The fourth miscellaneous talk on the Eastern Front War: the Battle of Fromos, the classic defensive war on the Eastern Front (I)

The retreating German army counterattacked the chasing Soviet troops in Targul Frumos, causing heavy losses to them. On May 1, 1944, Soviet Marshal konev was satisfied with the achievements made by himself and his men. Now he is staring at the map spread out in front of him with his eyes. Only three months ago, konev's troops surrounded and annihilated the German army in Korsun-Cherkassy, so he was promoted to Marshal. Now, after years of hard work, the Second Army of Ukraine has gained a firm foothold in western Ukraine and is ready to launch a fierce attack on the Axis forces in Southeast Europe. Konev's 1 army groups have penetrated the German defense line. konev has 1 army groups: 27th, 4th, 52nd, 53rd, 4th Guards, 5th Guards, 7th Guards, 2nd Tank Army, 6th Tank Army and 5th Guards Tank Army-these are the cards in konev's hand. His armored forces have 65 tanks and self-propelled guns. On March 5th, 1944, the 2nd Ukrainian Army launched an attack on the 8th German Army in the northeast of Uman. A large number of tanks and infantry of the 4th Guards Army, the 5th Guards Tank Army and the 2nd Tank Army broke through the weak German defense line with no effort, and other Soviet troops immediately followed suit. The torrent of Russian steel completely broke through the German defensive positions. Uman was conquered on March 9th, and konev ordered his troops to continue to advance towards the Bug River. The retreating Germans had little time to organize a defense line along the river. Konev's troops continued to put pressure on the Germans, cutting off the fragile link between the German 8th Army and the 1st Armored Army. Konev's army, mixed with infantry, armored forces and engineers, rushed to the Buge River without stopping. On March 11th, the 16th Tank Corps ("Major General Dubovoi" Bo Du Woyi) under the 2nd Tank Army of General S.I. Bogdanov arrived in Dzuhlinka and crossed the Buge River here. Smashed any hope that the Germans would stick to the south bank of the river. A few hours later, the 29th Tank Corps ("Lieutenant General Kirichenko" Kirichenko) belonged to the 6th Tank Army of General A.G. Kravchenko; I also crossed the Bouguer River in Gayvoron. The main ferry was blocked by armored vehicles and trucks, and the infantry troops crossed the river by commandeering civilian boats and taking rafts and rubber boats. As soon as the infantry crossed the river, they scattered behind the mechanized vehicles and headed for their next goal-Dniester River. The Russians stopped in the muddy season. By March 15th, Bo Du Woyi's tank army had cut off the Zhmerinka-Odessa railway in Vapnyarka, which is only 3 miles away from the Transnistrian River. Two days later, Kirichenko's tanks arrived at the Transnistrian River, immediately crossed the river and set up a bridgehead on the other side. Other Soviet troops quickly followed suit, and by March 21, the Russians had firmly controlled the west bank of the river. In the next two days, konev's troops launched a large-scale surprise attack in Romanian rural areas, with little resistance. However, with the arrival of April, heavy rain began to fall, and the ground and roads turned into brown swamps. This weather caused the Soviet troops to greatly slow down and almost stagnate. For Adolf Hitler, the "muddy season" means that he has time to stabilize and strengthen the strength of his troops in Southeast Europe. He is very worried about his wavering allies: Bulgaria, Romania and Hungary; These countries are worried about the aggressive Russian advance. On March 18th, the Hungarian Regent Mikló s Holti succumbed to Hitler's pressure and allowed the Germans to cross the German-Hungarian border, which was actually an invasion. The oil fields in Hungary are currently under the control of Germany, but the oil fields in Romania are more important to Germany. Ploesti oil field is located on Wallachian Plain, 3 miles north of Bucharest, which is the center of Romanian oil refining industry. Without these oil fields, it is difficult for Germany to find an alternative oil source to provide gasoline for its industry and army. Marshal Ion Antonescu, the head of Romania, swore allegiance to Hitler on the day of the German invasion of Hungary. However, some Romanian army generals have been in contact with the Soviet Union and intend to conclude a separate peace treaty with the Soviet Union through negotiations. The stagnation of the Soviet offensive meant that more Germans were sent to Romania to support the wavering Romanian army and to take pre-emptive measures against any planned coup. Hitler also planned to establish a new, more loyal and responsible headquarters for the front of the German southeast