The Red Army's progress was not smooth, and the reasons have been mentioned before, the bad weather and chaotic logistics organization. Especially the weather, in Russia, the Ukrainian border area was heavy snow, but when it came to Nosovka, it was a completely different appearance.

Before launching the attack, the Red Army meteorologists estimated based on previous years that they believed that from late February to early March, the surrounding areas of Kiev should be frozen and the muddy roads would be frozen tightly. Such a climate is conducive to the operation of the armored forces.

But unexpectedly, when the cold and cold northern scenery in other areas was in late February, it was quite abnormal around Kiev: the temperature was still minus 15 degrees Celsius at night, but by day, the temperature rose sharply under sunlight, reaching above 2 to 3 degrees Celsius.

This caused a very bad situation. The ground that was supposed to be frozen was "extremely soft" compared to previous years. When tanks and armored vehicles rolled over both sides, it turned into a big quagmire!

The situation was also very bad not only in the wild, especially in the attack area of ​​the First Army of the Guards Mechanized, which was particularly serious. Petrovsky later recalled: "... Due to confidentiality, the Front Command ordered the troops to prohibit any pre-war reconnaissance... The armored troops could not pass through that muddy road. During the entire battle, a total of 132 vehicles of our army were trapped in the mud, and 5 T-54s were trapped so that only the turret was left behind. "The Soviet hero said with regret that he was not without regret. "This place was used to drive submarines, not tanks!"

Ironically, Triandafilov had reminded Tukhachevsky before: "This place is not suitable for large-scale armored group combat." However, these advices were regarded as a breeze by Tukhachevsky.

Another ridiculous point is that in order to achieve absolute confidentiality, Tukhachevsky did not even allow ground troops to conduct any reconnaissance! They could be said to be ignorant of the deployment of the enemy in front of them. Although the staff officers of the Belarusian Front and the Ukrainian Front Command complained and made many requests, Tukhachevsky still stubbornly insisted on his own opinion, and in the end they could only make the mistakes.

At that time, when the main force of the participating troops slowly concentrated towards the assembly ground in the hazy weather. In order not to be discovered by the enemy, except for the armored troops, the rest of the infantry were not allowed to take vehicles and could only advance on foot.

Unfortunately, snow began to fall again at this time, which undoubtedly added fuel to the already very bad road conditions. The fully armed Red Army infantry had to advance in the mud that was not as strong as their calves. The already inadequate physical strength was consumed in vain in the final marching.

Malinovsky wrote in his diary with concern: "Through the military window ten kilometers away from the front line, I could see the soldiers trekking slowly in the mud, and they could not catch up with the battle at all. Moreover, the troops did not have the conditions to launch an attack immediately, because no regiment could arrive at the front line in full capacity... I begged the Group Army Command to postpone the attack date, but was told that the attack date could never be changed, and the General Staff had issued a death order!"

Although all this indicates ominous signs for the Red Army, the arrow has been put on Xuan and the knife has been unsheathed. The armored troops ready to go still left a deep impression on each other's soldiers and even the senior commander. Everyone still has the last glimmer of hope for this rescue operation led by Tukhachevsky, which may be successful?

For example, Baglamyan wrote this passage in his diary: "Did I really see all this wrong? Although the General Staff's plan was a little hasty, the young men were still full of morale. Maybe the General Staff was right. At this moment, I was indeed so dizzy and overwhelmed. Divisions one by one surrounded me. The cars roared forward, and each battalion was moving forward with a loud bang, one tank after another, all ready to pursue the enemy. Once our tanks reached a breakthrough, all this would be suppressed with a storm, to defeat and crush any enemy blocking us..."

At this time, the German army, who was attacked by Zhukov, finally woke up. They suddenly discovered that the Red Army was not a sick cat, but a tiger that only ate people. Once Kiev is revitalized, the next battle situation in Ukraine will undergo earth-shaking changes, and this change is quite unfavorable to the German army.

In the face of this severe situation, Xiaowang convened a senior general on the front line to hold an emergency meeting.

"The huge danger is approaching us," the head of state explained to the crowd in a serious tone: "The enemy has obviously not given up yet. Their goal is obvious, and they are ready to rescue millions of untouchables and troops in the city of Kiev. At the end of last year, they had tried their first counterattack, and this will be the second time. There is no doubt that this time they will invest in a larger force. And I think this will be a good opportunity for us to fight another annihilation battle in the surrounding areas of Kiev!"

You read that right, Xiaomouzi is indeed preparing to fight an annihilation battle in Kiev. In Xiaomouzi's opinion, Kiev is just a pocket, while the Red Army's rescue troops are moths to the flames. The first and second tank clusters that stay at Gomel can be inserted from the flanks, and then cut off the rear of the main force of the Red Army, and finally cooperate with the Southern Army Group to eat the rushing in one bite.

This was a bold plan, but Xiaowang felt that the possibility of success was quite high. He believed that the Red Army was just a mob. In August 1941, he could defeat the Red Army, and now it was no problem to encircle and annihilate the Red Army, which was even weaker than at that time.

