Chapter 415 Caucasus (3)
On March 25, the third day after the full-scale offensive was launched, Hoffman, accompanied by Speer, Keitel, Blomberg, Zeitzler and others, came to Rostov, the headquarters of the Southern Army Group.
This was Hoffman's second visit to the Eastern Front in a few months. To be honest, he spent very little time on the front line. Except for staying with the troops when implementing the Kungunir Plan, he only issued orders in Berlin most of the time. He did not go to the Wolf's Lair, Vinnitsa and other front-line bases where Hitler liked to stay. The steel and cement wasted in these places all became air defense fortresses on the Western Front. Moreover, he did not like to issue very detailed and specific orders like Hitler, for fear that his subordinates would do something else behind his back. After Zeitzler took office, the relevant orders gradually changed to only deal with the overall direction and goals, and the remaining specific details were all handed over to Zeitzler and several army group commanders to play and execute. This Army Commander-in-Chief was not competent at all.
Many people keenly noticed this difference, but because of the "treason group" incident, everyone gave a "reasonable" explanation for the change in the Führer's style. The most popular rumor was that the Führer had long known that Halder was secretly disobeying orders, so he had to formulate particularly detailed orders to observe whether Halder violated them; but Zeitzler was the Führer's most trusted chief of staff, so there was no need to issue such an order.
These words sound reasonable and logical, otherwise why would the Führer leave so many veterans in the army unused and promote Zeitzler, who was a junior? You know, he was only a major general before he became the chief of the general staff.
But in the eyes of the professional officer corps, especially senior officers, the current management model is the best, and the Führer who is in control of everything is back. Moreover, the Führer is now obviously much more cautious and pragmatic. While taking a drastic offensive route in North Africa and the Middle East, he rarely took a defensive stance on the Eastern Front, requiring the troops not to launch large-scale attacks unless necessary, and even clearly stipulated that it would be better not to fight if a high exchange rate could not be achieved. Therefore, Küchler and Model were shocked to find that: the Southern Army Group did fight several major battles, while the Northern Army Group and the Central Army Group, which had more than 1.5 million troops in total, had done almost nothing in the past six months. Except for using elite armored forces to fight a few small and medium-sized assaults, the rest of the time they were actually staring at the Russians on the opposite side.
However, the senior officers were very clear about one thing: after the "treason group" incident broke out, it was best not to play the trick of "saying one thing in front of you and another behind your back" as before. You can express your disapproval openly, and at most you can go home to recuperate, and there may be a chance to be re-employed - aren't Blomberg, Milch, Bock and others now turning over a new leaf? Once the Führer feels that you have two minds, the end will not be good. Now Hoffman has no psychological burden in killing people. After Goering's "committed suicide", more than a dozen marshals and generals were hanged one after another. Among these senior generals, Beck may not have wronged him, but Halder's end was the result of his repeated hypocrisy.
It is said that Hoffman is now an unprecedented "tyrant" in German history. The marshals and generals he has killed in the past six months are several times more than the total number of Germans in the past 100 years. Perhaps only the Soviet Union's "Great Purge" can be compared with it, but the fragmented Junker Group can no longer muster the courage to resist. On the one hand, it is because the SS and the Gestapo are watching closely and attacking the rebels as soon as they show their heads. On the other hand, Germany's strategic situation is very good - not a small good, but a great good!
After taking Africa and Malta, the Mediterranean became the Axis' inland sea; after taking the Middle East, the oil and other minerals for the war machine were guaranteed, and the resource problem that had always constrained Germany's industrial power was alleviated; after winning over Turkey, Iraq, Iran, Spain, and Portugal, the Axis suddenly increased its population by hundreds of millions and its army by millions, which was so large that it was another matter whether it could fight or not; the announcement of a new Eastern policy liberated and armed non-Russian ethnic groups, adding reliable guarantees to the Eastern Front.
Moreover, the next step of the Führer's thinking was also feasible in their view: blockade Britain and use hunger tactics to force the other side to withdraw from the war; severely damage the Red Army and force Stalin to sign a humiliating treaty; as for the United States, when Britain and the Soviet Union were unable to fight again, everyone could sit down and talk. Germany never intended to eliminate the United States (at least not now), and could even recognize the United States' absolute control over the American continent. After integrating Europe and controlling North Africa and the Middle East, the Third Reich's strength will expand rapidly, and it will be able to compete with the United States again in 20 or 30 years.
At this moment, victory seemed within sight, and the Third Reich's dream of a "thousand-year empire" was about to be realized. Why would they be so hot-headed as to oppose the Führer? There were people in the Junker group who disliked the Führer, such as Field Marshal List, who resigned from his post. But Hoffman did not want to make things difficult for those who openly expressed their attitudes. He wanted to deal with the hidden saboteurs - this was something Bauman was very good at. After Hoffman's version of the "Great Purge", there were many good positions vacant in the senior positions of the officer corps, and anyone who wanted to make a difference would not miss this good opportunity.
