"Combined with Field Marshal Rommel's report and air force reconnaissance, I think the Russians are indeed considering a large-scale counterattack in the direction of Central Asia, and that the source of these forces is likely to be the enemy's heavy army group, which has not been able to be found in the direction of the central battlefield. "This part of the army should be no less than 400,000 to 600,000 people, and if the Russians really want to eat our Central Asian cluster, they will at least add one more army group to it."www.biquge.info ”

Thanks to the victories of the war in the past few years, Admiral Yodel, who had been in charge of the preparation of the major battle plan, was recently promoted to the rank of general. After Hoffmann crossed, he did not get angry at Jodel's decision to protect Field Marshal Liszt, and even after Field Marshal Liszt left because of the Führer's disagreement with Juncker's anti-Führer forces, he still gave Jodel great trust, and after conferring the rank of general on the other side, he also explicitly hinted that if the war was finally won, Jodel would have the opportunity to receive the Marshal's Scepter in the future, which made him grateful to the Führer.

Of course, Yodel had a real ability to not only fully grasp the Führer's true thoughts, but also to repeatedly translate Hoffmann's unbridled strategic ideas into a solid campaign plan, rather than thinking that the Führer was whimsical or unprincipled, as other senior generals did. He was always consistent with Hoffman in the general direction, fine-tuning local details to meet operational needs, and building bridges between commanders and front-line commanders. Although Keitel held the post of chief of the General Staff of the Supreme Command, most of his work was to coordinate personnel and institutional functions, and the brain that really determined the core and plan of the operation was Yodel. Moreover, Yodel's thinking has few limitations, and he has a very deep understanding of the operations of the army, navy and air force, and is not at all like an ordinary army general, which makes Hoffman particularly important

Hoffmann is much wiser than Hitler, although he was known as a military expert in later generations, but he never really fought, nor served in the army, and even did not receive a regular military school education, most of them are based on the research results formed by history, and the real command level of the operation and the intuitive perception of the war are far less than Hitler, the corporal who fought out of the smoke of gunpowder, but he knows his own pounds, and most of the time he will not interfere with the command of the front-line generals, It will not indiscriminately meddle in the course of operations below the army group level, which is much more reliable than Hitler's and easier for the generals to accept. Therefore, although he now holds the title of commander-in-chief of the three armed services, no one dares to say that the Führer does not understand war.

"Assuming this inference is correct, what are your recommendations for dealing with it?"

"First of all, it is not possible to take the advice of Commander-in-Chief Zeitzler to move in the direction of Iran, which is entirely possible militarily, but politically it is very unfavorable and not conducive to consolidating our influence on the independent regimes of the Central Asian countries; Secondly, they could not retreat to the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea, as Marshal Keitel had originally anticipated, for the distance between them would be too long to wait for the troops to retreat, for fear that the Red Army would already pounce on them, and I bet that they, in addition to drawing troops from the middle of the battlefield, must have concealed their forces from the southern flank with the intention of intercepting them; Then, I do not propose to continue to reinforce the troops according to the advice of Field Marshal Rommel, for the same reason as the second one, the reinforcements are likely to face enemy interceptions, and once they are besieged by the enemy, either we will draw troops from the southern front to support, or let the Central Asian campaign cluster come to the rescue, the former can easily turn into a refueling tactic, and eventually let us and the Red Army fight a big battle in this less than ideal position on the east coast of the Caspian Sea, and the latter may form an encirclement point to send reinforcements......"

Hearing that Jodel rejected the three opinions in one breath, Hoffman was a little anxious, but he still held his breath and continued to ask, "What is the most appropriate way?" You can't do nothing and watch Rommel's ministry finish. ”

"That's impossible." Jodel thought to himself that Rommel was a confidant of the Führer, a war hero created by the Propaganda Department, and if he was finished, he would have to shed his skin if he did not die, "My suggestion is to learn from the examples of previous battles - such as the Battle of the Siege of Holm." ”

"Let Rommel hold out in the central oasis belt of several countries in Central Asia?" Hoffman asked rhetorically, "Is it possible to hold in the face of an attack by 600,000 enemy troops?" ”

"An 80% probability is fine, and with a few more targeted adjustments, I think there's a 95% chance that it can be held." Yodel said with a smile, "At the time of the encirclement of Holm, our army was no more than 6,000 remnants of various units, which stood still under the attack of the three Red Army armies, and finally held out until the beginning of the spring when reinforcements came to counterattack; At present, there are at least 80,000 troops in the Central Asian campaign cluster, and they are all elite troops who are brave and good at fighting, and it is not a problem to resist an enemy 5-6 times their size. ”

"There are no difficulties in the winter defense?" Hoffman immediately thought of the 6th Army in the historical encirclement of Stalingrad, and there was also an example of the Holm encirclement, so why couldn't Paulus do it?

