War master, Walter von Reichenau

World War II finally broke out in 1939 (see Polish campaign). Under the jurisdiction of General Lundstedt's southern army group, Reichenau commanded the Tenth Army, which had a large number of tanks and motorized regiments, to make a major assault. On September 1 day, the Polish frontier fortress was breached, forcing the Polish army to abandon the strong fortress position on the bank of Midavka and wedge into the Polish army distribution area east of Opper Lun. After its vanguard troops arrived in warta river, north of Chinstohova, the regiment rushed to Warsaw and Radom. On September 7th, the 10th Army crossed the middle reaches of the Piriza River in Kuanzheng, and its advance detachment reached the area between Tommasu, Mazowitsky and Rhodes, 60km southwest of Warsaw. After the troops crossed warta river, they split up. After crossing the Piriza River, the regiments in the south wing (right wing) detoured to Vichy Sha Feng from the east and west sides, forming the first encirclement of the whole campaign to Radom. Polish troops were surrounded here in the battle on September 3, 65438+. A few days later, 65,000 men from five divisions of the Polish army and 145 guns fell into the hands of the Germans. On September 1 1, the left wing regiment of the Tenth Army continued to advance towards Warsaw, and a prominent tank regiment reached the outskirts of Warsaw, but was repelled by the fierce counterattack of the Polish army. Several strong attacks by this tank regiment failed. Reich nau reorganized his troops, first cut off the road for Bojun's "Poznan" army to retreat from the east to Warsaw, and cooperated with other German army groups to outflank Bojun and force it to surrender. Then in Vvodava, we joined up with the German guderian's fast troops and camped in Warsaw. After tenacious resistance and heavy losses, Warsaw finally surrendered.

After the Polish victory, Reich Nau was promoted to general. At this time, Hitler began to deploy the western offensive. The generals of the German Defence Force were very disgusted with this. They urged an agreement with Britain and France to end the war. So Reich Nau was sent to dissuade Hitler's behavior, thinking that Reich Nau's words would make Hitler listen. However, even the most popular general could not shake Hitler's determination.

1940 in may 10, the Germans launched an attack on the western border. General Reich Nau commanded the Sixth Army, which had 14 infantry divisions and two tank divisions, and launched an attack with brave actions in the formation of General Von Bok's B Army Group. He was given the task of advancing to the narrow corridor between Rotterdam and Liè ge, crossing the Maas River and the well-defended Aer River.

Obstacles such as Beit Canal, with the cooperation of airborne troops, quickly seized Eben-Aimer fortress at the southern end of Albert Canal and forced the canal here. Break through the front between Maastricht and Liege and open the road to Brussels. Hepner's tank forces in the Sixth Army should advance rapidly, meet the enemy forces in the area north of Mas River and Sambuer River as soon as possible, block the north of Liege fortress, and cover the flank safety of the German westward March. Reich nau's mission is decisive for the victory of the whole campaign. Whether the Belgian army and the forces of the various group armies that came out before the Allies can be firmly contained and make them lose their freedom of movement soon depends on the speed of action of the Sixth German Army.

Reichenau and his men are fully qualified to complete this task. The German Sixth Army made its first breakthrough with rapid progress, crossing the lower reaches of the Maas River and the south section of the Albert River west of the river. Although the Dutch army blew up an important bridge in Maastricht in time, German paratroopers seized several equally important bridges in the Albert Canal with a sudden airborne attack. After careful preparation, the German airborne troops successfully captured the Eben-Emar fortress. On the day of the breakthrough, at 5: 32, 78 specially selected and trained German airborne troops quietly landed in the fortress by glider, and the defenders were simply shocked. Only a few machine guns have time to fire. The observation post in the steel hat fort, the exit of the darkroom battery and the artillery were immediately destroyed by explosives. The morale of the defenders was shattered because the explosives stuffed into the vents by the Germans were in danger of exploding at any time. As a result, this strong fortress built in 1935 has been unable to provide any support for the defenders of the Albert Canal. The next afternoon, the defenders of the fortress stopped their last resistance. Nearly 10 German airborne troops were also killed.

