911 Busy Headquarters

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Guderian knew that Zhukov had gone south, and this level of troop mobilization was completed in such a short period of time, it could not be hidden from anyone. How much can be hidden is how many troops going south and what kind of composition they are—and what the Soviet Union wants to do this time.

The Soviet army adopted the simplest method of self-protection when going south, that is, to lie down at night and go out at night. Although this method caused difficulties for the German army to investigate, it also caused trouble for the Soviet army itself. Their southward speed was extremely slow. For the German army who already knew that some Soviet troops were going south, there was really no surprise at all.

Therefore, the G Group Army did not rush northward, but stationed in the southwest of Kursk. They were waiting for the Soviet army to go south to prepare for a battle of leisure and waiting for work, and they were also waiting for Stalingrad behind them to win or lose. After all, having a solid rear is the basis of attack.

Belgorod has been occupied by Germany, and Guderian's vanguard has gone all the way north along the banks of the Don River, occupying almost all of Voronezh, and it is only a few days away from Voronezh, the capital of Voronezh.

"The Soviet army left Moscow and went south. It seems that it has made its own judgment. It seems that our Group A's lack of fuel finally leaked, or... I ≠ ≤ our Mr. Stalin thinks that Stalingrad And Baku, it is more important than the capital Moscow." Guderian looked at the map, which marked the Soviet army's southward movement in more and more detail, and said to his chief of staff: "How is our army resting? "

The chief of staff nodded and told Guderian what he knew about the rest of the troops: "We did not encounter fierce resistance from the enemy when we attacked the Don River, so the troops have always maintained a relatively high rest level. Some The troops have begun to replace King Tiger tanks, and overall our advantages are very obvious.”

"Well, the 502nd Heavy Tank Destroyer Battalion temporarily operating with the 3rd SS Armored Division is now stationed near Liski in the rear along with the SS troops." Guderian did not show his trump card, but It is to hide all the troops newly equipped with King Tiger tanks.

After unremitting efforts, Germany finally improved the production capacity of tanks with a fully automatic assembly line. Now the production speed of German King Tiger tanks is very fast. This is also the main reason why German frontline troops can replace King Tiger tanks on a large scale. With this new type of tank, Accador and his generals are confident of gaining an advantage in tank battles.

The current situation on the entire battlefield is slightly different from the German plan, and these differences are basically caused by the Soviet Red Army troops going south. The German army's original plan was to use Guderian's G-group army to continue northward, capture Tambov State, and threaten the Moscow defense line from the flank. But now that the Soviet troops are going south, if the G Group Army continues to go north, its flanks will also be threatened. Therefore, the German army revised its combat plan and decided to annihilate the Soviet troops going south in the Kursk area first, and then continue to attack north.

Therefore, the offensive plan to attack Tambov in the north was postponed, and the German army could only deal with the counterattacking Soviet Red Army first. The specific direction was already well known, and the Soviet army used the fastest speed they could get out to enter the Kursk region that the German army had not yet fully occupied.

Don't think that the terrible weather in the Soviet Union and their infrastructure that is good at fooling around is only causing trouble for the Germans. In fact, Zhukov didn't find out that the things that cheated others until he used his armored forces on such a large scale will sooner or later Pit yourself! The armored units of the Soviet army headed south all the way. In addition to avoiding the interference and detection of German aircraft, they also had to fight the damn road.

A heavy rain made Zhukov happy for a few hours, but all his follow-up troops were stuck in the mud. Hundreds of thousands of troops marched in the dark. With the help of the locals, they finally managed to reach Kursk.

The Soviet army is busy preparing to continue fighting south, and the Germans are not idle. The entire German intelligence agency and the front-line reconnaissance troops are extremely nervous. Everyone wants to understand one problem, that is, the Soviets want to fight there. , and where do you want to hit.

"Hello? Hello! Yes! I am the chief of staff of the G Group Army. Is there any news from the reconnaissance aircraft unit directly under the Group Army... I need to know exactly how many enemy troops there are and how many heavy weapons they have... Yes, yes ...Okay, I see." On the one hand, the chief of staff was holding the phone, wanting to get the results from the air reconnaissance force directly under the group army, and on the other hand, a group of telegraph operators were receiving numerous reports on the situation of various units.

