The Third Reich in Desperation

Manstein has historically been known for his "calculated risk taking".Manstein's strategic talent and environment created his genius-like and sensitive strategic sense, and no one in the German army can match him strategically.

The name Wojende Tate, perhaps, is far less famous in comparison.

His combat style is also very simple, that is, steady and steady.When the German army has the upper hand, he can play quite beautifully and achieve perfect command without leaking.However, he is completely unadapted to the quick battle mode, and prefers to nibble down obstacles step by step.

According to Manstein's concept, when an armored army appears in the depths of the Soviet army, it will inevitably cause great confusion in the Soviet army.Of course, the Soviet army will also do its best to mobilize troops from various places and give priority to driving this army back to the other side of the river.

At this time, the faster the 56th Armored Army continues its deep assault, the harder it is for the Soviet army to have the opportunity to move forward with superior forces to fight against this army in time.

It goes without saying that the deeper a single panzer goes, the greater the risk.It was precisely this point that Wojende Tate valued, so he was unwilling to continue to carry out the assault alone, and chose to obey Marshal Loeb's standby order.

But on the other hand, it is the so-called "calculated adventure".

In itself, the 56th Panzer Army can be regarded as having penetrated deep into the Soviet hinterland.The safety of a fast armored corps deep behind enemy lines should in fact depend primarily on its own movement.Once stagnant, it will soon be surrounded by enemy reserve forces.

Therefore, Manstein's risky tactics are actually feasible to a certain extent.

It's just that this time, Vojend Tate, who commanded the 56th Armored Army, has ordered the entire army to garrison Dinaburg, temporarily expand the landing field of Dinaburg, and hold on to the ferry to wait for reinforcements to arrive.

The disadvantage of this is that the 56th Army has no chance to reap greater results.But the benefits are also obvious. Vojend Tate used Dinaburg as a stronghold and used the fortifications left by the Soviet army in the defensive battle to wipe out a large number of Soviet counterattack forces.

The Soviet general Froshilov, who had been seriously exhausted in the previous days, had no time to replenish the complete troops, and hurriedly transferred to counterattack the German 11th Panzer Army that broke into the rear of the Soviet 56th Army.

The combat effectiveness of these Soviet troops is not high, coupled with the serious shortage of organizational systems, and the German army has complete fortifications left by the Soviets themselves.The entire Soviet army's counterattack and recapture operation can almost be said to have been a complete failure.

Wojende Tate did not adopt Manstein's "calculating risk-taking" theory and tactics, but he also insisted on consuming the enemy while moving closer to another tactical theory-concentrating the use of armored clusters to exert overall effectiveness.

Vojend Tate finally waited until the entire Fourth Armored Army approached.In fact, he only waited in Dinaburg for 3 and a half days.

In this way, the 4th Panzer Army gradually approached the biggest obstacle in the north - the "Stalin Line of Defense".

This is a fortified area on the border of the Soviet Union, with uneven distribution of strength and weakness, along the old border of the Soviet Union, from the south bank of Lake Pepusi in the west of Preskao to the former small border fortress of the Soviet Union, Sebiezh.

Some parts of the Stalin line of defense are just a simple tunnel, while some parts are a huge military defense engineering group.In total, the Stalinist Line consisted of 23 huge fortified areas, including more than 4 permanent fire points.

Fortunately, the Soviet Supreme Command did not correctly position itself as a defender, but overconfidently regarded itself as an attacker.

It is precisely because Stalin believed too much that the two-sided attack of the Soviet Union and the United Kingdom would defeat Germany, which led to the extremely slow progress in the construction of the latter's fortifications, and even stagnated from time to time.By the time the German army counterattacked and entered the Soviet Union, the fortifications of many fortresses in the Stalin line of defense had not yet been completed, and many places where heavy fire weapons should be placed were still empty. The troops did not have cannons, and the defense line garrison could only use light weapons to fight the Germans.

Moreover, during the initial construction period of the "Stalin Line of Defense", the idea of ​​armored soldiers had not been carried forward, and when Soviet armored soldiers experts were still such idiots as Pavlov, the Soviet Supreme Command did not know how powerful German tanks would be in the future. Large, there are only a small number of 37mm rebound guns on the defense line, and the rare 76mm guns are also temporarily removed from the turrets of old tanks. The number is not enough to deal with the armored clusters of German tanks, and the artillery support troops also rare.

Now, the 41st Armored Corps, ordered by the Armored Group Command, continued to advance along the road to Ostrov, while the 56th Armored Corps of Vojand Tate turned east and drove towards Sebiezh-Opochka. Enter.

Vojend Tate's intention was that after the 56th Army broke through Stalin's defense line, it could encircle a powerful Soviet tank group that may be located near Preska with the 41st Army.

And even if there is no such an estimated Soviet army group, even if there is no beautiful encirclement and annihilation battle like the Central Army Group and the Southern Army Group, just breaking through Stalin's defense line is still a major victory!

Text 785 is Reinhardt!

"The roads leading to Stalin's line of defense are all European standard highways designed and built by German engineers." A major general and deputy commander in charge of supplementing the defense line in the northern part of Stalin's line of defense, using the opportunity to report to Voroshilov Opportunity, poured out the frustration and distress of the front-line commanders: "When the defense line was built perfectly, the swamps, remote paths, and dirt roads that could not pass large vehicles were expected to block the invasion of the enemy. Now they have become European highways. Standard Continental."

