klisemfg Chapter 331 Balkan Liberation
Chapter 331 Balkan Liberation
"What? Antique died in the line of duty?!"
Yang Hong was in the office when he received a report from his adjutant. He stood up from his chair with a bang, his face full of shock. He could not believe it was true. The figure of Gudong, a man from Hunan, appeared in his mind. Gudong was the squad leader of the 200st squad, 600nd platoon, 2st company, 1nd battalion, 2th regiment, 1th division. From the battle of Tonggu to many battles later, he was promoted step by step from a sergeant squad leader. Each time, he won it with his life. Yang Hong clearly remembered that after the Silchar tank battle in India, Gudong was transferred from Huang Wei's 200th division to his own Far East 201st Division, and followed him to be reorganized into the First Army, from Guadalcanal to the Marshall Islands, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Japan. He was promoted step by step from second lieutenant to lieutenant colonel. Look, he was just transferred from the deputy commander of the 2773rd regiment of the 112st division to the colonel chief of operations of the th army. Just gone like that?
For a general like Yang Hong, who had emerged from the bloody battlefield, the sacrifice of his subordinates was commonplace. However, there were not many soldiers from the 600th Regiment who were still alive! In Yang Hong's eyes, Gu Dong was an indestructible cockroach, yet he was sacrificed in the 112th Army headquarters, where he should have been safe.
The adjutant, not wanting to conceal anything, briefly recounted to Yang Hong the story of how the 112th Army, after its extreme mobilization of various units in Greece, was attacked by the Germans, and how Gudong sacrificed his life while protecting the 112th Army's field hospital. Yang Hong sat down in a daze, tears streaming down his face.
The attack on the 112th Army's headquarters alerted the various units of the Expeditionary Force operating in Greece. Immediately thereafter, after eliminating the remnants of von Ocherovsky's 47rd Army and completely occupying the Peloponnese, the 353th Army immediately crossed the Corinthian Strait and landed in northern western Greece. With the support of the 112th Army, Ma Xiaochuan immediately organized a counterattack, capturing Amfilohia and then, through northern western Greece, attacking the German flank in central Greece.
At the same time, the US military also regrouped and marched north from the Athens area. With flanking support from the 112rd Division of the 203th Army, the 1st and 5th Armies, in a pincer position, attacked Halski and Koronia. In the Martinon Mountains, they encircled two major German Panzergrenadier Divisions. Relying on massive heavy firepower and powerful air combat capabilities, the US military defeated the main German forces in central Greece in one fell swoop. Although the 2th Mountain Division of the German 5th Army fought to the death, attempting to open an escape route for the remnants of the German army, they were suddenly airborne by the 577st Special Operations Regiment behind them and launched a surprise attack, breaking the defense line. The Sino-US coalition forces took advantage of the situation and launched a full-scale offensive, ultimately defeating the German 831th Army.
In Romania, Bucharest was captured by Huang Wei's 2nd Army Group's 6th Army, and the Romanian puppet regime collapsed, triggering a series of consequences across Romania, considered the Third Reich's fourth-largest ally. The newly elected Romanian government issued a statement announcing its withdrawal from the alliance with German fascism and joining the anti-fascist alliance. Simultaneously, it called on Romanian troops still within the German camp to surrender to the Allies and join the Allied fight against the Germans.
Huang Wei's 2nd Army Group took advantage of the situation to occupy most of Romania. The German army was not willing to be outdone and urgently drew reserve troops from Bulgaria, Hungary and other places to try their best to control the western part of Romania. The two sides fought a fierce battle in the Targu Jiu area.
德军临时组建G集团军群，由第4装甲集团军为主，第37集团军、第58集团军和党卫军多个独立师加入。远征军第2集团军群则以第6、第11、17、23、35集团军5个集团军从多个方向发起对德军的围攻。美军第155航空队和远征军第7航空队全程参与了对罗马尼亚方向德军的作战。德军仅有21航空军负责对G集团军空域作战。在数倍于己的盟军空军的打击下，德军第21航空军几乎损失殆尽，罗马尼亚的天空被盟军完全占据！
By this time, with the arrival of the US Strategic Air Force in the Pacific, the Allies had deployed over 4 aircraft against Germany, triple the number of German aircraft, effectively eroding their previous air superiority. Under the day-and-night bombing campaign of massive long-range bombers, Germany's vital industries suffered heavy losses, and the tanks, aircraft, and artillery lost on the front lines could no longer be replenished. The German High Command was forced to significantly streamline the firepower of its combat divisions, retaining only a few elite units. Some newly formed divisions consisted solely of infantry, lacking heavy weapons. The Germans equipped these so-called "light grenadier divisions" with disposable rocket launchers like the Panzerfaust, forcing young soldiers to risk their lives against Allied tanks and armor. Many mid- and high-ranking officers in the German frontline combat corps, already sensing the empire's downfall, saw their morale plummet.
In the spring of 1947, the Soviet Union officially liberated the last occupied territory, White Sea City, and entered Finland. The Belarusian Front, reorganized from the Southern Front, invaded Estonia and then occupied Lithuania. At the end of January 1947, it occupied Latvia. On the same day, it was announced that the three countries had been incorporated into the Soviet Union.
In early February, the Soviet army invaded Poland. At this time, Zhukov served as the commander of the 2st Belorussian Front, replacing the original Ukrainian Front (the 1st Army Group of the Chinese Expeditionary Force). Peng led the 1st Army Group and joined the battle towards Slovakia and Hungary.
2月底，匡正棋的第·3集团军群完全拿下南斯拉夫。黄伟抽调南下的第17集团军与112军、美军第1军在萨拉热窝与第3集团军群的第3集团军会合。标志着巴尔干地区获得了全部解放。
On behalf of Allied Headquarters, Yang Hong formally accepted the entire expeditionary force into the Allied forces. This, of course, was also a consensus reached by the top leaders of several major powers. In other words, the Allies and the Soviets reached an agreement on the division of occupation zones in Eastern Europe. To avoid rifts between the two sides, the Chinese Expeditionary Force became the occupying force in the Balkans! According to the allocation, the Soviets would liberate and occupy all of Eastern Europe except the Balkans, including Finland in Northern Europe. Sweden and Switzerland would be occupied by the British. Consequently, the Allies would abandon their occupation of Germany east of Berlin.
Upon arriving in Sarajevo, Yang Hong held talks with the newly arrived senior generals Peng, Huang, and Kuang. Following the Allied opinion, the expeditionary force was officially renamed Army Group D. Peng was appointed Commander-in-Chief, Huang Wei as Deputy Commander-in-Chief, and Kuang Zhengqi as Chief of Staff. Army Group D was also the largest of the Allied forces, comprising 27 armies and 270 million troops.