After the episode on the southern front, Guderian also said goodbye to the meeting, and he also hurried to North Africa to take over the command of Rommel, according to Rommel's plan, the Afrika Army will attack El Alamein's British army in 5 days, but everyone in the Afrika Korps, including Rommel, does not know that the British army on the opposite side has been replaced by the British 8th Army under the command of Montgomery, not only the commander's tactical level is much higher, but the British army after receiving reinforcements and supplements is more than 1 times more than 1 times the number and equipment of the Afrika Korps. There is no doubt that if Rommel's plan had been allowed to continue, the losses of the Afrika Army would have been enormous. Originally, Guderian wanted to wait for Zeitzler to confirm the number of reinforcements before acting, but when Hoffmann told him the "latest" news, he was shocked to break out in a cold sweat and set off overnight with his staff team -- first by train to Italy to meet Mussolini, and then by plane from Sicily to the front.

Zeitzler's explanation of the strategy of the Eastern Front gradually reached a climax, "In the northern sector, our army intends to abandon the strategic intention of conquering Leningrad, but it is necessary to continue to encircle the city, so that the city will be like a magnet, and through the implementation of the policy of 'siege and reinforcements', Stalin's reinforcements will continue to come and die." After Marshal Manstein was transferred to the southern front, the 11th Army, which had been transferred to the north, gave up the task of attacking Leningrad and made every effort to deal with the Russian offensive...... At the same time, in order to shorten the front and save defensive forces, it is considered to straighten the front of the Demiyansk salient. ”

Hearing that the 11th Army, which had come with reinforcements, did not have to gnaw on the hard bone of Leningrad or follow Manstein southward, and that it could also choose the opportunity to abandon Demyansk, the "flesh mill" that consumed the lives of countless Soviet and German soldiers, Field Marshal von Küchler, commander of Army Group North, showed a satisfied expression.

"In the middle of the front, our goal is still Moscow, but not really to attack Moscow, but to deplete and mobilize Stalin's reserves by putting pressure on Moscow, and to force him to divide his forces from the southern sector, so as to give us every opportunity to break through."

"I have a question." Seeing that the new commander of Army Group Center, General Weix, did not react, the commander of the 9th Army, General Modell, stood up "Huo", "This strategic goal is a double-edged sword, the shortening of the battle line will certainly reduce our burden, but at the same time, it will also liberate the enemy and facilitate their calm deployment, and the density of combat forces against us in the next stage will be greatly enhanced." Army Group Center's defensive front, which stretched from Veliko Luki in the north to Orel in the south, with an overall defensive width of 1,500 km, in the first months of the year, we inflicted losses on the Russians by using the Rzhev salient in excess of 500,000, and our losses amounted to 14-150,000. In particular, during the 'whirlwind' operation, the 2nd Panzer Army and the 9th Army under my command suffered even greater losses, and many infantry regiments changed their commanders, and the highest even changed 8; if there were no new reinforcements, and in addition, one armored division and one motorized infantry division would have to be transferred from Army Group Center to reinforce Africa, and it would be difficult to complete the task of offensive defense in the next stage with the current strength of troops. ”

Zeitzler explained: "The Air Force has formed four fully manned air force field divisions, and General Halder was originally going to put them all in Army Group Center, and I will not change this move." ”

Moder shrugged: "4 air force field divisions, it sounds like there are a lot of people, and the equipment is neat, but it's just ...... Forehead...... Dear Chief of the General Staff, you know their combat effectiveness, and if they are really put on the front line, I am afraid that I will send troops to protect them. As soon as the words fell, there was a lot of laughter in the audience, and even Admiral Weix, who had been in deep thought, laughed, and the atmosphere of the meeting, which had been a little restrained just now, suddenly became a lot more lively.

Hoffmann smiled: Moder was indeed a close confidant of the Führer, and he dared to make such a joke at such a serious moment, but he still admired this defense master very much, and more importantly, what Moder said was the truth - under the leadership of Hermann Goering, the Third Reich's air force of only 5 or 6,000 aircraft had more than 1.8 million personnel, and the redundant ground staff and miscellaneous personnel in the air force department alone amounted to 200,000 people. The General Staff of the Army had strongly demanded that these idle personnel be quickly replenished into the army divisions that had suffered heavy losses, but the Imperial Marshal directly refused, and in order to prevent the replenishment of personnel to the army, it also specially ordered the formation of comical air force field divisions, each of which was basically fully equipped and equipped with the latest weapons. But these units seriously lacked combat training and experience, as well as non-commissioned officers and officers who had been tested in war, so their combat effectiveness was extremely low, and even the newly formed militia divisions of the Red Army were able to repel air divisions, let alone the Guards divisions! It was later recognized as a few points weaker than the Axis powers' most faceted Italian army.