The cooperation between the Soviet Union and Germany in the past has greatly improved the Soviet Union's logistics, industry, and transportation.However, the cooperation at that time also laid the groundwork for various problems now.

A large number of industrial areas have been established in areas close to Europe for economic benefits. These areas are now either occupied by the rapidly advancing German army or have been surrounded. These industrial equipment bought by the Soviet Union from the Germans at a high price, All have now been returned to their original owners.

In particular, many major railways and roads in the Soviet Union have been built or rebuilt with German assistance, and the design standards of German engineers are also implemented.

The important roads have basically been rebuilt and expanded according to the standards of German engineers, and the railways also use the European unified railway width and number of sleepers.

This allows German tanks to comfortably drive on high-quality roads, avoiding the problem that Soviet bad roads and dirt roads are not suitable for German tanks.

And German trains can also drive straight in, unimpeded and directly use the Soviet railway network to transport strategic materials urgently needed by the German army.

What's more terrible is that German engineers took advantage of the opportunity to help the Soviet Union build railways, and secretly surveyed and mapped tactical-level maps of some important areas along the new Soviet roads and railways.After figuring out the road conditions inside the Soviet Union, the German High Command no longer had a blind eye to the internal conditions of the Soviet Union, and incidentally marked relevant tactical-level data on the surveyed map that was more detailed than the Soviets themselves.

"The Soviet map used by the Germans is more complete and detailed than our own. Our army accidentally seized a map used by the German army before. I have to say that the map of our country drawn by the Germans is so fine that even if we look at it ourselves would be amazed."

Seeing that Froshilov didn't mean to interrupt him, the deputy army commander simply reported the dissatisfaction that had already spread on the front line: "In the map of our country used by the German army, the map of each of our cities The protection status, urban buildings, mountain topography, river direction, highway fortresses, and even tourist attractions are all marked."

The deputy army commander said almost cryingly: "The map of our country in the hands of the enemy is clearer than our own military map!"

As he said that, the major general even took out a map from his bag and handed it to Froshilov.

The German army has such a map. Even though there are many German troops who have never set foot on the territory of the Soviet Union, they are clear about the cities to be attacked. In this way, fighting a war is like playing a game of eating chicken, and the result can be imagined Know.

"Look at this combat map seized from the German army..." Froshilov pointed to the map on the table and smiled wryly at his staff officer.

This combat map, apparently seized from a low-ranking German officer, is actually not complete.

However, part of the road conditions and important information on nearby areas recorded on it are countless times more detailed than the Soviets' own military maps.Apparently, German spies in some areas had already secretly drawn detailed maps, and it was undoubtedly the German engineers who helped the Soviets build the railways that provided the features of the landforms.

"It was premeditated. The Germans have been preparing to invade us since 1923. At that time, we were so stupid to cooperate with others to develop the western part of the Soviet Union and listen to their suggestions to build roads and railways." Froshilov He bit his lips tightly, then let go, and said with some disappointment: "It's really a desperate war."

The combat staff officer who was Froshilov's confidant took over the partial battle map of the German army, and his expression was not natural. To what extent can the combat missions laid out on the map be perfect?

At the same time, he also knows that the current situation is that the European standard railways built by the Soviets themselves have just become the best way for German tanks to enter. It is simply that the Soviets have contributed to make wedding dresses for the Germans!

There are too many things that can be seen from this combat map.

Considering that the Germans secretly drew the topographic map of the Soviet Union more than ten years ago, it can be inferred that all the premeditated plans of the Germans may have existed at that time.

For example, even the matter of cooperating with the Soviet Union to build roads and railways was a conspiracy set by the Germans long ago!

"What kind of enemy is this?!" The staff officer felt a chill down his back for a moment.

"18 years ago...the Germans were still under the shadow of defeat at that time! How could they start preparing for a war that will not even have a shadow 18 years later?! That At that time, their national leaders were different from what they are now, so how can this level of policy continue..." The combat staff members are increasingly unable to understand the current phenomena.

In his view, everything is completely impossible, but in fact it did happen.What kind of causal connection will lead to such a desperate situation today? !

"Wait!" Froshilov suddenly seemed to think of something when he heard the exclamation of his confidant.

"Yes, I remembered!"

Then, Froshilov raised the volume, using decibels that almost pierced the eardrums of the staff officers and deputy army commanders present, and said in disbelief: "I remembered! At that time, the German representative who had the full power to preside over the Soviet-German cooperation project was the German representative who is now The head of state is Reinhardt's blond beast! I also attended his wedding in Moscow!"

Both Reinhardt and Bonna attended Stalin's congratulations in person, which was widely reported by Soviet newspapers as a symbol of the beginning of the Soviet-German honeymoon period. Froshilov could hardly forget it.

It was also a conspicuous large-scale event during Reinhardt's stay in the Soviet Union to preside over many cooperative projects.

Although the relevant reports of the wedding were later blocked and refrigerated by the Soviet propaganda department, the memories in people's hearts cannot be easily erased like this.

"So... everything so far... was predicted by the German head of state a long time ago?" Froshilov's staff officer almost frightened his jaw: "How can there be humans in this world who can do this kind of thing?!"

atmosphere, plunged into deeper despair...

BODY 786 Alternative Pathway

"Germany has never been, is, and will never be victorious in Moscow!"