One Thousand and One Capable People Live There

? What kind of war does the German Army like to fight the most? This question seems well worth investigating. Even if the answer to this question is debatable, there is no doubt that the German army likes to take large and deep outflanking in places without fortifications in the wilderness to solve the opponent's heavy troops.

In the Battle of Poland, Germany used several classic pincer attacks to completely smash the Polish defense cluster, ended the Polish War at a speed that no one expected, and achieved a speed of destruction that shocked the whole world.

Then in France, Germany used an effective flank breakthrough to complete the sickle operation, and wiped out all the elite of the British and French coalition forces in Dunkirk. These troops were also chased and killed by the main German forces in the wilderness without preparation.

Immediately afterwards, in eastern Poland, in Ukraine, and in Belarus, a series of "German-style annihilation wars" defeated the Soviet Union. In the end, the Soviet Union began to use fortifications on a large scale to delay the German attack. This kind of battle of encircling the opponent during rapid maneuvering gradually disappeared.

Instead, there were seemingly endless trench defenses, urban assaults, and large-scale tank encounters on the Eastern Front. And these tactics are all carried out on the premise of mutual consumption. For a certain defensive node or a certain strategic goal, the two sides invested nearly a million people to fight repeatedly, so that the front line remained motionless for several weeks.

But north of Moscow, the Germans once again seized the opportunity, where they surrounded 500,000 Soviet infantry from Leningrad, and surrounded them with armored troops and elite mechanized infantry—— This makes Lundstedt very comfortable, because this is a typical German rhythm.

"Did the messenger bring back any news?" At this moment, the German field marshal was in a very good mood. Although his troops went deep alone, the enemy really had no counterattack power. So he can easily pull out his teeth in the tiger's mouth, and his pincer offensive this time seems to have established a victory for Germany on the Eastern Front.

The Soviet Union obviously has no reserve force to launch a counterattack against the German army. In the area south of Moscow, Zhukov's southward group suffered heavy losses and is still struggling to support it. However, all the troops north of Moscow are surrounded by the A Army, the E Army, and the Finnish Corps. area north of Tver.

Although the Germans expected fierce battles for several bridges near the Ivankov Reservoir, they did not. This fully shows that the Soviet army is in a hurry to shrink its forces, and it doesn't even plan to rescue the Leningrad cluster.

In the defensive positions around Moscow, the Soviet Red Army organized a defensive army of more than 1 million, but this number is obviously exaggerated. Everyone knows the actual situation.

In another time and space, when Germany defended Berlin, it also claimed to have millions of troops. Unfortunately, it is estimated that there may not even be 300,000 troops with combat effectiveness.

The old, weak, sick, and disabled mobilized by the Soviet Union are actually similar to the famous national divisions in another time and space. They are all civilians with only rifles. These troops have no combat effectiveness at all. Facing the battle-tested German elite, they will collapse if they can't hold on for a few minutes.

It is still barely enough to expect such a force to find something to eat in the ruins, and to maintain the total number of troops on the position when there is really no other way, but it is expected that these troops will counterattack and regain the lost under the tracks of German tanks. The bridge, even Stalin himself, thought it was a joke.

"Marshal! The messengers sent to the enemy's Leningrad group did not meet their commander, General Govorov! The Soviet generals who received our messenger rejected our persuasion. They said that Govorov was determined to fight with his own troops. The motherland will live and die together." Marshal Rundstedt's deputy reported regretfully.

They were ordered to send messengers to persuade the Soviet army to surrender. After all, it would take time and sacrifices to wipe out an army of more than 500,000 in the wild. In consideration of economy, the German General Staff decided to arrange messengers to persuade the Soviet army and try to make the encirclement The Soviet troops inside surrendered themselves.

It seems that this plan has failed, and Govorov has no intention of surrendering. Although the Soviet army was surrounded by the German army in the wilderness, it is a pity that it is far from running out of ammunition and food. However, the German army calculated that the supplies of the Soviet army would last about another week at most.

"One week? I would rather let hundreds of thousands of people starve to death on the battlefield than surrender..." Marshal Rundstedt looked at the map, which was completely surrounded by the blue arrows representing his side On the circular sign: "Compared to the dead man Govorov, I am more concerned about how the head of state will arrange the next battle on the Eastern Front."

