stonecrandall Chapter 1125
Chapter 1125
“What, say it again, Esztergom was lost?”
When the news of the German capture of Esztergom came, Zhukov, who was planning how to win the battle in the rear, jumped up from his seat!
This news was really beyond his expectations!
The German attack on Esztergom was within his expectations.
He had visited this city and knew that the terrain here was very dangerous and easy to defend but difficult to attack.
So his original judgment was that it would take at least five days to a week for the German army to capture here.
If the German army lacked large-caliber heavy artillery, this time might be delayed even longer.
With this week or so, the Soviet army could take advantage of the opportunity that the German army was attacking Esztergom and had no time to take care of other things, and quietly send troops to attack the other two German armies.
Guderian’s first group could not be eaten. The Soviet army was defeated because of Guderian’s erratic and slippery use of troops, so Zhukov did not seize the opportunity to wipe them out.
However, the other two German armies may not be so lucky!
As long as the Soviet army succeeds, kills one of the German armies or severely damages it, making it lose its combat effectiveness, the Soviet army’s hope of winning this battle will be greatly increased!
However, plans cannot keep up with changes!
He has not yet planned how to act, and there is no time to set off!
As a result, bad news came from the front line. Guderian killed his defenders deployed in the west and captured Esztergom in much less time than he expected!
Once Esztergom was lost, the whole situation immediately became unfavorable to the Soviet army!
Without the obstruction of this key pass, the German army can march quickly along the Danube, through the mountains, and enter Entering the plains in the upper reaches of the Danube!
At this time, the city of Budapest, where the Soviet army has gathered heavily, is located on this plain!
Therefore, once the German army crosses Esztergom, it means that the main force of the Soviet army and the German army have formed a head-on confrontation!
The situation of head-on confrontation is not good for the Soviet army, because their every move is under the surveillance of the German army!
If the Soviet army dares to ignore this German army and retreat on its own, then the German army will definitely send troops to pursue them, bite them tightly, and then weaken their strength through continuous attacks, and finally achieve the goal of annihilating them!
This kind of plain area is really suitable for the armored forces of both sides to perform!
Therefore, as long as they cannot completely destroy the enemy’s armored forces, it will be difficult for them to retreat calmly.
But not retreating is not an option!
Because the German 12th Army is now At this moment, they have begun to move eastward along the Carpathian Mountains, with the destination being the hinterland of Romania.
Once they successfully enter the territory of Romania, the Soviet army’s retreat will face the possibility of being cut off.
Although the Soviet army left a troop in Romania to help maintain law and order and protect its supply lines, these troops are not strong enough and their combat effectiveness is not good.
It is undoubtedly a pipe dream to expect them to stop the German army with an entire field army!
Therefore, continuing to drag it out will not benefit the Soviet army at all.
However, if they don’t drag it out, they will only have two choices!
Either take the initiative to attack and force the German army to fight a decisive battle with them!
The other is to abandon the city of Budapest and leave a small number of troops behind, and the main force will quickly retreat and leave this dangerous place to avoid being cut off by the German army.
However, no matter which option is chosen, it does not seem to be the best choice.
If they choose to take the initiative to attack, the German army can just not fight a decisive battle with them and retreat!
At that time, the Soviet army was very embarrassed. Should they chase or not?
If they pursue, they will go deep into Audili, which is the home of the German army. It will be more difficult for the Soviet army to fight here!
Moreover, entering Audili, they are farther away from the Romani Ya in the rear. If the German army fights with the Soviet army in the Romani Ya area, they will be out of reach!
Therefore, this option has a lot of uncertainty!
All hopes are placed on whether the German army will cooperate with them!
As for the second option, if there are too many troops left behind, the strength of the Soviet army will be consumed too much.
After all, it is almost impossible for those who stay behind to escape from the siege of an entire German army group.
In this kind of plain area, the German tank cluster will cut off any hope of escape!
But if there are too few troops left behind, it will not be able to intercept them at all. The German army can completely separate a part of the troops to watch them, and then the main force will continue to pursue the Soviet army, hanging behind the Soviet army not far away as before, always maintaining a threat to them!
In that case, the Soviet army will be in even more trouble. The closer they are to Romaniya, the more dangerous they will be, because the German army is very likely to launch a pincer attack on them from both the east and west directions!
Therefore, the Soviet commanders are now facing a huge problem.
What should they do to change the current bad situation?
“In the final analysis, Esztergom was lost too quickly. If it had not been lost so quickly, but had persisted for a week or even a few days, we would have had more time to prepare and mobilize the troops, and we would not have been so embarrassed!”
Thinking of this, Zhukov couldn’t help but sigh.
His battle plan was clearly executed well at the beginning, and everything was progressing normally according to his plan!
Even because of the escape of the Hungarian Regent, they took over the entire Hungarian territory with almost no effort.
At that time, Zhukov was so energetic!
However, when the German reinforcements, that is, Guderian, appeared, everything changed!
Although there was no large-scale battle between him and Guderian, the two sides had not had a direct confrontation so far.
But they hadn’t fought yet, but the opponent had already forced himself into a desperate situation!
This made Zhukov’s frustration in his heart even worse. He couldn’t figure out where he didn’t do well enough and why he lost to Guderian so easily!
“No, I haven’t lost yet, the decisive battle hasn’t started yet, I still have a chance!”