"General Manstein, our troops have killed two rear-mounted troops of the Soviet army today, at least 4,000 people!" In front of Manstein, a chief of staff of the Romanian Army was proudly claiming credit.
This kind of thing is not common.
You know, the Soviet commander gave Manstein the feeling a few days ago that a very powerful general was suddenly in command. The rules were watertight and the retreat was clean and tidy. The several rearguard units were also well coordinated and very clever.
The constant resistance caused a lot of trouble to his 11th Army.
Manstein's 11th Army was a dual army formation consisting of a German Army and a Romanian Army. This also gave him the opportunity to command a larger force and show off his military talents.
A few days ago, Manstein, who had been going smoothly and had never felt strategic pressure, felt for the first time that he had met an opponent!
When the coordinator came to report that the Romanian division sent out by Manstein as a "mine detection team" did not encounter Soviet troops near several Ukrainian border areas, Manstein knew that what he met was a
An opponent worthy of all his efforts.
In the eyes of ordinary generals, including most Romanian generals, it is unthinkable for the Soviets to give up the defense of the areas surrounding the border. Although fighting around the vast border, the Soviet Southwest Front could easily be dragged into the conflict with southern Germany.
The decisive battle of the main force of the group. However, near the border of Ukraine, the Soviet army at least occupies the geographical advantage of building a defense line in advance!
In general, since the gap in equipment and soldier quality cannot be made up in a short time, the Soviet army should take advantage of its geographical advantages to fortify itself. However, the new Soviet commander chose to retreat.
He did not covet the small profits brought by fortifications, deployed troops on long borders that were easily divided and breached, and even abandoned large cities like Chernivtsi.
It seems that the opponent has chosen another defense method. This is also Manstein's favorite defense mode in history. First, break away from contact with the enemy, withdraw the effective forces, and then shorten the defense line. It is more effective to use rivers and the like.
Natural danger deployment.
If Manstein guessed correctly, the Soviet commander should have fortified the Dniester River between Lviv and Ossad. While shortening the defense line, he should have used the Dniester fortifications as well as those on the border.
Sturt River natural hazard.
Have a hand!
If there was a confrontation between Manstein and the Soviet commander these days, it should be Manstein commanding and dispatching Romanian troops to spy on and intercept the Soviet rearguard.
Manstein was unwilling to risk going deep with elite German troops, and the Soviet commander had no intention of swallowing the provocative Romanian troops. Therefore, around the distance in front of the Dniester River, both sides mobilized their troops and conducted
There were dozens of skirmishes back and forth.
In Manstein's eyes, these petty battles were the appetizer for the encirclement war in Ukraine.
According to his estimates and deductions, although Army Group South currently has a very strong force, it contains a large number of infantry, including those from Greece, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia. The forces provided by Greece, Bulgaria, and Yugoslavia are basically infantry divisions. And he gritted his teeth and took it all in one go.
Romania, which has nearly 800,000 troops, only provides one armored division, and there are also three Romanian cavalry divisions equipped with motorized troops.
This kind of mobile force is obviously not enough, and the mobile force of Army Group South is not enough. However, it is not much different. As long as Bock's Army Group Center is willing to temporarily transfer their Spanish and Italian mobile forces to Army Group South and to the
Advance southward and meet up with the offensive forces of Army Group South east of Kiev.
According to the large number of military flag exercises conducted by Manstein before, the Ukrainian encirclement war should basically be successful.
In the previous Polish campaign, as chief of staff, he suggested to Rundstedt a highly successful encirclement and annihilation campaign. But this time, as the commander of the largest group army in Germany, Manstein proposed to Lundstedt
Ted came up with a more palatable idea of an encirclement battle.
If nothing else, the Ukrainian encirclement war should be the largest encirclement and annihilation war in history. Manstein was very confident about this.
However, the new commander of the Soviet Southwest Front made Manstein feel a little pressure.
Perhaps that commander would become a major obstacle in the Ukrainian battle, and Manstein was a little worried.
However, this worry has disappeared today.
He didn’t know the reason, but Manstein was certain that the commander of the Soviet Southwest Front had changed again!
The other party's command is no longer as airtight as before.
Since yesterday, the mutual coordination of the Soviet rearguard units has obviously begun to seriously decline.
If it was a coincidence that the Romanian army killed about 1,500 Soviet troops yesterday, then today, the Romanian army, which has a low level of coordination and weak tactical execution, captured nearly 4,000 Soviet troops in two attacks.
Army, this is definitely not a coincidence.
A total of 5,500 Soviet troops were annihilated and captured. The Romanian army was able to achieve such results in two days. It has to be said that the Soviet army's command ability has seriously declined.
Throughout Ukraine, the Allied Army faced a large-scale Southwest Front Army with four armies under its jurisdiction, as well as the Soviet Army Group South, which had two armies under its jurisdiction.
In other words, the total number of Soviet troops deployed here is only 6 army groups.
According to the judgment of Marshal Destader of the German Army Group South, once the encirclement battle proposed by Manstein is completed, at least most of the Soviet Southwest Front Army's troops will be handed over here. And the two armies of the Soviet Army Group South will also
Some troops will be unable to escape the encirclement.
The rest, the part of the Soviet Army Group South that broke out, may escape southward into the Crimean Peninsula. But that doesn't matter, it's just escaping from one pocket to another.
Originally, Zhukov's arrival at the Southwest Front put pressure on Manstein, who proposed the idea of an encirclement battle. But as Zhukov was convicted and transferred, Manstein's battlefield sense clearly felt the departure of the famous general Zhukov.
Before the newly appointed Timoshenko grasped the specific situation of the Southwest Front and adapted to command this force, Manstein was able to mobilize Romania, which was not so elite, to eliminate a large number of Soviet troops and prepare for the subsequent encirclement with the German army as the main force.
battle to further lay the foundation and weaken the defensive Soviet forces.
