Bismarck

"Everyone..." Manstein began, "...The Führer can help us build 40 infantry divisions and 6 armored divisions within two months, and they can be divided into two batches to reinforce the front line. So this time I proposed such a plan, which is divided into three stages: first, use the forest terrain to delay and consume Zhukov in the central line, and then with the reinforcement of the first batch of reinforcements to hold off Zhukov and defeat the Russians in Crimea, and at the same time, let Timoshenko in the southwest little by little to let him go deep alone - we can even put him in the Dnieper River or even under the city of Kiev! As long as he dares to rush into these 400 kilometers, the logistics will definitely not be able to keep up! In addition, the Russian land will thaw in March, and the rivers, ditches, fields and so on will become swamps, and their transportation will not be able to keep up. So in the last step, we can attack Timoshenko from three sides with the reinforcement of the second batch of reinforcements!... Below is a detailed explanation..."

This was not the first time that Manstein faced a big situation and he did not look nervous at all, even though the enemy situation was extremely severe.

As the battle progressed, both the Soviet Union and Germany had made some adjustments to their troop deployment and defense zones. For example, of the six fronts of the Soviet army participating in the war, four changed their names: General Reserve Front → Western Front; Saransk Front → Southwestern Front; Volga Front → Don Front; North Caucasus Front → Southern Front. Only the Kalinin Front in the north of the battle line and the Crimean Front threatening the enemy's rear retained their original names.

Relatively speaking, the Central Army Group and the Southern Army Group that withdrew from the Caucasus have also been adjusted: the troops now assigned are Hoth's Second Panzer Army, Kluge's Ninth Army and Manstein's own Eleventh Army, with a total of 47 divisions, 400,000 people and 380 tanks, but they have to defend a 650-kilometer defense line from Vitebsk in the north to Glukhov in the south - and at least 40% of the troops have to guard the vast transportation lines in the rear to prevent Soviet guerrillas hiding in the roadside hills and dense forests from suddenly emerging from some corner to launch a surprise attack, or calling on the Soviet Air Force's bombers and attack aircraft to drop bombs on the heads of the reinforcement convoys.

Opposite them were the Kaliningrad Front and the Western Front with 800,000 troops and 1,400 tanks!

Even though there was the help of 200,000 troops of the Northern Army Group north of Vitebsk, and even though the terrain in this area was divided into pieces by large and small forests, it was still very difficult to delay the advance of the Soviet army, which had an absolute advantage in strength.

However, if the central cluster can still hold on by relying on the fragmented terrain, then the southern cluster is truly hopeless!

Starting from the Orel-Sumey line, south to the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov, west to the Dnieper River, the 600-kilometer-wide Western Ukraine, except for the relatively dense forests along the small rivers, is a vast plain with no strategic location to defend, and even a bit endless! Even if the vassal army is included, the German army here only has 530,000 crickets and 700 tanks!

And what about the Soviet army on the opposite side?

The Southwestern Front and the Don Front under the command of Marshal Timoshenko, the representative of the Southwestern Theater, had a total of 1.3 million people and 2,700 tanks! In addition, there were 500,000 people and 1,200 tanks under Marshal Budyonny, the representative of the Soviet Southern Theater, who supported Timoshenko's attack in front of Rostov-Luhansk and launched a backstab operation against the German army in the Crimea direction.

Now the "stab in the back" has reached the banks of Kherson, the mouth of the Dnieper River, and Melitopol, the transportation hub on the other side. If they are occupied, not only can they cooperate with the troops on the Rostov-Luhansk front to attack the German troops in the south in one fell swoop, but they can also go directly north to the Zaporizhia-Dnepropetrovsk area on the west bank of the Dnieper River, becoming a bridgehead for the Soviet Union to cross the Dnieper River and retake the entire Ukrainian region!

Given the situation, it’s no wonder that no one wants to be the commander of the Southern Army Group!

When Hitler announced in anger that General Schorner, the former commander of the Southern Army Group who had withdrawn from the Caucasus, would be dismissed and replaced because of the loss of Maikop, this man did not even make a word of excuse. He simply handed over the seal of command in his hand and turned around and left happily.

