points.
The depth of defense against tanks reaches thirty to thirty-five kilometers.
The decisive conditions for establishing a solid defense are: a large concentration of troops and weapons in the direction where the German army may attack; the battle layout of each front army is fifty to seventy kilometers in depth. The organization of a strong anti-air defense consists of the fighter aviation and anti-aircraft artillery of each front army, as well as
The Homeland Defense Air Force has a large number of troops to perform air defense missions.
Party and Soviet organizations and residents in the battlefield states and cities have given active support to the construction of defense areas. Heads, headquarters and political agencies have carried out a lot of work in the army to mobilize all personnel to complete the current tasks. Party and government work and educational work have
The purpose is to prepare the army for defensive defense, ensure high offensive vigor and crush the German army's firm determination.
In spiritual and psychological education, emphasis was placed on cultivating the determination to repel German tank assaults using new tanks. All armies held anti-tank destroyer conferences, and infantry units also conducted tank "rolling" training.
Both sides are well prepared. Now it depends on whether it is the tip of the spear or the sharpness of the shield!
On the first day, the German army put into battle the basic forces prepared for the "Fortress" battle. Its purpose was to use a "crash" assault by tank divisions to break through the Soviet defenses and approach Moscow.
The two sides engaged in fierce fighting on the ground and in the air.
With the support of aviation, the Soviet army launched accumulated battles with the German army. The aviation force dispatched 4,000 to 6,000 aircraft sorties every day and night. In the Kalinin Front area, the Soviet Thirteenth Army was the main force against the German army attacking in the direction of Gchaczsk.
assault.
On the first day, the German army put about 500 tanks and assault artillery into battle. On the second day, the German army continued to increase its assault force in the direction of Gchatsk.
According to the determination of the commander of the Soviet Kalinin Front, a force each from the Thirteenth Army, the Second Tank Army and the Nineteenth Tank Army launched a counterattack against the German offensive group.
The aviation units of the Sixteenth Air Force Army provided support to the ground troops. The German offensive was blocked, and the Soviet high command gained time to concentrate and replenish its forces in the threatened direction.
The German army did not make any progress near Gchatsk, and then turned to attack in the direction of Erzhev, trying to open a gap northwest of Moscow, but its attempt also failed here.
As of July 19, the German offensive in the Kalinin Front was temporarily stopped. In the half-month-long battle, the German army only wedged 20 kilometers into the Soviet defensive position. The Soviet Kalinin Army
The front army did not use the base camp reserve and successfully completed the defense mission with only its own troops.
The German offensive in the south of Moscow also failed. The German army, under the command of Marshal Manstein, launched an attack in the direction of Serpukhov and Maloya Roslavits. The Soviet army used the Sixth Guards Army and the Seventh Army. Sixty-ninth
The Army Group and the 1st Tank Army resisted the main German assault.
On the first day of the battle, nearly 1,400 German tanks and assault artillery entered the battle with the support of a large number of aviation forces. The Soviet troops held fast to their positions and fought for every inch of land. Every inch of the land was covered with blood.
After a week of continuous fighting, facing the Soviet army's iron wall, the German army suffered heavy casualties and its momentum gradually weakened.
Due to the stalemate in the two assault directions of Serpukhov and Maloya Roslavits, Manstein had to shrink his troops. He transferred the main force to the direction of Maloya Roslavits and concentrated his efforts on carrying out the assault.
A gap opened in the Soviet army's tight defense line, and then spread to both wings.
Zhukov quickly saw through the German army's plan and decided to carry out tit-for-tat counter-assault operations against the demoralized German army. To this end, the Western Front obtained a base camp reserve, including the Fifth Guards Tank Army, the Fifth Guards Army and two tank corps.
of strengthening.
On July 21, the largest tank battle on the Soviet-German battlefield took place in the Maloya Roslavits area. In this battle, the two sides invested a total of more than 3,000 tanks and self-propelled artillery in the battle. In the one-day battle, the German army
It lost more than 900 tanks, and the Soviet Union lost more than 1,200 tanks. Among them, the Soviet Fifth Tank Army lost about 800 tanks in this encounter because it could not restore its attack capability for a while.
, the headquarters had to organize the remaining tanks into infantry companies.
In the battle south of Serpukhov, the German army was also exhausted and exhausted, and its morale had fallen into exhaustion.
