0p0 Third Reich Episode 379
Third Reich Episode 379
Based on Manstein's meritorious service in the Polish and French campaigns, he was promoted from the position of chief of staff who could only plan to a commander who actually commanded the troops. This is not unreasonable.
However, Reinhardt obviously did not ask Manstein to command an army, which did not conform to the position that Manstein should have in his heart.
The reason why Manstein was appointed as the commander of the 56th Army was just to add a qualification to him. To put it bluntly, it was a layer of gold.
After only three months as an army commander, Manstein was arranged by Reinhardt to train and form an army group on the grounds that he was well trained for the troops, and he became an army commander.
And a normal army is not enough, what Reinhardt handed over to Manstein was the most special army - the 11th army.
The reason why the 11th Army is special is that in addition to having a German army, it can also command a Romanian army in its formation.In other words, Manstein's upright command is actually the Allied Army with a total of two armies!
After all, relations between Berlin and Moscow have been deteriorating since months before the war started.
Reinhardt failed to prevent the Soviets from taking the three Baltic states and two Romanian provinces, and Stalin failed to prevent Reinhardt from sending German officer corps to Romania and Finland.
The disappointment of both parties exacerbated their growing anger. All senior officials close to the two leaders knew that the fragile peace between the Soviet Union and Germany could be broken at any time.
Take the officer corps sent by Germany to Romania as an example. Their mission of publicity is to help Romania train and form a new modern army.
In fact, their real task was to establish a connection between the German High Command and the Romanian army, so that they could coordinate the two armies well in the future when they fought against the Soviet Union.
And now, the Romanian army has their first opportunity to fight jointly with the German army.
With the help of Reinhardt, the current Romanian army has reorganized a total of 20 front-line main infantry divisions.These infantry divisions have been fully modeled after the German infantry divisions. They consist of 3 infantry regiments, a total of motorized reconnaissance units, and a total of anti-tank reconnaissance companies (equipped with 6 Schneider 1936 47mm guns aided by Germany). In addition, the Romanian divisions also Under the direction of the German officer corps, it was equipped with a battalion of combat engineers and an artillery regiment.
Except for the 20 Romanian main infantry divisions selected by the German officer corps because of their best physical fitness, the rest of Romania are 6 reserve divisions with poor quality and outdated weapons and equipment.
The equipment level of these reserve divisions is still at the level of World War I, and part of the German aid to Romania has already been divided up by 20 main divisions. Where can we get these reserve divisions.
Therefore, the task of these troops is only to stay in the country to fill up, and will not perform combat missions with the German army.
Of course, even if the equipment exchanged by Germany for the purchase of Romanian oil is accepted, and the scale is organized in the same way as the German army, the theoretical firepower of a Romanian division is only half of that of a German infantry division.
If factors such as the training of soldiers, the quality of officers, and logistical supplies are included, the combat effectiveness of these so-called main Romanian infantry divisions will be even lower.
And the best thing in Romania, and the largest project of Dro's military cooperation, is the formation of the Romanian First Armored Division!
Because Romania was an ally with France at the beginning, so 20 years ago, they asked the French to help them establish a tank training school and bought 76 French FT-17 tanks casually.
Because the French taught them, Romanian tanks, like the French army, were scattered among the infantry at the beginning and used as support forces.
Later, because of the Romanian oil field, the Germans came.The Third Reich, a country that defeated France, hit it off with Romania and became Romania's new partner.
Both sides take what they need, Romania provides the oil that Germany wants, and the Germans sell the weapons that Romania dreams of, which are used to strengthen the army.
Although what Germany sold to Romania at the beginning was not German weapons, they were basically rifles, artillery, and tanks seized from Czechoslovakia.However, this is also a very good weapon for Romania.
With the financial backing of oil exports, and the well-intentioned side-education of tanks exported by the Germans, the Romanians learned to use tanks intensively.
The technical cooperation between the German Rheinland Consortium and the Romanian Ford Company has enabled the Romanians to initially have their own low-level industrial level of processing and repairing parts and repairing and maintaining tanks.
After the Soviet Union occupied Romania's northern provinces, German envoys came to further in-depth cooperation with Romania.This was sold to Romania for 1 simplified mass-produced Mauser 98k rifles.
In order to be easy to produce, these 98k rifles are not only the same as other weapons used by the German army, but also use stamping component technology, changing the bottom of the buttstock to a cup-type stamping component.
In addition, these simplified versions of 98k produced have also changed the front guard from cutting parts to spot welding, and the bottom of the magazine and the bow guard have also been changed to stamped steel plates, and even the classic bayonet seat has been omitted.
However, this is still the best light weapon Romania can buy.
As for the Romanian First Armored Division, which is full of light tanks, Reinhardt also boldly took out 100 stalker tank destroyers, giving the Romanian armored forces the ability to deal with Soviet T-34 tanks.
As for the planned delivery of the second batch of 120 stalker tank destroyers in the later stage, they will not enter the Romanian army until the second oil trade agreement between Romania and Germany is signed, and will be distributed to the main Romanian infantry divisions.
