Steel and blood, untold lives and equipment of all kinds were consumed on this land. Perhaps because www.biquge.info they were fighting on their own soil, the resistance of the Russian army was unprecedentedly fierce, and the defenders on many positions fought to the last man. But none of this resistance was able to make a real difference. The difference in strength between the two sides is simply too great.

Zhukov led his command out of the city of Sarova in the early hours of 9 July. It's not that he wants to escape, it's that the troops in his hands can't fight anymore. The strength of the Ming Army far exceeded that of the Russian army, and the Sixth Army was not just a unit of the Ninth Panzer Army. While the 9th Panzer Army and Zhukov's troops were fighting fiercely in the city of Sarova, the rest of the Ming army was not idle.

After arriving near Sarova one after another, many Ming troops began to outflank the city from both sides of Sarova according to Junmo's orders, preparing to cut off the retreat of the Russian army and wipe out all the Russian troops here. At this time, Zhukov sent almost all the mobile forces at his disposal to try to block the outflanking of the Ming army. But in the end, it all ended in failure.

Zhukov had almost exhausted his armor, and by the time he had only a bunch of infantry left in his hands, the battle could effectively be over.

The entire city of Sarova has been practically completely destroyed. There is not a single decent building left in the city. There was a mess of rubble and broken equipment and supplies, and there were huge craters all over the ground. Everywhere were the remains of many officers and soldiers of the two armies. Regardless of what happened during life, there will be no more disputes among everyone at this time.

Zhukov held out with his troops to the end. The 13th and 28th tank armies under his command were almost crippled. In the end, only a few dozen tanks were able to escape under the pursuit of the Ming army. As for the elite tank 158th Brigade, it was completely wiped out. The 131st Infantry Division fought its way through the city of Sarova. And it's not just the 131st Infantry Division, in the two days of street fighting, Zhukov kept filling the city of Sarova with a large number of routs and reinforcements from all over the city, and the final casualties and prisoners may be as high as tens of thousands!

During the retreat, Zhukov used the 399th Infantry Division, the last formed unit in his hands, as a strategic reserve, to block the pursuit of the Ming army.

This fully equipped Russian infantry division lasted from 8 o'clock in the morning to 12 o'clock in the afternoon, blocking the strong attack of the superior forces of the Ming army for four hours, and buying time for Zhukov to escape from the war zone with the remnants of the defeated generals. But in the end, this infantry division was also beaten clean.

In the four-day Battle of Sarova, Zhukov commanded the Russian troops to block the seemingly irresistible attack of the Ming armored forces for four days at the cost of nearly 100,000 casualties and capture. During these four days, the Allies mobilized troops on a large scale and transported supplies, buying time for the battle that followed.

The losses of the Ming army in this operation were not light, more than 200 tanks and armored vehicles were damaged, and tens of thousands of officers and men were killed or wounded. The loss of more than 100 artillery pieces and nearly 300 fighters was also very painful for the Ming army. It's just a small city of Sarova, far from Moscow. In fact, this battle was not as easy as many Ming officers and soldiers imagined.

And the Ming army is now in the process of changing, no longer the previous tactics of using advantages to wear down opponents. Instead, they began to fight hard for casualties. The change in style of the Ming army was not good news for the Allies. Originally, it was suppressed in all aspects, but now once the Ming army is fighting desperately without fear of death, the allies will be even more miserable.

When the Sixth Panzer Army stormed the city of Sarova, the other units of the Ming Army's Central Army were not idle. Several Panzer armies followed behind the Sixth Panzer Army, while the infantry armies continued to attack on both flanks to expand positions and breakthroughs. The hundreds of kilometers from Nizhny Novgorod to Benza were filled with countless Ming troops.

At this time, in the headquarters of the Central Army Group in Kazan, Zhang Cheng had a dispute with his chief of staff, Lu Zhiyuan. As for the reason, it is very simple, because Zhang Cheng wants to revise his battle plan at this time.

At this time, because of the rapid assault of the Ming army, almost all the front-line troops of the Allied army and the central army group collapsed. The Allied front had been carved a huge gap in the center, and only a few hundred kilometers to the south of this gap was the extremely important Russian city of Tsaritsyn.

Tsaritsyn's geographical location is very important, and Tsaritsyn, located at the confluence of the Volga and Don rivers, is the largest transportation hub in southern Russia. This is true for railways, roads and water. Moreover, to the south of Tsaritsyn is the Caucasus, where at least more than three million Allied troops and a large number of technical weapons are fighting fiercely in the Caucasus against Army Group South in the Ming Russian theater.

At this time, the Ming Dynasty had completely controlled the land of the former Turkey, and the powerful Mediterranean fleet had entered the Black Sea. The main forces of the Russian Black Sea Fleet were forced to hide in the port of Sevasktopol, relying on the protection of solid shore artillery and shore-based flight units.

