In any case, Allred's arrival at least let Lin Wei know one thing, that is, the Soviet Union is far from monolithic. He made the right bet this time. Not everyone can remain calm when facing the Great Purge. , General Kuznetsov is obviously not one of those loyal party members. In history, many surrendered Soviet officers and soldiers helped Germany fight, but Germany never paid attention to these people. If Germany could select a group of people from six million prisoners of war, how could the Soviet-German war be so difficult? Relying on the domestic conflicts in the Soviet Union, Germany could completely rely on its own strength.
"Mr. Allred!" Lin Wei's Russian was really not good enough, so he could only use a translator to say, "I still say the same thing, it is better for the Northwest Front Army to enter the prisoner of war camp. I can guarantee the safety of the prisoners of war. If you choose If you resist to the end, I can only say that war is a legal killing activity, and the Northwest Front is not very powerful in my eyes!"
Lin Wei's words were half inducement and half intimidation, but Allred did not reveal any frightened reaction. On the contrary, Allred smiled slightly and said, "The combat effectiveness of the German Wehrmacht indeed amazed us, but dear leader, you have I haven’t discovered something, that is, while you are annihilating the Soviet Red Army on a large scale, the number of the Soviet Red Army is increasing. Is your offensive now beginning to struggle?"
"Huh?" Lin Wei smiled coldly, "I thought you could say anything new? In your Soviet Red Army organization, each division is equipped with two to three command structures, so once the war starts, You can expand immediately, right?" Lin Wei ignored Allred's stunned expression, "Don't think that I don't know the internal situation of your Soviet Union. I already started thinking about how to destroy the Soviet Union more than ten years ago. Now the whole of Europe is in our hands, and the Soviet Union has no hope!"
Lin Wei's words made Allred completely put aside his contempt, because Allred knew that Lin Wei was definitely not lying. The Great Purge had made ordinary Soviet commanders fearful of organizations like intelligence agencies, so he knew that Lin Wei was not lying. Allred, who had Wei's other identity, didn't dare to doubt whether what was said in the gift was true or false. However, when it comes to the fate of hundreds of thousands of people in the Northwest Front, Allred could only bite the bullet and say, "The Northwest Front can help Germany go to war with the Soviet Union. You have to know that even us, not everyone is convinced of the current system. There are people who like it! And there are many opponents in the country. If necessary, we can cooperate!"
"Cooperation?" Lin Wei leaned back and stared at the ceiling, seeming to be considering Allred's proposal. The Soviet Union had become an industrial country in a short period of time, and its achievements were indeed amazing, but this kind of force Large-scale development will definitely cause a problem, that is, it is impossible to take care of everyone's interests. After all, the Soviet Union is not Germany, and there are no Jews to divert them to achieve their goals. Therefore, these contradictions have been suppressed for the time being. If Germany does not If they were to attack the Soviet Union, these forces would not be able to fight Stalin on their own. But there is another problem, that is, Germany attacks the Soviet Union. Stalin can also use war to unite people's hearts. After all, under the current circumstances, war is the top priority.
It’s very difficult! Lin Wei thought for a while and found that Germany could not do this kind of contact with the opposition, and could only seek agents from within the Soviet Union. But how did Lin Wei know whether General Kuznetsov was the person he was looking for
"I can let General Kuznetsov resume command of the Northwest Front and help Germany fight! But there is one thing!" Lin Wei stretched out a finger and said coldly, "How can I trust you? What if in the war? At the critical moment, if you stab us in the back, I won’t even have a place to regret it!”
Allred knew that if he didn't give a satisfactory answer, he would never get what he wanted, so he thought about it for a long time before saying, "Our troops can allow Germans to join the command. As for quantity… "
"The number cannot be less than half of the Soviet commanders!" Lin Wei immediately responded, "Without German troops around, the troops of the former Northwest Front cannot fight alone, including General Kuznetsov. The senior commander cannot leave the areas controlled by Germany and take personal command. In exchange, I can propose to the country that General Kuznetsov be appointed as the commander of the new troops, with a status equivalent to the commander of our German army group!" Lin The prestige was like a barrage of conditions that overwhelmed Allred. When Lin Wei stopped, Allred still said, "Dear leader, this condition is too harsh. This is not cooperation. This makes us traitors!”
"If Germany wins this war! You will not be traitors, but liberators of Russia!" Lin Wei stood up and said quietly, "The winner is not blamed, Mr. Allred, you have One week to think about it, I will leave Minsk soon. I hope that when I come back, you will have thought about the pros and cons!" Lin Wei had no choice but to issue an eviction order. The initiative now lies in Germany's hands. Admiral Kuznetsov is in a weak position, and Lin Wei certainly has enough confidence to issue orders.
