"Army Group Center has penetrated deep into the Russian hinterland, and if the two flanks do not advance a little, they can easily fall into the flank attack of the Russian army." Standing in front of the huge map, Marshal Bock said to Brauchitsch worriedly.

Unlike in history, Field Marshal Bock held the post of commander-in-chief of Army Group South, while the commander-in-chief of Army Group Center in history was Field Marshal Rundstedt, the commander of Army Group South.

Li Le gave the task of attacking to Rundstedt, and let Bock command the defensive operations at the beginning of the Soviet-German war.

This time, the change of horses and generals made the Central Army Group show a more courageous side when attacking. In just a few days, they advanced to Brest.

Although the time of the attack on Brest was a little slower than expected, the German breakthrough on the front was very gratifying.

The Germans captured Ljubomli and Ratno, and occupied the areas of Tobinka and Verkhovich.

Now, although Brest has not been captured, the city has been surrounded, and one of the marshals of the Soviet Union is now a turtle in an urn.

But with that came the fears, and the farther and farther of the central breakthrough was created, creating a disconnect between the two wings, which became more and more serious as time went on.

You must know that in the northernmost region, in the three Baltic states, the German attack has not yet begun, and the Soviet and German armies are still in the stage of confrontation.

At the same time, the Romanian theater of operations on the southern flank, where Germany and its allies, Italy, as well as Romanian troops, were also holding the border, barely taking a single step forward across the border.

As the commander of Army Group South, Bock very much hoped that he could lead his troops to advance, and like Army Group Center, he would rush into the Ukrainian plain and make a pleasing record.

Brauchitsch, as commander-in-chief of the German Army, is now really a mixed bag. The good news is that his troops are really as planned, and they have played an impressive record.

The concern was that the German offensive was so fast that the logistical supply situation, which had been feared the most, appeared earlier than expected.

"In the central region, where roads and railways are most complete, the advance of our army has been severely restricted...... Allowing the troops to attack the southern flank at this time would further confuse the supplies......" Brauchitsch had to voice his fears, trying to convince the other generals.

It is easy to see from the map that there are not many railway lines in Ukraine, which has always been a grain-producing region of the Soviet Union, and heavy industry is not intensive.

Russia's heavy industry was concentrated in Stalingrad and further east, which was also beyond the reach of German bombers.

As the commander of Army Group North, Marshal Loeb, who was sitting in the conference room, was not too worried about this phenomenon.

The direction of his troops' attack was a relatively dense area of the Soviet railway line division, an area in which German armored forces and infantry could be easily resupplied along the railway line.

"I think the counterattack from the north can be launched immediately...... There was no need to wait for the Russians to leave the line of defense on their own. Loeb opened his mouth to launch an offensive for his army group, gaining an opportunity.

The German generals were convinced that it was a shameful thing to sit at home and wait for victory. They prefer to participate in the war, fight and reclaim their own victory.

"The attack from the north can be launched, and the Führer's supreme command, Marshal Keitel, has given a similar suggestion." Brauchitsch still has his own plans for this matter.

The German attack in the north could on the one hand stabilize the flank of Army Group Center, and on the other hand, it could also open up another battlefield for the annihilation of the enemy army.

I don't know if I don't attack, I am shocked when I attack, Brauchitsch has been frightened by the vast territory of the Soviet Union, as well as the huge army.

What he did not expect was that the first phase of the German offensive would just begin when it would run into more than 3 million Soviet troops.

Even if Marshal Rundstedt defeated about 1 million Soviet troops, there were still 1 million enemy troops on both flanks and directly in front of Army Group Center......

If an encirclement cannot be formed as soon as possible and the living forces of the Soviet Union cannot be quickly annihilated, then the war is likely to fall into a stalemate, which happens to be the state that the German army dislikes the most.

"You can go to the front today, Marshal Loeb." Brauchitsch pointed to the map and began to explain the plan for the subsequent attack: "Army Group North will attack in the direction of Riga, capture the three Baltic states, and open the road to Leningrad. ”

Of course, after saying this, he pointed down again and gave Loeb a more important order: "Then the main force of your army group will go south and join forces with Army Group Center to encircle the Western Front of the Russian army." ”

Fighting a large-scale war of encirclement and annihilation is the only goal of the German army at this stage, and the Führer's intention is very clear, that is, to annihilate the living forces of the Soviet Union.