Xiaomouzi even believed that the Red Army had fallen into the trap. If these Red Army could be wiped out, the victory of this war would definitely belong to Germany. However, compared with Xiaomouzi's full confidence, his generals and marshals were not so sure.

Longdested believed: "The Red Army came very fiercely, and after suffering the setbacks of Bryansk, our army was still in the recovery period. Especially the Southern Army Group, a large number of troops were restrained by Kiev. Even if it was invested in the first and second tank clusters, it was not able to eat so many enemies in one bite. What's more, the weather was bad and the supply was still not optimistic. In this state, it was too difficult to wipe out the enemy completely. Our army should choose combat targets more realistically..."

Longdested's opinion was very correct. The German army was indeed limited in strength. It also had many constraints. An unrealistic plan to eat the Red Army was equivalent to a snake swallowing an elephant. In the end, it could only choke to death.

Of course, the German army's plan to annihilate the war is only in its prototype. After all, the current situation on the battlefield is not good for them. If the Red Army cannot be blocked from Kiev, then let alone encirclement and annihilation.

Therefore, the correct response of the German army was to first block the Red Army's offensive before discussing other issues. Soon, under the deployment of Longdested, the Southern Army Group immediately took active action and carefully studied defensive strategies. More reserve teams were mobilized in the Red Army's assault area and more fortifications were built.

German soldiers raced against time to dig up fortifications during the Red Army bombing, and within 24 hours of the order of Longdested, they built a new line of defense on the Nosovka line. According to Longdested's request: "The main task of each army is to drag down and exhaust the enemy's attack with dense and solid anti-tank defensive positions. Once the situation is stable, immediately resolutely join the reserve team to fight back with the cooperation of reinforcements!"

In other words, the German army was preparing to fight an active defensive battle. The German army would consume the attack energy of the Red Army with a large-scale defense system. When the Red Army's offensive was exhausted, it would defeat the opponent in one breath.

In order to withstand the Red Army's offensive, Longdested could be said to have taken the initiative and placed all anti-tank forces in front of the Red Army. In addition, the engineers buried 700 to 800 anti-tank mines and 600 to 700 anti-infantry mines in each square kilometer of the front line. In some key areas, the mine layout density even reached 2,700 anti-tank mines and 2,500 anti-infantry mines per square kilometer.

On the basis of high-density mine laying, the German army also strengthened the troops to use the terrain to re-draw mines in a short time during the battle, forming a training force that can maximize the organization of enemy advancement. It also formed a combat engineer company, submachine gun platoon, and anti-tank gunners to carry out field mobile mine laying missions under mutual cover.

Because the number of armored troops of the Southern Army Group was relatively small, and the first tank cluster was transferred to the north, Longdested decided that the armored troops would no longer be dismantled and equipped with the infantry divisions on the front line, but would be concentrated and used in a unified manner.

However, there is too little time left for the German army to prepare, and the German army does not have enough time to improve and consolidate its defense line. After all, the Red Army's comprehensive attack was already underway. Among them, the German army had the greatest pressure on the 11th Army.

This army is just in charge of defending the Nosovka front line, and the combat effectiveness of the army is problematic. Because the army is not a pure German army, it is a large platter mixed with German and Romanian troops.

The army group is under its jurisdiction, namely:

The 11th Army is composed of the 22nd, 76th, 9th Infantry Division, the 6th Infantry Division of Romania. The 5th and 8th Cavalry Brigade of Romania;

The 30th Army consists of the 198th Infantry Division. The 8th and 14th Infantry Division of Romania, and the 6th Cavalry Brigade of Romania;

The 54th Army consists of the 50th and 170th Infantry Divisions;

Finally, the group also has a military delegation to Romania and has the 72nd Infantry Division. In addition, the commander of the group army was famous in later generations, and he was Manstein!

From the organization of the group army, we can see that half of the troops in the group army are Romanian, and the combat effectiveness of the Romanian soldiers is really not satisfactory. The very important reason why Tukhachevsky chose Nosovka as a breakthrough is that the Romanians are here.

However, objectively speaking, the Romanians were quite powerful this time. The Romanian troops of the 30th Army were attacked by the First Guards mechanized Army. The 198th Infantry Division of the German Army was not arranged on the front line, but served as a reserve force. At the beginning, the Romanians were the Romanians.

To be honest, after the war, Petrovsky was incredible. He had never expected that he would be blocked by a group of polished Romanians.

While the 30th Army and the 54th Army strongly resisted waves of violent attacks of the Red Army, Manstein personally commanded the 11th Army to repair the defense line and repaired a new defense line in a short time. According to every 4-6 anti-tank guns, 4-6 artillery, mortars, and an infantry platoon of mobile anti-tank teams responsible for cover were distributed within an area of ​​about 16-20 kilometers wide on the front.

Among them, the defensive areas of the 22nd and 76th Divisions are flat and are expected to be the key point for the Red Army to break through, so they have achieved a very high defense density. Each kilometer of the front line has an average of 8 to 9 anti-tank guns, as well as 35 to 40 other types of supporting artillery, and about two infantry regiments.