That straightforward attitude made Hitler confused. It took him a long time to realize that he was eager to get himself out of this mess and didn't want to continue to be stuck in it!

It was at this time that Manstein actually jumped out and took over the commander-in-chief of Army Group South. This position seemed to be in great power, but in fact it could lead to a complete loss if one was not careful - he even came up with a battle plan?

In Hitler's eyes, this person is definitely a loyal member of the party and the country!

Moreover, Manstein's plan was very large, and it was not an exaggeration to say that it was related to the next development of the entire Eastern Front! So whether it was to stabilize the war in the south or to support another loyal party member, this meeting had to be held immediately, both publicly and privately.

Therefore, an emergency combat deployment meeting was held without delay.

"...The terrain on the Central Cluster side is divided by woods and small hills, which is not suitable for large-scale mechanized encirclement, because the average two or three kilometers of valley here cannot deploy more troops on the front - of course, relatively speaking, if tanks are used to strengthen infantry for infiltration and small-scale shallow encirclement, it can be tried. However... According to my investigation, the Russian commander Zhukov in front is not a commander who is good at large-scale strategic encirclement. Instead, he likes large troops to advance in unison to compete with the opponent for consumption. However, if the opponent adopts the tactics of small-scale shallow encirclement and advancing in unison, it means that we can adopt the tactics of mobile minelaying, cold guns and cold artillery, step-by-step resistance, and step-by-step retreat to deal with it! With such tactics, delaying time is the best!"

The pointer tapped the map twice, and Manstein smiled with a sunny and upright face: "Think about it, everyone. The average width of the front here is only two or three kilometers, and both sides are small autumn hills full of coniferous forests. Only one division of troops can be deployed at a time. Even if the paddy fields and muddy ground on both sides of the road have been frozen into 'cement ground', even if Zhukov can mix mechanized infantry, combat engineers and tank troops to open the road, but the effect of using delaying tactics in this terrain, I believe everyone can think of it - don't forget that the front line has been greatly shortened now! Even if we have at least 40% of the troops to defend the traffic lines, we can still put down at least one battalion per kilometer of front! This is much better than the previous situation where there were only a hundred people per kilometer of front! ... So, as long as there are one million mines, it is fully capable of dragging Zhukov in the forest for at least a month before the first batch of reinforcements of a reorganized army arrives, and it can also cause him damage!"

Hitler, Field Marshal Rundstedt, Field Marshal Keitel, General Zeitzler, and the generals of Army Group Center all nodded in unison.

Because that is indeed the reality!

"Then, the next thing to consider is the problem of the southern line!"

Speaking of the Southern Front, Manstein's expression began to change from a cheerful smile to an awkward but polite smile.

The 160-kilometer Ukrainian plains are basically endless except for a few small rivers and a few small woods! In this terrain, facing the Soviet Union's Southwest Theater Marshal Timoshenge and the Southern Theater Marshal Budyonny, two masters of mobile warfare, a total of 3900 million troops and tanks, not to mention the frontal attack, there are also infantrymen of the Crimean Front from behind!

The Southern Army Group has 530,000 men and 700 tanks that have to defend a front line of at least a thousand kilometers and fight against guerrillas... Such a density of forces is no longer stretched!

In this kind of terrain, even if you want to fight and retreat at the same time, you have to be able to outrun the tracks of four thousand tanks!

"…So, Marshal Manstein, how do you plan to achieve 'fighting and retreating'?"

The person who asked the question this time was General Zeitzler, Chief of the General Staff.

Just because this issue is so important!

No matter how good a plan on paper sounds, it still depends on its feasibility in reality. As the Chief of the General Staff, he must understand Manstein's detailed plan and then evaluate it before deciding whether to take this risk with this outstanding Manstein.

After all, the war situation was already bad enough. If the Southern Army Group was defeated on this "Plain of Despair", then let alone what would happen to the Nazi Party, at least this bunch of Junker officers and Junker chaebols would not even be able to go to the court of the Communist Soviet Union, and would be shot and buried in a mass grave by the Internal Security Army...

