Iron Cross

"Combining Marshal Rommel's report and the air force reconnaissance, I think the Russians are indeed considering preparing a large-scale counterattack in the direction of Central Asia. The source of these forces is likely to be the enemy's heavy troop group that has been missing from the direction of the central battlefield." Standing in front of a large map, General Yodel Kaikai talked confidently, "This force should be no less than 400,000-600,000. If the Russians really want to eat our Central Asian cluster, they will at least build on this." Add an army."

Thanks to the success of the war in the past few years, Yoder, who has been in charge of the formulation of major campaign plans, was recently promoted from artillery general to general. After Hoffman traveled through time, he did not get angry at Yodl's decision to protect Marshal List. Even after Marshal List left because he had different opinions on purging the anti-Führer forces of Juncker, he still gave Yodl a high level of trust. After conferring the title of general to the other party, he clearly hinted that if the war was ultimately victorious, Yodel would have the opportunity to receive the marshal's scepter in the future based on his merits, which made him extremely grateful to the head of state.

Of course, Yodel has real abilities. Not only can he fully understand the true thoughts of the Führer, but he can also repeatedly transform Hoffmann's imaginative strategic ideas into solid campaign plans, unlike other senior generals. In that case, one would either think that the Führer was having a whim or go along with it unprincipled. He always kept consistent with Hoffman on the general policy, made fine-tuning on local details to meet operational needs, and established a bridge between the commander-in-chief and the front-line commanders. Although Keitel holds the title of Chief of General Staff of the Supreme Command, he spends most of his time coordinating personnel and agency functions. The brains that really determines the core operational plan is Yoder. Moreover, Yodel's thinking rarely has limitations, and he has a very deep understanding of the operations of the land, sea and air forces. He is not like an ordinary army general at all, which makes Hoffman particularly important.

Hoffman was much wiser than Hitler. Although he was known as a military expert in later generations, he never actually fought in a war, never served in the army, and did not even receive a formal military school education. Most of them were Research results based on history show that the actual command level and intuitive understanding of war are far inferior to Hitler, a corporal who fought in the smoke of gunfire. However, he knew his own weight and would not interfere with the command of front-line generals most of the time, let alone He would randomly interfere in the combat process at the level below the group army. This is much more reliable than Hitler, and it is also easier for the generals to accept. So although he now holds the title of Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, no one dares to say that the head of state does not understand war.

“Assuming this inference is correct, what are your suggestions for dealing with it?”

"First of all, we cannot take the advice of General Zeitzler and move towards Iran. This is completely possible militarily, but politically it is very unfavorable and is not conducive to consolidating our influence on the independent regimes of Central Asian countries; secondly, we cannot Marshal Keitel retreated to the east coast of the Caspian Sea as Marshal Keitel originally expected. The distance was too long. Before the troops could retreat, the Red Army would have rushed over in groups. I bet that in addition to diverting troops from the battlefield in the middle, they must also be in the south. The wing front has concealed its strength with the intention of intercepting and killing; then, I do not recommend adopting Marshal Rommel’s opinion to continue to reinforce the troops. The reason is the same as the second point. The reinforcements are likely to face enemy interceptions. Once they are trapped, we can either Deploy troops to support, or let the Central Asian campaign cluster carry out rescue. The former can easily become a refueling tactic, and ultimately let us and the Red Army fight a major battle in a less than ideal location on the east coast of the Caspian Sea. The latter may form an encirclement. Click for help..."

Jodl rejected three opinions in one breath. Hoffman was a little anxious, but he still kept calm and continued to ask: "What is the most appropriate way? You can't just do nothing and watch Rommel's army be destroyed."

"That's impossible." Jodl thought to himself. Rommel was a close friend of the Führer and a war hero created by the Propaganda Department. If he died, he would have to shed his skin even if he didn't die. "My suggestion is to learn from past battles. Examples - such as the Battle of Holm."

"Let Rommel hold on in the central oasis belt of several Central Asian countries?" Hoffman asked, "Is it possible to hold on in the face of an attack by 600,000 enemy troops?"

"The 80% probability is no problem. If we make some targeted adjustments, I think there is a 95% probability that we can defend it." Yoder smiled. "When Holm encircled the circle, our army only had more than 6,000 remnants of each unit. In 3 The Red Army Group Army stood firm under the attack, and finally held out until reinforcements arrived in the spring to counterattack; now the Central Asia Campaign Group has at least 80,000 troops, and they are all elite troops who are brave and good at fighting. They can completely withstand an enemy that is 5-6 times their size. No problem."

"Are there no difficulties in the winter defensive battle?" Hoffman immediately thought of the 6th Army in the historical Stalingrad encirclement. There was also the example of the Holm encirclement. Why couldn't Paulus do it?

