Chapter 157: The Southern Wing of the Eastern Front as the War Comes (Part 2)

The Supreme Command and the Army General Staff were both worried about the upcoming war. After two months of dormancy and the military strength of General Winter, the Red Army was worried about how much combat power it could burst out. But Hoffman clearly told Manstein that there was no reserve force for him, so he had to win with the existing force. Of course, he was not stingy with equipment and supplies. On this point, the General Staff represented by General Zeitzler could not blame Hoffman. At a time when the Torch Plan was threatened and the war in North Africa was tense, the three armored divisions and eight infantry divisions in the hands of the Führer as the reserve of the Supreme Command could not be squandered at will. They must be used where they were most needed. The more than 30 divisions in the reserve army had not yet formed combat effectiveness, and Hoffman was unwilling to rush them to fight. It was more meaningful to use them as field troops to supplement the troops than to build new division-level troops separately. Hoffman's strategy was no less different from Hitler's almost morbid obsession with establishing new troops. Because of Hoffman's crossing, the German Wehrmacht first focused on finding ways to fill the gaps in the original combat units (except for the Waffen SS, which newly expanded 4 division-level units) instead of racking their brains and thinking hard to form new units. Therefore, the number of first-line combat divisions on the Eastern Front remained almost unchanged (still maintained at around 180), but the actual field force increased greatly.

In terms of the overall strategic situation, the deployment intentions of both sides were very clear and even diametrically opposed. The Southern Army Group, relying on two larger salients, was divided into three relatively distinct clusters from north to south: the Northern Route was the main force of the original Weichs Group. In the personnel and subsequent force adjustments in September, Marshal Weichs was transferred to the commander of the Central Army Group. The Northern Route Group was commanded by General Hoth, and mainly consisted of the 4th Panzer Army and the 8th Italian and 1st Romanian Armies, with a total strength of about 400,000 and 750 tanks. It formed the left wing of the Southern Army Group, facing it were the Bryansk and Voronezh Fronts of the Red Army, with a total strength of more than 500,000 and a number of tanks. The number of tanks is nearly 500; the middle section is the direction of Stalingrad and Rostov, which is mainly the headquarters of the Southern Army Group, directly commanded by Marshal Manstein, mainly including the 6th and 2nd Army Groups and some direct forces of the Army Group, with a total force of about 32 divisions, 550,000 people, and 550 tanks. It is facing the Don, Stalingrad, and Southwestern Fronts of the Red Army, with a total force of about 1.3 million and 1,300 tanks; the right wing is the main force of the original "A" Army Group commanded by General Kleist, with the core of the 1st Panzer Army and the 17th Army, with a total force of about 500,000 and 600 tanks. The Red Army Caucasus Front has a total force of 800,000 and 700 tanks.

Manstein was very satisfied with such disposable forces and felt that the capital in his hands was not small. If someone told him before the outbreak of the war that he would be able to command so many troops in the future, he would have driven them out as crazy. Of course, he was still envious of the several key armored divisions in Hoffman's hands, including Viking and Grossdeutschland, but he kept silent when he heard that these were troops prepared for the second phase of the North African campaign. In addition, although Hoffman did not send Tiger tanks to the Eastern Front, the first batch of 12 Sturmtigers - assault guns modified from Dr. Porsche's defeated chassis made the marshal very satisfied. The 380mm thick tube, a shell is 324 kilograms, the power is more powerful than a heavy aerial bomb, a piece of it will not leave a single tile, making him feel that he has full confidence in fighting street battles.

The Army Weapons Bureau probably regarded the South Wing as a practical experimental base for new weapons. In addition to the Sturmtigers, it also sent 2,000 G43 experimental rifles, 800 STG43 experimental assault rifles, 5,000 rounds of Panzerfaust 1, and 1,000 rounds of Panzerfaust 3. Manstein was very interested in watching the demonstration of the new weapons at first, but after half a day, he suddenly came to his senses: How worried is the Führer about me? Is he really afraid that I can't defend Rostov? Why do they send us equipment for street fighting?

"You are right. In the Führer's conception, perhaps we should test our street fighting ability. In addition to our newly formed Storm Commando, you can also count on those... um..." Admiral Zeitzler, the Chief of the Army General Staff who came to investigate the battlefield situation, squinted his eyes and said, "You know who I mean..."

"You mean those prisoners?" Manstein understood that the other party was talking about the recent formation of Soviet prisoners of war, including Cossacks, Ukrainian nationalist forces and Russian Liberation Army, etc. These forces were not included in his combat plan. He originally thought that they could only serve as rear-line security forces at most, but seeing that the Führer meant to let them accept the test of actual combat, he nodded to indicate that he accepted this suggestion.

