"Still not enough fuel?"

It was at an operational meeting of the General Staff in the early morning of April 26 that Hersman learned that the 4th Panzer Army was facing a shortage of fuel. Pen ~ fun ~ pavilion www.biquge.info

The problem was actually caused by muddy roads, and the trucks used for logistics could not operate normally, making it difficult for the attacking troops to get fuel and supplies.

In order to alleviate the logistical difficulties of the 4th Panzer Army, the Luftwaffe even flew hundreds of sorties a day to drop supplies and fuel from the 4th Panzer Army, starting on April 23. But even so, the reloaded 4th Panzer Army was "not very full."

"Can the Air Force send more Fokker 42s?" Hersman first gave the conundrum to the Air Force.

The Commander-in-Chief of the Air Force, Field Marshal Val T. Weaver, pondered for a moment and replied: "Now it can make up to 600 sorties a day, and it can airdrop about 3,000 tons of supplies, ammunition and fuel. However, these airdrops cannot all be given to the 48th Panzer Army, the 15th Panzer Army, the 19th Panzer Army, the 47th Panzer Army and the 58th Panzer Army all need airdrops. ”

"Give half of the airdrop quota to the 48th Panzer Army." "Several other armoured corps could slow down their advance to save fuel," Hersman said. ”

Guderian shook his head, "1,500 tons is still not enough, after all, after reinforcing 11 heavy armored battalions and 3 heavy tank destroyer battalions, the total number of tanks/assault guns owned by the 48th Panzer Corps is more than 2,000 units, and most of them are heavy equipment.

In addition, the 48th Panzer Corps also has a large number of tracked/half-track armored vehicles, which are also indispensable in order to support operations, so the total number of armored vehicles in the army may exceed 4,000. ”

Reloading and heavy attrition are definitely equated, and the 48th Panzer Corps' attack capability after concentrating 2,000 tanks and assault guns is extremely powerful, but the consumption is also astronomical. Even if you give them 3,000 tons of airdrop quota every day, you can't guarantee "fullness".

"Then leave all the medium tank battalions in Volokolamsk!" Hersman thought about it for a moment and made a decision that surprised Guderian a little, "This will reduce 6 armored battalions, and fuel should be enough." ”

"Marshal of the Reich, this will reduce about 400 tanks," immediately dissented a senior staff officer of the General Staff, "the total number of tanks/assault guns owned by the 48th Panzer Corps will drop to 1,600, while the opponents of the 48th Panzer Corps will dispatch at least 3,000 tanks/assault guns." ”

Hersmann glanced at the person who objected, and it was Major General Stauffenberg, the second combat officer.

Hersman shrugged, "At most, 1 German tank against 2 Soviet tanks, there's nothing wrong with that." ”

Hersman, who has always been cautious, now appears to be confident, but his confidence is not unreasonable.

Because on the Soviet-German battlefield in another time and space, the German armored forces fought more with less most of the time. If there is a ratio of about 1:2 to fight the Soviet army, I am afraid that all the German generals will wake up laughing in their dreams.

And more than 500 of these 1600 German tanks / assault guns are still powerful E-50s and "Cheetahs". In addition, these two tanks/assault guns also have a killer feature that most Soviets don't know about.

"However, the total strength is still a bit small," Hirschman said, deciding to increase the number of infantry assigned to the 48th Panzer Corps, "and the infantry has proven to be effective against enemy tanks in operations that began on April 5. Therefore, let's increase the infantry assigned to the 48th Panzer Corps, and if we can't draw motorized infantry, then draw some more paratroopers and infantry. ”

Hersmann has always attached great importance to the construction of paratroopers, and in 42 and 43 years several paratrooper divisions were expanded consecutively, and now the Wehrmacht Air Force has 7 paratrooper divisions. However, these paratrooper divisions do not have to fall from the sky, and many times they play the role of light infantry, active in areas where it is difficult for heavy troops to penetrate.

Due to the muddy roads, which were not suitable for the operation of motorized infantry divisions, Manstein assigned General Holt's 4th Panzer Army 3 elite paratrooper divisions and 2 ordinary infantry corps (under the command of 7 infantry divisions).

The decision to redeploy infantry and heavy armored battalions and heavy tank destroyer battalions to supplement the 48th Panzer Corps was made quickly.

However, the movement of thousands of armored vehicles (heavy armored battalions and heavy tank destroyer battalions also have many tracked/semi-tracked armored support vehicles) and tens of thousands of infantry takes at least 24 hours.

On the 27th, the 48th Panzer Corps of the Wehrmacht will march to Kling!

At the same time, the Soviets were busy deploying troops to deploy defenses and prepare for tank battles that would stake the survival of the cause of GCISM.

