The Waffen SS Viking Division in the city of Yelnya felt the determination of the Soviets to counterattack as soon as the Soviet Red Army counterattacked, and decisively abandoned the city of Yelnya. Anyway, as long as Smolensk was under the control of the German army, Under control, the situation is favorable to Germany. Withdrew to Smolensk where the Imperial Division was stationed, and cooperated with the Imperial Division to station Smolensk.
Although Marshal Timoshenko directed this counterattack directly at the German Fourth Armored Army and Ninth Army, it did not mean that Smolensk was safe. Those reserve forces who did not know where they came from were holding up their hands. The sharp sabers rode on tall horses, attacking the German positions tirelessly one after another. The courage shown surprised the defending German Wehrmacht. As the gateway to Moscow, Smolensk must be recaptured in Marshal Timoshenko's plan. So Marshal Timoshenko sent an army group to capture Smolensk.
This group army consists of two infantry divisions, two cavalry divisions and one tank division. It has to be said that although Stalin had anticipated the danger of Germany and had already moved the industrial area eastward to the Ural Mountains, the Soviet Union has now felt that the ammunition There was such a shortage that the Soviet Red Army, which had always been known for its torrent of steel, now had to go to war with crude weapons and well-equipped German troops.
In Smolensk, General Paul & Hausser finally met again Admiral Felix Stanel, whom he had always disliked. The two of them had never dealt with each other, so they naturally had to be sarcastic when they finally met, "Look. Look, who is this? Is it Admiral Felix Stanel who just ran here from Yelniya? As an SS, don’t you think it is shameful to retreat before fighting? ?”
"Only a fool would wait for others to attack in an isolated town!" Admiral Felix Stanel retorted, "Our opponent is a group army with almost twice as many people as us! There are also There is a tank division to cooperate with them in attacking Smolensk!"
"Okay, I get it!" General Paul Hausser waved his hand and said, "Although our two divisions suffered some losses earlier, their strength has not weakened. Holding here is not a problem! The problem is that my troops are already close to There is no fuel, and if the High Command does not solve this problem, we will have no choice but to go as far as Moscow!"
On the second day after the Viking Division withdrew to Smolensk, the Soviet 30th Army, which was responsible for capturing Smolensk, was already heading towards Smolensk. Due to the massive counterattack launched by Marshal Timoshenko, For a time, no German troops were nearby to rescue the city of Smolensk. The 30th Army, which Stalin drew from the general reserves in Moscow, did his best to allow Marshal Timoshenko to make progress.
At the same time, the offensive troops of the 30th Army arrived at Smolensk without stopping. General Paul and General Hausser were not confused for too long. As soon as the 30th Army arrived outside the city, they couldn't wait to attack. . Smolensk, which had only been peaceful for a few days, fell into war again.
There was no tactics at all. From the beginning, the Soviet Red Army's offensive troops showed strong excitement. The Soviet soldiers carrying bayonets and waving sabers shouted the slogan "For the motherland, for Stalin" and rushed to the German position. In MG42 The light machine gun hissed like a machine gun, forming an insurmountable death barrier with the Mauser 98 rifle. In the end, the cavalry division launched a charge without fear of death, and finally broke through the suburban position and reached Smolensk. Inside the city.
In just a few hours of fighting, the MG42 light machine gun left an indelible impression on the Soviet soldiers. The extremely high rate of fire brought terrifying firepower, and its sound like tearing tarpaulin frightened all the surviving Soviet soldiers. It's just that these Soviet soldiers don't know that only a thousand or so of this kind of light machine gun has been built in Germany, and they are all equipped in the hands of the Waffen SS.
After suffering thousands of casualties, the 30th Army captured the positions around Smolensk and attacked Smolensk from the east, south and north. What General Paul and General Hausser meant was that the two divisions would not interfere with each other and guard the old city and the industrial area respectively, while troops would be sent to focus on guarding the bridge connecting the two areas.
Although the 30th Army was ostensibly divided into three groups to attack, they themselves knew that with the strength of the 30th Army, such a multi-faceted attack was not advisable. Therefore, after notifying Marshal Timoshenko, the 30th Army The commander of the group army regarded the south road as the main direction of attack.
The southern area of the city mainly started to build new industrial zones. Obviously, the Soviets were not willing to fight the German army in the complicated situation of the old city. What's more important is that the train station is in the south of the city. Cutting off the connection between the German troops defending the city and other places is also a top priority in the eyes of Marshal Timoshenko.
After the attacking Soviet soldiers entered the city, they quickly encountered street fighting. Many ordinary soldiers were beaten to death by German soldiers hiding in the dark before they could react. From this point, it can be seen that street fighting It's extremely cruel in every aspect. In addition to dividing them into combat groups for street fighting, Generals Paul and Hausser divided the tanks of the two divisions into five independent battle groups, guarding four parts of Smolensk City respectively. The fifth battle group Then guard the bridge and cover the retreat of your comrades in case it cannot withstand it.
