klisemfg Chapter 211 The war begins
Chapter 211 The war begins
Liu Molong defeated the German 40th Tank Corps and captured Schacht, immediately sending a telegram to Huang Wei. Huang Wei, while relaying the battle report to Lao Peng, ordered the 1st Cavalry Army to immediately approach Schacht and rapidly cross from there, charging deep into Ukraine. He also ordered the 55th Infantry Corps of the Soviet 30th Army, which had already moved south, to rush to Schacht and relieve the German defenses held by Liu Molong's group.
In order to prevent Schacht from being occupied by the German army again, Liu Molung immediately blew up all the supplies that he could not use at the railway station. After the cavalry army crossed the Schacht line, he also left a motorized regiment, waiting for the Su 30th Infantry Army to take over the defense. With the tank column as the vanguard, he attacked along the railway line towards Sverdlovsk.
"Good, good, good!" Old Peng exclaimed repeatedly upon receiving the battle report. He immediately drafted a telegram ordering the Soviet 16th Cavalry Army to bypass the Rostov line without stopping, cross the railway line from the direction of Schakht, and rush into Ukraine along the path opened by the 1st Cavalry Army. At the same time, he conveyed instructions to Lin: Schakht has been broken, move immediately!
By this time, the 598th and 601st Divisions, led by Wang Congwu, had arrived at their designated positions, severing the German 7th Army's western front. Schacht's fall had severed the 7th Army's northwest front and crucial supply depots. On the southeastern front, the 602nd Division and the 17th Army were blocking the 7th Army's advance toward Rostov. The tanks of Lin's 115th Army and the Su-58th Tank Army had been secretly hiding east of the 7th Army for three days. It was time to launch a surprise attack. Without hesitation, Lin B ordered the tank group to launch a blitzkrieg and ordered the motorized infantry to advance across the board.
The German 7th Tank Army, comprising the 7th and 20th Panzer Corps, the 23rd and 29th Motorized Corps, and the 162nd, 167th, and 183rd SS Grenadier Divisions, was commanded by Colonel-General Friedrich Dollmann. Upon receiving news of the attack on Schacht and the destruction of supplies, he immediately realized the shift in the battlefield situation. He then reviewed the Chinese and Soviet troop deployments in his direction and understood that the enemy was preparing an attack, much like the nearby 3th Panzer Army had done over three months earlier. They must have concentrated all their armored forces to launch a siege attack.
The 7th Army possessed nearly 1200 tanks and tank destroyers of various types, a force of 15 men. The enemy could only muster about 1500 tanks and tank destroyers, a slight numerical advantage. However, the enemy was well-rested, occupied advantageous terrain, had a strong military presence, and possessed a large number of heavy artillery, particularly the Soviet Katyusha and American Shkval rocket launchers, which posed a significant threat to the enemy.
Dolman was no pushover. He carefully observed the 7th Army's current dispositions, anticipated the upcoming Chinese and Soviet offensive, and immediately ordered the entire army to a defensive posture. He ordered the 7th and 20th Tank Corps to immediately form a fist formation, ready to meet the Chinese and Soviet tank clusters. He ordered the SS Grenadier Division to immediately seize its position and go on the defensive, and ordered the 23rd and 29th Motorized Corps to move westward. He predicted that there would be delaying enemy forces along this line, and they must be routed to open the route to Taganrog.
At the same time, Dollmann telegraphed Field Marshal Manstein, resolutely deciding to engage the Chinese and Soviet forces in a decisive battle 200 kilometers northwest of Rostov. He urged Army Group B to clear his southwest, open up communication routes along the southwestern front, and provide sufficient support to the 7th Army. He reminded Field Marshal Manstein to strengthen the defenses of Schacht and the railroad line to Sverdlovsk to prevent the Chinese and Soviet forces from exploiting the situation. The 7th Army would abandon its defenses and offensive in this direction and concentrate its forces for the decisive battle there!
Field Marshal Manstein was a truly renowned German general, his vision even more far-sighted than that of Dollmann. Model, a renowned master of defensive warfare, boldly proposed to Field Marshal Manstein that they abandon the Sverdlovsk line and instead mobilize the 23rd Army to launch an offensive northward, attacking the Soviet Southern Front from the flank and coordinating with Army Group A to prevent the Soviets from providing support to the Rostov line.
Field Marshal Model estimated that regardless of the outcome of the 7th Army's decisive battle at this crucial point northwest of Rostov, it would not suffer the same devastating defeat as the 7th Army. It would be foolish for the Chinese and Soviet forces to capture Doormann in 4-10 days. The German army should fully utilize this precious time. The 15th Army, along with elements of the 15rd SS Army, should devote all its forces to conquering the Taganrog line, advancing directly to Rostov, capturing it in one fell swoop, and then encircling the Chinese and Soviet forces in the northwest.
On the morning of April 4, the German 19rd and 3th Tank Corps, a mere 20 tanks and tank destroyers, encountered the tank clusters of Lin B's 1000th Army and the Soviet 115th Army. In an instant, on this little-known low plain, the largest tank battle to date on the Soviet-German battlefield erupted.
Over an area of over 200 square kilometers, both sides' tanks were completely unable to deploy, yet neither side was willing to give up. Thus, a brutal war of attrition ensued from the outset. Both sides launched an all-out attack in dense formations, often wiping out a tank battalion in less than an hour. By this point, the frenzy of killing had reached a fever pitch, with tanks and tank destroyers charging forward like a tidal wave. Within half a day, the entire area was littered with the wreckage of various tanks, obstructing the path for further tank advances.
Both sides immediately realized the problem and ordered their troops to expand to the sides. However, both sides had large numbers of blocking troops deployed on both sides. Various obstacles and large-scale artillery bombardment made it impossible for the tank troops to advance. As a last resort, both sides had to withdraw their troops, ending the first phase of the battle.
"What happened? How did the German army know the direction of our attack? The originally planned assault turned into a counter-offensive." Lin was a little angry. He questioned his chief of staff and minister of operations.
Huang Wei also arrived at this moment. He ordered the front army's operations chief to immediately take over the battle adjustment, switching the originally planned assault operation to positional warfare. At the same time, he ordered all units to report losses immediately and ordered the logistics forces to send up replacements as soon as possible.
He and Lin walked over to the map and carefully analyzed the current situation. Huang Wei said, "Our plan is sound. We simply underestimated our opponent, Dorman. Retreating is impossible now. Let's fight openly!"