20demayo Page 493
Page 493
"That depends on the situation. Maybe the enemy just wants to fight the main force of the Northwest Front under the city of Moscow, Comrade Stalin." Zhukov carefully chose his words, "In 1812, Napoleon also captured Moscow, and didn't he also suffer a shameful defeat in the end? His army and empire were all wiped out in the war that followed!"
This statement is obliquely indicating that Moscow must be abandoned!After speaking, Zhukov felt tiny beads of sweat on his forehead.He looked at Stalin anxiously, waiting for the supreme instruction of the great leader.Stalin frowned, and began to think for a long time.There was silence in the meeting room, only the sound of rapid breathing could be heard, obviously everyone was very nervous.
"Georgy Konstantinovich, your suggestion is very reasonable." After a long silence, Stalin managed to utter these words with difficulty. He said in Russian with a Georgian accent: "Even the rotten Roman The Novov dynasty was able to defeat Napoleon, who ruled almost the entire European continent. Of course, we Bolsheviks can also defeat Hitler, who only occupies part of Central and Eastern Europe! Even temporarily abandoning Moscow..."
Chapter 0770 The Sunset of the Soviet Empire ([-]) Another Blitz
"I'm afraid Moscow can't hold it anymore! They are retreating." Zhang Wentian walked into the war room of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission with a gloomy face, holding a recently translated telegram in his hand. The telegram was the head of the CCP delegation to the Communist International. Wang Ming personally planned it. He reported the situation in Moscow to the Chinese revolutionaries in Baotou in a tone almost like a funeral.
All the Politburo members and members of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission in Baotou have gathered in the war room. Everyone is surrounding a huge map table, and a huge military map is spread out on it. It is from Moscow to Smolensk. Between military maps.It has been densely covered with markings.Several thick arrows symbolizing the fascist German army are extending eastward, and the end point should be Moscow!
"Comrade Luo Fu, come over and study the situation together." Zhou Enlai beckoned to Zhang Wentian and invited him to the map platform.He took the stack of yellow newspapers without any hesitation.Wang Ming's telegram was stinky and long. He described the situation before the fall of Moscow in detail. Perhaps for the purpose of recording history, he sent dozens of similar telegrams in the future. As a result, historians in the future specially compiled a book "Wang Ming's Moscow Experience Records" and became a special work on the study of Soviet history.However, Zhou Enlai didn't have the leisurely interest in studying history now. He frowned and picked up the telegram to read it.
"Stalin has ordered the evacuation of all those unable to defend Moscow, and 200 large light and heavy industry factories have begun to relocate. About 50 skilled workers, engineers and scientific researchers, as well as a large number of institutions, theaters, and museums have begun Moved. The railway station is now crowded with people, and there are Moscow citizens waiting to evacuate everywhere... Our party's delegation to the Communist International has also received instructions to evacuate, but comrades Wang Ming and Bogu have already proposed to Stalin that they want to participate in this In the defense of Moscow, they will fight to the end with the Chinese Volunteer Brigade (the volunteer army sent by the CCP to Moscow, which actually only has the strength of one regiment)!
Comrade Wang Ming also reported that Soviet internal affairs personnel were planting bombs on factories, warehouses, institutions and electrical equipment in Moscow that could not be removed.There are more than 4 goals in total!Even Stalin's own villa and the Kremlin had laid explosives. As long as the enemy invaded Moscow, they would destroy everything!Now the chimneys of the buildings where all the party and government organs are located in Moscow are emitting black smoke day and night, and it seems that documents are being burned.also……"
When Zhou Enlai came to this point, he stopped suddenly, handed the telegram to Mao Zedong beside him, and sighed softly: "It seems that Moscow really cannot be kept. Even Lenin's body was transferred to Kuibyshev on May 5. !"
