Astrakhan is located at the mouth of the Volga River on the northwest bank of the Caspian Sea. It was once the capital of the Khazar Khanate. After Tsarist Russia conquered this place in the 16th century, it built the Kremlin, a stone fortress with seven towers. The city gradually took shape and
developed to this day.
Astarahan is located on the edge of the desert and is not rich in products, but its geographical location is very important.
More than 400 kilometers upstream from Astarahan is Stalingrad, an important city in the Soviet Union. After this heroic city was occupied by the German army last year, Nazi Germany renamed it Volgograd. Two blocks south of Volgograd.
More than ten kilometers away, the Lenin Canal is about to fall
The Erga River and the Don River are connected, and 5,000-ton ships can go directly from the port cities on the east coast of the Caspian Sea to the Black Sea and then enter the Mediterranean Sea. Coupled with the railways and roads built since the Russian Empire, Aspen connects the east, west, north and south.
Talahan became an important transportation hub.
The sun sets at the pier on the west bank of the Volga River in the center of Astarahan.
Marshal Rundstedt, the former commander of the German Wehrmacht Middle East Group who had been relieved of command by Hitler, stood at the end of the pier holding on to the railing. To his left and right stood the former commander of Army Group A Lister and Commander Lister, who had also been deposed.
Marshal Manstein, commander of Army Group B.
The three of them were wearing ordinary gray and black coats, looking anxiously towards the river in the south.
Not far behind the three marshals, several accompanying officers were chatting quietly. They belong to the newly formed Don River Cluster of the National Defense Forces and were ordered to accompany the three marshals here today to welcome the first batch of captive soldiers returning from the other side of the Caspian Sea. To
I know that only half a year ago, the troops where the captured soldiers belonged were still the elite of all battles, the ace among aces, the main force among the main forces. They looked down upon the officers and soldiers of the second-line troops like themselves.
But today, each of them will return with a huge psychological burden. Under the sorrow of the rabbit's death and the fox's death, every officer feels very heavy.
The predecessor of the Don Cluster is the Caucasus Cluster. The outside world still does not know that the name of the cluster has changed. The defense area has also changed from the entire Caucasus region to defending and consolidating the vast areas such as the North Caucasus, Crimea, the Don River and the lower Volga River, and resisting
The threat from the Anjia army from the south and east.
The cluster was still commanded by Marshal von Bock. Since the headquarters decided to reorganize the Second Army, the senior generals of the Don River Cluster, including Marshal von Bock himself, were not present. In addition, the handover of prisoners needed to be kept strictly confidential, so the three accompanying
The marshal was merely the military commander, chief of staff and intelligence officer of the two Wehrmacht divisions defending the edge of the Rennes Desert.
"Report!"
After receiving the latest situation report from the communications unit, Colonel Brad, commander of the 300th Infantry Division, strode to Manstein and whispered: "Your Excellency, Marshal, the fleet transporting imperial officers and soldiers has arrived at Jiangxinzhou in the south of the city. At most, it will take another
Fifteen minutes. It will appear in our field of vision!"
Manstein cheered up: "How many ships have arrived? How is the mental state of the officers and soldiers on board?" Marshals Rundstedt and List also looked at Colonel Braid with concern.
The pressure in Colonel Brad's heart suddenly increased, but he really didn't know these situations, so he could only shake his head: "Everything is unclear... But according to the report from the coastal troops, the fleet was very long, except for the leader.
Apart from warships, most of the others are passenger ships and cargo ships, and their tonnage is generally not high."
After Manstein's troops were surrounded by the Anjia Army, he was originally prepared to live and die with his officers and soldiers.
But in order to avoid the scandal of the Marshal being captured, Hitler ordered Manstein, Marshal Blomberg and the main generals of each group army to escape on a transport plane. In the end, Manstein had to abandon more than one million troops and fled to southern Turkey.
City of Diyarbakir, and then take a special flight back to Berlin.
In Manstein's heart, he felt guilty for the captured officers and soldiers, and had no complaints about his removal from command. When he returned to his home in Berlin, he could not sleep at night and his whole body had aged a lot.
Compared to Manstein, Marshal Lister had much smaller responsibilities. After all, he successfully led the remnants of Army Group A to retreat under extremely unfavorable circumstances, although when they finally arrived at their destination, the gathered troops were not as large as when they set out.
