January 1, 1942, was the first day of 1942 (nonsense). Pen, fun, pavilion www. biquge。 info

On this day, both in Berlin and in Moscow, there is a special atmosphere of celebration for the New Year.

However, in this New Year, the Soviet-German war is not over, and the military top brass on both sides do not have the heart to enjoy it all, for them to win an offensive, destroy hundreds of thousands, millions of enemies, occupy / recover more land, is the best New Year's gift.

At this time, the situation in Germany was very bad, the three major army groups not only failed to break through the hinterland of the Soviet Union, but were also counterattacked by the Soviet army, losing Romania, an oil supplier, which caused Germany's oil supply to become tense and difficult to maintain the operation of the German armored group.

In order to fill the hole in the oil supply, the German government actively developed oil resources in the country, increased the extraction of crude oil, and built more coal-to-liquid facilities, so that the combined production of oil and coal-to-liquid in Germany in 1941 reached the level of 10 million tons, which was barely enough to maintain the operation of the German mechanized army, and enough to support several large-scale offensives.

On this very day, Yakov, deputy head of the Main Directorate of State Security of the NKVD of the USSR, suddenly received an urgent message, which he immediately reported to his superiors and went to his friend, Deputy People's Commissar of Defense General Manturov, to report the situation to him, and by the way to consult his old friend's opinion.

"Yasha, why did you come to me? Is there an emergency to report to me? ”

"Yes, Volodya." Yakov took out a document from his briefcase and handed it to Manturov's desk, "According to the latest information we have received, the German army is currently gathering forces in Belarus and western Ukraine.

Intelligence also indicated that some units originally deployed in Romania had begun to move north, and divisions that had previously belonged to Army Group South had appeared in the area of western Ukraine. And the two divisions that were previously transferred from Army Group Center to the Romanian front line have also reappeared in the Belarusian area, and it is estimated that they will have some operations in Ukraine and Belarus. ”

When Manturov heard the news, he also felt a little strange, he really couldn't think of what the Germans would make a name for themselves in Belarus and Western Ukraine at this time. "Is this information coming from a reliable source?"

"This information was provided by a number of comrades lurking in Western Ukraine and Belarus, and the content is highly reliable. Unless they defected and defected to the Germans, but this is extremely unlikely, so there is no need to worry. ”

"Multiple comrades?" Manturov asked, "How many exactly?" ”

"Volodya, we can't tell you this, because it's our secret. But I can say that these comrades are numerous, and they are scattered in the cities of the occupied areas, in the main villages of the regions.

And this time, the number of comrades who provided intelligence was very large, and almost every piece of intelligence did not conflict or contradict each other, so we were able to guarantee that these sources of intelligence were absolutely reliable, unless so many intelligence officers betrayed the motherland. ”

"So the source of the intelligence is very reliable." Manturov asked curiously: "What is the purpose of this transfer of the Germans?" What action are they going to take? ”

"Sorry, we don't know the content of the operation, the comrades of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have different speculations about this, but these speculations are contradictory. Until now, the comrades of the Ministry of Internal Affairs have not come to any conclusions, so I would like to hear your thoughts. ”

"My thoughts?" Manturov pretended to be modest and said: "I am not an intelligence specialist, nor am I a graduate of the Frunze Military Academy, what ideas can I put forward?" ”

"Don't be so modest, Volodya. Tell us what you think. ”

Manturov took out a map, placed it on a large table in his office, and spread it out.

He carefully looked at the map, analyzed the situation, and used a pencil to draw on the map the direction of the German troops' movements, marking their possible disposition.

"Yasha, come and see, this is my prediction of this German operation."

Yakov looked at the map, analyzed the arrows and "ghost drawings" that Manturov drew on the map, and said: "You mean that they are going to launch an offensive against our Southwestern Front in Belarus and Western Ukraine?" ”

"That's right," Manturov explained, pointing to the corresponding location on the map, "according to my understanding of German tactics, Army Group Center, which is more well-armed, may concentrate its forces and form a local superiority in the area of Belarus and northern western Ukraine.

Then, they will look for a position that is easy to break through, concentrate superior forces on this line to the southeast, break through the Manturov line, and advance towards the area around Kyiv. ”

"Their target is Kyiv?"

Manturov nodded and said, "That's right, Kyiv is one of their targets." ”

"One of those goals? So what are their other goals? ”

"After Army Group Center breaks through the defensive line, Army Group South will break through the defense line of our army in Western Ukraine with the coordination of Army Group Center, and then, taking advantage of the German superiority in mobility, quickly advance to the southeast, possibly even to the Dnieper River basin, and then go south along the Dnieper River.

Its main purpose was to cut off the supply lines of the Romanian Front (the newly formed Soviet Front, consisting of Soviet troops stationed in Romania) and even the entire Southwestern Front, while threatening the Kiev and Kharkiv industrial regions and forcing the Romanian, Southwestern and Western Fronts to retreat.

Otherwise, the area west of the Dnieper, which was relatively empty, would probably be occupied by the Germans (there were not many troops east of the Manturov Line at the time, because the Southwestern Front had moved too many troops to Romania), and then they would move south along the Dnieper River to the Black Sea coast, cutting off the supply lines of the Romanian Front, and then if the Romanian Front did not break through to the northeast, it would be encircled and annihilated by the Germans. ”

After listening to Manturov's thoughts, a drop of cold sweat broke out on Yakov's face. If the Germans succeed in breaking through the Soviet defensive line, I am afraid that the Romanian Front, the Southwestern Front, and the Southern Front will all have to retreat, and the results that the Soviet army has managed to achieve on the battlefields of Ukraine and Romania will probably come to naught.

"Vorodia, how did you come up with this?"

"I'm just taking on the role of Hitler and thinking about what I would have done if I had been Hitler. Hitler was a man who was in a hurry, while the German army also tended to adopt offensive tactics and was more adventurous.

In Poland and France, the Germans have always adopted this tactic of breaking through the defensive line, and then cutting the enemy's supply lines and encircling the enemy's main force.

On the battlefields of the Soviet Union, I think they would have done the same. And only in this way will it be possible to achieve the goal of forcing us to evacuate Romania and abandon the Ploiesti oil fields.

By the way, did you inform the General Staff of the Red Army? Does Comrade Stalin know? ”

"Don't worry, I've already informed them as soon as possible."

"That's good"