Chapter 15 08. Rolling red stream goes west

On June 6, 1944, the Allied forces landed in Normandy in northern France and successfully opened up the second battlefield, which put the German army in a dilemma.In order to cooperate with the Allied landing campaign, the Soviet army launched a powerful summer offensive. From June to August 1944, the Soviet army carried out assaults on the Finnish army in the Gulf of Finland in the Arctic Ocean.The Soviet army that participated in this battle not only had twice as many troops as the Finnish army, five times more artillery tanks, and two times more aviation troops, and was supported by the Baltic Fleet. Far surpassed the Soviet army during the Soviet-Finnish War in 1939, so the attack was very smooth. On August 25, the Finnish government requested peace talks with the Soviet Union.By September 15th, Sufen stopped military operations, signed an armistice agreement on September 19th, and Finland announced its withdrawal from the war.This raid became known as the "Fourth Assault".

From June 23, 1944 to the end of July, the Soviet army launched the "Fifth Assault", also known as the Battle of Belarus.The recovery of Belarus is of great significance to the Soviet army. It can quickly enter Poland and capture East Prussia and other German mainland.The German army attempted to hold on to Belarus at all costs, deploying 1.2 million people, nearly 10,000 artillery and mortars, about 1,000 tanks and self-propelled artillery, and more than 1,400 aircraft.But at this time, the Soviet army was even stronger. About 2.5 million troops, 6,000 tanks, and 5,000 aircraft were invested in the Battle of Belarus, and they fought a bloody battle with the German army on the land of Belarus for a month.In the end, the German Army Group Center was defeated.

On July 3, Soviet troops captured Minsk, the capital of Belarus. On July 13, Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, was recovered. On July 23, Lublin, an important city in Poland, was occupied. On July 27, the Soviet army approached the coast of the Gulf of Riga.On the same day, the Soviet army entered the city of Bialystok in Poland and took control of the main traffic route leading to Warsaw. On August 1, the Soviet army approached East Prussia, the German mainland. During the Battle of Belarus, the Soviet army advanced 500 to 600 kilometers westward, far separated the two German army groups in the north and south, and opened up a strategic channel to march into Berlin.

In order to cooperate with the Belarus campaign, from July 13 to the end of August, the Ukrainian First Front Army launched the "Sixth Assault".By the end of August, the Soviet army not only regained Western Ukraine, but also entered Czechoslovakia. In the face of the Soviet offensive in full swing, the life of the German generals became more and more difficult day by day, but they still tried their best to maintain it, even if they knew they could not come back, they had to fight to the end.During World War II, a group of outstanding tacticians emerged in the German army.In addition to the three famous generals Rommel, Guderian and Manstein, Marshal Model can be regarded as an outstanding one.Significantly different from the three famous generals, Model was the one who persisted until the end.

Model was born in 1891. He is the kind of person who was born to belong to the battlefield. He has been serving the war all his life. The battlefield is the stage where he gallops freely. In 1938, Model was promoted to major general.Since participating in the Polish campaign in 1939, he has not been absent throughout World War II.Manstein called him the strongest of the crowd, describing him as "the barracuda in the carp pond". Among the 19 field marshals of Nazi Germany, Model paid the most attention to appearance.During the military parade, he likes to stand on the convertible Mercedes-Benz, step on the back of the front seat with his well-polished riding boots, and then salute with his arrogant and domineering attitude, which is impressive profound.

In June 1941, Model commanded the 3rd Armored Division of the 2nd Armored Army to participate in the Soviet-German War, showing his indomitable spirit.In the Battle of Kyiv, his 3rd Armored Division, as the goal-breaking force in Kiev, accomplished the task well and won Hitler's trust and appreciation.Soon, Model was promoted to general of the armored forces and served as commander of the 41st Armored Corps. In January 1942, Model became the commander of the Ninth Army.At this time, the German Central Army Group, which was mainly attacking Moscow, encountered stubborn resistance from the superior forces of the Soviet army. The Soviet army also interspersed and surrounded the German army, cutting off the German army's logistics supply line.The command system of the German army was also disrupted, and the various units lost contact. The situation was very critical.When Model arrived at the Army Group headquarters, he saw dejected and desperate faces.The combat staff officer Brolock briefed the new commander on the situation, and Model immediately pointed on the map, intending to cut off the Soviet supply line from here, and counterattack the Soviet flank from there.Brolock was stunned and asked: "How many troops did you bring for this counterattack?" Model laughed: "Just me." This has become a very famous story in the history of World War II.

