After the episode on the southern front, Guderian also said goodbye to the meeting. He also rushed to North Africa to take over Rommel's command. According to Rommel's plan, the African Army would launch an attack on the British Army in El Alamein in five days. However, No one in the Afrika Korps, including Rommel, knew that the British army on the opposite side had been replaced by the British 8th Army commanded by Montgomery. Not only was the commander's tactical level much higher, but after receiving reinforcements and supplements, the British army Both the number of people and the equipment are more than twice that of the African Corps. There is no doubt that if Rommel's plan is allowed to continue, the losses of the Afrika Korps will be extremely heavy. Originally Guderian wanted to wait for Zeitzler to confirm the number of reinforcements before taking action, but when Hoffman told him the "latest" news, he was so shocked that the latter broke out in a cold sweat and took his staff team to set off overnight - —First take a train to Italy to meet Mussolini, and then take a plane from Sicily to the front line.
Zeitzler's explanation of the Eastern Front strategy gradually reached a climax, "In the northern section, our army plans to give up its strategic intention to capture Leningrad, but it needs to continue to encircle the city and make this city like a magnet. By implementing the policy of "siege the city and fight for reinforcements", Stalin's reinforcements were firmly attracted to come to die in a steady stream. After Marshal Manstein was transferred to the southern front, the 11th Army that had been transferred to the north gave up the task of attacking Leningrad and fully dealt with the Russian army. Attack... At the same time, in order to shorten the front and save defensive forces, it is considered to straighten the front of the Demyansk salient."
After hearing the reinforcements, the 11th Army did not have to go to Leningrad or follow Manstein south. It could also choose the opportunity to abandon Demyansk, the "flesh and blood mill" that consumed the lives of countless Soviet and German soldiers. Army Group Northern Commander Marshal von Kuchler showed a satisfied look.
"In the middle section of the front, our goal is still Moscow, but it is not really to attack Moscow, but to consume and mobilize Stalin's reserve forces by putting pressure on Moscow, forcing him to divide his troops from the southern section in order to give us Create every opportunity to break through."
"I have a question." Seeing that the new commander of Army Group Center, General Weikes, did not respond, the commander of the 9th Army Group, General Model, stood up in excitement, "This strategic goal is a double-edged sword. Although the shortening has reduced our burden, it has also liberated the enemy and facilitated their calm deployment. The density of combat forces against us in the next stage will be greatly enhanced. The defensive front of Army Group Center stretches from Veliky Lukin in the north to Orel in the south. , the overall defense width reached 1,500 kilometers. In the battles in the first few months of this year, we used the Rzhev salient to cause more than 500,000 losses to the Russians, and our army's losses also reached 140,000-150,000. Especially' During Operation Whirlwind, the 2nd Armored Army and the 9th Army under my command suffered even greater losses. Many infantry regiments had to change their commanders. The highest number even changed 8 commanders. If there were no new reinforcements, there would also be additional commanders. Deploying an armored division and a motorized infantry division from Army Group Center to reinforce Africa, it will be difficult to complete the offensive and defensive tasks in the next stage with the current strength."
Zeitzler explained: "The Air Force has established four fully-manned Air Force field divisions. General Halder originally planned to deploy all of them to Army Group Center. I will not change this move."
Model shrugged: "The four air force field divisions sound like a lot of people, and the equipment is quite neat, but... uh... Dear Chief of General Staff, you know their combat effectiveness. If they are deployed on the front line, they will only I'm afraid I'll have to send troops to protect them." As soon as he finished speaking, there was a roar of laughter around him, and even General Weeks, who had been deep in thought, laughed, and the atmosphere of the meeting, which had been a little reserved just now, suddenly became a lot more lively.
Hoffman laughed: Model was indeed a close confidant of the Führer, and he dared to make such a joke at such a serious moment. However, he still admired this defense master very much. More importantly, what Model said was true. ——Under the leadership of Hermann Göring, the Third Reich's air force, which only had 5,000 or 6,000 aircraft, actually had more than 1.8 million personnel. The redundant ground staff and idle personnel in the air force alone amounted to 200,000. People, the Army General Staff once strongly requested that these idle personnel be quickly added to the army divisions that suffered heavy losses, but the Imperial Marshal directly refused. In order to prevent personnel from being added to the army, they also specially ordered the formation of a ridiculous Air Force Field Division. Each division is basically fully manned and equipped with the latest weapons. However, these troops seriously lacked combat training and experience, as well as war-tested non-commissioned officers and officers, so their combat effectiveness was extremely low. Even the newly formed militia divisions of the Red Army were able to repel the air force divisions, let alone the Guards divisions! In later generations, it was recognized that it was somewhat weaker than the Italian army, which was the most powerful of the Axis powers.
