Chapter 840: Caspian Sea Counterattack (End, 5400 Votes and More)
"Russian troops have occupied Baku!"
"Oh, right, have they got the oil they want?" After listening to the report, Hoffman asked casually, "If it's not enough, it means they go to Turkey to grab some..."
"Führer!" Keitel and Zeitzler looked at each other, not knowing how to evaluate this sentence.
"What, are you scared?"
"Afraid or not, the key point is that if the Russians are allowed to control the passes of the Caucasus, it will be more troublesome to recapture them in the future, and they will have to pay a high price."
"Really?" Hoffman said with a smile, "The price of regaining control in the hands of the Turks is small."
It is not difficult to seize it from the Turkish hands from a military point of view, but it is not ideal from a political point of view. Unless it completely changes its face, Germany is vigorously promoting the construction of the European Union. Face still needs to be maintained, and it can be taken back after the Russians occupy it. It’s different. It’s natural to regain lost ground.
"But the Russians' actions were still far beyond expectations. We thought they would keep pestering the Turks, but we didn't expect to pounce on the Caucasus so quickly." Zeitzler said, "Although our army's strength in the region is It is not weak, and the troop structure and supplies are relatively complete, but we cannot take it lightly. If the Russian troops on the southern flank cooperate with each other in fighting, an unprecedented fierce battle will break out. "
"It's good to have a battle...haven't you been complaining that you can't find the Russian heavy army group? Now it's coming to your door?" Hoffman stood up and looked at the map carefully, "We can't always count on the enemy to show up where we expect him to be. We must be prepared for surprises when we appear. To be honest, I think the Russians have worked very hard to avoid such aggressive opponents. "
"What do you mean?"
"This is probably the last offensive operation of the Russians." Hoffman almost said "Ardennes Counterattack" quickly, but suppressed it. "So I made unprecedented determination and used such a huge force. If I You guessed it right, this time the commander-in-chief is still Zhukov.”
"You guessed it right. Intelligence shows that the commander-in-chief is indeed Zhukov. The second-level generals under him are the troika of Chernyakhovsky, Malinovsky and Chuikov. The first one to lead the troops The second one is looking for trouble for the Turks in the Transcaucasus, the second one is dispatching troops on the east coast of the Caspian Sea; the third one is leading troops to block the Fergana Basin, and Zhukov himself is suppressing bandits in Central Asia..."
"Suppressing bandits?" Hoffman almost laughed out loud, "He actually chose the most difficult job."
The other two couldn't laugh. They didn't understand why the head of state said that "suppressing bandits" was the most difficult job? Zhukov also has hundreds of thousands of regular troops in his hands. Isn't it easy to deal with mere guerrillas?
"Are you still ignoring the power of the guerrillas?" Hoffman shook his head. "How many people did the Italians die fighting for the guerrillas in Serbia? I don't think it's less than the number of people they died on the Eastern Front. Tito still can't be caught. Greece wants to If I had not queued up the large orders and reduced the resistance and economic pressure of the Greeks, the communist guerrillas would have been rampant!"
The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was originally a whole. After the German occupation, it split internally. Croatia (including Bosnia and Herzegovina) and Slovenia became independent one after another and accepted German protection. A large part of Macedonia was occupied by Bulgaria. It was Germany that used force to "protect" it and Get back more territory from Bulgaria - Although Hoffman understands Bulgaria's unwillingness to join the war against the Soviet Union, he will not allocate too many spoils to such an ally. Bulgaria was dissatisfied at first, but as Germany became more and more powerful on the battlefield Strong, this emotion naturally disappeared.
The Macedonians are very grateful for Germany's arrangements, especially in the face of the two powerful enemies of Greece and Bulgaria. The country cannot survive a day without Germany's protection, so they are Germany's most die-hard little brother in Southeast Europe. Most of the remaining Serbia in the original territory of Yugoslavia was a German-occupied area, and a small part was an Italian-occupied area. Albania was a common territory of Italy at this time. When the German army marched towards Belgrade, Italy also took advantage of it and marched in from Albania and occupied it. part of Serbian territory.
Hoffman was well aware of the power of the Serbian guerrillas and Tito, coupled with the deep-rooted conflicts between the Serbs and the Austro-Hungarian Empire (the German part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire is now all German territory), he believed that it was impossible for Germany to annex it or completely control it. The disconnection between the Muslim population in Kosovo and Albania is not easy to deal with. They used the excuse of adjusting relations with Italy in exchange for Italian concessions in other areas and allowed the Italians to control Serbia (Germany enjoyed arbitrary rights of passage and some economic privileges), withdrew the relevant troops and ceded some territory to Croatia, Macedonia, and Romania in advance. , Hungary, Bulgaria and other countries, in other words, created a situation for Serbia to have enmity with all its neighbors.