"The first and most important thing is that I need reinforcements from the Air Force. As far as I know, the Air Force still has an air fleet in Romania that has not been used to defend the Ploiesti oil field. So I request the Air Force to transfer troops from here to reinforce the Ukrainian war zone!" Manstein's words were shocking and he directly asked for troops to defend the Ploiesti oil field!

As soon as these words were spoken, the whole audience was in an uproar!

"How is this okay?!"

"In this case, wouldn't Ploiesti's air defense be empty?!"

"Before we attacked the Crimean Peninsula (which is full of fortresses and heavily fortified), the Russians had been using it as a base to send heavy bombers to harass the oil fields - and they even figured out a way to attach two fighters to one bomber to escort the bombers. Although we have beaten them badly in the past two years and have not sent out large-scale air strikes, small and medium-scale bomber attacks have never stopped! Besides, Britain and the United States have now opened up North Africa, and the Italians are on the verge of collapse in North Africa... If Britain and the United States set up a heavy bomber cluster in Egypt and cooperate with the Russians to carry out shuttle bombing to attack from the front and back, our fuel will suffer a great loss!"

"That's right! The oil field's air defenses must not be empty!"

Such fierce opposition, just because of such an important consequence! Faced with this scene, even Hitler couldn't help but stand up and stare at Manstein, as if he wanted to see what he had to say.

"I say, you don't have to react so strongly. I said there must be a reason for sending troops from here." Manstein spread his hands innocently, not taking the doubt seriously at all: "Let me put it this way: First of all, as you all know, the distance between Romania and Ukraine is actually very close, and they can fully reinforce each other. Secondly, our air force in the Balkan theater now has at least one squadron of fighter jets on Crete - it is 400 kilometers away from the Romanian oil fields, and it can provide long-range early warning."

As Manstein explained, the previously noisy crowd gradually quieted down. Seeing that the rhythm of the venue was under control again, Manstein, who seemed to be as steady as an old man but was actually a little scared, finally felt relieved.

Then he continued to talk about the map in front of everyone.

"To put it bluntly, even if something happens in Romania, with the early warning time provided by the flight from Crete to the oil fields, our aircraft can take off from near Kiev and launch a one-way attack to protect Romania's sky. So the security problem is not as big as you think - as for Crimea? Our airport is in Ukraine, and the Air Force now has cruise missiles that can suppress the airports and ports of the Crimean Peninsula, as well as their sea transportation logistics lines at any time! Without the logistics lines to provide fuel, what will their heavy bombers 'drink'? Drink vodka to take off?"

There was a burst of laughter from the audience, and even Hitler couldn't help but curl his lips. Manstein, who was striking while the iron was hot, saw that the rhythm was just right, and he directly swung the pointer in his hand and slapped it on the map:

"Then, the problem is obviously this - our Eastern Front Air Force is now evenly matched with the Russians, and our fighter planes are even better than theirs in quality. In addition, from what I have learned in advance, the large-scale expansion of the Russians' troops has certainly added a lot of pressure to us, but the production capacity of their own anti-aircraft guns and logistics vehicles is also seriously insufficient - three million troops, five thousand tanks, two thousand aircraft, a battle line width of 37 kilometers, and a depth of kilometers in a month... You can calculate it yourself, how much logistics will this require? And how many anti-aircraft guns can be allocated for air defense? As far as I know, their current tank army has only half of the rated trucks, and an army of people has only sixteen mm anti-aircraft guns and sixteen anti-aircraft machine guns!"

"So what you mean is, use the Romanian air fleet and the Southern Group's air fleet to seize air superiority and then use air interdiction and even anti-ship missiles to attack the Russians' logistics? At the same time, you have two armored armies (Kleist's First Armored Army and Dietrich's First SS Panzer Army) with 700 tanks to cover the troops while fighting and retreating - first relying on the Don River, then retreating to the Dnieper River, two months and 400 kilometers, while concentrating the first batch of reinforcements, and with the help of anti-ship missiles suppressing airports and ports, holding down the 200,000 Russians in Crimea, and finally, when the rainy season thaws in early March, our reinforcements have all arrived on the battlefield and the Russians' logistics can't keep up, and then concentrate all forces to counterattack Kharkov from three sides, and fight a decisive battle with Timoshenko who has run out of supplies?"

