Chapter 381 Horse-drawn Sled
After reading the comments, first of all, I would like to thank you brothers for your concern and opinions on my resignation. I won’t answer them one by one here. This is a decision I made after careful consideration. But thank you guys for your support and concern.
Secondly, the recent counterattack of Model may make the book friends very uncomfortable, because everyone knows that he is a master of defense, so they think he will not attack. But in fact... the descriptions of Model in this book are all true. He used this tactic in the defense of Moscow to ease the crisis of the Central Army being surrounded or even completely collapsed.
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Model then implemented the strategic plan in two parts.
Part of it was aimed at the 9 divisions of the Soviet army that broke into the German defense line.
These 9 divisions may not be the main target of the German army, but they are the confidant of the German army and the basis for the success of the entire plan.
"They are the main force of the two armies of the Russian Army!" Model said: "There is no doubt about this, so it is not as easy for us to eliminate these nine divisions as we imagined. At the same time, they are very smart. The target of the attack is Sychovka, as you know, this town is a transit point for our railway line, if it falls into the hands of the Russians, then there is no doubt...the transportation line of our entire army will be cut off by them!"
The transportation line of the German Ninth Army is different from the transportation line of the 4th Army in the north. They are from Vyazma to Sychovka and then to Rzhev, and then they are transported to the troops by road by car.
It is conceivable that if Sychovka is occupied by the Russian army, all plans will be aborted.
"But, General!" Colonel Krebs said worriedly: "What should we use to stop them, or surround them!"
Colonel Krebs is right.
For the 9 divisions that broke into the line of defense, the German army was very difficult to deal with.
The reason is that they can change the attack target at any time, for example, it is Sychovka now, but if the German army is stationed in Sychovka, the Soviet army can continue southward to attack another location, as long as it is the main road of the railway, it can be cut off in principle The supply line of the German Ninth Army.
So, if you want to stop these 9 divisions, you must surround them.
Model seemed to have the answer long ago, and he replied without thinking: "The 46th Motorized Army!"
Colonel Krebs frowned: "General, if we use the 46th Motorized Army to surround the enemy who breaks into the line of defense, then what will we use to counterattack?"
The 46th Motorized Army is the main force of the German 9th Army, and almost all tanks are concentrated in this motorized army.
Model's strategy is to attack to contain the enemy's attack, so everyone thought that Model would place the main force on the flanks of the 9th Army to plug the gap and counterattack.
"I see!" Model said: "You think I will break out with armored forces!"
Model laughed: "This is a very interesting idea. You know that we are short of fuel and it is very difficult for tanks to travel in this kind of weather, but you want to put them in the offensive direction? If you do this, it is only a matter of supply. It's going to be hard for us to handle!"
The officers couldn't help but feel embarrassed when they heard the words.
What Model said is indeed that using tanks for offense at this time is all tasteless, not to mention that the Russians are still taking the initiative in the air, and using tanks to fight is almost courting death.
On the contrary, it is more comfortable to let the tanks surround the enemy within their own defense lines, because they don't have to worry about supply and maintenance, and they can also be covered by anti-aircraft units and air forces.
Obviously, with this arrangement, the armored force can play a big role.
"We can even use the railway!" Model said: "Our armored troops fight along the railway to protect the railway line, then we can come up with some mobile firepower, such as armored trains!"
"But we don't have armored trains, General!" Colonel Krebs replied.
The German army did seize some armored trains and even put them on the battlefield before, but they were usually assigned to engineers or commandos to deal with guerrillas.
"I know!" Model replied: "I'm just saying, for example...we can install 88MM anti-aircraft guns and anti-tank on the flatbed carriage, and use it to provide anti-tank firepower for our armored forces!"
The officers couldn't help but nodded after hearing the words.
The Russian army that broke into the German defense line was equipped with T34 tanks. This tank can only be dealt with by 88MM anti-aircraft guns and large-caliber anti-tank guns PAK40. These two types of equipment are very difficult to maneuver due to their weight, and the number is very small. If they can be maneuvered by train ...that would undoubtedly add a lot of security to the German army.
So, this "earth-made" armored train was "produced" immediately.
It only took two hours to "produce" it.
Use a locomotive to tow a few flatbed trucks and trucks, and then move the anti-aircraft guns and anti-tank guns up. It deployed two 88MM anti-aircraft guns, four PAK40 anti-tank guns, four machine guns and two 20 mm light anti-aircraft gun.
It carried a total of 40 soldiers, and then shuttled back and forth between Rzhev and Sychevka.
On the battlefield, sometimes mobility is combat power.
For example, at this time, if these anti-aircraft guns and anti-tank guns are not installed on the train, then the sum of two anti-aircraft guns and four anti-tank guns is six anti-tank units, and may even be less than six.
The reason is that it may not be able to reach the battlefield in time due to transportation problems, so it is equivalent to nothing for the campaign.
But if they are loaded on trains and maneuvered quickly, they can appear sometimes in Rzhev and sometimes in Sychevka, and hit the enemy at any point on the railway line.
So they actually play double, triple or even more the role of anti-tank units.
"In this case!" Model said, pointing to the gap in the defense line: "If we can close the gap and get in touch with the 23rd Army, then a natural encirclement will be formed around the enemy's 9 divisions, and their supplies will be cut off. , it is only a matter of time before they are annihilated by us!"
"I agree with you, General!" Colonel Krebs said. "But if that's the case, what are we going to use to launch a counteroffensive? I mean, our main force has been used to surround and destroy these 9 divisions!"
"The 23rd Army!" Model replied: "There is also the 6th Army!"
"But... they are surrounded or half surrounded!" Colonel Krebs said: "Defense is very difficult, and there is almost no ability to counterattack!"
"And they are infantry!" Another officer continued: "They only have a small number of motorized vehicles and tanks, and it is difficult to form a powerful blow to the enemy!"
"Guys!" Model said: "We should use the enemy's thinking to think about the problem...Why is the enemy's marching speed faster than us?"
"They have ski troops!"
"anything else?"
"They use horse-drawn sleighs!"
Model nodded and replied: "Yes, horse-drawn sleds, why can't we do the same? You seem to have forgotten that we are in the Soviet Union, and the people here have many horse-drawn sleds, and they are also good drivers! "
The German officers couldn't help but look at each other. They only thought about cars, tanks, and airplanes, but they didn't expect that horse-drawn sleds might be more useful than them in this winter.
(end of this chapter)
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