Mobilizing millions of people to attack is a great test of the ability of the top commander. Even if the commander is extremely capable, it is impossible to give detailed tasks to every soldier. At most, he can only give orders to the division commander. More troops usually means stronger strength, but
If there is a problem at the command level, there will be gaps in the tight defense line, and the huge army will easily fight independently, that is, it will be defeated individually.
To avoid stabilizing the front line, trenches must be dug deep and mines must be buried. Active retreat will lure the enemy deeper, and if not done properly, the whole game will be lost. What’s more, with Stalin, the commander-in-chief who was furious about the army’s active retreat, Ponomarenko knew very well what had happened.
Pavlov, the commander of the Northwestern Front Army, was the cause of death. He could not retreat voluntarily, even if he had a greater strategy.
Of course, according to the information gathered during the Gomel Battle, General Berekov used "illegal" tactics to swallow up the organized German troops one by one. What is horrifying to think about is that the troops under his command used exaggerated
Success was achieved only through maneuverability and extremely complex tactical movements.
In today's Soviet army, which unit has such a strong organization? Bah! It is a miracle that ten thousand officers and soldiers of the newly formed infantry division can stick to their posts and the number of deserters is minimal!
In the battles of great powers in this time and space, the simple and efficient "pincer offensive" is generally used.
Ponomarenko also believes that the "pincer offensive" is a universal tactic. It has a vicious tactical purpose and does not require complex tactical tasks. What can really determine the success or failure of the battle lies in the enemy and ourselves, who can complete the pincer offensive successfully first, and will
The opponent was surrounded and annihilated.
He thought for a while and said slowly: "If our goal is to ultimately eliminate the enemy, as long as we form a tight encirclement, we will be successful. As for how to create the result of the encirclement, we may not need to stick to one tactic."
"Yes." Yang Mingzhi affirmed: "I think that harassment wars, bombing railways, ambushes, and waiting for small-scale sabotage operations can only enable the guerrilla areas to protect themselves, and at most they can support friendly forces in operations. Do you think now that through large-scale attacks,
It is relatively difficult to achieve the goal of turning quantity into qualitative change with small-scale destruction. If you want to win, you still have to fight a large-scale battle."
"This...you said that, I'm confused."
"It's not difficult to understand." Yang Mingzhi said seriously: "When the guerrillas are not weak, frequent small-scale destruction is the best method. Not only can they attack the enemy, but they can also meet their own survival needs by seizing various materials.
"
"Yes, most guerrilla units use this kind of tactics and can only fight in this way."
"When the strength of the army expands to a certain level, it should take the initiative to respond to the new situation. But the enemy will also launch large-scale encirclement and suppression operations. Is it necessary to build a defense line and fight positional warfare like the regular army? That is not advisable. We
We must lure the enemy as much as possible, and then attack fiercely when they are tired. Throughout the Gomel battle, we actually pursued this tactic. Until the attack on Lechica, our losses were far less than the Germans. But you..."
Speaking of which, who ordered the troops to forcibly attack Lechica? It was Ponomarenko who gave the order, which Salinchkin and Yevlov believed must be carried out unconditionally.
Now that Ponomarenko was here, Yang Mingzhi couldn't help but open his mouth and express his contradictions and entanglements.
The battle against Lechica was the most intense battle during the entire Gomel campaign, with the most tragic casualties for one's own side. Yang Mingzhi stood up, stood upright facing the desk, and looked directly at Ponomarenko himself.
"You ordered us to attack Lechica to support the friendly forces fighting in the north. Judging from the results, we have completed the task."
"Yes."
"For this battle, our 6th Army suffered heavy losses! Even... we almost lost our family fortune." Speaking of excitement, Yang Mingzhi even put his hands on the table and stretched his head in a harsh manner.
"Among our troops, there are 12,000 elite troops. In the bloody battle with the German 64th Division in early July, half of the elite troops were killed! We reported the huge problems facing the troops, but at this time, do you think that guerrillas
The movement faced a huge and superior fighter opportunity, so it dispatched various large-scale guerrilla groups to intervene in the battle.
You said that you had a great chat with the Gypsy people and the two captains of Red October yesterday, but you must also know that it was your decision that pulled us into the chariot after having been fighting at high intensity for four weeks.
