At this time, the last train that crossed the border from the Soviet Union and entered the German-controlled area arrived at its destination with the important resources that the Soviet Union had just prepared for Germany. The important metals on this train will be unloaded immediately and then enter Germany's powerful industrial system to become raw materials for weapons to destroy the Soviet Union.
At 3:30 in the morning on June 22, 1941, the 3.3 million German Wehrmacht troops on the 1,800-kilometer front from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea were notified to immediately prepare for combat. Just now, their commander received the latest information from Berlin. news, ordering them to attack the country that had always threatened Germany's security, that is, the Soviet Union on the opposite side.
June 22 is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year. An hour before the Wehrmacht officers and soldiers received the order to attack Berlin, the leader of the SS special forces, Otto. The special forces led by Skorzeny were the first to take action. They wore the gray uniforms of the KGB internal guards and entered the Soviet Union through the weak points of the Soviet Red Army's defense. Immediately after entering the Soviet Union, the special forces were divided into dozens of combat groups. Their mission was to destroy the communication lines mobilized by the Soviet Red Army and interfere with the command and deployment of the Soviet Red Army. As for Skorzeny himself, the tasks he assigned to himself were Go to the place we just visited a month ago, Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.
Kiev is the seat of the Soviet Southwest Front Headquarters. His authority can even affect the fate of millions of Soviet Red Army troops in Ukraine. Although Skorzeny once said that it is dangerous to conduct special operations deep into Kiev, it is undeniable. What is important is that Skorzeny is a person who is very willing to accept challenges, so as soon as the war began, Skorzeny decided to lead his team to complete the most dangerous mission.
The first troops to participate in the battle together with the special forces were the paratroopers affiliated with the Air Force. Under the guidance of Aunt Juncker, a total of nearly 10,000 paratroopers were airborne in areas that were relatively easy to break through. They would fight on the battlefield dozens of kilometers deep into the Soviet Union. , the German Wehrmacht assisting in the frontal offensive annihilated the Soviet Red Army in the border area.
At the same time, Air Marshal Hermann Goering personally called the German Air Force generals at the border and ordered that air supremacy in the war must be seized as soon as possible. With Goering's order, the five air forces that had already assembled at the border , 4,900 fighter planes of various types were scrambled into the air, heading straight for various airports in the western Soviet Union. These airports had been clearly investigated by the German Air Force's reconnaissance planes a month ago. How much anti-aircraft firepower each airport had, and how much air defense firepower they had at each airport. The Luftwaffe knew exactly how many aircraft it had landed and what aircraft it had stopped. Now with these fighters and bombers in the air, all they need to do is to blow up the Soviet Union's huge air force on the ground without even taking off, just like they did when they blitzed Poland.
It was very easy to enter Soviet airspace. The entire sky was filled with a sea of German aircraft, and there was no interception by the Soviet Air Force, just like what they experienced in Poland or France. This low-difficulty mission was for those who had been fighting for two years. The German Air Force is no different from eating.
The momentum of the large-scale deployment of the Luftwaffe could not be concealed from the ears of the Soviets. Some border sentries and civilians were awakened by the huge noise in the sky. When they came out to take a look, they were immediately stunned by the scene in the sky. The Luftwaffe aircraft blocked the sky and the sun, and the black iron cross under the aircraft had never made these people feel so dazzling.
"Quick, as reported above, it's a German plane, they are coming to attack us!" Some people who saw this scene immediately shouted, but these loyal people have not yet reported this important situation to their superiors , was interrupted forcefully.
