It is not clear to everyone that at the very time when Zhukov and Stalin were discussing armistice negotiations, the Bryansk Front was in a desperate and futile struggle. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 ｉｎfo

Having established a solid encirclement around Tambov with Army Group East, Wicks set about preparing to encircle and annihilate the remaining 200,000 Red Army troops, but he did not rush to the offensive - the beleaguered enemy was quite formidable, and a forced attack would only bring unnecessary losses. He activated the method of siege.

Although Tambov has always been an important base and headquarters of the Bryansk Front, there are not many material reserves. In fact, it is impossible to have much, and the Soviet Union's ration of materials in all aspects has reached a precarious situation, and it is very difficult to even maintain the necessary materials for the front line, and it is especially difficult in this season of scarcity, even where the headquarters of the group army is located, the materials are extremely scarce, especially food, to the point of being stretched.

The bread rations of all the Red officers and soldiers had been declining, the few hundred horses that remained had been slaughtered and eaten, and by the 15th day of the siege, the rations of black bread for all officers had dropped to only 150 grams. Even with this level of supply, it could only last for another week or so. The city was full of hungry and dizzy Red officers and soldiers. Fortunately, it is not a cold winter, otherwise non-combat attrition would be a terrible thing under hunger and cold.

Stalin's promise that he would send capable troops to relieve Tambov was at first fulfilled, and by the time the Chichner Panzer Group attacked the Tula front and the Central Front had nearly collapsed, it was no longer possible for the Moscow Front to move south. In addition to the encirclement of 400,000 troops around Tambov, there are 3 whole armored armies waiting for reinforcements from the encirclement point. No one dared to take such a risk. If Meretskov was willing to pull the main forces of the Western Front out and fight a fight, it would have played into the hands of the German Army General Staff - it was far easier to conduct a field battle around Tambov than to attack Moscow.

The commander of the Bryansk Front, Rejter, initially had hopes for the liberation of the siege, then waited endlessly, and finally had only deep despair.

The telegrams he sent to the base camp have developed from pleading, hoping and demanding to complaining, complaining, denunciating, and invective, and have become more and more unpolite. ”

At first, Moscow tried to mobilize planes to drop supplies, but even the symbolic gestures stopped when these clumsy transport planes and bombers were shot down in droves by the swarming German planes. After learning of the crushing defeat of the Central Front, he finally knew that reinforcements were no longer possible, and that what the base camp was doing at the moment was nothing more than using Tambov, an outcast, to attract the attention of the Germans and buy time to regroup the defensive line.

He also considered breaking out of the siege, trying to fight his way out with the concentrated elite troops and tank troops, but no matter how much he tried, the troops could not break through the iron wall outside. And, even if it stands out? The Germans' mobile forces could easily hunt them down. After a few experiments, he gave up this futile effort of losing his troops.

With a one-in-10,000 hope, he asked his troops to build fortifications in the city, preparing to use a strong defensive line to win a chance for himself. He originally thought that the Germans would not be able to fight street fighting, but when the street fighting began, he gasped again: most of the people who carried out street fighting missions were not Germans, but Ukrainians, Belarusians, Lithuanians, Cossacks, troops of almost all nationalities in the Soviet Union, and the most reluctant enemy - the Russian Liberation Army. 90% of these units were once part of the Red Army.

By now he finally understood why the Germans had named this unit Army Group East, which was simply a hodgepodge of troops from the countries of the East, and a gathering place for the former and current Red Army.

Of course, the Germans did not do nothing, they sent the most powerful street fighting troops - assault sappers and assault artillery. Armed with flamethrowers, STG43 assault rifles, specialized sniper rifles, and recoilless guns, they swept through all infantry units with ferocious and blazing melee fire.

What's even worse is that the Germans actually dispatched an unprecedented sharp weapon - the Assault Tiger, which was originally the equipment that Manstein left in Rostov to prepare for street fighting with the Red Army, but it was never used, and this time it was transported to Tambov and finally found a place to use.

When the Germans found a suspicious target, they usually called for close support artillery fire, and the Assault Tiger was dispatched in places that were particularly strong, well concealed, and had complex terrain. No matter how strong the fortifications are, they will not be able to withstand the greeting of one 380mm super-heavy mortar shell - if there is, then two!

This bombing was a monstrous beast, not one or two, but two battalions -- all of which were orders for chassis secretly placed by Dr. Porsche, and the loud sound of the explosion could be heard throughout the city. Although Leitel had not witnessed it with his own eyes, the terrible nature of this weapon had been reported to him by those below him on more than one occasion. The T-34 was hit by a shell and was directly returned to the state of parts.