The officer corps previously sent by Germany to Romania has transformed into a German liaison officer in the Romanian 3rd Army, responsible for closely linking the Romanian 3rd Army with the German 11th Army. common command.
The German troops of the 11th Army were on standby at the Romanian border long before the Soviet attack. Now, together with the Romanian 4th Army and the 5th Army under the command of the new Romanian Marshal Antonescu, they have also decided to join the Allies. Counterattack against the Soviet Union.
In this way, Model's counterattack force of 50 is actually all together!
Body 5 Chapter Eighty Operation Mars
The Soviet Union's sudden invasion of Germany across the board shocked even the prepared German army.
On the three fronts where the Soviet army focused on attacking, the southern front, where the Soviet army's armor and air forces are most concentrated, is also the most exciting.
Due to the rapidly changing situation on the battlefield, at this time, the intelligence departments of both the Soviet Union and the Germans were somewhat unable to keep up. The generals of both sides were staring at the map and making decisions quickly.
Model, who commanded the SS defense forces on the southern front of the German army, and Zhukov, commander of the Soviet Southern Front, both stared at the same place on the map at the same time: the city of Sarok!
It was a modest little city, north of an important pass in the Corpathians.Due to the previous emergency turn of the SS, a vacuum inevitably appeared on their northern flank.
The only place where the German army can use to control this vacuum is the strategically key point where the SS 26th Mechanized Infantry Division is stationed, the city of Saarok.
Since Model had previously shrunk and strengthened the city of Sarok's defense, Zhukov's forward troops quickly and easily occupied the suburbs of Sarok City.
In the headquarters of the Southern Front of the Soviet Army, Zhukov was seriously arranging the battle plan.
This battle plan called "Mars" reflects Zhukov's typical style.He used the strength of the 3 armies and 4 independent armored brigades of the entire front army to launch a centripetal attack on Model's SS in three directions with overwhelming momentum.
Among them, the most important offensive was the central attack jointly launched by the 20th Soviet Army and two armored brigades.
The goal is directly at the city of Sarok!
If you get through the Sarok, you can pierce the joint between the German SS and the Wehrmacht, and then encircle the German SS. While annihilating the German army's vital forces, it will also destroy Germany's morale by eliminating the important German SS.
"Report to the commander, there is no German garrison on the outskirts of Sarok City!" The voice of the Soviet staff officer was a little puzzled.He didn't understand why the Germans gave up the defense of the outer perimeter. Although shrinking their troops could increase the strength of their defense line, but with the combat quality of the German army, in the confrontation of the outer offensive and defensive battles, the Soviet army must suffer!
Zhukov laughed.He knew that what he met was an opponent different from the Nomenkan Japanese army, an opponent worthy of his all-out effort.
"Order the 6th Armored Brigade to turn around immediately, and rush to Sarok within 4 hours. Our opponent this time seems to have to concentrate further to deal with it."
Subsequently, the tank units of the Soviet and German armies arrived one after another, followed by heavy weapons such as various howitzers and self-propelled artillery. The Soviet T26 tanks lined up one after another, under the cover of the Soviet infantry , taking turns to attack the German defense forces.
The German army also did not show weakness. While defending, they dispatched the No. 3 assault gun to face the hunters. The tanks of the two sides crossed and fell into the battle. The impact of various tanks, the explosion of artillery, and the rattling of submachine guns Together, both sides suffered heavy casualties.
At dawn, a reconnaissance plane of the German army flew in, and the terrified pilot found that the two armies on the ground had twisted into a huge vortex with a length and width of nearly ten kilometers around Sarok as the center.
On the whole, the Soviet army has formed a semi-encirclement state against the 26th Mechanized Infantry Division of the SS in Saarok!
Although the 26th Mechanized Infantry Division shrunk the line of defense and the strength of the new line of defense was able to withstand the attack of the Soviet army, the casualties on both sides were very large.
This is nothing to the Soviet Army.But for the 26th Division, which is outnumbered, it is a deadly threat.It can be said that Zhukov used completely standard crowd tactics.
This famous Soviet general who won the Battle of Nomenkan wants to overwhelm others with power and use absolute superiority in military strength to crush Sarock's SS.
"This posture of the Soviet army is trying to fight us desperately!" On the German defensive position, Major General Klaus, commander of the 26th Mechanized Infantry Division of the SS, said anxiously to himself.
"Yes, Commander. It took less than five hours for us to shrink the defensive line. The attacking Soviet army launched five or six group charges against us like crazy. Although we resisted each charge, we kept going. It’s not a solution either. Our troops suffered heavy casualties. The 5st Regiment has suffered more than half of its casualties. All cadres above the battalion level have died. Now a company commander is acting as the head of the regiment. The casualties of the 1nd Regiment and 2rd Regiment are not much better. Go, all staff will be reduced by more than one-third.” The chief of staff of the division said sadly to Klaus: “There are no reinforcements around, and we will definitely not be able to withstand this situation!”