On the night of the first 1 day of the attack, after the 6th Army of Nau, Reich, crossed the Maas River and Albert Canal on a broad front, the Belgian army retreated from the position occupied in front of Liege to the other side of the Maas River, and one of the divisions was sent to Louvain. The next afternoon, all these troops retreated to the Deleux River and arranged between Liè ge and Hassirte.

Hepner Tanks organized by the German Sixth Army bypassed Liege and entered the area north of Namur. On May 13, there was a fierce battle with two mechanized divisions of the French army near Jean Bruu. 14 repel the French army. At the same time, the German Sixth Group Army crossed the Mas River, advancing on the left, middle and right, and containing the British and French army troops, which caused the illusion that this was the main assault direction of the German army and forced the allied left-wing troops to make a detour as expected by the German army. The German high command decided that the Sixth Army would continue to carry out containment operations. After the Dutch surrender, the18th Army, which had been freed, moved closer to the right wing of the 6th Army. Withdraw tank troops from the area of the Sixth Army Group and use it to decide the end of the war in the area of the A Army Group.

Twenty-five days ago, the German Sixth Army crossed the Guerder River and began to attack the Lisi River, cutting off the connection between the Belgian army and the British army. Reichenau carried out a series of siege and assault tactics, which compressed the Belgian army on a narrow coast and made it desperate. On the evening of 27th, Belgium signed the surrender, and the next day, Reich Nau accepted the surrender of the Belgian king and army. The left wing of the German Sixth Army advanced to Lille, where it defeated the more powerful French army.

After the German right wing changed its deployment, Reichenau commanded the powerful forces of the Sixth Army to break through another line of defense re-established by the French army on June 5, and attacked Compiè ne along the banks of the Vaz River. Its left-wing forces went out to the Aina River before Soyson. This is a heavy blow to the French army. In mid-June, the German Sixth Army hit the Loire River, and the battle ended on the 24th.

Reichenau's command art in this battle is excellent, flexible, decisive and very comfortable. The offensive is fierce, the converging attack is rapid, the troops are divided in time, and the pursuit is swift and ruthless. In particular, the battle to seize Eben-Emar fortress, with close cooperation between ground and air, was just right, which was a miracle in military history and set the first such example in World War II (the military quality of German soldiers was fully reflected in this battle).

Reichenau's performance in the battle was also very brave. He personally directed the commandos to advance, and he took the lead in climbing over the wall under the bullets, which greatly boosted morale. Of course, this is also related to his love for sports and physical strength when he was young. His love for self-expression prompted him to forge ahead on the battlefield. On July 19, 2009, Reichenau was awarded the rank of Marshal by Hitler for his outstanding military achievements.

On June 22nd, the Soviet-German war broke out. Reich nau's sixth army is the left and north wing of Marshal Lundstedt's southern army group. Deployed in the north of 17 Army, ready to attack and break through the defense on both sides of Lutsk. The task was to cover the northern wing of the army group, so that it could be protected from the Soviet assault in Pripyat swamp area, and to advance to zhitomir with the greatest possible strength.