As for ordinary middle- and lower-level officers, their eyes are full of fanaticism now - is there any faster channel for promotion than fighting? In the era of the 100,000-strong Wehrmacht, it was extremely difficult to be promoted from second lieutenant to major, but it is different now. As long as a second lieutenant who participated in the war in Poland is not particularly unlucky, he will now basically become a captain. If he is lucky, he will even become a major. , as long as you don't die, are you afraid that you won't be able to go any further by the end of the war? Anyone who wants to use force against the Führer should first ask these ordinary middle- and lower-level officers if they can agree.
When Hoffman arrived in Rostov, Manstein had enough time to stay at the headquarters. He did not look busy at all. He even held a small welcoming ceremony for the arrival of the head of state and his entourage. The scene was very warm, and all the senior officers They are all confident and not nervous about the battle in front of them. Keitel frowned, as if worried that the Führer would be dissatisfied with this.
But Hoffman did not show any displeasure. In his opinion, a good commander is a person who has a stable command and a calm situation. A tense atmosphere and a sudden change of expression usually means that the situation is not good. If these staff officers in the headquarters If you are running around sweating profusely and roaring at the top of your lungs, you are probably not far from failure or setback.
He looked at the distribution of enemy and friendly situations on the sand table and asked, "How is the situation on the front line?"
"Very good, we are advancing smoothly, and the enemy is retreating steadily..." Manstein first described the general battle situation, and then added a witticism, "However, the advancement speed seems a bit fast, exceeding the planned expectations, and not in line with the plan." In response to your request, I am trying to figure out how to slow down the attack without making it too obvious, so as not to let the Russians see the flaw - this is very nerve-wracking for me."
Everyone was stunned at first, and then burst into laughter. Even Hoffman was amused. He didn't know that Manstein actually had such a humorous side.
"Are the Russians very tough?" Keitel asked doubtfully.
"No, it's mainly because our troops are more powerful." Manstein thought for a while and explained, "After nearly three months of replenishing and adjusting personnel and equipment, the combat effectiveness of the troops has improved rapidly. Don't look at just things like Subtle changes such as the replacement of new rifles (G43 semi-automatic rifles and STG43 assault rifles), the addition of self-propelled artillery, and half-track armored vehicles, combined together, have completely improved the appearance of the army. Coupled with the increase in the number of tanks, now 1 armor The divisions are more powerful than the two armored divisions in the past, and the two infantry divisions are equivalent to the three divisions in the past.”
"All this is due to the adjustment and persistence of the head of state." He paused and finally concluded this sentence. Everyone laughed knowingly: everyone understood that this was not cheap flattery. When Hoffmann pushed hard for "division expansion and disarmament" and the establishment of the 1943-type force, he encountered various resistances. Some senior generals who were dismissed from their posts as military commanders had nowhere to go, and personnel arrangements became a problem-until the Great War. Cleansing only solved this problem, but the adjustment of the 1943-type troop organization and the replacement of new equipment brought all kinds of troubles and problems. Adjusting the organization during fierce combat was an adventure in itself, and it also brought extreme consequences to industrial production and supplies. Great pressure and challenges.
When Hoffmann and Speer decided to stop all the No. 3 production lines and switch to the production of No. 4 tanks during the tank rearmament case, they encountered great resistance because everyone expected a short-term equipment reduction, but Hoffmann This difficulty was solved with general mobilization. After persevering, all equipment replenishments and updates were finally completed as scheduled. The effect was so good that even the most picky people could no longer say anything bad about the work of the Ministry of Armament.
"You have to thank Minister Speer for equipment and supplies. He is crazy busy at home." After publicly affirming Speer's achievements, Hoffman said, "I came to see the combat situation of the 1943 Armored Division and the Infantry Division. Yes, I'm glad to hear you say that."
Keitel was very interested in this. Promoting the transformation of the standardized division and enhancing the combat effectiveness of the troops was one of the most important tasks of the Supreme Command in 1943. Marshal Blomberg, the commander-in-chief of the reserve army, also pricked up his ears and listened carefully to what Manstein said. All the supplementary troops received by Army Group South in recent months were trained under his leadership.
Since several other ace divisions that were originally scheduled to be the first batch of reloading and refitting have been marching here and there, Hubei's 16th Armored Division was the first batch to complete the reloading. According to the "4th Regiment 6th Battalion" Based on the core principle of "eight-company system", the armored regiment that forms the operational core of the 16th Armored Division consists of 4 armored battalions, reaching an overall scale of 4 battalions and 16 companies. Among them, three tank battalions are uniformly equipped with Type 4 H tanks. After full strength, the total number of tanks reached 284 (a total of 276 tanks in the three tank battalions + 8 tanks in the regiment). In addition, the tank destroyer battalion also has 92 Type III assault guns. After reorganization, the total number of personnel was as high as 20,000 - Manstein's evaluation of such an armored division was indeed no exaggeration.