In the next few days, the 3rd and 6th Armored Divisions sent by Manstein have successively attacked the defense area of Blaskowitz's 1st Army.
However, the arrival of the new troops did not make Blaskowitz feel at ease, because the speed of the Soviet army's increase in troops on the opposite side had far exceeded his imagination. After some comparisons, he felt that he still needed to ask for help from Manstein, otherwise when the Soviet army launched an attack, he would not be able to resist it with his existing troops.
"Your Excellency, Marshal," Blaskowitz said straight to the point after answering Manstein's call: "The Russians opposite us continue to increase their troops. According to the observation post report, at least five troops have been transferred over in the past few days. An infantry division."
"What, five infantry divisions?" Manstein was frightened by Blaskowitz's report: "General Blaskowitz, you are not mistaken, are you?"
"There is no mistake," Blaskowitz said in a positive tone: "The observation post carefully counted the number of Russian trucks and the number of soldiers carried in each vehicle, and calculated that the number of reinforcements they had in the past few days should be Above 40,000, if calculated as 8,000 men per division, it would be the strength of five divisions."
If it were other Soviet troops, not to mention five divisions, even five armies, Manstein would not only not be worried, but would also be ecstatic, because so many Soviet troops concentrated in one position meant that Give your own troops a chance to encircle it and fight a great battle of annihilation similar to the Battle of Kiev.
But now the Soviet troops opposite Blaskowitz's 1st Army are commanded by Sokov, who is giving him a headache. Since he dared to gather so many troops here, he showed that he was not afraid of being surrounded at all, and even planned to break through the 1st Group Army's defense line in one go and advance deeper into his own defenses.
Hearing Manstein's delay in speaking, Blaskowitz said anxiously: "Your Excellency, Marshal, in order to prevent possible attacks by the Russians, I ask you to send me more reinforcements."
"Don't you have enough troops in your hands?"
"Of course it's not enough." Blaskowitz said plausibly: "I originally had one armored division and two infantry divisions in my hands. Their defense front was 70 kilometers wide. Even if you just sent two additional armored divisions, divisions, each division has a defense range of fourteen kilometers. If the Russians take advantage of their numerical advantage to launch an attack on our defense area, I am afraid that my troops will not be able to sustain it for long."
If it had been before, Blaskowitz would never have said such a thing. He felt that even if his troops faced a Soviet army that was twice as many as him, they would still be sure to win. But through more than half a month of offensive, the performance of Sokov's troops taught him how to re-evaluate the Soviet army's combat effectiveness. He found that when facing the Soviet army on the opposite side, not to mention being at a numerical disadvantage, even if the numbers were equal, it was basically impossible for his troops to win. The history of one division defeating a Soviet army group had long been gone. Never again.
"Then how many troops do you need to hold the current defense line?" Manstein asked.
"Unless we transfer the 82nd and 90th armies stationed in France, we can block a possible Russian attack on the banks of the Dnieper River."
"General Blaskowitz," Manstein said sternly after hearing what the other party said: "The head of state will never agree to transfer the 82nd and 90th armies out of France. You can only rely on your existing strength. to counter the Russian attack.”
"I'm sorry, Marshal, I can't do it." Blaskowitz investigated Sokov through various channels during this period, and found that the other party was a ruthless man who didn't talk much. The troops he faced were No one has ever won. Even the most elite Imperial Division and Skeleton Division were annihilated by his troops, and even the Flag Guard Division suffered heavy losses. Now that he saw a large-scale increase in troops in the opponent's defense area, he became even more uneasy, so he said resolutely: "If you don't agree with my proposal, I can only report my opinions directly to the head of state and ask him to make a decision." Fair decision-making.”
In the later stages of the Battle of Kursk, although the Soviet army was constantly counterattacking, as long as Manstein put his reserves into battle, he could rewrite the outcome of the battle. But unexpectedly, when the British and American troops landed in Sicily, Italy, the head of state did not hesitate to transfer all the reserves that could determine the outcome of the battle to Europe. Because of this incident, Manstein always had a thorn in his heart.
