The 765th Great Encirclement of the Nine Collapsed Fronts

In mid-December 1937, unpleasant news reached the ears of the citizens of Moscow, some through the deep and solemn voice of the loudspeakers scattered in the streets and alleys of Moscow, and some through leaflets dropped from German planes. Of all this news, nothing shocked Muscovites more than the fall of Leningrad! Now it's Petersburg again, and the Romanov prostitute is about to reign in Russia in the Winter Palace...... What are the Kremlin's masters thinking now? Why didn't he find a way to stop this from happening? Muscovites thought to themselves: "If even Stalin had been helpless, would the Soviet Fatherland really be destroyed?" ”

Stalin really felt helpless now! Not because of Petersburg, not because of Empress Anastasia, but because of his three collapsing fronts - the 1st Baltic Front, the 2nd Baltic Front, the Western Front...... Of course, the Far Eastern Front was actually on the verge of collapse, but Stalin could not take care of them for the time being. Now the fire is to find a way to save as many troops as possible from the German encirclement so that they can be used in the defense of Moscow next summer! If Moscow can't hold it, then it's really the end of everything......

On this night, the Kremlin was once again lit up. Stalin's spacious and luxurious office was filled with stars: Voroshilov, Berzin, Baranov, Zhukov, Voronov, Kulik, Khrushchev...... All the high-ranking generals who Stalin considered to have some military talent were called here.

"Comrade Berzin, what do you suggest?" Stalin's tone was cold, the chief of the General Staff who had eliminated Trotsky for him had now lost his favor, but there was no suitable person to replace him, so he could only continue to sit in that chair.

Belzin moves his footsteps to get close to one of the maps sandwiched between the others.

"I suggest," he lowered, hiding his uneasiness, began, "first of all, let the Central Front (the Second Baltic Front and the Western Front merge) protrude from the enemy's encirclement, which has not yet closed, and retreat to the area near Kiev for regrouping." To do this, we need the full cooperation of the South-Western Front (Ukrainian Front) and the 1st Baltic Front. Among them, the Southwestern Front should at least send out a group army to the north to meet the Central Front; The 1st Baltic Front should break through to the east at the same time as the Central Front is breaking through to the southeast......"

Stalin nodded with satisfaction, the Central Front still has nearly 2 million people, and if it can stand out by half, it will be certain that it will win the defense of Moscow next year. He raised his head and was just about to say something, when he saw Zhukov, the commander of the Moscow Front, tightly twisting his eyebrows, as if he had something to say.

"Comrade Zhukov, what is your opinion?" Stalin asked.

"Yes, there are some opinions." Zhukov replied, looking very worried, "I think that now this retreat southeast of Minsk to Ukraine is a trap for the Germans. Because to the east of this pass, in the Smolensk direction there is the Guderian cluster of the Germans, which is an incomparably powerful armored cluster with at least 5000 tanks! And to the west of this passage, along Baranovichi, there is also the German Hopner cluster, which is also a powerful armored cluster with at least 3000 tanks! The mobility of these two armored groups was much higher than that of the Central Front around Minsk, and if the front left the fortifications near Minsk, they would definitely be caught in the middle of these two German armored groups, and the consequence would be a rapid collapse! ”

"Then we will watch the Central Front being pocketed by the enemy?" Voroshilov looked sad, "That's a whole 2 million people!" is the key to the defense of Moscow, even if it is good to withdraw half of it. ”

"Can half of it be withdrawn?" Stalin, with a gloomy face, asked Zhukov.

Zhukov shook his head and said: "I don't know, if 2 million people fight bravely, even 8,000 tanks will not be able to take them, but they ......"

"What can 2 million people who have lost their fighting spirit do in Minsk? Do you pledge your allegiance to that prostitute? Stalin said coldly, scanning the crowd with a gloomy gaze, thinking that the 2 million people around Minsk would most likely surrender to Empress Anastasia after a long siege, so that Hitler would not need to send the Germans to Moscow, but only let the Russians kill each other......

"They're supposed to fight to the end." As soon as Zhukov's words came out, he knew that they were not convincing, and he bowed his head deeply, as if he were a schoolboy who had said the wrong thing.

Stalin had anticipated this remark, and he also understood that it was very dangerous for the Central Front to break through, but it was better than a front army that had taken refuge in Empress Anastasia.

"Belzin, let's talk about the arrangements for the breakout." After a breathless silence, Stalin continued.

"Okay, Comrade Stalin, the plan of the General Staff is ......" Berzin, who could be the Minister of Intelligence at best, began to intermittently elaborate on the plan for the breakout that had been hollowed out of his mind. As he spoke, he glanced at Zhukov, whose face was as dead as ashes, and if he could, he would be glad to give him the post of chief of the General Staff.