Although he was relieved of command, he was given the important task of receiving captured officers and soldiers to form a new army.
After learning about Lister's new mission, Manstein immediately found his old boss Rundstedt, and then the two of them visited Lister's home. Lister couldn't bear the request of his old friend, and finally the three of them came together.
Go to Astarahan on the Caspian Sea to welcome the return of captured officers and soldiers.
Among the three, Marshal Rundstedt took the initiative to take responsibility for the defeat in the West Asia campaign, but in fact he had little problem in commanding the Middle East cluster. Although he did not break through the Anjia Army's defense line, he did not reveal himself when he lost air supremacy in the early stage.
The big flaw was entirely due to the overzealous implementation of the "Iron Hammer" plan by the high command, which drew a large number of fresh troops from the Middle East cluster, which led to the subsequent corruption of the war situation.
To a certain extent, Rundstedt was taking the blame for Hitler, so even though he was idle at home, he was still an important member of Hitler's military think tank and had the highest status among the three.
"Fritz, William, be patient..." Rundstedt said to his two colleagues: "According to the data provided by the Chinese, including Romania, Turkey and other servant armies, they captured a total of 310 prisoners.
There are 120,000 people, and the Imperial Intelligence Department estimates that there are about two million Imperial soldiers among them.
"If all these captured officers and soldiers can be exchanged back, we will immediately restore the establishment of at least ten group armies, and the current strategic passive situation will be immediately improved. Just yesterday, we paid compensation of 500 tons of gold in advance.
, According to the agreement reached by both parties, the total number of officers and soldiers released in the first batch is about 100,000."
Lister smiled bitterly and said: "Facing the three major battlefields of the Soviet Union, Western Europe and North Africa, one hundred thousand people are just a drop in the bucket. We still need to redeem more officers and soldiers...I heard that the price offered by the other party is very outrageous. An ordinary soldier
A ransom of one thousand dollars is required, and then the ransom is increased by five hundred dollars, starting with $1,500 for a first class private, $2,000 for a third class private, and up to $7,000 for a captain.
"For a colonel, the ransom will be increased to US$8,000, and the total price will be US$1,000. For a major, US$8,000, for a lieutenant colonel, US$9,000, and for a colonel, US$10,000. The ransom for a general is even more astonishing. The starting price is US$20,000, and then the ransom is increased to US$8,000.
The multiples increase in ascending order: Major General is US$20,000, Lieutenant General is US$40,000, General is US$80,000, and Senior General is US$160,000.
"The Chinese know that we don't have that much money. They allow us to use the equivalent value of production materials and population at a discount. The major steel plants, machinery plants, military factories, tractor factories, etc. in the Soviet Union and Western Europe are all their coveted targets, and
We are also allowed to use our population as collateral. For example, a Slavic woman under the age of thirty is worth one hundred dollars, so one of our ordinary privates is equivalent to ten women... By the way, I wonder why the Chinese want so many women?"
Manstein said in a mocking tone: "Ukraine, Belarus and the Baltic Sea coast are all places that produce beauties. I guess the Chinese want a change of taste. In addition to obtaining the necessary labor force, they can also solve their problem of polygamy.
Problems such as the shortage of women caused by the system will be eliminated and the population base will be replenished."
Lister said regretfully: "It's a pity that they don't want men, otherwise Europe would be full of homeless people. We can arrest those who are unwilling to work for the empire and send them all to the opposite side of the Caspian Sea. This will not only solve our problem of public security."
It can also reduce food consumption!
"Of course, we don't have to worry too much. There are plenty of women of working age in Europe. Using them to buy us millions of troops would be a worthwhile trade!"
Rondstedt obviously knew more inside information, shook his head and said:
"It's not as simple as you think... The population only accounts for 20% of the entire prisoner exchange, and their officials in charge of immigration will use various means to verify the origin of the women. What they require is the death of their family members.
There are no worries about the war, and abandoned orphans can do it. In short, the simpler the social relationship, the better. In their words, rescuing such a woman is a good deed. But if you tear down a happy family, it is doing a bad thing with good intentions.
It’s inconsistent with their original intention.”
"It turns out that the Chinese want to show their kindness!" Lister said with great regret: "I thought I could get all the troops back by exchanging people for people!"
