Chapter 901 Soviet Counterattack (2, Additional Update for 4200 Votes)

Seeing so many troops waiting outside, Vlasov couldn't hold himself any longer. He stood up and asked: "Dear Marshal, why do we deliberately retreat to let the enemy attack when we have so many troops? I think The loss of these two days was completely unnecessary.”

Although Vlasov was supported by Germany, his fighting ability was not bad. When he heard the reserve army group, he knew that this battle could not be lost. And he wants to see what the Germans' attitude is towards him. Are they just supporting themselves to defeat Stalin or do they really want to establish a Western Russian regime? For the latter, Vlasov is obviously unwilling to accept it. He can't wait to do it. Completely kill Stalin and the Bolsheviks, and completely unite Russia instead of just half of it like now.

Manstein knew his thoughts well, so he avoided talking about political factors and only said: "Our army's intention is to lead as many Red Army troops as possible to the prairie to completely eliminate them. The gains and losses of one city and one place , The loss of part of the army is a necessary price and is not considered in the military. If we do not create such a favorable situation, how can we get out of the solid urban defense system? "

Guderian smiled and said: "General Vlasov, I know you are heartbroken for the loss of your men, but as far as I know, of the more than 40,000 troops you lost, only more than 10,000 were real casualties, and the rest were all surrenders or surrenders. They have returned to Stalin's arms. Shouldn't you find ways to eliminate such unsteady elements? It is obviously more beneficial to eliminate them now than in the future."

This sentence left Vlasov speechless. This was what made him angry. He believed that as long as these troops were reformed a little longer, they would not defect to Stalin, but obviously the Germans were not like that. look. The other side believes that these troops are still unreliable, and they had no choice but to surrender in the first place. Now they have been exposed after a little test. It is better to be exposed early than late. However, he was unreasonable in this regard, and no one paid any attention to him for the first time - why was only the Russian People's Liberation Army rebelling? The Ukrainian Army, the Cossack Army, and the Kalmyk Army all followed the Germans well. Among them, there was indeed a Cossack division that did not obey the command, but all of them died in the battle. The only one who could rebel was the Russian Liberation Army.

"I……"

Although Manstein and other soldiers did not think highly of Vlasov, they at least knew that this man was useful to the head of state and would be the head of state in the future. They were unwilling to make the conflict too tense, so they said: "I understand your feelings, but This is inevitable. Besides, when we win this battle, we will capture more Red Army troops. Do we need to add any troops? Maybe we can get some Guards troops to enjoy ourselves."

Vlasov was quickly convinced. There was nothing he could do if he refused. This was not his concern.

"Judging from the situation on the Caucasus battlefield, it is impossible to deploy so many troops at the same time, and the battlefield is not wide enough. I am considering dividing the Quake Army into two clusters and investing in batches."

Guderian laughed: "Let me guess how you plan to put it."

"OK."

Guderian walked to the map, took the staff's pencil and started to draw it: "Divided into two clusters on the left and right, the left cluster cuts in from Saratov, attacks forward and to the right for about 300-350 kilometers, and circles to the right to launch an outflank , cutting off the connection between Stalingrad and Astrakhan; the right-wing group waits for the enemy to attack Rostov, and then our army starts a forward assault from the Lugansk line to seize Volgodontsk, and cooperates with the left-wing group to strive to capture the enemy The troops of the Southwest Front and the Don River Front will move in. "

Manstein laughed: "As expected of Scud Heinz, his thoughts are basically the same as mine. The right wing is completely the same, and the left wing is slightly different."

"Left wing?" Guderian raised his eyebrows, "What do you think?"

Manstein took the pencil, re-outlined Guderian's handwriting, and said with a smile: "You are already planning to push 300-350 kilometers from Saratov, why don't you just push a little longer?"

He circled Uralsk, the most important city on the right bank of the lower reaches of the Ural River, on the map, and said loudly: "The left-wing group assaulted 400-450 kilometers forward, captured Uralsk, and went straight down the Ural River to Atyrau on the northern shore of the Caspian Sea. until."

Everyone gasped: Guderian only wanted to deal with the more than 1 million troops of Vatutin and Rokossovsky. Following Manstein's arrangement, he wanted to wipe out the three fronts of the Red Army on the southern flank in one fell swoop. West bank of the Ural River.

"It will take another 3-5 days for Army Group Center and Army Group Eastern to attack the middle section of the Ural Mountains to complete the blockade of the middle section of the Ural Mountains." Manstein pointed on the map with his pointer, "I have communicated with Marshal Model. Well, he personally led 300,000 to 400,000 people to block the mouth, left 100,000 troops for backup, and transferred all the remaining 600,000-odd troops to the south, along the Ufa-Sterli Tamak-Saravat-Orenburg line. Attack, cut off the Ural River, cut off the connection between the southern flank of the Red Army and the Ural Industrial Zone, and then coordinate the attack with the Quake left wing group."

Guderian nodded: "I thought the head of state would ask the central government to attack the Ural Industrial Zone?"

