"7 days to the city of Moscow? Erich, are you sure? ”

It was not only the Soviets who thought of fighting the "Worship Offensive", but Field Marshal Manstein, commander of the German Army Group Center, also proposed the same idea to Hersmann and Guderian on April 10. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

At the end of the muddy season, he wanted to advance the central front from Rzhev-Sechokav-Vyazma to Moscow in seven days.

That's 200 kilometers in 7 days!

"Surely," Manstein said, "that after getting the seven Panzer Divisions transferred from Army Group North, Army Group Center would have 17 Panzer Divisions, and the number of tanks far exceeded the number of Soviet troops in front of them." So I have the strength to push straight from the front, so I hope to start on April 20th. ”

This time, Manstein not only had to attack head-on, but also intended to push flat - 10 of the 17 panzer divisions would spread evenly across the 145 km battlefield between Rzhev and Vyazma from north to south, like a steamroller, almost the most clumsy tactic.

However, "stupid" also has the advantage of being "stupid", that is, the requirements for road conditions are relatively low. With a frontage of nearly 200 kilometers wide divided by ten, each armored division can be divided into about 20 kilometers on average, which is enough for an armored division to spread out and advance at a high density while avoiding over-crushing muddy roads. Although the German armored forces could not completely overcome the difficulties caused by the muddy season, they could at least allow the German armored forces to maintain the offensive for 5-7 days - in fact, the muddy roads did not have the greatest impact on the Tiger H and E-50A tanks, which were heavy but tracked vehicles after all. As long as the road surface is used wisely (not necessarily a road), it is still possible to move the tank a certain distance in the mud.

What really can't overcome the mud is precisely the wheeled vehicle! The more than 1 million German vehicles on the Eastern Front would have been stuck in the mud and difficult to advance.

In this case, the Germans, like the Soviets, could only maintain an offensive for 5-7 days, and both sides could only fight a worship offensive.

Of course, Manstein's "worship offensive" tactic is also related to the fact that the German armored forces now have strong combat effectiveness. Tiger tanks have become widespread, and the E-50A is also equipped in small quantities, and each armored division has a heavy battalion armed with 66 E-50As.

"In addition," Manstein added, "the Soviets probably did not think that we would launch a new offensive from a 150-kilometer-wide frontage in the muddy season...... They may well mistakenly believe that we are launching a feint aimed at mobilizing the clusters of Soviet troops on the northern front. ”

Hersman nodded, noncommittal.

Manstein continued: "From what I know about the Soviet troops, it is likely that they will break our offensive by means of defense in depth and a counterattack by concentrating forces at night." And that's our chance to massively annihilate the armored forces of the Soviet army! ”

He said this because the E-50A also had a night combat equipment that none of the previous tanks had - all E50As had FG1250 infrared searchlights!

This infrared searchlight allows the tank to operate in unlit conditions at night, although the effective use range of 600 meters cannot give full play to the lethality of the KwK4388mm L/71 gun at long distances. But on a daytime when the weather was good, the tanks of the Soviet Red Army would hardly fight with the German tanks on the Great Plains. So the 50mm gun of the E-88A basically did not have a chance to exert its power.

It was precisely because the Soviet Army had always sought night battles since the second half of 1943 that the Wehrmacht Army Armament Bureau took out the original black technology - infrared searchlights and installed them on the E-50A tanks, preparing to "yin" the Soviets in the decisive battle in 1944.

However, the requirement to hit Moscow in 7 days is still a bit high, unless it takes advantage of the empty Soviet troops on the Rzhev-Vyazma line, which is Manstein's wishful thinking.

"Now the Soviets have put at least 1 million troops on the northern front to counterattack, including at least four Guards Tank Army - this is half of the total number of Soviet tank armies," Manstein said. Therefore, the strength of the Soviet army on the eastern front of the Moscow battlefield must be relatively empty, and if our Army Group Center can advance the front near Moscow in a seven-day offensive operation, then the northern front of the Soviet Moscow Front will also collapse...... At that time, the city of Moscow will be the last refuge of this main Soviet front. ”

Moscow was undoubtedly a well-fortified metropolis, and from the beginning of 1943 Stalin made the decision to deploy in Moscow and instructed the People's Commissariat of Defense and the Moscow Region to begin construction of the "Moscow Fortress".

Construction of the Moscow Fortress began to accelerate after the Battle of the Junction in 1943, and from then until now, millions of people are working on the fortifications in and outside Moscow, whether it is windy, rainy, or snowy.

