armyinform Third Reich Episode 502
Third Reich Episode 502
Coincidentally, the last person to do this was called "Dmitry Grigorievich Pavlov".He was sentenced to death because he ran to the front-line troops, causing the command of troops at all levels to fail.
But now is different from that time, and the German army is also different from the Soviet army.
After the Great Purge, commanders at all levels of the Soviet army would not dare to assert themselves without orders from their superiors. They were timid, and their command mode was extremely rigid.
However, unlike the lifeless command mode of the Soviet army, the German army advocated the "mission command method".
Senior generals like Guderian only need to arrange a task, implement it, and leave it to the junior officers to arrange it themselves.
It is not difficult for the commanders who came out of the German military academy to complete such mission orders.
Therefore, after giving an order to the commanders of each division, Guderian can safely and boldly follow the command vehicle to the front line.Even if there is really any need, Guderian can contact troops at all levels through the command vehicle at any time.
Only, Guderian's convoy drove on the bullet-cratered road left by the front line, accompanied by the armored vehicles of the headquarters escort, and quickly approached the forefront of the battle.
Along the way, Guderian could also see teams of Soviet prisoners of war on both sides of the road from time to time.Guderian, who had already pretended to be strong enough in France, finally stopped shouting his arrogant slogan "Go away, I don't have time to capture you" in the jeep this time.
In Guderian's heart, his next place to act aggressively should be in Moscow's Red Square!
Suddenly, Guderian's jeep stopped suddenly, and Guderian, who was sitting in the front seat, leaned over and almost hit the windshield.
Fortunately, he didn't get up and pretend to shout, otherwise the sudden brake would have thrown him out of the car.
"What's going on?" Guderian shouted towards the front of his jeep.
An officer quickly got off the convoy's vanguard car and trotted over to report to Guderian: "Commander, we spotted a Soviet plane ahead. It's very dangerous!"
"Oh?" Realizing that the convoy was indeed in danger under the threat of Soviet aircraft, Guderian quickly scanned the surrounding environment, and then ordered after a few seconds: "Pass me the order, and the entire convoy will immediately drive into the front right side." A forest!"
"Yes!" Then the officer stood at attention and saluted.
Subsequently, under the coordination of the officers, the convoy began to move rapidly towards the woods.
And just after Guderian's car entered the woods following the avant-garde car, the bomb dropped by the Soviet plane fell on the road they passed just now. The rear cars had no time to dodge. The German soldiers had no choice but to abandon their cars and run towards the woods on foot.
Immediately afterwards, the Soviet planes also turned around and shot at the dense forest indiscriminately, but after seeing that the random shooting was really ineffective, they flew away.
In the woods, Guderian, who had escaped the catastrophe, looked at the convoy and personnel that had all entered the woods, and felt that he should take advantage of the current situation caused by this emergency and let everyone take a rest in the woods against the trees. Gu then counted the number of people and dealt with the wounded.
So, he got out of the car and found a lush tree and sat down, spread out the military map, and marked the positions that the divisions of the Second Armored Army had arrived after the communication confirmation just now.
Just when Guderian marked the positions of the divisions, his staff officer came to report the good news: "Report to the commander, there are no casualties in our convoy."
Guderian smiled when he heard the good news, and was about to order the convoy to move forward half an hour later, when he suddenly saw another jeep that did not belong to their convoy enter the woods.
A young staff officer ran out of that car, and as soon as he got out of the car, he asked loudly, "Is this the headquarters? Is General Guderian in?"
Guderian greeted him when he heard the words: "I am Guderian."
The officer immediately stood at attention and raised his hand: "Hey, Reinhardt!"
After waving his hand, Guderian signaled that the other party did not need to salute: "Which unit are you from?
"Lieutenant Levshitz, Communications Staff Officer of the 29th Motorized Rifle Division, reports to you!" The young staff officer continued to stand at attention.
"Huh? Isn't the communications staff officer of your division Captain Gorniger?" Guderian happened to have an impression of the somewhat fat Captain Gorniger, so he was puzzled by the identity of the young staff officer.
"Captain Gorniger has unfortunately died. Commander, I am his adjutant. Our division headquarters was attacked by the Russians, and many staff members were sacrificed. The division's radio stations were all lost..."
The Soviet army can still take the initiative to launch an attack? !
For the first time since the start of the war, Guderian encountered bad news that made his heart tense...
Text 759 Attack vs. Attack
Guderian's nervousness is not unreasonable.After all, since the German army counterattacked across the board, the Soviet army has basically not had any counterattack actions.
Now suddenly came the news of the Soviet raid.Moreover, this kind of raid also caused serious losses to a division headquarters, a large number of division staff were killed, and even the radio station was completely damaged, so the communication officer could only rely on the communication officer to deliver the news.