At 4:30 in the morning, the well-prepared German Wehrmacht walked out of their camps and plunged into the war. At the same time, the German Army assembled on the Soviet-German border used all group, corps, and division howitzers, cannons, regimental 150-meter heavy infantry guns, and even the Air Force's 88-meter anti-aircraft guns. A total of 55,000 cannons made an earth-shattering roar. Fierce artillery bombardment of the Red Army border posts and barracks within the entire national border, coupled with indiscriminate bombing by a large number of Ju-87 dive bombers and HS-129 attack aircraft of the Luftwaffe, turned the Soviet positions into a sea of flames. The God of War Using his own bombardment marked the official start of the largest war in human history. Starting today, Germany and the Soviet Union, the two most powerful military powers on earth with more than 12 million troops on paper, have gone from a honeymoon period to a life-or-death war.
In the skies above the airports of the Soviet military districts in the west, the Russians had not had time to evacuate the planes to the airstrips. A large number of pilots were still sleeping soundly throughout the entire time, enjoying a beautiful Sunday. This helped the Luftwaffe's raid from the side, allowing the Luftwaffe's raid to achieve an almost perfect attack. Under the attack of German bombers and Stuka dive bomber wings, the Soviet aircraft lined up as if waiting for a review suffered heavy losses, and hundreds of aircraft burned on the ground.
The sudden German air attack caught the unprepared Soviet army by surprise. Not a single Soviet fighter jet took off in advance to intercept the German fleet, and no effective anti-aircraft artillery fire was organized on the ground. And because many airports had no anti-aircraft guns at all, Soviet ground crews and pilots could only use rifles to shoot at the German planes wreaking havoc in the sky. The airfields of the Ukrainian, Belarusian, Polish, and Soviet air forces all suffered heavy losses almost within the flight radius of the Luftwaffe.
At the same time, the few Red Army pilots on duty were hurriedly climbing into the aircraft in an attempt to force take off, but were suppressed by fierce firepower from German fighter jets in the air. Soviet aircraft surrounded by superior German air force pilots usually during the take-off stage of the aircraft, Before it was fully in the air, it was beaten down by a German fighter jet. Only a few lucky Soviet fighters made it into the air, but what awaited them was still a powerful attack by the Luftwaffe.
Thousands of Soviet aircraft were destroyed at the airfield, and the Soviet fighter jets that took off posed no threat to the slaughtering Luftwaffe. An entire squadron of fighter jets from the Soviet Southwest Front were destroyed on the ground by German planes during their forced takeoff. The army's aviation unit lost a total of 738 aircraft that day, of which the 10th Mixed Aviation Division lost 188 of its 231 aircraft; the 11th Division lost 127 of its 188 aircraft; and the 9th Mixed Aviation Division lost 347 of its 409 aircraft. aircraft, including all 233 precious MiG-3 fighter jets of the Southwest Front. Of the total 738 aircraft, 528 were destroyed on the ground.
The gap between the two sides is too big. Compared with the Messerschmitt fighter, the main fighter of the German Air Force, the Soviet Union’s outdated I-5 fighter is completely different from the Messerschmitt fighter with a speed of 620 kilometers per hour and equipped with a 20mm cannon. opponent. Compared with the Luftwaffe after the Battle of Britain, the quality of the Soviet Air Force's fighter jets was far behind the Luftwaffe's opponent at the time, the Royal Air Force. Furthermore, the Soviet Air Force did not have radars like the British to provide command. So once you encounter the Second Air Force that has just been transferred from Britain and a large number of German pilots participating in the Battle of Britain, there is no other way to win except using your own courage.
But what shocked the German pilots was that no matter how serious the losses of the Soviet aircraft formation were under the attack of German aircraft and anti-aircraft artillery, as long as there was one Red Army bomber left, it would continue to fly resolutely according to the original route, and when this aircraft was also destroyed After being shot down, new formations of Soviet bombers will appear in the sky.
On the first day of the war, Soviet pilots showed brave fighting spirit, but this could not restore the huge technical gap. A large number of IL-2s and MiG-3s were easily shot down by powerful German aircraft, often without any results. In the southern section of the front, the 3rd Team of the 77th Fighter Wing of the 4th German Air Force shot down 36 Soviet fighter jets without losing any of its own, and achieved a one-sided victory.
