The 21st Army of the Soviet Union was affiliated to the Bryansk Front. Under the assault of the First SS Armored Corps and Guderian's Second Armored Army, it lost contact with other units of the Bryansk Front, so under Stalin's intervention Next, the Soviet 21st Army now belongs to the Southwest Front. The commander of the 21st Army is Lieutenant General Kuznetsov (it seems that he should be the unlucky commander of the Northwest Front. Unexpectedly, he has been demoted to the commander of the army now, so he has the same name here!), After the 21st Army was handed over to the Southwestern Front, Stalin fully believed that the Southwestern Front had enough troops to stop the advance of the First SS Armored Corps.
However, Stalin's idea was not understood by Marshal Budyonny. After observing the dangerous situation of the Southwest Front Army, Marshal Budyonny once again reported to Stalin and requested that the Southwest Front Army be withdrawn from Ukraine while the situation was not too bad. This was the second time that Marshal Budyonny proposed a retreat to Stalin. The last time Stalin reluctantly withdrew the order at the request of Zhukov and others. But this time it was different. Zhukov had been demoted to the reserve front army by Stalin. Stalin could not understand Budyonny's proposal to retreat, and quickly lost trust in the old Cossack general, and had already begun to make plans to move Budyonny. The marshal was replaced.
In order to ensure their own safety, the Guards Corps led by Dietrich must level the battle line to the same line as the Imperial Division. Now it is not a smooth road in front of them. Lieutenant General Kuznetsov's 21st Army, There are two divisions of troops just in front of Dietrich. If you want to level the battle line, these Soviet troops must be eliminated. Although the size of the guard flag is much larger than a brigade, Dietrich faces after all They are two real divisions. Fortunately, Lin Wei has always spared no effort in providing the best equipment to the SS troops. The tanks of an ordinary SS armored division are equivalent to an armored corps of the Wehrmacht. The tanks of the Guard Flag are also equivalent to an ordinary armored division. The only disadvantage of the Guard Flag is that it has a relatively small number of people.
Lin Wei, who was at the headquarters of Army Group South, quickly discovered Dietrich's dangerous situation. Without asking for help from his subordinates, Lin Wei began to seek where to find troops that could rescue Dietrich, so Lin Wei While ordering the Guard Flag Troopers to stop advancing and rest in place, they began to look for troops that could provide support. The Military Police Division, the Police Division, and the Skeleton Division were good choices, but they were originally behind the Imperial Division and the Viking Division. It was impossible to rush to the location at the speed required now, so Lin Wei quickly shifted his target to the Air Force. The Parachute Division was a good choice, but it was best to be supported by ground troops.
"Yes, Hermann Göring Paratrooper Armored Division!" Lin Wei suddenly thought, "It seems that we need to communicate with Göring again! Only the Air Force can rush to the battlefield as quickly as possible. How can we just fight in Kiev?" Didn't you think of letting them come together at the beginning? This was a mistake! Crawford, contact the Air Force immediately, I want to speak to Hermann Goering!" Lin Wei said shaking his head.
It takes time to directly contact Hermann Goering at home on the front line. Taking advantage of this opportunity, Dietrich, who had been on the offensive, ordered the guard flag team to stop and began to replenish the almost exhausted fuel. At the same time, the maintenance staff also In the emergency repair of damaged tanks, although the Panzer IV tank is not as powerful as the Panther tank, it has an advantage, that is, the damage rate is much smaller than that of the Panther tank. This does not mean that the combat effectiveness of the Panzer IV tank is higher than that of the Panther tank. Instead, many Panther tanks broke down while traveling. After all, the Panther tank was much more complex than the Panzer IV tank and was far less reliable than the Panzer IV tank.
