Chapter 15 Chapter Fourteen Invasion of the Soviet Union

In Hitler's conquest plan, it was his unwavering long-term goal to open up the "German living space" to the east, so sooner or later there would be a direct conflict with the Soviet Union.Hitler told his generals as early as November 1939: We can only oppose Russia when we have free hands on the Western Front.But Britain still refused to give in despite such a disastrous defeat, which made Hitler feel troubled while being surprised.From the perspective of global strategy, he believes that the United Kingdom is still an important factor in maintaining the balance of the world. If Germany eliminates Britain, it will bleed for the United States and Japan.Therefore, he hoped to sign a peace treaty with Britain, which must of course meet Germany's conditions: not to interfere with Hitler's "freedom of action" on the European continent; to return the German colonies taken away in the last war.Now Hitler decided that the reason for the British intransigence was their hope for the Soviet Union.If the Soviet Union was defeated, Britain would feel hopeless and would have to submit to the peace treaty that Germany hoped for; if the Soviet Union were defeated, Japan's strength to compete with the United States in the Far East would be greatly strengthened, and Britain's hopes for the United States would also be shattered.

In addition, Hitler was very annoyed and disturbed by the Soviet Union's "blackmail" practice of expanding its territory in the east while Germany was dealing with Britain and France. On June 26, 1940, Russia issued an ultimatum to Romania and mobilized troops to concentrate on the Romanian border, demanding the cession of Bessarabia and Bebkovina.The former was ceded to Romania by Russia in World War I, and the latter was territory that Romania won from the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. The Soviet Union ceded it to compensate for the loss caused by the cession of its own territory. On August 3, 5, and 6, 1940, the Soviet Union officially annexed the three small Baltic countries of Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Although it was a violation of the "Versailles Peace Treaty", from another perspective, it was the first time that Territories lost in world wars.As the outcome of the Western Front was undecided, Hitler had to swallow his anger and dare not say a word "no". In order not to spoil the matter in front of him, he instructed Foreign Minister Ribbentrop to persuade Romania to accept the Soviet Union's request, and Romania finally gave in. .

The Soviet Union's annexation of part of Romania's territory put the Romanian oil fields on which Germany relied for survival within the range of Soviet bombers, which gave Germany a sense of a knife in its throat.Although Stalin's strategy was to take advantage of Hitler's affairs in the west to blackmail as much as he could, and did not want to really break up relations with Germany, but Hitler decided to attack the Soviet Union out of the above considerations. On July 31, 1940, Hitler announced to the army chiefs for the first time his decision to invade the Soviet Union.But at this time Hungary was preparing to go to war with Romania in order to regain Transylvania lost in the last war.In order to make the two countries serve as pawns when they invaded the Soviet Union, and also to ensure the safety of Romania's oil fields, Hitler forced Hungary and Romania to accept the arbitration of the Axis powers, and the two countries each took half of Transylvania.Subsequently, Germany and Italy assured Romania of the integrity of their territories.This made the Soviets feel embarrassed, because Germany did not greet the Soviet Union in advance.The relationship between Germany and the Soviet Union deteriorated rapidly, and the two sides accused each other on a series of issues such as Romania, Finland, and the Baltic countries.

On September 27, 1940, Germany, Italy, and Japan signed the Tripartite Treaty in Berlin, which was mainly aimed at the United States, but it was also a warning to Moscow. In mid-November 1940, Soviet Foreign Minister Molotov arrived in Berlin and held talks with Ribbentrop and Hitler. Germany and the Soviet Union had a formal showdown on their future interests.Germany hoped that the future direction of the Soviet Union's expansion would be the Persian Gulf and the Arabian Sea, and even promised to "sell" India generously, hoping to keep the Soviet Union far away when dividing up the world. Finland, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania.Molotov demanded that German troops withdraw from Finland, cancel territorial guarantees to Romania, and threatened to give Bulgaria the same guarantees.Hitler rejected Molotov's request, warning the other party not to make plans in the above four countries, and threatened: If Germany wants to have friction with the Soviet Union, there is no need to use the Strait issue as an excuse.In the ensuing negotiations, Ribbentrop asked the Soviet Union to join the Triple Pact.Molotov officially stated on October 25 that the Soviet government was ready to join the Triple-Power Treaty and change the Triple-Power Treaty into a Four-Power Treaty, but the following conditions must be met:

1. The German army will withdraw from Finland immediately. Finland...belongs to the sphere of influence of the Soviet Union... 2. In the next few months, the security of the USSR in the Straits will be guaranteed by the conclusion of a treaty of mutual assistance between the USSR and Bulgaria... and the establishment of a long-term lease by the USSR to a Army and naval bases in Neil Strait. 3. Recognize that in the direction of the Persian Gulf, the area south of Batumi and Baku is the center of the territorial claims of the Soviet Union. 4. Japan relinquishes its right to mine coal and oil in northern Sakhalin.

In addition, Stalin demanded the conclusion of five secret agreements similar to Poland, and put forward additional requirements: if Turkey made things difficult for the bases controlled by the Soviet Union, Japan, Italy, Germany, and the Soviet Union should jointly take military action against Turkey.This showdown made Hitler understand that the expansion direction of the Soviet Union was also the area where Germany was making plans, which further strengthened his determination to launch a war against the Soviet Union. In early December, Hitler approved the war plan against the Soviet Union formulated by the Army Staff Headquarters. On December 18, 1940, Hitler officially issued the No. 21 command to fight against the Soviet Union, code-named "Barbarossa Plan".