Although the MiG-3 is an excellent aircraft, it is not completely suitable for combat on the Soviet-German battlefield. As the first attempt of the young design bureau, both MiG 1 and MiG 3 were not very successful. MiG designers analyzed that in the early days of the war, MiG aircraft designed as high-altitude interceptors were first used for mid- and low-altitude interceptions. The "prey" German bombers of the MiG-3 all flew at an altitude of 7,000 meters after being fully loaded with bombs. Below, it was even used for assaults to support ground forces, but it did not play its due role and the performance of German aircraft in these airspaces was far superior to that of MiGs. The combination of these reasons makes the fate of the MiG-3 doomed to tragedy. This led to what happened six months later.
In order to deal with the powerful German tank clusters, the Soviet army urgently needed a large number of attack aircraft. At that time, the Ilyushin Design Bureau was producing a generation of famous aircraft, the Il-2 attack aircraft, known as the "air tank". The Il-2 engine and the engine used by the MiG are produced in the same factory, and the production line cannot mass-produce both engines at the same time due to scale restrictions. At that time, winning the ground battlefield was crucial for the Soviet Union, but the performance of the MiG aircraft did not meet expectations.
In December Stalin angrily sent a telegram to the factory manager: "You are making trouble with our motherland and the Red Army! Until now you have not considered producing the IL-2! Now the IL-2 is like air and air to our Red Army. Bread is as necessary! One of your factories only produces one Il-2 every day, while the other factory produces 1-2 MiG-3s every day! This is an insult to our motherland and the Red Army! We need Il-2, not MiG-3 Grid! If you want to weaken the power of our motherland by producing only one Il-2 every day, you have made a serious mistake and you must pay the price! I demand that you produce more Il-2 immediately! This is the last warning to you! Stalin
The Second Armored Group, led by Commander Guderian, crossed the Nieman River in large numbers early in the morning. The tank that was the first to cross the Nieman and the first to consolidate its position was not the Panzer IV that Germany had always used, but Light tank from Czechoslovakia. During the implementation of the British Blue Plan, some Czech light tanks were converted into water tanks that could make unexpected landings in the water. After the Battle of Britain, these tanks were retained by Guderian, but he did not expect that they would be used today.
After using light submersible tanks to cross the Nieman River by surprise, the Second Armored Army gained a firm foothold. After identifying the Soviet positions and obstacle configurations, the German armored clusters arranged in echelons and the group armies cooperating with them launched a powerful offensive from the narrow front. In a breakthrough area only 20 kilometers wide, hundreds of nearly a thousand tanks and hundreds of thousands of motorized troops from the entire armored group rushed over like an overwhelming force.
Field Marshal von Bock's Army Group Center led 30 infantry divisions, 15 armored divisions and motorized divisions to attack the hinterland of the Soviet Union from Bialystok. It is expected that there will be a battle with the main force of the Soviet Red Army near Minsk. , the ultimate destination is Moscow, the heart of the Red Empire.
On the Northern Front, Field Marshal von Loeb's Army Group, with 21 infantry divisions and 6 armored divisions, rapidly advanced northward through the Baltic countries toward Leningrad.
On the southern front, Field Marshal von Rundstedt's army group consisting of 25 infantry divisions, 4 motorized divisions, 4 mountain divisions and 5 armored divisions marched towards the Dnieper River and Kiev.
At this critical juncture, the Soviet commanders facing a powerful German assault could only take the risk of opening the confidential sealed bag containing the border defense plan issued before the war. According to the location and route specified above, with only a small amount of ammunition, they Those subordinate troops who were confused by the sudden war hurriedly took out the barracks, and under the constant air raids and shelling of the German army, they gathered and marched in at the risk of huge casualties. During this process, the soldiers had been frustrated by the constant roaring of German aircraft and the fierce artillery fire from unknown directions. As they were marching, they suddenly encountered a large number of motorcycles, off-road trucks, and half-track armored vehicles accompanying them. When the German tanks formed a wedge-shaped column, they were unable to mount effective resistance, and some troops even collapsed as a result.