"Lenin is gone, but Stalin is still here!" Mao Zedong read Wang Ming's telegram at a glance and said with a smile: "He has announced that he will defend Moscow, and he is trying every means to mobilize troops to enter Moscow's periphery and the city. The position..." Having said this, Mao Zedong's face suddenly darkened.
"Runzhi, what's the matter?" Zhou Enlai asked curiously.
"Stalin and the upper echelons of the Soviet Red Army are paying too much attention to Moscow!" Zhu De on the side seemed to have noticed something wrong. He poked the Tver area on the map with his thick and black fingers, and said in a deep voice: "The Northwest Front Army of the Soviet Army It is the key to life and death! If this army is blocked in the northwest of Moscow and cannot enter Moscow... Stalin will not be able to keep Moscow or the Soviet Union no matter what!"
"But now he is trying every means to concentrate his troops in Moscow!" Mao Zedong went on to say: "What a fan of the authorities! If the German armored forces come to Tver with hundreds of kilometers of interspersed and encircled, then they will Block the retreat of the Northwest Front Army, and may even encircle the group with the cooperation of the White Russian army. At that time, they will either be annihilated or surrender! The Soviet Union will no longer have any troops capable of fighting to maintain the war..." Speaking of this, Mao Zedong He also sighed softly. Although he was ready to take over the banner of communism, he was a communist after all, and his feelings for the Soviet Union were sincere. Seeing that a huge socialist country was about to perish, he was naturally not a taste.
Most of the comrades in this war room are in the same mood now, everyone has lowered their heads, and some of them are still crying secretly.However, there are exceptions. For example, Comrade Zhang Xueliang, the vice chairman of the Central Revolutionary Military Commission and the chief of staff of the Chinese Frontier Defense Army, is gloating.He took the telegram from Mao Zedong, read it over and over several times, and then threw the copied newspaper on the map table with a snap, and said with a sneer: "Comrades, the failure of the Soviet Union was self-inflicted and deserves no sympathy at all. And...if they don't fail, how can we take over the banner of the world revolution? Without our correct leadership, how can the world revolution succeed? So the current failure of the Soviet Union is a blessing or not a disaster for the world revolution! We should do it as soon as possible Form a southward marching regiment and prepare to go south to liberate the Indian people! In addition, you must pay attention to the Far East... The Japanese have recently formed an alliance with the United Kingdom, and it seems that they are targeting China!"
"Britain?" Zhou Enlai suddenly thought of something, then shook his head and sighed, "It's too late, too late, even if Britain wants to form an alliance with the Soviet Union, it has no chance, right?"
In fact, Britain did have some secret contacts with the Soviet Union. Because Hitler's army showed unimaginable combat effectiveness in the battle at the end of 37, and the Chinese expeditionary fleet was stranded in Germany... Britain and France have already felt deeply Deep fear!Their emissary visited Moscow in the early months of 1938 and held several negotiations with the Soviet Commissar for Foreign Affairs Lvikov - discussing the defeat of Empress Anastasia in the Bolsheviks and the conclusion of a treaty aimed at targeting Nazi Germany. Covenant with China.Of course, similar negotiations are also taking place in Petersburg!But the problem is that the British Empire is now in decline, and the queen is not willing to board the British pirate ship at all, preferring to close the door and be neutral, so that the Russian people can recuperate.
Stalin was willing to form an alliance with the United Kingdom, but the British refused to immediately support the Soviet Union. They must wait until Stalin defeated the Queen before forming an alliance with the Soviet Union and providing assistance!As a result, Hitler was ahead of them and once again invaded the Soviet Union!Although the leaders of Britain and France can already predict that after the demise of the Soviet Union, Germany and China will point the spearhead of attack at themselves, but they dare not first provoke a war against fascist Germany.Because while Germany was attacking the Soviet Union, there were about 200 million troops and nearly 3000 aircraft deployed on the western border with France.In addition, Mussolini can also use millions of troops to launch an attack on France at any time... So the two world empires, Britain and France, can only take chances and watch the Soviet Union go to hell step by step.All that can be done is to continue to contact Japan to contain China, and to strengthen the defense system on the eastern border of France.
