Chapter 860 Eastern Front Feast (Part 1)

There is one thing that Krank said that was wrong. The Americans still valued him very much, otherwise they would not have sent the main force of the Atlantic Fleet to the South Atlantic to encircle him. However, Hoffman really could not take care of the Falkland Fleet for the time being. Now there are more important battles to fight - the second British air raid in the west and the Soviet counterattack in the east have involved a lot of the head of state's energy.

Under Hoffman's intentional or unintentional connivance, the fire in the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus finally became more and more intense. By the first week of April, the total strength of the Soviet army gathered in the Caucasus had reached nearly 400,000 - almost a whole front. Chernyakhovsky continuously received supplies and technical arms from the east coast of the Caspian Sea. On April 8, the Transcaucasian offensive group had obtained more than 1,000 tanks, nearly half of which were relatively advanced IS-1, T-43/85 and American Sherman. Among the remaining more than 500 tanks, there were more than 200 T-43/76, and less than 200 earlier T-34/76. As for other light tanks, the number was even smaller.

In order to compete for air supremacy in the area around the Caspian Sea, the Red Army Air Force also went out in full force and took the initiative to fight with the German army in recent days. Especially after receiving supplies from the US military twice in a row (the Soviet Union actually received 36 ships and Japan actually received 24 ships), Comrade Stalin sent them all to the Caspian Sea and Central Asia like crazy, mobilizing more than 600 aircraft, of which nearly 400 were various types of fighters, and the remaining more than 200 were the Soviet Union's unique Il-2. As for the bomber force, Stalin no longer expected them to come out to die.

Voroshilov, who was in charge of military production, believed that the raw materials and fuel consumed by a bomber could be used by two fighters, and it was more difficult to train bomber pilots than fighters. Therefore, in the second half of 1943, especially after 1944, the Soviet side completely stopped manufacturing bombers and concentrated resources on developing fighters. The goal was clear: to compete for air supremacy in battles and local air supremacy.

The main opponents of the German Air Force now are the forces composed of Yak-3 and La-5 as the main force, but new aircraft such as Yak-9 and La-7 have also begun to be equipped in batches. There are also many American-aided aircraft, but the models are still tragic. They are neither the popular P-47\P-51, nor the Navy's F4U, and it is even less likely to be the Meteor jet that the United States and Britain have not equipped themselves. Now there is the issue of protection fees, which "can be ignored but cannot be really regarded as nothing". Advanced fighters cannot be given at all, and the Red Army is still given the P-63 that the Americans themselves do not want. But no matter how rubbish the P-63 is, it is much better than the original P-39\40 series. Comrade Stalin was still very grateful for Roosevelt's generosity. When the latter knew that Japan wanted to get a share of it, he still sent the Red Army extremely valuable high-grade aviation fuel, armored steel, aluminum ingots and other materials that the Soviet Union urgently needed. He should express his gratitude.

So he not only presented the IS-1 and T-43/85 in full set of physical objects and materials according to the US's requirements, but also gave additional compensation - sent the wreckage of German technical equipment obtained on the battlefield, such as the assaulter, Himmler's organ and other goods, and even the Tiger tank that the US military was most interested in. In addition, he negotiated with the Japanese side and asked the Japanese side, who had received protection money, to release a group of American crew members who were initially detained. Stalin and Molotov thought very carefully: in case someone entangled in the matter of some of the Soviet aid materials falling into the hands of Japan in the future, the rescue of these crew members could be explained to the United States - in exchange for American citizens, they had to redeem things. The Japanese side, which had benefited, quickly agreed, and the United States was of course deeply grateful.

Japan is now living a very comfortable life. The Kakuta Fleet is robbing outside Australia and New Zealand, and no one dares to stop it. The Indian Expeditionary Force, which has continuously increased its troops, has defeated the British army step by step. The aid to the Soviet Union has also received 40% of the benefits. The war in the Chinese mainland has basically subsided and it has made money frequently. Then, trade with Europe has exchanged for batches of useful materials, including Do-412 and Ju-198, which have begun to be provided to Japan. All parties are very satisfied and think that now is the best day since the war began.

The proposal to form 15 security divisions was naturally passed. Even at the Five Ministers Conference, the Tibetan Minister took the initiative to say that if the army really needs it by the end of the year, 15 more security divisions can be formed. Prince Higashikuni Toshihiko praised "the blessing of ancestors" repeatedly-after all, no one is a god, and they don't know that Spruance will soon take the TF44 fleet, 4 escort aircraft carriers and 2 British native divisions to India to find trouble with them.

Of course, Japan also received the P-63 and Sherman tanks that were sent to the Soviet Union. Japan had a very low opinion of the P-63, believing that it was not as good as the Fw-190 or other German aircraft, nor as good as its own Tornado. So Japan asked the Soviet Union if they could exchange Sherman tanks, and was willing to exchange two aircraft for one Sherman. Now Japan is the country with the most complete Sherman models in the world - almost the only one. Britain and the United States use gasoline Shermans, and the Soviet Union gets diesel Shermans. Only Germany and Japan have both versions, but Germany has very few diesel Shermans, far less than Japan. So the Japanese army, especially the Kwantung Army, wanted to get more to form a pure American tank brigade.