The entire city of Moscow has now been transformed into a 2,000-square-kilometer superfortress with countless fortifications and bunkers.

According to the traitor's informant, all those who would be stranded in Moscow during the defense of the war, including Red officers and soldiers and citizens, could take refuge in fortified underground bunkers if necessary. So the defenders and citizens of Moscow were not at all afraid of bombing and shelling, and even if their city was razed to the ground, they could still hold out on to fighting.

Hersman estimated that even dropping atomic bombs on Moscow would not necessarily force the "Muscovites" to surrender.

So driving the Red Army outside Moscow into the city and starving them was actually the least costly solution - at least for the Germans.

However, there is also a premise for the siege to solve Moscow, and the Soviet Moscow Front must be crippled first. Otherwise, several Guards Tank and Assault armies, thousands of JS-2s and T-38/85s, and more than 2 million heavily armed GC fighters are no joke. Without a fairly strong besieging force, it would be troublesome for the Moscow Front to counterattack.

Therefore, the situation of the decisive battle on the outskirts of Moscow is directly related to whether the siege can be carried out smoothly.

"Will the Soviet Red Army High Command shrink on the Northern Front at the beginning of the offensive of our Central Front?" Hersman voiced his doubts.

"It is quite possible," said Guderian abruptly, "unless there is a large enough decoy on the northern front to seduce Stalin, which will dull the reaction." ”

"Big enough bait?" Hersman asked, "What is it?" ”

"6th Panzer Army!" Guderian replied, "This is a big decoy, and if the Germans can cut the Red October railway line and put the 6th Panzer Army in their pockets, I believe it will cause Stalin and the Red Army High Command to hesitate for a moment...... As long as it is delayed for a few days, the northern front of the Soviet army will collapse. ”

Did Paulus have the fate of being surrounded? Hearing Guderian's advice, Hersman said in his heart that in history he was besieged in Stalingrad, and now in Kalinin...... However, there should be no risk this time, after all, Manstein has 17 powerful armored divisions at his disposal.

"Alright," Hersman nodded, "asking for the opinion of Modell and Paulus. He paused and looked at Manstein again, "Erich, this time Army Group North has paid a lot of sacrifices, can you give Moscow to them?" ”

Moscow is a big piece of meat!

For Moder and Paulus to complete the battle of Rzhev-Sychovka-Vyazma, then Manstein would have to give up Moscow.

"Okay," Manstein thought for a moment, "Moscow is settled by Army Group North. ”

"Then there will be no problem," Hersman nodded tentatively, and then said to Guderian, "after the completion of the Moscow encirclement, Army Group Center will advance in two directions, towards Ulyanovsk and Stalingrad. At the same time, Army Group South also began to advance towards Stalingrad in May! ”

……

"Woo woo woo ......"

Captain Valennikov, the commander of a tank company marching in a BT-7 tank with camouflage nets and a lot of branches and leaves, suddenly heard the sound of a piercing hand-cranked anti-aircraft siren.

It's April 12th, and the days of rain (rain and snow at first) have completely stopped yesterday afternoon. Now that the sky is cloudless, it is a good day for German bombers to be dispatched.

However, the Soviet 7th Guards Tank Army, which was advancing towards Valdai, did not abandon its daytime march because of this, because General Chuikov and Colonel-General Fedyuninsky had just received accurate information that the target of the 7th Guards Tank Army was now very empty, and there were only less than 20,000 White infantry stationed there, which could not stop the 7th Guards Tank Army at all.

Valdai was only more than 20 kilometers away from the Red October railway line, and once it was occupied by the Soviet troops, it was possible that the rear roads of the European coalition forces (the German infantry appeared on the front line on the 9th) who were currently fighting fiercely with the Red Army on the Kuvshinovo, Torzhok and Likuslavl fronts could be cut off.

Of course, encirclement or something, Chuikov and Fedyuninsky did not dare to think about it, but at least they could force the European coalition forces to break through!

This would greatly ease the situation on the northern front of Moscow, so Chuikov and Fedyuninsky decided to take the risk of allowing the 7th Guards Tank Army to advance during the day. However, on the march, the GCIST warriors were wary of the enemy in the air.

"Stop, stop!" Captain Valennikov reacted quickly, shouting and kicking the driver Shura in the back of the head, and the tracks of the 13.9-ton BT-7 tank immediately stopped moving, and the tank abruptly stopped on the already muddy road.