Mustache stood up and walked back and forth in the conference room with his hands behind his back, thinking in his mind whether he should terminate Operation Fortress or agree to Manstein's suggestion and put the last reserves into battle to end the battle in the Kursk Bulge as soon as possible.
of combat.
Göring, who was as fat as a pig, sat in his seat with his eyes closed and meditating. The last time Paulus's troops were encircled, he had promised the mustache that he would use 500 aircraft to build an air corridor.
, to provide the trapped troops with enough ammunition, fuel and military supplies so that they could continue to fight the Russians. But he was soon slapped in the face by reality. Although the Air Force tried their best, what they provided was not enough.
The supplies were simply unable to meet the daily needs of the 6th Army. As a result, the Army was completely wiped out by the Soviet army when they ran out of ammunition and food.
After the British and American troops landed in Sicily, he boasted that as long as his air force was dispatched, he could drive the landing enemies into the sea. Who knew that after a day of fierce fighting, not only his air force was defeated by the British and American air forces?
, even the Goering Armored Infantry Division, which was responsible for the ground attack, suffered heavy losses.
If he spoke at this moment, he would definitely get scolded by Mustache. He would not do such a stupid thing, so he simply closed his eyes and rested, assuming that what happened in front of him had nothing to do with him.
Keitel, the chief of general staff of the headquarters, had the same idea as Mustache. The landing of British and American troops in Sicily was equivalent to a stab in the back. If troops were not deployed to reinforce the Italian front line and drive the invading British and American troops into the sea,
Then the war on the Western Front will get worse.
Keitel's deputy Jodl agreed very much with Manstein's opinion. He felt that if the fortress plan was stopped at this time, it would give the Russians a chance to breathe, and the situation on the Eastern Front would further deteriorate.
He opened his mouth, but when the words reached his lips, he swallowed them back. He remembered that last year, Mustache sent him to the headquarters of Army Group A to investigate the reasons for the army's failure in the southern section of the Eastern Front, focusing on investigating whether the commander of the group army had implemented the
The orders and instructions of the Supreme High Command on the campaign.
After a detailed investigation, Jodel reported to Mustache that the Army Commander had implemented the order of the Supreme Command, but failed due to increasingly strong resistance from the Russians.
It was precisely because of this investigation result that Mustache accused Yoder of deliberately defending the frontline generals who disobeyed orders. Yoder was also a little uneasy at the time. During the dispute, he boldly pointed out the mistakes in Mustache's command, thus
Invited ruthless revenge.
Yoder thought to himself: Mustache is bent on ending Operation Fortress. If he chooses to side with Manstein, he will definitely anger the other party, and he will definitely attract crazy revenge.
Chief of Army General Staff Zeitzler stared at the oak table in front of him expressionlessly, but what he was thinking was: There is a group of people who control the fate of Germany gathered in this room. If someone throws a bomb in from the outside, it may be
It will cause the subsequent history of Germany to be rewritten.
In this way, no one among the marshals and generals in the whole room who had their own evil intentions spoke. They could only hear the tapping sound of the leather shoes worn by Mustache as he walked around.
Time passed by, and Mustache finally stopped. He stood there for a moment, then quickly came to the wall, looked up at the map hanging on the wall, and began to think again.
"General Zeitzler," Mustache turned around, looked at the Army Chief of Staff, and asked aggressively: "I want to hear your opinion. What do you think we should do?"
Zeitzler began to weigh the powerful relationship in his mind. Was he to support Marshal Manstein because he adhered to his principles? Or was he to agree with him to transfer troops from the Eastern Front to reinforce Italy in order not to offend the Führer?
Zeitzler didn't speak for a long time, and Mustache became a little impatient: "Chief of Staff, why don't you speak? I'm still waiting."
Zeitzler pretended to flip through the information in front of him, trying to buy himself some time to consider the problem more comprehensively. After he put down the information in his hand, he looked up at his mustache and said respectfully: "
My head of state, I think Marshal Manstein can continue to maintain the offensive against the Russians to eliminate as many Russian troops as possible. As for the two reserve teams, there is no need to invest in the Kursk area, but to transfer to the Western Front
, to reinforce the Italian front."
Regarding Zeitzler's statement, Mustache felt that it made some sense. After nodding, he continued to ask: "What about Marshal Kruger's Army Group Center?"
"Given the current situation of Army Group Center, we can order Model to command the 9th Army and the 2nd Armored Army to stop the Russian offensive in the Orel area and work to restore the original front."
