Von Kruger was very angry. There were hundreds of thousands of Axis troops in Smolensk, and they were all defeated overnight. Which Soviet army did it? With such a powerful combat capability, could it be the Soviet Union?
1st Assault Army?
However, the 1st Assault Army is clearly in the direction of Moscow. Apart from the 1st Assault Army, it seems that the Soviets do not have many effective combat troops in the direction of Moscow. Moreover, no large Soviet troops have been detected from the air moving towards Smolensk.
Signs, then, who fought this battle?
Until this moment, von Kluge was still in the fog.
From the intelligence point of view, the enemy's army should not be large in number, that is, the size of a brigade. Von Kruger could not imagine that a brigade of Soviet troops actually captured the Smoldering Army, which was amassed by hundreds of thousands of Axis troops.
Lensk, are those hundreds of thousands of troops just decorations? Even hundreds of thousands of ducks cannot be caught in one night!
However, von Kruger also wanted to understand one thing. No matter which Soviet army did it, he must immediately send troops to attack Smolensk and recapture this strategically important place in the rear.
Which troops will be sent back to support?
Von Kruger finally decided to send the most powerful skeleton division back to Smolensk.
"What? Send the Skeleton Division back to support? Now the Skeleton Division's attack is going very smoothly. If we continue like this, it won't be long before we can capture Moscow. Isn't it a pity to send the Skeleton Division back at this time?"
said an officer.
Von Kruger said: "If we cannot recapture Smolensk in one fell swoop, let alone capture Moscow, our retreat will be lost, and it will be impossible to retreat safely by then. Therefore, we need to return reinforcements."
Smolensk must be the most powerful force."
Guderian and Hoppner also expressed their intention to choose von Kluge. At this time, a powerful force must be sent back to help quickly defeat the enemies in Smolensk and protect the logistics line.
In addition to the Skeleton Division, von Kluge also dispatched the 9th Infantry Division and the 44th Infantry Division of the 6th Group Army, which have strong combat capabilities, so that these two divisions can follow the Skeleton Division to return reinforcements in order to recapture Smoleng.
Sk.
The Totenkopf Division was established during the war between Germany and Poland. At that time, the German head of state felt the need to expand the SS, so he formed a group of new SS divisions, the most powerful of which was the later famous Totenkopf Division.
The SS Skeleton Division was formally established, with Theodore Eicke as the division commander. This tough and brutal Nazi told his subordinates on his first day in office: "Be ruthless at every moment on the battlefield.
Be ruthless to our enemies and live up to our skull and crossbones badge."
Since its establishment, the Skeleton Division has participated in a series of German battles on the Eastern Front and made great achievements. Its famous battle was the siege of Demyansk.
This battle can be called a battle of elite SS troops in the history of World War II. In addition to the Skeleton Division, the German SS participating in the battle also included the Imperial Division, the Viking Division, and the 9th SS "Hohenstaufen"
Panzer Division, Adolf Hitler's Guards Armored Division, 7th SS "Prinz Eugen" Voluntary Mountain Division, 11th SS "Nordic" Voluntary Panzergrenadier Division, etc.
It is said that the strength of the SS is indistinguishable, but if they are put on the same battlefield to compete, the superiority will be immediately reflected. In the siege of Demyansk, the combat effectiveness of the Skeleton Division was much higher than that of other SS.
The main force in the army, of course, they also suffered the most severe casualties, with their attrition accounting for almost half of the entire division.
The heavily encircled Skeleton Division relied on its excellent strategies and tactics and its tenacious fighting power to break through the Soviet encirclement at the cost of more than half of its casualties, defeating the Soviet army's intention to annihilate the German army. This textbook breakout battle made the Skeleton Division famous.
Its powerful combat style caused hundreds of thousands of casualties to the Soviet army, making it one of the most troublesome SS units for the Soviet army.
After the battle, the Totenkopf Division won an unprecedented honor in the German army and received the "Demyansk Battle Commemorative Armband" issued by Hitler himself. Through this battle, the Totenkopf Division became famous in one battle, and of course it was destined to join the Soviet Army.
A "blacklist" for violent revenge.
The reason why the Skeleton Division formed a deadly feud with the Soviet army was at the most intense moment of the siege of Demyansk. After the Skeleton Division failed to encircle it once, the Soviet army captured eleven SS soldiers. In order to attack
The morale of the Skeleton Division was reduced, and the Soviet internal security troops shot all eleven SS soldiers.
After the Skeleton Division learned about it, they burned two Soviet prisoners alive in front of the Soviet soldiers at the forward position. From then on, the Skeleton Division and the Soviet army became mortal enemies, which remained unsolved until the end of the battle.
In a battle, ten tanks of the Skeleton Division were surrounded by more than a hundred Soviet tanks. Facing a Soviet army several times their own, they refused to surrender. After shooting the shells, they used machine guns and bullets with sabers. The Skeleton Division Biao
The fierce combat methods caused the Soviet army to suffer heavy losses again. They destroyed nearly 80 Soviet tanks at the cost of 10 tanks. Every time the Soviet army encountered the Skeleton Division, it had to pay a huge price.
