Published at 13th of February 2023 06:57:33 AM

German 2nd Army, one of the main infantry armies of the German Army. Although, the 8th Panzer Army and the 9th Panzer Army became the two most powerful armies in the German Army. However, other infantry armies have also been motorized. The 11 divisions under its jurisdiction basically include one armored division, two mechanized infantry divisions and eight motorized infantry divisions, and also have a large number of armored units.

This also makes the main infantry group armies of the German army have extremely strong attack power during the war. This time, in order to cut off the retreat of the Russian Southern Front, General Brauchic directly ordered his 2nd Army to undertake this task. This task is not easy to complete. Once the Russian army finds that its retreat has been cut off, it will inevitably make every effort to launch a counterattack in an attempt to open up a retreat. At the same time, it is also possible to be flanked by Russian reinforcements.

As the commander of Army Group D, Admiral Blauchic naturally let his Second Army take on this important task. Although it was a bit dangerous, he believed that the Second Army would be able to complete this task. At that time, the combat exploits obtained will be the greatest.

On September 20, the German Army Group D's general attack on the Russian Army's Southern Front began. The German 2nd Army took the lead in attacking. The 2nd Armored Division, the 21st Mechanized Infantry Division, and the 22nd Mechanized Infantry Division took the lead and attacked from the right flank of the Russian Southern Front. More than 500 tanks, divided into three groups, stormed the defense line of the Russian Ninth Army.

The 9th Army of the Russian Army has a strong force. It has the 14th Army, the 35th Army, the 48th Army, the 2nd Cavalry Army, and the 2nd and 18th Mechanized Army. Among the several armies of the Southern Front Army, it is undoubtedly the most powerful one.

Lieutenant General Cherevichenko, the commander of the group army, ordered the mechanized 2nd and 18th armies to face the German 2nd Armored Division, the 21st Mechanized Infantry Division and the 22nd Mechanized Infantry Division. The 2nd Army was cruising on the periphery, ready to launch a deadly attack on the German army at any time.

At the same time, Lieutenant General Cherevichenko did not forget to report the situation here to Marshal Budyonny and asked for support.

It's just that the current Marshal Budyonny doesn't have many troops to reinforce him. The Russian 12th Army and 18th Army, as well as the 9th Independent Infantry Army, are being besieged by the German 19th Army, 20th Army, and the Ukrainian 1st, 2nd and 3rd Army.

The fierce battle started immediately. In order to keep their own retreat, the Russian Ninth Army was very brave. The two mechanized infantry corps fought fiercely with the German armored forces in the Kujainikowe area.

Although, the mechanized troops of the Russian army are also equipped with a lot of tanks and armored vehicles. However, the number is far from being comparable to that of the German army. The performance of the tank is much worse than that of the German Tiger and Leopard tank. This made the two mechanized infantry corps of the Russian army, although they were brave, they were defeated by the German army every time they achieved any results.

After a morning of fierce fighting, the German 2nd Armored Division, 21st Mechanized Infantry Division and 22nd Mechanized Infantry Division surrounded and annihilated the Russian 2nd Mechanized Army and severely damaged the Russian 18th Army. The rest of the Russian Ninth Army had to retreat. Lieutenant General Cherevichenko ordered the 2nd Cavalry Army to buy time for the retreat of the main force after the 2nd Cavalry Army was cut off.

In the German Army, there is no longer an organized cavalry unit, just some border guards, equipped with a small amount of cavalry. There were also some ceremonial troops, and a little cavalry remained. However, basically on the battlefield, cavalry is no longer seen. The role of cavalry has been more replaced by armored and mechanized troops.

The Russian army is relatively backward in the development of armored forces and mechanized forces. In order to improve the mobility and impact capabilities of the troops, a lot of cavalry are still retained. Especially in the civil war when the country was just founded, cavalry played a vital role in the war, so Bu Russia still attaches great importance to cavalry. This is inseparable from the fact that several giants of the Russian army were born in cavalry. For example, Marshal Voroshilov and Marshal Budyonny were both cavalry generals.

Facing the Russian cavalry, the German 2nd Armored Division directly launched an attack. Although the sabers equipped by the Russian cavalry are very sharp. However, in the face of the tanks and armored vehicles of the German 2nd Panzer Division, they were helpless. No matter how sharp their sabers are, they cannot destroy these iron bumps. On the contrary, the German tank guns and machine guns can shoot them wantonly.

The Russian 2nd Cavalry Army, under the attack of the German 2nd Armored Division, collapsed after only holding on for an hour. A large number of cavalry turned their horses and retreated frantically. At this time, the fast maneuverability of the cavalry was brought into full play. At least, fleeing on horseback is much faster than infantry fleeing on two legs.

"Your Excellency, Commander, the Russian Ninth Army has been defeated, and we are chasing the enemy. It is estimated that by tomorrow, the retreat of the Russian Southern Front will be completely blocked!" A staff officer reported to General Brausic.

General Brauchic nodded in satisfaction, and after cutting off the retreat of the Russian Southern Front Army, the hundreds of thousands of Russian troops became shackles. Next, they can easily get rid of these Russian troops.

"Send a telegram to several other armies to intensify their attacks. Be sure to eliminate the Russian Southern Front in the shortest possible time!" Admiral Brausch ordered.

"Yes, General."

As the Russian Ninth Army was defeated by the Germans, the two mechanized infantry armies were completely lost, which dealt a fatal blow to the Russian Southern Front. Under the attack of the superior forces of the German and Ukrainian troops, the other two armies of the Russian Southern Front were already retreating steadily and unable to defend. The defeat of the Ninth Army became the last straw that broke the camel's back.

Marshal Budyonny learned of the defeat of the 9th Army, his face was full of despair. You know, even in the Russian Civil War, he had never been so desperate in the face of an enemy several times larger than himself. But now, he was really desperate. Because, he felt as if he could no longer see any hope.

On September 21, the German 2nd Armored Division continued to advance southward, cutting off all the retreat routes of the Russian Southern Front. The other units of the German 2nd Army built a line of defense in the eastern part of the Russian Southern Front to prevent the Russian Southern Front from retreating into Bu Russia.