……
At this time, after breaking through the ineffective defense line of the Soviet Army on the Liozno line, 11 armored divisions (including the Chinese 8th Armored Division) belonging to the German First Panzer Army and the Fourth Panzer Army suddenly entered the battleground of Smolensk, which was in full swing. The northwest of the fortress turned a corner, turned to the northeast of Smolensk, and captured the small town of Dukhovshina on May 5.Then go all the way northeast, along the road from Dukhovshina to Tver at high speed!
It turned out that the first goal of the Germans was not to crack the tortoise shell of Smolensk, but the more than 100 million Soviet Red Army slowly retreating along the road from Petersburg to Moscow!The people in the German High Command knew very well that as long as the main force of the Northwest Front of the Soviet Red Army was wiped out, Moscow would be a ripe apple that would fall into the Russian Empress's basket by itself!But if the more than 100 million troops were allowed to withdraw into Moscow, the next bitter battle would be inevitable.
Therefore, the goal of the sharp knife of the German army-the armored forces in this raid is to detour from the north of Smolensk to the northeast and strive to occupy Tver before the Soviet Army's Northwest Front Army, so as to cut off the retreat of the Soviet Army's Northwest Front Army. The retreat to Moscow.Then, with the cooperation of more than 100 million White Russian troops, they will surround the main force of the Northwest Front Army of the Soviet Army and completely wipe it out outside Moscow!
After more than 4 months of rest, the German armored forces are stronger than before!Nearly 5000 tanks, assault artillery, 3000 half-track armored vehicles, and more than 3000 trucks formed an invincible steel dragon, rumbling forward along the road on the Russian Great Plain, unstoppable.For a time, the Northwest Front Army of the Soviet Army was in an extremely dangerous situation.
In fact, at this time, the high-level Soviet army was completely confused. They were confused by the sudden blow, and retreated in a chaotic manner, which made people in the General Staff and the People's Commissariat of National Defense panic. One thought, quickly arrange for my family to leave Moscow, a city that is about to become a hell, and it is best to make my name appear on the list of people evacuated to Chelyabinsk.
And Stalin and Zhukov have been racking their brains on how to mobilize enough troops to surround Moscow.After all, Smolensk is only 400 kilometers away from Moscow!Although the city has become a strong fortress (in fact, it is not very strong), it is expected to withstand it for a while, but the German armored forces can also bypass this fortress and advance to the city of Moscow at once!Although tanks are not particularly ideal siege tools in theory, if the number of these tanks reaches 10000, Moscow will still be captured by this monster covered in steel armor.
So they were complacent in the first few days that Smolensk blocked the German armored forces, and when the chief of staff of the Red Army Marshal Budyonny told Stalin that the German armored forces would not come to Moscow for the time being, they would go north to block the northwest of the Soviet army. It was May 1938, 5 when the front army was on the back road. It had been 8 days since Dukhovshina was captured by the German army. In these few days, the German armored group had advanced more than 4 kilometers on the road at high speed. up!
"Budyonny! You are only qualified to be a cavalryman, only a cavalryman! You are not worthy to be the chief of staff at all! Thousands of enemy tanks have marched more than 200 kilometers on the land of the Soviet Union like no one in the land, and you The chief of the general staff of the Red Army doesn’t know anything! How could I appoint you as the chief of the general staff? I’m really blind.”
The roar of the communist tsar echoed in the underground bunkers of the Kremlin.With his head down, Budyonny stood in front of the great leader with a face full of panic, the big mustache on his lips trembling slightly.In fact, he is not responsible for this matter. In order to mobilize troops to defend Moscow these days, the troops in the "unimportant" towns that were originally stationed in the north of Smolensk were rushed to the city as quickly as possible. Moscow's order.The small force left behind was often wiped out by the vanguard of the German army before they had time to figure out the size of the German armored force.It wasn't until the mighty German armored troops marched into Rzhev, a small town about 200 kilometers southwest of Tver, that they were discovered by lurking Soviet internal affairs personnel and sent the news to the NKVD in Moscow via radio.
