Chapter 252: The Castle (End)

As soon as he returned to the General Staff, Zhukov immediately wanted to call Meretskov, but before he could speak, the other party could not wait to ask: "Comrade Zhukov, I was about to call you, did Comrade Stalin agree to send us reinforcements?" With a little more effort, there is hope to break through the German defenses! ”

"I don't need to. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info," Zhukov sighed, "immediately stop the fighting on the Vyazma front, and all the troops will properly retreat." ”

"Retreat? Finally hit in, you told me to retreat? Meretskov on the other end of the phone was furious, "What are you kidding?" Is this an attitude of being responsible to the party and the people? ”

"The situation has changed significantly." Zhukov said slowly, very reluctantly: "The Bryansk Front surrendered." ”

"Ahh Is this information reliable? ”

"Leitel has sent a telegram to Comrade Stalin, and the official news will be made public in 2 days, so you should retreat quickly."

"But there are still tens of thousands of comrades trapped in the German encirclement."

"Let them block on the spot and cover the retreat of the large army." Zhukov almost shouted, "If you don't retreat, Moscow will be in danger." ”

"Yes! Be! Meretskov did not dare to slack off, he also knew that the situation was serious.

Listening to the phone, Vasilevsky, who had been anxious for several days, showed an unbelievable look in his eyes and grabbed Zhukov: "The Bryansk Front surrendered?" Is this information reliable? Don't be German propaganda. ”

"I saw the telegram with my own eyes, what the hell is he talking about a pre-battle uprising...... Zhukov wanted to say something, but finally said, "it was Vlasov himself who persuaded him to surrender." ”

"I don't believe that more than 100,000 officers and soldiers of the Bryansk Front are desperate to follow him, there must be something greasy here."

"It's useless, deserters have appeared one after another last week, the daily food supply has dropped to less than 100 grams, all the horses have been killed, and as for the senior officers who are unwilling to surrender......" Zhukov sighed, "Finally, he still has a little conscience and arranges for a plane to be sent back to Moscow." ”

"Hey!" Kuznetsov slapped the table in anger and almost smashed it.

Vasilevsky was speechless, and finally covered his face and began to cry: The surrender of the army of one front on its own initiative is too bad and the shock is too great -- the consequences are even more serious than the capture of more than 600,000 troops in the Kiev encirclement.

"Arrange troops to plug the gap, and maybe there will be a second battle for Moscow soon." Zhukov's face was pale, but he issued an order in an orderly manner, "I have obtained the consent of Comrade Stalin, and the Volkhov Front has moved south to fill the Tula-Ryazan line on the southern flank of Moscow and renamed it the Moscow Front; Tolbukhin's Moscow Front continued to the Steppe Military District, renamed the Steppe Front, to block the enemy's Army Group East; 500,000 troops were transferred from the Far East and Central Asia and handed over to Comrade Konev to form a new Central Front to reconnect the broken fronts in the north and south; The three fronts near Stalingrad held their positions, while the various armies drew troops ranging from 50,000 to 100,000 to form a reserve of 200,000 men on the southern flank; Comrade Malinovsky led the Independent Army to the north, upgraded to the Reserve Front, covering the southern flank and the central battlefield and serving as the general reserve of the base camp; Pending the formation of new units and fronts, the southern section of the Central Front was temporarily defended with the assistance of Comrade Vatutin's Southwestern Front. ”

Vasilevsky nodded, this emergency arrangement was undoubtedly more reasonable, and he immediately arranged it. After a while, he hesitated and opened his mouth: "This ...... Previous...... You said about the armistice negotiations......"

"Now is not the time to say this, even if we mention it, the Germans will ask for a very high price, and we must wait for the front to stabilize." Zhukov looked around and said in a low voice, "What do you think he will think about the Bryansk Front?" ”

Vasilevsky immediately understood, and he also noticed that there had been a lot of activity in the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the last two days......

The day after Zhukov and Vasilevsky completed the adjustment, the German army held a seminar in Kharkov on the next stage of the war arrangement, and Zeitzler reported on the overall progress:

"After forcing the enemy's Bryansk Front and inflicting heavy losses on the Central Front, our army has a major advantage in the central battlefield, and at present the entire area on the right bank of the Don River is occupied by our army, and there is no enemy army on the line from Michulinsk to Mikhaizhovka, and there is a breach gap of more than 600 kilometers in the enemy's central defense line.

From May 25 to June 15, a total of 1.29 million Red Army troops (killed, wounded, and captured) were wiped out in three weeks, including: 550,000 troops of the Bryansk Front; 350,000 troops from the Central Front; 150,000 in the Prairie Military Region; The Western Front and the Northwestern Front had 240,000 troops (mainly losses on the Tula and Vyazma lines), destroyed and captured more than 1,900 enemy tanks of various types and more than 3,000 aircraft of various types.

Our army's own losses were relatively light, with a cumulative total of nearly 140,000 casualties: more than 70,000 in the Wehrmacht and Waffen-SS, nearly 40,000 in the Eastern countries, more than 20,000 in the Italian army, more than 500 tanks (tank destroyers) and nearly 700 aircraft.