As early as October 28, 1940, Italy's Mussolini suddenly invaded Greece without prior greetings to his German partners.Because the Germans did not consult with him before each action, and always notified him afterwards, this time Mussolini also wanted to take revenge on Hitler.In less than a week, Italy's advance into Greece turned into a rout and, more troublesomely, brought British troops into the Balkans.At the beginning of January 1941, Prime Minister Churchill asked the Greek government to allow British troops to enter. Greek Prime Minister Metakas believed that the troops provided by the British army were enough to attract the German invasion, but he was not enough to resist the German army, so he rejected Churchill's request.But within a few days, Metakas passed away. Under the coercion and lure of the British, the Greek government finally agreed to the entry of British troops.Churchill abandoned the good opportunity to wipe out the Italian army on the North African battlefield, mobilized the main force of the British army in North Africa with 53,000 people, and occupied Crete in Greece on March 7.The landing of British troops in Greece alarmed Hitler, because bombers from British air bases in Crete could reach oil fields in Romania and Italy, threatening not only Germany's survival, but also disrupting Hitler's efforts to secure the southern flank when he attacked the Soviet Union. Balkan security calculations.The consequences of the opening of the Salonika front by Britain and France in World War I are still fresh in Germany's memory.

Hitler realized very early on that the British Air Force Base on the Greek island of Crete was a threat to him. On December 13, 1940, he secretly issued Order No. 20 to the three armies to occupy the entire territory of Greece, code-named "Marita". action".Geographically, Germany and Greece are separated by four countries: Hungary, Romania, Yugoslavia, and Bulgaria. After accepting Germany's territorial arbitration, Hungary and Romania have completely become vassals of Germany and agreed to the German army's transit.Germany used part of the territory of Greece to belong to Bulgaria as a bait, and won the diplomatic war with the Soviet Union for Bulgaria. On February 9, 1941, Bulgaria joined the Triple Pact. Military agreement on transit and joint attack on Greece.For the more stubborn Yugoslavia, Germany threatened and lured both, and exchanged Greece's Thessaloniki for the Yugoslav government to sign the tripartite treaty.Hitler told Italian Foreign Minister Ciano that as long as there is good weather, the Greek problem can be solved in just a few days.

On March 26, 1941, the day after the Yugoslav Prime Minister and Foreign Minister signed the Tripartite Treaty, a coup took place in Yugoslavia.Although the new government was willing to sign a non-aggression pact with Germany, Hitler believed that this was not only an insult to Germany, but also an insult to him personally, and the country must be destroyed immediately. On March 27, Hitler called an emergency meeting, claiming that the coup in Belgrade endangered the "Marita Operation" and more seriously endangered the "Barbarossa Plan". In addition to establishing a small Croatian puppet state, they can all get a piece of land.Just the day before Germany attacked Yugoslavia, on April 5, in order to prevent Germany from invading, the Soviet Union signed the "Non-aggression Treaty of Friendship and Non-aggression" with Yugoslavia to show its confrontation with Germany.Hitler didn't buy Stalin's account at all. On April 6, the troops of Germany, Hungary, Romania, and Bulgaria invaded Yugoslavia with overwhelming force. On April 13, the German army and the Hungarian army entered Belgrade. On April 18, 28 divisions of the Yugoslav remnants surrendered at Sarayev.

Under the cover of the Luftwaffe, the German 12th Army, commanded by Field Marshal Liszt, swept across the entire Greek peninsula.Although the Greek army heroically defeated the Italian army, it was unable to withstand the impact of the German elite armored forces, as well as fierce air strikes.The Greek forces in the north surrendered to the Germans and Italians on April 23. Four days later, German tank units entered Athens.By the end of April, everything had returned to calm on the Greek peninsula, with the exception of Crete.Like the Greek army, the British army was defeated by the German army and retreated to Crete in embarrassment. On May 20, the German army, navy and air force began to implement Hitler's No. 28 order, the so-called "Mercury" operation. The purpose was to capture Crete. The island's main airport and port implemented landings. With Germany's air superiority, after seven days and nights of fierce fighting, about 50,000 British troops had another taste of the Dunkirk retreat. 12,000 British troops were captured, and the German airborne troops also paid an unprecedented price.What's more serious is that the operation to wipe out Yugoslavia objectively postponed the date of the invasion of the Soviet Union by 4 to 5 weeks. After the war, quite a few historians believe that when the German army launched its final general offensive on Moscow at the end of 1941, if the German army could attack Moscow in the winter If there are another 4 to 5 weeks of good weather before the arrival, Moscow will definitely be conquered.Therefore, Hitler's decision to invade Yugoslavia in a fit of rage was his fatal mistake.