An hour after the war broke out, Lin Wei sent a telegram to the commanders of the 6th Northern Mountain Division and the 7th Prinz Eugen Division of the Waffen SS in Finland, "Two generals, you must be familiar with the climate in Finland. Now Needless to say, you should already understand the situation. Yes, the empire launched a war against the Soviet Union. It was not a ridiculous ideological issue or any other issue. It is very simple. One Europe cannot tolerate two powerful countries with such huge armed forces. We Now I’m giving you two generals an order, yes, it’s an order, an order that must be fulfilled. Marshal Loeb’s Northern Army Group has been rapidly attacking Leningrad along the Baltic Sea. As the largest city in the Soviet Union closest to the border, Leningrad cannot There is a mistake. It must be quickly controlled when the Soviet Red Army reacts, and you must occupy Leningrad in front of the Wehrmacht. I don't care what method you use, even if it means killing all civilians along the way, I want to see the result! "Perhaps Project Barbarossa has finally started, which made Lin Wei's thinking a little confusing. After dictating this telegram with a disjointed preface but murderous intent, Lin Wei thought about it carefully and added, "A soldier must do something in a war. There are some things I don’t like to do, but one thing is that once our enemy surrenders, no one is allowed to kill prisoners! No rape is allowed. Apart from these two items, Waffen SS soldiers can do whatever they like!"
Within an hour, the ordinary infantry divisions of the Wehrmacht had defeated the Soviet Red Army troops on the border and entered the areas controlled by the Soviets. The armored cluster had even penetrated ten kilometers into the Soviet territory. This was almost the maximum speed that the armored cluster could travel in the war. . On a front of thousands of kilometers, more than three million German troops poured into the Soviet Union like a tide. What they witnessed was the largest war in human history.
After the telegram to the Armed SS was sent, Lin Wei immediately rushed to Sanssouci Palace because he had just received the news that Wilhelm II had woken up and was in very good spirits. After learning the news, Lin Wei immediately thought in his mind Four words emerged, reflecting back on me. William II has been in and out of coma for about ten days. Being awake at this time is definitely not a good thing. If Lin Wei's estimate is correct, William II doesn't have much time left in his life. In fact, William II's ability to persist until now has exceeded Lin Wei's expectations.
At this time, Lin Wei's burden was not light. Lin Wei had to prepare nearly one million armed SS troops for combat within a month. Unfortunately, almost four-fifths of the armed SS troops did not Combat experience, this is also the consequences of Lin Wei's reckless military expansion. A month later, the loopholes in the Operation Barbarossa plan should have been revealed. How to allow four-fifths of the armed SS with no combat experience to display strong combat effectiveness at that time was indeed a headache for Lin Wei.
But the biggest headache now is not Lin Wei, but Stalin, the controller of the Red Empire. The German army was advancing as planned along the 1,800-kilometer front from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea. The entire western part of the Soviet Union had been surrounded by flames of war. After being convinced that Germany was really launching a full-scale war against the Soviet Union, Stalin was stunned. For a long time, Stalin shouted in front of Zhukov, Timoshenko and many other senior Soviet officers, "The Germans have deceived us, they have deceived us. We have always been kind to Germany, but they have It’s like we have launched a war! Counterattack, order all military districts in the west to counterattack, drive the German troops out of Soviet territory, and destroy all invading German troops!”
Until now, Stalin still believed that the strength of the Soviet Red Army could cope with the attack of the German Wehrmacht. The Soviet Red Army along the front line with Germany had 150 divisions and nearly 3 million people. Stalin believed that the German army of the same size could defeat the Soviet Union. The Red Army can definitely handle it. After all, the Soviet Red Army is on the defensive.