At this moment, when he heard Blaskowitz saying that he wanted to contact the Führer, he couldn't help but frowned. According to his experience, if he reported it to Berlin at this time, the Führer might do something wrong and go directly over him to command the troops below. . In order to avoid the blind command of the head of state, which would lead to the defeat of the battle, he decided to compromise with Blaskowitz: "General Blaskowitz, although I have no right to mobilize the troops stationed in France, I can send you another Go to two infantry divisions to reinforce what you already have."
After hearing this, Blaskowitz was not excited, but asked calmly: "Marshal, I wonder which two infantry divisions you plan to send to strengthen us?"
"The 320th and 282nd Divisions," Manstein thought for a while and decided to transfer the two divisions closest to the 1st Group Army. Although these units had lower numbers, their combat effectiveness was still good: "This It is the only force I can use. If you are not satisfied, there is nothing I can do."
Blaskowitz thought to himself: To set up a defense line on the Dnieper River that is hundreds of kilometers long, Manstein's troops are already tight. If he transfers four divisions to himself at once, this is probably his limit. , then he said casually: "Okay, Marshal, when will these troops arrive at my defense area?"
"I'm afraid it will take two to three days at the earliest." Although Manstein had promised to hand over the troops to Blaskowitz, the troops of these two divisions were too scattered and they needed to be assembled first and then sent to The defense area of the 1st Group Army will inevitably be delayed a lot of time: "General Blaskowitz, before they arrive, I hope you can build fortifications and establish a complete defense system so that the Russians cannot easily to break through your defenses."
"Don't worry, Marshal." Blaskowitz replied: "My troops are laying out barbed wire, placing anti-tank obstacles, and establishing minefields in front of the position. As long as we complete these tasks, the Russians will want to break through. Our defense, that’s not an easy thing.”
Since Sokov had dispatched a large number of reconnaissance teams in the German defense zone in advance, any movement of the German army could not escape the eyes of the scouts.
After seeing the report sent by the director of the reconnaissance department, Sokov smiled and said to Samyko: "Comrade Chief of Staff, it seems that our plan has been successful. The enemies south of the landing site are increasing their troops on a large scale. They must think that we are A breakthrough will be made in that direction.”
"Yes, Comrade Commander." After reading the report, Sameko said with the same satisfaction: "I really didn't expect that the fake actions we made really deceived the enemy, and even made them attack in the direction of our feint. A massive increase in troops.”
Even though the enemy had fallen into his trap, Sokov did not feel complacent about it. Instead, he stared at the map and said: "Comrade Chief of Staff, the Germans know that the enemy they are facing is us, so they are so solemn." To increase troops. If it were for other friendly forces, the Germans would not increase troops to the front, but would only strengthen their two wings..."
"Why is this, Comrade Commander?" Sokov puzzled Sameko.
"The reason is very simple," Sokov said slowly: "If the troops facing them are not us, but friendly forces. The Germans increased their troops on both wings in order to detour back to their rear after the friendly forces' attack began and complete the attack. Encirclement of them. But now that they are facing us, the German commanders have to adjust their strategies and strengthen frontal defense to prevent our troops from easily breaking through their defense lines."
"The Germans may never have dreamed that our offensive direction is not to the south at all, but to the northwest of the landing site. That is the focus of our attack." After Sokov said this, he thought of a key question: "Staff Staff Comrade Chang, although the Germans fell into our trap and sent additional troops to the south of the landing site, if their scouts are lurking in our defense area, then the plan we made may fail."
In the next few days, the 3rd and 6th Armored Divisions sent by Manstein have successively attacked the defense area of Blaskowitz's 1st Army.
However, the arrival of the new troops did not make Blaskowitz feel at ease, because the speed of the Soviet army's increase in troops on the opposite side had far exceeded his imagination. After some comparisons, he felt that he still needed to ask for help from Manstein, otherwise when the Soviet army launched an attack, he would not be able to resist it with his existing troops.
"Your Excellency, Marshal," Blaskowitz said straight to the point after answering Manstein's call: "The Russians opposite us continue to increase their troops. According to the observation post report, at least five troops have been transferred over in the past few days. An infantry division."
