"What? A large number of Soviet troops were found on the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea? The Soviet Malinovsky Army in the north is also ready to move? Zeitzler, who received the information, was taken aback. Pen × fun × Pavilion www. ｂｉｑｕｇｅ。 Since the beginning of the cold winter, except for the major fighting near the Ferghana Basin, all fronts have entered the winter break to recuperate, and the troops have stepped up personnel replenishment and rotation, and the units that have not completed the 1943 transformation have stepped up their transformation, and a small number of elite units have begun to change their equipment - such as Leopard tanks and Assaulters. This armored division, known as the 1944 modified formation unit, replaced the position of the No. 4 tank in the original establishment with the Leopard type, forming a joint combination of Leopard + Tiger + Assault, and the 88mm/56L double-diameter gun of Qingyishui further optimized the logistics supply.

After the gradual transformation of the No. 4 tank into the production of the Leopard tank, the production of the Tiger tank remained stable at 250 units/month, the production of the Leopard has exceeded 500 units/month, and the production level of the No. 4 tank has dropped to 600 units/month. In particular, after the Soviet army put into the IS-1 and T-43/85, in the face of the fully suppressed No. 4, Speer was also a little anxious, accelerated the production of the Leopard, according to the plan of the General Staff, by the time the spring offensive was launched in mid-April, the number of armored divisions that had completed the 1944 reconstruction would be at least 10 - 4 in the SS and 6 in the Wehrmacht. At the same time, 4 Marine brigades will also have to be reequipped.

In order to enhance the competitiveness in the field of heavy tanks and ensure the absolute superiority of the German army in this field, the Tiger 2 tank that the Ministry of Armaments decided to mass-produce in May was also unveiled in advance, because the 850 hp HL234 engine has not yet been finally matured and mass-produced, and only the HL230 engine of the 650 hp level can still be used, but fortunately, after digging the potential transformation, the HL230 has been upgraded to HL230+, and the horsepower has been increased to 685 hp. So the Ministry of Armaments first launched the Tiger 2 tank.

Judging from the data, the Tiger 2 is a simplified version of the King Tiger tank, the main changes are to reduce the frontal armor to 130mm, install the 88mm / L71 tank gun, the weight is controlled at about 54 tons, and the rest of the chassis, accessories, and body size are basically the same as the Tiger King (or Tiger 3), before technical experts have reminded the General Staff and the military that due to the difficulty of 88mm / L71 artillery production, it is recommended to reserve in advance, so the Tiger 2 uses all the barrels produced in advance reserves. Several veteran heavily armored battalions have returned home to receive Tiger 2 tanks, and by the time the spring offensive begins, they will have even more memorable weapons.

The King Tiger tank, which is matched by the 850 hp HL234 engine and the new drivetrain, will have 160mm inclined armor, a 105mm/L68 tank gun (42 rounds of ammunition), and a total weight of more than 62 tons, but due to the increased engine power, its mobility is obviously better than that of the Tiger 2, only slightly worse than the Tiger 1 based on the HL230+ engine, and close to the early Tiger tank.

According to the previous development practice, the German army will also develop a tank destroyer based on the same chassis, based on the Tiger tank developed No. 5 Tan Jan was also produced shortly before, codenamed "Berserk", and the historical Ferdinand based on the Tiger chassis (elephant tank destroyer) thinking is different, Hoffmann does not like the stupid and inappropriate Ferdinand, the Berserk armor is basically the same as the Tiger, and the total weight is basically maintained at the 48-ton level, eliminating the weight of the turret for gun renewal - installing the same 105mm as the King Tiger tank/ The L68 tank gun, which currently ranks first in armor-piercing capacity.

Originally, the technical department would also launch the Cheetah tank destroyer based on the Leopard tank, but because the existing number of Leopard tanks was far from enough, the Cheetah could only continue to be locked in the safe as a drawing car. The only thing that embarrassed the technical department was that the E-45 series of general-purpose tanks proposed by the Führer, which integrated the four advantages of "mobility and cost of the tank, and the firepower and defense of the heavy tank", has not made much progress, let alone 1944, and the pessimists of the Ministry of Armaments believe that it will not be able to be built in 1945. Considering that the United States is now blind even to the first generation of heavy tanks, the Germans have reason to be proud of their prowess and technical level.

In contrast, in order to obtain the actual IS-1 tank and drawings, the Joint Staff sent 30 ships full of supplies to Stalin's father (12 of which were to be paid tribute to the Japanese military), and implied that if the effect was good and the loss was not significant (i.e., Japan would only receive 40% of the protection fee if it kept its promise), it would send another 30 ships.

In Zeitzler's eyes, all preparations on the Eastern Front were proceeding in an orderly manner, preparing to deal a full-scale blow to Stalin after the beginning of spring.

"How many troops does the enemy have?"

"The Red Army, which has set up an offensive stance, is about 200,000, divided into two routes, east and north; They have about 20-350,000 follow-up troops behind them. ”

"So much?" Zeitzler's brow furrowed, "Didn't you say that the Russians were busy clearing out the national forces in Central Asia?" ”

"This is also true, the Russians divided into two routes, one to attack the Caspian Sea, and the other to extinguish the fire in Central Asia."