After the attack began, Reichenau led the 6th Group Army to cross the Stirling River, which met with stubborn resistance from the Soviet Union. The troops commanded by Soviet Marshal budyonny first attacked the Germans from the south, and then attacked them from the north. Tanks from both sides took part in the battle, which was very hard. Reichenau gave full play to the advantages of fast speed and fierce firepower of armored forces and rushed at the Soviet Union. In the continuous fierce fighting, the Soviet army slowly retreated eastward under the oppression of German tanks, which also caused a fierce and sustained blow to the German tank forces. On July 3, the Soviet troops retreated to the east of the Slug River. On the 4th, the Germans arrived at the west of the river. The Sixth Army continued to pursue the Soviet troops who retreated face to face. On the 5th, the 6th Army and the 1st 1 tank cluster under the command of Reich Nau began to attack the Wollensky New Town in the north wing of the southern army group and the Soviet "Stalin Defence Line" in the south area, and made a breakthrough through fierce fighting. A few days later, the tanks arrived in Bel Decev and zhitomir. Seeing that the German tank cluster suddenly entered the war zone, it was ready to carry out the plan given by the southern army group to seize Uman. Unexpectedly, the weather suddenly changed, and it rained heavily (which often happens in summer in many parts of the Soviet Union), and the tanks could not move along the washed-out road for several days. However, the Soviet army took the opportunity to counterattack the two wings of the German tank cluster, causing huge losses to the German tanks. More than a week later, the first cluster of German tanks was pushed to Bercovy with the support of the Sixth Army. However, when the tank cluster was about to turn to the southeast, it was attacked by the Soviet Union on its left wing, forcing it to defend with some troops. Reichenau had to support the tank cluster from the south again, so that it could continue to attack southeast.

After the first cluster of German tanks attacked Uman with the support of the Sixth Army, the central forces of the Sixth Army gradually took over its task. In the case of heavy casualties, Reich Nao still led the army into Kiev.

As the first German tank cluster covered the left wing of the army group, it was undertaken by the Sixth Army of Nau, Reich, and its assault force was greatly enhanced. Suddenly, in the southwest of Boguslav, a Uman encirclement was formed with the German No.1 17 Army, which was circuitous from the south. Although the Soviets launched attacks again and again in an attempt to break through, they were all repelled by the Germans. On August 2, the Germans joined forces and finally got through. On the 8th, all the Soviet troops in the camp were wiped out.

Except for some troops of the Sixth Army in Nau, Reich, who participated in the encirclement and suppression war in Uman, the fighting between the northern and middle wing troops was particularly fierce. When the Central Committee of the Sixth Army advanced to Kiev and the Dnieper River in the south, the Soviet army mobilized huge forces, crossed the Dnieper River from Cherkassel and its north, and launched a fierce counterattack against Reichenau's troops, reaching Bokslav region. Although it failed to solve the siege of Uman, it seriously threatened the German traffic line. Reichenau, with the support of the 1st17th Army coming out of Uman area, tried his best to stop the Soviet counterattack, and forced the Soviet troops to retreat across the Dnieper River again with repeated shocks. The Germans reached the river in Cherkassel and Zug, Clementine. At this time, Reich Nau learned his opponent's tenacity, and his Sixth Army launched several powerful offensives, which failed to clear the powerful base of the Soviet Union in Kiev.

By August 24, the entire Dnieper river basin was in the hands of the Germans up to the estuary. From the beginning of July, the Northern Wing of the Sixth Army launched a fierce battle with the Soviet troops who held their positions between the Slug River and the Dnieper River. 16, the Germans made great efforts to break through from zhitomir and Wollensky New Town to Koroskin area. It was not until the end of August that the Soviet troops in Maudslay and Gomel were wiped out by the southern wing of the German Central Army Group, and the threatened Soviet troops in the rear retreated from the front of the northern wing of the German Sixth Army Group to the other side of the Dnieper River.

On August 22, the German high command issued an order to destroy the defensive enemies in Kiev. Prior to this, the Sixth Army of Nau, Reich, had been deployed near the Dnieper River and surrounded the powerful base of the Soviet Union in Kiev. On 25th, the German attack began, and Reichenau commanded the Sixth Army to carry out surprise attack on both sides of Kiev while crossing the Dnieper River. The German Southern Army Group, with the support of aviation, surrounded hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops in Kiev, Cherkasser and Lokevica with powerful forces such as the sixth, second, seventeenth and eleventh army groups and the first and second tank clusters. On September 19, the German Army Group South captured Kiev and ended the fighting on the 26th. * * * Seven Soviet groups were completely annihilated in this siege, and more than 500,000 Soviet troops were captured.

