"Reich Marshal, good news, the 48th Panzer Army has just taken Volokolamsk. Pen "Fun" Pavilion www.biquge.info now they are only 80 kilometers from the outer line of defense of Moscow. ”

On the evening of April 25, Hersman, who was about to leave the Tsosen General Staff and return home, received news from Guderian that the 48th Panzer Corps under the command of General Balk had captured Volokolamsk.

However, this is not particularly good news, because today is the sixth day of the German offensive in the center, but the few assault clusters closest to Moscow have only advanced to a distance of seventy or eighty kilometers west of Moscow -- the defense capability of the Soviet reserve front is still stronger than the German General Staff expected.

Moreover, even more than the expectations of the German General Staff were the northern front cluster of the Central Front of the Soviet Army, which was now set up again, and the Kalinin Front is still immovable!

Reconnaissance showed that this front, which had at least 1 million soldiers and thousands of tanks/assault artillery, still did not move south to join forces with the central front despite the serious threat to the rear road, but continued to build fortifications on the spot. As if it had not been noticed at all that the German armored clusters were marching on Moscow from the west and were about to threaten their rear roads soon.

Because of the "immobility" of the Kalinin Front of the Soviet Army, Army Group North and Paulus Cluster of the coalition forces did not launch a major offensive against the Soviet troops. It was only the Soviet troops who continued to attack the Wuyi Town-Valdai line, but in order to leave some thoughts for the Soviet Kalinin Front, the German offensive was not sharp. At present, it has only relieved the siege of Valdai, and has not captured the town of Wuyi.

"Maybe we should let Moder and Paulus get their hands up." Hersman said, "First take the town of May Day, and then attack in the direction of the city of Kalinin, forcing the Kalinin Front of the Soviet Union to flee to Moscow." The 4th Panzer Army flanked and launched an attack on the area of the Red October railway line. ”

Guderian rolled his eyes and suddenly asked: "Why wasn't Hoth's army group attacking in the direction of Klin?" However, more than 50 kilometers, it is possible to hit it on the 26th or 27th. And in two days, more than 1 million people of the Kalinin Front could not leave at all. ”

"Surround the Kalinin Front?" Hersman shook his head, "It's unlikely to work, right?" Even if Kling was captured, the Kalinin Front would still be able to retreat by a detour. They can even withdraw to the Yaroslavl region...... It would be better to send them into Moscow. ”

The Yaroslavl region, in the northeast of the Moscow region, is also full of forests and swamps, and as long as the Kalinin Front withdraws there, it will be difficult to capture it again. They (referring to the Kalinin Front) could even withdraw all the way to the Volga-Urals.

In this way, the operation to "recover" the Volga-Ural region in the future will become very difficult.

"It is possible to encircle the Kalinin Front," Guderian disagreed, "and we will be able to surround the Soviets as long as they themselves do not flee." ”

"Don't run away?" Hersmann stared at Guderian.

Guderian shrugged, "In fact, most of the encircled armies in history have a chance to escape...... Not fleeing by yourself is the biggest reason for being surrounded by enemies. So I think it is possible to encircle the Kalinin Front! ”

Hersman nodded, he knew that Guderian was right - although Hersman was a "water injection military god", it didn't mean that he hadn't studied military affairs for many years. In fact, he has spent a lot of time and energy on military research over the past two decades. Even wrote several military books!

His military god is water-injected, but military experts are real. Therefore, he knew very well that most of the wonderful examples of battles that could be put on the military literature must have made a great mistake.

If no one makes a big mistake, a good battle cannot be fought.

And the vast majority of commanders who have made great mistakes want to win a big victory that does not match the military power at their disposal.

"What do you think the Soviets wanted?" Hersman asked Guderian.

"I want a decisive battle!" Guderian said, "In the six days from April 20 to now, our people have not seen a few JS-2 heavy tanks on the battlefield...... I think they must be quietly concentrating, ready to give us a bite to do somewhere. ”

"In Klin?"

Guderian said this, Hersman couldn't think through it, and his more than 20 years of military research were in vain.

"There's a 90% chance of it." Guderian made a strangulation gesture with both hands, "If I were the Chief of the General Staff of the Soviet Army, I would also lead Admiral Hoth's armored cluster to Kling, and then take a big gamble!" ”

Hersman thought for a moment and asked, "So...... Do we bet or not? ”

"Bet!" Without hesitation, Guderian said, "No matter what it is, it is better than encountering 1,000 or 2,000 JS-2 tanks in Moscow." ”

……

"Comrade Katukov, how is the situation in your troops? Can it take on the glorious mission of fighting the Nazi armored clusters? ”

In the middle of the night on April 25, Zhukov had already arrived in Klin, which had been bombed to rubble by German bombers, from Volokolamsk, and met the commander of the 1st Guards Tank Army, Mikhail Brown, who had arrived from Kalinin at the headquarters of a collective farm outside the city. Yefimovich. Admiral Katukov.