"It's too far. Besides, the bottom line of our peace negotiation is to cut along the Ural Mountains. There is no need to delay it too long."

"If there are more than 600,000 troops, I think your plan can be realized."

According to Manstein's troop deployment, a large outflanking tactic was implemented on the southern flank, dividing the entire southern Red Army into two encirclement circles. The first large encirclement circle was the northern half of the encirclement formed by the left wing group and the Eastern Army Group turning south. The arc, and the other is the southern half of the arc formed by the two army groups of Hoth and Kleist. This is the main encirclement circle, which is roughly equivalent to using 2.3 million German troops to encircle the 1.8 million Red Army; the small encirclement circle is to use the naval advantage to transport troops along the line of unification in Pakistan. Go ashore, cooperate with the Iranian troops to advance northward, repeat the original strategy of occupying the Transcaucasus, and trap the currently attacking Chernyakhovsky cluster.

It was impossible to completely encircle him. After all, Chernyakhovsky still had a way to retreat from the Caspian Sea, but he would have to shed his skin if he did not die under a fierce pursuit.

As for why they had to disembark from Batumi, Manstein did not say, and Guderian did not ask. Vlasov understood it in a flash: after the landing in Batumi, the German army sealed off the northeastern part of Turkey and then reached out to the three Transcaucasian countries. At that time, the German army will block Turkey's offensive route and want to seize territory? Okay, let's force the passage through the German front first - the Turks can't even defeat the Russians, how dare they open fire with the Germans? There is no need to fight hard at that time. As long as the troops landing in Batumi come ashore and the Iranian army (including German and Iranian troops in Iran) attack, the Russians can fight.

Therefore, Manstein arranged not many troops to land in Batumi. There was only an infantry group in the reserve army group, with a total strength of just over 100,000. Plus more than 50,000 German troops and 150,000 Iranian troops in Iran, it was enough to cope with the situation. Well, the southern half of the small encirclement circle is the Transcaucasus landing force, and the northern half is the Kleist Cluster, with a total force of about 300,000 and 400,000 troops (the strength of the Kleist Cluster is not counted twice). Overall, the 2.6 million troops surround the enemy's 2.2 million troops. Of course, the Red Army may be able to draw 200,000-300,000 mobile troops in Central Asia, but even after adding them, it is only on par with the German army. This still completely excludes the strength of the Turks - in Manstein's battle plan, the value of the Turks is zero.

In the overall campaign concept: the mission of the Kleist Cluster is the most important. It must carry out arduous defense to prevent the Red Army's northern and southern attack groups from eating it up. When the final decisive battle begins, it must also exert a central flowering style; Thor's Hammer The left wing group has the longest attack distance, about 600-800 kilometers; Huot's Southern Army Group has the heaviest command and coordination responsibilities, and is responsible for coordinating the three Army Groups of the South, Caspian Sea, and Reserve Army Groups, while also holding on to Rostov .

"The key to victory in the battle is time. Will we successfully build an overall encirclement through roundabouts first, or will the enemy eat the thorn (referring to the Kleist Cluster) that lies across the encirclement first?"

Marshal Kleist, who had been silent, smiled and said: "You can rest assured that although I rarely fight defensive wars, it does not mean that I will not fight defensive wars. I will fight offensive wars in the Caucasus grassland - offensive defensive wars. ”

Everyone laughed. In the past month, the marshal did not engage in defensive warfare very much, but he repeatedly used drag-and-knife tactics during the pursuit and used short assaults to make the Red Army miserable. This is why every time he This is because they can retreat calmly without getting caught by the enemy.

"So I'm very sorry, Heinz, your army group will be split into two parts and thrown into the battle line." Manstein said in an apologetic tone, "I think this arrangement is quite reasonable."

Guderian shrugged: "I have expected this for a long time. Everyone thinks that Thor's hammer is too powerful and a waste, haha..."

"Then how do you choose? Go to the northern front for a major roundabout or go to the middle front to kill in the Caucasus grassland?" Manstein did not mention the southern front - a group army commander can do it there, and it is full of rugged mountains. Not Guderian's master.

"Since you all call me Scud, I'm the only one who can do the big detour - I can run fast."

All the staff couldn't help laughing. It was rare to hear Marshal Guderian being so humorous.

"Quake's right wing troop selection and commander selection?"

"Paul Hausser went to the right wing to lead the troops, and Zepp Dietrich followed me to the left wing. The right wing has to face the enemy head-on, and is slightly stronger. The four armored divisions of the SS, the Reich, the Skull and the Youth, and the other four With Nordland and the two grenadier divisions of the National Leader, I will take the rest of the troops to the left wing."

"After the combat plan was formed, it was reported to Berlin today, and all units took quick action according to their responsibilities."

"yes!"

Manstein turned his head and told Vlasov: "Your army is cooperating with Marshal Kleist in the defensive battle in the Caucasus. If there is another compromise, wavering, or escape, regardless of rank, the highest measures will be implemented."

"As you command!"