While Hersmann was visiting Glücksburg, the fairytale "castle on the water" of his wife and son, he and His Majesty's nemesis, Marshal Zhukov, were throwing tantrums at Marshal Pavlov in the war room of the Supreme Command in the Kremlin. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info

"Comrade Pavlov, what are you doing? Why repeatedly weaken the Kalinin Front, the Reserve Front and the Western Front? In just a few days, you have transferred 3 tank armies from these three fronts! Why is that? ”

Zhukov was summoned to Moscow to report on the preparations for the "Battle of Velikiye Luki-Leningrad" - which had been planned since Zhukov was the commander of the Leningrad Front.

According to his plan, the Kalinin Front was to launch a feint attack on the German encirclement of Leningrad in 3 days in order to attract the attention of the Germans in order to cover the next stage of the battle in the Velikiya Luki direction.

And the operation in the direction of Velikiye Luki echoes the operation in the direction of Smolensk. Only if the fortified city of Smolensk is difficult to overcome, the attack on Veliya Lukiki makes sense. Because once the Red Army in the Smolensk direction is routed by the Germans, the main German force moving south from Velikiye Luki will be able to easily establish contact with the German armored cluster that has broken through from the central part of the Belarusian salient, and even if Velikiye Luki is lost, it will not be possible to fall into the danger of cutting off the logistics line.

In addition, the operation in the Smolensk direction once ended with the victory of the Germans. Then the victorious German army will not be attacked on the back, and once their rear road is attacked, it is easy to turn the gun to reinforcements. At that time, if the German Army Group North encircling Leningrad breaks the siege and moves south, then the Kalinin Front will be crushed by millions of German troops on the north and south roads, and even Zhukov will be beaten into three pigs.

Therefore, Zhukov raised objections when the 1st and 2nd tank armies were transferred from the "Kalinin" and "reserve" fronts. Now that I heard that even the 5th Tank Army had been transferred from the Western Front, I couldn't help but be furious in the Kremlin.

"Comrade Zhukov, the Supreme High Command is ready to fight a battle at the junction of the Bryansk, Smolensk and Mogilev regions, concentrating superior forces to break through the southern road cluster of the German army."

Pavlov frowned and explained to Zhukov that he looked very tired and had apparently not had a good rest for several days. This was due to the fact that Stalin's two intervening commands had ruined the situation that he and Shaposhnikov had already set up, and Pavlov and the staff of the Supreme High Command had to be overworked in order to adjust and develop new plans according to Stalin's instructions.

But what made Pavlov and Shaposhnikov most painful was not working overtime until late at night every day, but that the two of them thought completely differently from Stalin! The idea of the two of them is to fight a protracted war, and if it drags on until the United States defeats Japan, the Soviet Union will be saved!

And Stalin, although he knew that the strategy of delay was more prudent (and in fact Stalin agreed with such a strategy), always wanted to win a decisive victory when it came to the specific intervention of the command.

But in terms of the current comparison of strength between the Soviet Union and Germany, such a big victory cannot be fought in any way!

But Pavlov and Shaposhnikov were both weak senior commanders, and they did not dare to contradict Stalin like Zhukov and Timoshenko. So both of them were in pain, knowing that Stalin was blindly commanding, but they still had to obey hard.

Seriously, they are now a little envious of the German military commander-in-chief - how nice they are, the General Staff has the final say! How could a general who could become Chief of the General Staff and First Quartermaster General be as unprofessional as Stalin......

"Nonsense! This is complete nonsense! After listening to Pavlov's explanation and the deployment of the "Battle of the Junction Division", Zhukov immediately jumped up, "Comrade Pavlov, will you fight?" How can it be deployed like this? If the 5th Tank Army is pumped out of Smolensk, Smolensk will soon be surrounded! At that time, the German army in the north will divide its forces and go south!

And the 4th Army simply could not replace the 16th Army...... The 16th Army is an army that can be deployed at any time, while the 4th Army is an army in a state of arming! By the time the 4th Army had handed over the defense area and then completed the assembly, the Germans had already passed near Minsk. Therefore, it was impossible for the 4th Army to deploy in front of the German panzer cluster in the center, but to flank the flank of the German panzer cluster. But this is simply not going to succeed! How could a composite army, consisting mainly of infantry, attack the flank of a German Panzer Army? So the German armored cluster that broke through from the middle will soon advance to the 'junction area', so that the tank 5th Army is besieged by three German troops! What kind of 'junction battle' will be fought at that time? ”

"If that happens, the 5th Tank Army can withdraw to Moscow ......"

