Iron Cross

After the Battle of Dahe Bend, the two sides fought again one after another. This time the Red Army learned its lesson and did not engage in individual cavalry advance or split up troops to attack. Instead, they huddled together and rolled forward, inch by inch. To gnaw at the German defense line, Manstein no longer engaged in scalpel tactics and left the overall defensive battle to the command of Gotthard Heinrich. Under the layers of his mobile defense and elastic defense, the Red Army's offensive was effective. Very little.

In more than half a month of fighting, the Red Army only pushed the overall defense line forward 30-50 kilometers, but the losses were staggering - the three fronts of Southwest, Don and Stalingrad lost more than 100,000 troops, nearly 100,000 troops were lost. 300 tanks, while Army Group South lost less than 20,000 tanks and less than 100 tanks. Judging from this loss, the three Red Army front armies had to bleed out when they hit the city of Rostov. Therefore, the internal combat direction of the Red Army changed again. Vasilevsky once again made a suggestion on behalf of the General Staff: First, the Huot Cluster Separate it from the Manstein Cluster, and then use the Southwestern Front Army and the Bryansk Front Army to destroy the Hoth Cluster.

This proposal not only received strong support from Zhukov, but also recognized by the commanders of the Southwest Front and Bryansk Front. In particular, the commander of the Southwest Front, Vatutin, was very upset about the last time the rear guard was surrounded and he was almost taken prisoner. He had been thinking about revenge. The intelligence department also figured out that the Hoth Group was not a purely German force - inside There were a large number of Italians and Romanians mixed in, all seeing this as a good opportunity to take advantage of. Faced with the situation where all parties agreed and could not win in a positional battle, Stalin was also thinking about changing his offensive ideas.

While they were fully communicating, Molotov suddenly came in and brought a strange message: "Comrade Stalin, the British Ambassador called me just now and hoped that we would launch a large-scale diversionary offensive campaign as soon as possible. He also said that he would launch a large-scale diversionary offensive campaign tomorrow morning. See you, since the situation is urgent, I will come to report immediately."

"What happened? Montgomery was beaten hard by Guderian again?"

"No, it's worse than that! This morning, the Germans landed behind Montgomery, that is, at Matruh Port and El Alamein. The main force for the landing was the Grossdeutschland Division. Those who supported and guaranteed the German landing were the Germans who were active in the Black Sea some time ago. fleet."

"The Grossdeutschland Division..." Stalin smiled slightly. He knew the name of the division. It was the First German Division. He said nonchalantly, "No wonder this division was not found on the Eastern Front for a long time. I see. Montgomery is feeling very uncomfortable now.”

After hearing the news, Zhukov and Vasilevsky's faces turned livid instantly. Stalin keenly read more things from their uneasy eyes - although these two excellent commanders only fought on the Eastern Front , but it does not mean that they know nothing about the situation in North Africa. On the contrary, the Red Army General Staff also held a discussion on the development of the North African campaign and its related impacts. The original conclusion was that the Germans would not fight even if Guderian was replaced. The British didn't move, and they didn't expect the situation to deteriorate so suddenly.

After listening to the explanations of the two men, Stalin realized that the Eighth Army was not only surrounded by front and rear, but also had its supply lines cut off. Zhukov considered his words: "The situation is even more serious than we thought. If the Germans are determined and fast enough, Quickly, they can go all the way to Egypt, seize the Suez Canal, and then threaten the entire Middle East - our channels for obtaining supplies through Iran will be directly damaged."

"Is there such a thing? Isn't it just one division..." Stalin was doubtful. He knew that the British could not defeat him, but he believed that the British navy and air force had the upper hand on the North African battlefield, and the number of land forces was the Germans. Several times, there should be no problem in maintaining the battle situation.

"The landing force may have more than one Grossdeutschland division, because I think the Viking division is also missing..." Vasilevsky added, "Although this division may not have gone to Egypt, it may have returned to China to rest, but the division has disappeared After three months, theoretically it should be completed and its offensive capabilities restored.”

"Didn't he say that Montgomery has 300,000 troops? He also said that more than 100,000 troops from Operation Torch are also going to land in Egypt." Stalin asked, "Egypt can't be lost, right?"

"The Eighth Army now still has more than 200,000 people, but with Guderian watching, it will be difficult to escape. The key is that the British army blocking the Grossdeutschland Division only has 50,000 people, and its combat effectiveness is still weak and its will to fight has declined. 50,000 people." Molotov was not optimistic about this. "If the Germans advance 1-2 more divisions, the British will not be able to withstand it, and the Germans will probably seize Cairo and Alexandria before the British and American support troops can advance. ”

Now it was Stalin's turn to sit still. He didn't care whether the North African British were dead or alive, but once Iran's Lend-Lease material delivery channel was threatened, it would be a real pain to the Red Army - both Britain and the United States said that aid was already on the coast of Africa. .

