The new commander of the Leningrad Front, Zhukov, military commissar Krementiev, chief of staff, Lieutenant General Khozin, deputy commander, Major General Fedyuninsky, arrived in Leningrad a day later than originally planned, and they left Moscow on August 15. Pen @ fun @ pavilion wWw. ｂｉｑUｇE。 infoBecause the Luftwaffe now had air supremacy around Leningrad, they went to Leningrad by train. However, the train they were on could only reach Kalinin, the capital of the Kalinin region (Tver region).

It turned out that the German armored forces advanced at great speed, and on the afternoon of August 15 advanced to the city of Chudovo in the Novgorod region, cutting off the Red August railway line from Moscow to Leningrad.

Therefore, they had no choice but to change to a plane, and on the night of August 16, under the cover of night, they ventured to Leningrad in the midst of the war.

Before the plane landed at the airport, Zhukov, Krementiev and others were in mid-air, and they already felt the fierceness of the battle for Leningrad. The island of Kotling, where the Kronstadt fortress is located, has now become a veritable hell of fire, with the flashes of hundreds of cannons on both sides turning the entire night sky red, and flickering fireballs continue to illuminate the night somewhere, as if magma from hell suddenly erupted.

But what caught Zhukov's eye the most was not the battlefield shrouded in fire, but the faint flickering of fire from time to time in the distance in what should be the pitch-black sea of the Gulf of Finland.

There is no doubt that several battleships or heavy cruisers are now bombarding the Kronstadt fortress with large-caliber guns on the waters of the Gulf of Finland west of Kotlin Island!

"How's it going? Where is Comrade Voroshilov? ”

After getting off the plane and coming to the North-Western Direction General Headquarters, Zhukov saw only Military Commissar Zhdanov and Chief of Staff Major General Gorodetsky, both of whom looked like they were in danger. And the commander-in-chief of the north-western direction, Voroshilov, was not in the command.

"Comrade Zhukov, the situation is terrible now!" Gorodetsky sighed, "The Germans are advancing rapidly on the southern front in Leningrad, several divisions we sent to resist them have suffered heavy losses, and the 27th Tank Brigade has almost been wiped out. Now the cities of Pskov, Luga, Novgorod and Chudovo have all fallen, and the German armored group is advancing in the city of Lyuban.

The situation was slightly better in the direction of Kotlin Island, where we engaged in a tug-of-war with the Germans, and the city of Kronstadt and the core of the fortress were under our control. However, a German fleet sailed into the Gulf of Finland this afternoon and began bombarding the Kronstadt fortress and the city with 280mm cannons. Comrade Voroshilov felt that the situation was critical, so he personally went to the Kronstadt fortress to take up the town......"

"What!" Zhukov was taken aback by Gorodetsky's last words, "Comrade Voroshilov went to Kronstadt?" You...... Why didn't you stop him? He's the commander-in-chief of the north-west! ”

"Stop, neither I nor Comrade Gorodetsky agree with Comrade Voroshilov going to Kotlin Island," said Zhdanov, frowning, "but he won't listen!" ”

The city secretary of Leningrad shook his head as he spoke. In fact, he knew why Voroshilov went to Kronstadt, this red marshal was going to die!

The world revolution had reached Leningrad, and the German offensive was so rapid that it seemed unstoppable. The German armored clusters on the southern front could not be stopped, and the Kronstadt fortress in the west could not be defended. When the time comes, the battleship units of the Germans will drive to the vicinity of Kotlin Island, from where they will bombard Leningrad with 380mm and 406mm cannons, and this Leningrad will still be able to hold it?

If Leningrad is not defended in the end, and Empress Olga comes back to be restored, then Voroshilov, who presided over the military work of the Soviet Union and was responsible for the defense of Leningrad, will be the number one sinner of the Soviet Union. It's better to die in Kronstadt!

"Comrade Zhukov, there is one more thing I want to ask for your opinion."

Zhdanov cried at this time and said in a hurry: "When Comrade Voroshilov went to Kronstadt, he said that if the fortress is lost, Leningrad will definitely not be able to hold it. He himself will definitely dedicate himself to the cause of GCISM, but the living forces in Leningrad must be preserved. So he suggested that as soon as Kronstadt was lost, the retreat from Leningrad should begin......"

"What? Fall back? Zhukov rolled his eyelids and said in his heart that it was fortunate that Stalin had sent him to Leningrad, otherwise the cause of GCISM would have been buried by the fool Voroshilov.

Maybe the Kronstadt fortress will be lost in a few days, and then Leningrad will be abandoned? Voroshilov is dazed, right? How many people can be evacuated in a hurry? Doesn't this mean handing over Leningrad to Empress Olga with more than two million working people?

