In fact, there is no need for Stalin to think about these issues at all, and the United States and Britain are already thinking about them...... Attacking the German army in the east and west was the only strategy that made it difficult for the German army to concentrate its forces against the United States and Britain, so no matter what, the United States and Britain would not let the Soviet Union fall on the eastern front.

So, when Roosevelt proposed that an attack on northern France should be launched as soon as possible, Churchill did not object.

At this time, Roosevelt did not forget to sarcastically say to Churchill: "We should have done this a long time ago, and if we had chosen to implement this plan earlier, the Germans would not have eliminated most of their threat on the Eastern Front and turned their heads against us!" ”

Roosevelt was right, because if the Soviet Union still had the power to counterattack, then the United States and Britain would have the strategic initiative.

Because even if the Soviet army did not launch an offensive there, the German army must have troops that can match it on the Eastern Front, otherwise the Eastern Front may collapse at any time.

But now......

The performance of the German army in the Battle of Kursk changed all that.

The biggest result was the destruction of more than 4,000 tanks of the Soviet army...... About 3,000 of them were destroyed by the Germans in battle, of which the Panzer 48th Army destroyed more than 1,000 tanks.

For the other more than 1,000 tanks, the Soviets could not bring these equipment out of the encirclement in time, and had to destroy the tanks to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Germans.

Among them were mainly tanks deployed by the Central Front and the Bryansk Front on the defensive line of the Kursk salient.

As was said earlier, the 5th Guards Tank Army had to delay the advance of the German troops by laying mines to break the road.

This creates a very embarrassing situation...... The speed at which the mines were buried and the road was broken was uncontrollable.

If the road is broken quickly, then it is equivalent to helping the Germans to surround the Kursk salient, because the part where they broke the road is the throat of the salient, and the destruction of traffic also makes it impossible for the Soviet troops in the Kursk salient to withdraw.

If the road break was slow, it would have been possible for the Germans to break through and capture and crush the 5th Guards Tank Army before they could further destroy roads and bridges.

On the other hand, the march and transportation of tanks was very difficult, and it was almost impossible to withdraw all the tanks, artillery and other equipment on the front line before the Germans closed the encirclement.

So after weighing it again, Stalin gritted his teeth and made a decision: blow up the equipment and withdraw the troops.

The destroyed equipment included more than 1,000 tanks, more than 2,000 artillery pieces, as well as a large number of ammunition supplies and aircraft spare parts stored in Kursk.

But even so, 200,000 people were surrounded in the Kursk region and finally had to surrender.

As a result, the Soviet army eventually lost 800,000 men, 4,000 tanks, 5,000 artillery pieces, and 1,600 warplanes.

And the losses of the Germans were much less...... 200,000 casualties, 1,000 tanks, 3,000 artillery pieces, and 500 warplanes.

A considerable part of the losses of artillery and fighter aircraft were due to the fact that the Soviets accurately grasped the location of German artillery positions and airfields before the war and launched large-scale artillery attacks and bombardments.

In any case, it was undoubtedly a decisive victory for the Germans.

Another result was the straightening of the Kursk line.

Originally, the Kursk salient was a winding stretch to the German defense area, with a total length of 390 kilometers.

Such a long line of defense will undoubtedly require more troops and equipment, which may not be a big deal for the Soviet army, but it is a heavy burden for the German army, which is already underarmed.

But now, the total number of kilometers from Belgorod to Orel is only more than 100 kilometers, which is less than a third of the original defensive line, which can save the Germans a lot of defensive forces.

More importantly...... The strength of the Soviet army in this battle was greatly reduced, with only more than 5,000 tanks in total and more than 4,000 lost in this battle, and most of the remaining tanks were light tanks reinforced by the United States and Britain or tanks that were so slow that people vomited blood and constantly broke down.

This almost deprived the Soviet army of the ability to launch a large-scale strategic counteroffensive on its own...... In other words, if the Soviet Union still wants to launch a counteroffensive on the same scale, it will only be possible to do so after a long time, and it will be slowly accumulating fuel and aid from the United States and Britain.

Therefore, when the 21st Panzer Division successfully arrived in Orel, the whole battlefield was boiling, and those who knew it did not know were cheering for the victory of Kursk at that moment.

The quality of the German soldiers was high...... This refers to the cultural and big-picture qualities of the German soldiers.

In this era, many soldiers fought in a confused way, only knowing how to win battles intuitively and simply, killing the enemy, grabbing land, etc., the German army was a little different in this regard, and they often knew what they were doing strategically meaningful.

For example, the baker handed Qin Chuan a cigarette and said, "It's finally over, an incredible victory, Lieutenant Colonel!" ”

Qin Chuan nodded in agreement, this victory was not easy, and it made people feel like they were going to live after the catastrophe.

Dominic got together with the two: "The Soviets must have suffered a lot of damage in this battle, and it will be difficult to recover from it for a while!" ”

"Does that mean we're going to have a vacation?" Werner, who was resting in the snow next to him, said weakly: "God, I really need a good rest!" ”

"Forget about the holidays, Werner!" Kuhn fiddled with his mechanically faulty rifle and replied, "Unless we can win this war once and for all, what kind of vacation do you want us to get?" ”

Kuhn's words were right, at this time, Germany even had a significant reduction in the training time for recruits, so how could it be possible to give veterans with combat experience a holiday, especially the 1st Infantry Regiment, which was needed everywhere.

"I feel like I can't move anymore!" Werner was a little tired and said: "This damn place, damn life, and damn war!" ”

Alfredo on the other side interjected: "I miss the days in the Italian army a little, I don't know why I chose to join you in the first place!" ”

"Because you're a fool, Alfredo!" The baker said, "We are all fools!" ”

The German soldiers burst out laughing with an exaggerated "haha".

Of course, veterans will feel this way, no matter what they have experienced, they will be tired and tired, not to mention the life and death tests on the battlefield again and again, more and more blood, death and poor living environment.

Qin Chuan was no exception, he was also tired of this kind of life.

But Qin Chuan knew that they had no choice but to go on this road until the end of their fate.

Qin Chuan sighed, he didn't know if he could change all this.