About 240 kilometers south of Lezhev, there was a small town called Vyazma.
This small city with a population of less than 55000 was very common in the plains of Eastern Europe. It should have been like many other cities and would not have entered the eyes of ordinary people.
However, in 1941, the bloodiest war in human history, the Sovre-German War, began. Vyazma's name was destined to go down in history!
A year ago, when the German army had advanced to the outside of Mosco, the capital of the hairy bear, in order to open up the main road to Mosco and prepare for the next attack.
The German army launched the Battle of Vyazma-Bryansk, and the Soviets, under the command of Konev, gathered millions of troops to defend the southern gate of their capital. They were ready to fight to the death with the German army.
As a result, under Guderian's blitzkrieg attack, the Soviets 'defense line collapsed. More than a million Soviets were surrounded by the German army, and nearly 700,000 were killed or captured.
The name Vyazma shocked the world for the first time!
Five months later, when the Soviets won the Battle of Mosco and tried to use this victory to recover more lost territory, they launched the first Battle of Rzhev-Vyazma.
However, to the Soviets 'surprise, not only did they not win this battle, but they also lost everything.
Out of the 1.05 million Soviets who participated in the battle, more than 250,000 died in battle and 500,000 were captured. In total, nearly 800,000 people lost their combat effectiveness, accounting for more than 70% of the attacking forces!
Such heavy casualties once again made Vyazma's name appear in front of the people of the world!
Having suffered two defeats here and lost more than a million troops, Mao Xiong was naturally unwilling to accept this humiliation.
Therefore, they planned and carried out the second Battle of Lezhev-Vyazma, intending to avenge their previous humiliation, defeat the German army, recover Vyazma, and lay the foundation for a full-scale counterattack!
Therefore, when Zhukov planned and implemented his battle plan, it seemed that he was attacking from all directions without any main direction.
But in fact, the focus of the Soviets 'attack was actually in the south of Lezhev, which was the area around Vyazima!
The Lezhev region was a prominent part embedded in the interior of the Soviet position, while the Vyazma region was the hub connecting the Soviet Central Front and the southern armies.
After taking down this place, they could use the railway line from the capital Mosco to Vyazma to fully play its role as a transportation hub. They could turn Vyazma into a material transfer station for the Central Front Army and the millions of troops in the south. This would greatly reduce the trouble of logistics and supply, and create convenience for the battle between the two main forces of the Soviet Union.
More importantly, Vyazma was too important to Mosco. If it remained in the hands of the German army, the German army would always be a threat to the capital of the bear-men. They would have no choice but to pile up a large number of troops in the central battlefield to defend their capital.
This was too passive on a strategic level, so the Soviets had always wanted to pull out this nail!
However, if he exposed his intentions too actively, it would definitely attract the vigilance of the German army, which would increase the difficulty of the operation.
Therefore, when the Soviets planned to launch a counterattack in the Lezhev area, it seemed that they were heading for the Lezhev area. However, in fact, they wanted to capture Vyazma first and then take Lezhev.
Among them, Vyazma was even more important than Lezhev!
After all, the army had not moved yet, and the rations were the first!
Those who had never been to a hairy bear would find it hard to understand the difficulty of fighting in the territory of a hairy bear!
Although Mao Xiong was a European country, compared to the good infrastructure of other European countries, Mao Xiong's domestic infrastructure was simply a mess.
Of course, they had their own objective reasons for this. For example, the land area was too large, the climate was cold, and the industrial strength was too weak.
However, the road conditions in Mao Xiong Country were terrible. This was already a publicly acknowledged fact in the eyes of the German army!
In winter, it snowed heavily in the Furry Bear Territory. The snow was dozens of centimeters thick, and in some places, it was even one or two meters deep.
Under such circumstances, it was difficult for ordinary soldiers to pass through, let alone trucks, armored vehicles, and tanks.
In spring and autumn, after the rainy season of the hairy bears, the problem brought about by the melting of a large amount of snow and the rain was that the roads of the hairy bears would become muddy!
The muddy road was even more unfriendly to vehicles and people. The vehicles were stuck in it and their speed was extremely slow. It was even slower than walking.
In this case, it was impossible to rely on road transportation. The only reliable transportation condition was the railway!
However, there weren't many railway lines in Furious Bear Territory.
As the importance of railway transportation had been greatly increased, the strategic value of the Furious Bears Territory would be greatly increased as long as there was a railway!
Viazma was the transportation hub connecting Mosco with the southern towns of Kifu and Minsi City. The strategic value of this place was completely reflected!
For the Soviets, after taking down this place, they could easily use the railway to transport troops and supplies to the nearest place to the battlefield. This greatly reduced the difficulty of transportation and increased the speed and efficiency of transportation.
Therefore, Vyazma was extremely important to them!
It was the same for the German army!
The infrastructure in Mao Xiong territory was so bad that the only reliable thing to rely on was the railway. Vyazma was under the control of the German army, and the German troops in other areas could use the railway transportation method to rush to the battlefield in the shortest time to reinforce the German troops here.
Moreover, Vyazma was not far from the southern battlefield. If the German army dispatched hundreds of thousands of troops from other areas, such as the northern battlefield, which had already ended the battle, the Soviet left wing attack group that was preparing to attack the German flank in the southern battlefield might be stabbed in the back by the German army!
Therefore, no matter from which perspective, the Soviets could not tolerate the German army continuing to occupy this place.
Therefore, Zhukov was determined to get this place!
From the moment the battle started, he had already prepared a reserve team. He was prepared to launch a sudden attack on Vyazma when the Soviets exhausted the German forces and the German army could not spare any extra troops to support other battlefields. He wanted to seize the place before the German army could react!
As long as he could take down this place, Zhukov would have enough confidence to win these two battles!
A Battle of Lezhev, a Battle of Stalingrador!
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