Iron Cross

"The strategic goal of the war against the Soviet Union is not to seize and occupy a specific location, but to eliminate the effective strength of the Soviet army. It would be very satisfying if we could win the Kiev encirclement and annihilation battle like last year." Hoffman emphasized, "In the future Our criterion for judging victory in a battle is not only the destroyed enemy equipment and supplies, but also the number of enemies killed, wounded, and captured. Only an exchange ratio of more than 4:1 can be considered a success. If it is 5:1 or 7:1, it will be considered a success. The exchange ratio is relatively good, and we can consider awarding medals to the army commanders. In order to achieve this exchange ratio, we cannot stick to the gains and losses of one city or one place. Except for a few strategic hubs that must be defended, other fronts and regions can be flexibly adapted. ——We do not have an advantage in terms of overall military strength, so we must use large-scale mobile operations to mobilize the enemy. Destroying the enemy's effective forces on the move will be the essence of our operations. As for the Russians who want to take some territory, just give it back to them—— Anyway, as long as we eliminate the enemy’s vitality, these territories will fall automatically like ripe fruits.”

Hoffmann delineated the strategic points that must be defended on the eastern front from north to south on the map, in order: Leningrad Encirclement, Novgorod, Smolensk, Bryansk, Kursk, and Har. Kove, Voronezh, Rostov, Taman and Kerch peninsulas, Crimean peninsula. Zeitzler looked at it silently. If these key points are connected, except for some areas (mainly the southern front), the overall front is probably the continuous front after last year's Typhoon Battle, which is generally 200-200 meters farther back than the current overall front. 300 kilometers, the width of the overall defense area can be reduced by approximately one-fifth - and the troop density correspondingly increases by one-fifth.

Hoffman then drew a large circle on the two sea areas in the north and south, saying: "We must change our concept and pay more attention to these two sea areas. The Baltic Sea is in the north and the Black Sea is in the south. The existing transportation of materials and personnel faces Russia. Due to the poor road system constraints, it is necessary to strengthen the maritime transport force to supplement. The Northern Army Group can count on the supply fleet from the mainland, and the Southern Army Group can count on the supply fleet from Romania and Bulgaria, so near Leningrad and the Crimea. The area near the peninsula will be the top priority. Speer, have the transportation conditions on the eastern front improved? Will the transportation of prisoners to the west be accelerated? "

"My head of state. Since we have changed the strategy of supply and troop deployment, the troops currently returning from the Eastern Front to rest and recuperate, except for the T-34 and the old models No. 2 and No. 3, which must be sent back to China for repair, no longer carry heavy weapons. equipment, all the free tonnage has been handed over to prisoner transportation. So far in September, 120,000 more personnel have been transported compared with the previous month, and the number of passengers in a single month in the future is expected to reach 300,000-400,000; at the same time, due to the suspension of transportation to the east by the SS Jews, the vacated transportation capacity has been transferred to the National Defense Forces. Our pace of supplying troops, materials, and equipment to the Eastern Front has also accelerated. Heavy equipment can ensure the first priority. Winter equipment is currently being transported intensively, and it is expected that all will be available by mid-October. After the transportation was completed and distributed, General Schmont, the director of munitions on the Eastern Front, assured me that the lack of winter equipment like last year would not happen again." Speer thought for a while, "I agree with the policy of strengthening sea transportation, but. This requires us to add more ships, especially since there are almost no ships of ours in the Black Sea. In addition, the adjustment of the track gauge of the eastern line will also occupy part of the labor force, so the number of captives received in the country may be less than the number we transport.”

The provision of winter equipment has always been a matter of great concern to Hoffman: in the first winter in history, there was a bloody encounter outside Moscow, and a large number of soldiers lost their combat effectiveness due to the severe cold; in the second year, the Sixth Army in the direction of Stalingrad Still lacking winter equipment, hundreds of thousands were ultimately lost. So this time he made up his mind to withdraw his troops in September and work hard to shorten the supply line. He would rather lose some territory than lose people. As for the transportation tonnage that Speer is concerned about, a conference on Serbia will be held in two days. Both Bulgaria and Romania will gain something from the territorial adjustment. He believes that these preferential conditions can be used to obtain the necessary ships and necessary resources from the two countries. .

"General Zeitzler, one thing you have to pay attention to is that the Romanian, Hungarian and Italian troops on the front line must complete the selection as soon as possible and retain the most combat-effective third of them. The other troops will gradually withdraw from the Eastern Front."