Five days later, when the Romanians who were facing Petrovsky head-on finally collapsed, the direct battle between the German and the Red Army began.

At 4:30, according to the original combat plan, the Red Army field artillery began to launch artillery bombardment on the defensive positions of the 22nd and 76th Divisions of the German Army. The shells tore the morning mist of dawn like dazzling meteors tilted on the German positions. At the same time, the air force fighter jets responsible for supporting also roared over the German heads, dived and dropped bombs or strafle. In an instant, violent roars submerged all the sounds, and the entire front line seemed to have built a curtain wall made of smoke and flames.

After a brief 30-minute artillery fire and air strike preparation, the First Army of the Guards Mechanized launched an attack at 5 a.m. The red signal flares rose slowly in the orchid sky with vaguely shining with stars. Unswerving instructions came from the headphones of the platoons of each tank: "Carry up and line up! Set off!"

The drivers stepped on the accelerator one after another, and bursts of black smoke from the exhaust pipe slowly drove out of the position. Tanks lined up in attack formations cut through the bitter cold mist outside the suburbs of the wilderness in the early morning. In an instant, the deafening engine roar shocked the entire battlefield.

The First and Third Tank Divisions of the First Mechanized First Army of the Guards advanced together, and had the ambition to crush the enemy in one fell swoop. So will the actual battle be as smooth as they imagined? Shortly after advancing from the offensive starting point, the First and Third Tank Divisions found that their wishful thinking had failed. What greeted them were countless orange halos flashing from the muzzles on the opposite position, and anti-tank shells sprinkled at them from all directions like dense raindrops.

The harsh sounds and Mars were knocked on the front armor and turrets of t-34, t-35 and t-54, and then turned into dazzling meteor bombs around. The newly dropped light snow at night the day before yesterday caused the morning temperature to drop below 3 degrees Celsius. The road mixed with snow turned into a mud again, and many tanks struggling to move forward quickly fell into the mud.

The steel giant beasts, who were unable to move, were desperately swung the mud-filled tracks. But the injured and weak knees could no longer support their heavy bodies, and could only slowly spread into a mud. Only the b2 engine still made intermittent dying screams. Under the curse and driving of the tank soldiers, they tried to stagger forward.

Petrovsky recorded the bad situation at that time: "The attack area of ​​our army became very soft due to the thawing relationship, and could not bear the weight of tanks and armored vehicles at all. Coupled with the extended minefield of the enemy, the first wave of attacks we invested almost completely. To put it bluntly, our army's attack had no strength at all, and was caught off guard by this bad terrain and progressed very slowly."

The assault engineers and infantry who were slightly adjourned the Red Army also found themselves desperately trapped in a dense rain of gunfire woven by machine guns, mortars and rocket shells. They were pressed against the cold and muddy ground and could not raise their heads. All they could do was wipe away the mud on their faces and barely raise the weapons in their hands and fight back in vain.

However, their opponents were not the kind of slag who was so scared that he threw down his guns and fled in his arms when he heard the roar of the tanks, but the elite German army. Faced with the Red Army's stubborn resistance, they would only cover the past with more powerful firepower. The Red Army soldiers in the charge kept wailing, and were cut down into the mud by the sickle of the God of Death.

The poor terrain seriously affected the ammunition supply and the combat effectiveness of tanks. Only an extremely limited number of tanks could stay on the battlefield to support the infantry's advance, and the rest were trapped in the quagmire and could not move. The fortifications cleverly arranged by the German army brought great trouble to the Red Army.

Soon, the Red Army's front-line troops were moving slower and slower, and as they penetrated into the German defense line, the more tenacious the German war artillery troops faced. The 163rd Division of Mechanized began to make some progress, but after half an hour of launching the attack, it fell into the mud and was directly exposed to the 9th Infantry Division with complete firepower in the German army. The officers and soldiers were killed and injured. Petrovsky had to order the division to suspend the attack and wait for the tanks to follow up for support.

In order to suppress the German firepower to cover the infantry to continue to break through, Petrovsky had to ask his superiors for a large amount of artillery support. In the afternoon of the same day, the Red Army invested nine artillery regiments in one breath on the battlefield. After several rounds of fierce attacks with the support of artillery fire, the First Tank Division and the Third Tank Division finally successfully opened a small breakthrough. The Red Army infantry could finally get up from the mud to seize the position.

However, this does not mean that the Red Army opened up the situation. The German army did not collapse. Under Manstein's command, the German army cleverly contracted and invested some reserves to build a new line of defense behind the breakthrough!

That night, whether it was Petrovsky who was tortured by the mud or Tukhachevsky who rushed to the battlefield to supervise the battle, they were both dissatisfied with the progress, but what made them feel difficult was that when facing the quagmire in front of them, they really couldn't think of too many effective methods, not to mention that their opponent was an old fox... (To be continued)

ps: Bow to thank comrades, glorious charter, hzangdd and comrades Juventus!
Chapter completed!