Although the Soviets wanted the P-63 very much, they were in urgent need of tanks and were reluctant to exchange them for the P-63. Fortunately, there were many smart people. Someone proposed to exchange bombers for P-63 and got Voroshilov's approval. Finally, the two sides reached an agreement. The Soviet Union exchanged 40 Pe-2s for 93 P-63s from Japan. The Japanese were very satisfied with this and were even more satisfied after the test flight evaluation. They believed that the Pe-2 was better than the other bombers in Japan except the German Ju-188 bomber, especially compared with the Italian BR20 bomber introduced by the army that year, and the main domestic equipment Feilong or Tunlong heavy bomber (called heavy bomber, but the bomb carrying capacity was not as good as Pe-2). It has a great advantage.

After the project started, other things became easier. The Red Army had a lot of Pe-2s in stock. Since bombers were not a top priority, they could all be used to exchange for the more scarce materials in the hands of the Japanese army. So the armored steel and aluminum ingots (Japan refused to give high-grade aviation fuel) were turned into Pe-2s before Japan even had time to warm up. The Soviet side didn't feel bad about it, because they still had better Tu-2 bombers, and a few hundred Pe-2s wouldn't change anything, so they might as well export them all for exchange - in a few months, the British and Indian troops would have a chance to taste the bombs dropped by Pe-2s painted with Japanese military markings.

Faced with the worsening situation in the Transcaucasus and the Turks' request for help, Zeitzler could not sit still and went directly to Rostov to prepare for the counterattack. But here he heard the shocking answer of Marshal Manstein of the Eastern United Theater: "Counterattack? Why counterattack? Let the Russians fight! I wish they would fight me."

"I know you have deployed a lot of troops in the South Caucasus, but the reconnaissance situation shows that the three fronts of the Red Army on the Stalingrad front are eager to try. If the enemy army attacks from the north and south to encircle our army, I am afraid that the follow-up will be more troublesome."

The Caucasus troops refer to the Caspian Army Group under the charge of Marshal Kleist. Before the establishment of the Eastern United Theater, the Southern Army Group governed a total of three army groups A\B\C, of ​​which Army Group A was Kleist's Army Group, Army Group B was Hoth's Group, and Army Group C was Rommel's Group. After Manstein became the commander of the Eastern United Theater, the three army groups A, B, and C were integrated.

Marshal Hoth's Army Group B plus the original headquarters of the Southern Army Group formed a new Southern Army Group. Marshal Hoth served as the commander, responsible for the battle line roughly along the Volga River from Samara to the outskirts of Stalingrad, with nearly 600,000 troops. The northern wing was Marshal Weichs' Eastern Army Group, and the southern wing was Marshal Kleist's Caspian Army Group. The most elite offensive spearhead under his command was the 4th Panzer Army, commanded by General Georg-Hans-Reinhardt.

The Caspian Army Group was formed by the merger of the original A Army Group Headquarters and Rommel's Group (Scherner was the commander of the 5th Armored Army, not the commander of the Central Asian Army Group). Marshal Kleist served as the commander. The battle line included the Volga River Basin, Caucasus Mountains and the Caspian Sea coast from Astrakhan to Stalingrad. The northern wing was the Southern Army Group, and the southern wing was the Turks in Transcaucasia. Theoretically, Central Asia is also under the jurisdiction of the Caspian Army Group, but due to the relatively long distance and the special situation of the Central Asian Army Group, Scherner gained an independent status. Excluding Scherner's troops, the total strength of the Caspian Army Group is just over 500,000, and the most elite offensive force is the 1st Panzer Army, commanded by General Eberhard von Mackensen.

In Zeitzler's view, the Caspian Army Group alone is fully confident of dealing with the Red Army's forces in the Transcaucasus, even with the Malinovsky Independent Army on the east coast of the Caspian Sea. However, if the Yeremenko and even Rokossovsky Fronts in the north rush down together, it will be very difficult to deal with them - the total strength of the latter two alone is nearly 900,000. Even if the support forces of Marshal Hoth are counted, that is, 750,000 vs. 1.55 million, the German army is obviously at a disadvantage.

Manstein approved all of Zeitzler's judgments and analyses, but the response strategy he intended to adopt was not easy for Zeitzler and Kleist to understand.

"We can stop the Russians at the pass of the Caucasus Mountains and then let them in." Manstein said with a smile, "Since they like to come to the Caucasus so much, let them come... Spring is coming soon, and the scenery of the Caucasus grassland is so beautiful, it would be a pity not to come and see it!"

"Grassland! Grassland!" Zeitzler and Kleist were thinking about this word, and suddenly realized, "You want to let them in to fight an armored cluster battle?"

"How can the mountainous areas and muddy lands in Transcaucasia give full play to the advantages of tanks?" Manstein smiled strangely, "The Führer has prepared a feast for them..."