German military 2nd Army Corps, one of the main infantry armies of the German Army. Although, 8th Armored Army Corps and 9th Armored Army Corps have become the two most powerful armies among the German Army. However, other infantry armies also realized motorization. The 11 divisions under its jurisdiction basically include one Armored Division, two Mechanized Infantry Division and eight motorized Infantry Division. They also have a large number of Armored Forces.
This also makes the main infantry groups of German military have extremely strong offensive power in the war. This time, to cut off the retreat route of the Russian army Southern Front Army, General Brauchitsch directly ordered his 2nd Army Corps to undertake this task. This task is not easy to accomplish. Once the Russian army finds that its retreat is cut off, it will inevitably launch a counterattack with all its strength in an attempt to open up a retreat. At the same time, there is also the possibility of being flanked by Russian reinforcements.
As Commander of Army Group, General Brauchitsch naturally asked his 2nd Army Corps to take on this important task. Although it was a bit dangerous, he believed that 2nd Army Corps would be able to complete this task. At that time, the military exploits obtained will be the greatest.
On September 20, German D Army Group's general attack on the Russian army Southern Front Army began. German military 2nd Army Corps, took the lead in launching the attack. 2nd Armored Division, 21st Mechanized Infantry Division, and the 22nd Mechanized Infantry Division took the lead and launched the attack from the right wing of the Russian army Southern Front Army. More than five hundred tanks, divided into three lines, stormed Russian 9th Army Corps's defense line.
Russian 9th Army Corps, with strong military strength, has the 14th Army, 35th Army, the 48th Army, and 2nd Cavalry Corps, the 2nd and 18th Mechanized Army. Among the several armies of the Southern Front Army, it is undoubtedly the one with the strongest military strength.
Army Group Commander Lt. Gen. Cherevichenko ordered the mechanized 2nd and 18th armies to confront German military 2nd Armored Division, 21st Mechanized Infantry Division and the 22nd Mechanized Infantry Division and the other three Infantry Corps are guarding the defense line. 2nd Cavalry Corps is roaming around the periphery, ready to launch a fatal attack on German military at any time.
At the same time, Lt. Gen. Cherevichenko did not forget to report the situation here to Marshal Budyonny and requested support.
However, now Marshal Budyonny does not have many troops to reinforce him. Russian 12th Army Corps and 18th Army Corps, as well as the independent 9th Infantry Corps, are encountering German military 19th Army Corps, 20th Army Corps, and Encirclement Offensive of Ukraine 1st, 2nd and 3rd Army Corps.
A fierce battle began immediately. In order to protect his own retreat, Russian 9th Army Corps acted very bravely. Two mechanized Infantry Corps and German armored forces started a fierce battle in the area of Kuzheynikove.
Although, the Russian army's mechanized troops are also equipped with many tanks and armored vehicles. However, the quantity is far from comparable to German military. The performance of the tank is much worse than that of German military and Tiger-Panther tanks. This made the two mechanized Infantry Corpss of the Russian army, although they performed bravely, but every time they achieved any results, they were defeated by the German militarys.
After a morning of fierce fighting, German military 2nd Armored Division, 21st Mechanized Infantry Division and the 22nd Mechanized Infantry Division encircled and annihilated the Russian army 2nd Mechanized Corps, and severely damaged the Russian army 18th Army Corps. Russian 9th Army Corps's other troops had to retreat. Lt. Gen. Cherevichenko, ordered the 2nd Cavalry Corps to break off and buy time for the main force to retreat.
Among the German Army, there are no organized cavalry units anymore, there are just some border defense troops equipped with a small amount of cavalry. There were also some ceremonial troops, and a little cavalry was retained. However, basically on the battlefield, cavalry is no longer visible. The role of cavalry has been mostly replaced by Armored Forces and mechanized troops.
The Russian army is relatively backward in development in terms of Armored Forces and mechanized troops. 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, the cavalry played a vital role in the war, so Buru still attaches great importance to the cavalry. This is inseparable from the fact that several of the Buru Army's giants were born in the cavalry. For example, Marshal Voroshilov and Marshal Budyonny were both born as cavalry generals.
Facing the Russian cavalry, German military 2nd Armored Division directly launched an attack. The sabers equipped by the Russian cavalry are very sharp. However, in the face of German military 2nd Armored Division tanks and armored vehicles, there is nothing they can do. No matter how sharp their sabers are, they cannot destroy these iron lumps. On the contrary, German military's Tank Cannon and machine guns can shoot them at will.
The Russian 2nd Cavalry Corps, under the attack of German military 2nd Armored Division, only lasted for an hour before collapsing. A large number of cavalry turned their horses around and retreated frantically. At this time, the cavalry's rapid maneuverability was fully utilized. At least, escaping on a horse is much faster than those infantry escaping on two legs.
"Your Excellency Commander, Russian 9th Army Corps has been defeated, and we are pursuing the enemy. It is expected that the Russian army Southern Front Army's retreat will be completely blocked by tomorrow!" A staff officer reported to General Brauchitsch.
General Brauchitsch nodded with satisfaction. After cutting off the Russian army Southern Front Army's retreat, these hundreds of thousands of Russian troops became the turtle in the urn. Next, they can easily deal with these Russian troops.
"Send Telegram to several other group armies and ask them to increase their attack intensity. The Russian army Southern Front Army must be eliminated in the shortest possible time!" General Brauchitsch ordered.
"Yes, General."
As Russian 9th Army Corps was defeated by German military, the two mechanized Infantry Corps were completely lost, which dealt a fatal blow to the Russian army Southern Front Army. The other two armies of the Russian army Southern Front Army, under the attack of the superior forces of the German military and the Ukrainian army, have been retreating steadily and cannot defend themselves. The defeat of 9th Army Corps became the straw that broke the camel's back.
After Marshal Budyonny learned that 9th Army Corps was defeated, his face was full of despair. You know, even in Russian Civil War, he has never been so desperate when facing enemies several times his own. But now, he is really desperate. Because, he felt as if he could no longer see any hope.
On September 21, German military 2nd Armored Division continued to advance southward, cutting off all the retreat routes of the Russian army Southern Front Army. Other troops of German military 2nd Army Corps built a line of defense in the east of Russian army Southern Front Army to prevent Russian army Southern Front Army from retreating into Buru territory.