In September 1940, Admiral Raeder of the German Navy tried his best to persuade Hitler to completely solve Britain first. He pointed out to Hitler that the Mediterranean Sea was the center of the British Empire, and he must take advantage of Britain's current disastrous defeat to resolutely occupy Gibraltar, the Galina Islands, and the Suez Canal. Advance to Palestine and Syria by the Suez Canal and reach Turkey.In this way, the Germanic sword was pressed against the soft underbelly of the Soviet giant.There seems to be no need to attack the Soviet Union in the north, because both Turkey and the Soviet Union are under control.Raeder correctly predicted that Britain, with the support of the United States and General de Gaulle, would finally gain a foothold in Northwest Africa as a base for the war against the Axis powers.Therefore, he persuaded Hitler to cooperate with the Pétain government in France to seize strategic locations in Africa. Raeder's long-term strategy focusing on the entire world is feasible. Hitler also agreed with his "general idea", but believed that it could only be implemented after the Soviet Union was resolved first.However, diplomatic efforts can be made against Spain first.Franco, the Spanish dictator, was a cunning guy. When Germany was victorious on the western front, he told Hitler that he would join the war immediately and wanted to participate in the distribution of spoils without any effort, but Hitler politely refused. In October 1940, when Hitler asked Spain to enter the war, Franco had a dispute with Hitler over the partition of the colonies and who would occupy the Strait of Gibraltar. Almost all of his troops were wiped out, and Franco never mentioned joining the war again.Franco's retreat and Mussolini's self-righteousness temporarily ruined the Mediterranean plan. Although Hitler felt angry and frustrated, he was relieved that he could now concentrate on the issue of fighting against the Soviet Union, which was his first priority. do. Another reason Hitler wanted to destroy the Soviet Union in the short term was to dissuade the Americans from intervening in European wars, which annoyed Hitler since they had been waiting for opportunities to intervene since Nazi Germany pursued an expansive foreign policy.After the First World War, the United States has always regarded Japan in the Far East and Britain in Europe as its future imaginary enemies.Since the re-emergence of Nazi Germany, the United States quickly realized that Germany is its real future enemy.After the outbreak of the Second World War, the U.S. government apparently did not involve itself in the war, but in fact, out of long-term considerations for the national interests, President Roosevelt saw that after the victory of the Axis powers, Europe, Africa, and Asia were all in their positions. President Roosevelt believed that there was nothing more important in today's world than bringing down Hitler.In order to deal with the powerful isolationist forces in the country, Roosevelt stated that the United States would never get involved in the war, and on the other hand claimed in the famous "Fireside Chat" that "the United States is at the most dangerous moment in history. If Europe, Asia, and Africa fall In the Axis powers, the United States lived on the muzzle of a gun, and the barrel was filled with explosives. The United States should be the great arsenal of the democratic world." In December 1940, Churchill, who was devastated, wrote to Roosevelt, saying in the letter: "We have paid more than 4.5 billion US dollars in cash, and now we have only 1 billion US dollars left in our hands. Most of them are investments, and many of them are difficult to sell. It is obvious that we cannot live like this any longer, and even if all the gold and foreign possessions were used up, it would not be enough to pay for half of the supplies we have ordered. And the continued prolongation of the war will increase our needs tenfold On January 10, 1941, President Roosevelt began to implement the "Great Arsenal of the Democratic World" plan and submitted a "Lend-Lease Act" to Congress. On March 8, the U.S. Senate approved it by a vote of 60 to 31. On March 31, President Roosevelt signed the document, completed the legislative procedures, and announced on the same day that the United Kingdom and Greece would apply the Act. Four days later, China was included. The nature of the "Lend-Lease Act" is that as long as it is related to the security and defense of the United States, the President of the United States can sell, transfer, exchange and lease all related materials to any country or region without any approval from Congress. Manufacture and sell the military materials they need, and the president can also provide relevant intelligence materials to relevant countries according to the needs of their own security.All this without legal restrictions, which gave President