For China's interests and for the victory of the world's anti-fascist movement, Xu Rui must help Zhukov once and repel Germany.
Zhukov prepared a separate office for Xu Rui. Outsiders were not allowed to enter or leave Xu Rui's office. He did not want to imprison Xu Rui. He just wanted to keep it secret and prevent the news that Xu Rui was directing this battle from reaching Stalin's ears.
Otherwise, if he is punished for a minor offense, once the battle outside Moscow fails, the entire Soviet Union will fall into a huge crisis.
In Xu Rui's office, there was a huge sand table. The sand table was filled with small flags representing the German and Soviet troops. Zhukov said: "Now our frontal enemies almost include the German troops on the Soviet-German battlefield."
All the most elite units, including the SS Reich Division, the Totenkopf Division, the Viking Division, the 7th Armored Division of the Wehrmacht, and the Grossdeutschland Grenadier Division. These five divisions are the five trump cards of the German army and are now on the front of the Moscow battlefield.
, it can be seen that the Germans use the direction of Moscow on the center line as the main breakthrough point."
Xu Rui said: "If we can severely damage one or two of the five elite divisions of the German army, we can defeat the German offensive and crush the German plan to capture Moscow.
Zhukov said: "These five elite divisions of the German army are all very powerful. It may not be easy to severely damage one or two of them."
Xu Rui said: "It can be seen from the sand table that the four German divisions headed by the Viking Division are the arrowheads of the German army. They are located at the protrusion outside Moscow. If the Viking Division is destroyed, these four German divisions can be defeated by approximately
One hundred thousand people can completely stabilize the situation in Moscow and create a huge psychological shadow on the German army, so that when our army moves troops to the southern front, the German army will not dare to act rashly."
Zhukov said: "You mean, our army will take the initiative to attack the four divisions headed by the Viking Division in the salient?"
Xu Shuo said: "Yes, we need to use the Viking Division to perform the operation. The Viking Division is the most powerful force among the four divisions. It would be better to cut off one of its fingers than to injure ten of them. As long as the Viking Division is defeated, the other three divisions will inevitably
shrink, then all the Germans will have to evacuate to the Smolensk front line, and the situation in Moscow will be stabilized."
"Comrade Xu Rui, the German Viking Division is powerful. If you want to use the Viking Division as a breakthrough point, you must concentrate at least ten times its strength. When the Viking Division was complete, it had more than 18,000 people. After this battle,
, there are still about 13,000 to 4,000 people, which means that our army needs to concentrate the strength of more than a dozen divisions before we can launch an attack on the Viking Division."
Xu Rui said: "Chinese art of war once said, plan before taking action. As long as we plan properly and are well prepared, we will definitely win."
Zhukov said: "In this way, I will mobilize the most elite troops of the Soviet army to fight this battle."
Xu Rui said: "Which troops do you plan to use?"
Zhukov said: "I plan to dispatch the 52nd Guards Rifle Division, the 13th Guards Rifle Division, the 24th Rifle Division, and other attached elite units to attack the German army in the salient."
The 52nd Guards Rifle Division is a unit that is fighting against the most elite German Guards Division without falling behind. The 13th Guards Rifle Division was adapted from the 3rd Airborne Division that participated in the defense of Kiev, and the 24th Rifle Division participated
After the Soviet-Finnish War, this unit was formed in Simbirsk Province, Lenin's hometown, and was one of the most elite units in the Soviet army.
When Xu Rui heard this, he thought that Zhukov was showing off his old skills, which showed that Zhukov attached great importance to this battle.
Zhukov asked Xu Rui: "We need a specific plan on how to deal with the German army in this salient."
Xu Rui said: "The terrain of this protrusion is very high. If our army attacks directly, there will be heavy casualties. Therefore, if we want to win this battle, we must draw the Germans out."
"How to introduce it?" Zhukov asked.
Xu Rui said: "Comrade Zhukov, have you ever fished?"
"I've fished, Comrade Xu Rui, what do you mean?"
Xu Rui said: "When we fish, we have to throw scented bait to the fish so that the fish can easily take the bait. Therefore, we must give the Germans a reason to attack."
"Oh? What are you going to do?" Zhukov said.
Xu Rui said: "I plan to send a force to attack this salient. However, this force will only be defeated and not allowed to win. The German army will definitely pursue it. As long as the German army leaves this salient, it will lose its geographical advantage and our army will ambush."
Then besieged on all sides. By then, even if the German army cannot be completely annihilated, it will certainly be able to deal a major blow to the German army."
Zhukov nodded repeatedly after hearing Xu Rui's words and said: "What a good idea. I will send the 35th Infantry Division to take on this task."
Xu Rui shook his head and said: "If you want to catch big fish, you must be willing to lay bait. The 35th Infantry Division is only a second-line unit and is not enough to attract the appetite of the Viking Division. It will be completely different if the 24th Infantry Division is allowed to go.