The person who can become the commander of the 1st Guards Tank Army is, of course, very proficient in tank warfare. This Admiral Katukov can be said to be the most cerebral commander of tank forces in the USSR! At the outbreak of the World Revolution, he was only a tank brigade commander, first leading his troops in the Battle of Lviv (which took place almost simultaneously with the Battle of Warsaw, but with much less intensity), and later transferred to the commander of the 1st Tank Army, and in January 1943 he was promoted to commander of the 2nd Tank Army, where he participated in the Battle of the Junction.

Although his tank army suffered a crushing defeat in the Battle of the Joint, the losses of the troops were still less than those of the other armies that participated in the battle. In addition, he has always performed better than other officers of the same level in previous battles, and even if he loses the battle, he is not ugly. Therefore, he was ordered to join the Southwestern Front in place of General Vatutin, who commanded the defeated tank group.

After that, he led his troops to Ukraine, and it was not until the late autumn of 1943 that he led his troops to retreat to Stalingrad. At this time, the troops under his command actually had more than 30,000 people and more than 100 tanks that could be driven!

Because of such a record, he received the attention of Marshal Pavlov after leaving the battlefield in Ukraine and was appointed commander of the newly formed 1st Guards Tank Army.

In the upcoming "Kling Tank Battle", Katukov was again named by Marshal Pavlov and served as the commander-in-chief of the "Northern Front Tank Group" (also known as the Katukov Cluster). He would be responsible for directing a large number of elite troops selected from the 1st, 2nd, 5th, and 6th Guards Tank Armies to attack the left flank of the German army.

"The situation of the troops is not very good," Admiral Katukov told the truth in response to Zhukov's question, "the 4 heavy tank armies of the Kalinin Front have suffered certain losses in continuous battles for many days. At present, there are less than 800 JS-2 heavy tanks and less than 900 T-34/85 tanks. ”

"There are 1,700 ......," Zhukov nodded, "it should be enough." ”

Unlike the four heavy tank armies of the Kalinin Front, the 3rd and 4th Guards Tank Armies that remained in Moscow were all new forces, and Zhukov also transferred many tank brigades from other composite armies to strengthen these two armies, and now they can also come up with about 1,700 JS-2 and T-34/85.

That is to say, in the upcoming battle of the Kling tanks, the Soviets can put in a maximum of 3,400 JS-2 and T-34/85 tanks -- of course, the intact rate of Soviet tanks has always been low, and now they can drive 3,400 tanks. However, more than 2,700 JS-2 and T-34/85 are not less......

……

"How many E-50s and 'Cheetahs' can be driven now?"

Guderian, who had discussed with Hersmann in the evening to make a gamble with the Soviets, was talking on the phone with Field Marshal Manstein at the front.

"There are more than 670 E-50s," Manstein replied, "and there are more than 160 Cheetah tank destroyers." ”

The E-50A tank and the Cheetah tank destroyer were Manstein's two trump cards, but from the beginning of the offensive on April 20, to this day, no matter how fierce the fighting on the front line, he has not put the E-50A and the "Cheetah" into battle.

Because the trump card is to be used at the most critical moment!

"How many can join the 48th Panzer Corps right away?" Guderian asked.

"Join the 48th Panzer Corps?" Manstein asked rhetorically on the phone, "Do you want Balk (commander of the 48th Panzer Corps) to fight Kling?" ”

Manstein immediately guessed Guderian's intentions.

"Okay?" Guderian asked on the phone.

"Now only 11 heavy armored battalions and 3 heavy tank destroyer battalions can immediately join the 48th Panzer Corps." Manstein did not answer directly, but talked about the situation of the troops, "There are certainly not 400 E-50s that can be operated (440 at full strength, and the intact rate is also impossible to reach 100%), and the 'Cheetah' can move up to 110 vehicles."

The 48th Panzer Army was able to concentrate up to 2 Panzer Divisions and 2 Panzergrenadier Divisions for the assault on Kling. These troops have been depleted, and the total number of tanks/assault guns/tank destroyers that can be operated is certainly not 1,500, and the total strength is less than 60,000.

In addition, because the roads were muddy, it was difficult for the troops to keep up with the fuel supply, and it was somewhat reluctant to support a large-scale tank battle. ”

........

Finally, let's explain Luo Luo's update plan, because Luo Luo has to prepare two plans for the new book, one is to write a realistic life essay in the early Tang Dynasty; One is spare, ready to write Willem II of De II, so it takes more time. So from the end of this month, there will be two shifts a day in the future, and I hope readers can understand it. Thank you all for your support, Great Lo Lo Bai.