Stalin did not pay much attention to this at first, because he suspected that it was only a tactic by the Germans to prevent the Soviet counteroffensive in the direction of Moscow.

"Why isn't this a hoax?" Stalin said to his subordinates: "Of course, what Mehris said may have a point. However, this is not a way for the Germans to solve a frontal crisis, and they want us to move our troops to the south or focus our attention on the south, so that they can hold their ground and hold on to their existing defensive lines! ”

"But, Comrade Stalin!" The staff officer reminded: "Our offensive at the front has been blocked, progress is slow, and the Germans do not seem to have to do this!" ”

Stalin took his pipe from his mouth and replied: "This may be just appearances, we do not know if the Germans were on the verge of collapse." We knew that their troops in the direction of Moscow were short of supplies and could not adapt to the cold climate, and many of their soldiers even surrendered to us on their own initiative......"

This is indeed a fact, and this is still happening at the front at this time, and many German troops secretly ran to the side of the Soviet army because they did not have enough clothing and food, because they did not want to freeze to death and starve to death.

This was unimaginable before, but now it is happening.

"So!" Stalin concluded: "We should wait and see, maintain the existing offensive, and even intensify the offensive against the enemy in the Moscow direction." As long as we can drive out the Germans in front, then the enemy in the south ...... Their flanks will be exposed in front of us and surrounded by us! ”

Stalin's words were well analyzed, even when Shulka heard it.

Of course, Shulka knew that this was not the case.

The battlefield is sometimes like this, where it is difficult to guess and grasp the enemy's true strategic intentions.

Shulka is only able to see through and be sure at a glance because he stands on the height of history.

Therefore, the entire Soviet army did not respond to the German attack in the south, and even the air force was not transferred to the south, and still attacked the German Army Group Center in the direction of Moscow with all its might.

All this pressure was exerted on Moder's 9th Army, but because the 9th Army received four armored divisions that had just been reinforced from Germany, coupled with Moder's command talent, it quickly repelled Soviet attacks again and again.

There were several key points: Kholm, Staraya Russa and Demyansk, which were even held by a large number of Soviet troops.

These sites all have a similar terrain to Rzhev, that is, they are surrounded by a swamp with only one hard ground and high ground, which makes it difficult for the Soviets to capture these towns, which are only garrisoned by a few thousand defeated soldiers, even with superior tanks and troops.

Of course, this also has to do with the fighting spirit and perseverance of the German army.

Plus Moder is full reinforcement for them...... This support is mainly in the form of the delivery of supplies and a small number of troops.

For these important points, which were surrounded and completely cut off from the German lines, Moder resorted to an ingenious method of reinforcement: gliders.

The glider was a form of airborne landing for the German army...... As we all know, the German airborne troops are at the forefront of the world, and the irony is that the airborne troops and airborne operations were invented by the Soviet Union: in 1927, the Soviet army used transport planes to airdrop troops in Central Asia and annihilated the rebels such as the Batuma ** in one fell swoop, which was the first airborne war in the true sense. In 1930, the Soviet Airborne Forces officially established the world's first full-fledged paratrooper unit.

However, this kind of airborne combat was not taken seriously by the Soviet Union, and by World War II there was even a phenomenon that the airborne troops were used as ordinary infantry.

On the contrary, the Germans carried it forward in the war.

It is not surprising that the Germans attached great importance to the Airborne Forces, since their "blitzkrieg" required some troops to seize important strategic targets such as bridges and transportation hubs before the armored forces.

The "Blitzkrieg" must do just that.

The reason is simple, no matter how fast the tank is, it cannot be faster than the enemy to load the explosives package and light the fuse.

The attacked enemy saw the German tanks approaching from a distance, and it was enough to blow up the bridge to slow down the German armor, so the "blitzkrieg" could not "dodge".

But if the enemy is not seen at all in the distance, or if the armored forces of the Germans are still far away, at least a few days away...... Suddenly, a group of German soldiers descended from the sky to occupy the bridge, and then defended the bridge under the cover of the air force to ensure that it was not blown up.

Then, the German armored troops arrived quickly day and night, not only successfully crossing the bridge, but also successfully defeating the enemy with the cooperation of the airborne troops, and then attacking the next target non-stop, and so on.

It is not difficult to imagine that the Airborne Forces played an important role in the "blitzkrieg", and it can almost be said that there would be no "blitzkrieg" without the Airborne Forces.

The genius of the Germans was that they developed a set of practical and effective tactical theories almost without actual combat experience.

If there is actual combat experience, it is also the actual combat experience of the First World War.

The actual combat experience of the French, British, and most others from World War I was "absolute defense," while the Germans came up with a "blitzkrieg" coordinated by the Air Force, Airborne Forces, and Armored Corps.

So it's no surprise that it's invincible on the battlefield.

For this reason, the German army attached great importance to the training of glider pilots.

Of course, some of them were forced out...... the Treaty of Versailles stipulated that the German army was not allowed to train or train pilots, but gliders were not among them.

So, after Hitler came to power in 1933, he seized this loophole and made glider training one of the compulsory subjects in German high schools, that is, almost every high school graduate could fly a glider.

The advantage of this was that the Germans could easily find a large number of glider pilots from their troops, and then let them fly the gliders with supplies and even soldiers to reinforce Holm and other besieged locations.

This is one of the reasons why the counteroffensive of the Soviet army has not been able to expand...... There were a few thorns in the rear that could not be pulled out, and no one dared to advance forward with confidence, and sometimes there were even shells whistling from the rear, and if you were not careful, you might be caught from both sides.

Mehris was even more excited at this point.

"I said it, Shulka!" Pacing back and forth, Mehris said, "I said they would attack the Crimea, but they didn't listen to me!" ”

Seeing that there was no one around, Mekhlis lowered his voice and said to Shulka: "Well done, Comrade Shulka! Now, how do you think the battle will continue? ”