Chapter 426 White Devil

The facts were exactly as Zhukov had expected.

After Operation Barbarossa was launched, the observant Germans soon discovered that their previous estimates of the Soviet Army's overall military strength were greatly wrong.

At the beginning of the drafting of the Barbarossa Plan, the German General Staff estimated that the Soviet Army had only 200 standing combat divisions, which became the biggest joke.

After the outbreak of the war, the Germans, who worked together with the Finnish intelligence department to monitor every telegram of the Soviet Army, soon discovered that after the emergency mobilization of the Soviet Supreme Command, the Soviet Army had 360 division-level units with registered numbers, and these were all first-line field troops, not counting the third-line garrison troops stationed in various regions.

In addition, the Soviet Union, which had entered the national mobilization mode, was constantly forming new units to supplement the front line to fill the gap, and the Soviet Army was constantly eliminated in the form of a whole division and army, which surprised the Germans in the prisoner-of-war camps.

Instead of reducing the number of Soviet troops, the number of troops increased. There was even a situation where the troops that had just been defeated and scattered the day before rushed over again with full equipment and shouting "Ura" the next day. The German army, which was amazed at the Soviet military power that was so hidden, could not understand this kind of magic mobilization ability.

Because the numbers and deployment dynamics of the Soviet front-line field troops were too complicated, the German intelligence department, which was able to track the specific movements of the Soviet army-level troops at the beginning of the operation, soon lost sight of one thing and lost another.

The German intelligence department, which was busy all day long, even had a shortage of manpower that had never occurred in the process of conquering the entire Europe. Realizing that this was not a solution, the German intelligence department simply gave up the dynamic tracking and monitoring of the Soviet army-level field troops, and then upgraded to the continuous intelligence tracking and dynamic follow-up of the Soviet front-line division-level field troops.

After all, in most cases, the Soviet army, which emphasizes large-scale combat, deploys entire divisions into the battlefield. It is rare for division-level troops to be dispersed to two different battlefields to fight separately. It is understandable that the German intelligence department chose to do so.

After fighting with the German troops many times, Zhukov soon keenly noticed the abnormality of his opponent. Every strategic deployment and troop movement seemed to always attract the attention of the German army at the first time, and then mobilized the corresponding troops to make a strategic response.

After several difficult victories, Zhukov quickly confirmed the source of the problem to the situation that his telegrams were monitored by the German army. This was the key truth that Zhukov had been convinced of long before he was transferred to Leningrad, and the decision to deceive the German intelligence department's telegram monitoring with a regiment-level organization was made by Zhukov with the intention of giving it a try.

Judging from the current situation, Zhukov's plan seems to be effective. The German Defense Forces' 4th Armored Division, which was stationed on the northern defense line of Tula City to block the Soviet counterattack, has not made any obvious movements so far. The replacement support of a Soviet tank regiment may really be insignificant to the German army with air support on call.

Compared with the excitement of his partner, the political commissar, Colonel ****, who also breathed a sigh of relief, noticed something unusual.

"Comrade Malashenko, are those infantrymen friendly troops who came with you or troops under your regiment?"

Following the direction of the division commander's finger, he turned his head and looked. The Red Army soldiers who had arrived at the front line of the Tula City war zone by hanging on the outside of the tanks were getting off the car to rest. The division commander, who was confused, was obviously referring to these troops.

"Oh, I almost forgot to introduce you, Comrade Division Commander. These infantry units are friendly Siberian troops who came with me. They are particularly good at fighting in the ice and snow in winter. Even those Germans call them "white devils" in horror. You infantrymen should have a lot in common to talk about."

Before he finished speaking, Malashenko, who had turned around, yelled at Lieutenant Colonel Yakov who was giving orders to his adjutant to make arrangements.

"Hey, Yakov! Come over here, Comrade Division Commander wants to meet you."

The order arrangement that was still halfway through was interrupted by Malashenko's loud shouting. Yakov, the regiment commander, who waved his hand to signal his adjutant to make the specific arrangements just now, strode forward.

Compared to Malashenko, who was widely known as a positive role model in the entire Western Front, Lieutenant Colonel Yakov, who came from the Siberian Military District, was naturally much less famous. At best, he was just a member of the Siberian troops that the German army called "White Devil" in horror.

After the usual salutes and greetings, the **** Division Commander, who was quite impressed by the first meeting with the regiment commander Yakov, immediately noticed some details.

It has been a long time since the troops affiliated with the Far East Siberian Military District were transferred to the Moscow front. The troops led by the division commander had previously cooperated with these friendly troops that were good at winter operations. The super combat effectiveness they showed in a specific environment did make the division commander look at them with some new eyes.

But in sharp contrast to the super combat effectiveness is the extremely poor equipment of the Siberian Military District troops. Unlike several Western military districts of the Soviet Union that have to face the needs of European war preparedness, the Siberian Military District has always been like a fourth-rate beast in the US military. The characteristics of having shabby equipment but amazing combat effectiveness are quite similar.

The Siberian Military District troops that I had seen before were almost all equipped with outdated Mosin-Nagant rifles, and even the machine guns that served as the firepower pillar of the squads were much less than those of the infantry divisions that I led.

But this time, the Siberian Military District troops that appeared in front of the **** Division Commander were a little different.

A considerable number of these soldiers who had just jumped off the tanks and gathered in groups of three or five to greet each other and rub their hands to keep warm had a brand-new weapon hanging around their waists that looked like the Finnish Suomi submachine gun but was slightly different. They were no longer the poorly equipped ones when they first arrived at the Moscow front.

Political Commissar Zelenkov, who also saw this scene and noticed that something was wrong with the division commander's face, took advantage of Malashenko not turning around, and quietly stepped forward and covered his mouth with his hand and whispered quietly to the division commander's ear.

"You can't be mistaken, Comrade Division Commander. These infantrymen from the Siberian Military District are holding the latest PPSh submachine guns. I just heard a few days ago that this batch of the latest submachine guns were equipped to an elite tank-accompanying infantry to test their power. I just didn't expect to meet them here."