Facing the unfavorable situation, Model remained calm and calm, analyzed the situation calmly, and asked Hitler to add an armored corps under his command. To this end, he arrived at the German High Command on January 20 and had a heated argument with Hitler.Hitler was stubborn and would not give in, while Model boldly asked: "My Fuhrer, are you in command of the Ninth Army, or am I in command?" Hitler raised his head in surprise, and then said forcefully: "I order You use the Panzer Corps in Grzatsk!" Model still disobeyed and firmly opposed Hitler's interference in his command.Model said that he knew the situation on the front line like the palm of his hand, while the Supreme Command could only make judgments based on the map.Hitler finally gave in, but he emphasized that Model must be responsible for all serious consequences arising therefrom.

With the reinforcement of an armored corps, Model launched a counterattack to the weakest area of ​​​​the Soviet defense line, thus repelling the fierce Soviet offensive and stabilizing his own front.Therefore, Model is known as "the man who turned the crisis into safety". In July 1943, the German army suffered setbacks in the Battle of Kursk, but was counterattacked by the Soviet army and fell into trouble again.Model temporarily contained the Soviet attack in early October, and was hailed by Hitler as "the savior of the Eastern Front". On March 1, 1944, Model served as the commander of the Northern Ukrainian Army Group, while still retaining the right to participate in the command of the Northern Army Group, and was promoted to Field Marshal by Hitler.The marshal, known for his fierce combat, implemented a "scorched earth" policy in the new combat area to prevent the Soviet offensive.

Until July, Model was desperately trying to prevent the advance of the Soviet army, and achieved certain results.In recognition of Model's successful defense, Hitler awarded him the Knight's Cross with Diamonds and Two Swords and Oak Leaves. But at this point in the war, this medal has no effect except to enable Model to continue to work hard. In August 1944, Model found that the Soviet army confronting the German Army Group Center had concentrated its main forces and was preparing to launch an attack.In order to preserve its strength, Model retreated the German army one by one to the northeast of Warsaw and the Narew River 10 days ago.

To Model's surprise, the Warsaw Uprising broke out on August 1, just as Soviet forces seemed unstoppable advancing on the Polish capital.Soon, most of the German military and non-military institutions in Warsaw were cut off from the outside world, the railway stations were occupied by the insurgents, and all the streets in the city were blocked by the insurgents.The Germans held only a few bridges over the Vistula River.If the Soviet army rushed to the bridgehead in one go, the German troops in the city would be desperate.However, the Soviet army, which was already on the way, suddenly gave up its attempt to capture Warsaw.This "gained" time for the Germans, and Model ordered a large number of German troops concentrated around Warsaw to assist the garrison in extremely brutal suppression of the insurgents.

