Seven Hundred and Ninety Five Minsk

Zhukov, who had just left Minsk by train, received a telegram from Stalin from Moscow. The content on it was very vague, but one thing is clear, that is, Stalin changed his mind. He hoped that the frontline troops could stick to Minsk, or at least stick to it. Live in Smolensk.

"The German army just bombed Stalingrad. Comrade Stalin sent such an ambiguous telegram. What does it mean?" Vasilevsky, the 3rd Guards Armored Front with the best preserved combat power in the entire central region , he was sitting next to Zhukov, looking at the telegram as if he was asking and answering.

Zhukov took a sip of the water in his teacup and looked out the window: "What other reason can there be? Minsk is handed over to others. Then the distance between the German army and Moscow is almost the same as the distance to Stalingrad. If the German army is the same The bombing of Moscow complicates matters."

As the capital of the Soviet Union, the city of Moscow is not London in the United Kingdom or Paris in France. It is a city deep in the Soviet Union and has the largest strategic depth in the world. If the city is attacked by the enemy, it will be a kind of destruction for the will of the whole country to resist.

So Stalin changed his mind, hoping that Zhukov could stick to Minsk and Smolensk, so that Moscow's depth still existed, and at least it could provide Moscow with a buffer area for air security.

Thinking of this, Zhukov smiled wryly, and then withdrew his gaze: "Comrade Vasilevsky, Comrade Stalin doesn't know much about military affairs. Now the order to retreat has been issued, and the troops in the entire central region are In the retreat, if the order to retreat is withdrawn at this time, it is estimated that the Germans will not make trouble, and we will make trouble first."

"Abandoning Minsk is already an established strategy. It is useless to stick to it now. We have also destroyed the field airports, and the bridges have been destroyed according to plan... Stopping the retreat now is no different from committing suicide." Vasilev Ski spoke.

Everyone on the front line knows that Minsk cannot be defended now. Germany’s differential treatment policy in Ukraine has given Belarus hope. The civilians here believe that as long as they get rid of the Soviet Union’s rule, they can become a beautiful Third Reich. Some of them were those liberated by the German army.

The retreating Soviet army also proved the correctness of this point of view. They swept away all the food, daily necessities for the winter, and even the horses and cars. Local people acted as manpower to dig roads and destroy their homes.

Compared with these continuous crimes, the German bombing of Minsk was selectively forgotten by everyone. After all, these locals prefer to believe that the bombing was aimed at the Soviet army, not at local civilians. They are looking forward to the arrival of the German army and praying that the German army will treat Belarus as it treats Ukraine.

"Let the local Belarusian troops stop,

Once their hometown is lost, these troops will all become our burden in the future, and we must guard against the burden of their defection at any time. "Zhukov thought for a while and said: "These troops were dropped on the battlefield in batches to block traffic and affect the pursuit speed of the German army. I think these troops can only be used as roadblocks now. "

In any case, since Moscow hopes to hold the defensive position as far as possible, it will set up obstacles for possible long-range bombing by the German army. Then, as the commander of the front line, Zhukov must give Stalin an explanation, and he must work hard to compromise with the tasks deployed by Stalin to consolidate Stalin's trust in him.

Now it is absolutely impossible to turn around and go back to defend Minsk. Even if Zhukov dared to give such an order, Minsk would definitely fall within ten days. of troops. Zhukov is not a fool, so naturally he would not choose such an idiot option.

So now, where to set up the first line of defense has become a place to test Zhukov. If it is too close to Minsk, it is likely that the foothold will not be stable, and the German army will catch up and break through the defense line, putting the entire defense line in danger of collapse. And if it is too far away from Minsk, Stalin will not be satisfied. Now the leader of the Soviet Union is worried about Moscow being attacked by the Luftwaffe.

"The first line of defense was deployed between Vitebsk and Mogilev, where the rear guards were deployed to fight the Germans, and then they voluntarily gave up this line of defense and stabilized their own line of defense in Smolensk. This is the best choice." Asking the secretary to bring the battle map, Zhukov studied it for a while before choosing this line of defense as the main defensive zone against the Germans.

"Now, let's see how much appetite our opponent, Rundstedt, has!" Zhukov murmured while looking at the map after drawing up the defensive position.