"There are many difficulties, the first is the difficulty of material supply is intensified, as the climate gets colder, the weather in Central Asia will tend to be bad, meteorologists believe that from December, Central Asia often has wind and snow and other weather that is not conducive to aircraft flight, the probability of occurrence is 60-70%, that is, only about 7-8 days a month can be carried out by air, this bad weather will last at least until the end of February; The second is the loss of air superiority, at present our army has won many battles in Central Asia, in addition to the very effective armored forces, air superiority is a factor that cannot be ignored, if the weather turns bad, this superiority will no longer exist, the enemy will narrow the gap with us, if the air superiority is still on our side, I think even against a million troops there is a certain certainty; The third is the adjustment of the psychology of war; at present, these armies are basically elites with great reputations, and it is a very crucial point to make them feel uncomfortable when they suddenly switch from offense to defense.

Of course, there is some good news. For example, our army has successfully developed fuels and lubricants that are cold-resistant and frost-resistant in winter, and this time there will be no more dilemma that vehicles cannot be used in typhoon battles; If we move to the defense now, we still have at least 30-40 days to stock up on supplies, build a defensive line, and prepare for wintering, so that the transport aircraft troops can make a few more trips to replenish the troops with enough troops, supplies, equipment, and ammunition; We have the support and support of various ethnic groups in Central Asia, and they can help a lot in defensive warfare, such as building fortifications, assisting in the provision of rations, etc......"

"Another idea was to suggest that Field Marshal Rommel should return home to rest, because he had been fighting abroad all the year round, and each time he had to go to the most dangerous and difficult places to lead the army, so that he had been in poor health......"

Yodel's words were very tactful, but Hoffman heard the taste: he was not optimistic about Rommel commanding defensive warfare, or that Rommel's so-called offensive defensive thinking was not suitable for the defensive battles in the mountains and oases of Central Asia, and that his poor health was just an excuse, and his real purpose was to change commanders.

Hoffman casually asked, "Who do you think is more suitable?" ”

Jodl blurted out: "General Ferdinand Schellner, who is currently serving in Army Group Center, is very suitable, he is our army's premier expert in mountain warfare, he has always performed well, and his defensive command in the Battle of the Castle is also very effective. ”

"I see, you go and list the supplies and reinforcements needed to prepare for the defensive battle, and I will send your plan to the red side to listen to it again."

Yodel quickly took his leave, and after a moment of hesitation before leaving, he said: "Regarding the transfer of Marshal Rommel, I hope that the Führer can have a good talk with him, I have great personal admiration for him, and this decision is entirely based on the overall situation, and does not mean anything else. ”

"I understand, I'll take care of it."

The so-called red side is Hoffman's ingenious second staff system, led by General Paulus. Paulus was sent by Hoffman to serve as chief of staff on the Western Front directly from the position of commander of the Sixth Army, so he was never promoted until he led his troops to conquer Gibraltar.

Although Hoffman initially had a different view of Paulus because of his historical performance, he adjusted his views on some of the characters over time. Paulus was a very competent chief of staff, but he was a war room general, and it was difficult to resonate with ordinary soldiers, so he was not suitable for the position of front-line commander, especially the commander of the Sixth Army. However, he did an excellent job of placing him in the position of chief of staff of the Western Front, and he did not have any thoughts about Hoffmann's sudden transfer of him from the Eastern Front to the Western Front, and even volunteered to keep an eye on Rundstead for the Führer, who he always thought was uneasy about the Junkers.

Due to the relative idleness of the Western Front, Paulus usually couldn't get along with the old marshal and other aristocratic officers, and he had no other special hobbies, so he got together with a group of staff officers to study the war when he had nothing to do, simulating how he was the General Staff of the Red Army to fight the Eastern Front, and from time to time he was called up by Hoffmann to Berlin to report his views on war decisions. Over time, Hoffman simply asked some reserve officers to follow Paulus to form the Red Front's General Staff on the Western Front, focusing on studying and discussing major decisions on the Eastern Front.

It is particularly worth mentioning that after General Halder, who was exiled by Hoffman to the Berlin Military Academy as the director of education, was finally found to be involved in the treason group and sentenced to death, Paulus was ordered to take on the position, and the functions of the Red Staff became more powerful, not only began to simulate the Red Army on the Eastern Front, but also began to simulate the decision-making of the American Army, vaguely becoming the posture of the Second General Staff, and more open-minded (in other words, more elements on paper), but for Hoffman, It's a valuable source of advice, and it doesn't hurt to listen to other opinions.

He was now very curious to know Paulus's disagreement with the idea of the Battle of Yodel. (To be continued.) )