Chapter 426 went well

The Axis Elections launched the offensive in the early hours of June 22, 1941, and it was difficult to calculate the distribution of forces in a particular area at this stage, as most German lists included many reservists who had not yet entered the war, and the same balance of forces between the two sides was difficult to calculate effectively. It is reasonable to calculate that about 2.6 million German troops entered operational condition on June 22, and they faced a similar number of Red Army troops in the Soviet military districts. The German raid had a perfect effect―――――― although the Soviet command warned the border troops at 00:30 a.m. after receiving reports of the approaching German troops, none of the troops were preparing for battle.

The biggest shock to the Soviet army was not the timing of the raid, but the sheer number and close coordination of the German troops attacking Soviet territory at the same time. Some 3.2 million German ground troops were engaged in the offensive on the Western Front, accompanied by hundreds of thousands of Romanian, Hungarian, Slovak, and Italian troops, while Finland launched the offensive from the north.

The speed of the German attack completely paralyzed the Soviet defense plan, and the severe lack of radio and communications equipment also made it difficult for the Soviet troops to coordinate their operations.

The German army launched a surprise attack on the Soviet Union on a long front of more than 1,800 kilometers from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south, divided into three army groups: the north, the center, and the south.

The task of the German Army Group Center was to encircle and annihilate the Soviet army in Belarus, with a source of 50 divisions and 2 brigades, to attack Moscow, the heart of the Soviet Union, the strength of Army Group North was 29 divisions, and the task was to annihilate the Soviet troops on the Baltic coast and attack Leningrad, and the task of Army Group South was to attack Kiev and the whole of Ukraine in the general direction, and to eliminate the main force of the Soviet army in Ukraine west of the Dnieper River, with a total of 57 divisions and 13 brigades. In addition, two armies, Norway and Finland, directed to the north, carried out surprise attacks in the direction of Murmansk and Leningrad, respectively.

At the very beginning of the war, 66 airfields in the western part of the Soviet Union were heavily bombed, and the Soviet army lost 1,200 planes within half a day, of which 800 were destroyed at the airfields before they could take off. The Germans advanced 50-60 kilometers on the first day of the war. The situation at the front was further aggravated by the blind command of the Soviet Defense Committee, which issued an unrealistic order that night in the face of the unclear situation of the war, demanding that the border military districts carry out a fierce counterattack to destroy the invading enemy.

In the first week of the war, the Germans fought extremely smoothly by virtue of their sudden attack, superiority in weapons and equipment, and the fact that the army had already been mobilized and concentrated and had combat experience, and Army Group Center had advanced to Minsk, the capital of Belarus, the advance of Army Group South had reached the point of approach to Kiev, and Army Group North had crossed the Western Dvina.

Although the Soviet Government took emergency measures to change the forward military district into a front army and set up a Soviet army command, it suffered a serious defeat at the beginning of the war because a large amount of work could not be prepared before the outbreak of the war, and thus suffered a serious defeat at the beginning of the war; due to the outdated equipment of the Soviet army, the poor quality of the command personnel, and the wrong judgment of the enemy's main attack direction, 28 divisions were completely wiped out in the early stage of the war, and more than half of the 70 divisions lost more than half of their personnel and weapons. According to statistics published by the West after the war, in the first 18 days of the Soviet-German war, the Soviet Union lost 2,000 trains of munitions, 3,000 artillery pieces, 2,000 aircraft, 1,500 tanks, and another 300,000 Soviet troops were captured.

After occupying Minsk, on July 15, the Germans captured Smolensk, the gateway to the Soviet capital Moscow, through fierce fighting, surrounded more than a dozen Soviet divisions, cut off the Minsk-Moscow road, the most important communication artery in the western part of the Soviet Union, and set up the headquarters of the German Army Group Center here. By this time, the Germans were only 380 kilometers away from Moscow. …,――――――――――――――――――――

The Germans had crushed the Russian resistance in their Russian offensive, and by the time the war had gone on, almost everyone was shocked by the Germans' performance.

Britain and other European countries occupied by Germany also cried out in despair.

Because with the smooth progress of the German offensive, in the eyes of the vast majority of the world, Russia is almost like a second France...

At the beginning of the war, France was conquered by Germany just over a month later, and Russia was not doing as well as France in the eyes of the world...

"If even Russia loses, then in the end there will be no one on the European continent to counterbalance Germany..."

At this time, Britain had obtained a large number of new piston fighters and large-caliber anti-aircraft guns from China through the "Exchange Act", so the German bombing of the British mainland had been reduced a lot, but the sense of despair in the face of Germany alone still existed in the hearts of the British.

"Boom Boom Boom..."

In the vast land of Russia, nearly 100 German tanks were constantly galloping.

Although the tank technology of this era was not very good, and it was not comfortable to stay in a small tank for a long time, due to the big victory just won some time ago, there was still a relaxed and happy atmosphere among the German tank crews in those tanks...