Marshal Keitel was no longer calm this time. He looked at Manstein with shining eyes and asked as he smiled confidently.

"That's right!" Manstein nodded slightly and pointed at his round face, which was as soft as jade, seriously.

"Then...even if it's as you said before, our attack on Kharkov from the Central Group and the coast of the Sea of ​​Azov is at least 50 kilometers in a straight line - even if our counterattack forces can get the bonus of E-50 tanks in early March, but with the tonnage of E-, I'm afraid we can't get out kilometers...?" General Zeitzler was still a little confused.

"It doesn't matter if we can't get out. We just need to let the E-50 tanks charge a hundred kilometers, open a breakthrough in the Russian T-54 tanks, and then let our modified Type 50 rush into their depth and rampage. I've seen the test results of our E-54 tanks. There's no need to be afraid of the Russian T-50 tanks! Their penetration depth per thousand meters is only a little over millimeters, and their defense is no match for the E- - speaking of which, the performance of their main gun is actually quite good, but the quality of their shells, if I were Stalin, I would have shot their shell supplier long ago! Hahahaha~"

Speaking of the electromechanical propulsion and battery energy storage proposed by "Dr. Strange Cat Design Bureau", there is no problem with starting, and the E-120 modification has a frontal defense of 60 mm/105 degrees and a 60/270 main gun firing tungsten core armor-piercing shells with a frontal vertical penetration of 50 mm at a thousand meters, Man Buqun's face was full of calm - he even laughed.

"What if the war in the South fails?" This time it was Hitler who asked the question.

Although he had been completely convinced by Manstein in his heart, he still had to ask clearly.

"The southern operation is our counterattack. If we are going to fail, then there must be problems in the defensive phase before the counterattack. In this way, we can terminate the operation in advance and retreat to the Dnieper River under the cover of the air force." Manstein shrugged and said with an unscrupulous smile: "The length of the river defense from Kiev to the mouth of the Black Sea is 800 kilometers. 800,000 people are guarding this natural barrier. In addition, the spring thaw makes it difficult for the Russians to attack, so we can continue for a while - in this way, we can actually attack when we advance and defend when we retreat. As long as we have air superiority, we will be invincible!"

Manstein smashed the area marked "Kharkov" on the map with the stick in his hand, as if he had already decided to slap Timoshen hard in the face here.

(PS: In fact, Timoshenko was the offensive commander in the Soviet Union's Great Patriotic War. Many key breakthrough battles were either commanded by him or he left behind large-scale outflanking operations - even in 41, Manstein and Guderian were almost killed by him. But his only shortcoming was that he would be a little arrogant when the wind was in his favor...)

(PS2: The performance of Soviet tanks and artillery is indeed not bad, but the performance is poor. In fact, the problem of ammunition is completely man-made. The quality of shells is often worse than that of early shells. You should know that the Soviet Union has tungsten! - The so-called "monkey version is easy to produce" or something like that, so is it more cost-effective to produce one high-quality shell and hit the target, or to produce four or five tanks and then be outgunned by the enemy because they cannot penetrate the enemy?)

Chapter 866

"Ustinov! Vannikov! You two tell me, this 'lump of iron' that shatters when it hits the German devils' tank armor, without even a cap, is the armor-piercing bullet you provided to the Soviet Red Army soldiers? Huh?!"

"No... that's not the case! Comrade Stalin, please listen to our explanation..."

"Explain? What else is there to explain? When Kulik was the Minister of the General Armament Department, he developed the technology of hard-capped armor-piercing bullets in 38. But look at you guys? The things you produce don't have caps at all. They are just lumps of iron that break at the slightest touch!"