Just after entering the street fighting, the 30th Group Army made a prompt decision and placed the only tank division under the group army on the front line of the attack. When 144 tanks rushed into Smolensk under the cover of more than 700 artillery pieces, the 30th Army saw a glimmer of hope of victory, but this hope was immediately strangled in the bud. Because the same number of Panther tanks immediately appeared in front of the tank division. Only forty-two of the more than one hundred tanks in this tank division were T34 tanks. The German tank battle group that was waiting for work suddenly rushed out and quickly killed ten of them. Several T34s as well as Soviet light tanks. Only three Panther tanks in the battle group were hit, and one was completely destroyed.
If the sudden appearance of a tank battle group achieved such results, it would make sense. However, the Soviet tank crews immediately knew that this was just to comfort themselves. German tanks were indeed better than those of the Soviet Union. Tanks are much more advanced. On average, if a German tank was not destroyed, the Soviet tanks would pay several times the price.
Two hours after the battle began, the tank divisions invested by the Soviet Union immediately had to turn into infantry divisions to continue fighting. The only evidence of their existence was the remains of tanks that fell on the street. But even so, the Soviet soldiers still did not retreat. What surprised Paul Hausser was why these Soviet soldiers would rather choose death than look for a chance to survive.
General Paul Hausser did not know at this time that Stalin had just issued a new order. On August 16, 1941, Stalin dictated Order No. 270 to the Supreme Command Headquarters:
1. Anyone who tears off his epaulettes and surrenders in battle is the most abhorrent deserter, and his family members should be arrested for violating the military oath and betraying the motherland. Such deserters should be shot on the spot.
2. Those who are surrounded should fight to the end and break out of the siege and return to our side. Anyone who would rather surrender should be eliminated by all means, and the family members of the surrendered Red Army soldiers should be deprived of the state subsidies and relief they enjoy.
The meaning of this order is very simple. Either die in the hands of the German army or die in the hands of a military court. And if you are identified as a deserter, even your family members will be implicated. In many cases, Soviet soldiers are so The fanatical fighting spirit also shows that the current situation is indeed very dangerous for the Soviet Union.
Due to the counterattack of the Soviet Red Army, the Battle of Smolensk has now formed two main fighting bases: one in the Smolensk and Yelniya areas, and the other on the Sozh River, the Dnieper River and the Berezina River The zone in between. In view of this, the Central Front was formed from the armies on the left wing of the Western Front (the 13th and 21st Armies) and the 3rd Army from the reserves. And gave Marshal Timoshenko full support, and Marshal Timoshenko must occupy Smolensk.
This means that in the Battle of Smolensk, the strength of the Soviet Red Army has exceeded the strength of the German Army Group Center, and even the current situation of the German army has been affected. The Imperial Division and the Viking Division stationed in Smolensk were in a particularly difficult situation. Facing wave after wave of offensives, the SS soldiers became increasingly tired of coping. What was even worse was that the number of enemies was increasing. More and more often, the soldiers found that their weapons and ammunition were insufficient. The Panther tanks were used as fixed turrets because they had no fuel, and the MG42 light machine guns, which had a huge demand for bullets, had to stop screaming. The SS soldiers who had never suffered this kind of trouble suddenly found that they also had to use their Mauser 98 rifles to engage in hand-to-hand combat with the rushing Soviet soldiers.
The same is true for the German troops in other locations. The Soviet troops of the 10th Armored Division are in an increasingly difficult situation under the successive attacks. What is even more worrying is that the Soviet Red Army, which has been surrounded, is also counterattacking. , the German army, caught between front and rear, had to fight on two fronts and was exhausted.
However, although the Soviet counterattack was massive and put considerable pressure on the German army, its troops were not strong enough to suppress the German army. In addition, the Soviet counterattack was launched in a hurry and lacked communication tools. Each unit entered the battle one by one. , there is neither cooperation nor coordination, and failure is inevitable. After understanding Marshal Timoshenko's intentions, Marshal Bock, commander of Army Group Center, finally ordered the Armored Group to commit the attack.
The sudden appearance of the Armored Group Army had a decisive impact on the battle situation. Unlike the Soviet army, which had been counterattacking all the time, the Armored Group Army had been resting in the rear for the past few days, and it was only now that Marshal Bock was transferred. In order to remove the threat from Army Group Center on both wings, Marshal Bock ordered Guderian and General Hoth to lead their own armored armies to annihilate the Soviet 30th Army and the 24th Army that threatened Smolensk.
The Imperial Division and the Viking Division, which had been holding on in Smolensk for five days, finally received a rescue order from Marshal Bock. When the tanks of the Second Armored Army drove into the city of Smolensk, the city was almost unrecognizable. city, because just a few days ago Smolensk was perfectly preserved, and now Smolensk's old town has turned into a pile of rubble.