On October 2nd, 65438/Kloc-0, Reich Nau commanded the victorious troops after occupying Kiev to March in the direction of Kharkov and Kursk, and captured Kharkov, Belgorod and Kursk from October 24th, 65438 to October 2nd, 65438 respectively. The speed of advance and the intensity of attack made it difficult for the Soviets to cope. During this period, Reich Nau, who was loyal to Hitler, issued the order of "Eastern Battlefield Army Action" to his subordinate troops. In his order, he completely followed the propaganda method of the National Socialist Party and asked the officers and men to "ruthlessly eradicate the enemy's plots and atrocities" and "completely eliminate Bolshevik thoughts and eliminate Soviet countries". This propaganda action is unprecedented in the tradition of the Prussian army. This way and wording of propaganda orders issued by a front-line combat general should be regarded as Reichenau's pioneering work. According to this order, the German army wantonly killed innocent people, which not only caused the condemnation of world public opinion, but also caused the dissatisfaction of some German generals, who believed that this would affect the consolidation of the occupied areas.

The German attack was stopped by the change of weather in165438+1early October, and the cold and mud made it impossible for the Germans to March on the destroyed road. At this time, under the command of Soviet Marshal Timoshenko, the Soviet Union launched a sudden and fierce counterattack against the Germans (see the Battle of Rostov), forcing Marshal Lundstedt, commander-in-chief of the German Southern Army Group, to order the 1st17th and 6th Army Groups to retreat from the North Donets River with more than 20,000 casualties, more than 200 tanks and a large number of artillery pieces. Reich Nau was ordered to lead the Sixth Army to cross the river to defend Kharkov and meet the Second Army in the southeast of Kursk. The latter is here to protect the flank of the central army group attacking Moscow.

165438+1October 30th, Reich nau took over from Marshal Lundstedt, who resigned because he disobeyed Hitler's orders not to retreat and suffered from heart disease, and became the commander-in-chief of the Southern Army Group. Hitler ordered Reichenau to stick to the front line at all costs. Although Reich Nau wanted to carry out Hitler's orders, in the face of the powerful Soviet offensive, the front was broken again, which forced Reich Nau to withdraw his troops behind the Mias River. He managed to hold most of Donbass and barely held the front line.

The Southern Army Group under the command of Reichenau faced many crises in winter, especially 12. On February 29th, the Soviet army landed in Docia under the strong firepower of its naval forces, trying to recapture Crimea. The German army was defended by a division of the 42nd Army under the command of General Spencer. Due to the interruption of contact with the army group, General Spinich ordered the division to withdraw from Kerch Peninsula. Therefore, Reich nau was very angry. He ordered that, as punishment, all officers and men of a division of the 42nd Army who had been withdrawn were forbidden to participate in the war in the future.

Reich Nau has repeatedly cleared all Ukrainian residential areas behind the southern army group and spared no effort to wipe out guerrillas by bloody and cruel means. 1942 65438+1On October 5th, Reich Nau transferred several divisions from the German army 1 1 which besieged Sevastopol to attack the Soviet army north of Feo Docia, preventing the Soviet army from expanding its landing field westward. At the same time, the Soviet troops who landed in Yevpatoria, northwest of Sevastopol, were repelled.

In June+10/October, 5438, the situation in Kharkov area was also very serious. In order to seize Kharkov, the Soviet army invaded Belgorod and Volchansk in the north, pushed southward to Dnieper River, and opened a deep and wide gap near the North Donets River on both sides of Hikoum. In order to narrow this gap, Reichenau dispatched five troops to participate in the war, and the fierce fighting between the two sides never stopped. Due to the shortage of troops, Reich Nau was unable to cope with the war situation and was very anxious and tired. 1 month 1942, died of a heart attack.