Chapter 697: Two Million Prisoners of War

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Although the armored torrent of the Soviet Union is not as terrible as that of later generations, but the weakness is the same as the supply, for this weakness, Taizu saw it as in history, Hu Weidong also saw it because of the foresight of the traverser, and under Hu Weidong's reminder, the Germans also immediately realized this victory. Moreover, unlike the Chinese Air Force in history, which could only choose to lose and lose, the German army, which is now in full swing, was able to quickly cut off the supply lines of the Soviet offensive forces at the beginning of the war, thereby minimizing the losses caused by the Soviet armored flood to the German economy, industry and even personnel.

The Germans relied on what they were now the most powerful air force, but they had to get rid of the stumbling block before they could bomb Soviet supply lines. Originally, the size of the Soviet Air Force was not inferior to that of the German army, and the performance of the combat aircraft was slightly inferior to that of the German fighters, but there was no generation gap, and if the help of ground air defense Liliang was used, it may not be impossible to inflict heavy damage on the Luftwaffe, but after the heavy thunderstorm Jihua launched, the Soviet Union deployed more than 7,000 planes on the front line took the initiative to pour out, and the result gave the Germans an opportunity to take advantage of.

Although the Luftwaffe originally planned to wait until the Soviet planes had basically landed before destroying them on the airfield by bombing, the result was that the planes arrived a little earlier because of the speed of the planes, so that some of the Soviet fighters that had not yet landed could turn back to meet them, but because of the lack of fuel left in these Soviet planes, the combat effectiveness was seriously affected, and in the end it still failed to change the outcome of the war.

In addition, it is worth mentioning. Although Pokryshkin, a genius of the Air Force who had not been seen for ten years, was promoted by Stalin because of his outstanding achievements during the period of aiding China, he was jealous of the old guys at the top of the Soviet Air Force, and he was not reused after returning to China, and the eight-plane formation with superior combat efficiency put forward by him was naturally not appreciated, resulting in the Soviet Air Force still adopting a backward three-plane formation and outdated tactical thinking, which was naturally difficult to compete with the tactically advanced Luftwaffe. Moreover, the mere exclusion of Pokryshkin and several hundred other outstanding pilots who had been tested in the Chinese battlefield for a long time from the offensive operations in the early stage of the "heavy thunderstorm" had already greatly damaged the strength of the Soviet Air Force

The weakness of the air force led to the complete exposure of the logistical supply lines of the Soviet Union's 3 million ground troops to the Luftwaffe, and in just half a day, all the bridges in Poland that were helpful for the supply of the Soviet army were blown up, in order to ensure the annihilation of those 3 million Soviet troops. The mustache even made a ruthless effort not to let the Airborne Forces guard the bridge. Although it was not easy to repair the bridge after it was blown up, the Soviet army was able to escape from the German airborne forces by fighting the bridge from both sides, which was really a big loss

After the bridges were all blown up. The supply lines of 3 million Soviet troops have actually been completely cut off. But the mustache, worried that he was not insured enough, still asked the Air Force to overcome fatigue. The railways and even the main roads in Poland were bombed beyond recognition, so that the Soviet logistics department could not even deliver a loaf of bread or a bullet to the troops on the front line, and at the same time, the Luftwaffe aircraft group frequently launched attacks on the cars in the Soviet ranks. The already small reserves of supplies for the Soviet ground forces were further reduced

Although far away in Moscow, Stalin still saw the only chance to turn defeat into victory in this extremely unfavorable situation, and he ordered the Soviet Western Front, which was not far from Berlin at this time, to attack Berlin with all its might, although the Luftwaffe bombing cut off its supplies, but its remaining military material reserves were still enough for a few days of supply consumption, as long as the German capital Berlin could be captured, then the victory or defeat of the war would be immediately reversed!

In order not to disappoint the leader and to fight for the only glimmer of life, 3 million Soviet troops launched a fierce offensive in the direction of Berlin, but in complete contrast to the almost undefended situation along the German-Soviet boundary line in Poland, the Germans built quite complete fortifications on the border between the mainland and Poland before the war, although not as exaggerated as the Maginot Line, but it was difficult to break through for a while. The Marshal of the Soviet Union was confident that he would be able to open the way to Berlin if supplies were secured, but by just three days the supply of 3 million Soviet troops had been almost completely exhausted.

The helpless commander of the Soviet army had to agree to disperse the troops below to settle the supply on the spot, and the result naturally aroused the fierce resistance of the Poles, so that the Poles, who had an extreme hatred of the Soviet Union, regarded the Soviet Union as their greatest enemy, and even many people later joined the German army to participate in the war against the Soviet Union, completely forgetting that Germany was also the great enemy of destroying their motherland. Perhaps the fact that the Germans gave the Poles a piece of the pie when they confiscated the property of the Polish Jews was a factor that could not be ignored

Compared with the resistance of the Poles, it was the German Army that finally fully mobilized the death knell of the Soviet Union's 3 million troops. Due to the exhaustion of fuel, the Soviet Union's originally powerful armored forces became piles of scrap metal, and the Soviets had to use their own flesh and blood to fight against the German armored clusters, but the Soviet infantry was not too strong, and the previous purge killed most of the commanders in the middle and high ranks of the Soviet army, which may objectively have the benefit of emancipating the mind for the armored corps, air force and other jishu arms, but for the relatively traditional, and more affected by the ability of the officer, it is undoubtedly an out-and-out disaster

The Soviet infantry, which was only courageous, launched countless intensive charges against the enemy under the command of those unqualified officers, only to fall to the ground in pieces in the German MG42 general-purpose machine gun, which almost could not score syllables, and in post-war statistics, the MG42 general-purpose machine gun alone contributed one-third of the German army's results, while the few Soviet officers and soldiers who escaped by chance called it "Hitler's chainsaw" with trepidation

The sparkling Stuka bomber during the dive was another nightmare for the Soviet army, and after the Luftwaffe secured air supremacy, the bomber's high accuracy was fully exploited, and the huge lethality of cluster bombs and airburst bombs caused heavy losses to the Soviet infantry

Although the Soviet army was brave and tenacious, it could not hold out for long in this hopeless battle, and on the fourth day from the German ground forces engaged in the counteroffensive, the remaining Soviet troops above the division level all surrendered to the German army, with a total number of more than 2 million (to be continued......