"This request can be agreed, but the assistance promised to us by Britain and the United States, especially the tanks, must be accelerated." Stalin turned to Vasilevsky and said, "I have accepted your suggestion to attack the Hult cluster first. Please ask the General Staff Develop an attack plan immediately, and the sooner the better.”

Molotov knew that Stalin had different considerations: because the lower reaches of the Don River would freeze in another 10 days, his original intention was to wait until that time came before launching an encirclement war against the Manstein Cluster. Now based on the Allies In order to maintain a coordinated stance and protect Iran’s material channel, we can only make up our minds to change course.

Zhukov and Vasilevsky looked at each other and nodded in agreement. The plan to encircle and annihilate the Hoth Group was passed by such a coincidence.

At 3 a.m. on December 11, Colombo time, the main force of the huge Japanese Combined Fleet, led by the flagship "Musashi", completed the second supply point operation - located about 1,200 nautical miles south of Colombo. 7 days ago, according to the overall plan of the Indian Ocean strategy, the main force of the Combined Fleet set out from Singapore, crossed the Sunda Strait between Java Island late at night and secretly sneaked into the Indian Ocean.

At the first supply point, part of the oil tankers accompanying the fleet's operation had refueled the warships once. At the second supply point, the remaining tankers had to refuel all the heavy oil to the Combined Fleet and return to Singapore. The remaining Indian Ocean combat itinerary could only rely on the warships themselves.

The evening before yesterday, the Combined Fleet, which had maintained radio silence, received news that the main force of the US Pacific Fleet had reappeared in the waters near Guadalcanal. Intelligence showed that there were at least 10 battleships, 5 aircraft carriers, dozens of light and heavy cruisers and a large number of destroyers, forming a total of 2 fleets. Surprisingly, the British fleet was also found, including the King George V-class battleship and the Illustrious-class aircraft carrier. Before the Japanese side could react, the British and American fleets began a fierce attack, aiming directly at Munda Island.

In order to vent their anger and to retaliate against the Combined Fleet's last bombardment of the Guadalcanal defenders, the British and American fleets also bombarded Munda Island fiercely, and also chose to bombard it during the day in a ostentatious manner. In addition to the direct bombardment of medium and large caliber naval guns, the aircraft carriers and Guadalcanal airports also launched nearly 300 aircraft to bombard the entire island. The bombardment and bombing lasted for 4 hours. By dusk, Munda Island was captured and more than 1,000 Japanese defenders were wiped out.

This is the result of Hori Teikichi and others insisting on retreating from the islands. If 5,000 to 6,000 people were deployed as originally planned, the result would not have changed.

Yesterday at noon, the Combined Fleet received another telegram. The British and American fleets, still unsatisfied, launched a full-scale attack on Bougainville Island north of Munda Island. The same routine of shelling and bombing was used. The defense system of Bougainville Island was more complete than that of Munda Island, and the defense force was also stronger. In addition, the air forces of Rabaul and Bougainville tried their best to resist. The battle on the island is still going on, but the situation is still not optimistic. Whether it is the performance or the number of aircraft, the Japanese army is at a disadvantage. The aircraft that went to attack the fleet were intercepted by the American F4F carrier-based fighters. The losses were great but the results were minimal. They only damaged the armored aircraft carrier HMS Illustrious, and even its take-off and landing capabilities could not be destroyed.

In the afternoon, the Bougainville defenders, whose overall defense situation was in a critical state, used secret weapons and released more than 20 Sakura man-controlled missiles, which flew towards the US warships in a sea-skimming manner. The British and American bombardment fleets were caught off guard and did not expect Japan's suicide attack. The Colorado and Maryland battleships (both were repair ships after the Pearl Harbor attack) and the heavy cruiser Indianapolis were hit in succession and sank in the waterline. In addition to these three main battleships, two transport ships and three landing craft were also sunk. Because he could not figure out the number and performance of the weapon, the fleet commander, Vice Admiral Halsey, ordered a temporary retreat.

After reading the battle report, the senior officers of the Combined Fleet were in a very heavy mood. The US military's momentum, offensive and fierce battle situation far exceeded their imagination. Some people proposed to abandon the Indian Ocean strategy and return to rescue, but Hori Teikichi rejected it without hesitation. Even though the Sakura missile temporarily stopped the US offensive, the situation was still not optimistic - this time the surprise attack was effective, and the next time might not be so lucky, and relying on suicide attacks to save the situation was a very painful choice for the naval elite.

When the last refueling ship left, the entire Musashi command tower fell into silence. Everyone was thinking about what to do in the future. Suddenly, a combat staff pointed outside and shouted: "Sir, look, the other side is sending us a signal..."

Kusaka Renji saw clearly that the lights on the refueling ship were on and off, and the light signals were conveying messages. He read them out one by one: "Joint-fleet-military-long-term!"

"Signal them back with lights."

"What to reply?"

Hori Teikichi said lightly: "Pray for death in battle!"