Iron Cross

"Why is it always me?" Facing the surging German offensive, Commander Rokossovsky of the Don Front felt so aggrieved that he wanted to cry.

Four months ago in November, Manstein launched the "Great River Bend" offensive campaign, using exquisite and flexible anatomical tactics to defeat the Red Army. The Don River Front Army was able to build up an army and a half in just a few days. Four months later, the main attack direction of Army Group South once again chose the defense area where the Don River Front Army was located. Having learned the lesson from last time, Rokossovsky learned the lesson this time. As soon as the German army started a large-scale offensive, they pressed all their main forces up and arranged the units to form a relatively compact defense line to prevent the enemy from randomly interspersing. In order to curb the German armor advantage, he even used the 4th Tank Army, which he had always held in his hand and was so precious.

But this time the German style suddenly changed. Instead of the dexterous attack that weaved in and out like last time, they directly brought out more than 1,000 tanks and 300,000 troops for a frontal attack, with a steam roller-like posture. Crush over without mercy. This time, Manstein did not bother to intervene at all. Instead, he asked Hube and Dietrich's two armored divisions to split their forces on the left and right. After leading the troops in a large circle, they captured the main force of the Don River Army. , and the policies adopted by Rokossovsky such as "pressing forward with the main force" and "holding together heavy troops" just achieved the encirclement of the German army. If the Germans were a deft and light waltz last time, then this time they were a rampaging rugby.

To be honest, this offensive routine is much simpler than the Battle of Dahe Bend. Anyone who has attended a staff class for two days and learned some tactics can understand it. It is not complicated at all. Rokossovsky was stunned by Manstein's surprise attack at noon on the first day, but he understood it by the next morning. But the problem is that it is one thing to make a correct judgment, and another to be able to block it. Something happened. He knew where the Germans were going to attack and deployed troops for defense, but he could only watch the enemy show off their power in front of him, and there was nothing he could do about it - because the difference in the quality of the troops was so great.

Before the Battle of the Great River Bend, the Don River Front had the 1st Guards Army, the 21st, 24th, 63rd, and 66th Army Groups and the 4th Tank Army, with a total strength of approximately 350,000 (less than 100,000 troops). After the Battle of the Great River Bend, the 3rd The 21st Group Army was severely damaged and almost completely destroyed. The 24th Group Army was hit hard and lost half of its troops. The total strength of the entire front army dropped to more than 250,000, which was the largest among the three front armies in the center (Southwestern, Don, and Stalingrad). weak.

In order to enhance the strength of the Don River Front, the base camp has tried its best to increase its strength in the past four months: the 21st Army Group was cancelled, and the remaining strength plus newly recruited recruits were enriched into the 24th Group Army. Zhukov and Vasilevsky used troops drawn from the Steppe Military District, Central Asia, the Far East and other directions to form a new 69th Army and join the Don Front. The 4th Army was replenished. By the time the "Spring Awakening" campaign was launched, the Don River Front's strength had once again returned to five infantry armies and one tank army, with a total strength of about 400,000.

Although the strength of the troops was higher than that of four months ago, Rokossovsky knew what these newly added troops were. They were full of middle-aged uncles in their 40s or even close to 50, or just 17 years old or older. The sallow-faced, skinny kid looks even taller than a Mosin-Nagant rifle (1.67 meters long with bayonet), and there are very few young men in their 20s who are in their prime. He complained to the base camp and was told that it was not bad. At least all the men were here. There were some units in the rear that were even recruiting female soldiers. In order to strengthen his own strength, he transferred some veterans and officers from the 63rd and 66th Army Groups, which were in relatively good condition, to the 24th and 69th Army Groups, and worked hard to improve their training level and combat literacy.

With the arrival of the cold winter, the climate became unsuitable for fighting, and the contact between the Soviet and German armies decreased day by day. Rokossovsky was overjoyed and made good use of this precious time to carry out military training, hoping that there would be another exchange of fire as late as possible. . Although the base camp has repeatedly warned him that the German army is likely to launch an attack in the near future, he still has illusions and hopes that he can withstand the first wave of the German attack with the main force - not to repel or defeat the German army, but to ask the Germans to It was believed that the Don River Front had "insufficient oil and water" and "too hard bones" and therefore shifted its main attack direction to other places.

But he did not expect that Manstein would launch a full-line offensive at noon, nor did he expect that the Germans would be so ambitious, launching an attack with 1,000 tanks and 300,000 troops at once. He never expected that the Germans would make up their mind. To swallow him whole, he used the simplest pincer attack to surround the troops he had finally recovered.