On this basis, the strategic goals of the first stage of the German army were set in Minsk and Kiev and other regions, and did not go too deep into the hinterland of the Soviet Union.

The new Barbarossa Plan, without energy or economic constraints, became a purely military plan drawn up to defeat the Soviet Union.

Hitler's theory of the political economy of war, which was admirable and intolerable to the German field marshals, actually had its helpless limitations.

In the real history of World War II, Germany lacked strategic resources, so it could only move south as much as possible, focusing its operations on the southern part of the Soviet Union, where roads were difficult.

After passing through Ukraine, a large farm that had been squeezed out by the Soviet Union, entering the distant Caucasus and fighting a war of attrition with the Soviet Union, this was a last resort for Germany.

But now that Germany has discovered large-scale oil fields in Libya, it no longer has to travel thousands of miles to worry about the Caucasus oil fields of the Soviet Union.

Moreover, compared to Germany, which lacked long-range strategic bombers in history, the current Third Reich has the German version of the B-17 as a killer feature, the JU-188.

Li Le's plan was very simple, even if it continued to develop according to the real historical trend, as long as his troops advanced to the vicinity of Stalingrad, they could take off long-range strategic bombers and carry out devastating strikes on Soviet strategic targets.

As long as the easily damaged Baku oil fields were blown up, as long as the Soviet factories near the Ural Mountains were blown up, the war potential of the USSR would be completely destroyed.

Therefore, in this new Barbarossa plan to attack the Soviet Union, Germany's strategic goal from top to bottom is highly unified, that is, to blitzkrieg the Soviet Union and capture Moscow!

"Once Army Group North and Army Group Center have encircled the Western Front of the Soviet Union, they can move together and attack in the direction of Moscow." Pointing to the striking Moscow on the map, Brauchitsch said with his chin high.

Launching an offensive in the north, where roads were more complete, and putting in Germany's most elite armored forces to fight, was the way Germany coveted warfare.

Once the initial campaign advantage was formed, the Germans could rush to Moscow in a short time and reach the city of Moscow before the Soviets could complete their mobilization.

"By September at the latest, our armored forces will crash into Moscow and destroy the Soviet command center." Brauchitsch drew a circle near Moscow with the whip and spoke of Germany's strategic intentions.

……

Li Le stood next to the map, also talking to Keitel about his strategic ideas. He proudly mentioned his plan to blitz Moscow, preparing to take the capital of the Soviet Union in one fell swoop.

The majestic Moscow parade will no longer be there, and after the much-talked-about parade on Red Square, the feat of troops going straight to the front will not exist.

The German army will take Moscow in one breath with lightning speed, so as to avoid falling into the dilemma of street fighting in the Soviet Union.

According to Li Le's judgment, creating chaos in the Soviet command system can effectively prevent the Soviet army from using the cities to resist in a planned and purposeful manner.

After capturing Moscow, it was a matter of course to move south to attack Stalingrad.

"As long as our attack is fast enough, Stalin has only two options." Li Le boasted to his chief of staff, Field Marshal Keitel.

He stretched out two fingers: "The first choice, die in Moscow, and the Soviet Union will be destroyed with his death......"

"The second option, he leaves Moscow, the aftermath of the Great Purge will burst out, and our subsequent battles will become easier." The Führer seems to be satisfied with his strategy. After saying that, he looked at Keitel.

Keitel frowned cautiously, and finally nodded and said, "I have no way to prove that your plan has obvious loopholes, which shows that the plan itself is operational. ”

"The second option, he leaves Moscow, the aftermath of the Great Purge will burst out, and our subsequent battles will become easier." The Führer seems to be satisfied with his strategy. After saying that, he looked at Keitel.

"As long as we don't change our strategic goals casually, our army will be able to avoid detours!" Li Le was not interested in going south to Kyiv, and said to Keitel: "In this way, it is logical to enter the city before winter and avoid the harm brought by winter." ”

Keitel frowned cautiously, and finally nodded and said, "I have no way to prove that your plan has obvious loopholes, which shows that the plan itself is operational. ”

"As long as we don't change our strategic goals casually, our army will be able to avoid detours!" Li Le was not interested in going south to Kyiv, and said to Keitel: "In this way, it is logical to enter the city before winter and avoid the harm brought by winter." ”