Chapter 597 The fate of the Second Paratrooper Army has changed
At the airport in Severodonesk, a total of more than two hundred aircraft are waiting for orders. There are large transport aircraft, bombers, fighters and gliders.
One hundred and eighty aircraft are loaded with cargo, and forty fighter jets will participate in the escort.
In the original plan, the number of various cargo planes was not so large. The plan was revised again and again. In order to transport the materials on the list to the destination as much as possible, the airport ground staff could only copy it as much as possible. However, during the loading of cargo,
Many problems also occurred, and the military had to adjust the cargo list many times.
It was originally planned to transport several farm tractors, but they were too heavy and heavy, and the parachute could not prevent them from landing hard. A few months ago, a light tank was damaged in an airdrop.
If agricultural machinery is needed for reclamation, it is better to transport more fuel and use the existing BT tanks in the swamp as tractors to drag heavy plows as far as possible.
During the entire period of material transportation, the paratrooper regiment that was to be airdropped into the swamp also temporarily acted as porters.
Brigade commander Teplov, deputy brigade commander Besonov and brigade political commissar Zarasky even became workers themselves.
Since the birth of paratroopers, they have been dubbed as elite troops in all countries. The reason is simply that it is very difficult for soldiers to overcome their fear of heights and be able to use parachutes.
It can be said that the Soviet military devoted far more energy to each paratrooper than ordinary soldiers.
The 233rd Paratrooper Brigade will participate in the operation and eventually serve as elite infantry to supplement the powerful but short-numbered 284th Guards Division. This paratrooper brigade is part of the Second Parachute Corps, the Soviet Union's elite paratrooper unit.
In November 1941, in order to retake the Kerch Peninsula and annihilate the German forces in Feodosia, a battalion of the 214th Brigade under the Second Parachute Army was reinforced there. Their mission was to seize the bridgehead to the west of Kerch, but due to the landing
The troops were trapped by sea ice and their airborne destination was forced to change. The paratroopers were given new tasks and successfully completed them. Eventually, they were integrated into the ground forces and became elite soldiers.
Yang Mingzhi's conjecture about the paratroopers descending on the swamp has been confirmed on the battlefield on the Kerch Peninsula.
What looked like a large-scale parachute drop surprised the German army and even caused a series of chaos. The German army, which had been preparing to cross the Kerch Peninsula and enter the Caucasus in an orderly manner, was suddenly in chaos.
Although the paratroopers did not occupy the bridgehead, the panic they brought to the German army objectively supported the landing operations of the Soviet 44th Army. However, this army ultimately failed to defend Sevastopol and was completely wiped out by the Germans.
This was the largest landing operation launched by the Soviet army during the Great Patriotic War. The Soviet army regained the Kerch Peninsula and established the Crimean Front.
More than two months have passed since this operation, and the war situation has also undergone tremendous changes. Odessa has long since fallen, and Simferopol has also fallen. Currently, the only Soviet strongholds in Crimea are Sevastopol and Sevastopol.
Pengshan, Yalta and part of the Kerch Peninsula.
The Soviet army was desperately transporting supplies to Sevastopol by sea and land, and transporting civilians and wounded back to the Caucasus.
On this battlefield, Pavlichenko originally belonged to the South-Western Front, but now her troops are organized into the new Crimean Front. The heroic sniper is still defending Sevastopol! Her achievements are also increasing day by day.
But as the commander of the front army, what Timoshenko has to consider is to lead the entire southwest front army to launch a strategic counterattack. He can understand the leader's intention. At present, the large-scale counterattack of more than one million people in the entire front army is suspended. This is to prepare for a brand new
Prepare for counterattack!
His friendly forces became the Crimean Front. Since the leader was eager for the Soviet army to regain the entire Crimea, the commissioner he sent, Mekhlis, almost replaced the commander Kozlov. A front made an incomprehensible one
With an amateur military commander taking charge, Timoshenko couldn't help but feel a little pessimistic about the future.
Many times, the Soviet army suffered catastrophic defeats because they were commanded by idiots. Just like the famous idiot Pavlov, his inaction caused the Northwestern Front Army to be almost wiped out. But there is also a good thing, that is, during the war
The 284th Guards Division that stood out became its own unit.
Therefore, Timoshenko refused to continue to send his paratroopers to parachute into Crimea. Firstly, there are already more than 200,000 Soviet troops there. Secondly, letting elite paratroopers be commanded by idiots has the same meaning as letting them commit suicide.
If the 233rd Paratrooper Brigade is parachuted into the Pripet Swamp and placed under the command of the elite 284th Guards Division, it will certainly be able to exert greater power.
He explained the plan to Stalin. At first the steel comrade was a little disgusted, but Timoshenko proposed new possibilities and convinced him directly.
That is to say, the troops will have to counterattack sooner or later. Instead of letting the paratroopers continue to stand still, it is better to deliver them to key areas. The best area at present is Pripet Swamp. Since that Guards unit can incredibly annihilate 7,000 Germans,
After they receive additional troops, they can even threaten Kiev. Once this most important logistics center of the German army is threatened, it will objectively have a huge positive impact on the entire Ukrainian war situation.
Timoshenko's plan to send paratroopers was immediately approved, and the world changed as a result.
Originally, when the Soviet army counterattacked Kiev in September 1943, in order to seize the bridgehead on the Dnieper River, the Second Troops Army dispatched three brigades, which was almost the entire strength of this unit. However, due to changes in the plan midway, only two brigades were left.
Several brigades participated in the operation, including the 233rd Brigade. In the end, this became a disastrous defeat for the Soviet army. Many people were thrown into the German positions, many people drowned in the Dnieper River, and only more than 2,000 people fled into the forest.
In this operation, the Soviet paratroopers did almost nothing. These elite troops were wasted needlessly due to serious mistakes at the command level.
Joining Yang Mingzhi did not come to this time and space, so what awaited the 233rd Paratrooper Brigade would be the fate of death. The butterfly surnamed Yang became famous in the Pripet Swamp and objectively changed the paratroopers.
The fate of the journey.
Compared to his original plane, Timoshenko is a little bolder. Once this airdrop operation is successful, he will even be willing to send the entire paratrooper army to the swamp, provided that the conditions there are really good.
Can feed another 10,000 soldiers.
From a macro-strategic perspective, Pripet Swamp gradually began to show that it had great value, and from a personal perspective, he also had reasons to increase personnel there.
Hidden there is Berekov who manufactured advanced weapons and defeated the German armored divisions, Yelentina from the Ministry of Internal Affairs, and legal members of the Gomel Municipal Committee of Belarus. There are heroes, soldiers, municipal organizations, and the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
People there are part of the Byelorussian Soviet Republic! Of course, there is also an unusually young hero there.
Originally, the 25th Infantry Division of the sniper hero Pavlyuchenko was under the command of the Southwest Front, but now it has been incorporated into the friendly forces. Fortunately, another shining star is rising, Spiroskina, who is not yet 17 years old.
, that is, Natasha. Her record is soaring like crazy, and because this is the record of the 284th Division, approved by the Ministry of Internal Affairs and certified by the Gomel Municipal Committee, it is statistically more authoritative.
To return Pavlyuchenko to a safe place, it is only necessary to sail a submarine or ship to Sevastopol. But it is extremely difficult to bring Spiroskina to the rear.
Timoshenko knows very well that the army needs a hero of its own. The Southwest Front already has many combat heroes, but currently only that underage girl has killed nearly 200 enemies!