wing. On March 3th, 1944, Hitler's private jet flew to the headquarters of Army Group A under the command of Marshal Kleist. After Marshal Kleist boarded the plane, the Fokker-Wolff Condor flew to Lviv (L'vov) to pick up Marshal Manstein, commander of the Southern Army Group. The two marshals' troops suffered fierce attacks by the Soviet Union in Ukraine and Romania, and Hitler was very angry that the German army had lost so much territory. The plane flew back to Obersalzburg, and Marshal von Kleist and Marshal von Manstein were brought before the Fuehrer. The two marshals were awarded the Knights' Iron Cross with Double Sword by the Fuehrer, and Hitler dismissed them. The new field marshal Mo Deer took over Manstein's position; Ferdinand Schellner, newly promoted to the rank of general on April 1st? Rner), took over the A army group. Before dismissing Kleist, Hitler told Kleist that the Soviet offensive momentum had passed, and now they were exhausted. The Fuehrer also said that the German troops stationed in France would be sent to the eastern front after driving the expected allied attack into the sea, and they would recover the territory lost the previous year. Kleist responded bluntly and briefly to the Fuehrer, saying that it was time to make peace with Stalin before the German troops on the Eastern Front were completely destroyed. When the newly appointed commander arrived at their headquarters, on April 2, Hitler's latest order was waiting for them: "The Russian offensive in the southern section of the Eastern Front has passed, and the Russians are now exhausted and scattered. It's time to stop the Russian attack. In view of this, I decided to take various measures. Now, inevitably, our army is sticking to Crimea (the 17th German Army is isolated by the 4th Ukrainian Army in Crimea), and we will stick to it or fight back on the following fronts. """The Transnistrian River runs northeast to the line Kishinev-Jassy-Targul Neamt; In Targulne AMT-Ternopol-Brody-Coveli, the defense line between the eastern Carpathian mountain passes. "This is too high a demand for the German and Romanian armies, which suffered heavy losses just a few weeks ago. Schellner's army group just changed its name to "South Ukrainian Army Group" on April 5th, and its defense line extends from the middle of Carpathian Mountain to the Black Sea, with a length of 3 miles. His army group includes two Romanian army groups (the 3rd and 4th army groups) and two German army groups (the 6th and 8th army groups). Schellner, like Hitler, realized the gap between the German and Romanian armies under his leadership in weapons and combat capability. Hitler said in his order on April 2: Romanian troops will be deployed according to the terrain, so that German troops will mainly occupy areas that are in danger of being attacked by enemy tanks. "He also ordered the Germans to be equipped with heavy anti-tank guns, and to distribute these anti-tank guns to the Romanian army. Thank god for the mud. "These words came from the mouth of the general down to the private, they finally formed a complete line of defense through struggle. What the frontline commanders didn't know was that this was also the result of Hitler's partial estimation of the Russian offensive ability. There is a big problem in logistics. In three months, the Soviet army has recaptured most of Ukrainian territory, and in the process, the German army has been defeated by 25-3 miles to the west. The troops of konev and other Soviet commanders on the southern front of the Eastern Front have advanced far beyond the supply distance. In addition, there is another problem, that is, the supplement of heavy losses of troops during the attack. This problem can be partially solved by forcibly collecting male residents in the complex area, but it takes time to train them into qualified soldiers. With the beginning of the muddy season, the high command of the Red Army ordered all the troops on the front line to be put on the defensive. This measure will have a double impact: it will have time to train supplementary soldiers and make the supply warehouse closer to the front line; The Red Army High Command also intends to use this time to gather troops for the new attack. This attack is aimed at destroying the central army group, which will be a massive summer offensive. In order to attract the attention of the Germans, konev and other commanders' troops in the southern section of the Eastern Line were ordered to keep their tank troops at a high-profile frequency, which was part of the strategic deception of the Soviet high command code-named "Activity"; Basically, the frequent dispatch of tanks and mechanized troops and the great increase in the activity of radio communication are all aimed at fooling the Germans into believing that the