Not only Rundstedt, there are too many people who care about this issue. There are several main offensive directions of the German army, including the north of Moscow, the south of Moscow to the Kursk region, the area south of Kursk, and the direction of Baku, a total of four. Except for the northern Moscow theater commanded by Rundstedt himself, any movement in any direction may lead to the birth of a new field marshal for the army.

Guderian, Manstein, and Kluger are all strong contenders for the marshal. However, in the eyes of Lundstedt, these generals are all labeled as "direct descendants of the head of state", just like the other Field Marshal Rommel.

Once this marshal is born, then in the composition of the imperial army, the power of the head of state faction will completely overwhelm the noble officers of the original staff headquarters. This is also the most painful fact—there are too many capable people in the Führer's faction. It is not too much to pick one out at random and fill it with the rank of Field Marshal.

The balance maintained by these veterans will eventually be broken at a certain point, and the generals of the Führer's faction will eventually stand in key positions in the German military department and become important pieces for the Führer to control the entire Germany. Thinking of this, Lundstedt smiled wryly, then shook his head helplessly: Didn't he himself be promoted by the head of state? In the eyes of outsiders, he can be regarded as a Führer faction through and through, right?

The opinion within the Army is that it should be possible to facilitate the southward M Group Army under the command of General Manstein to seize the Baku oil field which is close at hand, so that this noble "Führer faction" will be the first to be promoted to Marshal, so as to check and balance the Army internal forces.

Another voice is to nominate General Keitel and General List, who have no credit but hard work. After all, these two generals, including General Model in the rear, are all highly respected veterans, and the guarding side should also be rewarded.

Brauchitsch also asked Marshal Rundstedt and Marshal Rommel about this matter. Rundstedt did not call back immediately, but the latter replied concisely: "I am only responsible for the head of state, for the Germany is fighting. Other things have nothing to do with me!"

The Führer's side was even more confusing. No matter how Brauchitsch asked, Akado didn't seem to want to answer directly. The wise head of state smiled and said, "The promotion of the marshal must be cautious, and I am also considering it."

"General Liszt is calling! He launched a new round of shelling on the position west of the encirclement, focusing on Height 67." While Rundstedt was thinking about the seemingly doomed promotion of the army this time, a A signal soldier took the message he had just received, knocked on the door of Marshal Rundstedt's headquarters, and reported: "The 2nd Armored Army has a call. The Finnish troops are moving due north. The army still has no move to break through."

It is impossible for the Soviet army to break through and escape. Behind it is the German Army Group E that has been attached, and on the flanks is the Finnish group that avenged the Soviet-Finnish War. The main force of the German armored forces is blocked from the front-if it can still run If you go out, you've seen a ghost.

After sorting out his thoughts from a bunch of inexplicable internal relationships, the field marshal threw those messy relationship networks behind him. He carefully looked at the location where Liszt was attacking, and then clicked on the map. The subordinates deployed their own orders: "Let the grenadiers on the flanks of the 2nd Armored Army advance 5 kilometers to support the attacking General Lister!"

"Obey! Marshal!" The deputy stood at attention and saluted, then turned and walked out of the marshal's office. It is still a very wise choice to set up a headquarters in Tver. After all, there are many buildings here that can be used as temporary residences for officers and temporary headquarters for various troops.

As soon as the deputy walked out of the room, another officer in the telegraph room entered the room with a new telegram: "Long live the head of state! Your Excellency the Marshal, there is news from the Air Force that Norway has been attacked by Allied bombers from Iceland." ,lost heavily."

"What?" Rundstedt was taken aback for a moment, then took the telegram and read it carefully. He saw the figures for the losses, and he saw the results of the Air Force's counterattack against Iceland. After a long while, he closed the file and fell into thinking.

Just now, he was still thinking about the appointment of personnel and the balance of forces in his mind. But his enemy reminded him at this moment: the war is far from over, and Germany has not reached the end of victory. Now is not the time to share the fruits of victory, because the enemy still has the ability to crush the entire Third Reich.

Lundstedt leaned back on his chair, staring at the ceiling in a daze, and suddenly a question pierced his heart—why must he maintain his balance? Isn't it the best way to appoint and remove personnel who are capable?

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