Peace and tranquility in the Belarusian-occupied areas is exactly what William Kube hoped for! Unfortunately, those guerrillas have not stopped attacking since the German occupation here. Various forms of attacks, especially the destruction of communication lines, forced the entire Belarus
The railway transport capacity can only reach 40% of the maximum. It is not that the German army's train transport capacity is insufficient, it is because the lines are often interrupted due to man-made sabotage.
A large number of locomotives were damaged, and train driving became a job with a very high mortality rate.
William Kubet initially planned this massive offensive - Operation RUHE. It was intended to launch a strategic decisive battle against the Soviet army in the swamp around Loev.
But Kube was not a military expert, and because of his peculiar attitude on the Jewish issue, he had some conflicts with the local armed SS.
He wanted to manage Belarus well, but as a result, not only did the guerrillas continue to cause various kinds of destruction, but the armed SS in various places often carried out liquidation operations behind his back.
This time, it’s time for these SS to fight against the real enemy!
He does not need to directly command the troops, he only needs to express his attitude to the staff of the German garrison in Belarus and make basic plans. Real combat command is still done by real soldiers.
The Belarusian garrison will dispatch a capable force, including the SS infantry regiment stationed in Lechica, which will become the backbone of the offensive.
In addition, the 734th Division stationed in Mozyr sent a regiment, and the 805th Division stationed in Svetragsk sent a regiment. There are also two police regiments composed of local people to cooperate with the German army.
Therefore, in terms of total military strength, Belarus has dispatched five regiments, with a total strength of more than 12,000 people. Ukraine has dispatched all troops of the 634th Division. Since the division had certain problems in previous battles and many operations,
After taking into account the losses, including all the logistics troops, and even the new recruits who were later added, they barely had 11,000 people, which was still a huge force.
Kube indeed planned this operation according to the standard of mobilizing 20,000 people.
He knew that the Waffen-SS had high self-esteem, and if the frontline command was not handed over to them, the coordination of the various units in this battle would be in big trouble. Furthermore, the Blücher Regiment of the Waffen-SS had a very high level of equipment.
The grassroots soldiers are all supporters of the Führer. There is no doubt about their fighting will, and their skills and tactics are very good. Especially this unit is also equipped with some tanks and half-track armored vehicles. It is very suitable for them to be the core of the attack. Other units may have to
As a supporting role.
On June 29, the German army finally formulated the plan for Operation RUHE in Minsk. The German army immediately issued the order, and the troops who received the order quickly began to mobilize.
Perhaps the Germans were eager for revenge, or maybe the Soviet spies were as pervasive as mosquitoes, but the Soviets immediately detected the intelligence that the Germans were about to make a big move!
Minsk is the center of Belarus and the core of the local German occupation forces. The official residences of all senior Nazi personnel in Belarus are located in this city.
It is a city with a large population, and ordinary people are struggling to survive under the iron heel of the Nazis. The people dare not speak out their anger against the German army, and they silently support a group of underground workers, allowing these spies to learn about the German military trends through various means.
The Soviet intelligence system was not under the management of the guerrilla movement headquarters, but there was intelligence exchange between the two.
Regarding the news that the German army would launch Operation RUHE, Ponomarenko, who was far away in Moscow, received a lengthy alert from intelligence personnel in Minsk at noon on June 29.
Because the Soviet Union had a sufficient mass base in the city of Minsk, the guerrillas who went underground to resist the war easily instigated a group of local women who specialized in taking care of senior Nazi personnel.
These women worked as domestic servants, and sometimes Nazi officials would indulge in their beauty and then have a relationship. The honey trap became a way for the guerrillas to obtain intelligence, but William Kube was a strange person, and no temptation could make him.
He surrendered. He was obviously guarding against many people, even those SS personnel.
William Cube would never fall into a honey trap, and it would be absolutely impossible for him to sneak into his bedroom to steal information, or eavesdrop on his conversation.
The reason why the guerrillas finally came from their subordinates was because an official boasted to his mistress that the so-called invincible Third Reich Army would wipe out the bandits in the swamp in one fell swoop. Under the mistress's constant temptation, the preliminary content of Operation RUHE
He was tricked out.
The intelligence obtained by relying solely on the honey trap of a few female spies was not enough to convince the Soviet army.
In this way, a key informant's intelligence on key events convinced the Soviet army that the German army would indeed launch a military offensive against the guerrilla republic in a short period of time in the future. How many troops would the informant have?
It's a bit exaggerated to say the troop strength - 30,000.
Thirty thousand people?!
This figure could not help but make Ponomarenko nervous. Because on June 18, he received a telegram from the Guerrilla Republic. It was Yang Mingzhi reporting that they were going to launch a military attack against Loev. Naturally, he got the approval from his superiors.
of strong support.
Ponomarenko knew that these brave men would definitely win, and was even prepared to accept the fact of a great victory. After annihilating 4,000 enemies, capturing 1,000 people, destroying 15 tanks, and having a total loss of only 900 people, Ponomarenko reported victory.
, he was still trembling with surprise.
Amid the numerous armed forces behind enemy lines, the Guerrilla Republic made new achievements under the command of Lieutenant General Berekov, but the latest intelligence evaporated his excitement.
Ponomarenko immediately called an emergency meeting and seriously explained his great concerns to his subordinates.
"What the heck, Loev's railway has become the center of contention, and the Germans actually plan to send 30,000 people to attack it! The 63rd Army is definitely not capable of dealing with it well!"
For a time, many staff officers and guerrilla representatives from other regions in Moscow had different opinions.
For a long time, the Soviet Union's guerrilla warfare policy has been the same old one. The combat modes of many frontline guerrilla commanders are exactly the same as those of the regular army. The attitudes of many representatives are surprisingly consistent. The so-called 63rd Group Army has defeated more with less in the past year's war.
After defeating many troops, it was not a problem to crush this 30,000-person siege.
After all, not only did that unit not fail, but it became stronger after each battle. Especially the battle report statistics of previous battles have become a reference template for many guerrilla brigades and guerrilla brigades.
After they said that, who could worry that the heroic Belikov could not crush this siege? Even if the German army dispatched the armed SS, Belikov had led his troops to fight against them, and the Soviet army did not lose!
Besides, a very crucial point is that just a month ago, Berekov sent a telegram claiming that they used ultra-long-range rocket launchers to blow up Chernigov. Since they have such powerful rockets, code-named Catfish and Flying Fish.
Rocket launchers, then blow up the invading enemy!
After this meeting, the worried Ponomarenko became optimistic again, even a little arrogant. If one of his troops could defeat the attack of 30,000 people, wouldn't it be a great achievement? Even after this battle, the situation between the enemy and ourselves in the entire southern Belarus
, fundamental changes can occur.
The Soviet army will become strategically passive and begin to shift into strategic initiative!
In the afternoon, the guerrilla movement headquarters sent a lengthy war warning message to the guerrilla republic more than 600 kilometers away.
With the telegram, the entire 63rd Army Headquarters and Salinchkin's organization were completely blown away!
The war was so sudden, and even more inevitable. At least everyone was mentally prepared for a small battle to turn into a battle. But when the battle actually came, everyone was still shocked!