Stalin was so angry that veins popped out. He roared angrily: "Don't think I don't know that the material and hardening process of the hard cap are exactly the same as those of the shell! To put it bluntly, it is a thing buckled in front of the shell to protect it from breaking. It doesn't take up much cost and man-hours at all! But what about you? You are actually cutting corners even on this? - Let me ask you, which is easier to produce shells or to produce tanks and train soldiers? Tell me! Huh?!"

"This...I...we..."

In front of the violent eruption of the Joseph Dzhugashvili volcano, the persons directly responsible for the inferior shells, the Minister of General Armaments of the Soviet Red Army, Ustinov, and the head of ammunition production, Admiral Vannikov, both lay on the ground, trembling.

"Can't tell? If you can't tell, then never tell! Come on, drag these two guys who provide counterfeit and shoddy products to the army out!" Looking at the two human-shaped puddles of mud trembling on the ground, Stalin turned his back in disgust and waved his hand as if to shoo away flies. Several Kremlin Guards came in, grabbed Ustinov and Vannikov by the collars, and dragged them out like dead dogs.

Behind the closed door, the faint pleading sounds coming from the corridor soon disappeared and could no longer be heard. Soon two gunshots were heard from the yard outside the window, announcing the end of the two guys who disrupted military production and caused the failure of the battle.

Everyone in the conference room remained silent, watching Stalin with his hands behind his back, looking at the map without saying a word and ignoring the two gunshots outside. Even Ustinov and Vannikov's backer, Soviet Communist Party Organization Bureau Standing Committee Member, State Planning Commission Director Voznesensky, could only shrink his neck and remain silent as he looked at the shattered armor-piercing shells in the center of the conference room after the disastrous defeat of the Third Battle of Kharkov.

They had already reached the Cherkassy area of ​​the Dnieper River and were about to reach the city of Kiev, but were counterattacked by the Germans on three sides and were pushed back 54 kilometers to the east of the Don River. They were even almost wiped out - the most fatal thing was that the T-50 tanks that they had worked so hard to accumulate and had just been used in the Moscow counterattack had encountered a powerful opponent, the E- modified version, in less than five months!

Moreover, in the first face-to-face confrontation, the T-54 tank was completely defeated!

Even though they fought for several months and their logistics lines were blocked by the Luftwaffe, Timoshenko and Budyonny, who concentrated their logistics forces to support the "armored fist", still had two Guards Armored Corps and four Guards Combined Corps, 1943 tanks and 2000 mobile troops to use until the end of February . Add to that the infantry troops on the front line of the -kilometer battle line, and that's a million-strong army!

You know, no matter how hard the Germans put together their troops to fight back, they only had the six armored divisions and thirty infantry divisions that came to reinforce them. With 1,200 tanks and 400,000 troops, even if the enemy's air force had a slight advantage and they counterattacked when they were at the peak of their attack, in theory they were definitely no match for their million-strong army.

However, even though the troops and tanks were two against one, the result of the battle was directly determined by the German E-50!

According to the test of the E-50 modified tanks that were captured by chance, this electromechanical tank that uses batteries to store energy is not only fuel-efficient to start, but also very reliable. Its 120mm/60-degree frontal shell can easily withstand the D-10T's "iron lump armor-piercing shells" with a penetration depth of only 140-185mm per kilometer. The performance gap and penetration gap between the two sides' artillery really made Stalin angry.

如果说对方采用的SKC-33舰炮改装来的KWK-33的性能，和T-54坦克同样由B-34舰炮改装而来的D-10T主炮基本是半斤八两的话（双方弹重同为15-16KG，初速同为900米/秒），对方的Pzgr.40钨心脱壳穿甲弹那高达140毫米/60度的千米穿深，完全就是可以花样虐杀己方坦克蛐蛐100毫米/60度正脸的存在！而己方劣质穿甲弹同样距离下仅仅140-185毫米的垂直穿深，打到对方120毫米/60度的正脸上基本就是砖头敲铁门——听个响！

You know, the D-10T tank gun is already the strongest anti-tank firepower in the hands of the Soviet Red Army!