The most hateful thing is that the Germans were very restrained in the use of such weapons of mass destruction, and had no intention of pushing forward desperately, but only swept away some of the outlying positions, showed their majesty to the Red Army with their strength, and blockaded the entire city with the ubiquitous and blazing incendiary bombs, which flowed, bringing endless flames to every ruin and fortification, like flowing hellfire! After every German incendiary bomb raid, there was always a disgusting smell of incense in the air!

Today, however, Leitel seemed to smell another pungent smell of incense, and he was convinced that there was nothing wrong with his nose, which he accurately identified in the smell of gunpowder, the smell of combustion, the smell of gunpowder, the smell of rancidity, and the smell of rancidity.

"What does that smell like?"

"It was the Germans who tempted our soldiers with the field kitchen......" The military commissar Susakov's eyes were completely sunken, the cheekbones on one face were protruding, and there was no blood on his body, and he had to catch his breath when he said a few words, or he would pick up a glass of water and drink water, as if he wanted to use this method to hide the hunger that came from him.

"Oh......" Leutel nodded and said that he understood, he knew too well what the field kitchen was, this trick was tried and tested repeatedly during the civil war, but he didn't expect that now the opposite side will use this trick again, it seems to be an "old revolutionary".

"How much did you run yesterday?"

"More than 300 ...... There's also a lieutenant colonel inside. Susaikov lowered his voice and said, "According to your orders, the troops did not chase too far, and the guns were also meant." ”

"As long as you don't take your weapons with you."

The siege is lengthening day by day, and under the repeated attacks of the Russian Liberation Army's radio offensive and kitchen offensive, desperate soldiers secretly flee every day. At first, the Political Department and the Blue Hats tried to arrest people, but when they later realized that they were going to be shot on the spot when they were captured, the deserters simply fought their way through and ran to the past. The internal affairs forces could no longer suppress the desperate soldiers by virtue of their prestige and means, and besides, they were a minority in the Bryansk Front, and they could not do anything in the face of their ambiguous superiors.

Susakov asked: "Do you think there is still hope for us?" ”

Leitel did not answer the question directly, but said, "Why don't you take a plane?" ”

"Didn't you leave either?"

"I can't let go of these kids...... They all suffered such misfortune because of my incompetence. ”

"Why shouldn't I?" Suseikov sighed, "Besides, you think I can escape the Ministry of Internal Affairs by returning to Moscow?" Bagramian has already returned to Moscow, and now he is under investigation, and he still has Zhukov to protect him, maybe the delamination will be able to pass the test, we ...... Only the fool Sakharov thought he would get away with it. ”

Sakharov, who was the chief of staff of the Bryansk Front, secretly left the encirclement by plane two days ago, accompanied by a group of middle- and high-ranking officers, but the commanders and commissars of the front who Stalin asked by name to go gave up this opportunity to escape from the encirclement on the grounds that the troops were important.

In the middle of the conversation, someone came in and whispered a few words in Lejter's ear, and the latter raised his eyebrows, "Bring it in." ”

"Comrade Commander, Comrade Political Commissar." The visitor was first lifted from the black cloth on his eyes, and after adjusting to the surrounding light, he saluted Leitel and Suseikov, "I am the negotiator Kononov. ”

"I know you, you are the number one general under Vlasov, you are very good at fighting, and even more so at treason, and many soldiers in the prisoner of war camp have listened to your propaganda and joined the puppet army."

"Comrade Commander, I learned this from you."

"And me?"

Kononov nodded: "I heard that you were a colonel in the tsarist army, and then you were loyal to the Bolsheviks, and you were not reused until after the suppression of the rebellion of the sailors. ”

Suseikov frowned, and Leitel shook his head and said: "That's different, whether it's the tsar or Lenin, it's all us Russians, our own people." ”

"We can talk about it."

"You are not qualified to talk to me, you are the division commander, and I am the commander of the front army."

"Who do you think is qualified to talk to you?"

"Who is the Supreme Commander of your army?"

"The commander of Army Group Eastern is Field Marshal Weix."

"Alright, go get Weix."

"It can't be." Kononov smiled bitterly, "Don't be embarrassed for me. ”

"Hehe, this fully shows that you are just a dog of the Germans...... "Leitel laughed and said, "well, the Germans are afraid of death, are there any Russians who are not afraid of death?" ”

"What do you mean?"

"Let Vlasov come, for the sake of his time as deputy commander of the Front, I think he is barely qualified to talk to me."

"I'll get your opinion in place." Kononov simply walked away. (To be continued.) )