"There is indeed a problem with the strength of the Air Force Field Division, but the troops that our Imperial Marshal has easily organized cannot be wasted like this." Hoffmann relieved Zeitzler of the siege in time, "I authorize you to separate the personnel and weapons of these four field divisions and then supplement them according to the needs of the army, but the reorganization plan must be carried out under the unified command of General Zeitzler, and I will explain it to Herman." ”

"The Führer is wise!" Zeitzler was grateful to Hoffmann for establishing his prestige, and the power to deploy four fully manned supplementary divisions was not small, while Weix and Moder looked at each other and smiled at each other and praised Hofmann from the bottom of their hearts.

Zeitzler thought of Guderian's explanation before leaving, and struck while the iron was hot to determine the troops to be transferred by Army Group Center - the 4th Panzer Division and the 25th Motorized Rifle Division, which were Guderian's old subordinates when he was in command of the Second Panzer Group, General Weix was now full of the matter of investigating the traitorous group, and the commander of the Second Panzer Army, General Rudolf Schmidt, was not on the scene because he was directing the battle, and Moder had just made a move to replenish the troops, and now he did not transfer his troops. Naturally, there were no objections, and the reinforcements to be sent to the Aposthor by Army Group Center were thus determined.

"The southern section of the Eastern Front is a strategic priority for this year, and our army has not only concentrated more than half of its forces in this direction, but has so far been on the offensive. The Führer believed that, judging by the results of the previous stage of operations, we had overestimated ourselves, and the simultaneous offensive to two targets, the Caucasus and Stalingrad, significantly exceeded our strength. But this does not mean that our original plan was completely wrong, because the two directions are two wings that support each other, and if we simply tend to attack in one direction, it is easy to expose our flanks. Therefore, it is necessary to make a strategic adjustment in the southern sector, and the General Staff is determined to take advantage of this unfavorable situation to create a false impression that the enemy will attack our flank and then encircle and destroy it - in addition to this, both the Stalingrad and Caucasus oil fields are side targets, and our real goal is to destroy the mobile forces of the Russians...... To this end, it is necessary to restore the structure of Army Group South at an appropriate time and uniformly adjust the composition of Army Group A and Army Group B. The specific operational plan was devised by Marshal Manstein, and Army Group A was under the command of Army Group B. ”

After listening to Zeitzler's explanation, Field Marshal Wilhelm Liszt, commander of Army Group A, breathed a sigh of relief, he had always been dissatisfied with the original strategic goal of capturing Stalingrad and launching an offensive against the Caucasus, and had repeatedly stated to the base camp the reasons for not being able to disperse the troops, although it was not as fierce as the quarrel between Halder and the Führer, but the differences were also very serious. Even the proposal to remove himself from office was on Keitel's desk, and now that the Führer had adjusted his goals in time, it was evident that he had adopted his own opinion from the bottom of his heart, which relieved him. As for whether or not to be under the command of Manstein in the future, he himself did not have much opinion, and he did not envy Manstein for obtaining the position of commander of Army Group South in the future.

"At the Führer's proposal, the 20th Motorized Rifle Division was transferred from the Northern Combat Group, and the 5th SS Viking Panzergrenadier Division and the 'Great Germanic' Motorized Rifle Division were transferred from the Southern Combat Group to the North African theater." Zeitzler concluded, "The General Staff of the Army will issue an order after the meeting on the adjustment of operational directives, and I hope that you will immediately complete the adjustment in accordance with the requirements of the directive." ”

Hearing that the Viking Division and the Great Germanic Division with great combat effectiveness and the Great Germanic Division were to be transferred from the southern flank, Manstein was a little reluctant, but considering the love and expectations of the Führer in this job change, he sighed lightly and decided to accept it, what he didn't know was that the Great Germanic Division was originally going north to aid Moder's 9th Army according to the requirements of the General Staff, and now that the instructions of Army Group Center have changed, the Great Germanic Division, which is ready to go, can naturally adjust its use. Manstein didn't know this, but Moder did, and he mischievously squeezed Manstein's eyes, reminding him not to take advantage of it and sell him again.

However, Zeitzler's task is not over, and tomorrow afternoon, the Eagle's Nest will hold a higher-level strategic meeting, which will be attended by all the leaders of the party and the state, and he and Marshal Keitel, as chief of the General Staff, will be present along with Marshal Raeder. The Führer had given a clear order that henceforth the Eagle's Nest and the Wolf's Den would be the seat of the Supreme High Command and the General Headquarters of the Army, with full responsibility for the command of the war. Judging by the current situation, he will have to stay in the Eagle's Nest for a while.