The frontline troops could not stop the modified E-50, and the tank army that rushed to reinforce them could not defeat them either. The German devils who easily defeated the Red Army tank corps even pulled out the modified Type and began to rampage recklessly behind them! The three fronts of the Southwest Theater and the Southern Theater were thus divided and cut apart by the German counterattack forces that were only half their own strength!

Even if Timoshenko and Budyonny tried their best to withdraw their troops as soon as they found out that something was wrong, it was not easy to break out of the enemy's tank troops. After the first battle, they were pushed back 200 kilometers, and the loss of 300,000 troops was a serious blow to their vitality. This did not include the more than 50,000 casualties of the Crimean Front, and the Central Theater, which was still trapped in the Smolensk Forest and was blocked by Rundstedt like a turtle. Zhukov's side also suffered heavy losses.

Originally, if they could have reached the Dnieper River, the Central Army Group and the Southern Army Group would have been separated on both sides of the Pripyat Swamp, which would have been an absolutely favorable situation. However, due to the lack of a tank, the whole game was ruined. In addition, the spring rain has thawed the ice, and even if they want to attack again, they will be hindered by the muddy and swampy terrain - the weather will not improve until at least the end of May or the beginning of June. But before that, I'm afraid the Germans will also draw reinforcements and build fortifications, right?

In other words, the war was at least postponed for a year, right? ! Huh♂? ! ! !

Just think about it, and you will know how frustrating it is to lose this battle!

Looking at Stalin with his back to the crowd, thinking about the two people who were just shot a few minutes ago, a group of Soviet military and political leaders were speechless and could only wait to see what Stalin would say next. After a while, Stalin, who had calmed down a little, gradually spoke: "Kulik, you are an artillery expert. In June 41, you were the first to point out that there were problems with the quality of our artillery shells. So now I appoint you as the Minister of General Logistics Department, and you must completely solve the problem of artillery shells for me!"

"Yes!"

Marshal Kulik, who had a shaved head and a small mustache, stood up and responded.

"In addition... According to the report from the Navy, although Britain and the United States defeated the German main fleet in the Battle of Biscay Bay on New Year's Day, they have not provided us with the aid materials stipulated in the previous alliance agreement on the grounds that German submarines are still rampant..." After a moment of hesitation, Stalin, holding his chin, turned back and looked at Kurik and ordered: "Timosinger and Budyonny said that our logistics vehicles are seriously insufficient and air superiority is not enough to suppress the German Air Force. So it's good that these few months are not suitable for large-scale fighting. It's just right to make good use of the time to adjust the force structure and military production. The next step is to adjust the infantry and tank organization of the troops and reorganize the armored army and heavy infantry army. Tank production will focus on the T-54 with improved firepower, and then the existing T-34 chassis will be converted into armored personnel carriers and assault guns. As for those T-60 and T-70 light tanks that don't have much Maoyue, change them back to producing cars and tractors together with the production lines! It doesn't matter if we don't have enough car production capacity and synthetic rubber. It's the same with tractors. Anyway, tractors can run on muddy ground, which is a big advantage!"

"Then... Mr. Secretary, how do we arrange the production of aircraft?" Kulik thought for a moment and asked with a slightly embarrassed look on his face: "You know, I don't know much about the Air Force, but a while ago our underground comrades in the UK sent us intelligence saying that the Germans are developing a brand new so-called jet aircraft..."

"I have asked Voroshilov to go to Leningrad. The focus is on the rare metal smelting plant and the Ilyushin Engine Design Bureau. You also know that although Voroshilov is not good at fighting, he is a good manager. He promised me that by the beginning of 1944 at the latest, we can start producing the brand new VDR-3 jet engine!" Speaking of his own industrial strength, Stalin also smiled: "Don't forget that Ilyushin also started researching jet engines as early as the late s. In order to concentrate their forces on seizing oil fields on the southern front, the Germans did not launch a large-scale attack on Leningrad, the Soviet precision industrial processing center. So you just need to discuss this issue with Voroshilov. After all, he is now the director of the Military Science Committee."