The first batch of Panther tanks were allocated to the seven divisions first established by the SS. Now two of the seven divisions are in Leningrad, and the remaining five are all on the southern front participating in the Battle of Kiev. The Guardsmen are not equipped with Panzer IV tanks now. It doesn't seem to be a bad thing, at least according to the establishment of the Guard Flag Force, if the Panther tank breaks down during the battle, it will undoubtedly greatly lose the combat effectiveness of the Guard Flag Force. The Panzer IV tanks currently equipped by the Guards are enough to cope with most Soviet tanks. Coupled with their good reliability, they are very suitable for the current battles of the Guards.
The action of mobilizing paratroopers and armored divisions did not cost Lin Wei much experience. After all, Lin Wei believed that his relationship with Goering was quite good. When searching for the wealth of other countries, Lin Wei and Goering had already tacitly understood each other. They have been cooperating for a long time, and besides, the Paratrooper Armored Division currently has no combat mission in Army Group Center, so transferring over should not be a problem. If things go well, a regiment of paratroopers can be airborne in one day. The Guard Flag Team does not lack tanks, but it lacks people. As long as there are enough people, it should not be a problem to resume the offensive. Now Lin Wei only needs the Guard Flag Team to be able to maintain the current situation. A stable front for a day or so.
Although the SS-Legend Guard has temporarily stopped attacking, Lieutenant General Kuznetsov is obviously not prepared to let go of the 1st SS Armored Corps, which poses a great threat to the Southwest Front, in order to get close to the two infantry divisions of the Guard-Left. As a leader, Lieutenant General Kuznetsov prepared to drive back the standard guard, but Lieutenant General Kuznetsov misjudged Dietrich's character. If he were an ordinary person, he would definitely consider defense first, and Dietrich Dietrich is different from the madman. After being attacked, he usually first considers how to counterattack, because in the armed SS, Dietrich happens to be in a different faction from General Paul Hausser and others. Trichy believed more in spirit above all else, so the Guardsmen were more frenzied in battle than units such as the Imperial Division.
The two infantry divisions, under the cover of more than 80 tanks, wanted to drive the unsteady Guards to a safe distance. This was something Dietrich would never tolerate. The armored strength of the Guards was obviously weaker than that of the Guards. Lieutenant General Kuznetsov's two infantry divisions are strong. Although they are not much larger in number, compared with the Soviet tanks, which are mostly T28 tanks, Dietrich believes that if they rely on armored strength for mobile defense, they will definitely be able to defeat the enemy. Lieutenant General Kuznetsov was at a loss.
In fact, this is exactly the case. If the tanks supported by Lieutenant General Kuznetsov are all T34, Dietrich may be the one who is helpless. But now, for Dietrich, this is not enough. Defeat the standard guard. The standard guard trained by Dietrich has no other characteristics, but it is definitely not afraid of death.
Lieutenant General Kuznetsov, who faced two divisions against one brigade, soon received unexpected news from the attacking troops. That is, the troops of the two divisions were beaten to death in front of the standard guard. The T28 tank that led the battle was no match for the Panzer IV. The gap between the two was too obvious. Not only was there a gap between the Soviet Union and Germany in terms of hardware, but also in terms of the quality of the tank crews, the tank crews of the Guards Corps were even better than the Soviet tanks. The armored soldiers were thrown out for an unknown number of streets. In the battle between tanks, the Guards destroyed all six tanks and injured 11, killing the Soviet tank troops covering the attack. After losing the tank cover, the Soviet infantry had to face the Germans. Massacre of tanks.
Originally, the Soviets were the attacking party. Lieutenant General Kuznetsov thought of everything, but he didn't expect that he would become the loser so quickly. Not only were all the attacking tanks destroyed, but now the standard guard force was still pursuing the victory and was completely defeated. The infantry attacked their own positions. Dietrich successfully killed Lieutenant General Kuznetsov's tank troops. While contacting the Air Force bombers for support, he commanded the guard flag squad to pursue them. Dietrich tried his best to The desperate attack posture displayed, coupled with the timely appearance of the Stuka dive bomber wing, really looked like this, making Lieutenant General Kuznetsov break out in a cold sweat.