"There is indeed a problem with the strength of the Air Force Field Division, but the troops that our Imperial Marshal managed to organize cannot just be wasted." Hoffman rescued Zeitzler in time, "I authorize you to send these four After the personnel and weapons of each field division are separated, they will be replenished according to the needs of the army. However, the replenishment plan must be implemented under the unified dispatch of General Zeitzler. I will explain it to Hermann."
"The Führer is wise!" Zeitzler was very grateful to Hoffman for establishing the prestige for him. He had considerable power to deploy four fully-staffed replenishment divisions. Weeks and Model looked at each other and smiled, speaking from the bottom of their hearts. Praising Hoffman, the Führer not only freed the hands and feet of Army Group Center from the "no step back" stance, but also sent four fully equipped supplementary divisions, which made them very happy.
Zeitzler thought of Guderian's instructions before leaving, and struck while the iron was hot to determine the troops to be mobilized from Army Group Center - the 4th Armored Division and the 25th Motorized Infantry Division. These were the troops that Guderian had commanded when he originally commanded the Second Armored Group. His old subordinate, General Weikes, is now preoccupied with the matter of tracking down the treasonous group. The commander of the Second Armored Army, General Rudolf Schmidt, is not present because he is directing the battle. Model has just made a move to replenish the troops. Now that he is not redeploying his troops, there is naturally no objection, and the reinforcements sent by Army Group Center to the Afrika Korps are thus determined.
"The southern section of the Eastern Front is the strategic focus of this year. Our army has not only concentrated more than half of its forces in this direction, but has also launched it in an offensive posture so far. The head of state believes that judging from the results of the previous stage of operations, we are too high We had estimated ourselves, and attacking the two targets of the Caucasus and Stalingrad at the same time greatly exceeded our strength. But this does not mean that our original plan was completely wrong, because these two directions are two wings that support each other. If we simply lean towards Attacking in one direction will easily expose our flanks. Therefore, it is necessary to make strategic adjustments in the southern section. The General Staff is determined to use this unfavorable situation to create an illusion to lure the enemy to attack our flanks and then encircle and eliminate them - among other things , both Stalingrad and the Caucasus oil fields are incidental targets. Our real goal is to eliminate the Russian mobile forces... To this end, we are prepared to restore the organization of Army Group South at the appropriate time and uniformly adjust the composition of Army Groups A and B. . The specific combat plan was designed by Marshal Manstein, and Army Group A accepted the command of Army Group B."
After listening to Zeitzler's explanation, Marshal Wilhelm List, commander of Army Group A, breathed a sigh of relief. He had always been dissatisfied with the original strategic goal of capturing Stalingrad and launching an offensive into the Caucasus. The reasons why the troops cannot be dispersed have been stated to the base camp many times. Although it is not as fierce as the quarrel between Halder and the Führer, the differences have also reached a very serious level. It was originally heard that Yoder was going to supervise the war on behalf of the Supreme Command. Even the proposal to revoke his position has been placed on Keitel's desk. Now that the head of state has adjusted his goals in time, it can be seen that he has adopted his own opinions in his heart. UU Reading www.uukanshu.com This makes him feel relieved. As for whether it would be under the command of Manstein in the future, he himself did not have much opinion, and he did not envy Manstein for winning the position of future commander of Army Group South.
"According to the proposal of the Führer, the 20th Motorized Infantry Division was dispatched from the Northern Combat Group, and the 5th SS Viking Panzergrenadier Division and the 'Gross Germania' Motorized Infantry Division were dispatched from the Southern Combat Group to the North African battlefield." Cai Ziller concluded, "The Army General Staff will issue an instruction on the adjustment of combat instructions after the meeting. I hope you will complete the adjustment immediately according to the instructions."
When he heard that the highly combat-effective Viking Division and the Germanic Division were to be transferred from the southern wing, Manstein was a little reluctant, but considering the love and expectations of the Führer in this change of positions, he sighed softly and decided After accepting it, what he didn't know was that originally according to the request of the General Staff, the Germanic Division was going north to assist Model's 9th Army. Now that the instructions of Army Group Center had changed, the Germanic Division was ready to go. Repurpose. Manstein didn't know about this, but Model knew it well. He winked at Manstein mischievously and reminded him not to be too good after taking advantage.
However, Zeitzler's task is not over yet. Tomorrow afternoon, a higher-level strategic meeting will be held in the Eagle's Nest. At that time, all party and state leaders will be present, and he and Marshal Keitel, as chiefs of general staff, will Admiral Redl of the Navy was present. The head of state has issued a clear order. From now on, the Eagle's Nest and the Wolf's Den will serve as the locations of the Supreme Command and the Army Headquarters, and will be fully responsible for war command. Judging from the current situation, he will have to stay in the Eagle's Nest for a while.
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