Therefore, Guderian's first reaction was to ask, what is the situation of the 29th Division first? Where was it hit by the Soviet attack? Has there been a large-scale retreat?
However, Guderian's worries are obviously superfluous.Hearing his inquiry, the communications officer from the 29th Division immediately puffed up his chest and reported loudly: "Report, my division has captured the city of Smolensk, and the division commander ordered me to report to the headquarters, requesting a quick response." Send troops to support us and prevent the enemy from counterattacking."
"Has your division captured Smolensk?" Guderian was a little surprised, and confirmed again with unconcealed joy: "If you have already entered the city, I can transfer the 42nd Division to support your defense mission now." .”
"Yes, we have captured the entire city of Smolensk, but there are still some remnants of the Soviet army in the east outside the city, and they are constantly counterattacking, trying to take it back." Levshitz said loudly proudly.
That's it!
No wonder the Soviet army tried their best to launch a strong counterattack, it was all forced!
Smolensk, the barrier of Moscow, fell into the hands of the German army, and the Soviet army naturally had to desperately take it back.Otherwise, the next location where they desperately fought with the German army would be at the front of Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union!
Guderian was very happy, even he himself did not expect the 29th Division to complete the task so quickly.
Moreover, he learned from the report of the communications officer Levshitz that in order to capture the city of Smolensk, the entire 29th Division threw themselves into the battle desperately, from the commander of the division, General Polzenstein, to every soldier, They all acted very bravely.
Such an army deserves such a victory!
During this day, Guderian also received reports from other troops.Without exception, all the battle reports made him excited.
The 1st Cavalry Division under his command has already attacked to the southeast of Dastaybychav, the 4th Armored Division is between Chilikov and Moletiki, and the 3rd Armored Division is located between Jose and Moletiki. Between Lai and Tiqi, the 10th Motorized Rifle Division was on the south side of Moginev, forming an encirclement of Moginev's Soviet army. Behind, the "Grossdeutschland" infantry regiment was north of Moginew, the 10th Panzer Division reached the Krasny area, and the 18th Panzer Division was in the Dubrovro area.
Several avant-garde troops advanced in multiple directions to the side of Smolensk almost at the same time, and the infantry had already crossed the natural danger of the Dnieper River on which the Soviet army relied.
Although the Soviet army soon began to organize a counterattack, the newly appointed Timoshenko tried his best to cobble together almost 10 divisions and violently inserted into the right wing of Guderian's 2nd Armored Corps, even hitting a The raid on the headquarters of the 29th Division in Smolensk.At the same time, the Soviet troops who were besieged in Moginev Arsha also began to break out.
Timoshenko's intentions are very clear. He hopes to drive the German infantry back to the right bank of the Dnieper River, thereby isolating the motorized infantry division and the advanced German armored division occupying Smolensk, and rebuilding the Dnieper River defense line.
Timoshenko took out almost all the troops in his hands to launch a swift and violent counterattack, so that the armored troops protruding forward of the German army might be cut off from the supply line at any time.
This is a kind of risk. After Pavlov lost the main force of the Western Front and Stalin self-destructed the Great Wall and forced a large number of senior generals of the Western Front, the Western Front that Timoshenko took over was worth more than 6 defeated troops. .
Even with the addition of the five infantry divisions he brought from the rear to supplement the Western Front Army, their strength is seriously insufficient.
Therefore, Timoshenko took the risk of concentrating the already insufficient troops as much as possible, giving up the defensive battle, and counterattacking with all his strength, trying to regain the Tinaber River.
I have to say that this tactic is very risky, but it is better than sticking to the spot and waiting for Guderian to continue to divide and wipe out.
But Guderian adopted a more risky response method than Timoshenko. He ordered the armored troops that had already protruded forward to advance with all their strength at a faster speed and the fastest speed, crushing the enemy near Smolensk. The defenders fought against each other, interspersed and surrounded the Soviet army.
Because Guderian has one thing in common with Manstein and Rommel, they deeply believe in the war principle of "the fiercer the attack, the smaller the casualties".
As long as a more violent offensive can be launched, the attack organized by Timoshenko's counterattack force is like a stream hitting the sea, and even a little wave cannot be turned over.
And Guderian himself, like his troops, rushed forward almost desperately. Throughout the entire day of July 7, he marched with the 7th Panzer Corps.
Guderian's almost desperate attack, of course, also paid a price.Guderian, who took the lead in the front line, was in distress many times. Several avant-garde divisions also suffered losses to varying degrees. Many officers who led the attack died on the way to attack. Even the commander of the 17th Armored Division, General Webb, His younger brother was also killed in battle.