Chapter 228
With a series of defeats suffered by the German army on the front lines, its counterintelligence work has become full of loopholes. At present, in Belarus and even Poland, the rear of the German army is like a sieve with holes everywhere, which also provides conditions for Soviet intelligence personnel to obtain intelligence information.
The worst thing was that as the situation on the battlefield turned bad, problems also arose within the German command. Some shrewd people began to seek a way out for themselves. Some chose to cooperate with Britain, France and the United States and provide them with intelligence information, while some chose to cooperate with the Soviet army and sell intelligence information in exchange for post-war amnesty.
The intelligence that Pokrovsky gave to Yuri came from within the German Army Group Center. The information listed was very detailed, but Yuri was mainly concerned about the current equipment of the armored divisions of the Army Group Center.
Influenced by the Soviet army's rapid advance in Ukraine, the German High Command miscalculated the main direction of the Soviet army's next attack. They believed that the Soviet army would continue to intensify its offensive on the southern front and advance towards Romania. Therefore, the German High Command transferred the main armored forces to the southern front and deployed them on the Romanian border.
In the Central Army Group, there are only four armored divisions, one of which does not even have a tank. The remaining three armored divisions are: the Marshalshal Armored Division, the 20th Armored Division, and the 25th Armored Infantry Division. In addition, there is also a relatively powerful 501st Tank Battalion.
According to intelligence, after the previous phase of the battle, several German armored divisions suffered heavy losses, and so far, their strength has not been restored. Among the three armored divisions, the Commander-in-Chief Armored Division only has 17 Panzer IV tanks, of which only 8 can be used. In addition, the division also has 17 assault guns, of which only 6 can be used; the 20th Armored Division has 56 tanks, of which only 49 are not faulty; the 25th Armored Infantry Division has no tanks, only 46 assault guns, of which only 41 are not faulty.
As for the stronger one, it is the 501st Tank Battalion, which is equipped with powerful Tiger tanks, with a total of 37 vehicles, of which 29 have no faults.
By this calculation, in the entire German Army Group Center, that is, in the Belarusian salient, the German army had only more than 100 tanks that could be quickly concentrated and used, which was a very weak armored force.
Even Yuri felt a little emotional. How could the powerful army that was once famous for its blitzkrieg become like this today?
In addition to the fact that the defense line was full of loopholes and the armored force was weak, the German Army Group Center had a more serious problem, that is, the quality of its soldiers was low and there were few experienced and combat-capable troops.
Today, there are too many troops from vassal countries mixed in the Central Army Group. Even in those German divisions, there are too many inexperienced recruits, just like the Soviet Red Army three years ago. Many people in the current German troops are fighting based on their passion.
As for the deployment of troops, the Central Army Group also had huge problems with its defense due to its limited manpower. Its main combat corps were concentrated along the Dnieper River, and deployed successively along the Vitebsk, Orsha, Mogilev, and Bobruisk lines. There was a lack of reserve troops behind the defense line, and the defense depth was too weak. Minsk, as a defense support point, lacked the necessary defense forces.
After carefully reviewing the intelligence, Yuri stood up and walked to the left side of the tent. He carefully looked at the map hanging on the wall and made some marks on the map with a pencil. Then he turned around, glanced at Pokrovsky, and said, "It seems that our estimate is accurate. The Germans are going to adopt the tactic of defending a few defensive points, which is beneficial to us."
Pokrovsky nodded. He certainly understood what Yuri meant.
After the Belarusian campaign plan was formulated and announced, there were still some doubts within the Soviet command. Among the doubts, the most important one was that the combat plan formulated by Yuri was too aggressive.
In this operational plan, the Soviet offensive will be launched from four directions: the First Baltic Front's attack on the right bank of the Western Dvina River, this attack was launched from the direction of Vitebsk, attacking the junction of the German Army Group Center and the German Army Group North, trying to cut off the connection between the two German army groups; the Third Belorussian Front's attack from the Orsha direction, its combat purpose is to break through the German Dnieper River defense line and then quickly advance towards Minsk and Vilnius; the Second Belorussian Front's attack in the Mogilev direction, its main combat purpose is to clamp down on the German heavy troops in the Mogilev area, and at the same time, cover the flanks of the Third and First Belorussian Fronts; the First Belorussian Front launched an attack from the Bobruisk front and the Turov direction, advancing towards Minsk.