Budyonny, the chief of staff of the Red Army who was born in the Cossack cavalry, took a look at the map and found that the general situation was not good, because the German army could feel Tver as long as it advanced more than 200 kilometers, and completely closed the door of the Northwest Front Army to retreat to Moscow!Although there is still a division of the Red Army stationed in Tver right now, how can an infantry division with [-] men stop the German armored group with thousands of tanks?Marshal Budyonny was so sad that he almost wanted to commit suicide when he thought that the last strategic force of the Red Army would be ruined because of his mistakes.
Hearing Stalin's accusation, Budyonny could only hang his head lower, and said sadly: "Comrade Stalin, you are right, I am only a cavalryman, and I have no ability to serve as the chief of the Red Army's general staff. Please remove me from the position of Chief of Staff, give me a cavalry army, and let me go to the front to fight the enemy!"
Looking at Budyonny who didn't have much desire for power and was obedient, Stalin could only sigh deeply, as if he wanted to cry but had no tears.Leaning a little, Zhukov was brought in by Stalin's secretary.Stalin pointed to a piece of paper on the table and said: "We have found the German armored troops who have been missing for several days. They have arrived in the city of Rzhev, which is only more than 200 kilometers away from Tver! What should you do? "
Zhukov picked up the report and glanced at it, then looked at the map on the table, and said in a hoarse voice: "Comrade Stalin, the initiative is now completely in the hands of the enemy. They will reach Tver in three or four days. However, the Northwest Front moved very slowly under the indiscriminate bombing of German bombers, and it was impossible to pass Tver before the Germans. It seemed that they were about to be surrounded by Germans again! For this reason, I suggest that the Northwest Front Army withdraw to Ostashkov, and then rely on the lakes and rivers near Ostashkov to defend, so that they can at least attract part of the enemy's forces, and at the same time delay a little longer... ..."
"Can we just delay time? But without them, how long can we last in Moscow? How much power can we use to defend Moscow now?" Stalin asked with a heavy heart.
Zhukov sighed and said: "We originally had an army of 225 million people on the Western Front, and then we newly formed about 40 people. Now about 160 million of them will soon be pocketed by the enemy! There are 25 people. Distributed in several cities west of Moscow, about 40 people are retreating from the Great Luki front, and now they have passed Sidved. It is estimated that the German army will leave several armored divisions in Rzhev It is used to intercept them... and there is now an army of 40 people in Moscow, but most of them are newly formed. These troops lack weapons and training, so it may be difficult for them to take on important responsibilities."
"160 million people are surrounded... How long can they last? Is it possible for the 40 people withdrawn from Great Luki to bypass the German armored forces to the south? After all, they are not the main target?" Stalin asked a few more questions .
Zhukov thought for a while and said: "If the main force of the Northwest Front Army is besieged, it is possible to persist for one to two months. If you want to save the troops withdrawn from Great Luki... then order the main force of the Northwest Front Army to send three assaults. Group, assault Tver, create the illusion that the Northwest Front is going to break out and escape, and attract the attention of the German armored forces, which may allow the Germans to transfer all the armored divisions to Tver."
"Is it true that the Northwest Front Army can't stand out? That's 160 million people! There are hundreds of tanks and tens of thousands of cannons?" Stalin still didn't give up.
Zhukov smiled wryly, "After these few days of fighting, the total strength of the Northwest Front Army is at most 150 million. It is hard to say whether there are 100 tanks. There are quite a few cannons, but not so much ammunition. Save it."