Roosevelt unprecedented power and put the United States in de facto alliances with countries at war with the Axis powers. Germany’s general attempt to attack the Soviet Union’s "Project Barbarossa" was to conduct a far-reaching encirclement operation led by armored forces, and with one quick blow, annihilate the main force of the Soviet army deployed on the western border and prevent it from retreating to the country. Deep in the hinterland; finally, on the Volga River-Arkhangelsk line, a line of defense against the Asian part of the Soviet Union was established, so that the Soviet Air Force could not bomb the German mainland.According to this general plan, the German High Command decided to launch simultaneous attacks on Leningrad in the north, Moscow in the center, and Kyiv, the Ukrainian capital in the south.At the beginning of the war, the troops of Germany and the Soviet Union were formulated as follows: Marshal Li Bu's "Northern Army Group" governed Kuchler's 18th Army, Busch's 16th Army, and Hopner's 4th Armored Group, with a total of 22 infantry divisions, 3 armored divisions, and 3 motorized divisions. And with the support of more than 400 planes from Keller's 1st Air Group, they set off from East Prussia and attacked Leningrad roughly along the Baltic coast.About 16 divisions of the Finnish army and 2 infantry divisions and 2 motorized divisions of the German army supported the offensive in the north of Leningrad, with the goal of joining forces in Leningrad.Facing Germany, the Soviet army deployed the Northwest Front under the command of Kuznetsov, which consisted of 20 divisions in the 8th and 11th armies, including 2 tank corps.In the direction facing Finland, the Northern Front under the command of Potapov was deployed, with 21 divisions and 1 infantry brigade. Marshal Polk's "Central Army Group" includes: Strauss' 9th Army, which governs Hoth's 3rd Armored Group (2 Armored Corps); Kruger's 4th Army, which governs Guderian's The 2nd Armored Group (3 Armored Corps) consisted of 33 infantry divisions, 9 armored divisions, 6 motorized infantry divisions and 1 cavalry division, supported by Kesselring's 2nd Air Force.The Polk Group's mission is to attack Moscow along the "Orsha Land Bridge".What the Soviet army deployed in this direction was the Western Front Army commanded by the famous Soviet tank expert Pavlov, which governed the 3rd, 4th, and 10th armies.There is a mechanized army under each group army, and there is also a reserve team consisting of a mechanized army and a cavalry army. Marshal Lundster's "Army Group South" was divided into left and right groups. Reichnau's 6th Army, Stirpnagel's 17th Army, and Kleist's 1st Armored Group formed the left army. The special 11th Army, the Romanian 3rd, and 4th Army formed the Right Army, which attacked from Poland and Romania to the general direction of Ukraine, and invested a total of 14 Romanian divisions and 41 German divisions (including 5 armored divisions and 3 motorized divisions), supported by some 600 aircraft from Lehr's 4th Air Force.Hungary, between Poland and Romania, will also send several brigades to the fight.The Soviet army faced Poland with the Southwest Front Army of Kirbonos, and faced Romania with the Southern Front Army of Tyurenev (the two fronts were soon merged into the Southwest Front Army, with Marshal Budyonny as the commander-in-chief).The Southwest Front has jurisdiction over the 5th, 6th, 12th, and 26th Group Armies, with a total of 32 infantry divisions, 3 cavalry divisions, and 8 mechanized corps.The Southern Front has jurisdiction over the 9th and 18th Group Armies, with a total of 13 infantry divisions, 3 cavalry divisions, and 2 mechanized corps. From the point of view of the deployment of the German army, the Pripyat swamp is used as the boundary and divided into two theaters, the South and the North. Swarm" fought south of the Pripyat Marsh.The main force of the German army is in the middle, with two armored clusters.According to the requirements of the "Barbarossa Plan", the German army in the center advanced along the "Orsha Land Bridge" with open terrain and no river obstacles, and stopped advancing after reaching Smolensk. Two armored groups went north to support Leningrad, and Go south to assist Ukraine, and after Leningrad and Kyiv are resolved, and the threats from the northern and southern flanks are eliminated, then concentrate on launching a general attack on Moscow.However, judging from the plan itself, Hitler had more goals: militarily, he wanted to annihilate the main force of the Soviet army and prevent it from fleeing to the hinterland; economically, he wanted to seize grain from Ukraine and coal from Donets; Leningrad, and now the capital Moscow.As for how to arrange the order of these goals, Hitler and his high command did not have a reasonable arrangement, which was also the fatal wound of the German high command throughout the war against