Mussolini didn't know how deep the pit was, and he excitedly took control of Serbia. Unexpectedly, this was the beginning of a nightmare for the Italians. An endless stream of guerrillas were active across the country. Italy would withdraw the troops from the Eastern Front battlefield together with the domestic front line. The army was deployed in Serbia, using all heavy weapons including Tiger tanks, and using all available anti-guerrilla tactics. Even so, it was difficult to suppress Tito. Keitel, Zeitzler and others thought that Italians were not good enough, but Hoffmann disagreed. Historically, Italy's level of anti-guerrilla warfare was not bad, and it was even better than the German army with its rigid and rigid mechanism. Hard bones like Serbia and Tito are really difficult to crack. The top priority is to build isolation zones and firewalls. If Italy is willing to waste its energy, let them waste it. A little, so as to save the Italian Army from having nothing to do and going to Africa to waste in vain.
As for Chuikov who was blocked, Hoffman, who was well aware of his performance in the historical Battle of Stalingrad, certainly did not dare to look down upon him. He underestimated the will of a master who could calmly fight from tens of thousands to hundreds of people. Both strength and combat effectiveness are extremely dangerous.
"The Turks have sent continuous telegrams asking for help, asking our army to move in as soon as possible. I plan to throw in the troops deployed by Marshal Manstein on the west bank of the Caspian Sea..." Zeitzler said, "Other main forces are already making full preparations. Gudry Marshal An’s strategic reserve force, the SS Armored Group, will complete combat preparations in late March, and it will not be a problem to eat this part of the Russian army.”
"You should be more open-minded. We can't block the Russians wherever they attack us. Such a head-on strategy is too rigid. We must be flexible." Hoffman walked to the map and said, "Why do we have to be in the Transcaucasus?" Push the Russians back? If we don’t let them occupy all of Transcaucasus, how can we successfully recover it?”
Now Keitel and Zeitzler finally understood: the Führer was dissatisfied that the Russians did not attack Turkey hard enough, and the Führer was also evil enough!
"How many days will it take for the Caspian Sea to thaw?"
"About ten days."
Hoffman traced his finger on the map and asked: "Let in as many Russians as possible, and then send troops to attack the east coast of the Caspian Sea first, cut off the supply lines and retreat routes of the Russian army in the Transcaucasus, and shut them all down." Here. If we can imprison this heavily armed group, let alone the Transcaucasus, it doesn’t matter if we let the Russians occupy a little more of the Caucasus Mountains or even the South Caucasus - the important thing is to drive the Russians out of their hard tortoise shells and spread out across the vastness. Use field battles to destroy your opponents on the Caucasus plains!”
"In this way, the three Russian front armies on the southern front may be connected in a line and attack at the same time." Zeitzler said, "Marshal Manstein has talked about this idea, but I insist that the cost of annihilating the Russian army now is the lowest and involves energy. It’s also smaller.”
"Let them do it. After this battle, the war on the Eastern Front will basically come to an end. If Stalin still has some self-awareness, he will obediently run to Asia. Otherwise, we will wait until the turn of summer and autumn to finish the Caucasus Battle and then capture the Ural Mountain Industrial Zone. "He can't even get a decent ending!" Hoffman thought for a while and added, "Send a telegram to Scherner and ask him to increase his offensive against Chuikov and put pressure on Zhukov."
While Hoffman was giving Keitel and others face-to-face instructions, the Central Committee of the Soviet Communist Party was discussing the suggestions sent back by Zhukov. Although the current war is generally progressing smoothly, after taking Baku, the Red Army troops have swept across the entire Azerbaijan and took advantage of the situation to advance towards Georgia and Armenia. The Turkish army retreated again and again, part of it retreated to the country, and part of it retreated to the passes of the Caucasus, but Zhukov regardless The suggestion of seeking peace in both victory and defeat still made everyone's mood sink to the bottom.
No one dared to speak first. It was not good to rush to agree or disagree, especially when Comrade Stalin had not clearly expressed his attitude before the risk was very high. After a long silence, the veteran Molotov cleared his throat and decided to say something. sentence, otherwise it wouldn’t be a problem for a lot of people to sit around and stare at each other.
"Comrade Zhukov's suggestion, how should I put it? It still reflects the pragmatic attitude and clear mind of a Bolshevik party member." Molotov carefully selected his words, neither irritating Stalin nor disturbing Zhukov's original intention. This was a huge problem. Testing his speaking skills, "I personally believe that political and military issues should be considered together, and we should fully realize that the struggle against the German fascist and Menshevik gangs is long-term, complex, and arduous. The struggle against them will not last for one or two years." , not even for ten or eight years, but to persist in the struggle situation. Various methods can be adopted according to the objective situation. Large-scale attack is one, resolute defense is another, and the same is true of taking a long step back and fighting back. As for a temporary truce, waiting. I think counterattacking at a more favorable time can also be considered.
When imperialism has developed into a decadent stage, especially an extreme system like fascism that has reached its peak, it is difficult to maintain it. We should be good at preserving the revolutionary fire and wait until the internal contradictions in the enemy intensify before sweeping it away again... So I initially agree with Comrade Zhukov's idea. But how to negotiate after the war and what conditions to negotiate need to be discussed first, especially with Comrade Stalin in charge of the overall situation..."
PS: In the last two days, there is a risk that the monthly ticket will be overtaken. Please provide strong assistance...