We occupied strategic points, including Tambov and Borisogrebsk, and held the Vyazma line, where the fighting continues, but on the whole it has yielded fruitful results. ”

Hoffman nodded, and at the same time asked uneasily: "Have the enemy annihilation and loss figures been verified?" ”

"There will be some discrepancies, but the overall gap is not big. After Leutel surrendered, he gave a briefing on the situation of the Bryansk Front, the figure of 550,000 was completely reliable, and the rest of the figures were determined through the battle reports of the enemy's base camp that he handed over, the records of internal telecommunications and telegram exchanges between each other, and combined with the statistics of the front, and he also handed over all the cipher codes, and according to the cipher system, we deciphered a batch of telegrams, which gave an in-depth understanding of the situation in all aspects, which was very beneficial to the operation. Although the enemy is urgently replaced, it is impossible to replace all the secrets in a short time. Zeitzler laughed, "So we'll soon know what's going on now, perhaps more fully than Stalin." ”

Hearing him say this, everyone below burst into laughter. After laughing, the crowd again expressed their admiration for the Führer's insistence on a "political settlement" and his strategy of not hesitating to give the Bryansk Front a "pre-battle uprising": without this idea, the situation would not be so ideal.

"There is controversy about the next phase of the arrangement." Zeitzler said, "Field Marshal Manstein asked for instructions on whether to launch the third phase of the Spring Awakening Campaign as originally planned, attacking the Stalingrad Front entrenched in Astrakhan; General Moder asked for instructions on whether to attack Saratov's Southwestern Front and outflank Stalingrad from upstream; General Hort asked for instructions on whether to attack the Don Front at Stalingrad; And Marshal Weix asked for instructions on whether to launch an offensive on the Nizhny Novgorod line and completely encircle Moscow......"

This is the rhythm that is about to bloom in full swing, and in the face of the overexcited and obviously fanatical generals, Hoffman shook his head and lost no time in pouring cold water:

"The preconditions for the third phase of the Spring Awakening campaign did not exist, and the Russians did not send a large number of troops from Moscow into the central battlefield, nor significantly from the direction of Stalingrad to the central battlefield, but adopted the strategy of opening the door wide open, which is completely incomprehensible, so I would rather choose to continue the breakthrough in the central theater - for example, to fight Penza, 250 kilometers east of Tambov, and then threaten the line of Sezlan, Ulyanovsk, and Kuibyshev."

Hearing that Hoffman did not agree to fight either Moscow or Stalingrad, Zeitzler was a little surprised, and hurriedly said: "Führer, with all due respect, this is too big in the central salient, which has reached 400 kilometers from north to south and 350 kilometers from east to west, and if you continue to attack according to your strategy, it will become a super-large salient of more than 800 kilometers from north to south and more than 700 kilometers from east to west - this area is almost equivalent to the whole of Poland." ”

"Are you afraid of the enemy coming out on both wings?"

"There is this concern."

"Your concerns are right, but take into account that at present the enemy is still relatively strong on the flanks, but the center is completely undefended, and we should make as many surprises as possible and let the enemy pull out and fight - this is much better than us foolishly gnawing at the fortified city." Hoffman noted, "I'm not in a hurry to attack now, it's Stalin who should be in a hurry." I hope that the General Staff will arrange for the front to move forward properly and prepare the conditions for the next stage of the war. At present, the front line needs to replenish its troops, fuel, and equipment, and it is by no means a matter of continuing the offensive to be finished. ”

"This will give the enemy a chance to breathe."

"I just like to see them desperate and struggling." "It's only June 15th, summer has just begun, and there's at least three months left to attack," Hoffman laughed. Give you 2 weeks to adjust the supply and battle lines in place, and the logistics supply base will be transferred to the front line of Tambov and Borisogrebsk, and the newly surrendered Bryansk Front should make proper arrangements and pay attention to the follow-up fermentation effect within the enemy. In the next stage, I want to continue to tear up the huge gap in the central battlefield, and I want to see what troops Stalin can use to fill this bottomless pit! ”

If the attack is stopped for half a month, Zeitzler and Keitel both think it is acceptable, and the idea of strengthening supplies cannot be faulted.

"The campaign exposed many problems that were not expected in advance, such as the excessive and dense number of armored divisions in the Panzer Army, although the assault effect was strengthened, but the pressure on logistics was too great, and I suggested that the 7th Panzer Army be established in the adjustment process, with General Kirchner as the commander, and attached to Army Group East; In addition, the 1st SS Panzer Army was formed, with Paul Hausser as commander and the headquarters directly under the central government; The standard armored army was changed to a standard establishment of 3 armored divisions, 2 armored grenadier divisions, 4 infantry divisions, 1 guard division, and a number of technical arms, and the total strength remained at about 200,000. The strength of the infantry armies should also be adjusted accordingly, and at least 1-2 panzer divisions (panzergrenadier divisions) and 10-12 infantry divisions should be ensured. ”

"I hope that the General Staff and the Supreme Command will take advantage of this gap to complete the adjustment and replenishment, and formulate the direction of the next stage of the key offensive."

Zeitzler wanted to continue the exhortation, but when he thought that even if he was going to fight Moscow or Stalingrad, he would have to be well prepared, well-planned, and have a supply time - after all, now that the main forces, especially the Panzer Army, were concentrated in the central theater, he no longer insisted on his own ideas.

"I announce: the third phase of the Spring Awakening Battle has been cancelled, and the first stage of the Battle of the Castle has been successfully concluded! The news of the victory can be told to the people of all Europe! ”

"Long live the Führer!" (To be continued.) )