Under Lin Wei's arrangement, Allred received good treatment here. Although the people below did not know the relationship between the Soviet Union and their leader, since the leader had already arranged it, they would naturally not interfere and simply The people brought by Lin Wei were not random racists. Allred's safety was reassuring. Lin Wei's trip was delayed by one day, and Allred wanted to find Lin Wei the next day. During the negotiation, they were told that Lin Wei had gone to the south.
Lin Wei's sudden departure left Allred helpless, but as a staff officer's keen senses, Allred immediately guessed Lin Wei's purpose. After all, there was such a big conflict between Germany and the Soviet Union in Ukraine. The formation, people can't help but pay attention to it.
Compared with the dense war clouds in the south, the current direction of Army Group Center is much calmer. General Huth's 3rd Armored Group has moved north to fight in Leningrad, and Guderian's 2nd Armored Group has moved south to cover the 3rd Waffen SS. Although the First Armored Corps will be back soon, it will also take time. Therefore, Army Group Center has been mainly defending Smolensk, the gateway to Moscow, until the war situation in the south and north has progressed. , the last three armies met and attacked Moscow.
Therefore, the city of Smolensk, which was still fiercely contested just a month ago, has now become a rare peaceful place in the Soviet Union. Although the time has entered September, when they wake up every morning, ordinary German soldiers have already felt a trace of Coolness, although the Russian winter has not come yet, it has begun to show its power in terms of smiles. Fortunately, as long as the morning passed, the city of Smolensk could still be called sunny, so some German soldiers still wore summer clothes and purchased the items they needed in the city. Although the Soviet people here were very dissatisfied with the Germans, They could not be called friendly, but they maintained basic restraint. After all, they also knew that if they took any irrational behavior without the support of the Soviet Red Army, they would only be the ones who would be unlucky in the end.
The peaceful life was interrupted two days ago. On August 30, the day before the First SS Panzer Corps successfully arrived at the designated location, the city of Smolensk suddenly welcomed a group of guests. These guests, even ordinary German soldiers, are afraid of them. They wear black military uniforms that only a few people in the SS wear, but the armbands with the word G printed on their left arms show their unusual identities. These people It is a combat unit of the German Armed SS that is not part of the ordinary establishment, armed with the Gestapo.
Along with these Gestapo came Reinhard & Heydrich, deputy national leader of the SS. Heydrich, who holds the title of Governor-General of the Czech Republic, is definitely a big shot when there is only one division commander in Smolensk. Therefore, when Heydrich asked for cooperation, the division commander asked the soldiers of his unit to cooperate with these Gestapo without any hesitation.
Soon, Heydrich led two battalions of the Gestapo and the Wehrmacht to a forest near the city of Smolensk. Although September in Russia is not cold, it has nothing to do with the heat. The forest looked a bit eerie, and dew was already hanging on the leaves of some of the trees that could be seen.
"Is this right here?" Heydrich frowned and looked at the forest and said, "Can you be sure?"
"Yes, Your Excellency Deputy Leader, we can confirm that this is here!" said the adjutant next to Heydrich.
"Okay, let's get started! What's the name of this place?" Heydrich asked.
"This is called Katyn Forest!"
It didn't take long. Under Heydrich's urging, the excavation work began immediately. First, the Gestapo entered the forest and began to search for traces of loose soil in the forest. After all, the incident happened in spring. If you look carefully If you look for it, it is not difficult to find the doubtful points. It took two hours to find the traces. After all, although the Katyn Forest is not big, it is definitely not small.
Soon, the Gestapo who entered the forest came out to report the situation, "Your Excellency, Deputy Leader, I have found traces of burial. Fortunately, the Soviets were not buried deep in the forest, otherwise it would be really difficult to find!"
Heydrich nodded imperceptibly and said slowly, "Now that we have found it, it is up to the Wehrmacht to dig these things out for me. This matter is very important for the direction of public opinion in the empire's war. It must be done Keep it intact!" Following Heydrich's order, two battalions of Wehrmacht soldiers carried shovels and entered the forest in batches. The stern-looking Gestapo also followed in to prevent the Wehrmacht soldiers from accidentally destroying what they needed.
The excavation work cannot be completed in a few hours, so Heydrich did not stay here longer and returned to the city of Smolensk, where Heydrich had to personally deploy the German counterintelligence network. At the beginning of the Soviet-German war, establishing an absolutely safe channel in the Soviet Union became Germany's top priority. The entire Soviet Union was very vast. It was impossible to suppress the guerrillas without completely defeating the regular army. So Heydrich The task is to establish an absolutely safe road network in Warsaw, Minsk, and Smolensk, and to mobilize troops and railways in Germany to provide guarantees. Here Heydrich would rather kill all the opponents. An absolute safety net was established. As long as the guerrillas did not threaten Germany's lifeline, Heydrich would tolerate it. If they did, Heydrich would do anything.