On July 23, in order to avoid unnecessary sacrifices, the German troops began to retreat to their starting position under the cover of a strong rearguard. The Soviet Western Front quickly began to pursue the fleeing German troops in its defensive zone. On the night of the 23rd, the Bryansk Front
The pursuit also began.
The Soviet Supreme Command saw an advantage in this, and the fighter plane they had been waiting for finally arrived.
On that day, the Central Front, supported by the aviation of the First Army of the Soviet Air Force, commanded by Lieutenant General Gromov, and the Northwestern Front, supported by the aviation of the Fifteenth Army of the Soviet Air Force, suddenly launched a counterattack against the German troops defending the Vyazma area.
The next day, the Soviet Voronezh Front, Southwestern Front and Don Front also launched a counterattack against the German defense line.
The German army tried to delay the Soviet offensive and had to urgently mobilize troops from other fronts. The defenses of Leningrad, Novgorod, Stara Russa, Kaminnik Pass, Smolensk, Bryansk and Stalingrad were damaged.
to be seriously weakened.
On the 25th, the Soviet Stalingrad Front and Southern Front suddenly launched an attack on Stalingrad, which was empty of troops, and the Caucasus Front also launched an attack on Astrakhan.
On August 4, after ten days of fighting, the German army was expelled from Stalingrad. On the same day, the German army retreated from Astrakhan. The Volga River defense line that the German army had worked so hard to build collapsed, and the war began to spread to the lower reaches of the Don River and north.
Spread in the Caucasus and Crimean provinces.
This major battle, which involved thousands of kilometers of front lines between the Soviet Union and Germany, affected the whole body. The German army lost a total of more than 800,000 troops in one month. The Soviet army lost almost twice as many as the German army.
The army seems to have suffered greater losses, but it has taken the initiative strategically.
The main reason for the German army's complete retreat was not the poor command of the German generals in this battle, but Hitler's command errors due to lack of self-confidence.
In early July, the U.S. fleet suddenly appeared in the eastern Mediterranean. Relying on its powerful army and navy, it took over Mallorca, the main island of the Balearic Islands, without a single blow, and established a naval and air force base in Pal Port. The U.S. military's powerful forces
Approaching the outer islands of the Apennine Peninsula are Corsica, Sardinia and Sicily.
Mussolini did not expect that the Americans would come so quickly, so he could only think of ways to mobilize a fleet to proactively attack the American troops. This move frightened conservatives in Italy.
In the early morning of July 16, under the conspiracy of the pro-British and American King of Italy, Mussolini was assassinated on his way to the palace to meet the king. King Emanuele III immediately took control of the situation through his cronies throughout the army.
The Italian Army and Navy, and the political situation in Italy are in turmoil.
Rommel, who was originally doing a prosperous job in North Africa, woke up and found that the surrounding environment was rapidly becoming dangerous. Once he lost the support of the Italian army and navy, the German army would become isolated and helpless. Failure would be a matter of time, so he immediately asked Hitler.
Called and demanded that the political situation in Italy be stabilized as soon as possible, otherwise Germany will not only lose Libya, an oil producing area, but also hundreds of thousands of elite troops.
In this case, Hitler believed that it was necessary for the German army to mobilize troops to Italy and the Balkans, and the "Fortress" operation had to be stopped.
Just as Hitler was mobilizing his troops, the U.S. military landed in Sicily on July 25. With the consent of Roosevelt and Churchill, King Emanuele III of Italy, who had no intention of war for a long time, announced his unconditional surrender and withdrew.
The Axis Powers, on the 28th, the British and American forces entered the undefended city of Rome.
As the situation on the Western Front rapidly deteriorated, the forty divisions serving as the strategic reserve of the "Fortress" plan had to be quickly transferred to the Western Front and stationed in northern Italy and the Balkans to prevent the Allied forces from crossing the Alps and marching toward France and Central and Eastern Europe.
Waiting for the country to march.
Due to the loss of strategic reserves, Hitler had no choice but to withdraw the frontline troops used for "fortress" operations in order to preserve his strength and prepare for the next defense. As a result, even if the German frontline generals were capable, they would not be able to make a comeback.
, the Soviet-German battlefield and the entire European war situation experienced a dramatic reversal.
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Iron Bone 2193_Read the full text of Iron Bone for free_Chapter 2193 The dramatic reversal has been updated!