"I think it's difficult, he's going to have more troops on the front lines than we realize." Zhukov pointed to the map and said, "The overall defensive front from Pavlovsk to Rostov stretches for more than 900 kilometers, even if Manstein shrinks the defense system and consciously abandons the Don River meander, the overall length of the defensive front will still exceed 700 kilometers, deducting the section of the left flank Hoth cluster defense, deducting the right flank Kleist defense, the entire length of the defense system that the cluster needs to face will last about 400 kilometers, which means that if Manstein puts 15 divisions on the front of the defensive line, Each division would defend the front of more than 25 kilometers, which was a dangerous figure in terms of the equipment and strength of the Germans. ”

"So, what are your conclusions?" Stalin asked, puzzled.

"Two. First, Manstein would not defend such a wide front, and he would inevitably continue to shrink, as long as we could break through his first line of defense with more oil; The second possibility is that he has committed far more troops than we think, so this kind of defensive width is what he can afford. Zhukov thought carefully for a moment and said, "The General Staff believes that the first option may be closer to reality, and then this line of defense will be far from being as impregnable as it seems." Our response strategy was simple, send as many troops as possible across the river, put further pressure on this line, find the enemy's weak points as quickly as possible, and then launch a swift attack. ”

Vasilevsky added: "There is also a very small possibility that Manstein is bluffing, and the reason why he put on such a large posture in the early stage is to hide his true intentions - he has only such a small number of troops on the defensive line." The rest of the forces were thrown into other theaters. ”

"This possibility also exists, and we cannot underestimate it, because at present supplies from Batumi, Poti to Novorossiysk, Tuapse, etc. are greatly hampered. The enemy fleet has become a problem for our henchmen. Stalin looked at the two generals and asked, "Since your analysis is so consistent, what is the next response?" ”

"We think that the upper reaches of the Don and the meanders of the Don still need at least one army group each to attack, and at the same time we need air cover, and now the German planes are rampant, and we will continue to suffer if we do not suppress this arrogance." Zhukov said, "I gave orders to the Southwestern Front and the Don Front. Let them hurry up to cross the river tonight, use two days to commit another army group, and then launch an attack on all fronts. ”

Stalin nodded: "You can do it according to this idea, tell the comrades not to be anxious yet." After finding the weak link, we will strike a fatal blow, and at the same time think more fully about the difficulties, the enemy will not have no depth and no reserves, and there will definitely be a second and third line of defense waiting for us. We have to open it all in one go and win it in the end. ”

Vatutin received a telegram urging the army. He shouted in the command headquarters: "Attack to the sea, first cut off the connection between the Hort cluster and the Manstein cluster...... Rokossovsky also received a telegram urging him to advance, he thought about it and finally decided to send the 24th Army across the river as soon as possible.

Seeing the summary of the enemy situation coming back from the front and the defensive system and troop deployment laid out by Manstein, Zeitzler gasped, followed by a convulsive toothache.

"What's wrong?" Seeing that his expression was wrong, his friend and Eastern Front quartermaster Schunt asked strangely.

"Our good marshal allowed Army Group South to be surrounded by the enemy......"

"Surrounding?" Schmunt's eyes widened, "How so?" Army Group South had nearly 1.4 million troops. How could the Russians surround him? They don't have that kind of strength at all. ”

"He voluntarily let the enemy surround him, and he divided his forces into three parts: left, center, and right. Although they are barely forming a whole, they are very weak in connection with each other - as if tempting the enemy, come, come, come and cut off our ties with each other. Zeitzler said indignantly, "He's gone a little too far." ”

"Will the Russians be able to bypass him and march on the Ukrainian side?

"This can't be, if the Russians don't solve either of the Hort and Manstein clusters, they will be flanked by two heavy groups on the left and right flanks, and not many Red Army units can withstand the flanking of the two German clusters, so the enemy's strategy must be to solve one first."

"Will the Hult cluster be solved first? The Romanians and Italians are not very reliable comrades-in-arms, and if I were in command, I would have picked this soft persimmon first. ”

"The enemy will either solve the Hult cluster first, or the Manstein cluster first, and there is no other way, but these two groups are so easy to solve?" Zeitzler laughed faintly, "Marshal Manstein put himself to death, this will obviously be a hard walnut, Stalin has to have good teeth to do it, but it cannot be said that it is completely surrounded, we have control over the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov, and the water link is unimpeded." ”

"It's a little better than the situation in Crimea and Sevastopol."

