As for the arrangement of the offensive campaign, due to the pause of the summer campaign, the army groups have communicated with the General Staff more frequently, and relatively speaking, they have not played much tricks, but not everyone is optimistic about the overall campaign, Guderian, who has returned from Africa not long ago, frowned after seeing the overall plan, thoughtful, but this time he did not start rashly. Pen | fun | pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 The ups and downs of the info years had matured him a lot, and he knew that his relationship with most of the leading officers on the Eastern Front was mediocre, and that casually speaking could cause unnecessary trouble.

"Heinz, tell me what you think, among so many people, you are the only one who has been busy fighting in Africa and has not yet fully participated in the planning of the campaign, maybe you have an unusual opinion." Hoffman set his sights on Guderian.

"Führer, there is no ...... of unusual opinions," Guderian smiled bitterly, "I am only vaguely worried, but I wish I was overly worried." ”

"Tell me?"

"Ladies and gentlemen, the Voronezh-Tambov line is not only the starting point of our army's large-scale offensive, but also the main hoarding point of logistics materials, and it is also a key node connecting and communicating the northern and southern battlefields, and the position is exactly stuck in the center of the entire front - less than 500 kilometers from Moscow and about 520 kilometers from Stalingrad. At this time, the forward of our army was more than 500 kilometers from the rear base, if I were Zhukov. Guderian glanced at everyone, "I will make a last ditch effort, send troops from Stalingrad and Moscow to the north and south at the same time, and cut off the important strategic points of our army's center with a fierce attack, not only to force our army's center offensive cluster to return to the rescue, but also to reverse the current passive situation." ”

The people below nodded, and the routine of attacking from north to south and attacking from the center was very much in line with Guderian's appetite. Although the Red Army was not considered to have such a sharp offensive capability, at least such a response strategy was wiser than foolishly simply drawing troops from the north and south flanks to fill the gap in the central battlefield. During the Battle of the Castle, the Axis continued to attack the central front, and the Red Army was unable to establish a solid defensive line, and the transfer of troops from the northern and southern flanks was quickly eliminated in the continuous attrition.

Hoffman smiled slightly and asked: "Apart from Tambov and Voronezh, what other points do you think are likely to be hit hard by the Red Army?" ”

"It could be Kharkiv, but it's a bit far, more than 600 kilometers from Moscow and Stalingrad." Guderian looked at the map again, "There are at least three lines of defense of our army in front of Kharkov, and I think it is extremely unlikely that the enemy will run 700 kilometers and destroy three lines of defense in succession." ”

Hoffman nodded in satisfaction, and the rest of the crowd immediately became active, consciously or unconsciously changing their position to the position and perspective of the Red Army, but after discussion, it was found that there seemed to be no other particularly clever way except Guderian's method.

Marshal Weix stressed: Army Group Eastern was originally the overall strategic reserve of the Eastern Front, but now it is also used on the front line, and although each army group has prepared at least one reserve of the army group, he hopes that the General Staff will prepare at least enough strategic reserves -- for such a large-scale campaign involving an attack of 3 million men, it is impossible not to have a reserve on the scale of a campaign cluster.

Zeitzler smiled even more, and then revealed the mystery to everyone: "According to the Führer's requirements and instructions, the General Staff took the 1st Panzer Army of the SS Army as the backbone of the reorganized SS, plus the 5th and 8th armies of the Wehrmacht, to form the Dawning Army Group, which served as the general reserve for this campaign. ”

The 1st SS Panzer Army is a newly established unit this year, with 4 Panzer Divisions that have completed the adjustment and addition of the 1943 Guard Banner Corps and the Reich, 2 Panzergrenadier Divisions and 4 Waffen-SS Divisions, which are stronger than any Wehrmacht Panzer Army, and the strength of the other 2 armies cannot be underestimated. If the Russians were deceived by the "reserve" name of this army group, the custody was bumped into a bag.

"Reserve Army Group is deployed on the Kharkov, Voronezh and Tambov fronts, with Voronezh as the core."

It was only then that Guderian suddenly realized why Zeitzler had been looking at him with a smile just now: it was not that the General Staff had not considered this possibility, on the contrary, they were fully prepared. And he happens to be able to assume and fulfill the role of the relevant commander.

The overall policy of the meeting was finalized, and by this time there were less than 24 hours left before the start of the offensive campaign.

Just as the German army was in full swing to advance the campaign action, in the Kremlin, Stalin was also listening to the report of the General Staff and Molotov, "Judging from the information we have, it seems that the German army will soon launch a new offensive, and the direction is still in the central battlefield." ”

Stalin nodded noncommittally and asked, "Is there a way to stop them?" ”

Vasilevsky hesitated for a moment, and finally confessed: "It is very difficult, the enemy has an advantage in equipment, the troops are very experienced in combat, and ......"

Stalin waved his hand: "I know all these things you emphasize, I am asking about the method, you and Comrade Konstantin have the same opinion?" ”

"This ......," Vasilevsky said after a moment's hesitation, "inconsistent, I mean continuing to retreat and further expanding the German army's logistical supply lines." ”

At yesterday's meeting to analyze the situation, Zhukov made the next strategic deduction, believing that the German army is likely to repeat the tactics of the previous campaign, attack in the central battlefield and continue to break through, forcing the Red Army to draw troops from both flanks for reinforcements, and once the two flanks are weakened, the German army will take the opportunity to attack one of the flanks. He believed that he could not be led by the Germans by the nose and that he had to take the initiative, so he proposed the strategy of luring the enemy deep into the center and widening the distance of the German army, and at the same time implementing a north-south advance in December to cut off the German retreat and force the enemy to retreat.

Zhukov knew the gap between the Red Army and the Axis, and did not pin his hopes on the might and effectiveness of the offensive campaign, nor did he think that the Red Army had the ability to encircle and annihilate the German heavy army groups, but only hoped to force the German army to stop its advance and create an opportunity for the Soviets to win a winter respite.

But Vasilevsky had a different opinion this time, he was not optimistic about Zhukov's offensive and defensive tactics, and he suggested further retreat, not to mention the right bank of the Volga, if the Germans wanted, they could always let them attack, even if they hit the Urals. (To be continued.) )