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The coaches of both sides are worthy of being the world's top coaches, and there are no problems in command. However, the chronic problems of the Soviet and German armies have not been solved. First of all, the Soviet army's logistics is poor, and the old problem of frontline troops wasting ammunition has once again been solved.
Manstein seized the opportunity and in a short period of time at the beginning of the battle, he eliminated more than 200,000 Soviet troops who had not kept up with supplies. Seeing that the balance of the war began to tilt towards the German side.
However, in the unfavorable situation in the first battle, Zhukov, who knew that the German army could not last long, took full advantage of the Soviet army's strong strength and no longer easily launched a large-scale attack. Instead, he adopted a more conservative strategy and relied on fortifications to resist tenaciously when the German army attacked.
However, as soon as the German army retreated, they immediately launched local counterattacks, especially the rocket launchers with fierce firepower and easy transfer, which caused great trouble to the German army. As a result, the German army, which was exhausted, could not get the chance to repair at all, and its combat effectiveness continued to decline.
....
But even so, relying on the advantages of the quality of its soldiers and tactical literacy, the German army still achieved an exchange ratio of more than 3:1 in the first two months of this battle. The number of Soviet casualties exceeded 800,000, including permanent attrition.
There were more than 400,000 people, and the German army
The casualties were less than 300,000, and even including the servant army, there were only about 600,000. Even the Soviet commander Zhukov couldn't help but sigh, "If the fight continues like this, I'm afraid the Germans haven't even driven out of the country yet.
Russia's blood will be shed..."
But when the battle entered the most brutal third month, as reserve troops were gradually put in place, Zhukov's strategy finally showed satisfactory results. The German offensive finally only reached the outskirts of Stalingrad.
There is no way to continue.
When the war situation was unfavorable, Stalin made a desperate move to transfer all the regular troops from the Soviet-Chinese border and handed over all border defense tasks to local militias, freeing up more than 300,000 precious mobile troops, which became the straw that broke the camel's back.
.....
Later, many military commentators believed that had it not been for the SS troops of Army Group South who unexpectedly showed hardship and hard work that was completely different from that of the Wehrmacht, and consumed Zhukov with stalking and more cunning tactics that were not in line with the German tradition.
Most of the ammunition reserves forced it to suspend the offensive, and southern Germany
The complete collapse of the Army Group was inevitable. But even so, this great battle that broke out on the lower Volga River still severely damaged the vitality of the German Army Group South. Unless Mustache could still send enough reinforcements, even if Manstein
Because no matter how capable he is, he doesn't have the strength to launch a decent counterattack against the Soviet army...
However, although the Soviet army won this battle, it suffered more casualties than the enemy, and the consumption of ammunition was even more astonishing. No matter how hard the Soviet army worked, with their habit of wasting ammunition, in the ammunition reserve
With very little left, there was no way to continue the counterattack.
After Model, who is now well-known, once again used his best defensive counterattack to annihilate an elite Guards unit of the Soviet army. Zhukov, who realized that the German army was far from collapsed, wisely switched from offense to defense. The once fierce southern battlefield
Calm has been restored...
At this point, the war that lasted for more than four months finally came to an end. The Soviet Union suffered a high price of nearly 1.2 million casualties, including more than 600,000 killed, missing, and captured.
Too big, bad ending, final
After all, it failed to completely reverse the situation in the southern battlefield. Although the German Army Group South paid a heavy price of more than 200,000 people killed, missing and captured, and more than 400,000 injured, the troops of its allies and slave countries also lost more than 400,000 people.
, but still retains the ability to fight again.
However, if you look at the overall situation of World War II, you will find that the impact of this so-called "1945 Summer Battle" was not limited to the southern front of the Soviet-German battlefield, or even the entire Soviet-German battlefield. Because the soldiers who were previously sent to conquer by Mustache
Germany's elite troops were mobilized in large numbers, and the Balkan guerrilla war, which had previously been at a low ebb, quickly ushered in a
In the second revolution, in just five months, Tito incredibly expanded his guerrillas to millions of people and liberated most of the rural areas and some small and medium-sized cities in the five countries of the Balkan Peninsula. Tito's motherland
Yugoslavia was almost completely recovered, with only the capital Sarajevo still under the control of German and Italian fascists...
The three countries of Yugoslavia, Albania and Greece were occupied by the Axis camp during the war, and the civil resistance has never ceased. It is not surprising that Tito can stir up trouble, but Romania and Bulgaria are the two countries most loyal to Germany.
Cheng's servant country actually launched a large-scale workers' and peasants' revolution under Tito's organization and launch, and even endangered the fascist regimes of the two countries. This impact was really too great, and Mustache also regarded Tito's guerrillas as
A serious problem that must be eliminated as soon as possible.
In fact, the reason why Romania and Bulgaria are in trouble is because Tito is really powerful, but the root cause still lies within the two countries. Before World War II, Romania and Bulgaria were both semi-industrial countries, and their level of development was not as good as that of Italy.
Times are very bad
However, the slightest resistance would be brutally suppressed by the fascist government, resulting in great domestic conflicts. The two countries sent troops to help Germany invade the Soviet Union, of course out of concern and fear of Russia's "Big Slavism", and by the way, they also wanted to please the mustache.
, there is also the idea of diverting domestic conflicts through foreign wars.
If everything goes well in the foreign war, a little oil leaked from the ruling class, or even just the sense of honor of opening up new territories will be enough to satisfy the people at the bottom. But Mustache and the German army simply use these servants as cannon fodder.
The sacrifice is not small, but the benefits are not many, let alone two countries.
The people of the two countries, even the upper class, were becoming increasingly dissatisfied. When the situation of the Soviet-German war gradually reversed and the losses of the two countries' invading troops increased rapidly, the people of the two countries became even more dissatisfied with their fascist governments and the Germans. After all, there were casualties.
They are all their children!
In addition, most of the armies of the two countries were sent to the Soviet Union, and most of the troops left behind in their own countries were only the old, weak, sick and disabled with low combat effectiveness, and the number of troops was relatively insufficient. Therefore, after Tito launched his full-scale attack, the two countries quickly formed a situation that would start a prairie fire.
There is nothing surprising...
Worried about the situation at home, the governments of Romania and Bulgaria eagerly transferred most of the troops they sent to assist the German army in the invasion of the Soviet Union back to the country, with a total strength of no less than 600,000. The German army had always disliked the combat effectiveness of these servant troops.
Poor, it can only be used as cannon fodder, but if there is not enough cannon fodder, the problem will also be serious... (To be continued...)