activities of these troops are to prepare for the attack on the army group of southern Ukraine in neighboring Schellner and the army group of northern Ukraine in Mo Deer. The plan also ordered Soviet commanders to launch a series of limited attacks on the Germans, strengthening the idea that the main attack of the Soviet Union would be in the southern section of the Eastern Front. And one of the limited attacks will take place around the Romanian town of Telgu-Fromos. Ferdinand Schellner reorganized his troops. While konev was waiting for the earth to dry up so that he could launch his limited attack, the Germans just used this time to reorganize. Schellner is a rough and heartless commander. He was born in Munich in 1892. He was famous in the First World War. He won the highest German medal of honor "Blue Max" on the Italian front in 1917. In the same battle, another young officer, elwin Rommel, also won the medal of the highest specification. After the war, Schellner served in the "Freedom Corps" in Upper Silesia and returned to the National Defence Force in 1937. His promotion in the war was entirely due to his outstanding battlefield command ability under difficult circumstances. This also helped him gain Hitler's trust. More importantly, Schellner was a loyal Socialist Party party member in the early days. Schellner didn't allow any excuses for his men. He gave his commander of the 6th Army, General Maximilian de Angelis, and commander of the 8th Army, Otto Waller (Otto W? Hler) General's short order is: "The deployment of the front line will be done according to the Fuehrer's instructions. "Waller's eighth army occupied a key position, guarding the mountain pass of Carpathian and establishing contact with the first armored army group of the northern Ukrainian army group. Waller, 49, served as a staff officer and was not appointed as the commander of the 1 ST Army until 1943. He conducted well in the northern section of the Eastern Front, and his talent and initiative earned him the Knight's Iron Cross. On August 15, 1943, he was appointed as the commander of the Eighth Army, and continued to lead his troops to fight and withdraw from Ukraine to the Romanian border area, which experienced bloody battles. By mid-April, the troops under the general's command included the allied forces of Germany and Romania, which constituted Waller's army. On paper, the group army consists of 3 divisions, 17 of which are Romanian divisions. The quality of Romanian divisions is uneven, while the German divisions are just a fighting group to some extent. Waller's main strength lies in his armored divisions, the 23rd and 24th armored divisions and the 3rd "Skeleton" division of SS. There is also the "Greater Germany" Panzergrenadier Division. Faced with a long area that may be attacked by Russian armored forces, Waller deployed his armored forces as a "fire brigade" in areas with good road conditions as a reserve to deal with any Russian attack on his defense zone. The Great German division is no stranger to this situation. The morale of the "Greater Germany" division is very high. It can be said that the "Greater Germany" division is the ace division of the National Defence Force. The predecessor of this unit is the garrison in Berlin and the Infantry-Lehr-Regiment. In 1939, the "Greater Germany" Infantry Regiment was formed, and in April 1943, it was expanded into the "Greater Germany" Panzergrenadier Division. The difference between the "Greater Germany" Division and other German infantry divisions is that its soldiers come from all parts of the empire, rather than from a specific state. From January to March, 1944, the "Great German" Division fought several fierce battles with the Soviet Union around the Kirovgrad region of Ukraine before retreating to the Romanian border. After retreating to the border area at the end of March, it continued to retreat to the west, thwarting the Russian army's attempt to cut off the Yaxi-Kishniov railway within the first week of April, destroying 89 tanks and 1 anti-tank guns, and giving great damage to Soviet infantry. By mid-April, the division had occupied a defensive position, extending from Ruginoasa, 12 miles northwest of Telgu-Fromos, to Siret River, 12 miles northeast of Telgu-Fromos. The Great German Division is still a well-equipped force, and its morale is still high when they build fortifications. This division consists of two infantry regiments, each containing four battalions; Each battalion has four companies of 1 people; Each regiment has a heavy weapon battalion; In addition, it also includes an assault artillery battalion with 35-4 assault guns, a combat engineer battalion and a reconnaissance battalion. The most powerful armored fist of "Great Germany" lies in the four battalions of "Great Germany" armored regiment.