While the three of them were talking, there were a few shadows of boats on the Volga River, and a huge fleet of ships had appeared on the broad river in the south opposite the dock.
The fleet was getting closer and closer, and the leading warship slowly approached. Finally, it stopped at the dock where Rundstedt and others were standing. The remaining passenger and cargo ships docked at other docks in turn. A rough count, there were more than 20 ships along the coast.
All the piers are full, and the total number of passenger ships and transport ships is about sixty.
The gangway on the battleship was stretched out, and more than a hundred German officers appeared on the deck. When they saw the three big bosses Rundstedt, Manstein and Lister waiting below, everyone's faces were filled with smiles.
With expressions of disbelief, they hurriedly lined up on the deck, then followed the gangway and disembarked as a group. When they arrived at the dock, they automatically lined up in front of the three marshals.
The three marshals' eyes passed over the excited faces, and each of them found a familiar face...
Rundstedt strode forward and grabbed the left arm of the leader: "Hans, I'm so glad to see you again. Are you okay?"
It turned out that the right arm of the leading general was empty. It was Lieutenant General Hans Valentin Hube, commander of the 16th Armored Division, a famous one-armed general in the Wehrmacht. He had participated in the Battle of Kiev, the Battle of Rostock and the Battle of Stalingrad. Originally, the command headquarters
allow
After the war in West Asia, the 16th Armored Division was upgraded to the 16th Armored Corps. But who would have thought that during the battle in the southeast of the Lianghe battlefield, the entire southeast cluster was surrounded by the Anjia army, and Hubei was defeated and captured in the end. Today we are like this
Reunion under one circumstance.
Hubei was very excited, shook his left arm vigorously, and said loudly: "Marshal, I am sorry for your trust, and I have lost all my troops..."
Rundstedt comforted: "It's good to come back, it's good to come back. The failure is not all your responsibility. There are problems in all aspects of our national defense military, which led to such a fiasco. Don't worry, the major domestic military factories have accelerated
production intensity, while also using the Soviet production lines to produce T34 and KV tanks. With this two-pronged approach, our armored forces can be rebuilt soon, and then you can once again lead the troops on the battlefield!"
Rundstedt's words were not without purpose. Hans Valentine Hube was a general that Hitler liked and valued very much. If only the 16th Armored Division failed in this war, it is estimated that Hube would
He would fall out of favor, but the problem is that all the elite members of the Wehrmacht were lost, and Hitler had to rely on these generals to fight the war. Therefore, there is a high possibility that Hube will continue to be reused by Hitler.
At this time, Manstein also tightly grasped the hand of a general. This person was Lieutenant General Ferdinand Schaal, the commander of the German 10th Armored Division, and a close associate of Manstein when he served as the commander of the 46th Armored Corps.
Next, it suffered a devastating blow on the battlefield on the eastern front of the Mesopotamian River. The unit was destroyed along with the Waffen-SS Reich Panzer Division and the Grossdeutschland Panzer Division.
Ferdinand Schaal's voice was choked with sobs. This man of steel, who had experienced the test of Yesenia, Moscow and other battles, burst into tears at this moment:
"Dear Fritz, the Chinese are more terrifying than we imagined. Their tactics are at least five years ahead of us. Whether it is artillery, armor or air force, they are all better than us, especially since this war has
There are many new weapons that are unimaginable, and we must treat them with caution!"
Manstein's eyes were red: "I know, I know, I have also experienced similar nightmares. The empire needs soldiers like you who are brave enough to shoulder heavy responsibilities! Put down all your baggage and join me in reinvigorating the military power of the National Defense Forces!"
"
The German officers and soldiers on the passenger ships and cargo ships disembarked one after another. Under the organization of grassroots non-commissioned officers and officers, they quickly lined up and counted. After more than two hours of hustle and bustle, it was confirmed that the Anjia Army had released 28,420 soldiers.
Nine officers and soldiers.
After Marshal Lister, who shouldered an important mission, received the exact numbers and signed his name on the handover document, he immediately instructed the troops to go to the train station two kilometers to the west and take a special train to Berlin. After a brief rest outside Berlin,
, the troops will set off for Italy, where they will then take a ship to North Africa. (To be continued)
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