Pavlov spoke quietly, and from time to time he looked around, and found no one else, so he sighed softly, and then said: "And the Bryansk Front can also immediately suspend the 'joint operation', withdraw the 1st and 2nd tank armies to Moscow, and then transfer the 38th, 40th, and 48th armies to Kharkov." ”

"What! What the? Zhukov was taken aback and looked at Pavlov stunned, "Fight the Battle of Moscow...... Agreed above? ”

Pavlov shook his head, "I don't know from above...... But that's how it goes! Georgi. Konstantinovich (a more affectionate and respectful name for Zhukov), this is also the main reason for calling you back! ”

"I see!" Zhukov nodded, then waved his hand again, signaling that Pavlov did not need to say more - the trouble comes from the mouth, and it is useless to talk more, and everyone should understand this kind of deception and concealment.

Zhukov paused, and then said: "I will definitely break the encirclement of Leningrad...... It can be broken, at least temporarily, so that Leningrad can be resupplied and can hold out longer. ”

Pavlov nodded and said, "That's great...... But you don't want to go into Leningrad anymore, just let Vlasov bring troops in, because Moscow needs you more than Leningrad. ”

……

"Marshal, General Moder reports that his army group has taken Borisov." On the morning of 5 May, the chief of staff of the German Army Group Center, Otto Murphy. Lieutenant General Weller beamed with the report he had just received and walked into Manstein's office.

"So fast?" Field Marshal Manstein looked up from a pile of papers and looked at Lieutenant General Weller, somewhat surprised.

Borisov was a critical location, on the Minsk-Smolensk railway line, and once occupied by the Germans, the retreat of the Soviet troops in Belarus would be cut off, so Manstein had expected a fierce battle there.

"There was almost no fighting," said Lieutenant General Weller, "and the Soviets abandoned Borisov, while Soviet forces throughout the Belorussian salient retreated, probably trying to shrink their forces and hold on to Minsk." ”

"Then let them guard it!" Manstein shook his head, "Minsk is not important, what if you hold it?" ”

Since the main supply line of the German army is now the Riga-Pskov-Velikiya Luki railway line (which will be extended to Smolensk in the future), it does not matter that Minsk cannot be taken, but Smolensk is a must.

After taking Smolensk, the Germans were able to advance along the railway line towards Moscow. With railway support logistics, the Battle of Moscow was easy to fight.

"Let the engineering corps lay the military railway from Molodechno to Borisov as soon as possible." Manstein took the report from Weller's hand and gave an order as he read it.

Molodechno, located 63 km northwest of Minsk, was occupied by the Germans last fall. Then the German engineers laid the military railway from Vilnius to Molodecchino (about 100 km), and the military railway from Molodecchino to Borisov was also planned in the "Purple Plan", as long as it was laid, the Germans would have another "fuel-efficient" transport line.

"Then let the 3rd Panzer Army follow the plan, divide its troops into three routes, and monitor Moscow all the way; all the way to Oreyosha; All the way to Mogilev. Manstein continued.

The 3rd Panzer Army advanced to Olesha in order to approach Smolensk and establish contact with the 4th Panzer Army. At the same time, the 4th Panzer Army will also go south to meet the 3rd Panzer Army and the 4th Panzer Army after completing the outflanking of Smolensk.

After the completion of the "junction" (referring to the junction of the Smolensk, Mogilev and Bryansk regions), the Soviet Army's Western Front was basically cut into pieces, and it was only a matter of time before the entire army was annihilated.

Now the vanguard of the 1st Panzer Army (3 cavalry divisions) has finished the meeting point, while the 3rd Panzer Army has taken the key Borisov, and the 4th Panzer Army is still fighting fiercely with the Red Army on the outskirts of Smolensk, but the strength of this army group is clear and it is impossible to fail.

So in Manstein's opinion, the Western Front of the Soviet Army was finished, and now they had to worry about their Kalinin Front, Reserve Front and Southwestern Front (the Germans did not yet know that there was a Bryansk Front).

Of these, the Kalinin Front is likely to be the one that needs the most attention. Because this wave of German offensive has not yet encountered the huge tank cluster of the Soviet army! It is likely that they will be concentrated in large numbers on the Kalinin Front and the Reserve Front, which will be used for the liberation of Leningrad. (To be continued.) )