Zhukov rushed to the front line urgently and sat in Stalingrad to coordinate the war between all parties. After listening to Rokossovsky's cry with a frown, he asked with concern: "You said the Germans surrounded the Don Front?"

"Not yet, but it is very dangerous. The front army consists of 5 infantry armies and 1 tank army. Now the 4th tank army has been crippled. There are 24, 63 and 69 armies trapped inside." Rokoso "The Germans put all their strength on our front army. Yesterday the tank army encountered 3 Tiger heavy armored battalions and 700 No. 4 tanks. It was impossible to defeat..."

"How many tanks did we lose?"

"About 400-500 tanks."

"What about the results?"

"2...200 or so."

"So many?" Zhukov asked doubtfully, "How many Tigers are there?"

"More than 40." This time Rokossovsky did not hesitate and answered directly.

In fact, the battle situation reported by Rokossovsky was not accurate. After a day of fierce fighting yesterday, the 4th Tank Army lost 567 tanks (tank destroyers), while the German army lost only 139 tanks (assault guns), of which less than 30 Tiger tanks were lost. The statistics in Manstein's hands were definitely more accurate than Rokossovsky's, because all the wreckage on the battlefield was there waiting for the German army, and they could be fully grasped as long as they were counted. After a rough count, the battlefield repair team believed that at least 50% of the German tanks and 60% of the T-34s could be reused. As for those Russian light tanks, they were too lazy to repair them and only recycled them as parts.

The reason why the recovery rate of T-34 is higher than that of German tanks is that the thinking of the Armament Department has changed. The newly recovered T-34s are uniformly converted to produce assault destroyers - which only requires a complete chassis. Of course, the huge loss of Red Army tanks is not entirely due to the German armored forces. The German Air Force ground attack aircraft units also achieved great results. Rudel alone destroyed 6 tanks and 4 anti-tank guns.

"The tank troops are still not strong enough." Zhukov sighed, "I brought 100 newly manufactured T-43 tanks this time, I will give them all to you first."

"T-43? New tanks?" Rokossovsky was happy and asked, "Can they deal with the Tiger?"

"No! They are just upgraded products of T-34, with the front armor thickened to 75mm/55 degrees, the front of the turret is 90mm, and the gun remains unchanged." Zhukov thought about it and came to a conclusion, "It can't deal with the Tiger, but it can overwhelm the No. 4H."

"What's the use of that?" Rokossovsky spread his hands and said dissatisfiedly, "With enough T-34s, I can deal with the No. 4. Now the key problem is the Tiger, which is too difficult to deal with. In addition, half of the tanks lost this time are light tanks, and they are not very durable."

"The light tanks in the rear have all been discontinued, and the ones coming in the future will be T-34 or T-43. As for those that can deal with the Tiger, I also want tanks, but unfortunately there are none now. Not only do we not have them, but Britain and the United States also do not have them, and they are still very distressed. "Zhukov said helplessly, "I drew the 11th Guards Heavy Tank Brigade from the headquarters reserve to Comrade Qiulenev, and equipped it with a full 60 brand-new KV-3 tanks, but they were all destroyed in the Transcaucasus. "

"This won't work! The Germans have more and more tanks, and their performance is not bad. Moreover, after taking the Middle East, they don't even lack oil now. "Rokossovsky sighed helplessly and asked in a low voice, "Comrade Stalin didn't get angry when Baku was lost? I think Comrade Qiulenev..."

Zhukov stared: "How is this possible? But what's the use of getting angry? The war has to go on. Besides, is the loss of Transcaucasus Comrade Qiulenev's responsibility alone? "

"This... you see... I think... is it..." Rokossovsky stammered, but he didn't get to the point after talking for a long time.

"Just say it." Zhukov sighed, "What can't we talk about frankly? You have completed the difficult task I gave you. I believe you won't be so embarrassed if it's not a particularly big problem."

During the Battle of Moscow, Rokossovsky was ordered by Zhukov to lead the 16th Army to defend the Volokrams area. He had almost no tanks, but he still stubbornly completed the blocking task. Now Zhukov brought up the old things again, and it was obviously not difficult for Rokossovsky. The latter looked at Zhukov gratefully, and his uneasy heart finally calmed down a little. He was now afraid that the other party would come up and find trouble with him. With this sentence as a foundation, the following words were easy to say.

"Before the German encirclement is formed, can I lead my troops to retreat first?" Rokossovsky was silent for a long time, and finally made up his mind and squeezed out this sentence.