I am definitely not against friendly forces taking the initiative to attack. If we attack at the wrong time, it will cause terrible losses.
Dear Comrade Commander-in-Chief, I am standing in front of you now, and I have to tell you that because our 6th Group Army has basically lost all its elites, it has to fully arm women and children. These so-called recruits seriously lack combat effectiveness.
We can only defend ourselves against the guerrilla zone. As for continuing the attack, we no longer have the strength.
Since you consider me a friend of the same level, I will tell you as a close friend.
You are wrong, and very wrong."
"you……"
Ponomarenko had always been smiling, but now he felt really uncomfortable.
This is wrong! The congratulatory messages from the leaders and the National Defense Committee were stacked one centimeter thick. It was obviously a victory at the level of a small battle, but when General Berekov said it, it became a major failure?
He was so angry that he suppressed his inner displeasure and retorted: "Comrade Stalin was convinced that it was a victory in the battle."
"Yes, don't you think that in order to win, the huge guerrilla zone that has been working hard for a year to suffer heavy casualties will be helpful to the guerrilla movement of the entire alliance? Take a good look at the data, among the various guerrilla units participating in the war, which one suffered the heaviest casualties?
, who achieved the greatest results, and who had the greatest disparity in the ratio of enemy kills to losses?
You think the Gypsy Brigade and the Red October Brigade have very strong combat capabilities, but in fact they are very limited. They seriously lack the ability to attack fortresses. Their number is nearly 10,000, and they are basically light infantry. They seriously lack anti-tank capabilities, so when the German 71st Division entered the war,
At that time, the German 100th Army concentrated most of its armored vehicles. A simple charge destroyed the results of the two guerrilla brigade. For this reason, we had to fight the German army in Lechica until we were basically in shock due to blood loss.
.
How much do you think we lost? The number of troops involved in defending the city was equivalent to three integrated infantry regiments. When we evacuated, there were only less than 3,000 men.
And these three thousand people are our final main force."
"Indeed, you suffered heavy casualties, so I urgently dispatched the equally strong Kovpack troops for reinforcements. Maybe I was too hasty, but Kovpack dispatched 6,000 troops, and their arrival really helped you."
Yang Mingzhi felt that this statement was even more embarrassing, so he shook his head: "What does it mean to be strong? With all due respect, Kovpak's troops, in addition to their passion, only have some insignificant fire sticks left.
"
"They have indeed achieved great results! This is a fact that attracts worldwide attention."
"I admit it! But do you really know that army? When I first met with Kovpak, their army was indeed strong and their weapons and equipment were very backward. One hundred people only have one machine gun, and the most basic rifle is enough.
Ammunition is very scarce. They are light infantry, and they can only guarantee the most basic combat effectiveness. They have no ability to attack fortresses, let alone tanks and armored vehicles."
When he said this, Ponomarenko's face had turned ugly. Even if it would anger this person, Yang Mingzhi had decided that this matter was related to the great cause of the guerrilla movement, and today he was going to offend him.
"The attack on Kovpak was a major victory, and we contributed a lot to this victory! When these 6,000 people arrived, they immediately changed their weapons and equipment.
I gave them three hundred machine guns, ensuring each squad had one. I gave them more than one million rounds of bullets!
In addition, they also obtained RPGs, recoilless rifles, and even rocket launcher groups. Such luxurious firepower may have surpassed ordinary regular army troops.
Even so, I thought they still lacked combat strength, so I incorporated eighty of the most elite scouts into them, even the heroic sniper Comrade Speroskina.
This is the reason why we won, but even so, the casualties in Kovpak were not small. If you think about it for a moment, how much could they accomplish if they relied on machine guns, rifles and lack of ammunition? Maybe they can temporarily win.
Because of the lack of stamina, the result may be annihilation of the entire army.”
Yang Mingzhi did not mean it. From Ponomarenko's perspective, what he said was a direct reference to the local counterattack he ordered the 17th Brigade to carry out in May, which was a tragic failure. The remnants of the guerrilla brigade that experienced the failure were under the control of General Berekov.
After participating in the long battle of Gomel under his training, his combat effectiveness has indeed increased significantly.
In any case, the Battle of Gomel was indeed a remarkable victory, because the timing of its emergence was exquisite, and it resulted in considerable benefits for the entire northern war situation.