……

The command post of the Central Front has now been moved to a fortification with a high level of construction craftsmanship. There are commander's bomb shelters in the fortifications, as well as bullet shelters for various departments such as the Military Council, the General Staff, the Political Department, and the Logistics Department, which are covered with thick reinforced concrete. The four walls are lined with pillars that are also made of reinforced concrete, and the interior is decorated with luxurious wood that exudes the aroma of resin. Above the reinforced concrete layer at the top of the command headquarters, it was also covered with a thick layer of soil, which, according to the design of the engineering personnel, would not blow through even a direct hit, whether it was a bomb or an artillery shell.

Ijeronim. Petrovich. Ubolevich sat in this impregnable fortification, without a hint of security. It's not that I feel like I'm in danger, but that the battle situation on the front line is complicated, and the orders from above are ...... Alas, in short, he was terrified by the current situation.

Now, sitting at the table, gazing at the map, the disposition of his own army groups and divisions, and the deployment of the enemy's various army groups, are all clear, and the whole situation is unobstructed. The north, west and east flanks of his Central Front were now Germans! Only in the southeast corner was a 100-kilometre-wide passage - the only way for the entire Front to keep in touch with the outside world, but two powerful German panzer clusters were now on either side of the passage, ready to close the gates and pocket the 1.7 million men of the Central Front! But now they are not acting. This is very abnormal, it seems that the enemy wants to escape through this passage! Years of military experience have taught the marshal that what you want the enemy to do on the battlefield, the enemy will generally not do; And what the enemy wants you to do, you must not do! But now he had to do it, because Moscow ordered him to break through! Break through that 100-kilometer-wide passage and go to Kyiv, then rest there for a while, and then go to Moscow to join the Moscow Front.

The plan for the breakout had also been sent by telegram to the command of the Central Front, and Moscow ordered that nearly 2 million people around Minsk (in fact, less than 1.7 million) be divided into four clusters, of which two or three corps would form a rearguard force to hold Minsk and attract the attention of the enemy; Hold the enemy Hopner cluster with five corps; with six corps to fend off the Guderian cluster; The remaining 30 corps retreated as fast as they could, to the southeast. In particular, the four tank corps and ten cavalry corps of the Central Front, these mobile units had to break through first......

However, Ubolevich knew very well in his heart that it would be impossible to drag the Germans with 11 infantry corps of 8000 tanks! Moreover, the mighty southward movement of the four tank armies could not escape the bombing of thousands of German planes in the sky! The infantry may be able to break into pieces and protrude, but the armored troops will not be able to escape at all. But this is an order from Moscow, an instruction from the great leader Stalin! He, as a commander of the Red Army, must obey unconditionally!

At this time, the footsteps outside the door sounded, and the cadres of the Central Front at and above the division level had arrived, and they were ordered by the Front Headquarters to come to the headquarters for a meeting and accept their respective tasks - the task of breaking through the siege or sending them to death!

……

December 15, 1937, 3 a.m., on the plain south of Baranovichi.

Lieutenant General Hu Lian stood on top of a half-track armored vehicle, and in front of his eyes were all movable tanks, assault artillery, and armored vehicles of the Eighth Armored Division of the Chinese National Defense Forces, totaling 265 No. 2 and No. 3 tanks, No. 3 assault guns, No. 3 self-propelled guns, 75 No. 3 anti-aircraft combat vehicles, 342 half-track armored vehicles of various types, and 668 trucks. In addition, there is an armored grenadier brigade of more than 7 thousand infantry. On the flanks of the 8th Panzer Division of China were the remaining three Panzer Divisions of the German 16th Panzer Army, the 3rd, 4th, and 7th Panzer Divisions of Germany. More than 1,600 tanks and artillery pieces lined up in the snow-covered Belarusian wilderness, waiting for the commander of the German 16th Panzer Corps. Admiral Hopner's order to set off!

Just like the Soviets had in their hands, the 16th Panzer Army was in the west and the 19th Panzer Army was in the east, like two ferocious wolves, holding the Central Front of the USSR firmly! Germany's Army Group Center and Army Group South constantly exerted pressure on the Soviet Central Front's nearly 2 million troops (Germany does not know how many there were) from the northwest. These two army groups were like two huge steamrollers, slowly pressing from the northwest and two directions, and after eight days and eight nights of bloody battles, the Soviet Central Front suffered heavy casualties and lost strategic points one after another in the face of the superior firepower, strength and huge air superiority of the German army!

After being tortured by the Germans for eight days, the monster of the Soviet Central Front finally couldn't tolerate it and was determined to break through the opening that was obviously deliberately let go by the Germans! According to the report of the German reconnaissance unit, just yesterday evening, several roads from Minsk to Kiev were crowded with troops fleeing south in panic, loaded with trucks loaded with baggage, carriages with artillery, tractors, infantry companies on foot, cavalry units on horseback, and T-26 and T-28 tanks that made a loud roar. All the troops, all the vehicles, all the people are fleeing from Minsk, which is shrouded in the breath of death, as fast as they can!