...

"Of course I have a good appetite! Give me enough troops, and I will even list Moscow as an attack target." Rundstedt was standing in front of the map, giving a meeting to all his armored commanders: " The southern region has been forced to stop its offensive due to the continuous fighting, what about us? Do everyone here need to rest too?"

All the officers burst out laughing, they had only advanced dozens of kilometers, and if they just called for a rest now, they would really die of laughter from their colleagues. What they need now is not to rest and replenish, but to rush to replace the shells with medals and wear them on their chests.

"Since everyone here does not need to rest, we must speed up our offensive. The 13th SS Armored Division, after occupying Minsk, will continue to attack in the direction of Borisov... The 1st SS Armored Division, attack direction Berezino... the rest of the 2nd Panzer Corps, after taking Krupki, head north to attack Kholopenich! Bypass the Orsha heights and attack in the direction of Vitebsk!" he Point to the map and start assigning offensive tasks. If the G Group Army is the fist of the southern group's offensive, then the A Group Army is the number one trump card in the central region. This group army has two Waffen SS armored divisions, and their combat effectiveness is quite terrible.

"The infantry followed the armored troops and advanced quickly, biting the main force of the Soviet Red Army that was retreating. Zhukov is not a fool, so we must pay attention to our position while biting the opponent's attack, and don't go too deep alone." Rundstadt Specially told all the officers and generals who attended the meeting: "If you underestimate the enemy and rush into the troops that fall into Zhukov's counterattack, just go back and be a guard for the rest of your life! Do you understand?"

"Okay! The meeting is over here. After the ministries go back, they will start attacking. When the infantry enters Minsk, be careful. Although our reconnaissance troops have confirmed that the Soviet army in the direction of Minsk seems to be retreating, this information is only available now. It can be used as a reference." Rundstedt took the scepter symbolizing the marshal, and then his assistant put the military coat on his shoulders, turned and walked out of the conference room.

All the officers quickly stood up and raised their hands to see him off: "Long live the head of state, Acador Rudolf!"

...

"The order has been issued, and the attack continues." Wittman, who returned to his tank after the meeting, smiled and put the notebook in his file bag, then stretched out his hand, standing on the tank body to load Then he stretched out his hand, held both hands together, and exerted force at the same time, Wittman easily jumped onto the Tiger tank from the side.

"Driver! Start the tank. We are ordered to pass through the city and be the first to enter Minsk!" Wittmann got into the hatch of the commander, put on his earphones skillfully, and ordered: "Follow the front The armored vehicles, pay attention to the movement of the two wings, we are responsible for covering these grenadiers, prepare the grenades, and load them at any time."

"Hey, let me say, Commander. The Soviets really gave us Minsk? Are we going to win? Win the whole war?" the loader asked Wittmann as he drilled into the tank.

"Win? If they fought us in Minsk, then we would have won." Wittmann smiled wryly. It seems that not only Christmas in 1938, but also Christmas in 1939. Unable to go back, I was reunited with my family.

But as a soldier of the Empire, spending Christmas with family members and comrades-in-arms is actually the same. It's the difference between a wonderful Christmas Eve listening to the bells and a brutal Christmas Eve listening to the cannon.

The tank started, and Wittmann shook his body slightly. The tank rolled over the gravel and began to move towards Minsk. The grenadier in the armored vehicle in front held his weapon and looked around vigilantly, and further forward was a No. 3 assault gun of the grenadier.

With the bright sunshine in the morning, the vanguard of the German army marched into the streets and alleys of Minsk. Citizens carried baskets and looked at these enemies they had never seen before with confused eyes. Handsome helmets and dirty white field battle Camouflage. Contrary to imagination, the makeup of these soldiers was even more casual than that of the Soviet Red Army who had just left. With weapons slung over their shoulders, they stood at the corner of the street and talked against the wall. , carefully observing every pedestrian around.

On the armored vehicle, the grenadier's hand was still pressing on the mg42 machine gun fixed on the roof of the vehicle, and the ammunition belt was still hanging casually above the machine gun. The roar of the tanks caused the residents in some buildings to open the windows, and the children watched in groups of three or four, watching the German soldiers hang a huge German flag on the flagpole of the city government building.