As a springboard for Germany to attack Moscow, Smolensk was very important in Heydrich's eyes, so it was also necessary to improve German rule here. The news of the Katyn Forest did not keep Heydrich waiting too long. At around two o'clock in the afternoon the next day, when Heydrich was still considering how to manage the city of Smolensk, the Gestapo in the Katyn Forest came to Heydrich and said that progress had been made.
After hearing the news, Heydrich immediately put down what he was doing and rushed to the Katyn Forest. When he came outside the forest, Heydrich saw rows of corpses lying on the ground, being dragged out by Wehrmacht soldiers. He had just been dead for half a year, and the body had not completely decomposed. Judging from the expressions of the soldiers, they clearly lacked psychological preparation for what they were doing. Each of them looked pale. Compared to these soldiers of the Wehrmacht, they looked like a cool Gestapo. It's much better, and it hasn't changed from beginning to end.
Standing outside the forest, Heydrich was carefully observing the corpses. All of them were blindfolded, their hands were tied behind their backs, and they were shot to death in the back of the head. He resisted his nausea. Heydrich ordered to check the clothes worn by these people. Clothes to prove the time of death, and then turned around and ordered, "One fatal blow to the back of the head. This is a typical KGB-style killing method. It generates electricity for the domestic high command and national leaders. Near the city of Smolensk in the Soviet Union In the Katyn Forest, the Gestapo discovers unexpected gains!”
The news of the mass shooting of Polish prisoners of war in the Katyn Forest also spread to all corners of Europe following Heydrich's order. Regardless of the impact of this incident, during the two days that Heydrich stayed in Smolensk, Within days, the Battle of Kiev has truly entered a critical moment. If the previous series of attacks were just preparations, the two sides of the Battle of Kiev, Germany and the Soviet Union, are now fully prepared for the largest encirclement and annihilation battle in history. It will also officially start soon.
Field Marshal von Rundstedt had already begun to take action. On September 2, he ordered the Seventeenth Army to launch an offensive immediately after establishing the Kremenzug bridgehead and cross the Milgorod-Lubne line; at the same time, he ordered The 1st Armored Army advanced along the Krasnograd-Poltava line. The actions ordered by Army Group South were that the 1st Panzer Army would not attack in the direction of Poltava, but in the direction of Romney, where it would establish contact with the 1st SS Panzer Corps. The Seventeenth Army used most of its forces to cover the east flank, and only one army participated in the battle.
After a day's journey, Lin Wei arrived at Uman, the headquarters of Marshal Rundstedt and Marshal Manstein, on September 3. He met the two marshals of Army Group South and held consultations with the two marshals. , Lin Wei said, ""There is nothing wrong with starting from the Kremenchug, Neshin and Konotop areas, encircling and annihilating the enemy forces still in the middle reaches of the Dnieper River and the lower reaches of the Desna River with two wings. Therefore, Army Group South has not taken action yet. I am just worried that I will not be able to destroy the two fronts of the Soviet Union. However, I think that with the support of Army Group Southeast, there will be no problems in terms of troop strength! "
Marshal Rundstedt and Marshal Manstein chose to welcome Lin Wei's statement. The Battle of Kiev was officially started at this time, although all the troops participating in the battle were already in the battle. The bulk of the two German fronts, a Panzer Army and a Panzer Corps (a total of 1,350 tanks) and the 4th Air Force (203 bombers, 166 fighters, Forty heavy fighters, one hundred and twenty-eight dive fighters and thirteen reconnaissance aircraft), and seven armies of the two Soviet front armies launched a battle for Ukraine.
Dietrich's 1st SS Panzer Corps was the left wing of this pincer assault, however, this armored group could only commit one division because another division had to cover the entire left wing. This unfortunate arrangement was not Dietrich's intention at all. Dietrich was willing to ignore the enemies on his flanks and launch an assault southward with two divisions in order to quickly win the battle. This was the tactic formulated by Paul Hausser. .
However, the tactics formulated by Paul & Hausser are somewhat whimsical. Currently, only the "Fuhrer" regiment of the SS "Reich" division has reached the Avdeyevka area. The "Führer" regiment did not wait for the division's large troops to arrive, and braved the pouring rain to prepare for the second major attack. The Viking Division held the Krop bridgehead captured on September 1, but for several days the Soviets attacked the German positions with superior numbers. The 5th Armored Regiment of the Viking Division, which was responsible for covering the flank north of the Desna River, was forced to engage in fierce battles with four enemy divisions. The 1st Battalion of the 5th Armored Regiment was even surrounded by a large number of Soviet tanks, but finally broke out of the encirclement to the north. , to this end, Lin Wei ordered the Skeleton Division to send an armored regiment to Korop to help the Viking Division reverse the situation there. At the same time, rescue the Imperial Division from the fighting situation there.