Model himself was transferred from the Eastern Front on August 16 and was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the German Army on the Western Front to "firefight" on the Western Front.But what awaits him will never be such good luck. On April 21, 1945, Marshal Model, who suffered a disastrous defeat on the Western Front, took three officers and several soldiers to escape the US column and fled to the dense forest near Duisburg.He informed his entourage that he was going to kill himself and told them to bury his body under a chosen pine tree.The people around him tried their best to dissuade him, but Model insisted not to listen. He said in despair: "I never thought I would be so desperate. I only pledge my allegiance to Germany..." He also said: "A field marshal cannot be a prisoner. , such a thing cannot happen." He forgot that Paulus had surrendered, and shot himself. On the battlefield, if you win, you lose, and if you gain, you lose.On the day the German army was defeated, Model's life also came to an end. The city Warsaw, which Marshal Model ordered to suppress before he was transferred from the Eastern Front, had been occupied for nearly five years at this time, and Poland was also divided by the Soviet Union and Germany, so it no longer existed. Throughout World War II, Poland can be said to have endured the heaviest national suffering. Among the number of civilian deaths in various countries, Poland ranks at the forefront.But the unyielding Polish people have organized an underground government. This underground government not only leads a strong team-the resistance movement supported by the overwhelming majority of the people, but also has courts, can issue public bonds, and even has a preliminary education. system.This underground government also maintains close ties with the government-in-exile in London and still effectively leads the country.With the progress of the war situation, the dawn of liberation has emerged, so the Polish underground government is preparing to revolt and cooperate with the Allied forces to liberate Poland.The government-in-exile in London at that time authorized Polish underground leaders to hold a general uprising at an appropriate time to prevent the German army from fighting in Poland, especially in the capital Warsaw.And for a long time, Soviet radio stations have been urging the Poles to launch a general uprising and promising military assistance. On July 29, the Moscow Radio Station of the Soviet Union broadcast an appeal, asking the underground organization in Warsaw to stage an uprising to speed up the liberation process. On August 1, the Warsaw Uprising broke out.The insurgents began to attack the German army at 5 pm, and soon, millions of residents of the city were involved in the fighting, and controlled most of the area within 3 days.However, under the counterattack and suppression of the German army, which had an overwhelming advantage in military strength and weaponry, the rebel army was obviously defeated.Therefore, the insurgents asked for the support of the Soviet army, which was close at hand.However, the Soviet radio station, which had been calling for the Poles to launch a general uprising, was silent. Not only did the previously promised military aid fail to materialize, the Soviet army also stopped the attack on the German army around Warsaw. After hearing the news of the Warsaw Uprising, Churchill and Roosevelt repeatedly called Stalin to appeal to the Soviet army to support the uprising, but they did not receive a reply.In desperation, the Allies had no choice but to drop arms and food to the Warsaw Uprising from the air.After the British and American planes performing the mission airdropped supplies, they needed to land on the nearest Soviet territory to refuel. Unexpectedly, even this request was flatly rejected by Stalin.In his telegrams to Churchill and Roosevelt, Stalin simply described the uprising as "an adventure in Warsaw by criminal groups aimed at seizing power." The isolated and helpless Warsaw insurgents fought a hopeless struggle with almost bare hands.The German army attacked frantically from the air and the ground, bombed by planes and tanks, and cleared the insurgents block by block.The German army suggested that the rebels hold surrender negotiations, but was rejected by the Polish general Bur Komarowski who led the uprising.The Polish army, which attacked with the Soviet army, launched a fierce attack on the German army in order to rescue their compatriots, but was blocked by the German army outside the city. On October 2, the Warsaw Uprising finally failed after persisting for 63 days. In the last broadcasts before the surrender, the insurgents complained angrily: "We have been treated worse than Hitler's minions, worse than Italy, Romania, Finland. Just God, what a terrible thing the Polish nation has suffered Let the injustice be judged, and I hope he will punish the perpetrators." Most of the soldiers who participated in the uprising died, and a few escaped with their lives.Dozens of surviving veterans gathered for a postwar memorial.An old man recalled the Warsaw Uprising with only the word "tragedy".He said that the conditions at that time were extremely difficult and the weapons were outdated and crude, but every soldier was brave and tenacious and vowed to fight to the last man.However, the strength of the two sides was too great, and the uprising eventually failed.He said that every family in Warsaw now has someone who died in this uprising. The Warsaw Uprising undoubtedly brought a lot of trouble to Nazi Germany. The distraught Hitler ordered to "wipe Warsaw completely off the face of the earth", so the Nazis began a bloody massacre of Poles.If you take a walk around the city of Warsaw now and take a look, you will inadvertently find a