And at this moment, the destination of this tank unit is Kyiv in the distance ...

Not so long ago, the Germans had just won the Battle of Minsk.

After the outbreak of war on June 22, the German army suddenly dispatched hundreds of planes to bomb 26 airfields of the Soviet Western Special Military District, destroying 738 Soviet planes on the same day and gaining air supremacy. The German 3rd Panzer Group departed from the Suwałi area, broke through the defenses at the junction of the Soviet Western Front and the Northwestern Front, and then developed an offensive in the direction of Vilnius and Minsk, followed by the 9th Army; The 2nd Panzer Group departed from the area east of Warsaw, detoured to the Brest fortress, and then advanced rapidly in the direction of Slutsk and Minsk, followed by the 4th Army.

On the 23rd, the Germans occupied Grodno. The 10th and 3rd armies of the Soviet army each carried out a counter-assault on the city, but did not achieve its goal. On the 24th, the Germans occupied Vilnius, for which General Pavlov urgently ordered the reserves of the Western Front to advance out of the Bialystok salient.

On the 25th, the Germans encircled the far rear of the Western Front on both flanks, putting them in danger of being encircled. The 3rd and 10th Soviet armies were ordered to evacuate the salient through a corridor only 60 kilometers wide. On the 26th~27th, two German armored groups successively advanced to the outskirts of Minsk and occupied the city on the 28th; The 11 divisions of the 3rd and 10th armies, the main forces of the Western Front, were encircled in the area near Novogrudok between Bialystok and Minsk. On the 29th, the German 9th and 4th armies converged in the area east of Bialystok and divided the besieged Soviet army into two parts. On July 9, most of the besieged Soviet troops were annihilated, some broke through the encirclement, and one carried out guerrilla activities in the rear of the German army.

In the end, the Germans captured about 324,000 Soviet troops, captured 3,332 tanks and 1,809 artillery pieces in the Battle of Minsk, and occupied almost the entire territory of White Russia.

It has to be said that due to the lack of vigilance of the Soviet army itself, the arrogance of Stalin himself, and the serious decline in the quality of the Soviet army in all aspects after the Great Purge, the [Barbarossa Operation] did achieve unprecedented success.

And after the victory in the Battle of Uman, the Germans also turned their eyes to Kiev.

For the Germans, there would not have been the so-called Battle of Stalingrad, because the so-called Stalingrad was actually Volgograd.

Volgograd was called Tsaritsyn before 1925 and was founded in 1589. Destroyed by fire at the beginning of the 17th century and rebuilt on the right bank of the Volga River in 1615, it is one of the oldest cities in the Volga River basin. It was a military fortress in the 18th century, and a railway was built in the late 19th century, and the city developed rapidly, becoming an important industrial and commercial trade center in southern Russia. ..., during the 1918-1919 Civil War, the world-famous Battle of Tsaritsyn took place here, which was later renamed Stalingrad in 1925 because the war was led by Stalin.

Therefore, Volgograd was called "Tsaritsyn" in 1925 and "Stalingrad" from 1925 to 1961. In 1961, it was renamed "Volgograd" because of Khrushchev's "opposition to Stalin's personality cult".

After the October Revolution of 1918, due to the chaotic situation in Russia at that time, the Chinese expeditionary force in the Caucasus at that time moved north to occupy all the southern part of the Volga River, and these areas also included the important Volgograd.

It is precisely for this reason that there is no need for the Germans to fight the Battle of "Stalingrad" at all, because the historical Stalingrad is not in the hands of the Russians at all.

But even so, the Germans still need to occupy the entire territory of Ukraine.

Because as long as the entire territory of Ukraine is occupied, the border between Germany and China can be bordered, so that the German team can more easily accept China's material support―――――― and most importantly, with the smooth development of the Barbarossa plan, Hitler's ambitions have also grown a lot.

Add to this the fact that Hitler himself had always coveted the oil-producing regions of the Caucasus, not to mention Iraq and Kuwait in the southern Caucasus, which are far apart, but also have the highest oil production in the world.

What's more, if one day it really can hit Azerbaijan, why not go further?

After all, I've bowed for ninety-nine years, and I'm not going to bow for the last one...

It's just that Hitler himself only dared to hide this idea in his heart, after all, the smooth operation of the German army in Russia depended to a large extent on the funding of Germany by the Nationalist government in resources, especially fuel...

At least half of the fuel used by the German army is supplied by the Commune government.

If Yan Guang suddenly interrupted the supply of fuel and other things to the German army, the Germans who had already penetrated deep into the heart of Russia would die without a place to bury...

But...

Although Hitler has always kept this idea deep in his heart, and he only dared to say it to a few people close to him, this does not mean that Yan Guang does not know.