the Soviet Union. Judging from the deployment of the Soviet army, the main force of the Soviet army was deployed south of the Pripyat swamp, because the Soviet side estimated that Hitler wanted to seize the Ukrainian grain-producing areas, the Donets coal mine and the Caucasus oil, and the main force of the German army would be deployed here. Direction, so focus on the defense of Ukraine.Judging from the specific deployment of the entire Soviet army in the border area, it was neither defensive nor offensive. This nondescript strategic deployment just exposed the Soviet Union's misjudgment of the overall situation when the war was about to break out.This included Stalin's wishful thinking to delay the war, believing that Germany would not risk fighting on two fronts and launching a war against the Soviet Union until it had ended its war with Britain.Stalin's logical reasoning was turned into a catastrophic error by Hitler's audacity. In the early morning of June 22, 1941, Germany launched a large-scale surprise attack on the Soviet Union on a vast front stretching 2,200 kilometers from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Black Sea in the south. It was sent out for 3 hours, and even the army-level headquarters did not receive it.The Luftwaffe was the first to dispatch and carried out effective strikes against various military targets in the Soviet border defense lines and deep areas. Within a few hours of the war, the Soviet frontline air force was paralyzed, and the Luftwaffe won the battlefield air supremacy in one fell swoop.On the ground, the unsuspecting Soviet army suddenly fell into chaos. Some troops broke up, and some fought stubbornly alone. Most of the troops lost contact with each other, and between superiors and subordinates. The Supreme Command had no way of knowing what was going on at the front even in the first few days of the war.Although individual troops resisted bravely, they still could not stop the fierce German offensive. In the middle, Hoth's 3rd Armored Group and Guderian's 2nd Armored Group served as the spearheads of the attack. On the day of the attack, they penetrated the Soviet defense line in a narrow front and developed in depth at an alarming speed.There was a disagreement in the German High Command. Polk advocated that the armored forces should be developed as far as possible, and the encirclement point should be placed in Smolensk. Guderian and Hoss also agreed with this idea, but Hitler did not adopt it, worrying that the encirclement would be too large. Not dense enough.He ordered the armored forces to join forces in Minsk. On June 24, Pavlov, the commander of the Western Front of the Soviet Army, made a decision that led to a disastrous defeat, and ordered the transfer of all army groups and reserves of the Front Army, and there was a vacuum in Minsk. On June 26, the Guderian and Hoth armored groups advancing towards the rear of the Soviet army met in Minsk. On June 28, the German 9th Army and the 4th Army completed a close-distance rendezvous, and about 22 divisions of the Soviet Army were put into the two "pockets" of Bialystok and Novogludok. On July 3, the Soviet troops in the Bialystok encirclement surrendered. On July 8, the German army had captured 290,000 Soviet troops, captured and destroyed 2,500 tanks and 1,500 artillery pieces.Those who were encircled and wiped out were the 3rd, 4th, 10th and 11th armies of the Soviet Army, as well as most of the 13th army who came to reinforce them. On June 30, Pavlov, commander of the Western Front of the Soviet Army, and Klimovsky, his chief of staff, were recalled to Moscow and shot after trial. On July 2, Timoshenko took over the command of the Soviet Army's Western Front, and Budyonny's reserve front army included 4 army groups under his command, and rebuilt the defense line in the upper reaches of the Dvina River and the upper Dnieper River to serve as a defense for Moscow. barrier.While the Battle of Minsk was still going on, part of the German armored forces couldn't wait to start the next round of pincer attack. On July 11, Guderian's 2nd Armored Army Group unexpectedly crossed the Dnieper River, established a strong bridgehead south of Orsha and north of Novi Bekhov, and began to attack Timoshenko's rear Smolens. Sk advanced quickly.At the same time, Hoth's 3rd Armored Group overcame the swamp barrier and moved up from the north. On July 16, the two armored groups reached an encirclement again in the Smolensk area, and the Soviet 16th and 20th armies were put into "pockets".However, Guderian did not seal a gap to the south.By August 5, when the Soviet army in the Smolensk encirclement stopped its final resistance, about 300,000 Soviet troops were captured and more than 3,000 tanks were lost.Then the Germans encircled and annihilated the Soviet 28th Army in Roslav, and then annihilated the newly-built Soviet Central Front.By the end of August, the