Chapter 312 Zhukov: I’m a wimp?
The sky screen also gave film and television images again.

The numb soldiers charged in the snow.

Densely packed figures soon fell down in the snow and ice.

Aerial footage shows.

Another pile of corpses.

[The Soviets attacked from multiple directions with such ferocious momentum that the Germans were unable to kill them all! ]

[At one point, an 8-kilometer-wide gap opened up in the German defense line.]

【Plus the simultaneous response of attacks from the north and east. 】

【It looks just as Zhukov expected.】

[The moment of collapse of the 9th Army has arrived.]

[The 9th Army is indeed about to collapse. ]

[But the consequences of not taking over the transportation lines became apparent at this time.]

[The reserve troops of the Central Army Group continue to come to support. ]

[First, the Great German Division launched a series of counterattacks, disrupting the situation. ]

[Using the time gained by the Great German Division, the German reserve troops finally arrived. ]

[Zhukov's main force suddenly encountered six fully-staffed armored divisions from the German army that came to support them! ]

[Model even ordered the army to rush to the gap in the Soviet defense line at a high speed, trying to seal the gap and encircle the Soviet 41st Army.]

[The Soviet troops attacking in other directions also encountered great difficulties.]

[Although the German defense line continued to retreat under the attack of the Soviet Union's superior forces. ]

[However, the well-trained German army, which had a large number of backup defense lines, retreated in an orderly manner rather than being defeated.]

[At the same time, Model has been holding a large number of small troops as reserves. ]

[He was micro-managing the entire process online. Once he found a gap in the defense line somewhere, the small reserve team would fill it in immediately.]

【Careful calculation, perfect filling of gaps. 】

[The Soviet offensive forces were unable to penetrate the defense line, and were left standing and suffered heavy casualties as the Germans took advantage of the terrain and strongholds.]

[Those support points in the rear that could not be taken down were also constantly harassing. ]

[Casualties continue to skyrocket! ]

[Also, due to the lesson learned from the first Battle of Rzhev, where two entire armies were surrounded.]

[As a result, the Soviet Union did not dare to charge blindly into the core area of ​​the German army.]

【It can only be consumed continuously on the periphery.】

[After much difficulty, the Soviet First Mechanized Army broke through a section of the defense line.]

[But they were blocked by the German army's ace unit, the Großdeutschland Division.]

[An entire mechanized army! ]

[But they are no match for the Great German Division. ]

[A week after the offensive was launched, the Soviet Union was no longer able to continue the offensive and could only temporarily hold its position]

[On December 12, the Soviet army received follow-up troops and launched another strong attack.]

【With the Fifth Tank Army and the Sixth Tank Army as the core. 】

[300 tanks and tens of thousands of soldiers launched a mass charge. ]

[Zhukov was also confused at this time, and ordered these elite troops to launch a strong attack directly in the ice and snow! ]

[Since there was no time at all, we changed into winter combat uniforms and winter paint. 】

[As a result, Soviet soldiers and tank troops in the ice and snow became sitting ducks for the Germans.]

【More than 300 tanks.】

[The whole army was wiped out in less than two days! ]

【After this attack. 】

[The Mars Operation, which involved 190 million troops, also ended in complete failure.]

[Nearly 30 Soviet soldiers were killed and 50 were injured.]

[The number of prisoners and missing was countless, and nearly 2000 tanks were lost.]

[The total number of casualties of the German 9th Army was about 4.]

【Compared to the Soviet Union, which suffered more than 80 casualties, the loss ratio was at least more than 20 to 1. 】

[It may even be closer to 30 to 1.]

[This Mars Operation caused countless soldiers to almost die in the attack on the Rzhev area.]

[It also became the biggest stain on Zhukov's career. ]

[It was rarely mentioned by Soviet officials later.]