"Very good, General Zeitzler, you said it very well." Seeing that Zeitzler's proposal was comprehensive and took into account several aspects of emotions, Mustache nodded in agreement: "Just follow the method you said, the Central Committee
The Army Group stopped the Russian attack at the Orel salient and tried to restore the lost positions; as for Marshal Manstein, the attack on the Russians could not be stopped and it was necessary to eliminate as much of the Russians' effective forces as possible."
Seeing that Mustache did not mention his reserve force, Manstein asked tentatively: "My head of state, how do you plan to arrange the 24th Armored Corps composed of the 23rd Armored Division and the Viking Division?"
"Transfer them to the Western Front to reinforce the Italian front." After Mustache announced the arrangements for the 24th Armored Corps, he looked at Manstein and asked: "Manstein, do you have anything else to add?"
Keitel, who had always remained silent, finally found a chance to speak. He asked Manstein with a smile: "Marshal, do you have any specific arrangements for the upcoming battle?"
Manstein glanced at Keitel, then said with a wry smile: "Based on the current situation, I will give priority to replenishing the Flag Guard Division and the Skeleton Division. At the same time, I will order the Kef Combat Group south of Prokhorovka to move closer to me.
.
After completing the rendezvous operation, we will achieve three operational goals: first, encircle and annihilate the Russian troops between the 2nd SS Panzer Corps and the Kef Combat Group;
Second, destroy the Russian 5th Guards Tank Army blocking the front of our army;
Third, try every means to seize and occupy Prokhorovka from the Russians."
"My Führer," Keitel said after listening to what Manstein said, he turned to face Mustache and said, "I think Marshal Manstein's plan is completely feasible. As long as General Hauser's 2nd SS Panzer Army,
If we can join forces with the Kef battle group, it is entirely possible to wipe out the Russian heavy force group and seize Prokhorovka."
In the battle in the Dnieper River Basin at the beginning of the year, the Russian troops and equipment were several times that of our own. Moreover, Paulus's 6th Army had just been completely wiped out at that time. The entire army was demoralized and morale was low.
Everyone thought this was a losing battle. Some people even suggested in the staff headquarters to withdraw all troops across the Dnieper River and seize the time to build a defense line along the river to block the Russian attack.
Unexpectedly, Manstein not only won the battle in the end, but also won unprecedentedly completely. The commanders of the Russian Southwest Front and Voronezh Front were also dismissed by Stalin due to their failure. Therefore, in the eyes of Mustache, Manstein was
An invincible God of War, since the God of War has formulated a new battle plan, he naturally has no reason to object. Mustache nodded and said: "The fortress battle plan can come to an end now. The battle to the north is over.
Give Model command and ask him to block the Russian offensive towards the Orel salient. As for the south, according to the plan mentioned by Marshal Manstein, gather the power of the 2nd SS Panzer Corps and the Kef Combat Group to annihilate
The Russians' heavy force group is trying to capture Prokhorovka and continue to advance in the direction of Kursk."
Having said this, Mustache turned his attention to Kruger: "Marshal Kruger, once Manstein's troops advance to Kursk, your Army Group Center should still follow the original battle plan and face Russia from the north again.
After launching an attack on the enemy's defense line and breaking through their positions, they rushed to Kursk to join Manstein, surrounded the Russian troops in the Kursk salient, and completely destroyed them."
"Don't worry, my head of state." Since the beginning of this battle, he felt that the Russians were quite well prepared. Not only had they built solid fortifications, but there were also dense minefields in front of the positions, forming a complete defense system.
The price paid for breaking through such a defense line was huge. Now that he knew that he no longer had to attack Kursk and could instead switch to defense on the spot, Kruger felt much more at ease. "We will definitely stop the Russians.
attack and, at the appropriate time, restore all lost positions."
Compared with Kruger's relaxation, Manstein's mood was particularly heavy. Although he used his skills to persuade Mustache and got him to agree to continue his offensive on the southern front of Kursk. But he knew very well that if there was no new
The reserve team went into battle, and it would be an impossible task to defeat the Russians.
Sitting on the plane returning to the front line, Manstein closed his eyes tightly and thought painfully: "If the Führer can agree to put the 24th Armored Corps into battle, even if it only takes a day or two, there will be a complete chance of annihilating the people gathered in Pulau.
Russian troops near Khorovka. Now, with the ban, the victory that seemed so close to hand has been lost."