Chapter 838 Caspian Sea Counterattack (Continued, 5200 Votes Plus More)
It took a long time before someone asked: "Is this German commander a comrade on the secret front?"
Everyone immediately became excited: An officer who can command so many troops must be at least a lieutenant general or a general. Could it be that some comrades have sneaked into key departments of the German army? That's really great news!
Chernyakhovsky shook his head: "I also hope so, but it is unlikely. The enemy must be hiding a huge conspiracy."
"What about these supplies?" someone asked timidly, "Comrade Commander, can we still use them?"
"Of course, we can use whatever the enemy left for us! Tell our comrades, as long as we continue to be braver and bolder, we will win a victory like today." Chernyakhovsky confessed, "About me What I just said is top secret, I will report it to Comrade Zhukov and Stalin, and you will never reveal a word to the outside world."
Everyone nodded quickly: If they were indeed comrades, as long as a little bit of news got out, the secret would not be kept.
"As expected of Comrade Chernyakhovsky, he fought very well! He also seized a large amount of supplies and solved the urgent needs of the troops. I want to report to Comrade Stalin and ask for credit for him!" said the man who received relevant battle reports from the east coast of the Caspian Sea. Zhukov was obviously very happy.
"However, there are also doubts. Comrade Chernyakhovsky judged that the materials discovered by the troops on the east coast of the Caspian Sea were deliberately left by the enemy for us. He sent a telegram to ask if we had any secrets from high-level German military circles. Party member or sympathizer? If not, he concluded there was a conspiracy."
"That's it..." Zhukov pondered. As far as he knew, there were no secret party members or sympathizers. The conspiracy was a little bigger, but the possibility could not be completely ruled out. After thinking for a few minutes, he said, "First report to Comrade Stalin. , let the troops rest on the spot for a few days, and let us judge the enemy's situation and possible plots together. "
After receiving the frontline telegram from Zhukov, Comrade Stalin, who had been in a depressed mood, suddenly brightened up: "Look, look, Comrade Konstantin is still very effective in fighting! In this way, except for the Fergana Basin, With the small group of German troops there and some areas on the Iranian border, we have basically recovered Central Asia!”
This is really not a boast. After seizing the east coast of the Caspian Sea, blocking Sherna, and Zhukov himself taking charge of Tashkent to "suppress bandits", after a three-pronged approach, at least from the map, Central Asia was regained by the Bolsheviks. , of course the actual control is far behind compared to before.
Everyone was infected by this emotion and became excited. They all highly praised Comrade Stalin for his foresight and skill in using troops, and Comrade Zhukov for turning the tide and making outstanding contributions. Only Vasilevsky remained silent beside him. He felt that there was something fishy about it, and the German army was defeated too quickly, right? But now he has learned his lesson, and all the leading comrades are in high spirits. Interrupting them by himself will not only make everyone unhappy, but may also make people mistakenly think that he is jealous of Zhukov. It is better to avoid such immature things!
"As for the questions and concerns he reported..." Stalin turned his attention to Beria, "Go and verify it and give Comrade Constantine an accurate reply. I believe he can judge whether it is a conspiracy or not. At least he can get it in his hands and get it real. You can’t deceive people with supplies, even if it’s a bait, you have to eat it first! Humph, the Germans will shoot themselves in the foot one day!”
On February 24, the same day that Spruance led the South Atlantic Squadron to depart for South Africa, Chernyakhovsky led the replenished and rested offensive group Spearhead together with the Malinovsky Army to provide Two tank brigades, one cavalry brigade and a mechanized corps with nearly 130,000 troops set off to land on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea. Within the limited time, the logistics department conducted a comprehensive and detailed inspection of the materials, and found no flaws. The expected speculations such as "time bombs were arranged in the oil and poisoned in the food" were all unfounded. Thousands of people responded well after enjoying German supplies.
Indeed, a few of them ate to death. After examination, the military doctor concluded that they were weak due to lack of food and clothing for a long time. Coupled with the high intensity of this large-scale transfer operation, they ate too much in ecstasy, which exceeded the upper limit of their body's endurance. To. The headquarters was filled with joy. Even Chernyakhovsky himself was holding two large pieces of German sausage and chewing them non-stop. Most of the ordinary officers and soldiers were issued the German version of Spam, and only a few senior officers were given the German version of Spam. Enjoy with German sausage or ham. Comrade Commander's good style is that he is approachable, but the people below him can't be hierarchical at all - are they still aware of the party spirit?
Since the Germans don’t have any of their own, it’s probably a conspiracy. After research, Chernyakhovsky and Zhukov themselves believe that there may be two traps dug by the Germans: first, to lure the Red Army to continue attacking and extending the front to counterattack; The second is to deploy a powerful sniper position on the southern shore of the Caspian Sea to drive the Red Army back into the water. The best strategy to avoid the trap is to get the supplies and run away, but this must not be brought up, not to mention that Stalin can't get through, and the two of them are unwilling to do so. The Central Asian Special Front troops are here to fight to the death, how can they be satisfied with just a few supplies?