"Comrade Military Commissar, Leningrad must not be abandoned, this cannot be considered at all!" Zhukov said with great firmness, "Comrade Stalin will never agree!" And the entire Leningrad people will not agree to Empress Olga to rule them...... No matter what kind of murderous weapons Nazi Germany used, we must resolutely defend Leningrad to the last man! ”

……

In the early morning of August 17, 1942, in the officer's lounge of the Deutsche Armoured ship, Field Marshal Guderian, commander-in-chief of the Wehrmacht on the Eastern Front, was holding a telescope and looking at the distant island shrouded in fire and smoke.

"Marshal, it's likely that my men won't be able to defeat Kronstadt." Standing side by side with Guderian was the commander-in-chief of the Airborne Forces, General Studenter, who personally commanded the Kronstadt operation.

Originally planned to be put into the island, including the personnel of the Airborne Forces and the Marine Corps, there were a total of 10,000 troops, dozens of No. 3 tanks, and more than 200 artillery pieces of various kinds (including howitzers, recoilless guns, mortars, anti-tank guns, and so on).

There are not a lot of people, but because of the sneak attack tactics of "submarine + tank" with big brains, and there are JU288 and DO217 dropping Fritz-X bombs to destroy the fortress's batteries. Therefore, both Student and Susman thought that they could take the Soviet army by surprise, and it would be possible to capture the Kronstadt fortress within 24 hours.

However, when the fighting began, it became clear that the Soviets in Kronstadt were all "fighting peoples" and were armed for battle in a very short time! And the participation of these Kronstadt militia in the war made the plan to take Kronstadt quickly. Therefore, on the 15th and 16th, Stud had to continuously increase the number of troops on the island, and the number of troops sent to Kotlin Island exceeded 25,000, but the progress was still slow. Now only half of the island has been taken, and the Kronstadt fortress and the city are still in the hands of the Soviets.

On the afternoon of the 16th, Guderian and Student simply took the armored ship sent by the Navy to bombard the Kronstadt fortress (because the fortress's artillery was basically destroyed by remote-controlled gliding bombs, so the armored ship could go out), and the Deutschland went to the front line to watch the battle.

"Can't take it? What about some more troops? Guderian put down his binoculars, opened his throat, and asked aloud to the accompaniment of rumbling cannons.

"No, we can increase our troops, and the enemy can increase our troops...... The wharf of the Kronstadt military port must have been filled with steamers from Leningrad now. Student shook his head and said, "The Soviets control the military port facilities, and we can't move troops at a faster pace, and now the number of Soviet troops on the island must be more than 50,000, and we can't beat them because of the fortress city." ”

"50,000?" Guderian smiled and nodded, "There are so many, and our purpose has been achieved...... Moreover, the Soviet attack on Lviv has stopped these days, and their Southwestern Front is likely to retreat. ”

"Transferring troops from the Southwestern Front?" Of course, people at the level of Student knew that the current attack on Leningrad was a false one, and the purpose was to attract Soviet reinforcements. He frowned, "It's a pity that it's not from Poland and Belarus." ”

"Fighting," Guderian laughed, "how can everything go well?" What we want the enemy to do, the enemy won't do. Therefore, it is normal for Stalin to move troops from Ukraine, but this is convenient for Army Group South...... Now it's up to Manstein and Bock to do it. ”

Manstein now holds the rank of general and serves as commander of Army Group North. And von. Field Marshal Bock was the commander of Army Group South. According to the newly adjusted counterattack plan, the major counteroffensive will be launched by Army Group North and South.

However, this time there were also relatively smooth points, and Qu Hillel's 18th Army fought smoothly...... Tens of thousands of Soviet troops were annihilated, and 20,000 prisoners were captured, and the 1st SS Division would probably be able to advance to Kirovsk today. ”

"Kirovsk? So smooth? Student was taken aback. Wouldn't Leningrad encircle us in this way? ”

"yes, it went unexpectedly."

Guderian shrugged his shoulders and said with a smile: "Probably the forces of the Soviet North-Western Front (the Germans did not know that there was a Leningrad Front) were attracted to Kotlin Island, so the east of Leningrad was very empty. And now the Soviet troops in the Karelian direction are also retreating, and it seems that they will soon retreat into Leningrad. So that our 18th Army would be able to join forces with the Finns, and that we and the Finns' army of more than 600,000 would be able to encircle Leningrad. So the sacrifices of the Airborne Forces and Marines on Kotlin Island are worth it...... Just let them hold on for a few more days. (To be continued.) )