Chapter 175 The Anxious Marshal

In the cold and desolate night, the Soviet and German soldiers passed by each other peacefully, only a street apart. When the sun rose again at dawn the next morning, Su De consciously woke up from his hazy sleep. Soldiers from both armies clenched their weapons almost simultaneously.

"For the sake of the motherland, destroy the invaders! Davarisi, Ulla!"

"Ivans are coming up! Fire, fire quickly!"

As the old slogans repeated day after day were sounded again, the Soviet army, which had forced the German army back to the corner of the main city and basically completed the encirclement, launched attacks from multiple fronts at the same time. The German army, which was on the verge of collapse, had to Once again, the few remaining troops were evenly allocated to various defense lines to fight simultaneously. Several German infantry divisions trapped in the city were facing catastrophe that could be imminent at any time.

Just as the German troops were stationed in the Yelnya salient, the last critical juncture of life and death, far in the rear of the German Army Group Center headquarters, Marshal Bock, commander of Army Group Center, was also frowning at the tense battle situation on the front line and the successive bad news. No exhibition.

"Hasn't Berlin agreed to let Guderian's troops withdraw? And what about Kesselin's air force?"

Facing the questioning of Marshal Bock, commander of the Army Group, who was sitting on pins and needles behind his desk, the Chief of Staff of the Army Group, who was holding a newly printed telegram in his hand, quietly shook his head again.

"The battle in the direction of Kiev has now reached the most critical encirclement stage. The three main armies of the Soviet Union have been besieged in the triangle area from Chernigov, Kiev to Nezhen. Guderian's Second Army is urgently needed. When the armored groups functioned to contain the Soviets and prevent them from breaking out.”

"In addition, the Soviets recently mobilized several air force divisions towards Ukraine. I have already exchanged views with Kesselin. His main force of the aviation force going south is currently unable to get out, and the Soviet planes are endless. The ground troops pounced on our ground forces, and the battle for air supremacy was extremely fierce. Kesselin even mentioned that some pilots under his command had fainted from exhaustion. "

"The meaning of Chief of General Halder's telegram was very vague. Although he stated at the beginning of the telegram that the head of state was determined to win the Yelnya Theater, he did not mention a clear action order until the end of the telegram. This is really incredible!”

After listening to his chief of staff's explanation, Bock, who knew the truth behind it, felt powerless and angry, but he also sneered after him.

"Of course Halder would say this, because he knows better than anyone how powerful the total force of those Ivans is, and he also knows that only by taking Moscow as soon as possible can the Ivans' will to resist, at least most of the Soviet Union The will of the participating countries to resist.”

"It's just that his courage and vision are not proportional! Halder is a person who does not have the courage to speak out to the head of state. Even if he knows that the head of state is making a strategic mistake by wishfully implementing the plan to divide the troops between the north and the south, he also knows how to stop it and promptly But he never had the courage to clarify the truth to the head of state and persuade him to correct his mistakes. What a competent chief of staff!"

After hearing such detailed analysis from Bock, the chief of staff touched his palm lightly and seemed to understand the reason, and then spoke again thoughtfully.

"Then according to your opinion, the people in Berlin are completely following the wishes of the Führer? This is a bit too far-fetched, isn't it?"

Marshal Bock, who is older than his chief of staff and is more familiar with the earth-shaking changes that have taken place in the entire German military system since Hitler came to power. Marshal Bock, who has endless complaints about Berlin's smoky and bad political environment, seems even more bored now. Incessantly.

"That guy Brauchitsch has always been as docile as a sheep. He didn't even dare to speak loudly in front of the Führer. As long as the Führer insists on doing something, this guy will find ways to find all the evidence, even if it doesn't exist at all, to support the Führer. His idea is correct. In addition to his loyalty to the head of state and his belief in the country, he is simply awesome as the commander-in-chief of the army.”

"And Halder, his strategic vision is further than most of those in Berlin, and he can clearly understand some of the mistakes that are happening or about to happen on the front line. But this guy pretends to do everything. In his own little diary, he didn’t even dare to confront the head of state to point out his mistakes!”

"The commander of the army is like this, and so is the chief of general staff. The first and second-ranking figures are all radio stations where the head of state can listen to whatever he wants. The head of state likes this environment because he is first and foremost a politician, and he hates people who disagree with him in politics. Eliminate the enemy! But if this happens again in the military command, mistakes will inevitably be made. The guys in Berlin are now just a bunch of nannies telling stories to the Führer!”

Since the launch of Operation Barbarossa, this is the first time that Marshal Bock, the commander-in-chief of Army Group Center, has such big complaints. Recalling that the head of state had arbitrarily changed the combat plan and canceled the original strategic deployment of attacking Moscow, the chief of staff, who understood where Marshal Bock's anger originated, said quietly.

"Many people forget their final vows after seeking high positions. After all, the position under their buttocks is enough to command their brains and mouths, especially those in Berlin. This is an inevitable result, Marshal."

After venting his complaints, Bock naturally understood that his chief of staff's words were the truth. The German marshal, who had swept away his unhappiness, quickly returned to his post and cheered up again.

"Halder's ability to send such a telegram shows that he has known that our current strategic policy is wrong. Using troops in a decisive battle to annihilate the enemy's large main corps will only increase casualties without much practical significance."

"As long as Moscow is still in the hands of Ivan, the resistance of those Bolsheviks will never end like the red star on the top of the Kremlin."

"But since Halder did not mention the clear command target for the Yelnya theater, we might as well take advantage of this opportunity."

After a slight pause before the words fell, Marshal Bock, who was deeply worried about the Yelnya salient, made up his mind without much thought.

"The Yelnya salient is no longer tenable. Intelligence has intercepted telegrams between the Soviet frontline group and Moscow. It has been confirmed that the Soviet commander in charge of the battle in the Yelnya direction is General Zhukov, the former chief of the general staff. Our troops in the Yelnya salient have now been pushed to the edge of the cliff by the Russians!"