Chapter 445: Disobeying the Head of State

Being prepared is easy to say, but it is not an easy task for Colonel Horning, who has only dug less than half of the trenches.

After hearing the words of the messenger in front of him, Colonel Huoning, who seemed a little stunned for a moment, immediately stepped forward and grabbed the other person's collar.

"Are you sure? Those Russians arrived so quickly? What on earth are your Fourth Armored Division doing? Why are those Russians advancing so fast!?"

Colonel Horning asked four questions in a row, which made the German scout who didn't understand the situation seem a little overwhelmed. He was just a sergeant scout and he really didn't know how to answer these profound questions from Colonel Horning.

"Mr. Colonel, I'm just a sergeant. I can't answer these profound questions of yours! Our division has been resisting those Russians for a week. It's already very difficult to know that their numbers are much greater than ours. Is it possible? Aren’t you our reinforcements?”

Unable to ask for an answer, the sergeant in front of him asked the question, and Colonel Horning looked a little confused.

This orthodox Prussian aristocratic colonel officer from Munich did not know how to answer for a while and was questioned on the spot. The classic philosophy of speaking rough but not rough is suitable to describe this situation.

"I understand, do what you have to do, we will deal with those Russians."

Watching the young sergeant whose collar was loosened by Colonel Horning return to the motorcycle sidecar and turn away all the way, the adjutant who stood beside him and listened silently to the whole process immediately took a step forward.

"Judging from past combat experience, as long as a regiment of Russians appears, it will be followed by at least several divisions. They never act alone. What should we do?"

After being asked "Aren't you our reinforcements?", Principal Huo Ning, who was confused for a long time and felt that he was a bit "mysterious" and "incomprehensible" recently, breathed a sigh of relief and straightened out his thoughts. After he was convinced that he had After returning to normal, he spoke in a tone without any emotion.

"Inform the troops to speed up the construction progress. At least there must be a usable defense line before the Russian counterattack troops arrive. If you don't want to lie in the snow and fight to the death with the Russians, speed up the speed and notify everyone. In addition, let the artillerymen Come up and help, if the infantry can't stand it, everything will be over!"

He nodded slightly to Colonel Horning's order but was deeply surprised. The aide-de-camp, who was confused, spoke his mind after thinking for a moment.

"Judging from the intelligence currently available, the enemy is just a group of pure infantry. Can we consider taking the initiative to encircle and annihilate them? The loss of technical equipment of the Fourth Armored Division is not very large. They previously reported that more than half of the tanks are still available. Comprehensive If you look at it, we have plenty of troops now.”

He was very clear about the implications of the words of the adjutant beside him. Colonel Horning, who had already considered this issue before, gave the answer without even thinking about it.

"General Guderian told me before departure that he planned to abandon the city of Tula and instead use movement tactics from both wings to outflank Moscow by bypassing the city of Tula. Our task now is to create a situation for those Russians to return us. To capture the city of Tula and hold on to the defensive line, holding back their troops on the frontal defense line can also buy General Guderian some time, it’s that simple.”

This was the first time he mentioned this matter to a third party since he accepted Guderian's solemn explanation before leaving. Colonel Horning, who had already known the truth, seemed very calm when he spoke out. He just heard about it for the first time. After speaking, the adjutant's face was no longer ordinary.

"Abandon the city of Tula? But this is an order from the head of state issued by the Army Group. In the order, the head of state ordered us to occupy every inch of land around Moscow and strangle the Russians. Wouldn't this have disastrous consequences? I It refers to us, or General Guderian.”

Facing his adjutant's exclamation, Colonel Horning, who had almost the same reaction when he heard the news, let out a long sigh.

"There is no need to question the authenticity of the order. To be precise, this is the common intention of Marshal Bock and General Guderian. Time is running out. Telegrams from Berlin are urging us to ask where our offensive is progressing every day. Not only It was General Guderian and Marshal Bock who had been worried about this all day long, so abandoning Tula and taking a detour was their final solution. "

The facts were exactly as Colonel Horning said.

Marshal Bock, the commander who was in charge of the Army Group Center headquarters and commanded the overall situation, received several or even a dozen Berlin telegrams almost every day.

Some of these telegrams were inquiring about the specific situation of a certain unit on the front line, some were responses to Marshal Bock's previous request for more winter materials and supplies, but most of them were repeated urgings for the Moscow offensive on the front line. Army Commander Bok Marshal Rausic repeatedly declared in the telegram that the head of state was impatient with the situation on the front line in Moscow.

Marshal Bock, whose buttocks were burning like a fire, faced the mountain of telegrams that were getting higher and higher day by day on his desk. He had no other choice but to convey the will of the head of state in the telegrams to those on the front who were fiercely attacking Moscow. There are four German battle groups. I hope that the commanders of these four battle groups can share their worries and come up with some practical solutions to win Moscow quickly.

Almost at the same time, the 4th Armored Division's defense line was defeated and Marshal Bock's inquiry telegram was received. No matter how you calculate it, you will definitely not be able to take Moscow before the end of 1941 if you continue like this.

Guderian, who was tied up by the siege of Tula, suddenly had an idea and decided to boldly disobey Berlin's orders and temporarily abandon Tula and choose to bypass it. He risked the threat of the Soviet army by prolonging the front line and directly attacked Moscow despite the possible anger of the Führer.

In normal times, Marshal Bock, who always tried his best to suppress Guderian's various wild and bold tactics and strategies, would definitely not agree with Guderian to go against the Führer's will and risk being cut off by the Soviet army.

But as the saying goes, when one is desperate, one should try anything. Marshal Bock, who was forced into a desperate situation and had no other choice, finally approved Guderian's crazy tactics with a stroke of his pen. He allowed Guderian's Second Panzer Group to risk being cut in half by the thorn of Tula City, and try to find an opportunity at the gap in the junction of the Soviet counterattack forces in front of them, penetrate the weak points of the Soviet counterattack forces in one fell swoop and break into the Moscow restricted area.