"The Führer told me before he left that he would not interfere with your attack, but there is a death order that Rostov must not be abandoned. After all, you don't want to see Kleist's armored group locked up in the corner of the Caucasus and beaten up by the Soviets, right?"

This sentence is absolutely true. Rostov must not be abandoned, otherwise Kleist's 500,000 troops will be locked up by the Red Army's Caucasus Front and Stalingrad Front. Under the obstruction of the Kerch Strait, 500,000 troops cannot be withdrawn in a hurry, and there is no other way out except the annihilation of the entire army. Once the Kleist Group is finished, the Taman Peninsula and the Kerch Peninsula will be finished, and the Crimean Peninsula and the heart of Ukraine will be directly threatened by the Red Army. Apart from anything else, the plane to Japan will not be able to fly...

"Of course Rostov will not be lost. My army and army group headquarters are stationed here. Unless I die here, it will never be lost." Manstein vowed, "In preparation for the upcoming war, we have built a complete and sufficient defense line, and the city residents have also moved away. This is now a huge fortress - a solid fortress armed with hundreds of thousands of troops that can withstand the Red Army's powerful assault."

"But the number of enemies you face is really large, and the balance of power is unbalanced." Zeitzler reminded, "I was so tormented by this that I couldn't sleep all night. As soon as I opened my eyes, I thought about more than a million torrents rushing towards you. Do you want to adjust your deployment and bring back the armored forces on both wings first? At least bring back Hoth's 4th Panzer Army."

Manstein looked at the troop strength symbols on the map and slowly smiled: "No, they will continue to attack and try to eat up the Red Army in front of them - I'm talking about the left wing Bryansk and Voronezh Fronts, because we have armored forces Advantage; I have told the right-wing Kleist Group to keep a close eye on the Caucasus Front, and not a single Red Army division can come to reinforce; I will bear the greatest pressure in the middle, and let Rostov become Zhukov's meat grinder! As for you, I hope you can let the other two army group commanders contain the Red Army in front of them and prevent them from having the opportunity to reinforce the southern front. "

"I understand, we will try our best to do all this." Zeitzler added, "The Führer also instructed to control the casualty ratio, and I hope you can achieve an exchange ratio of 1:4 or 1:5, The worst case has to be 1:3, otherwise this battle cannot be fought. "

"This is the strangest order I have ever heard in all my years in the army - there is no strategic goal at all." Manstein complained, "When Halder was in power, the Führer was too controlling and wanted to intervene in the dispatch of every division. Now, he doesn't even care about the battle goals and lets us make the decisions. It makes people wonder if the person before and after is the same person." "——This is really what Manstein guessed, but he would never have thought of crossing the matter even if he had ten more courage.

"Yes!"

"Where?"

"First, give full play to subjective initiative, repel the Soviet attack and hold the main defense line of the southern wing; second, control the number of casualties, achieve a high exchange ratio, and encircle and annihilate the enemy's living forces; third, threaten Stalingrad from the flank, but don't rush to seize it."

Manstein smiled: "This is a really strange order. If I hadn't been familiar with the Führer's thinking recently, I would have thought you were a spy sent by the Red Army to falsely convey orders."

Zeitzler shrugged indifferently and continued: "Last time you asked not to serve as the commander of the 6th Army, I want to ask if you Do you still insist on this view? If so, the Führer is ready to transfer General Model to you... Anyway, the Ninth Army is not under much pressure now. "

"Thank you for the Führer's kindness. Now the left wing is handed over to General Hoth and the right wing is handed over to General Kleist. I only have two armies left for myself, which can fully cope with it..." Manstein rejected Zeitzler's kindness and thought: If you told me this a month earlier, I would be happier. Seeing that the battle is about to begin, it would be inappropriate to change people at the last minute. All the current deployments and plans are designed by me. Am I waiting for Model to come and take advantage of it? If we win, it is because Model has a good command. If we lose, it is because of my improper deployment. I am not that stupid.

Zeitzler complimented, "As expected, the Führer guessed your answer. Who told you that you are the most capable marshal in the southern wing?"

Manstein asked suspiciously, "Did the Führer say that?"

"Of course..." Zeitzler blinked mischievously, "Who else could it be if not the Führer? Even Chief Keitel didn't dare to draw such a conclusion, let alone me."

"You are the most capable marshal in the southern wing!" After sending Zeitzler away, Manstein was still complacent about this flattery: he still had weight in the Führer's mind, maybe the most important one. Unexpectedly, his adjutant broke the secret after hearing it: "Sir, don't be fooled by that guy's sweet words. This can't be what the Führer said."

"Why?"

"Because you are the only marshal in the entire southern wing now..."

"Asshole!" Manstein finally realized that he was teased by Zeitzler.