The 24th Infantry Division is the trump card of the Soviet army, which is enough to whet the appetite of the Viking Division. As long as the Viking Division leaves the salient, the overall situation is decided."
Zhukov thought for a moment, although using the 24th Infantry Division as bait was a bit risky, but if he could lure out the Viking Division, the German ace division, and other German troops, it would be very worthwhile.
Xu Rui continued: "The Viking Division has a strong fighting capacity. If you want to deal with them, you must use a large number of heavy weapons, at least an artillery division. Only in this way can you deal a devastating blow to the Viking Division."
Zhukov said: "I will arrange this."
At that moment, Xu Rui and Zhukov discussed the specific details of the battle. After listening to Xu Rui's words, Zhukov's eyes lit up. He knew that if he followed Xu Rui's words, he would probably win another great victory.
It is of great significance to the Soviet army, which is currently suffering from low morale.
At the same time, four German divisions led by the Viking Division were stationed in the German salient outside Moscow, like a sharp blade pressed against Moscow's chest.
The Viking Division was established in 1940. It was composed of foreign volunteers from many countries in Western and Northern Europe. It was a fanatical and combat-savvy division headed by Felix Steiner.
The Viking Division has a strong fighting force. Most of its members are not Germans, but are composed of Dutch, Norwegian, Danish, Swiss, Finnish, Swedish, and Belgian people. They are all fanatical admirers of the German Führer and have a strong will to fight.
At this time, the division commander Felix occupied the salient outside Moscow and positioned his troops there, preparing to launch an attack on Moscow.
Felix was an SS general and a fanatical admirer of the German head of state. He himself had high military qualities and the ability to lead troops. He kneaded together troops that were not composed of national volunteers to form a strong combat effectiveness.
At this time, Felix had just received an order from von Kluge, commander of Army Group Center, asking him to stick to the salient and monitor the Soviet troops in Moscow.
At this moment, Felix got the news that the Soviet army actually launched an attack on the protrusion.
Felix was not surprised but overjoyed. The terrain of this salient was very high, and the Soviet army would be greatly hindered from attacking from the bottom up. Felix decided to hold on to his position and repel the Soviet army that came to attack.
The battle was fierce. Two hours later, Felix received news that the Soviet army had been defeated and was fleeing towards Moscow.
Felix laughed, his heart filled with pride. Under his training, the Viking division was really powerful in combat. It only took two hours to defeat the invading enemy.
It was at this time that Felix learned the numbers of the invading Soviet troops, one of which was the 24th Infantry Division.
When he heard the name of the 24th Infantry Division, Felix's eyes lit up. He knew that the 24th Infantry Division was the ace main force of the Soviet army. It had never been inferior in several battles with the German army. Unexpectedly, Felix was defeated by his own troops today.
Leakes felt itchy in his heart and thought to himself that if the 24th Soviet Infantry Division could be completely annihilated, it would be a huge blow to the morale of the Soviet army.
Thinking of this, Felix said: "Order the 9th Germanic Panzergrenadier Regiment, the 10th Grenadier Regiment, the Northern Grenadier Regiment, the Estonian Armed SS, and the Sulan Armed SS Grenadier Battalion to attack across the board. We must all attack
Annihilate the Soviet 24th Infantry Division."
"But General, Commander Kruger did not give us an order to attack. His order was just to hold on." Felix's chief of staff said.
Felix said: "Bowen, things on the battlefield are changing rapidly. If we cannot seize the opportunity to act, we will miss many opportunities. Sometimes, we must make a decisive decision."
Chief of Staff Bown said: "General, I still feel that the attack now is too abrupt. What if this is a trick by the Soviets to lure troops? As long as we stick to this salient, the Soviets can't do anything to us, but if we
Once we lose this salient, we lose our forward base, and it will be very difficult to capture Moscow."
Felix said: "You heard it just now. What we defeated just now was the Soviet ace 24th Infantry Division. If you were the commander of the Soviet army, would you use your ace unit as bait?
The Soviet army is simply vulnerable, and their ace troops are no more than that. But if we can annihilate the Soviet 24th Infantry Division, it can boost the morale of our army and dampen the Soviet army's will to fight. Maybe we can also invade Moscow.
, I can’t lose this opportunity.”
Upon hearing this, Bowen knew that he could not dissuade Felix, so he had no choice but to say: "General, I will contact other nearby divisions to act with our division to prevent our division from fighting alone and falling into a disadvantageous situation."
"Okay, Bobby, the Soviets took the initiative to provoke. This time, I want to let them taste the power of the Viking Division!"
General Felix immediately ordered the main force of the Viking Division to pursue the Soviet 24th Infantry Division. At the same time, several nearby divisions also received Bobby's telegram and knew that the Viking Division had gone out. In order to prevent the Viking Division from going deep alone,
These divisions dispatched large numbers of troops to coordinate operations with the Viking division...
