September 14, 1942, Soviet Union, Belarus.

Although the autumnal equinox has not arrived yet, the wind and rain in Belarus, located in the cold area, are already biting cool. In the drizzling wind and rain, a German armored convoy marked with iron crosses rumbled along a slightly muddy road, and was about to arrive at Derrynsk, thirty-seven or eight kilometers southwest of Minsk.

The Battle of Rakov-Zaslavl continued, but Rakov was occupied by the German army five days ago. The battlefield also moved step by step toward Derzhinsk to the south. The city named after the late Soviet older proletarian revolutionary Derzhinsky was located on the large railway from Moscow to Warsaw.

This is also the first important goal that the German Northern Army is preparing to capture in Belarus. Once this is captured, the German army can cut off the main traffic line between Warsaw and Moscow. While the German Northern Army launched an assault on Derrynsk, a part of the Southern Army also attacked from Lviv to the north. Now it has defeated the blockade of the Soviet Southwest Front and is advancing towards Pinsk in Belarus.

According to the plan, after the Northern Army Group and Southern Army Group occupy Derzhinsk and Pingsk respectively, they will also advance towards Balanovich in Brest Prefecture at the same time. Once Balanovich is occupied, the liaison between Western Belarus and Poland and other parts of the Soviet Union will be cut off. At least one million people will be surrounded by the Soviet Western Front and Belarusian Front!

If we include the large number of troops lost or besieged in the Battle of Warsaw, the Battle of Lviv, the Battle of Leningrad (still continuing) and the Battle of Belarus, more than 3 million troops of the Soviet Red Army were surrounded or annihilated by the Germans in just a few months after the outbreak of the world revolution.

Although such losses are nothing for the Soviet Union, which has super resilience, so many troops were surrounded and eliminated, it is enough to show that Stalin's world revolutionary line was completely wrong. This will shake Stalin's prestige in the interior of the Bolshevik Party of the Soviet Union, which is very beneficial to Germany's favorable peace on the Eastern Front...

However, sitting in a half-tracked armored command vehicle with mud and bullet holes everywhere, Major Gustav Schwarzenegger was not in any mood to consider Stalin's prestige or how to win favorable peace. He now only wanted to take a good nap in the gap between war. It would be great if the Soviet troops guarding there had surrendered or were killed when his tank destroyer battalion arrived in Derrynsk.

In this way, the 5th SS Tank Destroyer Battalion, which had been fighting hard for 20 days, would have a chance to rest. If his battalion could be allowed to enter the city of Derzhinsk, live in a roofed house, take a hot bath, sleep in a warm bed, and have delicious food to eat, that would be the happiest thing in the world.

In the past twenty days, especially in the more than ten days since the Battle of Rakov-Zaslavr, the SS 5th Tank Destroyer Battalion and the other 10 tank destroyers on the battlefield near Minsk are definitely the busiest troops, almost every day, and each "Rhino" tank destroyer fires 4-5 base 88mm shells every day. Those poor loaders are so tired that their arms are swollen every day.

As the commander of the first battalion, Major Schwarzenegger did not have to carry shells himself, but he led his troops around the front line where the fiercest battles were everywhere, and the pressure was imaginable.

Moreover, his SS 5th Tank Destroyer Battalion has not fought under the command of the SS 5th Armored Division these days, but has been wandering around the various armored divisions on the front line. As the battalion commander, he has to deal with different bosses and colleagues, dealing with logistics supplies and various other chores, which is really troublesome.

However, the battle over the past twenty days also made him very satisfied, that is, although the battle was extremely fierce, his subordinates did not suffer many casualties. Because the "Rhino" tank destroyer was regarded as a self-propelled artillery that could attack tanks, it was always arranged to bombard various targets with 88mm guns in a safer position. Although it was hard enough, it was relatively safe and did not suffer much loss. After twenty days of combat, there were 33 "Rhino" tank destroyer vehicles that could be activated in his SS 5th Tank Destroyer Battalion. Among the 9 vehicles that could not be activated, only 4 of them were damaged during the combat, and the remaining five were mechanical failures.

Boom boom boom boom...

The rumbling sound of cannons came, and the sleepy Major Schwarzenegger suddenly woke up. He raised his head and looked at the place where the cannon sound came. The dim sky had been turned red by the flashes of hundreds or more cannons. The battle to attack Derrynsk was obviously at its peak!

...

"Comrade Stalin, the Belarusian Front Command transferred the last telegram from the 9th Mechanized Army stationed in Derrynsk..."

