Chapter 494 Raid
At this time, the German Army Group B was commanded by General Weicks.
Army Group B was originally commanded by von Bock, but von Bock once again opposed Hitler's order and believed that Army Group South should not be divided into two Army Groups A and B to attack Baku Oilfield in the Caucasus and Stalingrad respectively.
In this respect von Bock has a point.
Simultaneously attacking Stalingrad and Baku oilfields made the mistake of repeating strategies: attacking both can achieve the goal of blocking the Baku oilfields, and Stalingrad can threaten Moscow's rear, so its strategic significance is greater.
That is to say, Hitler’s joint attack on any point can cause an almost fatal blow to the Soviet Union... The Baku oil field accounts for 70% of the Soviet Union’s fuel supply. Once Baku falls, no amount of assistance from the United States and Britain will be enough. .
The problem was that Hitler was too impatient.
On the one hand, he knows that Stalingrad has great strategic significance, on the other hand, he is not satisfied with just blocking Baku, he hopes to occupy Baku and use it immediately.
This is determined by the fact that Germany has always been short of oil, because it has been lacking all the time, even to the point of turning coal into gasoline at any cost. Therefore, seeing the fat in the Baku oil field, I couldn't help but talk, just like A beggar who has been hungry for a long time cannot resist the temptation of delicious food.
So the Southern Army Group was divided into two Army Groups A and B to attack.
Von Bock disapproved of this plan, and there was even a situation where the armored forces repeatedly moved meaninglessly between the A and B armies.
But Hitler was not a person who could listen to the objections of his subordinates, especially von Bock had been trying to persuade Hitler to retreat during the defense of Moscow... This suggestion was proved to be correct afterwards, but in Hitler's mind, it was because There are commanders like von Bock who always think about retreating, which led to the failure of the Battle of Moscow.
The reason why von Bock was re-used was because Reichenau, the former commander of the Southern Army Group, died of a stroke, and Hitler could only choose someone from a large number of dismissed generals to command.
However, von Bock didn't understand Hitler, and Hitler couldn't stand his subordinates disobeying his orders again and again.
So after von Bock raised his objection, he was immediately dismissed from his post, and has never been used again.
Weikes seems to have picked up a big deal, as he thinks so, because he took over the commander of Army Group B after the German army won the victory in Kharkov, and Army Group B has been fighting all the way to the city of Stalingrad since then.
But at this time, Weikes was frowning and staring at the map in a daze. After a long time, he said to the adjutant: "I'm beginning to think that von Bork is right, Hans!"
"Yes, General!" The adjutant replied with deep empathy: "Our troops are seriously insufficient!"
Weikes sighed, and said: "It's unimaginable, after we achieved such a huge victory, I mean...we have almost defeated the enemy's front army, but we still have to face an enemy that is several times larger than ourselves, the enemy It looks like it will never end!"
This is actually not because there are too many Soviet troops, but because there are too few German troops.
The total strength of Army B seems to be quite a lot in terms of numbers, about 600,000, but among them, the 2nd Army of Hungary has 180,000 people, and the Eighth Army of Italy has 100,000 people. Only the German Sixth Army and the Italian Eighth Army can really play a role. Fourth Panzer Army.
Two armies of 350,000 people defeated one Soviet front army, but there were still a large number of remnants and another front army in front of them, which made Weiks feel that there was no end to the fight.
Another problem is that the German army has stretched the front line too long and fought on several sides at the same time: the German army needs to surround Stalingrad from three sides, and at the same time build a defense line in the direction of Kotluban to resist the possible attack by the Stalingrad Front Army located in the north. Offensive, which makes Weicks poorly dealt with.
"So, General!" Hans suggested: "We can only solve this crisis by making a quick decision and occupying Stalingrad as soon as possible!"
Weikes nodded in agreement.
At this time, Stalingrad is like a thorn in the German defense line. The German army is also taking great risks when surrounding it... Stalingrad is located in a narrow channel with a width of only 100 kilometers between the Don River and the Volga River , if Stalingrad launches a counterattack, it will only take one day to cut off the German army in the middle and put hundreds of thousands of German troops in a tight siege with nowhere to escape.
Thinking of this, Wei Kes cast his eyes on Mamayev Post, and then ordered: "Order Major General Eric, it's time to attack!"
Major General Eric is the commander of the 29th Motorized Infantry Division. In fact, they have been hiding their strength in order not to expose the strategic goal of attacking Mamayev Gang early.
Even before this, the German attack direction was mainly on the two flanks of the urban area, so that the Soviet army's attention and defensive main force were transferred to the two sides.
After receiving the order, Major General Eric immediately issued an order to attack with all his might.
All of a sudden, artillery fire was fired, and then fifty "Stuka" bombers bombed the hospitals and schools blocking the way... The German bombing was very careful. They tried their best to preserve the hospital buildings, that is, to lock the bombing target In the bunker fortifications and sandbag fortifications of the Soviet army.
As for the Soviet troops in those buildings, they are dealt with by the Army's assault guns.
The 29th Motorized Infantry Division is equipped with one hundred "No. 3" assault guns, plus thirty tanks for cover.
It is important to know that an armored division only has more than 100 tanks, and a motorized infantry division is equipped with 100 assault guns and 30 tanks. It is obvious that the equipment is concentrated so that it can quickly break through and capture strategic locations.
Assault guns did not disappoint the German army.
In fact, the assault gun is almost invincible when it has air supremacy: the air force is responsible for bombing the enemy artillery and the more obvious anti-tank gun positions, and the artillery further provides cover for the assault gun.
Then, the assault gun with heavy armor can easily knock out the enemies in the building one by one.
Actually, the Soviet army could use the strategy of firing one shot for another place to deal with the German assault guns.
The problem is that not many people can bear the sense of powerlessness that can only be passively beaten in the face of assault guns. At that moment, almost everyone will think in their minds: Sooner or later, they will fall, so why stay here and lose their lives?
This is also the confidence mentioned earlier. After losing the confidence to win, it is difficult to persist in fighting.
Thus, the Soviet troops stationed in hospitals and schools withdrew after half an hour of defense...Needless to say, what awaited them was to be assigned to a punishment camp.
But at that moment of life and death, who would care about this.
(end of this chapter)
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