Steel Soviet Union

The clear night sky after the snow is dotted with stars, which makes people feel a rare sense of tranquility in the bone-chilling cold.

Compared with the current battle situation in the direction of Istria, where the enemy has been pushed back to the starting point again and is waiting to regroup the offensive energy, the strategic issues of the entire German Army Group Center are what Guderian is most worried about.

"I must go and see the Marshal in person."

On the afternoon of the next day after dawn, Guderian, who had spent the early morning to deal with all the important matters at hand and arranged the day's tactical arrangements, immediately set off by plane and rushed to the headquarters of the German Army Group Center, which was a hundred kilometers away from his frontline headquarters. .

There, Marshal Bock, who served as the commander of the German Army Group Center, would answer all Guderian's confusion.

As soon as he got off the plane, he took a special car and went straight to the headquarters of the German Army Group Center. Guderian couldn't wait to ask Marshal Bock to take back his previous order to capture Istria and use it as a springboard to penetrate into Moss. Guderian's armored group Both in terms of personnel and equipment, we have reached the most desperate moment.

The temperature of the leather military coat draped on the outermost layer of his clothes dropped to freezing point, just like Guderian's mood at the moment. The warm and powerful fireplace in the office was not enough to melt the frozen Guderian's heart. His own eyes on the front line What he saw and heard made Guderian feel for the German soldiers who were freezing to death in the snow.

"Marshal, now is the time to retract the previous order! My troops were frozen to death in the Russian snow and could not move an inch. The massive Soviet counterattack in the direction of Istria has defeated my troops!"

"The soldiers lacked winter clothing and supply lines were suspended. Hundreds of people were frozen to death and turned into ice sculptures in the snow. More people were so frozen that their limbs were amputated and lost their combat effectiveness. There were very few tanks and artillery left, and the shells were all frozen. There was a thick layer of frost that couldn’t be scraped off with bare hands, and even the breech block was so frozen that it couldn’t be opened at all!”

"Those Russians are still drawing new support troops and equipment from the Far East. The eastern flank of the entire armored group is facing serious security threats in depth!"

"Two months ago I could assure you that I would be able to withstand the frontal offensive of the three armies, but now my main force deployed in the direction of Istria is not even equipped with three Russian infantry divisions plus one armored regiment. They can't stop it! This is no longer a question of combat strength, Marshal, there is no doubt that this damn winter is on the side of the Russians!"

Compared to Guderian's rather impatient look of collapse, Marshal Bock, who had already received too much bad news, had a calm look on his face and seemed indifferent.

"I have reported similar reports to Berlin countless times within a week, Guderian. But the answer to me there is only the same one every time: "Hang on, we are thinking of ways to prioritize you. Solve the problem. "Do you understand? Guderian, solve the problem, this is the answer! This is the final answer that has not solved the problem of soldiers' winter clothing until now."

After pouring out these obviously uninterested and strongly dissatisfied words, the angry Marshal Bock decided to let Guderian experience what it felt like.

"Follow me, Guderian, this time I want you to listen to how the people from the army headquarters solved the problem for us."

After receiving temporary permission from Marshal Bock, the phone used to transmit news to the Army Headquarters was connected to a listening earphone by the communications technician at the Central Army Group Headquarters. Marshal Bock handed the earphone to Gudry beside him. An gestured to him to put it on and listen carefully to the whole process.

The person who connected the call with Marshal Bock was the current commander-in-chief of the German Army, Marshal Brauchitsch. This German Army Commander, who was secretly ridiculed by Marshal Bock as a cold and aristocratic man, was listening carefully to every word of Marshal Bock.

"The failure of the offensive in the direction of Istria is a result that must be faced. We now need more logistical supplies and winter military uniforms to be able to launch the offensive again. Yes, those Russians launched a counterattack against us, The offensive was very violent.”

Guderian, who listened to the conversation between Marshal Bock and Marshal Brauchitsch with headphones on his head, was able to fully understand every detail. He stood on Guderian's side and argued with Marshal Bock, who had the same opinions and ideas, and tried to make him On the other end of the phone, Marshal Brauchitsch, who was sitting firmly in the army headquarters, understood how bad the frontline battle situation was.

The lengthy debate mainly revolved around Marshal Bock's hope that the combat order of Army Group Center could be changed and the attack order revoked, allowing Guderian's Second Armored Group to take a temporary rest, regroup its attack energy, and choose an appropriate opportunity to move to the winter position. defense.

Facing Marshal Bock's well-founded demands, Marshal Brauchitsch, who had been silent for a long time on the other end of the phone, finally gave a calm reply.

"All the issues you just mentioned have been reported at the heads of state meeting this morning. The head of state believes that these are surmountable difficulties. Our German soldiers have an iron-like indomitable will that is enough to overcome the harsh winter in Russia. The head of state believes that once The best proof is that the French, who bowed to the harsh Russian winter, were conquered by us in just seven weeks."

"The head of state requires that all troops on the front line must maintain the existing offensive and speed up the advancement. Any combat orders approved by him must not be changed without authorization. You understand this, Bock, you must continue to attack. You know what the head of state's order means. "

Brauchitsch did not mention a single solution to the detailed difficulties that Guderian had raised before. He almost copied Hitler's words exactly, which disappointed Guderian who was monitoring all this.

What made Guderian disappointed was not the final answer given by Marshal Brauchitsch, but that as the commander of the German Army, he had no power to make any decisive change decisions. Of course Guderian knew that the main reason for this was the power of the head of state, but at this moment Guderian was also extremely disappointed with Brauchitsch, the German army commander who did not dare to disobey the head of state's will.

Marshal Bock, who had been wrangling for a long time but was knocked back to the starting point again, was really unwilling to end in such an anticlimactic manner.

After presupposing the Führer's order to continue the attack, Marshal Bock immediately spoke to Brauchitsch on the other end of the phone.

"If it cannot provide us with any substantial help, it must at least point out a goal that can be implemented at this stage. We must know which front the Army Command believes is the most important!"