After General Paul Hausser saw Guderian, the first thing he wanted was fuel. Seeing that hundreds of tanks could not move at all, Guderian wailed, "How come such a good tank is always missing?" In the hands of someone who knows how to use a tank!" However, the wailing was a wailing, and Guderian still allocated a batch of fuel from the Second Armored Group to Paul Hausser.
Paul & Hausser and Guderian changed to a clean place. General Paul & Hausser asked, "What does Marshal Bock mean now? After Smolensk is captured, the next step should be Moscow, right?" What?"
Guderian blew out a puff of smoke, shrugged and said, "I don't know either, but the soldiers are very tired now, and more importantly, our supply lines seem to be unable to keep up, and the situation on the southern front is still unclear. We are not optimistic, these factors may become considerations for the Supreme Command!”
"Actually, judging from the offensive intensity of the Soviet Red Army in the past few days, the Soviet Union still has a huge number of troops in Moscow!" General Paul Hausser said lightly, "Although Moscow is right in front of us, I always feel that victory seems far away. We are far away!"
After hearing Paul Hausser's words, Guderian's eyes shrank slightly and said, "Our mission is far from completed. I still need to direct the battle inside the encirclement. General Hausser, see you later!" "In fact, Guderian also has the feeling that Moscow may not be so easy to fight.
During these days Army Group South occupied a wide front from the mouth of the Dnieper to the banks of the Dnieper south of Kiev. This naturally occurring situation aroused great interest and attention from the German High Command. On August 20, a stunning sight appeared on the entire front: the two vanguard units of Army Group Center and Army Group South attacking * had formed a trend of going hand in hand, almost forming a straight line, about five miles apart. One hundred and fifty kilometers, the straight line center distance to the rear is also about five hundred and fifty kilometers. In this way, an almost equilateral triangular area is formed, and a complete Soviet front army is located within this triangular area. This is probably the military situation that every commander dreams of.
There is only one question now. Since we can achieve a great victory under such favorable conditions, and even solve the problem on the southern front in one fell swoop, who should we send? Army Group Center had just fought a big battle with the Soviet Red Army in Smolensk. This time was obviously inappropriate. Army Group North had very limited troops, and it was impossible to mobilize troops to support the south again. After much deliberation, the Supreme Command could only We can place our hopes on the Southeast Army Group composed of the Waffen SS.
Finally, the Supreme Command issued the following orders: 1. The most important goal that must be achieved before the arrival of winter is not to capture Moscow, but to seize the industrial areas and coal mining areas in the Crimea and the Donets River, and cut off the Soviet army from the Caucasus. oil supplies…
2. Army Group South and Army Group Southeast must take advantage of the extremely rare favorable situation created by our army's arrival at the Gomel-Pochep line without delay and conduct a coordinated operation with their inner wing forces. The purpose of this operation was not only to drive the Soviet 5th Army across the Dnieper River through a separate attack by the 6th Army, but also to drive the Soviet 5th Army across the Dnieper River before the enemy forces broke through the Desna River-Konotop-Sura River line. , annihilate them, so that Army Group South can gain a foothold in the area east of the middle reaches of the Dnieper River and ensure that its center and left wing forces continue to launch assaults in the direction of Rostov-Kharkov.
3. The mission of Army Group Center is still to capture Moscow as its first goal. The offensive forces of Army Group Center will not be weakened, but the 1st Waffen SS Panzer Corps will return to the subordinate Army Group Southeast to cooperate with the upcoming campaign of Army Group Southeast.
After receiving the order from the Supreme Command, Paul Hausser immediately turned around and headed south, joined the soldiers of the Viking Division and the Guards Corps, and immediately participated in the battle non-stop.
Kiev, the capital of Ukraine, is located at the confluence of the Desna and Dnieper rivers. The Dnieper River bends from north to south and flows into the Black Sea, forming a large S-shape with its upstream tributary, the Desna River. The goal of the German army's plan was to seize Kiev and encircle and annihilate Marshal Budyonny's Soviet Army Group Southwestern in a huge tongue-shaped area. This tongue-shaped region extends from Tubichivsk on the north bank of the Desna River to Klimenkog in the south, and ends with Kiev in the west.
The 1st Armored Army, 6th Army and 17th Army of Army Group South were responsible for the encirclement operations. The task of the First SS Panzer Corps of the Southeast Army Group is to cross the Desna River from the west of Tubichivsk and advance southward, directly into Romny behind Kiev.
This kind of thing was originally done by Guderian in history, but now Guderian is still in Army Group Center, supporting the troops of Army Group South, and has become the First Armored SS of the Waffen-SS that has been following Army Group Center. military.
As if he was aware of his danger, Marshal Budyonny, commander of the Southwest Front, used the word retreat in his telegram to Stalin. But without exception, they were all refuted by Stalin. Stalin could not bear the idea of losing Ukraine before a battle was fought, so Stalin ordered Budyonny in his reply to hold on to Ukraine and not take a step back.
I caught a cold yesterday and it's not gone today. I'm so tired. Forget it, I took medicine and went to bed.