[After this battle, Model was not happy at all, because he knew that although the Soviet Union suffered heavy losses, most of them were new soldiers. ] [On his side, although the total losses added up to less than 30. ]

[But many of them are veterans and elite technical soldiers. ]

[These are difficult to replenish.]

[And since we have always needed the support of the Central Army Group. ]

[As a result, many of the elite reserve troops originally planned to support the Southern Army Group were transferred to the Rzhev area to start the mincing.]

[In the overall battlefield situation, the Southern Army Group, which lacks reserve troops, is currently in an extremely dangerous situation. ]

[The only option was to withdraw after the disastrous defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad.]

【As the Southern Army retreated, the Rzhev region, which they had defended for a year, was taken away. 】

[It will also become a place that is almost impossible to defend. ]

[We blocked the offensive, but we couldn’t stop the general trend. 】

【And things turned out just as Model expected. 】

[After the Battle of Stalingrad, the Rzhev region no longer had the possibility and value of being held.]

[So Model was ordered to organize the retreat.]

[Retreat has always been difficult, but Model has fulfilled his mission. 】

[He organized Operation Buffalo, placing 30 soldiers of the 9th Army under the close surveillance of the Soviet Union's million-strong army.]

[Almost completely evacuated the position.]

[Before the millions of Soviet troops could react, they had already transported their equipment and repaired the roads. After the troops withdrew, they blew up the roads and bridges and laid minefields.]

[In order to keep it secret, they also wantonly slaughtered civilians in the surrounding areas, committing war crimes.]

[When the Soviet Union finally discovered the retreat of the 9th Army, it hastily launched a pursuit.]

[Almost nothing was gained.]

[All they got was a completely ruined city of Rzhev.]

The sky curtain ended here, and a large number of bullets flew out.

……

Outside the sky.

《This is so exciting! He is indeed a master of defense! 》

"Model is still strong. When I heard you guys say that before, I really thought he was a weakling!"

"And don't think that Model can't fight an offensive war. In June 1942, he organized a pincer attack and wiped out the Soviet 6th Army in one fell swoop."

《How tragic!》

"The number of casualties in every strategic area on the Eastern Front is truly shocking!"

"Recently, many bloggers have been promoting the idea that the United States was the absolute core of World War II, and that the Soviet Union relied entirely on American supplies to fight the war."

"fart!"

"I don't know whether the Soviet Union relied on the United States to fight the war, but I know that Germany and Japan were able to start the war because they really relied on the United States."

"Without Rzhev, it would be hard to say whether the Caucasus would win or lose."

Paulus: Model, give me back my reserve troops!

Manstein: Sitting up in shock from his dying illness, where are my troops?

"The reserve team is on holiday in the sun in Greece."

"Model always received more reinforcements than any other German army."

"Model did accomplish strategic tasks many times and performed well, but he was often able to get more and stronger reinforcements."

"Being able to get support is also a skill, and this skill is more important than commanding operations."

"30 vs. 190 million. The Soviets have a 6-fold advantage in manpower. If you don't send reinforcements, will you fight?"

"The Soviet Union launched Mars and Uranus at the same time. No matter which one succeeded, it would be a fatal blow to the German army. The German army mobilized too late, and there were only so many troops on the front line, so they could only selectively save one."

"So, the disastrous defeat in Rzhev did achieve the strategic goal?"

《Well, but my father's appetite is too big, and he cannot accurately assess the strength of both sides.》

"Stalin was also a wild idea. He launched a full-scale counter-offensive in January 1942. Haha, it's so funny."

"Stalin also commanded major battles in his early years, but the scale and intensity of the Soviet-German War clearly exceeded his military capabilities."

"Zhukov speaks!"

"I said Zhukov was a wimp, he only knew how to use human wave tactics."

Zhukov: I had a hard time. After fighting in the Far East, I went to the Near East to put out Moscow's fire. After that, I ran back and forth between several war zones and managed to maintain the situation. Decades later, there are always people staring at the battles I lost in my busy schedule.

　Finally got back.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)