"The 26th Infantry Corps just received a call. They exchanged fire with the Soviet Army in Rogachevka. The number of the Soviet Army is unknown. It may be the vanguard of the Soviet Army going south." An officer reported loudly while pinching the telegram in his hand. The lady officer directly pasted the mark representing the unknown enemy army on the corresponding position on the map.

Guderian muttered, walked to the map and carefully looked at the location of the city: "Rogachevka..., well, it should be almost the same, I guess they also want to fight us in Voronezh first, Let's tire out our army and dampen our spirit."

Just behind him, another air force liaison officer from the headquarters is communicating with the air force about the specific combat plan: "Yes! I hope you can slow down the opponent's southward speed by bombing railways and roads! I know you have already done so , but I hope you can increase the intensity of the bombing..."

The air force officer on the other side of the receiver can be vaguely heard feeling helpless, because he is directly under the Eastern Front Air Force Joint Operations Coordination Department, so he does not have much aviation fuel in his hand - most of the fuel is in the hands of the air force in the southern theater. Now, it is the flying troops belonging to the central cluster that are performing the task of strangling the Soviet troops.

Although the Luftwaffe has grown much larger than it has been in history, it is still unable to carry out bombing on such a long front from Leningrad to Stalingrad in one breath. In fact, even the U.S. Air Force in its heyday could not do it. . Strategic bombers, medium bombers, and even dive bombers were concentrated in the direction of Stalingrad and Moscow, and a small number of medium bombers could not play a decisive role in delaying.

"There are only 20 -217 bombers that can take off here. We will try our best to carry out the obstructing mission, but we don't know how much it can play." On the other side of the phone, the contact person of the Air Force finally replied.

At this time, in the busy headquarters, an officer walked behind Guderian, handed over the report from the intelligence department to his superior, and then stood at attention and saluted: "Long live the head of state! General! The intelligence department has confirmed the troops going south, There is the 1st Guards Front Army, the commander is General Konev, a fierce general under Zhukov; there is another main force of the Soviet Army that jumped out of the encirclement last time, the 3rd Guards Front Army... the commander is General Vasilevsky .”

"Ha!" Guderian showed an as expected expression: "I really think highly of Guderian, and even put the two most elite front troops on top to deal with me."

He turned around and read the telegram by himself, and then raised his head and asked, "Does the Supreme Command know this information? How did the head of state draw up the battle plan? How did the General Staff plan? Should I continue?" Stay on the offensive?"

"The Supreme Command has not issued a direct order, and the head of state has ordered the General Staff to come up with an emergency plan." The officer immediately replied: "Marshal Brauchitsch is holding an emergency meeting about our current situation to discuss how to solve the relevant problems. question."

Guderian knew that the troops serving as the barriers to his flanks were not the main German army, but the Italian expeditionary forces (a small part). It is absolutely impossible to expect this group of soldiers to cooperate with the German army to prevent the Soviet army from attacking. It is considered "very hard work" for them not to lose their position to the Soviets.

Of course, there is a Romanian army behind this army, but this army is not a particularly reliable force. At least they lack heavy equipment such as tanks. Like the Italian troops ahead of them, nothing will be done.

"Order the troops to stand by! Start building the line of defense!" Without even thinking about it, Guderian began to arrange the next combat mission: "We can't wait for others to rescue us, at least at this time, no one can take care of us." Our team is gone."

He put his fingers on the map and drew the shortest line of defense according to the area currently controlled by the German army: "The troops in the salient quickly shrink to maintain the continuity of the front... Deploy the defense line and allocate armor to strengthen our defense depth. Count the troops ammunition, choose a hidden area to set up a supply point..."

"Let the 3rd Armored Division in the back gather and strengthen the Romanian troops in the back. I need them to hold out for at least 48 hours when the Soviet army makes a detour." After arranging his own deployment, Guderian sighed He breathed a sigh of relief before continuing to sigh: "Group G, which is best at fighting offensive warfare, is going to fight a purely defensive battle today."

"Troops are assembled! We have a new mission! Check your equipment, fuel, and ammunition! All the commanders go to the front to confirm the order! Move faster!" With the shout of an officer, the car that originally stopped The German tanks in the open field outside the village started their engines, and everyone became busy.

On the outskirts of Liski City, the most powerful armored force of the German army received a new combat order, and they began to move westward. Kind directions.