"Yes, I understand!" Upon hearing Voroshilov's appointment, Kulik's face broke into a smile - you know, the "Six Tsaritsyn Horse Bandits" who were rampant in the North Caucasus and Eastern Ukraine thirty years ago were Voroshilov, Budyonny, Timoshenko, Kulik, Yegorov (who died unclearly under Voroshilov's protection in 38), and the one in front of him, Joseph Vissarionovich Zhugashvili UMP45 Blue Steel Plate Stalin!

Seeing Stalin and Kulik singing the same tune above, Zhukov, Beria, Voznesensky, Khrushchev and others below secretly looked at each other and shook their heads silently.

Although I was filled with bitterness, I really couldn't say anything in the current situation.

ps: I really don’t know how to avoid sensitive words...

Chapter 867

After the third Kharkov counterattack in March, two months passed in a blink of an eye.

The war in North Africa has ended, and the remaining 300,000 Italian troops have been put into prisoner-of-war camps. Although it is said that Hitler was so angry that he picked up a stool and smashed the phone, except for the disastrous defeat in North Africa, the other war zones seemed to have fallen into a strange calm - although even in the "all quiet on the Western Front" there are still some daily routines, such as rabbits in the North China Plain, deep-sea wolves at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean, and the ethnic cleansing of the German SS action team...

The main fleet of the U.S. Navy returned directly to the Pacific Ocean after the Battle of Biscay Bay, and continued to sit back and relax while cooking dumplings in the well-defended Pearl Harbor Naval Base.

On the other side, Japan has begun to deplete its resource reserves due to building too many ships, and its greed has led to indigestion and stagnation. However, due to fear of the United States' national strength, it has no choice but to strangle its neck, overdraw its own resources and lifespan, while watching the "Greater East Asia Resource Producing Area" being infested with rabbits and having a headache.

However, even if the US aircraft carriers were not in the Atlantic, as long as the German fleet was still under repair, the current British Royal Navy had enough strength to suppress Italy - not only did it still have two armored aircraft carriers, Glorious II and Victorious II, but it also had four Goliath-class light aircraft carriers and the remaining Independence-class light aircraft carrier aided by the United States. Together with the battleship fleets led by the two ship girls, under the cover of the Gibraltar fortress and the North African airport that had been controlled by the army, it was easy to control the sea power in the western Mediterranean.

After all, no matter how hard Italy tried to launch the "Imperial" aircraft carrier, plus the Aquila, it only had two aircraft carriers and three modern battleships - and its fuel was almost exhausted. The Allied forces on the other side not only had more soldiers and generals and bases, but also had an overwhelming 2 to 0 ratio in terms of the most critical ratio of ship girls!

The two major battleships, Warspite and Lion-class Vanguard, joined forces, together with the other two Lion-class battleships also equipped with 406 naval guns and the Richelieu of Free France, and easily pushed the Italian fleet back to the port.

Under such circumstances of almost absolute control of the sea, the Allied North African campaign went extremely smoothly. In particular, the battleship Richelieu, which fought for the freedom of France, was always at the forefront of the artillery support operations and landing battles on the coastal roads of French North Africa! And it must be said that every time she participated in the battle, the Vichy French troops on the shore positions would honestly choose to follow their hearts under the influence of the 380mm national justice.

Under the cover of the navy, the Allied forces that landed in North Africa quickly broke through the French North African colonies and blocked the Italian reinforcements that came to stabilize the front line in the port of Tunisia. In addition, Admiral Darlan, the real power in the Vichy French military, was assassinated. Now even the Vichy French mainland is in chaos. The little mustache had to put on military uniforms and pull out the domestic police force and the troops that were still in training to make up the numbers. It took a lot of effort to drag it until April, when the troops withdrawn from the Eastern Front to France came to help suppress the rebellion, and then this time bomb was pressed down.

However, since the thing has been done, you have to bear the consequences.

The heavy industrial enterprises in France, which were originally well integrated under Heydrich's rule, now have some underground resistance organizations. Less than two months after Heydrich, the German governor in France, ordered a severe crackdown, a great swordsman known as the Blond Beast was killed on the spot with a loud bang while watching a performance at the Paris Opera House.