German "Central Army Group" basically smashed the main force of the Soviet army in Belarus, captured about 600,000 people, destroyed and captured more than 5,000 tanks, and advanced more than 800 kilometers, only 400 kilometers away from Moscow. In the north, Manstein's 56th Armored Army and Reinhardt's 41st Armored Army in Hopner's 4th Armored Group, as the two attacking spearheads of the German "Northern Army Group", broke through the Soviet defense line and crossed the entire territory of Lithuania. into Latvia. On June 23, the German and Soviet armies launched a large-scale tank battle in the village of La Senier. The 41st Armored Army of Reinhardt defeated the three tank divisions of the 3rd and 12th Motorized Army of the Soviet Army, and the Soviet Army withdrew from Riga. On June 26, the vanguard of Manstein's 56th Panzer Army disguised itself as a Soviet army, mixed into the retreating Soviet column, reached the Dvina River, and captured a ferry, allowing Kuznetsov to hold on to the Dvina River Hopes have come to naught.The Soviet army began to retreat in the direction of Leningrad.Since the European part of the Soviet Union was funnel-shaped and widened as it went east, the German army invaded the territory of the Soviet Union. Restricted by this terrain, the German army's offensive axis to Leningrad spread out like a fan bone, and its strength was obviously insufficient.Coupled with the fact that most of this area is continuous forests and swamps, the armored forces that the German army relied on to win were greatly restricted in Lake Bepas and Lake Ilmen, making it almost impossible to move. On July 10, the Supreme Command of the Soviet Army was reorganized, and Stalin became the Supreme Commander. He divided the western battlefield into three theaters: the Northwest Theater, the Western Theater, and the Southwest Theater.Voroshilov was the commander-in-chief of the Northwest Theater, and Zhdanov was the political commissar, including Popov's Northern Front and Sobinikov's Northwest Front. At the end of July, the Finnish troops put pressure on Popov's northern front from the east and west of Lake Ladoga, and the Soviet army was forced to retreat 130 kilometers.Although the German army achieved initial victories, due to supply difficulties and harsh terrain, the infantry fell far behind. As a result, most of the defeated Soviet 8th, 11th, and 27th Army Groups in the border areas were able to escape. It is intact, except that a lot of heavy equipment has been discarded, and a large area of ​​​​territory has been temporarily lost.If the Northwest Front sticks to the border areas, its fate will be as miserable as Pavlov's Western Front.The Germans actually fought a rout in the area, and in August they snailed toward Leningrad.And all the troops of the Soviet army shrunk to Leningrad, strengthening the city's defense force.At the same time, the Soviet side mobilized nearly 500,000 people almost every day to build Leningrad's fortifications, laying the foundation for the subsequent victory in the defense battle.In short, because the German High Command ignored the factors of terrain and space, the German blitzkrieg against the Baltic Sea region ultimately failed. In the south, the German army originally planned to dispatch from Poland and Romania at the same time to attack the Soviet Southwest Front Army in Ukraine from two fronts. However, when the war started, they were worried that the Soviet Union would attack the Romanian Proiesti oil field, so they took a unilateral detour from Poland.Kleist's 1st Armored Group acted as the offensive spearhead of the German "Army Group South". On June 23, it began to fight the 22nd, 9th, and 19th Mechanized Armies of the Soviet Army.Since the Soviet tank unit was just put together hastily, without good training, let alone any combat experience, apart from being able to bluff people in terms of designations, it is actually vulnerable.After Kleist defeated the three mechanized armies of the Soviet army, he continued to advance in depth, threatening the retreat of the Soviet 6th, 26th, and 12th armies. On July 1, the Romanian army and the German 11th army crossed the Proust River. The advance to Transnistria put the Soviet army in a precarious position. On June 30, Moscow instructed the commander of the Southwest Front, Kirponos, to issue an order to retreat across the board. The Soviet army abandoned heavy equipment and quickly retreated to the old border in 1938. On July 8, Kleist broke through the old border defenses and occupied Zhytomyr the next day.But Kirponos was not so easy to deal with. On July 10, Potapov's 5th Army, which had originally retreated to the edge of the Pripyat Swamp in the north, joined other troops to attack Kleist's flank. , temporarily cut off its supply lines.During the last retreat, the 5th Army fought a beautiful victory in the swamp.Now Reichnau's 6th Army had to drive Potapov