Of course, not all Soviet troops were on the run. The Soviet commander did not panic to the point of forgetting to arrange for the troops behind the palace to intercept the pursuers. In several important parts of Minsk in the west and north, the fighting is still fierce, and the Bolshevik fighters, abandoned by their superiors, are still doing their last duty. In another plane, if they hadn't died in battle but had been taken prisoner...... After the end of the war there will be a "ten-year labor reform" of their own, and this is the return of the Soviet Fatherland to them! However, on this plane, Empress Anastasia would soon use her rhetoric to trick Hitler into releasing them from the Nazi prisoner-of-war camps to live happily ever after......

But now, for the time being, they are still living in hell, and it is still a hell of fire! Hu Lian looked through his binoculars at the northeast sky, which was lit red by the flash of cannonballs and the explosion of fire! A total of 1,059 suppression guns and 1,558 mortars of various types were firing shells at a Soviet army group besieged in Banovichi. That was Stalin's "Baranovich miracle" and one of the biggest jokes of the war. The entire five infantry corps, more than 200,000 Soviet soldiers, gradually turned to ashes in the increasingly dense and louder explosions!

A four-wheel-drive car, known as a jeep, sped along the road and stopped next to the half-track where Hu Lian was. Wu Tuohao, who was full of red light, jumped down from above, and when he saw Hu Lian, he shouted loudly: "Brother Boyu, General Harder ordered, China's Eighth Armored Division is dispatched!" Pursue the main forces of the Soviet army with all your might. ”

Hu Lian nodded, he raised his hand, and shouted at the armored army that was ready to attack: "Eighth Armored Division, go!" ”

The most powerful steel legion of this era began to let out a murderous roar, and the steel war machines that had never existed in history rumbled forward!

At the same time, the Chinese 7th Air Division, which had been transferred to a certain forward airfield on the banks of the Bouag River, also received an order to dispatch as a whole.

At 3:30 a.m., residents of the small Polish city of Hajnuvka were suddenly woken up by the noise at the airport outside the city. The field airfield, which was used by the Chinese Air Force, is now brightly lit, with eight lighthouses erected in high air, projecting eight rays of light from high-powered searchlights onto the airfield's gun tracks.

115 twin-engine HE-111 bombers were already lined up to run to the sides. Ground crews are trotting SD-4-A1 submunitions weighing up to 350 kilograms in small carts to the underbelly of the aircraft, and then carrying them to the pylons in the bomb bay. This is a bomb developed by the Germans specifically to combat tanks. A total of 78 small bombs weighing 4 kg were built into the mother bomb carrier. Its power can penetrate the top armor of any tank used by both China and Germany, including the 40-ton Class 4 tank under development! Naturally, it is not a problem to deal with the T-28 with thin skin and big stuffing. At the same time, this bomb is not small against infantry, and can also be used to bomb Soviet infantry clusters. Today's preferred target of the 7th Aviation Division is the four Soviet tank corps that are fleeing south in a panic, if they are not found, then the Soviet infantry cluster is also their target!

In addition to the bomber aviation regiment at the Käynovka airfield, there was also an aviation regiment at the Brest airfield armed with A-4B Thunderhawk dive bombers that participated in today's air raid. The regiment's 125 A-4B dive bombers were true tank killers, a slightly different aircraft from the previous A-4A in that they were armed with two 35mm cannons. The top and rear armor of any tank in the world at the moment is not capable of withstanding the power of such artillery!

Today, Germany, including the Chinese Seventh Air Division, will dispatch a total of more than 4,000 planes to pursue and kill the Soviet Central Front that broke through to the south, and even the "bombing of Moscow", which Hitler and Goering were very enthusiastic about, has been temporarily canceled!

3:50 a.m. The ground crews shuttling back and forth at the Hainouvka field airfield were gone, all the HE-111 bombers had closed their bomb bays, and the crews were already in place. At 3:55, the No. 1 aircraft, the He-111 piloted by Lieutenant General Sun Yang, commander of the 7th Aviation Division, was the first to taxi to the runway. The two BMW-801 engines roared loudly, and the horsepower of up to 1,700 horsepower (maximum power at takeoff) turned into powerful thrust, and the propellers rotated at high speed, and the plane taxied faster and faster on the runway! Finally, near the end, Lieutenant General Sun Yang gently pulled the lever in his hand, and the nose of the plane soared and flew into the sky! Behind him, 114 bombers of the same type took off one after another, and then formed a huge bombing formation with the faint morning light, roaring eastward.

On this very day, more than 5,000 German and Chinese aircraft of various types, more than 4,500 tanks, assault artillery, and hundreds of thousands of elite infantry formed an incomparably powerful war machine, bringing the fate of destruction to the collapsing Soviet Central Front!

……