Chapter 007: Eastern Line Adjustment

In the middle of the front line, our objective remains Moscow, but it is not truly to attack Moscow. Rather, we aim to exert pressure on Moscow to deplete and mobilize Stalin's reserves, forcing him to divert troops from the southern front, thereby creating opportunities for us to strike individually.

The Führer is wise! Cätsler is very grateful to Hoffmann for establishing his authority; the power to allocate 4 fully equipped replacement divisions is not insignificant. Weix and Model exchanged smiles and sincerely praised Hoffmann. Now, the Führer has not only liberated the Central Army Group from the stance of "no retreat whatsoever," but has also sent 4 fully equipped replacement divisions, which has made them very happy

After the incident on the southern front, Guderian also bid farewell to the meeting, as he was hurrying to North Africa to take over command from Rommel

Cäitzler recalled the instructions given by Guderian before his departure and, seizing the opportunity, confirmed the troops to be reassigned from the Central Army Group—the 4th Panzer Division and the 20th Motorized Infantry Division. These were all former subordinates of Guderian when he commanded the Second Panzer Group. General Wecks was currently preoccupied with the task of investigating the treasonous group. The commander of the Second Panzer Army, General Rudolf Schmidt, was not present on the battlefield due to his command duties. Model had already taken the initiative to request reinforcements once, and since his troops were not being reassigned again, he naturally had no objections. Thus, the reinforcements allocated by the Central Army Group to the African Corps were finalized.

Under the leadership of Hermann Göring, the Luftwaffe of the Third Reich, despite having only 5,000 to 6,000 aircraft, boasted a personnel count exceeding 1.8 million. Among them, the surplus ground crew and idle personnel within the Air Force departments alone numbered 200,000. The General Staff of the Army strongly urged that these idle personnel be swiftly reassigned to the heavily depleted army divisions, but this request was directly rejected by the Reichsmarschall

The task of Zeitzler is not yet complete. Tomorrow afternoon, a higher-level strategic meeting will be held at the Eagle's Nest, attended by the leaders of the Party and the State. He and Marshal Keitel, as Chief of the General Staff, will attend alongside Admiral Raeder. The Führer has issued a clear order that from now on, the Eagle's Nest and the Wolf's Lair will serve as the locations of the Supreme Command and the Army High Command, fully responsible for the command of the war. Given the current situation, he will have to stay at the Eagle's Nest for quite some time.

The strength of the Air Force field divisions is indeed problematic, but the troops that our imperial marshal has painstakingly organized cannot be wasted like this. Hoffman timely came to Zaitzler's aid, stating, "I authorize you to disband the personnel and weapons of these 4 field divisions and supplement them according to the needs of the army. However, the reorganization plan must be executed under the unified coordination of General Zaitzler, and I will go to explain the situation to Hermann.

Model shrugged: "4 air force field divisions, while the number of personnel is not small and the equipment is relatively organized, it is just... um... respected Chief of General Staff, you are aware of their combat effectiveness. If they were truly deployed to the front lines, I fear I would still have to send troops to protect them". As soon as he finished speaking, the room erupted in laughter, even General Wex, who had been deep in thought, joined in the laughter, and the previously somewhat restrained atmosphere of the meeting became much more lively.

After listening to the explanation by Cai Zile, Marshal William Lister, the commander of Group Army A, let out a long sigh of relief

Upon hearing that the highly combat-capable Viking Division and the Greater German Division were to be reassigned from the Southern Wing, Manstein felt somewhat reluctant. However, considering the Führer's favor and expectations regarding this change in duty, he let out a soft sigh and decided to accept it. What he did not know was that, according to the General Staff's original requirements, the Greater German Division was supposed to head north to support Model's 9th Army. Now that the directives from the Central Army Group had changed, the Greater German Division, which was already prepared for deployment, could naturally adjust its purpose. Manstein was unaware of this, but Model was fully aware. He mischievously winked at Manstein, reminding him not to take advantage of the situation and then act innocent.

According to the Führer's proposal, the 20th Motorized Infantry Division will be redeployed from the Northern Combat Group, and the 5th SS Viking Panzer Grenadier Division along with the 'Greater German' Motorized Infantry Division will be dispatched from the Southern Combat Group to the North African battlefield. Finally, Zeitzler concluded, "The guidelines for the adjustment of operational directives will be issued by the Army General Staff after the meeting, and I hope that all of you will complete the adjustments immediately in accordance with the directive requirements"

Hoffman smiled: Modler is indeed a confidant of the Führer, daring to make such a joke at such a serious moment. However, he has a great appreciation for this master of defense, and more importantly, what Modler said is all true

The southern section of the eastern front is the strategic focus for this year. Our army has concentrated more than half of its forces in this direction and has been advancing in an offensive posture thus far. The Führer believes that, based on the results of the previous phase of combat, we have overestimated ourselves, and the offensives towards both the Caucasus and Stalingrad have significantly exceeded our capabilities. However, this does not mean that our original plan was entirely incorrect, as these two directions support each other as flanks. If we were to solely focus on attacking in one direction, we would easily expose our flanks. Therefore, it is necessary to make strategic adjustments in the southern section. The General Staff is determined to exploit this unfavorable situation to create a false impression, luring the enemy to attack our flanks so that we can encircle and eliminate them. Aside from this, both Stalingrad and the Caucasus oil fields are secondary objectives; our true goal is to destroy the mobility of the Russians. Preparations are being made to restore the structure of the Southern Army Group at the appropriate time, unifying and adjusting the A and B Army Groups. The specific operational plan will be designed by Marshal Manstein, with the A Army Group coming under the command of the B Army Group.