The Deputy Chief of General Gorkov of the Red Army walked into the conference room of the Supreme Soviet Command in the Kremlin and reported the news he had just received in a trembling tone.

"Think." Stalin said.

"All commanders and fighters of the 9th Army of the Workers and Peasants' Red Army, political workers are loyal to their oaths and realize the great mission they shoulder. For the victory of the cause of gism and the liberation of mankind, we will stick to our posts and fight to the last soldier! Now the commander of the army Comrade Glicchiko has died heroically, and the entire army is commanded by the political commissar Guselev. The enemy has advanced to the vicinity of the military headquarters, and the final battle is about to begin. Long live the world revolution! Long live the Soviet motherland! Long live the great leader Stalin! Our station stops sending reports now.l."

After listening to General Golikov's report, Stalin looked expressionless and nodded stiffly, saying, "I understand." Then he swept the people in the conference room with his gloomy eyes. "Comrades, it's only a matter of time before Derrynsk's fall! And because there is no troops to defend, Pinsk will soon fall. Now only Balanovich is left. If the Germans capture it, Brest and Warsaw will soon be surrounded."

It is certain that the German army captured Balanovich, because the Belarusian Front suffered heavy losses in the Battle of Rakov-Zaslavr, losing more than 3,000 tanks/assault artillery, one of the 19 tank brigades was completely wiped out (the brigade of the 9th Mechanized Army), 12 completely lost their combat capabilities, and only 6 tank brigades left had certain combat effectiveness, but they were all transferred to the Kalinin Front.

As for the mechanized troops of the Western Front, they were transferred to the Belarusian Front and the mechanized troops from Moscow to Moscow after the Warsaw Campaign will be used to form a new reserve front directly under the command.

Therefore, the Belarusian Front and the Western Front are now unable to stop the Battle of Baranovich.

Moreover, Balanovich will be attacked by two German armies! The Southern Army Group, like the Northern Army Group, also has a large number of armored divisions and heavy armored battalions. The difference is that the army group easily defeated the Soviet Southwest Front and did not experience the same hard battles as the Northern Army Group, so it can attack Balanovich with all its might.

Therefore, Baranovich had neither the troops to defend nor could he defend it at all. It was a matter of time before Brest and Warsaw were surrounded by the German army.

Since it is unrealistic to stick to Baranovich, then what needs to be considered now are naturally Warsaw and Brest?

Keep it, or not?

Who will guard it?

How many troops should be used to defend?

How to solve the situation in the future?

A lot of problems must be solved at today's Supreme Command meeting.

"Comrades, given the strong combat effectiveness of the German Nazi army on the front lines of Leningrad and Minsk, we must reconsider the issue of sticking to Warsaw and Brest."

Stalin took a pipe and said with a serious expression: "So I suggest giving up Brest and then transfer part of the Brest defenders to Minsk (the Brest defenders could still be transferred out before the fall of Balanovich), and the other part is transferred to Warsaw City with the supplies we stored in Brest."

It is obviously wise to give up Brest and only guard one Warsaw. Because the Brest Fortress has no special political significance, there is no need to place hundreds of thousands of troops there to defend it when the troops are not sufficient.

However, there are disadvantages to giving up Brest, that is, Warsaw City is too far away from the main front controlled by the Soviet army. The straight-line distance from Warsaw to Minsk is also nearly 470 kilometers! Brest is located in the middle. Once it is abandoned, Warsaw will become an isolated city.

The lonely city is hard to guard!

The Germans didn't even need to attack fiercely. As long as they used the method of long circumference, it would be 18 months if they didn't work for 12 months, and it would be 24 months if they didn't work for 18 months. Hunger food could force the Warsaw defenders to surrender.

"And, it is too much to defend Warsaw with the strength of one front army." Stalin also said, "The Western Front Army should be reorganized into an army, which can be called the Red Flag Warsaw Army."

Stalin's meaning was not to reduce Warsaw's troops, but to change the number of the front army into a group army. In this way, even if Warsaw did not defend in the end, the losses of the Soviet army would look a little smaller.

After all, it looks better than an army that has been wiped out by an army that has been wiped out by an army that has been wiped out by an army that has been wiped out by an army that has been wiped out by an army that has been wiped out by an army that has been wiped out by an army that has been wiped out by an army that has been wiped out by an army that has been wiped out by an army that has been wiped out by an army that has been wiped out by an army that has been wiped out by an army that
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