Chapter 606: Lure the Snake Out of Its Hole

The Soviet 23rd Guards Infantry Division did not move, and Qin Chuan immediately realized that he had encountered an expert.

The 23rd Guards Infantry Division is undoubtedly a strong unit, and it is also equipped with two tank battalions, so its strength should not be underestimated.

Originally, Qin Chuan wanted to make a gesture of encircling the 23rd Guards Infantry Division to lure it to attack or other Soviet troops to reinforce Solyony, but the German army could turn its spearhead and march straight to the Caucasus Mountains.

Who would have thought that they would not move.

And not only the 23rd Guards Infantry Division did not move, but the entire North Caucasus Front did not move.

Budyonny knew very well that the German target was the Caucasus Mountains rather than the 23rd Guards Infantry Division, so he would not drain the defense of the Caucasus for the 23rd Guards Infantry Division, especially the defense of the Caucasus area was already very empty due to the previous failure of the Kerch Peninsula and the deployment of troops in the Don River area.

But Budyonny knew that it did not mean that General Chulenev knew.

The Caucasus region is divided into two by the Caucasus Mountains running from west to east. The area north of the mountain is called the North Caucasus, and the area south of the mountain is called the Transcaucasus or South Caucasus.

The Soviet army deployed two fronts here, one is the North Caucasus Front and the other is the Transcaucasus Front.

Among them, the North Caucasus Front is relatively strong and has sufficient troops, with three armies, one air force army and front-level troops. However, two of the three armies were captured on the Kerch Peninsula, leaving only one infantry army, one air force army and direct troops.

The Transcaucasian Front is relatively weak, consisting of two armies and front-level troops. The 44th Army was captured in the Kerch Peninsula Campaign, leaving only the 43rd Army and front-level troops.

From the overall strength and situation, the Soviet army has an advantage.

The Soviet army's forces in Transcaucasus and North Caucasus add up to at least three army groups, while the German army has only two divisions, which are concentrated in the central area of ​​Solyon… If the Soviet army concentrates its forces to attack, it is very likely that the German army will be surrounded in Solyon and unable to move.

General Chulenev saw this point clearly, and he immediately sent a telegram to Budony: "Comrade Budony, the Germans are stationed in Solyon and besieged the 23rd Guards Infantry Division. Are we just going to sit back and do nothing? If we don't reinforce them, they will have to choose to surrender like the several army groups that were surrounded in the Battle of Kerch!"

Budony's reply was simple: "The Germans' target is the Caucasus!"

"I know their target is the Caucasus!" Chulenev replied: "But why can't they choose to eliminate the 23rd Guards Division before attacking the Caucasus?"

Budony simply didn't reply this time, or it can be said that he didn't know how to explain it.

In fact, Budyonny was very smart, because if the Germans attacked the 23rd Guards Division, they would lose time to attack the Caucasus, especially since the 23rd Guards Division was still stationed there. Once the Germans attacked the 23rd Guards Division... the Soviets could use the special terrain of the Taman Peninsula to block the Germans in a narrow area.

Therefore, as long as the 23rd Guards Division did not move, the Germans would not be able to attack the 23rd Guards Division, unless the Germans gave up attacking the Caucasus.

But Chulenev had another idea. He continued to call Budyonny: "The Germans are good at 'blitzkrieg'. If we can surround them in Solyon, they will lose their mobility advantage and fall into a tough battle. So Comrade Budyonny, I need your cooperation!"

"I suggest you stay put, Comrade Chulenev!" Budyonny replied: "What the Germans need most is speed. If you can use the terrain of the Transcaucasus to build trenches and block them, it will take them at least several months to reach the Baku oil fields."

Budyonny was right. Although this is a conservative and traditional way of fighting, it is even a positional warfare idea during World War I.

But there is a saying that "whether it is a white cat or a black cat, it is a good cat if it can catch mice."

Tactics don't matter whether they are rustic or outdated. As long as they can adapt to local conditions and suit the current situation, they are good tactics.

The Transcaucasus region is surrounded by mountains, overlapping. There are small lakes between the mountains, and the terrain is very complex with waterfalls scattered all over. As long as the Transcaucasian Front uses the terrain to build defenses, the German army will not be able to make a big wave even if it has only two divisions plus an infantry regiment and a tank regiment.

But the young and energetic General Chulenev certainly didn't think so.

Seeing that Budyonny didn't cooperate, Chulenev took the initiative to send a telegram to Stalin to ask for battle, and euphemistically said in the telegram that Budyonny's tactics were too conservative and passively defensive. At this time, he should take the initiative to attack and limit the Germans' forward combat space as much as possible.

Marching and fighting are sometimes like this. There is a large set of military theories to support it from different perspectives. It is difficult for people in it to tell which is right and which is wrong.

Stalin saw that it seemed to be true. Budyonny was a veteran who had fought in World War I and no longer had the vigor of a young man, while General Chulenev was still full of vigor (50 years old). So he issued an order to let the North Caucasus Front cooperate with the Transcaucasus Front to attack the German army in Solyon.

Thus, the German army had its chance.

At this time, the German army had basically used all the materials available in Solyon.

The captured Seagull fighters were urgently transported from Latvia, Finland and other vassal states to send batches of pilots to fly away. Some skilled pilots even stayed to change the paint of the Seagull fighters and incorporated them into the German Air Force.

However, these fighters can generally only be used as reconnaissance aircraft. The reason is needless to say. On the one hand, the flight speed is too different from the German BF and FW, and they cannot cooperate with each other. On the other hand, it is easy to cause accidental injuries. Even if the paint is changed, the model cannot be changed.

There is no need to find another driver for the car. The German army is of high quality, and there are many people who can drive in the army, so it is easy to find a driver.

Tanks need to be airlifted to the crew, which is not a problem. The 22nd Armored Division is on the other side of the Kerch Strait, and there are plenty of tank crews.

The problem is that there are many kinds of tanks in Solyon, including British tanks, American tanks, and Soviet tanks. Some use gasoline and some use diesel. The caliber of the artillery is different, and the guns and bullets are different.

Among them, the British and American tanks are especially unfamiliar to the German army on the Soviet-German battlefield.

Fortunately, the 1st Infantry Regiment had seen many British and American tanks on the African battlefield, and many of them even knew how to drive them. After communicating with the tank crews of the 22nd Armored Division, they were able to operate them quickly.