Zhang Cheng was keenly aware of this fighter. All he needed was to get the armored forces of Army Group Center to move south quickly and take Tsaritsyn in one fell swoop, and block the entire Volga. Then the armored forces turned west from Tsaritsyn and fought along the banks of the Don River to the coast of Azov. This distance is only a few hundred kilometers, which is not too difficult for the armored forces of the Ming Dynasty. As long as they can quickly reach the Sea of Azov and thus completely lock the banks of the Sidon River, the millions of Allied troops and large quantities of technical weapons in the Caucasus will be cut off from retreat and supply lines.

On the right side of the Caucasus is the Caspian Sea, and at the moment the entire Caspian Sea is under the control of the Ming army, and the Allies cannot break through to that side. And to the left of the Caucasus is the Black Sea. Now the Ming Mediterranean Fleet has entered the Black Sea in a big way, and the Russian Black Sea Fleet is hiding in the port of Sevasktopol, as long as the Ming fleet blocks the Kerch Strait, the millions of allied forces that have been surrounded will be dead.

Moreover, it was difficult for the Allies to choose to retreat even if they saw danger. The first is that the size of the troops is very large, where can millions of troops go if they want to? With the powerful Southern Army Group of the Ming Dynasty entangled, it is too difficult to leave. Then there is the fact that the strategic location of the Caucasus is very important, and it is difficult for the Allies to choose to hand over such an important strategic location.

So Zhang Cheng saw a good fighter. He wanted to draw troops from Army Group Center to the south to cooperate with Army Group South to encircle and annihilate the Allied forces in the Caucasus.

Zhang Cheng's target was not only the Allied forces in the Caucasus, but also the many garrison troops when sweeping along the Volga and Don rivers. And whether it was to stop the Ming army or rescue the Allied forces in the Caucasus, Zhang Cheng had the opportunity to eat more Allied troops.

In fact, Zhang Cheng's personality is more practical, and Zhang Cheng is more inclined to annihilate the enemy's vital forces and technical weapons on a large scale than to occupy a large number of lands. After all, it will take at least ten years for an ordinary man to grow up to be able to go to the battlefield, and there is an upper limit to the number of these men. And it takes time for those technical weapons to be produced. But the most precious thing in times of war is time.

When Zhang Cheng proposed a brand-new battle plan, Lu Zhiyuan, as the chief of staff of the Central Army Group, strongly opposed it. His idea was simple, such a massive campaign had officially begun, and now it would be a joke to readjust the strategic deployment and start an even larger campaign again. Where is it a simple matter for millions of armies on a thousand-kilometer-long front to change their strategic direction?

"Your Excellency." Kazan, headquarters of Army Group Center. Lu Zhiyuan came to Zhang Cheng's office again and tried to persuade Zhang Cheng to abandon the plan to mobilize the main force to the south, "Now that the Sixth Panzer Army is approaching Ryazan, it is not advisable to readjust the deployment at this time. This would bring great confusion to the troops. ”

Lu Zhiyuan's tone was more impulsive, and he was also in a hurry. After all, this kind of strategic adjustment is really important, and a slight mistake can mean a huge setback. As the chief of staff of Army Group Center, Lu Zhiyuan felt that he had to fulfill his responsibilities as chief of staff. Otherwise, no one would dare to contradict Zhang Cheng like this.

"There's nothing undesirable." Zhang Cheng, who was sitting behind the desk, put down the pen in his hand, got up and motioned for Lu Zhiyuan to sit down on the sofa next to him.

Coming to the opposite side of the road and sitting on the sofa, Zhang Cheng crossed his legs and leaned on the back of the sofa, took out a cigarette and lit it, and said, "I know all your concerns, but now that I have such a good opportunity, how can I let it go?" ”

"Your Excellency!" Taking the cigarette handed over by Zhang Cheng, Lu Zhiyuan frowned and said, "It's already mid-July now, and if you readjust your deployment, you won't be able to launch an attack until at least early August." Even if everything went well, they wanted to go south along the Volga River to capture Tsaritsyn, and then westward to the coast of Azov. Even if our troops marched fast, they would not be able to finish the battle until at least October. This is still an ideal situation. ”

Lu Zhiyuan picked up the lighter on the table in front of him and lit a cigarette, took a deep breath, and then said, "If things don't go well, it may drag on until November." And by that time the Russian winter had already come. Winters here are very cold, and it is very difficult to conduct large-scale combat operations in the region north of the Don. There is almost no way to conduct large-scale military operations in winter. As for next spring, Russia's already bad traffic will be completely mired in mud due to the thawing of ice and snow, and it will be at least April or May that a big attack will be made. That means we're going to lose a whole year! (To be continued.) )