"Of course there are many difficulties. The first is the increasing difficulty of material supply. As the climate gets colder, the weather in Central Asia will become worse. Meteorologists believe that starting from December, there will often be heavy winds and snowstorms in Central Asia, which are not conducive to the environment. The weather for aircraft flying has a probability of 60-70%, and there are only about 7-8 days a month when air transportation can be carried out. This bad weather will last at least until the end of February; the second is the loss of air force superiority. Currently, our military is in Central Asia In addition to the very effective armored force, air superiority is a factor that cannot be ignored. If the weather turns bad, this advantage will no longer exist, and the enemy will narrow the gap with us. If air superiority is still here, our army will win many battles. On the other hand, I think that even if we can deal with a million-strong army, we have a certain degree of confidence; the third is the adjustment of war psychology. At present, these armies are basically elites with a great reputation. If they are suddenly switched from offense to defense, they will be uncomfortable. This Is a very critical point.

There is some good news. For example, our army has successfully developed fuels and lubricants that are anti-cold and anti-freeze in winter, and there will no longer be the dilemma of unusable vehicles during the typhoon battle. If we switch to defense now, we will have at least 30-40 days to stock up on supplies and build a defense line. In order to prepare for the winter, the transport aircraft units can make more trips to replenish the troops with enough soldiers, supplies, equipment and ammunition; we have the support and support of all ethnic groups in Central Asia, and they can help a lot in the defensive war. , such as the construction of fortifications, assistance in providing rations, etc..."

"Another idea is to let Marshal Rommel return to China to rest. He has been fighting abroad all year round. Every time, he is asked to lead troops in the most dangerous and difficult places, so that his health has not been good..."

Jodl said it tactfully, but Hoffman could hear it: he was not optimistic about Rommel's command of the defensive battle, or he thought that Rommel's so-called offensive and defensive thinking was not suitable for holding the battle in the mountains and oases of Central Asia. He was in poor health and so on. The excuse, but the real purpose is to change the commander.

Hoffman asked casually: "Who do you think is more suitable?"

Jodl blurted out: "General Ferdinand Scherner, currently serving in Army Group Center, is very suitable. He is our army's leading mountain warfare expert. He has always had outstanding performance, and his defensive command in the Castle Battle was also very effective."

"I understand. You go and list the supplies and reinforcements needed to prepare for a defensive war. I will send your plan to the red side and listen to their opinions."

Jodl left quickly, hesitated before leaving and said: "As for the transfer of Marshal Rommel, I hope the head of state can have a good talk with him. I admire him personally. This decision is entirely based on the overall situation and has no other meaning. "

"I understand, I will take care of it."

The so-called red side is the second staff system set up by Hoffman ingeniously, and the leader is General Paulus. Paulus was sent from the position of commander of the Sixth Army by Hoffman to serve as chief of staff on the Western Front, so he was never promoted until he led the troops to capture Gibraltar before he was promoted to general.

Although Hoffman initially had a different view of Paulus because of his historical performance, as time went by, he adjusted his view of some figures. Paulus was a very competent chief of staff, but he was a war room general who found it difficult to resonate with ordinary soldiers. Therefore, he was not suitable to be a front-line general, especially the commander of the Sixth Army. However, he did an excellent job in the position of chief of staff on the Western Front. All work was in order, and he did not have any thoughts about Hoffman's sudden transfer of him from the Eastern Front to the Western Front. He even volunteered to replace him. The Führer focused on Lundstedt - he always believed that the Führer was not at ease with the Junkers.

Since the Western Front was relatively idle, Paulus could not get along with the old marshal and other aristocratic officers, and he had no other special hobbies, so he gathered with a group of staff officers to study the war, simulating that he was a member of the Red Army General Staff. How to fight the Eastern Front Campaign, and was called by Hoffmann from time to time to Berlin to report his views on war decisions. Over time, Hoffman simply asked some reserve army officers to follow Paulus to form a Red Army staff on the Western Front, focusing on studying and discussing major decisions on the Eastern Front.

It is particularly worth mentioning that after General Halder, who was exiled by Hoffman and returned to the Berlin Military Academy as the director of education, was eventually found to be involved with the treasonous group and was sentenced to death, Paulus was ordered to concurrently hold this position. The functions of the Party General Staff became more powerful. It not only began to simulate the Red Army on the Eastern Front, but also began to simulate the decision-making of the US military. It vaguely resembled the Second General Staff, and its ideas were broader (in other words, there were more elements of talking on paper). , for Hoffman, this is a rare source of reference opinions, and it never hurts to listen to other opinions.

He now wanted very much to know Paulus's differing views on the Yodel campaign.