During the Red Army's advance, the air forces of the two countries launched rounds of strangulation over the Caspian Sea. However, whether it was because the Germans "lost their courage" or for some other reason, the Red Army aircraft, which had been suppressed for a long time, actually gained the upper hand for the first time, ensuring the safety of most ships. Unlike the German landing in the Amol area north of Tehran, Chernyakhovsky chose a landing place for his troops that was more southwest, approximately in Ardabil, at the border between Turkey and Iran. Although there was a little ice in this section, due to the latitude and slightly higher temperature, the ice was not thick, and it was easy to force the ice to land.
The beachhead blockade that he had been very nervous about did not appear. Most of the German troops were busy retreating towards Tehran, and the Iranian troops deployed near the landing site were few and far between. As soon as they opened fire, they were defeated by the Red Army that landed quickly. Then, at the suggestion of German advisers, the order of the Iranian King Pahlavi also came down: all nearby troops retreated to Tabriz. This was exactly what the Red Army wanted, and on the one hand, they urgently expanded the landing site, and on the other hand, they stepped up their landing.
Now, combined with the loss of supplies, the weak air battle over the Caspian Sea, the lack of sniping on the beach and the rapid retreat of Iranian troops, Zhukov is not worthy of being called Zhukov if he can't judge that the Germans are killing with borrowed knives. But even if he can see it, he has to bite the bullet, because the more than 70,000 German troops hiding in Tehran are not easy for the Red Army to take down. In order to shock Iran, at least the Iranian oil fields and Abbas Port must be destroyed. Considering Iran's rugged terrain and defensive forces, even if Chernyakhovsky is exhausted, it is impossible to do it. Finally, after discussion, it is considered to continue the original plan to fight the Turks and Baku.
Now Turkey also knows the news that the Red Army landed near the border between Iran and Turkey. The Turkish army has deployed a total of about 4 divisions on the border between the two countries. The original purpose was to prevent the Iranians from competing with them for territory. When they heard that the Red Army's heavy troops rushed to the Caspian Sea and defeated the German army, they panicked at first. However, when they saw Chernyakhovsky leading the main force of the Red Army to attack Tabriz, the Turks were greatly relieved - it's good to attack Iran, but what does it matter to us whether the Iranians live or die? It's best to knock Iran down, so that we can get some benefits when we rescue them.
The offensive posture of the Red Army also frightened Pahlavi, who hurriedly asked for help from Manstein, the supreme commander of the Eastern Front. Although the German army withdrew 70,000 troops, the Iranian army still had 200,000 troops, and Pahlavi even had two Tiger heavy armored battalions on hand, but he was still a little nervous when he learned that the attacking Soviet army was nearly 400,000. The German side also thought that the judgment was wrong. In addition to Manstein's firm belief that the Red Army would attack Turkey, even Zeitzler began to mobilize troops in a hurry, preparing to withdraw troops from the UAE, Iraq, and Egypt to the Iranian battlefield. He also privately complained to the people around him that the head of state set too much fire this time and burned his eyebrows.
After all the troops gathered, Chernyakhovsky and others advanced all the way to Tabriz, but in the late night of February 28, his style of using troops suddenly changed, and he threw a beautiful right hook and turned to rush to the Turkish-Iranian border. The Turks were still gloating two days ago, but who knew that the Red Army turned its spearhead and killed them.
When Pahlavi learned that the 150,000 Red Army had turned around, he immediately felt relieved. He didn't care whether Turkey was Turkey or not - you guys didn't show any mercy when you fought with me for Azerbaijan! On March 2, the Red Army attacked the Turkish defense line fiercely. The Red Army's offensive spearhead, led by IS-1 and T-43/85 tanks, defeated the Turkish second-line troops, which were still mainly composed of Type 3 and 38T. Although the Red Army was repeatedly taught a lesson by the German army and suffered a series of defeats, it was never afraid of the Turks. In addition, the Russian-Turkish feud did not need to be mobilized to fight Turkey. In just two days and one night, the first two Turkish infantry divisions that met the enemy, along with their equipment, materials, and supplies, all fell into the hands of the Red Army.
The Turks thought they could fight, but they didn't expect that they couldn't fight at all now. Now they remembered that they attacked the Red Army unexpectedly and got the cooperation of the German troops. Now all favorable conditions are gone, and the situation is completely reversed, but it's too late to regret.
On March 4, the Red Army advanced more than 30 kilometers, trying to attack and outflank the remaining Turkish troops in front of it. In order to stop the Soviet offensive, Turkey asked the German army for help, asked Iranian troops to attack from behind to contain the Red Army's attack, and drew troops from the Caucasus to support the south. The second landing wave of the Red Army, which had secured a solid landing site, rushed up again, and the Red Army had reached 200,000 in Turkey.
The German army quickly responded to the rescue request, but stated that the Caspian Sea was frozen and reinforcements could only be sent by land. It was necessary to cross the rugged terrain of the Caucasus, which would take at least 2-3 weeks, and asked the Turkish side to persist and resist step by step. Helpless, the Turkish side could only continue to draw troops from the country and the Caucasus to plug the leak...