Hearing that the 11th Army reinforcements would neither have to tackle the tough nut of Leningrad nor follow Manstein southward, and could also choose to abandon the "meat grinder" of Jemyansk, which had consumed countless lives of Soviet and German soldiers, Marshal von Küchler, commander of the Northern Army Group, displayed a satisfied expression

Cäitzler explained: "The Air Force has formed 4 fully equipped airfield divisions, and General Halder originally planned to deploy them all to the Central Army Group; I will not change this measure"

This strategic objective is a double-edged sword. While shortening the front line certainly alleviates our burden, it simultaneously liberates the enemy, facilitating their ability to maneuver with ease. In the next phase, the density of combat forces directed against us will significantly increase. The defensive line of the Central Group Army stretches from the Greater Lukin to Oryol, with an overall defensive width of 1,500 kilometers. In the battles earlier this year, we inflicted over 500,000 losses on the Russians using the Rzhev salient, while our own losses reached 140,000 to 150,000. Particularly during Operation 'Whirlwind', the 2nd Armored Army and the 9th Army Group under my command suffered even greater losses, with many infantry regiments changing commanders multiple times, some even up to 8 times. Without reinforcements from new troops, and with the need to draw one armored division and one motorized infantry division from the Central Group Army to support Africa, it will be very difficult to accomplish the tasks of offensive defense with the current troop strength in the next phase.

To prevent personnel reinforcements to the army, Göring specifically ordered the formation of the absurd Air Force Field Divisions, each division being fully staffed and equipped with the latest weapons. However, these troops severely lacked combat training and experience, as well as non-commissioned officers and officers who had been tested in war, resulting in extremely low combat effectiveness. Even the newly formed militia divisions of the Red Army were able to repel the Air Force divisions, not to mention the Guards divisions! In later years, they were recognized as being even weaker than the Italian army, which was considered the weakest among the Axis powers.

He had always been dissatisfied with the strategic objective of simultaneously capturing Stalingrad and launching an offensive towards the Caucasus, having repeatedly presented to the General Staff the reasons against dispersing military forces. Although not as intense as the disputes between Halder and the Führer, the differences had reached a very serious level. It was originally heard that Jodl was to represent the High Command to oversee the battle and hold accountability, and even a proposal for his own dismissal had been placed on Keitel's desk. Now that the Führer has timely adjusted the objectives, it is evident that he has internally accepted his opinions, which has relieved him. As for whether he would fall under Manstein's command in the future, he personally had no strong objections and did not envy Manstein for obtaining the position of commander of the future Southern Army Group.

The explanation of the Eastern Front strategy by Zeitzler gradually reached its climax. "In the northern sector, our army intends to abandon the strategic objective of capturing Leningrad, but we need to continue to encircle the city. We must make this city like a magnet, firmly attracting Stalin's reinforcements to come continuously to their deaths through the implementation of the 'encircle and attack' policy. After Marshal Manstein was reassigned to the southern front, the 11th Army, which had been advancing north, was ordered to abandon the assault on Leningrad and focus entirely on countering the Soviet offensive..." In the northern sector, our army intends to abandon the strategic objective of capturing Leningrad, but we need to continue to encircle the city. We must make this city like a magnet, firmly attracting Stalin's reinforcements to come continuously to their deaths through the implementation of the 'encircle and attack' policy. After Marshal Manstein was reassigned to the southern front, the 11th Army, which had been advancing north, was ordered to abandon the assault on Leningrad and focus entirely on countering the Soviet offensive... At the same time, to shorten the front line and conserve defensive forces, consideration is being given to straightening the line of the Yemyansk salient.

I have a question. As it became apparent that the newly appointed commander of the Central Group Army, General Weikes, did not respond, General Model, the commander of the 9th Army, suddenly stood up

According to Rommel's plan, the Afrika Korps is set to launch an attack on the British forces at El Alamein in 5 days. However, everyone in the Afrika Korps, including Rommel, is unaware that the opposing British forces have been replaced by the British Eighth Army under the command of Montgomery. Not only is the tactical level of the commander significantly higher, but the British army, after receiving reinforcements and supplies, surpasses the Afrika Korps in both numbers and equipment by more than 1 times.

Undoubtedly, if Rommel's plans were allowed to continue, the losses of the African Corps would be exceedingly severe. Originally, Guderian intended to wait for Zeitzler to confirm the reinforcements' unit numbers before taking action, but after Hoffman relayed the 'latest' news to him, the latter was so shocked that he broke out in a cold sweat. He gathered his staff and set off overnight—first taking a train to Italy to meet Mussolini, and then flying from Sicily to the front lines.