stone slab somewhere on the wall, engraved with "how many people were killed by the Nazis here on a certain day in a certain year and month".Former German Chancellor Schröder once laid a wreath in front of a dilapidated red brick wall several meters long and two meters high in Warsaw.According to historical records, the Nazis killed hundreds of Poles at one time under the corner of this "dead wall".In order to suppress the resistance of the Polish people, Hitler disregarded the shortage of ammunition and carried out bombardment brutally and step by step, and finally almost razed the whole city of Warsaw to the ground.The Nazis even used the 800mm "Dora" cannon. This super-heavy artillery can penetrate 1-meter-thick steel plates and 2.5-meter-thick reinforced concrete walls. Each shell weighs 7.1 tons! During the entire Warsaw Uprising, 18,000 Polish soldiers and 180,000 civilians were killed. 90% of the buildings in the historic city of Warsaw were destroyed, and the whole city became a rubble field with a radius of tens of kilometers. On January 17, the Soviet army entered the city as the "liberator" of Warsaw.By this time, Warsaw was an empty city full of rubble and ruins.The last sentence of the Soviets calling on the Poles to launch a general uprising was "If you don't actively rise up to save yourself, everything will be wiped out." The people of Warsaw rose up bravely, but the Soviet army sat by and watched the insurgents be suppressed and massacred.In the end, everything in Warsaw really "got to nothing". Some people still say that the Warsaw Uprising in 1944 was stupid, and some people say that this uprising was a speculation by the Polish underground army, and it was a trade of patriotism in order to gain fame after the war.But from today's perspective, this uprising is full of desperate tragedy. What was the situation like?The Soviet army has approached Warsaw. If the Polish resistance organization does not launch an uprising, it will have to wait for the "liberation" of the Soviets. However, this liberation does not mean freedom and independence. For Poland, this is just out of the wolf's den and into the tiger's mouth .Poland has been subjugated three times in history, which one was not chosen by the Russians?Although the Poles and the Russians belong to the same Slavic nation and are both Skinovitches, they will hate each other one day, and they will never hand over this country from the German invaders to the Russians. In addition, once the Soviet Union completes its control of Poland, it is almost impossible to regain freedom from Soviet control. The Russians are more ruthless than the Germans.Therefore, both the Polish underground army and the government-in-exile believed that instead of waiting for the Soviet occupation, it is better to fight hard before the arrival of the Soviets, which may restore the independence and freedom of the motherland.Judging from the situation after World War II, only Yugoslavia, which liberated itself, gained true independence in the entire Eastern Europe. Yugoslavia sacrificed 1.7 million people in World War II, and a small country sacrificed 1.7 million people. , so truly gained independence.Romania, Hungary, Bulgaria, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany, the so-called "liberated" countries by the Soviet Union, lost their independence and sovereignty, became satellite countries under the control of the Soviet Union, became colonies of the Soviet Union, and began a tragic fate. The Poles know the temper of the Russians too well. I know your virtues too well after fighting for more than 200 years, so the Poles accurately foresee this and must not hand over the fate of our motherland to the Soviets.Therefore, even when there is little hope, try to liberate yourself, avoid being "liberated" by the Soviets, and avoid losing the sovereignty and dignity of the country. Today, many people are angry that the Soviets ignored the Warsaw Uprising. In fact, the Polish underground army did not count on the support of the Soviets from the beginning of the uprising. They used their lives to fight for the freedom of the motherland and the dignity of the nation. The purpose of the uprising was To appear in Warsaw as master before the arrival of the Soviets.The Poles knew this, and so did the Soviets. Of course, when the German army brutally suppressed the uprising, the insurgents still hoped that the Soviet army could support them, but that was forced by the situation.However, the insurgents' efforts to become masters of the country before the arrival of the Soviet army had cut off the possibility of Soviet assistance.The prerequisite for the Soviet Union to assist you is that you be a puppet.Do you want to be independent?This is impossible.Therefore, the insurgents are doomed to fulfill their tragic mission in a single battle, either to recover the motherland, or to sacrifice heroically for the liberation of the nation. Poland was divided three times in history by Russia, Prussia, and Austria. After World War I, it finally became independent and was divided again by the Soviet Union.The Poles have experienced the pain of subjugation several times. Only the subjugated people know the pain of being a slave and the value of freedom.You think, the Poles are not reconciled to being subjugated slaves under German rule, why should they be obedient citizens of the Soviet Union?The attraction of freedom to the subjugated Poles is not something that people who have never been subjugated can understand. Why launch an uprising?The Poles believe that the uprising is the last chance to gain independence, even if it is a straw, I will seize it.The Poles had no hope of recovering their country when the Soviet occupation was almost a foregone conclusion. With the idea that it would be better to die with honor