It was finally found out that this incident was a joint effort between William Wyatt's British MI6 and the French Communist underground organization. This incident also announced that the resistance force led by the French Communist Party was no longer a scattered organization that dared to be angry but not to speak out.

This is the case in France, and Italy is not much better.

Although Mussolini put all his eggs in one basket and sent the main force of the Blackshirts, due to the loss of sea control, the Italian army in North Africa was completely blocked by the Allied forces in several ports in North Africa and was in danger of losing its life. After the disastrous defeat, Mussolini's popularity began to show signs of collapse. Even without using espionage methods, German diplomats and military attachés stationed in Italy have already noticed some clues: for example, the real behind-the-scenes bosses in Italy - the nobility, the church, the military, and even the royal family, seem to have held salons too frequently recently...

Hitler was very concerned about this. Although there was no direct evidence, the matter was quickly transferred to Italy through special diplomatic channels between Germany and Italy. The Italian Foreign Minister Count Ciano was not only the son-in-law of Ink Bottle, but his father Count Ciano was also a staunch supporter and core veteran of the Baton. It was thought that he would not betray.

However, what Hitler never expected was that the ability of the great nobles to stand firm for a thousand years was just like a good bird choosing a tree to roost in! So after reading the secret message, Ciano stuffed the message into the shredder with a gloomy face.

But even so, Hitler did not fail to make preparations for both scenarios.

Vichy France was already moving reorganized troops from the Eastern Front to "ensure law and order." If Italy turned against them, they would probably have to prepare some reserve troops just in case.

Fortunately, it is the rainy season on the eastern front now, so it seems that there is still a few months to prepare.

The spring rain on the Soviet land was accompanied by mud and spring floods. The simple roads in villages and towns, so narrow that only one tank could pass through, were full of muddy ponds where people and cars were stuck in puddles. In such terrain, the Soviet and German troops, who had been exhausted in the Battle of Moscow and the Three-Strike-Khar Counterattack, had to put aside their class hatred and national hatred. After spitting in the opposite direction unwillingly, they grabbed the engineer shovels under the urging of the officers, stepped into the water and mud, and dug the drainage ditches in the trenches like mud monkeys.

The military leaders of both countries also took advantage of this period of temporary peace to organize a new round of military production. At the same time, they were also seizing the time to review and evaluate the situations exposed in the first half of the war, as well as to make simultaneous adjustments.

It was like two giant beasts that were fighting to the death and were both out of breath. They were staring at each other and licking their wounds.

However, Germany’s biggest problem now is that its human resources have reached rock bottom!

If the industrial production capacity is guaranteed after the integration of French enterprises, and Germany still has a certain amount of energy and natural resources to support it despite the loss of the oil fields in Maikop and the coal and iron in Donetsk, then Germany's population will be a big problem!

Now Germany's human resources are extremely tight, and all men aged between sixty and sixteen have been mobilized. On the one hand, they need to make up for Germany's current war losses, and on the other hand, the increasingly "restless" occupied areas - France is still relatively good, such as Yugoslavia and even the Soviet occupied areas. Even if they rely on various "five hundred years ago" spiritual chicken blood, and the deep hatred of the red forces, they have organized the Polish puppet army that actually wants to expand the territory under the banner of Ukrainian independence, and the Croatian Ustasha that is engaged in religious hegemony and ethnic hatred in the Balkans, but the occupied areas are too large, and Germany needs at least three million troops to "maintain law and order" in these places where one thing is suppressed and another is raised. In order to ensure rule, the SS Rangers and the German Wehrmacht are still dispatching divisions and armies to organize various sweeps! The cruelty of their actions, the thoroughness of the three lights, the madness of their destruction, and even the panic hidden in their hearts are comparable to that of the ally of the Third Reich on the other side of the Eurasian continent!

Whenever he saw the reports in the military's internal references such as "On the Eastern/Southern Fronts our Imperial Army has once again organized a large-scale sweep to annihilate 'bandits' XX", the attentive Eugen could see that Bismarck's expression was half contemptuous and half mixed.

But she was so naive that she didn't know why.