Chapter 175 The Anxious Marshal

In the cold and desolate night, the Soviet and German soldiers passed by each other peacefully, only a street apart. When the sun rose again at dawn the next morning, Su De consciously woke up from his hazy sleep. Soldiers from both armies clenched their weapons almost simultaneously.

"For the sake of the motherland, destroy the invaders! Davarisi, Ulla!"

"Ivans are coming up! Fire, fire quickly!"

As the old slogans repeated day after day were sounded again, the Soviet army, which had pushed the German army back to the corner of the main city and basically surrounded it, launched attacks from multiple fronts at the same time. The German army, which was on the verge of collapse, had to Once again, the few remaining troops were evenly distributed to various defense lines to fight simultaneously. Several German infantry divisions trapped in the city were facing catastrophe that could be imminent at any time.

At the critical moment of life and death for the German troops stationed in the Yelnya salient, far in the rear of the German Army Group Center headquarters, Marshal Bock, commander of Army Group Center, was also frowning at the tense battle situation on the front line and the successive bad news. No exhibition.

"Hasn't Berlin agreed to let Guderian's troops withdraw? And what about Kesselin's air force?"

Facing the questioning of Marshal Bock, commander of the Army Group, who was sitting on pins and needles behind his desk, the Chief of Staff of the Army Group, who was holding a newly printed telegram in his hand, quietly shook his head again.

"The battle in the direction of Kiev has now reached the most critical encirclement stage. The three main armies of the Soviet Union have been besieged in the triangle area from Chernigov, Kiev to Nezhen. Guderian's Second Army is urgently needed. The armored groups functioned to contain the Soviets and prevent them from breaking out.”

"In addition, the Soviets recently mobilized several air force divisions to Ukraine. I have exchanged views with Kesselin. His main force of the aviation force going south is currently unable to get out, and the Soviet planes are endless. The ground troops pounced on our ground forces, and the battle for air supremacy was extremely fierce. Kesselin even mentioned that some pilots under his command had fainted from exhaustion. "

"The meaning of Chief of General Halder's telegram was very vague. Although he stated at the beginning of the telegram that the head of state was determined to win the Yelnya Theater, he did not mention a clear action order until the end of the telegram. This is really incredible!”

After listening to his chief of staff's explanation, Bock, who knew the truth behind it, felt powerless and angry, but he also sneered after him.

"Of course Halder would say this, because he knows better than anyone how powerful the total force of the Ivans is, and he also knows that only by capturing Moscow as soon as possible can the Ivans' will to resist be broken down, at least most of the Soviet Union The will of the participating countries to resist.”

"It's just that his courage and vision are not proportional! Halder is a person who does not have the courage to speak out to the head of state. Even if he knows that the head of state is making a strategic mistake by wishfully implementing the plan to divide the troops between the north and the south, he also knows how to stop it and promptly But he never had the courage to clarify the truth to the head of state and persuade him to correct his mistakes. What a competent chief of staff!"

After hearing such detailed analysis from Bock, the chief of staff touched his palm lightly and seemed to understand the reason, and then spoke again thoughtfully.

"Then according to your opinion, those people in Berlin are completely following the wishes of the Führer? This is a bit too far-fetched, right?"

Marshal Bock, who is older than his chief of staff and is more familiar with the earth-shaking changes that have taken place in the entire German military system since Hitler came to power. Marshal Bock, who has endless complaints about Berlin's smoky and bad political environment, seems even more bored now. Incessantly.

"That guy Brauchitsch has always been as docile as a sheep. He didn't even dare to speak loudly in front of the Führer. As long as the Führer insists on doing something, this guy will find ways to find all the evidence, even if it doesn't exist at all, to support the Führer. His idea is correct. In addition to his loyalty to the head of state and his belief in the country, he is simply awesome as the commander-in-chief of the army.”

"And Halder, his strategic vision is further than most of the people in Berlin, and he can clearly understand some of the mistakes that are happening or about to happen on the front line. But this guy pretends to do everything. In his own little diary, he didn’t even dare to confront the head of state to point out his mistakes!”

"The commander of the army is like this, and the chief of general staff is like this. The first and second figures are all radio stations that the head of state wants to listen to. The head of state likes this environment because he is a politician first, and he hates people who oppose him in politics. Eliminate the enemy! But if this happens again in military command, mistakes will inevitably be made. The guys in Berlin are now simply a bunch of nannies telling stories to the Führer!”

Since the launch of Operation Barbarossa, this is the first time that Marshal Bock, the commander-in-chief of Army Group Center, has such a big complaint. Recalling that the head of state had arbitrarily changed the combat plan and canceled the original strategic deployment of attacking Moscow, the chief of staff, who understood where Marshal Bock's anger originated, said quietly.

"Many people forget their final vows after seeking high positions. After all, the position under their buttocks is enough to command their brains and mouths, especially those in Berlin. This is an inevitable result, Marshal."

After venting his inner grievances, Bock naturally understood that his chief of staff's words were the truth. The German marshal, who had swept away his unhappiness, quickly returned to his position and cheered up again.

"Halder's ability to send such a telegram shows that he already knows that our current strategic policy is wrong. Using our troops in the decisive battle to annihilate the enemy's large main force will only increase casualties without much practical significance. "

"As long as Moscow is still in the hands of Ivan, the will of the Bolsheviks to resist will be like the red star on top of the Kremlin that will never end."

"But since Halder did not mention a clear command target for the Yelniya theater, we might as well take advantage of this opportunity."

After a pause before he finished speaking, Marshal Bock, who was deeply worried about the Yelniya salient, made up his mind without much thought.

"The current situation in the Yelniya salient seems to be undefendable. The intelligence department has monitored telegram exchanges between the frontline Soviet army group and the direction of Moscow. It has been determined that the Soviet commander commanding the battle in the direction of Yelniya is His former chief of general staff, General Zhukov, our troops in the Yelniya salient have now been pushed to the edge of the cliff by the Russians!”