"Evacuate?" Zeitzler was startled and asked suspiciously, "Evacuate to where? There are currently the Italian 8th Army, the Romanian 3rd and 4th Army, and the Hungarian 2nd Army on the front line. The above four armies add up to about the same There are 600,000 men. If only one third is retained, the number will be reduced by 400,000, and the troop turnover will be difficult. "

"Some will go to Serbia, some will be transferred to the second front, and some will return home." Hoffman explained, "I will transfer the troops originally in Yugoslavia to the Eastern Front. There are almost 90,000 troops here; the domestic reserve army will provide 10 supplementary divisions. This Almost 140,000 troops have been solved; the Air Force used its surplus manpower to build 5 field divisions for you, which solved another 70,000 troops. A total of 300,000 troops can be supplemented for the eastern front. Considering that we have reduced two large protrusions in the north and middle This has liberated another 5-6 divisions, so the overall strength is sufficient. Even with the replacement of our troops, the overall combat effectiveness of the Eastern Front will rise to a higher level. "

"But..." Zeitzler expressed his dissatisfaction tactfully in a long tone, "You took away three armored divisions and two motorized divisions from the front line to support the operation in North Africa. What you took away was our first-class main force. This What to do about the gap?”

"This..." Hoffman was actually asked for a moment.

"General Zeitzler, the Waffen SS recently completed the formation of four division-level troops according to the orders of the Führer, and they can be deployed on the front line." Himmler calmly took over the topic and relieved Hoffman. , "If the head of state allows it, I will form an additional foreign SS unit equivalent to 2 divisions and 1 brigade before winter arrives in accordance with the principles determined at the meeting just now. These units can also be used to fight against the Soviet Union."

Hoffman glanced at Himmler appreciatively: On the one hand, the frontline generals said that there were insufficient troops, and on the other hand, he had just stated that he would increase efforts to form foreign troops. Himmler immediately reacted and naturally took over the task. This It was a good opportunity to seize, so he nodded and let it go.

"Then... Okay." Seeing that the deal was done, Zeitzler knew that objections were useless, not to mention that neither Romania, Hungary, nor Italians were very powerful in combat. He just wanted to take the opportunity to negotiate terms with the head of state.

"Withdrawing the troops from these three countries is not to weaken the strength of the Eastern Front, but to protect ourselves." Hoffman further explained his reasons for doing so, "You should have read the battle reports on the North African battlefield. The Italians are so incompetent that they can do nothing but Capturing prisoners and giving military exploits to the British could not play any other role, and a lot of resources were wasted. Although the situation of other countries' troops on the Eastern Front was better, it was not so good. In any battle, these allied troops were not the first to be broken through by the Russians. What if the whole line is passive? So I made the decision to adjust the corresponding troop deployment. However, the remaining troops of each country must be fully replenished before other troops can be withdrawn. During the evacuation process, the personnel can be withdrawn, but the heavy equipment must be left behind for reinforcement. In order to retain the firepower density of the troops and increase their combat effectiveness, the air forces and other special support forces of various countries on the Eastern Front will not withdraw. As for the troops of other countries, such as Finland, the Spanish Blue Division, the French Regiment, the Slovak Division, and the Croatian troops, they will not withdraw. All the smaller numbers will be retained and put under the unified command of our army groups to reflect the characteristics of the Holy War in which all European countries participate together."

Hearing this, Zeitzler became happy. If the reinforcements of the four armies of Italy, Hungary, and Romania were completed and all the heavy equipment was left, the loss of frontline strength would not be as much as 400,000, and the combat effectiveness of the carefully selected 200,000 troops would be It will also be upgraded to a higher level, and he began to think about which troops should be retained.

"In fact, all the allies have tried their best in the early stage of the battle. We cannot use our world's best combat power to demand them. In addition, insufficient equipment and poor performance have also restricted their advantages. I heard that some troops such as the Italian cavalry The troops, the Romanian mountain soldiers, and the Hungarian grenadiers fought well in some battles, so I decided to reward them on the Serbian issue," Hoffmann emphasized, "This behavior will improve our situation among the allies. The image is also good. The Italian leader called me three times and complained to me that General Guderian sacrificed his troops in the North African battlefield. Now he is under great internal pressure. Sending some troops back home is an act of appeasement and is conducive to consolidation. His status was of great help. At the same time, there were also complaints within Romania and Hungary about sending so many troops to fight against the Soviet Union. In particular, the loss of the two Romanian armies, which accounted for nearly half of the troops, would damage the prestige of Marshal Antonescu. It would be beneficial to withdraw them to assume garrison duties and allow them to maintain stability in the former Yugoslavia and consolidate the stability of our rear areas - our field troops are not adapted to and should not perform such tasks. "

When the Yuan Dynasty mentioned this, Zeitzler and others naturally could only nod in agreement.

Hoffman was greatly relieved: Finally, the three time bombs on the defense lines of Romania, Hungary and Italy had been defused. If the war started again, Stalin would not be able to find so many soft persimmons to pinch.

Finally, after Hoffman announced another important policy adjustment that had been under consideration for many days, as soon as he said these few words, there was an uproar in the conference room and everyone was stunned.