You know, within Nazi Germany, there were always those who opposed Hitler...

And the Military Intelligence Agency, which is an intelligence agency in China alongside the Military Defense Bureau, after decades of development, its intelligence capabilities are by no means inferior to any intelligence agency in the world, and many of these nails were planted in Nazi Germany, and many of these nails were planted when Hitler was still an opposition opposition―――――― unlike Xu Shichang, Yan Guang was very aware of Hitler's historical position in Germany in the future, so in the so-called " Not long after the "National Socialist Workers' League of Germany" was founded, some members of the Military Intelligence Agency operating in Germany had already joined it, and of course they did not know about Soong Dinghan, who was the president at the time, and Hitler had not even joined this party...

Therefore, Hitler did not know that he had no secrets to Yan Guang...

As for Hitler's idea of "going to war with China," which he said to the people around him, it was put on Yan Guang's desk the next day.

It is not surprising that Yan Guang would think this way of Hitler, or that it is a surprise that Hitler did not think so, after all, among the various titles of Hitler, there will never be a lack of the title of "careerist".

What's more, at this time, China's sphere of influence has expanded into Europe, if it was in the past, maybe Hitler would not have said anything, but in the case that Hitler was about to occupy the whole of Europe, looking at the words China marked on the map of Europe, Hitler began to feel a little obstructive. ..., it's just that Hitler wouldn't think about turning his face with China now, after all, Hitler still has a lot of places to use China, not to mention that there is a United States that China needs to deal with. And although Hitler was very arrogant, he also felt that it was really unrealistic to fight from Europe to Asia, so it was enough for Hitler to drive China out of Europe and occupy several oil-producing areas such as Baku, of course, if China could be completely abolished, Hitler would not mind really unifying Europe and Asia...

"Tell my generals to take Ukraine within a month and open ground channels with the Chinese!"

Standing in the command room, looking at the situation of friend and foe on the map, Hitler said in high spirits.

"Yes, my Führer!"

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Thanks to the efficient intelligence of the Military Intelligence Agency, it didn't take long for Yan Guang to know Hitler's thoughts, but Yan Guang was neither surprised nor angry, but just put the information aside casually after reading it.

This came as a surprise to many people, after all, in the impression of many people, Yan Guang has always been a relatively small-minded person. Although he can't be said to be revenged, if anyone provokes him, he will never make the other party feel better.

Unlike Hitler's high-spirited and stern light, Stalin, who remained in the Kremlin, was more miserable, although his beard was still eye-catching...

"How is the situation at the front now..."

In the command room, Stalin said in a hoarse voice.

Because of the situation at the front, Stalin was in a bad state both mentally and physically. But what can he say, after all, he personally gave the order for the Great Purge, which seriously reduced the combat effectiveness of the Red Army, and the defenselessness of the front-line troops against the Germans was also caused by him, so all this is his own doing...

Since Pavlov, the commander of the Western Front, had just been shot, the questioned general glanced at Stalin and said cautiously.

"The situation is very bad, in Minsk we have just been annihilated more than 300,000 people, and the whole of Belarus has been occupied by the Germans. And in the Battle of Uman, the Southwestern Front lost almost all of its mobility, and the Germans were already running for Kyiv ...

Hearing the general say this, Stalin's beard kept shaking.

"Damn Pavlov, damn Budyonny ..."

Although at least half of the credit for the smooth operation of Barbarossa went to Stalin, at this time Stalin could only blame his subordinates―――――― seriously, Pavlov and Budyonny were also very unlucky, because the situation at that time, even if someone else was in their position, it only made the situation slightly better.

After all, the Soviet Union at that time was not a country that could allow local high-ranking commanders to deploy privately, even if the commanders below felt that it was inappropriate, they could only do so, after all, the Great Purge had only passed for a short time...

Although Stalin was still angry there, it was clear that his anger could not stop the German offensive.

However, under Stalin's anger, the generals in the command room looked trembling, although Stalin's anger could not repel the German invasion, but at least it was enough to deal with them...

While Stalin was still there in anger, an official suddenly pushed the door open and burst in.

"Comrade Stalin," said the official, who leaned over to Stalin's side and whispered. The Chinese just got word asking if we need help..."

"The Chinese..."

Stalin's brow furrowed, at least half of the fuel of the Germans was supplied by China, and Stalin still knew this news.

"What do the Chinese want to do..."

"I don't know." The officer shook his head. "But I think it's better to meet them, after all, now is not the time to get into trouble with the Chinese..." When he said this, the official looked at Stalin's face, although he was telling the truth, but in the Soviet Union it was easy to be labeled defeatist...

Thinking of the battle situation at the front, Stalin didn't mind his big truth, but just nodded there.

"You're right, where are the Chinese now?"

"Are you going to see him now?" After receiving Stalin's affirmative reply, the official nodded. "Then I'll take you there now..."