than to endure humiliation, they followed the motherland in this way. This is the responsibility of patriots.If the victim of the uprising, Jiuquanxiazhi, saw that Poland was controlled by the Soviet Union after the war, he would feel that he died without complaint or regret. After all, I worked hard, and I was saved from the tragedy of being a subjugated slave again. People who say that the Warsaw Uprising was speculators are completely nonsense. Who can speculate with 200,000 lives?These 200,000 deaths were just to declare a nation's determination not to be reconciled to subjugation.Among the 200,000 people are the National Army controlled by the underground government and the People’s Army led by the Communist Party of Poland. Most of them are ordinary Poles who are unwilling to be subjugated slaves. What makes them take death as home?Not partisan interests, but the independence, freedom, and dignity of the country and nation! Warsaw suffered tragically, because of Stalin's treachery.Behind Stalin's treachery was the new tsar's ambition to control the whole of Eastern Europe.To effectively control a country, the key is to establish a government that is completely controlled by it.After World War II, the regimes of Eastern European countries except Yugoslavia were transported to countries by the Soviet Red Army.The general secretaries of the communist parties of various countries stepped down from the Soviet plane, smoked their pipes, and "liberated" their countries with a wave of their hats.The Warsaw insurgents refused to accept this kind of delivered regime. After the war, Poland became a vassal of the Soviet Union.However, the government of the Second Polish Republic in London has always adhered to the idea of ​​restoring the country and insisted on the activities of restoring the country.Until 1990, the government of the Second Republic still had a president and several cabinet ministers in London, England, who firmly believed that the motherland would one day be liberated.This day didn't last long. In 1990, more than 40 years after the failure of the Warsaw Uprising, the Polish regime changed. Flying to Warsaw, the legal symbol of the Republic - the President's seal and the 1935 Constitution were handed over to him, and the functions of the government-in-exile ended. Today's Poland is the Third Republic, which inherits the legal order of the heroic and unyielding Polish Republic during World War II. From August 20 to the end of September 1944, the Soviet Ukrainian Second and Third Fronts, in cooperation with the Black Sea Fleet, launched the "seventh assault" with huge impact.After this battle, the German South Ukraine Army Group with 800,000 horses was almost wiped out.The Soviet army advanced 800 to 1,000 kilometers, invaded Romania and Bulgaria, forced the two countries to withdraw from the Axis power group, turned their guns and declared war on Germany.The Soviet army opened the passage to Hungary, Germany's last ally in Europe, and also created conditions for the march into Yugoslavia. From September to December 1944, the Soviet Army launched the "Eighth, Ninth, and Tenth Assaults" consecutively, capturing most of Estonia and Latvia, and encircling Budapest, the capital of Hungary.Hungary is the gateway to Austria and southern Germany. Therefore, Hitler continued to deploy troops from various fronts to reinforce Hungary, and the German army desperately defended.Budapest was not captured until February 13, 1945. By the end of 1944, after ten assaults throughout the year, the Soviet army not only regained all of the Soviet territory, but also invaded Eastern European countries and pushed into Germany.The German-Fascist alliance completely collapsed, losing valuable resources on which to maintain the war.During this year, the Soviet army wiped out 136 German divisions and more than 2 million people, and achieved a decisive victory on the Soviet-German battlefield. The Soviets named these ten assaults after Stalin and named them "Ten Stalin Assaults".After the war, with the beginning of the Cold War, the Soviets attributed all the credit for the victory of the war to the leader Stalin, and did not mention the huge assistance to the Soviet Union from the British and American allies. Today, the Russian historians have finally admitted that the assistance of the Western allies was of great significance to the victory of the Soviet Union in the Great Patriotic War.During World War II, the United States and Britain delivered a total of 2.586 million tons of aviation gasoline to the Soviet Union, while the Soviet Union produced only 1.81 million tons; imported 328,000 tons of aircraft aluminum, while the Soviet Union produced 263,000 tons; imported 501,000 vehicles , The trucks made in the Soviet Union accounted for only 5%, and all of the Soviet Union's own production capacity was used to produce T-34 tanks.The classic tactic of the Soviet infantry is that the infantry sits on the tank and charges. Once the tank is destroyed, the infantry on it is also finished.It wasn't until American cars were imported into the Soviet Union that Soviet infantry could charge with tanks.In addition, the allies also assisted the Soviet Union with more than 14,000 fighter planes, more than 12,000 tanks and chariots, and countless artillery and ammunition.It also afforded the Soviet Union a large amount of logistical supplies, such as food and medical equipment, with a total value of 10.9 billion US dollars.Without the assistance of the Western Allies, it would be difficult for the Soviets to build a powerful torrent of steel. All these were erased by the Soviet Union during the Cold War. People only saw that the Soviet Union produced 60,000 T-34 tanks, but they did not expect that the Soviet Union did not even produce a single locomotive during World War II.