"What, five infantry divisions?" Manstein was frightened by Blaskowitz's report: "General Blaskowitz, you are not mistaken, are you?"
"There is no mistake," Blaskowitz said in a positive tone: "The observation post carefully counted the number of Russian trucks and the number of soldiers carried in each vehicle, and calculated that the number of reinforcements they had in the past few days should be Above 40,000, if calculated as 8,000 men per division, it would be the strength of five divisions."
If it were other Soviet troops, not to mention five divisions, even five armies, Manstein would not only not be worried, but would also be ecstatic, because so many Soviet troops concentrated in one position meant that Give your own troops a chance to encircle it and fight a great battle of annihilation similar to the Battle of Kiev.
But now the Soviet troops opposite Blaskowitz's 1st Army are commanded by Sokov, who is giving him a headache. Since he dared to gather so many troops here, he showed that he was not afraid of being surrounded at all, and even planned to break through the 1st Group Army's defense line in one go and advance deeper into his own defenses.
Hearing Manstein's delay in speaking, Blaskowitz said anxiously: "Your Excellency, Marshal, in order to prevent possible attacks by the Russians, I ask you to send me more reinforcements."
"Don't you have enough troops in your hands?"
"Of course it's not enough." Blaskowitz said plausibly: "I originally had one armored division and two infantry divisions in my hands. Their defense front was 70 kilometers wide. Even if you just sent two additional armored divisions, divisions, each division has a defense range of fourteen kilometers. If the Russians take advantage of their numerical advantage to launch an attack on our defense area, I am afraid that my troops will not be able to sustain it for long."
If it had been before, Blaskowitz would never have said such a thing. He felt that even if his troops faced a Soviet army that was twice as many as him, they would still be sure to win. But through more than half a month of offensive, the performance of Sokov's troops taught him how to re-evaluate the Soviet army's combat effectiveness. He found that when facing the Soviet army on the opposite side, not to mention being at a numerical disadvantage, even if the numbers were equal, it was basically impossible for his troops to win. The history of one division defeating a Soviet army group had long been gone. Never again.
"Then how many troops do you need to hold the current defense line?" Manstein asked.
"Unless we transfer the 82nd and 90th armies stationed in France, we can block a possible Russian attack on the banks of the Dnieper River."
"General Blaskowitz," Manstein said sternly after hearing what the other party said: "The head of state will never agree to transfer the 82nd and 90th armies out of France. You can only rely on your existing strength. to counter the Russian attack."
"I'm sorry, Marshal, I can't do it." Blaskowitz investigated Sokov through various channels during this period, and found that the other party was a ruthless man who didn't talk much. The troops he faced were No one has ever won. Even the most elite Imperial Division and Skeleton Division were annihilated by his troops, and even the Flag Guard Division suffered heavy losses. Now that he saw a large-scale increase in troops in the opponent's defense zone, he became even more uneasy, so he said resolutely: "If you don't agree with my proposal, I can only report my opinions directly to the head of state and ask him to make a decision." Fair decision-making.”
In the later stages of the Battle of Kursk, although the Soviet army was constantly counterattacking, as long as Manstein put his reserves into battle, he could rewrite the outcome of the battle. But unexpectedly, when the British and American troops landed in Sicily, Italy, the head of state did not hesitate to transfer all the reserves that could determine the outcome of the battle to Europe. Because of this incident, Manstein always had a thorn in his heart.
At this moment, when he heard Blaskowitz saying that he wanted to contact the Führer, he couldn't help but frowned. According to his experience, if he reported it to Berlin at this time, the Führer might make some mistake and go directly over him to command the troops below. . In order to avoid the blind command of the head of state, which would lead to the defeat of the battle, he decided to compromise with Blaskowitz: "General Blaskowitz, although I have no right to mobilize the troops stationed in France, I can send you another Go to two infantry divisions to reinforce what you already have."
After hearing this, Blaskowitz was not excited, but asked calmly: "Marshal, I wonder which two infantry divisions you plan to send to strengthen us?"
