Rundstedt was right.

In fact, his previous strategy of planning to block the Soviet 9th Army was wrong...... The fact that the Germans were good at using "blitzkrieg" did not mean that they were equally good at defending against "blitzkrieg" attacks.

It is difficult to deal with the "blitzkrieg" with purely passive and clumsy blocking, which has been proven by the German armored forces as they sweep across Europe.

The reason for this is very simple, the armored forces can rely on their mobility to flexibly change direction or bypass the enemy's infantry garrison, so they can mobilize several times or even more than ten times the enemy to do pointless back and forth to encircle, chase and intercept.

This is the core of the "Offensive Superiority Theory".

The "theory of offensive superiority" was contrary to the "theory of absolute defense" that prevailed during this period, such as that of France and Britain.

The "Theory of Absolute Defense" holds that the army has a greater advantage when it is on the defensive.

This is easy to understand, the army can "build high walls, gather grain", build trenches, pull up barbed wire, lay mines, and even have pillbox fortifications and impermeable fire points, plus food and ammunition reserves...... Just waiting for the enemy to attack.

Hence the Maginot Line, the Mannerheim Line, and so on.

If at this time someone said that the "theory of absolute defense" was wrong, and that none of these fortifications could do much, then there would have been a lot of ridicule, because the whole trench warfare of the First World War proved that trench-like defense was useful and useful!

This is one of the reasons why the tanks of many countries, such as Britain and France, do not pay attention to mobility.

The Germans, however, believed in the "theory of offensive superiority".

They believe that the real advantage is precisely the attack that is abandoned by other countries, because the attack has the initiative to choose the time, place and route of the attack, while the defending side can only passively wait for the enemy to attack.

There is a saying that "there is no line of defense in the world that cannot be broken", and even if the enemy builds a whole line of defense, what can he do? Not to mention that the defense line costs a lot of money and requires a lot of troops to garrison it, this defense line is built by people, and there will inevitably be flaws in the construction of people.

What the attacking side has to do is to find a hole in this defensive line, and then with very few troops and resources, it can break through and go around the defensive line to make the entire defense line meaningless.

Of course, this theory is correct, and the German army has proved this point again and again, and even the German army often does not build a line of defense when defending, but puts mobile troops in the second line of mobile defense.

Under this theory, Rundstedt's defense and blocking of the 9th Army was controversial.

Now, Rundstedt has finally found the right strategy...... He should not be strictly guarded against death, he should find important nodes and further consolidate it so that he can get ahead of the enemy.

And this important node is Odessa.

The question, as the adjutant said, how to take Odessa in three days.

Rundstedt touched his chin and looked at the map in deep thought.

It was not that the Germans were incapable of taking Odessa, but that Odessa was not so important before that.

It is not accurate to say that Odessa is "not that important", Odessa's strategic position is important because it is an important port for the Russian Black Sea Fleet, as well as an airfield, from which warplanes can cooperate with Crimean bombers to bomb Romanian oil fields, and at the same time a shortcut to Romania to Ukraine.

The reason why it was "not so important" was that Odessa was already surrounded by the Romanian 4th Army.

Once surrounded, it is not so important, because the Russian troops stationed there will not be able to stop the transportation of troops and supplies, and at the same time, the airport and port will be blocked by artillery, and the Russian army will be in a difficult situation.

It was because of this that the Germans bypassed Odessa...... Anyway, the Germans didn't expect the Romanian army to play any big role, so they let the 4th Army fight there slowly.

But now the situation has changed, and the offensive of the Russian 9th Army has forced Rundstedt to think about ending the fighting in Odessa as soon as possible.

"Contact the Air Force!" Rundstedt said to the adjutant: "Let them lay mines off the coast of Odessa to block the port!" ”

"Yes!"

"And at the same time let them lay mines along the road and railway from Kyiv to Odessa!" Rundstedt said: "Of course, the infantry has to do the same!" ”

The adjutant was stunned for a moment, and then replied, "Yes!" ”

The adjutant hesitated because this road and railway were supply lines to the north of Army Group South, and the laying of mines was also a self-blockade.

But now it's clear that I can't care so much.

"In addition, take over the command of the 11th Army!"

The phone went through quickly.

"General, I think you still have a chance!" Rundstedt said.

"What?" Shawbert didn't understand what Rundstedt meant.

"22nd Infantry Division!" Rundstedt reminded.

"No, Your Excellency Marshal!" Chaubert replied: "The 22nd Infantry Division is too far away for them to enter the battle in time!" ”

"You may have forgotten that the 22nd Infantry Division is a parachute division!"

The Germans had a somewhat strange unit formation, and they were very mobile, so some units were called "infantry divisions" but had the ability to land.

The so-called landing is to maneuver on a glider, and the quality of the German soldiers can also be seen from this...... At this time, there are very few professional airborne and parachute troops in all countries in the world, and it can even be said that there is a blank, the British airborne division was only established in 1941, and the American airborne troops were formed by learning from the British on the African battlefield, while Germany all had this kind of infantry unit whose main business was infantry and the sideline was airborne.

"No, Your Excellency Marshal!" Chaubert objected: "It's not that I haven't considered the 22nd Infantry Division, but they can't land in such weather!" ”

In fact, it is precisely because Ukraine has entered the rainy season that this 22nd Infantry Division has been used by Chaubert as an ordinary infantry division, but because it started late, it has just entered Ukraine and followed up in the rear.

"It's a very moment, General!" Rundstedt said: "Think about it, what will happen if you don't risk the 22nd Infantry Division? ”

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while, and then he replied: "Your Excellency, even if I agree to let the 22nd Infantry Division take the risk of landing, it doesn't mean that they can stop the Russian 9th Army!" ”

"No, General!" Rundstedt said: "Their task is not to stop the Russian 9th Army!" ”

"That's ......," Shawbert was confused by Rundstedt's words.

"They landed in Odessa!" "To cooperate with the Romanian 4th Army on the offensive, they must end the fighting in Odessa within three days, and no more than five days at most!" said Rundstedt! ”