Ponomarenko also did not want to raise a flag, lest Berekov would be angry again.
He stood up with a look of shame on his face: "I was a little careless in the past battles."
"I'm sorry, I just got excited with my words." Yang Mingzhi bowed deeply, but his attitude remained unchanged.
"No problem, Lenin taught the people to take time to study. I do need to study, and I accept your criticism."
Yang Mingzhi composed himself and pretended to be humble, saying, "There are some things I don't know whether I should say."
"Tell me, you are the best guerrilla warfare expert, and I accept all your teachings."
"Okay. I just want to say now that maybe you are not suitable for this position. You are the legal First Secretary of Belarus, and your job is to govern the country. As for the affairs of guerrilla warfare, you may need pure military experts.
I'm sorry, my words were harsh."
"No!" Ponomarenko shook his head, "I admit that I do have many questions. In fact, I now have an idea. If you were in my position, how would you command the Gomel campaign, or how would you command the second half of the campaign?
part?"
Haha, there is suddenly a sense of "you can do it" here.
Yang Mingzhi forced a smile. He had already thought of some strategies for the entire battle, and now it was not impossible to talk about it on paper.
"If I were in command? I would still attack Lechica, although at first I was timid because of the heavy casualties of the troops. After some analysis, I found that only attacking Lechica can maximize the interests of our army.
The reason why I attacked Lechica was to control the railway. After occupying the city, a comprehensive plunder of supplies began. I'm sorry, our army lives in a swamp, and the severe shortage of supplies forces us to do everything we can to plunder supplies.
After the inventory of supplies was completed, both the Lechica railway bridge and the road bridge were blown up.
As far as I know, there are two major railway arteries in Belarus, and Lechicha is located on one of them. As long as the railway is abolished, the macro-war situation will be different."
"The German 100th Army attacks Lechica, what will you do?"
"Retreat! Retreat decisively."
"However, if you don't contain this force, they successfully occupy Lechica again and will soon participate in the battle in the north. If..."
Yang Mingzhi hesitated for a moment, and what Bo said made sense. If the 100th Army had not fallen into a battle situation, Zhukov's offensive should have faced a stronger enemy. No! No cowardice can be shown here.
"There are no ifs!" Yang Mingzhi didn't care about so many things and insisted that the Soviet army would win: "The 100th Army, their combat effectiveness is indeed very strong, and what this unit can do will be limited! I even think that it is impossible for our army to
Fighting with this force, our army will face old opponents from the north. Against this group of defeated generals, our army can achieve greater results. Moreover, we cannot capture the following Qi Cha with this group of enemies alone.
Then the 100th Army either moved north smoothly, or helped other German troops attack Lechica along the way.
Taking a step back, the 100th Army chose to rush to Smolensk as quickly as possible. Can their arrival help the German army win the defensive war? I don’t think so. In other words, the results achieved in the actual battle situation are limited, and we just
Help Marshal Zhukov win faster.
The liberation of Vyazma and Rzhev is inevitable. The only question is how many casualties the Western Front will have. Now, our 6th Army has suffered many casualties for Marshal Zhukov because of its head-on confrontation with the German 100th Army.
The life of every soldier is precious. If it is a sacrifice, the sacrifice of the soldiers must also be valuable.
Putting aside the emotional overtones and speaking purely rationally, I think the soldiers of our 6th Group Army are more important."
For various analyzes of the battle, the battle situation will have a variety of results. There is a huge difference between paper talk and reality, and reality is also the only one. There is only one battle situation today, and the dead cannot be resurrected, and no amount of regret is useless.
As Belekov said, "Soldiers of the 6th Army are more important," this statement is indeed very politically incorrect.
Yang Mingzhi knew that Bo would be angry and continued: "If the 100th Army has almost no casualties, it will lead to greater casualties of the Western Front, and the strength of our guerrilla republic will be preserved. Now our elite troops are pitifully small because of the low quality of the soldiers.
Surprisingly, even if we had a truce for the winter, our combat effectiveness would not be restored until spring came. Unfortunately, when I evacuated the swamp, I gave the most important order to my stranded comrades, that is, it is forbidden to launch any attack in the next twelve months.
Campaign-level military operations.” (To be continued)