Chapter 496 Whose Fault Is It?

Guderian could read Hitler's distrust of him from his stiff expression. He sighed again in frustration and had to tell Hitler the truth.

"The items exhibited at the Berlin Exhibition were all fake items for people to see. The troops on the front line did not receive these winter heating equipment at all, just like they did not receive winter clothes."

A few weeks ago, Marshal Brauchitsch, who was worried that Hitler would hit him with the hammer of trial, had a unique idea and organized a Berlin Exhibition organized by the Army Command.

According to the Army Command, the items exhibited at the exhibition were all winter heating equipment currently being used by the front-line troops. All kinds of thick tents with thickened insulation and insulation were available, and the warm small stoves that were lit on the scene allowed people to see the German soldiers on the front line sitting around the stoves and warming themselves with smiles through the flames.

It's a pity that all these superficial things were just illusions created by Marshal Brauchitsch because he was worried that Hitler would arrange for him. The German soldiers who were frozen like grandchildren on the front line had to work hard to dig a small pit and light a fire to heat the food, not to mention a warm stove. The so-called deep concern for the front-line troops was pure nonsense in Guderian's view.

Hitler, who realized that he was deceived by the people around him again, was furious.

Marshal Brauchitsch had tried hard to invite him to participate in the exhibition. At first, he thought that he wanted to let him feel that the living environment of the front-line soldiers was warm and pleasant, and to make propaganda and shoot a news documentary to show the front-line soldiers to boost morale. Now it seems that this guy who was in a vacant position was a trick for the sake of his position.

When he thought that Brauchitsch, the fraudulent guy, had been fired by him, Hitler couldn't help but feel fortunate and a little happy for his "foresight". It is unknown how much trouble such a guy would cause if he stayed in the position of Army Commander-in-Chief. It would be better to let him take up this position and take charge of the work of the army himself.

Seeing Hitler's changing expression, Guderian couldn't guess what Hitler was thinking for a moment, so he had to continue to speak the truth.

"At the beginning, they kept advancing and attacking Moscow, but as soon as the situation changed, they were chased and routed by the Russians like hunting prey. In short, the troops on the front line could hardly stop and rest for a moment, and they were always in constant maneuver of attacking or retreating."

"We don't have the time and energy to build decent barracks, and it's hard to find decent wood on a barren snowfield. If we can occupy the nearby Russian villages, the situation will be better, at least we can withstand the biting cold wind in the middle of the night. But most of the soldiers were frozen to death in the wild. In order to defend their positions and defenses, they slept in trenches and craters, and they were frozen to death in their sleep."

I wanted to refute Guderian, but no matter how I thought about it, I couldn't find a reasonable breakthrough point.

The order to hold the position was issued by himself. Hitler could not hold Guderian responsible for the German soldiers who obeyed his orders and froze to death in the snow. If he did so, it would be like slapping himself in the face, and it was a very loud one.

Hitler, who was extremely unhappy, had a lot of anger and nowhere to vent, and finally ended the conversation that gave him a headache. He waved his hand to signal Guderian to temporarily withdraw so that he could have a good rest.

Guderian, who left the Führer's office, was in no mood and did not want to be in the same room with these people who were fooling the Führer all day long. He came out of the house alone with his young adjutant to breathe the fresh air that seemed to have been missed for a long time.

"What did the Führer say? Did he agree to our request for retreat?"

Hearing the somewhat anxious question from the adjutant beside him, Guderian, with a bitter face, smiled uglier than crying.

"No, and I have a feeling that it will soon be worse than it is now, although this may only be for me personally."

The next meeting with Hitler was at dinner time after nightfall.

Perhaps he felt guilty and gave Guderian, the father of the German armored forces who rarely returned to Berlin, a face, or he just wanted to see Guderian, a stupid guy, being scolded by the Fuehrer again.

In short, when Guderian, who was full of worries, walked into the dinner venue with a slightly heavy step, he was surprised to find that his dining seat was arranged next to Hitler.

After sitting down, Guderian, holding a knife and fork, really had no appetite for the fragrant food specially provided by the Fuehrer in front of him.

This had nothing to do with Hitler's light diet without any oil. It was just that the stubborn Guderian still refused to give up the ultimate purpose of his trip to the base camp.

Taking the opportunity of eating, he nags in Hitler's ear for a while. No one at the long table helps Guderian, as if they are all waiting to see Guderian's joke. Hitler, on the other hand, looks bored and disdainful, as if Guderian is just a charlatan.

After dinner, Guderian goes to Hitler's office and continues to nag, but the topic of discussion shifts from the problems of the frontline soldiers to those who have been feeding Hitler with lies.

"Judging from the behavior of all gentlemen at the dinner table just now, I think the instructions and reports submitted by our frontline troops to Berlin were not correctly understood, which ultimately led to the failure of the head of state to make a correct judgment."

"So I suggest that there be a shift change now, and that you gentlemen be replaced with the front-line generals who have been commanding the battle for more than half a year, so that they can come to the head of state to take on the responsibilities of think tank and staff. This will allow the head of state to better understand the frontline war. "

The outspoken Guderian is somewhat similar to Zhukov to a certain extent. The biggest similarity between the two is their lack of kindness.

The shocking words from Guderian's mouth not only greatly stimulated the senior officials of the General Staff and Command present, but also made these people whose status was no lower than Guderian glare at each other on the spot and feel furious, as if a fuse firecracker had been lit. Hitler jumped up from his chair with excitement.

"What are you talking about?! Guderian! I can't live without the people around me now!"

Guderian thought that his suggestion had been misunderstood by Hitler, so he hurriedly continued to explain to Hitler in order to allow personal adjutants and security personnel to change shifts and go to the front line.

"That's not what I meant, my Führer. What I meant is that you need frontline generals with the latest and richest experience in today's wars to advise you, especially those who are fighting in the winter on the Russian front."

Guderian arrogantly believed that he was making excuses for his quick words, and the talks that had the opportunity to change the frontline situation and save the situation ended in a complete collapse.

"I spent two days thinking about how to convince this person, but now it seems that everything is in vain! I still haven't convinced this person!"

It didn't matter how Hitler evaluated himself to Keitel in the room behind him. Guderian seemed to have a premonition that his future path should be ushered in by this meeting that almost made the ceiling fly. Huge turning point.