Dietrich simply did not completely forget the gap in strength. After a decent attack, he quickly began to build a position to defend. Dietrich already knew from Lin Wei's telegram that he only needed to maintain the status quo. A day would do it, and Dietrich figured it wouldn't be a difficult task for the Guard Guard.
While the SS Panzer Corps was on the defensive, the other divisions of the 1st SS Panzer Corps began to advance increasingly in pursuit. The SS Reich Panzer Division advances along the Makoshin-Bahmachi road. The regiments he belonged to advanced alternately. At dawn on September 9, the "Fuhrer" regiment commanded by the Qom SS Major attacked Bachmachi. Reich armored divisions launched an assault on Gorodishe after dive bombers prepared fire. The 1st Battalion of the 35th Armored Regiment and the 12th Infantry Regiment first entered the city. The Viking Armored Division launched an attack on the Romine sector with Major Fran's advance detachment. The detachment raided and captured the bridges at Kolabutovo, holding the bridgehead until Colonel von Manteuffel's follow-up battle group arrived during the night. On this night, even the ordinary officers and soldiers of the Viking Armored Division understood why their general ordered them to move forward without stopping and to join the own armored division coming from the south as soon as possible. Now even the ordinary soldiers had a premonition. , they will contribute to the troops encircling Budyonni somewhere. However, this also means that Dietrich's plan to close the front line with other troops has failed. If Dietrich wants to ensure his own safety, he must make greater efforts, and all this will happen after the arrival of the Parachute Armored Division. Expand.
God was unfavorable. When the Viking Armored Division captured Kolabutovo, it suddenly started to rain. This was definitely not a good thing for the Viking Armored Division. Ukraine has only three black soils in the world. This kind of land has huge benefits in agriculture. All places with black soil are granaries, but one thing is that black soil is more sticky than other lands. For heavy weapons, such a road is inherently It's enough of a logistical challenge, but if it rains it's a nightmare.
The next day, September 10th, the sky was still cloudy. A heavy rain last night turned the highways and roads into mud in an instant. Many vehicles were stuck in the mud, and they could only be pulled out by tractors. The driver of the motorcycle could only move forward by holding on to the tailgate of the truck with his right hand. Although Major Frank's advance detachment encountered this kind of situation, Indescribable difficulties, but still not stopped. Although the formation was in disarray, they were still advancing slowly.
The armored reconnaissance vehicle of the 1st Reconnaissance Detachment and the Panther heavy tank of the 8th Battalion of the 6th Armored Regiment were driving at the front. At nearly noon, the officers and soldiers saw Rohm at the northeastern foot of a mountain ridge that looked like an isolated island in the sea. houses inside. The driver stepped on the accelerator, and the tanks, armored reconnaissance vehicles and motorcycles rushed to the first bridge over the Romain River. The Soviet troops, who used anti-tank trenches and barbed wire to protect the depth of their river banks, were stunned by the sudden appearance of vehicles painted with iron cross marks. Based on their understanding of this kind of road, they could not imagine that armored forces could move so quickly. When they arrived here, they were so panicked that they failed to mount a serious resistance, and Major Frank quickly took control of the bridge.
The German army did not stop advancing. They braved enemy artillery fire and rushed to the bridge over the Bolshevik Romen River. In a few minutes, they invaded Romney from the northwest. Without stopping for a moment, they crossed the city of Romney and reached the bridge over the Sula River at the other end of the city. When the combat vehicles arrived at the enemy's shore, the Soviet army seemed to wake up from their slumber. In an instant, Soviet troops appeared from every corner of this clean city. They shot at German marching columns, attacked individual vehicles, and ambush reconnaissance groups and assault groups. When Colonel Kellermann's marching column arrived in the afternoon, the fighting gradually subsided, and the Germans began to systematically search residential areas. At this time, the Soviet plane arrived. Despite the bad weather, attack planes and low-altitude aircraft bombed the city and opened fire on the Germans with aircraft cannon and machine guns. Bombs flattened houses and by dusk Romney was a sea of flames. Before nightfall, the Soviet army carried out twenty-five bombings on this disaster-stricken city.