Zeitzler laughed: "I almost forgot that the Crimean Peninsula and the Sevastopol fortress were brought down by Marshal Manstein, and he should have a good idea of how to defend the harbor city." ”

"The total number of troops on the three fronts is more than 1 million, which is almost equal to the strength of the entire Army Group South, can Marshal Manstein hold it?" Schmund said worriedly, "Or will he be able to survive at a small cost?" ”

"It's hard to say, but we should have full confidence in the frontline commanders."

Of course, it is necessary to believe it, because Heinrich, a defense expert and the new commander of the 6th Army, has arrived.

"I heard that you were going to be surrounded, and then quickly pulled me over and sent me to death together......" Heinrich teased as soon as he met.

"Of course, of course we would die together without you, and with you, the Russians would not dare to do this to us."

Heinrich greeted Manstein on the one hand, and on the other hand, he made a field survey of the defense line, and he said: "This defense line is not repaired......

"Why not?"

"Look......" Heinrich said mercilessly, citing several holes in the line of defense. Manstein's face turned red all of a sudden, he thought that he was very good at commanding the construction of the defense system, but he didn't expect it to be a mistake in the eyes of defense experts.

"I heard that you took all the assault guns of the troops?" Heinrich asked, staring into Manstein's eyes.

This made the latter's heart a little weak, and Ai Ai pondered for a long time before speaking: "Yes." ”

"You've got to pay me back." Heinrich said unceremoniously.

"No, I'm still useful."

"How long will it take?"

"...... a week"

"No, I can't wait that long, 5 days!" Heinrich stretched out five fingers and dangled in front of Manstein.

"Okay, 5 days is 5 days." Manstein's face was full of reluctance, but he could only agree to this thing, which he did not do in a proper way - he had heard of the infantry division coming back from the armored division with assault artillery units to hold on to the defense, but he had not heard of people taking assault guns from the infantry to support the armored troops.

"What about the Panzer Division?"

"A week!"

"Okay, return the establishment in 10 days." Manstein was stunned, he thought that Heinrich would bargain with him, but he didn't expect that the other party not only didn't mean this, but also generously extended the time by 3 days, he was a little uncomfortable with this rhythm, and asked with a smile, "This, I heard it right?" ”

"Panzer divisions are an indispensable part of the resilient defense system, and they will play the role of a fire brigade for the next brutal defense time, and as for your needs......" Heinrich winked mischievously, "I think 10 days is enough." ”

"Enough, enough."

"I almost forgot to tell you that the Führer said that the Navy would be withdrawn at the end of November."

"What?" Heinrich complained bitterly, "Can this force not be withdrawn, I still have to keep it to be of great use......

"Nope! This is impossible, there are big moves in other directions. Manstein immediately interrupted Heinrich's complaints, "This is an order from the Führer himself." ”

"Okay." Heinrich shrugged helplessly, "Give me a few more days anyway, even if it's December 5th." ”

"I'll report this to the Führer, and one more day would be good."

"I also need to know about the stockpiling of supplies...... Heinrich said after listening to the quartermaster's report on the war supplies, "there are not enough cement, rails, and logs, and we need to improve the ...... as soon as possible."

The cement is easy to understand, but the rails and logs are a little confusing, and seeing that the quartermaster is still in a daze, Heinrich immediately reminded: "These are all necessary equipment for building bunkers, you don't want our hard-built front-line observation post to become a pile of debris under the heavy artillery bombardment of the Soviets, right?"

Heinrich asked a lot of questions one after another, and Manstein said: "How do I feel like I'm back to the last war?" ”

"You guessed that right, we are indeed going to use the tactics of the last big battle, but this time we have better equipment, and we can fight in the streets if necessary."

"Do you really want a street fight?" Lieutenant General Weller was taken aback and stuck out his tongue.

"I hope I don't need it, but I'm going to be prepared for it...... Whether or not the Red Army can be killed by 1.5 million depends on these preparations. ”

"Crazy...... How many lines of defense can take out 1.5 million? Manstein's face was full of disbelief.

But Heinrich said: "Spring is still far away, this will be a decisive battle in the global spotlight, and we will survive at least until the end of March......"

"But it's only mid-November...... "Weller lamented, "and it's going to be five months away." ”

"So I said there was enough time to take out these Russians." A smile appeared on the corner of Heinrich's mouth, "Tomorrow I'm going to see what the marshal is good at." ”

"I can't hide anything from you." Manstein also laughed. (To be continued.) )