"But waiting for the encirclement is not always an option." Stalin leaned over and looked at the map. "Let the Northwest Front draw two armies to stand firm in Borogoye and block the White Guards in the east. The remaining 8 armies and 3 assault groups Advance to Tver, take advantage of the German army's unstable foothold, break through their defenses, and retreat to Moscow! Comrade Zhukov, do you think this plan is possible to realize?"
Zhukov knew that Stalin had already made a decision, so he saluted the leader and said: "Then please give me an order, let me return to the Northwest Front Army, they were brought out of Moscow by me, and I am also obliged to bring them back to the Northwest Front." return."
"No need, Moscow needs you more." Stalin shook his head, "Let Admiral Timoshenko command the Northwest Front Army to break through. I think he has the ability."
Chapter 0771 The Sunset of the Soviet Empire ([-]) Key Points
Tver is the capital of Tver Oblast in the northwest of Moscow. From the map, this city is located on the only way from Petersburg to Moscow, only 165 kilometers away from Moscow!
In the Second World War in history, there was not much war involved here, because this is not the only way for the German army to advance eastward.And in this time and space, this Tver has never been a particularly important place.Although the transportation here is very developed, and the Red Army marched toward Petersburg along the roads and railways here at the beginning of the year, but it must pass through the battlefield far away, and no one would have thought of stationing heavy troops here.Besides, here is an endless plain, there is no danger to defend, and no defense system has been built.As far as the Red Army is concerned, the flames of war will not burn here at all, because the White Army has no strength to attack Moscow, and even if they hit Tver with the support of Germany, the Red Army's defensive positions should be placed on the periphery of Moscow.It has been working in full swing for several months, hundreds of kilometers of anti-tank trenches have been dug, and countless permanent and semi-permanent fortifications have been built. Even every street and every house in Moscow has been destroyed. Transformed into a fortress-like defense system.If those self-righteous fascists dare to come, the Red Army will definitely wipe them all out under the city of Moscow!
But the development of things often makes people feel unprepared. Just when everyone thought that the German armored forces would rush towards Moscow, these cunning fascist bandits made a big turn in the north of Smolensk and went straight to Tver. went!And due to the negligence of the Soviet High Command (in fact, it was neither negligent nor blocked the force of 5000 tanks), when they determined that the goal of the German armored forces was to cut off the retreat of the Northwest Front Army, the German 425th Armored Division had already arrived here.They quickly launched an attack on the Soviet 150th Division stationed here, and with little effort, they expelled the newly formed rifle division (not yet equipped with artillery).And this also marks that the 10 million (already lost [-]) army of the Soviet Northwest Front Army, which was retreating from the battlefield near Lake Ilmen, was successfully cut off by the German army!
For the Soviet Union, if the Northwest Front Army was surrounded and annihilated by the Germans and White Russia, it would basically mean subjugation!Because these 150 million people account for almost half of the total strength of the current Soviet Red Army, and they are also the half with the best equipment and the best training.With the current remaining military industry system of the Soviet Union, it no longer has the strength to equip such an army.Therefore, Stalin and the Soviet High Command knew that there was little hope, but they still made up their minds to save the Northwest Front Army.
In the early morning of May 5, the General Staff of the Soviet Red Army finally came up with a combat plan to rescue the Northwest Front Army.This hastily drawn up plan has the following key points:
[-]. The defensive forces of all fortified cities on the Western Front (including the regular army and the Red Guards of the Workers) must do everything they can to contain the main force of the German army.
5. The Northwest Front Army will immediately dispatch three assault groups and a fully motorized infantry group army to rush to the northwest of Tver before May 13, and launch an attack on the unstable German armored forces as soon as possible.
[-]. The Northwest Front Army will deploy two infantry armies, relying on the lakes and rivers around Borogoye to organize defenses, so as to delay the offensive pace of the White Russian bandits.
[-]. The three armies withdrawn from the Great Luki were placed under the command of the Moscow Front, and immediately detoured to Moscow, trying to avoid fighting with the German army along the way.