back into the swamp.Later, Potapov always maintained a threat to the German flank, which prevented the 6th Army from performing the dual tasks of supporting the armored forces and consolidating the results of the battle, which made Hitler and his high command very troubled.After a hard struggle, the German army finally came to Kyiv, and it seemed that the city was within easy reach.As Kyiv was a bait to keep the Soviets in Ukraine, Hitler ordered a delay in the siege.Fighting until August 2, the Kleist armored group successfully detoured to Uman, and 20 divisions of the Soviet 6th and 12th Army were surrounded in Uman. On August 8, the Battle of Uman ended. The German army captured 2 army commanders and 7 military headquarters, a total of 103,000 people, more than 300 tanks, and more than 800 artillery pieces. The victory in the Battle of Uman opened up the situation for the German "Army Group South".The remnants of the Southern Front Army of the Soviet Army Tyurenev were trapped on the large protrusion on the Black Sea coast and the Romanian border, and were in danger of being completely cut off by the German troops from the north. Therefore, the Southern Front Army left a Primorsky Army to guard Odessa, and the rest quickly retreated eastward.At this time, although the Southwest Front Army was strengthened by the 26th, 37th, and 38th armies, the situation was already very bad. Guderian's 2nd Armored Group of the German "Central Army Group" and the German "Southern Army Group" The Kleist 1st Armored Group has threatened the Soviet Southwest Front in the Kyiv area in the north and south. At this moment, the German Supreme Command and senior generals are also caught in a dispute over whether to seize Moscow or Kyiv first.Brauchitsch, Halder, Polk, Guderian, Hoss and other generals advocated attacking Moscow, first knocking out the giant's head and then drawing the rest.But Hitler believed that these generals knew nothing about the economics of war.At this time, the head of state with changing ideas and elusive interests has his sights firmly fixed on the food in Ukraine, the coal in Donets, the oil in the Caucasus, and the opponent's bomber base in the Crimea Peninsula.He decided to transfer the 2nd Weicks Army and the 2nd Guderian Armored Group in the "Central Army Group" to Ukraine to fight.At the same time, the Soviet Supreme Command also disagreed on how to proceed next. On July 30, Zhukov, the chief of staff of the Soviet army, analyzed the location and deployment of the German armored and motorized units, and concluded that the German army would suspend the offensive in the direction of Moscow and turn to the rear assault of the Southwest Front.He suggested to Stalin that the Southwest Front Army should abandon Kyiv and withdraw across the Dnieper River, but was reprimanded by Stalin as "nonsense."Zhukov responded impulsively that if he thought the chief of staff could only talk nonsense, he should be removed from office.Sure enough, Stalin dismissed his chief of staff and transferred him to the reserve team, with the ill Shaposhnikov replacing Zhukov. On August 14, the 50th and 13th armies of the Soviet Army hurriedly formed the Bryansk Front Army, with Yelymenko as the commander, responsible for striking the east flank of the German army going south to ensure the security of the Southwest Front Army's rear. On August 19, under the strong pressure of the German 6th Army, Popov's 5th Army retreated to the Dnieper River line. The Soviet Supreme Command ordered to defend Kyiv and the Dnieper River line at all costs. On August 25, the German 2nd Army and the 2nd Armored Group began to forcibly cross the Desna River. Guderian's armored forces quickly overwhelmed the interception of the Bryansk Front Army (Eremenko promised Stalin to defeat Guderian), It penetrated deeply to the rear of the Southwest Front Army.At the same time, Kleist's armored forces in the south crossed the Dnieper River at Kremenchuk and began to move north.In this way, the two armored units of the German army formed an unstoppable advancing situation in the empty rear of the Southwest Front. The commanders of the Southwest Direction Army, Budyonny and Kilponos, calmly analyzed the situation. Since Guderian's armored group had penetrated the rear (not yet joined forces with Kleist, who was heading north), they requested the Supreme Command on September 11. Abandoning Kyiv, the entire army retreated east, but was rejected by Stalin and Shaposhnikov.Apparently, Moscow did not know that catastrophe was imminent. On September 13, Budyonny was dismissed and transferred to the reserve front army, and Timoshenko took over command of the southwest direction. On September 14th, it was an ominous day for the Soviet army. Guderian's 2nd Armored Group and Kleist's 1st Armored Group met at Lokhvica, 240 kilometers far behind east of Kyiv.The most powerful heavy military group in the Soviet