It was raining continuously at night, and the officers and soldiers of the Viking Armored Division were exhausted. However, small groups of Soviet troops continued to harass the burning city, disturbing their peace. Supplies were cut off because trucks could not drive on the muddy roads. Due to bad weather, the First Armored Army of Army Group South could only advance slowly. Therefore, the 1st Waffen SS Panzer Corps must bear a greater task, so the 1st Waffen SS Panzer Corps must cross Romne, which was supposed to be the end point of the southern offensive, and advance to Lochvita.
The continuous rainy weather made the actions of the First SS Armored Corps very slow. However, Lin Wei felt a little comfort that the other three SS Armored Divisions had been close to the First SS Armored Corps. , the military police, police and skeleton divisions finally followed up behind the Empire and Viking armored divisions. Now Lin Wei no longer had to worry about the Imperial and Viking divisions going deep alone and being annihilated.
However, this does not mean that the current situation has changed, because the Imperial Division and the Viking Division have penetrated very deeply into the Southwest Front Army's defense line, so the resistance they encounter now is not comparable to that when they first moved south. The huge Soviet Red Army is Something the current SS has never seen before. The troops of the Gendarmerie Division, the Police Division and the Skeleton Division entered through the breakthrough of the Imperial Division and the Viking Division, and then reached the right wing of the Imperial Division. If nothing unexpected happened, they would immediately encounter the huge Soviet Red Army.
Now five armored divisions of the Waffen SS have entered the battlefield in the same direction. After discussing with Marshal Manstein, Lin Wei believed that an attack was necessary, so Lin Wei used the name of the Southeast Army Group Headquarters to The order was given, and the fighter jets and artillery batteries launched a fire assault southward. From right to left, the Gendarmerie Division, Police Division, Skeleton Division, Imperial Division, Viking Division, and the Guards Corps supported by the Parachute Armored Division entered the battle at the same time. Defeat the enemies you face.
After this order was issued, the first and saddest thing was the Soviet Fifth Army, which had been fighting on the southern front since the beginning of the war. The Soviet Fifth Army's defense in the swamps caused the Sixth Army of the Southern Army Group to suffer a lot. From the beginning of the war, the Soviet Union The Fifth Army has been fighting non-stop, and is still deployed on the front line of the German offensive. They are the ones who have suffered the most from the oppressive offensive of the Waffen SS from north to south. The current situation of the Soviet Fifth Army is quite unfavorable. Wonderful, because their position spans a long time. In front of them is the largest gendarmerie division, the police division and the skeleton division of the Waffen SS, which have just entered the battle. However, their flanks and rear flanks have begun to be threatened by the Viking division. arrive.
Therefore, when the Military Police Division began to attack, it succeeded without encountering much resistance. The Soviet Fifth Army began to retreat in a hurry. This was also because they were afraid of being stabbed in the butt by the Viking Division at the critical moment of the battle.
On the first day of the offensive, the offensive echelons composed of the ace divisions of the Waffen SS had already achieved great success. The right-wing Gendarmerie Armored Division and the Police Armored Division have so far maintained their positions northwest of Chernihiv, a railway and road hub. The Friendly Skeleton Armored Division smashed the enemy's resistance in front of Vibli and was smoothly advancing southwest. At dusk that day, the leading troops reached the Chernigov-Kiev road opposite Anisovo. From this point on, the enemy forces in the Mena area were caught in a pincer attack by the Gendarmerie Division and the SS "Reich" Division attacking from east to west. The Soviet army gave up resistance and continued to retreat south. With the newly invested Gendarmerie Division, Police Division and Skeleton Division in the north, the Imperial Division and the Viking Division in the northeast, and the Guards Corps in the east, the Soviet Fifth Army had a very difficult life, and during this period, von Rei Marshal Schenau's Sixth Army launched an attack from west to east on a wide front, forcing the Soviet army to withdraw to a small area in the east.