Chapter 494: Confrontation

"I have heard about your outstanding contributions on the front line, and welcome your arrival, Guderian."

Although the lips under the mustache seemed to be trembling slightly with a smile, Guderian, who was good at observing words and expressions, still read something different from Hitler's eyes, which was different from the officers around him. Almost the same hostility flavor.

Although Guderian was not a master of emotional intelligence, he was not a fool with zero emotional intelligence.

Combining his experiences on the front line and what he saw and heard at the moment, Guderian clearly knew that the head of state looked like this now because he had been fed a lot of ecstasy by the group of people around him.

The light in the dim small room was dim, and the atmosphere was extremely strange. Guderian finally began to talk face to face with Hitler.

"The situation on the front line is now very bad. My head, the Second Armored Group is now in a critical situation. I plan to retreat the troops to the banks of the Zusa River to the Oka River to re-establish defensive positions. I have discussed this with Marshal Brauchic before. The feasibility of this plan, he recognized my suggestion and allowed me to do it. The main reason for retreating was because "

Guderian's lengthy explanation of the battle situation on the front line lasted for several minutes. Guderian, who was just drawing the map of the war zone with his bare hands, did not notice that Hitler's complexion beside him was getting worse and worse.

"No! I don't allow you to do this!"

The sudden and angry roar of the Führer startled Guderian, who had not finished speaking. Guderian, who had rarely seen Hitler like this, seemed both surprised and puzzled by the Führer's irritability.

What Guderian, who looked surprised and puzzled, didn't know was that he had approved the resignation requests of two Marshals of the Defense Forces, Bock and Brauchitsch, and fired them. He evaluated Marshal Bock as "a man who only publishes information." Hitler, who was the one who fished in the water with several combat orders, was even more dissatisfied with Field Marshal Brauchitsch who served as the commander-in-chief of the army.

"Just a vain, cowardly and incompetent wretch, Brauchitsch is not a soldier at all, let alone a commander-in-chief. Rommel said he was a cold nobleman, and I think this assessment is absolutely correct. If he continues Remaining in the position of Army Commander-in-Chief, even for a few weeks, will cause irreparable disaster."

Hitler, who had kicked off Brauchitsch, did not stop doing anything and simply became the commander-in-chief of the army to take charge of the overall situation. Berlin's top brass, who were originally obedient to Hitler, now kept their mouths shut and did not dare to say a word. The entire head of state's headquarters seemed to have become a base that was even better than the Kremlin.

I only knew that Brauchitsch was fired by Hitler, but I didn't know that Brauchitsch, who was extremely afraid of Hitler, never mentioned any frontline retreat plan until he resigned.

Guderian, who thought Hitler had already known his plan to withdraw, was confused for a moment. Now it was the turn of the spitting head of state to speak.

"Hold your position on the front line! Dig trenches and hold on there! I order you and your soldiers to hold on to every inch of the ground!"

Guderian, who slowly recovered from the shock, gradually guessed why Hitler was angry. Those unreliable people really couldn't expect any effect but would actually cause trouble. Guderian still had a firm will after making up his mind. Still no intention of giving up.

"My head of state, you have to understand that the winter in Russia is different from our winter in Germany! There is no way to dig trenches there now, and the permafrost is already 5 meters deep. Do you know what the excavation tool hits the steel plate? Do you feel that even if our soldiers put in several times more effort than fighting, they can only dig out a so-called trench that is not even a drainage channel? "

Guderian, who refused to give up, argued hard, while Hitler, who was dismissive of this, continued to spit.

"Then you should mobilize heavy artillery to blast out craters in places that need to be defended, and use the craters to build defensive positions! I have experienced cruel winters as a soldier! This is what we did in the last war!"

Guderian, who also had a bad temper, saw that Hitler was still convinced that the villain was slandering him, so his fiery temper went straight to his forehead and began to sing a confrontation with Hitler on the spot.

"The divisional artillery regiment generally only has four 150mm heavy howitzers. Most of them were abandoned during the retreat or blown up by Russian planes! Each howitzer only has a base of 50 shells, and one shell will only blow up. A crater smaller than a wheel!”

"If I exchange 50 rounds of artillery shells for 50 craters smaller than a wheel, and order the soldiers to use these craters to defend their positions according to the method you said, then when the Russians come over, what will we use to resist them? ! ? We are not even qualified to level the howitzer like the Russians!"

"My headquarters couldn't even insert the wooden poles used to set up the radio into the soil. It would take two physically strong soldiers to work for a whole day to dig a hole for the wooden poles to be erected, so I chose to use explosives to solve the problem. Question. But now we don’t even have enough to eat, and the soldiers are still shivering in the snow wearing three or four layers of autumn clothes. Where can I find explosives that are heavier than food and winter clothes to blow up the defensive positions you mentioned! ?”

Hitler was initially dismissive of the situation described in Guderian's words, and even emphasized that he had the qualifications and authority to order German soldiers to sacrifice their lives for the motherland, just as the Kaiser once did.

After a burst of spitting, Hitler suddenly realized that some details in Guderian's words were worth pondering. How come the soldiers on the front line are still wearing autumn clothes for the winter?

The lieutenant general with a gloomy face rolled his eyes. Hitler, who suspected that Guderian was lying and deceiving him to find an excuse for retreat, suddenly shouted again.

"This is totally wrong, Guderian! The quartermaster general reported to me that the winter clothes had been issued a long time ago. How could you still fight in autumn clothes?!"

Guderian, whose anger was pushed to his forehead, still did not give in to Hitler, which formed a sharp contrast with Brauchitsch and Halder, who were timid and dared not even fart in front of Hitler.

"Yes, my Führer, the winter clothes have indeed been issued and loaded long ago! But the wagons stored in the Warsaw station lack enough locomotives for transportation, and have been sleeping in the station for several weeks!"

"The winter clothes shipped to Russia were ambushed and intercepted by Russian guerrillas along the railway. After snatching them, they were burned or packed away! Russia is so big that I can't even send patrols to protect the last 50 kilometers of railway lines under my jurisdiction!"

"I told the Quartermaster General in September to transport the winter clothes in advance to prepare for the Russian winter, but he told me that even the trains transporting artillery shells were full at that time! If I can see him again, I must ask him in person, can those artillery shells be used to wear on the body to resist the Russian winter!?"