In the first phase of the campaign, the main combat objective of the three Belorussian fronts was to encircle and annihilate the main force of the German Army Group Center in the Minsk area.
The opposing opinion was that in this aggressive combat plan, the offensive front of the First Belorussian Front was too broad, and the multi-point breakthrough attack method would inevitably lead to the dispersion of troops and was too risky.
Once the battle was launched, if the German army retreated actively and attempted to rebuild its defense on the Berezina River arc line, the attacking First Belorussian Front would face a serious threat.
Although the voice of opposition is not very strong, it still exists. So does this possibility exist?
The answer is yes, because the biggest problem facing the German Army Group Center is the lack of troops, and this insufficient force, deployed on a 1,100-kilometer-long stretch of the front, is even more stretched. If a wise approach is taken, the best option for the German Army Group Center is to withdraw the main forces to the Berezina River line, which will shorten its defensive front by at least 250 kilometers.
For Yuri, including Rokossovsky and others, the reason they insisted on this plan was that the German army would not easily abandon the defense of Orsha and Mogilev because it was an important transportation line.
According to the intelligence currently obtained by the Soviet army, the German army obviously has no intention of voluntarily evacuating several important strongholds along the Dnieper River. Not only are there no signs of retreat, they are also rushing to reinforce their fortifications.
Another reason why Yuri and others insisted on this plan was that various intelligence showed that the Germans had not yet realized the Soviet army's combat intentions, and their attention was still focused on Ukraine and northern Ukraine. Model's Corps was even launching a counterattack against the First Ukrainian Front.
"Where is Polenov's headquarters?" Yuri felt his pocket, took out a pack of cigarettes, gave one to each of them, lit one for himself, and asked.
Pokrovsky hurriedly took his briefcase, pulled out a notebook from it, flipped it open and looked at it, then said, "Still moving towards Yamny. Two days ago, the command received the 125th Infantry Army, which is expected to arrive in the Dombrovica area the day after tomorrow."
The 47th Army, commanded by Lieutenant General Polenov, had just been transferred from the 1st Ukrainian Front and assigned to the command sequence of the 2nd Belorussian Front. Prior to this, this army only had an empty field command organization without any directly assigned troops.
The field command of this army group received an order to move from Sarnay, and along the way it needed to take over the 77th and 125th Infantry Corps, which originally belonged to the headquarters reserve, as well as an independent infantry division.
This practice of receiving troops during transfer is a test of the commander's ability, and Polenov did not have a very eye-catching performance in the previous series of battles, so Yuri was a little worried.
At present, the situations of the Soviet Army and the German Army are exactly the opposite. The German Army does not lack senior commanders, but lacks troops and weapons. The Soviet Army does not lack weapons and equipment, nor does it lack manpower. Comrade Khrushchev, the first secretary of Ukraine, is very capable. In a very short period of time, he recruited nearly 700,000 new soldiers from Ukraine and stuffed them into the headquarters reserve.
Unlike the early days of the war, Ukrainians today hate German fascism. The scorched earth policy adopted by the Germans during their retreat completely ignited the anger of Ukrainians. Those Ukrainians who had originally hidden in the jungles and swamps and had completely lost their homes and property, joined the Soviet Red Army just like they welcomed the "German liberators" back then. Many of these people were originally anti-German guerrillas, and there were also a large number of Ukrainian nationalist guerrillas. They were rich in combat experience and much stronger than those who had never touched a gun.
After getting Pokrovsky's answer, Yuri nodded with satisfaction. He turned around again and looked at the map on the wall: on the marked German defense line, the Bobruisk area was the German Ninth Army; the Orsha to Mogilev line was the German Ninth Army; the Vitebsk area was the German 3rd Panzer Army.
In the first phase of the Belarusian Campaign, the Soviet army's combat objective was to encircle and annihilate these three German army groups, thereby crippling the German Army Group Center in one fell swoop.
According to the original battle plan, the battle will be officially launched in two months, but so far, the Soviet combat troops will be deployed soon and the preliminary preparations for the battle will be launched immediately. If all goes well, Yuri thinks that the battle can be launched earlier.
The heavy snow was still falling outside the tent, but Yuri 's heart was burning hot.