Union-the huge Southwest Front Army was all packed into the "giant pocket". On September 17, the Moscow High Command finally ordered a retreat to the east, but it was too late. From September 16 to 26, the Kyiv encirclement became a "boiling cauldron", which did not calm down until the last batch of Soviet troops stopped resisting.Most of the 5th, 21st, 26th, and 37th armies of the Soviet Army and part of the 40th and 38th armies were wiped out. Kirponos, his political commissar Burmistenko, and chief of staff Tupikov were all killed. .The Germans captured 665,000 Soviet troops, 824 tanks, and 3,018 artillery pieces.Except for a few troops who broke through the encirclement, the Southwest Front Army was basically wiped out. The Battle of Kyiv was the largest encirclement battle in the history of world wars. It was undoubtedly a huge tactical victory for the German army, but it was also a major strategic mistake, because it objectively delayed the march to Moscow. On September 30, 1941, the German army restarted its attack on Moscow in accordance with Hitler's 35th order, the "Typhoon Plan".由于德军兵力已感不足，故而分别从“北方集团军群”调出霍普纳第4装甲集群（欠一个装甲军），从“南方集团军群”调出一个装甲军，以加强进攻莫斯科的“中央集团军群”的实力。德军的部署是：施特劳斯第9军团和莱茵哈特第3装甲集群从北面包围莫斯科，克鲁格第4军团和霍普纳第4装甲集群（接管了古德里安的一个装甲军）在中间正面进攻，魏克斯第2军团和古德里安第2装甲集群（接管了克莱斯特的一个装甲军）从南面迂回包围莫斯科。此时集结在莫斯科西面维亚兹马防御地区的西方方面军约有100个师，在南面的还有布良斯克方面军的两个集团军。 古德里安在南面首先拉开了向莫斯科总攻的序幕，他与魏克斯配合，快速迂回，将布良斯克方面军合围，在10月25日将其大部歼灭。古德里安在南面发动打击的第6天，10月4日，莱茵哈特和霍普纳装甲部队在正面突贯苏军防线，10月6日，德军的装甲集群升格为装甲军团。同一天，苏军以复杂的变更部署的办法实施撤退，终于铸成大错。10月7日，快速推进的德军装甲部队顺利会师，将苏军科涅夫指挥的西方方面军第19、20、24、32集团军和博尔金的预备队包围在维亚兹马以西地区，经一个星期的抵抗，包围圈里的苏军便缴械投降。苏军至少有45个师被歼，被俘不下65万人，俘获坦克1242辆、火炮5412门。中路德军已前出到莫则斯克，距莫斯科104公里。 为挽救危局，斯大林把朱可夫从列宁格勒调回，负责莫斯科的防御。10月10日，朱可夫接管西方方面军和预备役方面军时，所能收集到的兵力不过9万人。然而，10月中旬天气突然变坏，大雨和初次降雪使道路变得泥泞，装甲机动车辆陷在泥浆中难以动弹，后勤补给和人员补充开始发生严重困难。古德里安在莫斯科南面的迂回，首先受阻于图拉，接着在整个环绕莫斯科长达近1000公里的半圆形进攻线上，德军的攻势迅速减弱。由于以往取胜的法宝——装甲机动性消融在一片泥泞中，德军只能依靠步兵向莫斯科挣扎前进。在11月到12月里，苏军通过新建、重组、增援等手段，使莫斯科防线上的兵力得到迅速加强。在莫斯科后方新成立9个集团军，其中2个集团军和3个集团军之部分到达莫斯科前线，训练有素、配有良好冬季作战装备的西伯利亚部队也加入了首都保卫战的序列。 泥泞过后是严冬的提前降临，气温急剧下降，毫无冬季作战准备的德军顿时陷于瘫痪，汽油被冻结，坦克不能发动，冬装堆积在遥远的斯摩棱斯克，无法运到前线，德军部队大量减员，一个连往往只有二三十人。尽管如此，德军还是硬着头皮向莫斯科缓慢进击。11月16日，德军在零下8度的气温下对莫斯科展开总攻。11月28日，北翼的霍斯第3装甲军团和霍普纳第4装甲军团奋力挣扎，进到莫斯科近郊14公里处，克里姆林宫尖塔遥遥在望，但在弗拉索夫第20集团军、库兹涅佐夫第1突击集团军、列柳申科第30集团军、罗柯索夫斯基第16集团军的坚强阻击下，再也没有前进。12月2日，克鲁格第4军团在中路向莫斯科发动正面冲击，德军第258步兵师一个营已突入莫斯科郊区希姆基，被从工厂里涌出的手持工具的工人们赶了回来，莫斯科郊外的森林地形使德军的进攻受到很大限制。波克将“最后一个营投入战斗”后，无可奈何地打电话给哈尔德，说他已经到了山穷水尽的地步，哈尔德却在温暖的参谋本部极力给波克打气。12月5日，南翼的古德里安第2装甲军团在零下62度（一说为零下52度）的气温下，向图拉做了最后一次进攻，被博尔金的第50集团军和扎哈尔金的第49集团军击退。这时，苏军从后方开来的第26、10、61集团军已接近古德里安的侧翼，威胁其退路。第二天，朱可夫命令莫斯科防线上的苏军，发起全面反攻。 德军的挫折首先出现在南面的罗斯托夫。基辅会战结束后，德军“南方集团军群”抽出部分精锐部队，支援中路集团军进攻莫斯科后，便打算经顿涅茨盆地向遥远的高加索前进，那里石油的气味很吸引希特勒。这时伦德斯特共有40个师，其战斗序列中的曼斯坦因第11军团、罗马尼亚第3军团已陷在克里米亚不能脱身；霍斯第17军团在中间，向北顿涅茨河进军；南翼的克莱斯特第1装甲军团沿黑海北岸，朝米乌斯河挺进；北翼的赖希瑙第6军团向哈尔科夫推进，并尽可能与中央集团的魏克斯第2军团保持联系，后者则掩护着向莫斯科南面迂回的古德里安第2装甲军团的右翼。10月中旬，天气连降暴雨，德军进攻开始减缓，到了10月底，德军勉强攻占塔甘罗格、哈尔科夫，锋芒下指高加索门户罗斯托夫。苏军铁木辛哥的西南方面军和切列维钦科的南方方面军，按莫斯科的命令步步后撤。伦德斯特判断，苏军后撤是为了增援莫斯科方面的防御，下令全线追击。这时严寒已来临，后勤补给严重地影响了德军的前进，克莱斯特第1装甲军团实际上已成为一支马车队。11月20日，在零下20度的严寒下，德军勉强攻占罗斯托夫。 但差不多同时，苏军也发起反攻，苏军南方方面军向克莱斯特装甲军团后方运动，为避免被包围，德军于11月28日，放弃刚到手的罗斯托夫。伦德斯特明智地下令全军一举撤到米乌斯河上，与苏军迅速脱离接触，但希特勒于11月30日下令停止撤退，到达米乌斯河的部队又重新掉头东返，秩序一片混乱。伦德斯特立即提出辞职，希特勒马上照准，并让赖希瑙接任“南方集团军群”司令。希特勒固执地要在米乌斯河前面10公里建立一道中间阵地，德军前线将领感到不可思议：为何要计较这10公里地盘而置部队于危险不顾？12月1日，赖希瑙上任第一天就电告希特勒：苏军已突破中间阵地，请求立即撤到米乌斯河一线。希特勒马上照准。参谋总长哈尔德悔恨道：“我们到达了昨晚已到达的地方，可是我们损耗了精力和时间，也失去了伦德斯特。” 德军“南方集团军群”在罗斯托夫受挫，李布元帅指挥的“北方集团军群”则在提赫文地区碰壁。原先李布向希特勒建议，利用秋季良好的天气，扩大在拉多加湖南岸的地盘，但希特勒又被经济问题所吸引，命令李布夺取提赫文的铝土矿产区。11月8日，德军布施第16军团的一个装甲军和一个步兵军击败苏军第4集团军，攻占了提赫文并威胁到与芬兰人对峙的苏军第7独立集团军的后方。苏军用改组前线指挥机构的独特办法来应付这一危机，调集第4、52、54集团军，由梅列茨科夫负责指挥。从11月11日开始，向德军发动一连串的反攻，李布使出浑身解数却再也不能前进一步了，很快被迫撤出提赫文。11月18日，拉多加湖全部封冻，4天后，苏军第一批卡车队越过冰冻的湖面，到达列宁格勒，这使列宁格勒因饥饿而沦陷的可能变得十分渺茫。 苏军在莫斯科方面的反攻最见成效，差点导致德军“中央集团军群”的毁灭。12月8日，希特勒被迫同意放弃攻势，但“中央集团军群”却陷入进不能攻、退不能守、原地又站不住的困境。波克提请希特勒注意，必须在攻和守之间择其一。如果继续进攻必须冒全军覆没的危险；如果守的话，那么无论现在的阵地上还是后方，都没有构筑任何防御工事。希特勒汲取了拿破仑在没有彻底摆脱对方的情况下实施撤退，最后酿成全军溃散的历史教训，于12月16日严令德军坚守前方阵地，不许作任何撤退，即使苏军已威胁侧翼和后方也不准撤退。这条命令事后来看确实拯救了“中央集团军群”免于崩溃，但也过于苛刻，因为即使是短距离的、必要的战术性撤退也不准。在以后几个月的防御战中，许多前线将领因坚持做必要的战术性退却，被希特勒免职。其中有勃劳希契元帅、波克元帅、伦德斯特元帅、李布元帅、屈希勒元帅、古德里安上将、霍普纳上将。12月19日，希特勒自任德军陆军总司令，他对哈尔德说，指挥作战这点小事谁都可以干，真正需要的是政治觉悟和决心。 苏军在莫斯科防线上的反攻于12月5日夜间开始，科涅夫的加里宁方面军越过冰封的伏尔加河上游攻击德军第9军团的后方，第二天，朱可夫的西方方面军向德军第3、4、2装甲军团发起攻击，在达成突破后，迅速向纵深发展。德军不顾希特勒坚守原来阵地的命令，丢弃大批重武器装备和无法运走的物资，踉跄后退，苏军俘获甚丰。苏军整个反攻态势是：科涅夫在右路从加里宁向斯摩棱斯克方向前进；朱可夫的西方方面军分南、北两翼在左路，同紧贴着德军古德里安装甲军团的布良斯克方面军携手走一条弧线，经维亚兹马向斯摩棱斯克进击，企图将德军“中央集团军群”包围在从莫斯科到斯摩棱斯克纵深约320多公里的“口袋”中；库罗奇金的西北方面军掩护着科涅夫的北面，大致沿德军“北方集团军群”和“中央集团军群”的分界线进攻。从战后来看，苏军最高统帅部的胃口太大了些。 到了1942年1月底，苏军左右两路已深入德军后方，莫德尔第9军团和鲁奥夫第4装甲军团深陷在即将封闭的包围圈内。这时苏军离出发基地已超过200多公里，后勤补给的困难暴露无遗，攻势锐减，无力在斯摩棱斯克附近地区扎上口袋嘴。苏军第1近卫骑兵军、叶夫列莫夫的第33集团军以及一些空降部队曾差点在维亚兹马以南封闭口袋嘴，由于苏军统帅部过早地撤走库兹涅佐夫第1突击集团军和罗柯索夫斯基第16集团军去增援南北两翼，使得向西进攻的弗拉索夫第20集团军攻势减弱，结果包围圈里的德军抽出兵力与包围圈外的部队联合行动，反把“袋口”附近的苏军第33集团军之一部、第1近卫骑兵军、第4空降军之一部和部分游击队包围起来，并于同年3月初将其歼灭。3月末，苏军加里宁方面军和西方方面军再次发动进攻，试图包围德军“中央集团军群”，但这时因春季道路泥泞，补给运输困难，加之部队筋疲力尽，苏军在莫斯科以西的反攻已变得有气无力。几天后，即4月初，苏军的攻势就停了下来。苏德战场暂时平静了下来。