Such a ruthless and fierce Skeleton Division made the Soviet army gnash their teeth with hatred. Because of this, there is an unwritten rule in the Skeleton Division, "When encountering the Soviet army, even if you die, you will die by the enemy's bullets.
It may be worse than death at the hands of the Soviet army."
At this time, Theodore Eicke was leading the Skeleton Division on a rampage in Moscow, destroying Soviet positions one after another. When he learned that he was asked to lead his troops back and retake Smolensk, Eicke was very dissatisfied.
, Moscow is already in sight, but now we are going to attack Smolensk. Do we want to give up the glory of capturing Moscow to others?
However, Eicke still obeyed von Kruger's order and led the Skeleton Division towards Smolensk. Behind him were the 9th Infantry Division and the 44th Infantry Division of the 6th Army.
The divisions formed a "pin" formation and headed towards Smolensk. However, since the Skeleton Division was a mechanized armored division and the other two divisions were infantry divisions, there was a gap in speed and the distance gradually widened.
The Skeleton Division rushed towards Smolensk in one swift movement.
At this time, Xu Rui did not realize that a real test was about to come...
At this time, Xu Rui was sitting in Vlasov's original office, drinking coffee leisurely, feeling very comfortable. But in one night, he led a group of troops composed of prisoners, women, workers, and remnants of soldiers.
Defeating hundreds of thousands of Axis troops and capturing Smolensk, what could be more exciting than this?
Xu Rui was drinking coffee and thinking about what to do next. At this moment, Leng Tiefeng said: "Old Xu, this Smolensk is the rear supply base of the Germans. Most of the entire Army Group Center
All the supplies are here, there are countless warehouses, and there are all kinds of weapons and ammunition. Unfortunately, we don’t have enough manpower, otherwise we can equip an army of hundreds of thousands."
Xu Rui said: "Veteran, do you think we can stop the German counterattack?"
Leng Tiefeng was stunned, thought for a moment and said: "With our current strength alone, we cannot stop the German counterattack no matter what."
"So, we're afraid we won't be able to use these supplies."
"Can't use it? Should I give it back to the Germans?" Leng Tiefeng said.
Xu Rui said: "Veteran, please go down immediately and take away all the weapons and ammunition you can. If you can't take away, put bombs on them. We must be prepared to evacuate at any time."
"What? Lao Xu, you don't want to defend Smolensk anymore?" Leng Tiefeng asked.
Xu Rui said: "It's not that I don't want to defend, but I can't defend even if I want to. We only have seven or eight thousand people in total. After a night of fighting, we lost more than a thousand. The newly added more than a thousand puppet troops are all a group of people."
There is no guarantee that something will go wrong at a critical moment. In this case, as long as the German army dispatches a capable force, it will be difficult for us to defend Smolensk. We must be prepared for the worst."
"But if this happens, I'm afraid Smolensk will turn into a pile of ashes." Leng Tiefeng said.
"What does it matter? It's not our Chinese city." Xu Rui said calmly.
Leng Tiefeng glanced at Xu Rui in surprise, and then thought, this is really the truth, he is just fighting for the Soviets, as for how the fight will be, it has nothing to do with him, and he is not in China, so he can let it go
Fight without worries.
"Commander, Zhukov is calling!" A signal soldier came in.
Diana on the side took the telegram and read it. When Xu Rui heard it, Zhukov encouraged himself in the telegram, but at the same time reminded himself that a German army of tens of thousands was marching towards Smolensk.
The troops included the 9th Infantry Division and the 44th Infantry Division of the 6th Army, as well as the most elite Totenkopf Division of the SS.
"What? Ike's Skeleton Division is here?" Xu Rui couldn't help being surprised. The Skeleton Division is the most powerful unit in the SS, and it is also an armored unit. It once single-handedly defeated hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops.
And calmly respond, the combat effectiveness of such a unit is far beyond that of ordinary German troops, and it is even more incomparable to the combat effectiveness of ordinary servant armies of the Axis powers.
If the Skeleton Division really arrives, Smolensk will definitely not be able to defend it.
Thinking of this, Xu Rui said: "Veteran, it seems that we really have to prepare for the worst."
Leng Tiefeng had also heard of the Skeleton Division, and thought to himself that the Germans seemed to be really going all out this time. If they fought hard, they would definitely fail. They could only implement a scorched earth policy as Xu Rui said. No matter how you put it, it was impossible.
Leave Smolensk's supplies to the Germans.
Xu Rui said: "Veteran, you should immediately organize people to arrange explosives for all warehouses. Kosygin and Safin, you two are going to lead troops to stop the Germans and lure the Germans into the city bit by bit..."
ps: The new book "The Mission of the Dragon Group" has been officially uploaded. I hope new and old book friends in Everbright will give it your full support. Thank you.
The link to the new book is: gshi.qq./bk/js/21848300