After assembling the tank assault on the Northern Front to the battle-hardened General Katukov, Zhukov found Marshal Pavel, who was on par with Katukov in the Red Army. Alexievich. Rotmistrov.

This person was also the commander of a tank brigade at the time of the outbreak of the world revolution, and his resume was about the same as that of Katukov. However, he had much better luck on the battlefield, first fighting a tailwind battle on the Polish battlefield, and later participating in the First Battle of Minsk (the Battle of Belarus), the Second Battle of Leningrad and the Battle of Kalinin (the battle in which Paulus's 6th Panzer Army's march to Moscow in the autumn of '42 was blocked north of the city of Kalinin), and he was basically a rare victorious general in the Soviet army. Therefore, he received the rank of marshal of armored tank corps at the beginning of 44.

However, the reason why Zhukov values this general with a big round head, likes to wear a pair of black-rimmed round glasses, and has two mustaches, and lives like a big red deer in the Japanese Army is not because of his "winning record", but because he, like General Katukov, is one of the few generals in the Soviet Army who really masters the essence of the use of armored tank troops.

In the early morning of the 27th, Zhukov, who had been squinting for several hours on a very bumpy Gas-61 military off-road vehicle (in fact, a sedan with off-road capabilities), arrived at the former enemy headquarters in the small city of Istria in Rotmistrov.

Unlike Klin, which was bombed by German planes and reduced to rubble, Istria on the Moscow-Riga railway line was not bombed much, and the railway and the road extending from the city of Moscow were functional.

Therefore, the mobilization and deployment of the "tank cluster on the southern front" of the Soviet army was much easier than that of the "tank cluster on the northern front". When Zhukov arrived in Istria, on the road north from the small town, a large group of vehicles and infantry was moving forward in a constant stream! The Katyusha rocket launchers, 152mm howitzers and 122mm cannons towed by strong horses, a large number of ammunition trucks, and SU-57 tank destroyers almost lined up on the road!

In order to ensure the victory of the "tank battle", the Soviet army really did its best to draw troops. Not only did two powerful Guards tank armies come from Moscow, but also a large number of mechanized/motorized infantry, including hundreds of SU-57 tank destroyers that had just been converted.

According to the plan drawn up by Zhukov, Pavlov and others, if the night assault of the two tank groups of the Soviet army could not succeed, then a large number of infantry and artillery would be put into attack together with the tank groups, and the armored forces of the Germans would be crushed with overwhelming numbers and firepower!

Zhukov got out of the car and stepped into Rotmistrov's headquarters, surrounded by staff officers and guards. Marshal Rotmistrov was looking at the map with the commander of the 3rd Guards Tank Army, Rybalko. The surrounding telephones rang non-stop, and all the troops were reporting on their movements. Seeing Marshal Zhukov walk in, Rotmistrov and Rybalko were taken aback and hurriedly saluted Zhukov.

Zhukov also returned a military salute, and then looked at Rotmistrov with blazing eyes and asked, "How is the trap arranged?" Was there confidence in defeating the Germans? ”

"Comrade Chief of the General Staff, the transfer of tank groups is basically complete, but 3 infantry corps and 8 tank destroyer brigades are not yet in place." Rotmistrov helped his glasses and replied, "But fortunately, the Germans did not move all day on the 26th, so we still have enough time." ”

Admiral Rybalko on the side looked impatient, and he hurriedly asked: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, if the Germans do not attack Klin, how should we fight?" ”

Zhukov smiled, walked to the map table, and pointed his finger in the direction of the city of Kalinin on the map: "There is a whole front army as bait, how can the Germans not rush into the trap headlong?" If the Kalinin Front, the Central Front, and the Reserve Front were to join forces, the total strength of the Red Army around Moscow would be almost 3 million. How many people are the Germans ready to die for Moscow? ”

He patted the map: "So even if Hersman sees through our plan, he will still take a risk, and he will send the most elite armored troops." As long as we could annihilate it, it would have been impossible for the Germans to encircle Moscow before the winter of 1944 arrived. In this way, our war of attrition with the Germans was smoothly dragged on until 1945...... I believe that the Japanese will not be able to hold out for that long! ”

"Japan can't hold out for too long?" Rotmistrov felt a little strange, his current position was deputy commander of the armored corps, he worked in the high command, and he knew a lot of information, but none of it said that Japan would not be able to support 1945.

"Yes!" Zhukov nodded, "Definitely...... Because the American submarines are a great blow to the Japanese sea transport lines, and from April onwards, the activity of American submarines will increase significantly! So the Germans definitely did not miss any opportunity to defeat us in 1944. ”

Before he could finish his words, a staff officer reported loudly: "Report, the positions of the 1st Red Banner Army of the Reserve Front in Tarvivo are now under heavy shelling and bombardment!" ”

Zhukov laughed: "Here we go!" The prey is about to rush into the trap! ”