"How many troops do they have?" Zeitzler knocked on the table and felt surprised, "On the one hand, we are encircling our army in the Ferghana Basin, and on the other hand, we are sending troops to sweep Central Asia, and on the other hand, we are sending troops to storm the eastern shore of the Caspian Sea......"

"The preliminary estimate is no less than 1 million, and probably these are the main forces in the middle where the Russians disappeared.

"Well, the Führer is right, the strength and fighting style of the Russians are really not to be guessed by common sense." Zeitzler sighed and walked over to the map to quickly gauge the situation, and the staff officers had deployed the intelligence and information they had just received on the map.

The German army on the east bank of the Caspian Sea has a total of more than 50,000 troops, in addition to 1 airborne division and 1 airborne brigade dispatched by Schellner in advance, adding up to less than 70,000 people and no armored division, the troops on the east bank of the Caspian Sea are backed by the powerful Southern Army Group, and they can get reinforcements through the Caspian Sea at any time.

"Marshal Manstein prepared a lot of troops on the West Bank some time ago, saying that he wanted to deal with the situation in Central Asia, and now he can pull them out and use them, so that they are ready to cross the Caspian Sea." Zeitzler thought for a moment and then added, "The Air Force is required to be prepared to guarantee regional air supremacy." ”

As soon as the staff officers agreed, one of the staff officers frowned and shouted a report: "Sir, your request cannot be fulfilled for the time being. ”

"Can't do it?"

Zeitzler was stunned: "Why? ”

"The Caspian Sea began to freeze 10 days ago, and the ice is neither thick nor thin, but the west coast is completely frozen, and ships and ships cannot move, so reinforcements cannot pass."

Everyone looked at each other. Zeitzler suddenly remembered that he had indeed received a similar situation report a few days ago, and hurriedly said: "Quick, let them report the coverage of the ice area." ”

When the extent of the Caspian Sea ice was marked on the map, everyone's brows were furrowed - the Caspian Sea was so frozen that the western shore was almost completely frozen, the ice in the middle was very thin, and there was almost no ice on the eastern shore. This situation of half the ice and half the water made these staff officers dumbfounded, only to hear that there is a north and south ice water boundary, and there are still frozen waters in the world where the east and west divide the boundary?

Looking at the two huge pincer offensive spearheads of the Red Army in the north and south on the map, combined with the huge number of troops that followed, it is obvious that the 70,000 troops of the armored division on the east bank can not be defended. Zeitzler muttered to himself: "Things are bad now, we have to arrange a retreat." ”

"Sir, Marshal Manstein sent a telegram suggesting that the troops withdraw to the southeast into Iran, and then go to Tehran for the winter, and the baggage of the camp on the east bank can be taken as soon as possible, and the retreat should be accelerated, so as not to let the Russians stick to it."

"Destroy all the supplies that can't be taken?"

"This ......" the staff officer looked horrified, "the telegram said that there was no need to bother destroying it, and that it was left to the Russians to forget ......"

"Leave it to the Russians? This is the marshal's exact words? Does he want to be an enemy? Zeitzler's eyes widened and he asked in disbelief.

"Yes."

"Crazy!"

"This is crazy...... Manstein himself, who telegraphed Zeitzler, said that at least a few thousand troops would be left to hold out, and even if the whole army was destroyed, supplies would not be left to the Russians. But after listening to the report, the Führer gave him a reply that made him frown a little.

"Can't figure it out?" Hoffman looked at him with a smile, "My marshal, it was you who just told me that it was possible for the Russians to go to the Turks......

"There's a good chance that that, of course, will go to the Iranians for trouble, although the latter is a little less likely."

"I think there is a better chance of trouble with the Turks, after all, after the withdrawal of nearly 70,000 of our troops to Tehran, it will not be so easy for the Russians to fight the Iranians."

"It's even harder to destroy all the supplies."

"If it's not easy, how can the Russians teach Turkey a lesson?" Hoffman's voice suddenly raised an octave, "Don't you think it's a good military strategy to let the Turks lure the enemy back together and annihilate them?" ”

Of course, Manstein understands military tactics, but he understands even more the political tactics that the Führer did not say: after taking Transcaucasia, the Turks swallowed most of the territory despite German opposition, and even swallowed Baku in an extremely ugly manner, and even clashed with the Iranians over territory. Now it seems that the Führer is not in a good state of mind, but the Führer is holding back the bad......

"The military is a continuation of politics, and it must always serve the military." Hoffman smiled, "You must have a good idea of what to do next, right?" ”

"Of course that's fine, but if Marshal Bock comes?" Bock was an adviser to the Turkish military, having served as the commander of Army Group Center at the beginning, and was relatively senior.

"Marshal Bock is old, and the weather has been bad lately, so he is more likely to get sick, and some people will persuade him to go to Italy to recuperate......" Hoffman blinked, "If there are officers under you who are not very open-minded, I would also recommend going to Italy to recuperate and bask in the sun." ”

Manstein immediately laughed knowingly - he was a Junker, but not an old-fashioned Juncker, and he knew how to fight......