Now it is finally possible to give a historic definition of the protracted Battle of Minsk: the Battle of Minsk, also known as the Battle of Minsk, was the main turning point of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union in World War II, and one of the bloodiest and largest battles in the history of mankind!

It was a turning point, in the Eastern Front for several months in a row, in Minsk alone, the German army and its client states lost at least a million elite troops!

1 million! This will add up to about 10 million in the whole German army, and these 1 million can be said to be the most elite troops, the troops with first-class combat quality that have been tested for a long time!

Hitler would certainly have been able to organize such an elite combat group of 1 million, but it would never have been so easy - "For the German nation, their best 1 million young men have become the history of the war." The pen %fun %pavilion www.biquge.info violates the law of the development of human society and goes against the grain, this can only be the only ending! Lin Jun summed it up like this, "But this is just the beginning, and the moment the red flag is planted in the Berlin Reichstag, the Germans will finally understand that choosing fascism is the biggest tragedy in the history of the German nation!" ”

In the entire Minsk campaign, the Red Army captured about 300,000 German troops, and the fascist losses of more than 1 million included those killed, wounded and sick, completely and permanently incapacitated and their missing people, to be exact, the loss of more than 1 million combat effectiveness.

The capture of the fascist army was about less than a quarter of the total losses of the German army and its servants, which was normal in Lin Jun's view: just as the Battle of Stalingrad in history was one of the most tragic battles in World War II and even in the history of human warfare - because the scale of the battle was so large, the number of casualties on both sides of the Battle of Stalingrad could never be accurately counted.

Many scholars estimate that the Axis forces suffered 600,000 casualties at the Battle of Stalingrad, including 300,000 Germans, 150,000 Romanians, 70,000 Italians, 50,000 Hungarians, and about 50,000 Soviet surrendered troops, while about 96,000 were captured.

This Minsk battle was even bigger than the Battle of Stalingrad! The level of tragedy is also completely comparable to the Battle of Stalingrad! Moreover, this time the Germans accounted for the vast majority of the Axis forces, not half of the Axis forces killed and wounded in the Battle of Stalingrad. In the tug-of-war attack and defense in the early stage, the commanders of both sides can almost be said to blindly project troops on the battlefield, almost to the point of only asking how many reserves there are and not asking about the number of casualties!

If it weren't for the rapid coldering of the weather, Minsk would definitely become a no-go zone for humanity, and the corpses left on the battlefield on both sides alone would cause an uncontrollable epidemic!

At the beginning of the war, the Soviet Union's national strength was unprecedentedly strong, and the Soviet Union made as adequate preparations as possible for the Battle of Minsk, but it still paid a heavy price! Now it seems that the Soviet army (including a very small number of Workers' and Peasants' Red Navy, which was used as infantry, took part in the battle, and this is not counting the citizens of Minsk who were temporarily armed. The number of casualties may also be almost 1 million! Among them, the number of dead will not be less than 400,000!

The number of civilians killed in the entire battle will probably never be accurately counted, except for the citizens who were evacuated in the early stage of the battle, most of the civilians who remained in the city to ensure the army's battle were killed or wounded, and the whole city of Minsk has been completely ruined, except for a few factories in the eastern city that remain largely intact!

Not counting the "Stalin Line" and its offensive and defensive battles on the periphery of the city, the amount of ammunition invested by both sides in Minsk will probably exceed the yield of the Hiroshima atomic bomb in Lin Jun's opinion! The whole city was plowed again and again with bombs, artillery fire, explosives!

From now on, the term "Eastern Front" will become a nightmare in the hearts of all German officers and soldiers -- the Eastern Front will no longer be a stepping stone for any German officer or soldier to win glory for themselves, but a shadow that will never linger in their hearts!

On January 21, an order issued by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR was communicated to the whole country: in honor of the victory in the great battle for the defense of Minsk and Odessa, the Supreme Soviet decided to establish the Medal for the Defense of Minsk and the Medal for the Defense of Odessa from that day! Awarded to all Soviet Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, Workers' and Peasants' Red Navy, government personnel and civilians who participated in the Minsk Battle and the Battle of Odessa.

The order was issued, but it would take some time for the officers and men and the people who fought valiantly to receive the medal, because the number of awards would be so great that all those who had served in the war would have one, including the martyrs whose families could be traced to the living—it was evident that this would not be the time to rush to reward meritorious deeds, and the shape and pattern of the medal had not yet been determined. And the personnel of the Air Force of several units will become heroes who have received two medals at once, since they participated in two campaigns.

Not only the Battle Medals, but on the same day, five new medals were issued!

The Order of the Patriotic War of the 1st and 2nd degrees was established.

The Order of Suvorov of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd degrees was established and awarded to military chiefs and commanders who annihilated the enemy's superior forces during an offensive.

The Order of Kutuzov of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd degrees was awarded to military chiefs and commanders who were good at planning and carrying out the campaigns of the front and army groups or skillfully avoiding enemy surprise attacks and smoothly carrying out counter-assaults.

The Order of the Alexander Nevsky was established to award Soviet officers from the platoon to division level for their personal heroism and dexterity, and for their flexibility in directing battles and inflicting heavy losses on the enemy.

The Bogdan-Khmelnitsky Order of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd degrees was established and awarded to servicemen and partisans who had made meritorious contributions in the fight against the German fascist invaders.

Lin Jun didn't have time to think about how many new medals he could get, and after receiving the surrender of Field Marshal Adolf Strauss of the German army, according to the decision of the high command, he flew to Minsk at the airport before the Kremlin heard the "medal order". At nightfall the group arrived at Minsk airfield No. 6, where Kobets was waiting for him - the commander of the Air Force and his men were now finally able to relax their nerves.

"Marshal, some of the captured German officers above the rank of general will be sent to Moscow early tomorrow morning, where they will all be imprisoned at the headquarters of the Front."

As soon as he saw Lin Jun, he reported it.

Lin Jun didn't have time to talk a few words, and quickly walked into the armored personnel carrier prepared for him: this would have in his hand the draft of the Supreme Command's treatment of those high-ranking German officers.

As soon as the convoy was about to start, Kobets received the latest receiving message from the airport operator, and quickly stopped the convoy at a glance: "Deputy commander, congratulations to you!" Just received a telegram: In recognition of your outstanding contribution to the Soviet Motherland and people during the Minsk campaign, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet has decided to award you the title of Hero of the Soviet Union for the third time! (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please log in to the www.qidian.com, more chapters, support the author, support genuine reading!) (To be continued.) )