Bock set the date of the major counterattack as June 22, which was quite a thought. First of all, on this day, his Army Group Center just received the last Spanish German weapon division, and the total strength reached the optimal saturation state.
Secondly, this day happens to be the first day after the summer solstice, which is the longest day and shortest night of the year. In this way, in the first critical few days of the counterattack, the German army and its allies could fight for almost 18 hours a day, which was a huge blow.
Make the best use of the early stage of counterattack.
At 4 o'clock in the morning on June 22, all the armies, divisions, regiments and battalions of Army Group Center had already launched a grand mobilization speech.
"Warriors of the Third Reich, this largest forward position in history has now shifted from defense to advancement. This is not only to provide the means to end this great war forever, nor is it just to defend those who
The countries currently participating in the war are doing so to save our entire European civilization!
Soldiers of Germany! In this way, you have entered a serious and demanding battle - because the fate of Europe at present, the future of the German Empire, the survival of our nation, and the justice carried out by the Allies all depend on you.
on the shoulders.
At this moment, on the Eastern Front, a massive force unprecedented in the world has been deployed!
To the north, Finland's freedom heroes, led by their Marshal Mannerheim, are fighting with our soldiers towards Leningrad!
To the south, on both sides of the Prut River and on the beaches along the Danube to the Black Sea, were Romanian and German troops united around Antonescu, the Romanian head of state.
In the middle, the two main armies sent by Italy and Spain are fighting jointly with our most powerful Army Group Center, the German Army Group.
Behind us, Bulgaria, Greece, and Yugoslavia, the Balkan peninsula countries that have been oppressed for a long time, have also organized the Eastern Expeditionary Force.
This is a great Eastern March!
May God bless us all in this struggle!
This time, the Third Reich will bring justice to the world!"
Although Army Group Center's counterattack mobilization came later than Army Group North and Army Group South, it had more weight and momentum.
Because at this time, the Finnish army in the north, together with the German and Norwegian armies, had regained the strategic town of Vyborg and captured Hanko in a coordinated manner.
In the south, Romania also completed the early stage of the counterattack, effectively supporting Rundstadt's southern offensive with troops with sufficient combat effectiveness, and containing all Soviet troops in the non-German combat direction.
The operations on other fronts have achieved the expected results, and on the entire Soviet-German battlefield, a pincer-like situation was used to semi-encircle the main Soviet force in the center line.
At this time, Bock's counterattack was extremely advantageous, both from the perspective of Army Group Center's own status and from the external strategic situation.
More importantly, at this time, the Soviet troops in the central part of the country were still working hard to maintain local offensives and respond to their superiors' calls.
Invisibly, the frontline Soviet army is still accelerating its own demise.
"Order Guderian's 2nd Armored Group to serve as the vanguard, cross the Desna River west of Tubichivsk, advance southward, and penetrate directly into Romny behind Kiev. The 2nd Army moves southward from Gomel.
Cover Guderian's right wing." In his large headquarters in Warsaw, Bock clenched his fists and eagerly issued the order.
Bock, who had been waiting for this day for too long, no longer needed to think, he could completely throw out a series of tactical instructions that he had already conceived: "The Italian and Spanish armored forces, in conjunction with Kleist's 1st Armored Corps, will start from
Klimenkog on the bend of the Dnieper River attacked north and met Guderian near Romney."
"Army Group South and Army Group North have eliminated the Soviet combat power at the junction. In other words, our armored forces will soon be able to complete the outflanking on both sides."
Bock quickly walked to the map of the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front on the wall of the headquarters, picked up the telescopic rod and pointed at the tangled red and blue arrows on it and said: "According to Barbarossa Plan, Rundstadt's Army Group South will be responsible for
Contain the Soviet army in the bend of the Dnieper River north of Cherkasy, and at the same time cover the left flank of Kleist's 1st Armored Corps. Model's SS will take over the position facing Paulus, and the liberated 6th Army
We will move eastward, cross the Dnieper River, and attack Kiev."
Turning around, Bock looked around at his commanders and staff, and raised his voice: "Not to mention that the Soviet army is still trying to reshape its offensive. Even if they stop attacking immediately and garrison on the spot, it is no longer possible to stop our general offensive."
In the headquarters, all the generals nodded one after another after listening.
Even inexperienced generals, even officers who have just graduated from military schools, can see that this suicidal attack by the Soviet army is simply undermining their strength and providing the German Army Group Center with an opportunity for a major counterattack.
Bock's analysis is very reasonable. The brains of the Soviet commanders are indeed filled with water, allowing them to give random and blind orders.
It seems that an easy battle of annihilation has been delivered to the lips of Army Group Center.
"Soldiers, our army has been planning for a long time. The far-reaching frontal assault and subsequent flank assault by our Allied forces will quickly split the Soviet front forces facing us into several isolated groups."
Bock put away the telescopic pole, stood upright seriously, and gave instructions: "It's time to teach the Soviets who invaded us a lesson. And the lesson I prepared for them is to eat at least 500,000 Soviet troops in one go!"
At least 500,000 people!
All the generals gasped after hearing this. If they could eat an army of this size in one go, then this would be the largest annihilation battle they had ever encountered since joining the army.
In addition to the great tactical success of encircling and annihilating a large number of Soviet troops, such combat operations will also allow the Allies to obtain the fertile Ukraine and Donets Basin.
From a strategic point of view, this will also prevent the southern flank from being threatened by Soviet attacks or counterattacks like it was at the beginning of the war. This will also be of great auxiliary significance for the Allied forces to attack Moscow in the future.
Of course, there are more meanings outside of military affairs that the soldiers present could not think of at the moment.
The occupation of Ukraine is indispensable for the establishment of a Ukrainian regime that is friendly to the Allies. In this way, the strength of the Allies on the Eastern Front will be greatly increased. And such a successful encirclement and annihilation war can also contribute to the international
The Allied camp will receive a big bonus, increasing the enthusiasm of the Allies.
Regarding the scale of future troop dispatches by Vichy France and the three major pro-German British governments, such a victory has a lot of intangible encouragement...