The mobilization of a million-strong army is not an easy task. Li Le's original plan was that after the capture of Moscow, the Soviet Union should surrender.

It is a pity that Stalin did not stick to Moscow, but, like Kunetsov, abandoned Moscow and ran away.

This added a variable to the Soviet-German war, a variable that the German top brass could not cope with - if the Soviet Union did not surrender before winter, the war would not end in 1941.

"Stalin lived, and the war would not have ended." Li Le reluctantly admitted at the meeting that his estimate of the situation was too optimistic.

Pointing to Stalingrad and the vast plains of Ukraine in front of Stalingrad, he said to his generals and henchmen: "We have failed in our previous efforts to end the war quickly. ”

"I have always estimated that Stalin was a stubborn leader who was unwilling to accept defeat." Li Le shook his head and had a new assessment of Stalin in his heart: "But he is more resilient than I estimated, and I have to admit that he is a powerful leader!" ”

"The evacuation of Moscow seems to be a cowardly act of enduring humiliation and stealing life, but it has invisibly created more trouble for us." When he mentioned this matter, Li Le felt very unhappy.

In fact, he has now rewritten history, because Germany has never surrounded Moscow and never came so close to victory.

This also caused a serious problem, that is, Li Le could not predict what Stalin would do later based on the choices of Stalin in history.

Originally, he thought that Stalin, like Hitler, should be a stubborn man who would rather die than compromise.

But now it seems that Stalin was far from being as easy to deal with as he imagined to be able to stand out within the Soviet Union and become Lenin's successor.

Stalin jumped out of the encirclement of Moscow and prolonged the war by prolonging his own life!

Because there was no way to immediately end the Soviet-German war, Germany would not be able to fully turn to development and production, and there would be no "beneficiary" of this world war.

"So, at this moment, we have to adopt a backup plan to prepare for the transfer of troops to the south and the liberation of Ukraine." Li Le ordered to the generals in front of him.

"The soldiers are already war-weary, my Führer. If in 1941 it was not possible to get these soldiers home, then combat effectiveness was a cause for concern. Marshal Brauchitsch said with some embarrassment.

The Germans mobilized more than 5 million troops, all of whom were now stuck on the Soviet-German front as if they were in a quagmire.

Because the war on the Western Front was over, Germany could draw most of its army to reinforce the Soviet front. But there were still soldiers to be stationed in the British, as well as in the French occupation zone.

Even at home, it is necessary to keep enough vigilance troops. Although most of the country's vigilant forces have been replaced by Waffen-SS, there are still a number of defense areas under the control of the Wehrmacht.

For example, there are a number of Wehrmacht training units and military academies in the Berlin defense circle, which are responsible for training tank crews, fighter pilots, etc......

The Kiel military port and the Wilhelm military port also have a large number of cadets and officers. If you count some secret weapon experimental bases and military training bases, at least 1 million people will not be able to go to the front line to fight.

In the Middle East, there are also Libya and Egypt, Yugoslavia, the Balkans, Romania and Belarus...... Today's Germany has a huge area to manage.

As a result, there were only 4 million German combat troops at most, now in service for the Soviet-German war. And these troops now have to take turns to rest and recuperate, and they can't all go to the front line to fight in one go.

Calculated that on the frontal battlefield, the three German army groups can ensure that there are about 2.7 million troops in the operation, which is already a very good situation.

It does sound like a lot, but if these troops are distributed on a long Soviet-German front, they even seem to be a little insufficient.

Who exactly provoked the Soviet-German war is already an open case. The Soviet Union accused Germany of being the first to launch a war of aggression, and Germany claimed that it was Soviet soldiers who crossed the border and opened fire.

But the German people, who had been stirred up, have now returned to their senses. Although they still believed that the Führer was right, and although they firmly believed that the Soviet-German war must be won, they had already begun to become war-weary.

"Increase the number of rotating troops on the front, Army Group North, as soon as it captured Moscow, put it on standby and give the soldiers a holiday!" Speaking of the soldiers' war-weariness, Li Le commanded with some unhappiness.

Germany is a country with a population of just over 80 million, and there are only so many troops that can be mobilized. In fact, in terms of population proportion, this level of mobilization is already a shocking miracle.

Once these troops were exhausted, Germany would have no war potential to tap. Therefore, the more than 5 million soldiers in Li Le's hands are all the war strength of Germany.

Now, these soldiers, who have been fighting outside for a long time, want to go home to rest, to see their families—not too much, but it makes the German war machine unsustainable.

It was obviously unlikely that the soldiers would not be allowed to take a holiday, and Guderian's G-Cluster was always on the offensive, so his troops had never really taken a holiday.

There were millions of similar troops, and these soldiers needed to rest well in order to better maintain their fighting spirit and continue to fight for Germany.

Therefore, Li Le can only compromise and improve the leave treatment of front-line soldiers: "In this way, 300,000 to 400,000 people can go home...... The advance in the northern direction of Gorky has been suspended, and this can only be done! ”

Brauchitsch nodded in agreement: "Personally, I don't want winter to come when I'm attacking. We are not ready to take control of cold Siberia, so we should hold off on the attack on Gorky and other regions. ”

Including Yaroslavl and other regions, the Soviet troops were actually unable to defend so much land.

Unfortunately, because the Soviet Union was so vast, the Germans did not have the strength to occupy these almost undefended cities.

For example, Yaroslavl, an important transport city, and a little further afield, the Vologda region. Because of the lack of troops, although these places were in the mouth of the German armored forces, they could not be eaten for a while.