newbobooks Chapter 192: Calculating Huang Wei
Chapter 192: Calculating Huang Wei
At this time, the Chinese Expeditionary Force's army groups differed significantly from those of the Soviet and German armies. While Soviet and German armies were organized under corps, which in turn were organized under divisions, the Chinese Expeditionary Force's army groups were directly organized under divisions. A German army group consisted of several corps, each under three to four divisions, with tank divisions comprising approximately 3 men, armored divisions comprising 4, and motorized and infantry divisions comprising up to 1.1. A Soviet army group consisted of two to three corps, each under three divisions, with tank divisions comprising over 1.3 men, armored divisions comprising over 1.7, and infantry divisions comprising 2 to 3. The strength of an army group was roughly comparable to that of the Chinese Expeditionary Force, except that the Expeditionary Force lacked the intermediate corps layer, allowing for greater flexibility in operations and command, and greater mobility for each division.
Taking the Third Expeditionary Army as an example, it generally had five divisions under its jurisdiction, with each division having a strength of approximately 5 to 1.2 people, which is roughly equivalent to the German division-level configuration. In terms of tanks, the tank divisions of the Soviet, German, and Chinese Expeditionary Force all had approximately 1.5-150 tanks and tank destroyers. The armored divisions were also roughly equivalent, with approximately 200 tanks and tank destroyers. The motorized divisions had different organization. The German Army had a grenadier regiment with 100 tanks/tank destroyers. The Chinese Expeditionary Force, like the Soviet Army, had only one tank battalion with approximately 51 tanks/tank destroyers.
Therefore, although the 35th Army received support from an airborne division and an armored division of the Soviet Army, it was indeed too weak to deal with the 4th Army, which had 10 armies, more than 10 divisions, hundreds of tanks and more than 6 people.
Old Peng frowned when he heard Huang Wei say this. Indeed, the Chinese and Soviet armies could not afford to delay in the Rostov direction. Every minute of delay meant that the 35th Army in the Kotelnikov direction would be in danger for one more minute.
Seeing the two of them whispering with their heads down and Old Peng looking worried, Lin immediately realized that they were worried about the situation of Fu and the 35th Army. Kotelnikovo, which was defended by the 35th Army, was indeed the key point of the entire southern front.
Lin stepped forward, his expression nonchalant, and calmly addressed the two men, "General Peng, Chief of Staff Huang, are you worried about Kotelnikovo, Fu, and the 35th Army?"
The two looked up and saw that it was Lin. They immediately put their thoughts aside and invited Lin to sit down with them. Lao Peng smiled and said, "Lin, do you have any good ideas?"
Huang Wei knew very well that Lin and Peng, two powerful warriors from different time and space, had no problems that they could not solve, so he sat quietly aside, wanting to listen to Lin's explanation and Peng's decision.
After Lin sat down, he said casually, "Fu is our army's best defense expert. Kotelnikov shouldn't be a problem for him. I bet that if we hadn't captured Rostov, Kotelnikov would never have been lost!"
Peng and Huang also agreed with Lin's words, but they were worried that the 35th Army, which had just arrived in the Soviet Union and had not experienced German artillery fire and such brutal mechanized warfare, would suffer too much loss and would be unable to regroup later.
Lin seemed to see through their thoughts and continued, "General Peng and Chief of Staff Huang may be worried about the 35th Army suffering heavy losses. I don't think that's necessary. Think about those 'left' troops, purely infantry, and they've also made it out. This time, they've transferred several thousand men to me to form a new tank division. You know, only through the baptism of war, tempered by steel, can we become soldiers of steel who can fight a hundred battles!"
Lin's words resonated with both Peng and Huang. Indeed, the people of Huazhong were originally simple and honest, wanting to live an ordinary and peaceful life. It was Japanese imperialism and all reactionaries who used guns and cannons to force them into resistance. Most of them were illiterate, but after experiencing the brutal war, they learned through the war. Now, they can drive tanks and operate artillery, and now they are traveling abroad, sacrificing their lives for the future of Huazhong!
Thinking of this, Peng smiled at the two of them, already having a clue in his mind. He changed the subject and said, "Lin, I heard you've gained a lot of weight now. Two reinforced tank divisions, six divisions of troops, how about the mission of attacking Rostov?"
Lin smiled and said, "Tanks aren't the only ones who can take on Rostov. The enemy has plenty of tanks. I've always believed that tanks have limited capabilities in urban warfare. To capture a city, we still have to rely on infantry."
Huang Wei suddenly felt that Lin seemed to have foresight. In future battles, tanks would become increasingly vulnerable in urban warfare. Individual and small-scale combat would become a hallmark of future warfare. Huang Wei couldn't help but ask, "General Lin, do you have any strategies for conquering Rostov?"
Lin looked at Huang Wei and thought to himself: If I don't let you bleed now, I don't know when I will have such an opportunity again in the future.
Lin thought for a moment and said, "There is a way, but the 115th Army's current offensive capabilities are still insufficient. We need the support of General Huang's 200th Army."
"Oh, what a good idea, tell me about it?" Old Peng also became interested and asked with concern.
This was not the time to play dumb, so Lin organized his speech and explained his idea to the two commanders, Peng and Huang.
Lin's plan was to concentrate his tanks to avoid a forced breakthrough at Rostov, forcing the German 4th Panzer Army to deploy its tanks. Then, they could have another grand tank battle. To capture Rostov, Lin's plan was to use underground explosives to penetrate the city.
When Lin said this, he looked at Huang Wei, and his meaning was very clear: it's your turn to bleed!
Huang Wei saw that Lin stopped talking halfway through his speech and stared at him, and he suddenly had a bad feeling that Lin was plotting against him.
Old Peng stopped talking after Lin mentioned the underground blasting operation and looked straight at Huang Wei. He immediately realized what Lin was thinking. Without interrupting, he turned his head and looked straight at Huang Wei.
Seeing this, Huang Wei knew that these two people had set their sights on him. Although he was not sure about their intentions, it was definitely not a good thing.
Seeing that the two men didn't speak, Huang Wei thought to himself, it's going to be a fight anyway, so I might as well break the deadlock myself.
Huang Wei pretended to be puzzled and asked, "General Peng, General Lin, you are looking at me like that. Is there something wrong with my face?"
When Lin saw Huang Wei speak, he knew he was ready to be cut, so he stopped playing dumb. He said calmly, "Chief of Staff Huang, I don't know if there are flowers on your face, but I see a person in your face. The person I need, you have to give it to me!"
Huang Wei was not a fool. After a quick thought, he realized that the tactic of blasting into Rostov through underground operations in the forest was that he had set his sights on his special operations regiment!
Huang Wei quickly said, "Okay, okay, okay, you just want my special forces regiment, right? I'll give it to you. It's a loan, and you have to return it!"
The three of them burst into laughter...