200. The Moscow Front will draw out at least one group army and all the tank units that can be collected (mainly the tank and armored forces school in Moscow). An attack was launched in the direction of Tver, trying to echo the Northwest Front Army from east to west, and help the Northwest Front Army break out of the encirclement.
[-]. In case the breakout plan of the Northwest Front Army fails (in fact, the possibility of failure is extremely high), the front army must turn to defense on the spot and hold on to the last man with one bomb!
[-]. All political commissars, internal affairs personnel and counterintelligence personnel of all units must devote themselves to their work with the greatest enthusiasm!Anyone who delays the fighter plane, delays in advance, or retreats without authorization will be sentenced to death!Without exception.
[-]. All Communist Party committees, Communist Youth League committees, and NKVD branches in areas that are about to fall must organize local Communist Party members and Communist Youth League members, as well as all Soviet citizens who love the Communist Party and the Soviet Union, to form guerrillas and persist in the resistance movement!Until the fascist bandits and the remnants of the Romanov dynasty were expelled from the Soviet Union.
In short, for the Soviet Union, it is time for a dead horse to become a living horse doctor.If the Northwest Front was lucky enough to break through the blocking of the German armored forces and return to Moscow, then Stalin still had a chance to keep his capital.
……
While the Soviet Union was preparing a dead horse to be a living horse doctor, the two German armored armies that had just completed a 400-kilometer long-distance interspersed, did not care about the lack of men and horses, and had no time to celebrate with champagne, so they began to set up defensive positions. Well, if this raid started from Belarus, it has advanced about 500 kilometers so far, and the fuel carried by the entire armored group is running out, and it cannot cope with another large-scale assault, so it can only use defensive warfare. Come to intercept the main retreating Soviet army.Although the two armored armies have more than 4000 tanks and assault artillery (more than 800 broke down on the road), there are not many infantry assigned to them, except for the 11 armored grenadier brigades assigned to the armored division. In addition, there is only one motorized infantry army, with a total strength of only 26 people.And the number of artillery is not enough. If you don't count the 75mm cannons owned by thousands of tanks, the entire German armored group has only 15 artillery regiments. There are only 1000 heavy artillery pieces (including the No. 150 self-propelled artillery with a caliber of 306mm).Therefore, the Soviet army, which has an overwhelming advantage in numbers and artillery, does not seem to have no chance.
Fortunately, the German army now has an overwhelming air superiority. Due to the cooperation between China and Germany in this time and space, the German aviation industry has not had a blank period of more than ten years. Therefore, the quality and quantity of German aircraft are undoubtedly the number one in the world. , As for their opponent, the Soviet Air Force, since the time of the German invasion, they have basically withdrawn from the sky, and can only show their presence occasionally to show their existence.
Under Guderian's command, the entire German armored group (including the Chinese Eighth Armored Division) began to build a strong defensive position around Tver.In order to hurry, the Germans hung pushers in front of the tanks, and rolled out many half-person-high "earth walls" on the cultivated land around Tver to use them as bunkers for tanks to fight positional warfare.In front of these earthen walls, the German infantry dug out several trenches, laid wooden stakes, built anti-gun bunkers, buried mines, and pulled up barbed wire.Of course, anti-tank trenches are completely useless.In this way, trenches and earthen walls used to cover tanks appeared on the Tver Plain within a few days.The entire defense line is divided into two parts, east and west, and the focus is on the west front, where it is expected to face the crazy attack of the Soviet Northwest Front Army.The German army dug 6 trenches stretching for more than 20 kilometers on the western front, laid hundreds of thousands of anti-personnel mines, and pulled up hundreds of kilometers of barbed wire. Six armored divisions and two infantry divisions were arranged on this line of defense that looked pretty decent.The defense line against the enemy from Moscow in the east is much weaker, with only three lines of defense, 6 armored divisions and 2 infantry division.Another 1 armored divisions were set aside as reserves.