Manstein looked at the map, his brow furrowed.

"These Russians are really bold, we have such a good telecommunications ability, when we carry out a rolling attack, we are all in a mess, and their communication ability is even coming to the rolling attack......" Manstein's chief of staff said in a very incomprehensible tone, "Their headquarters must have fried the pot by now." ”

"It has nothing to do with us whether or not their headquarters are fried," Manstein shook his head, "and what has to do with us is the opportunities they create for us with their inferior communication skills. There would certainly be a lot of gaps between their troops, and supplies would certainly not reach every attacking unit on time. That is, our chance to crush their offensive is in the rolling offensive that they implement. ”

The Germans were the original practitioners of the rolling offensive, so no one knew better than the German commanders what could go wrong in a rolling offensive.

"So your job is simple," Manstein continued to all the staff officers in the Great Command, "to deploy reconnaissance plans, coordinate cooperation with Air Force reconnaissance aircraft, and find a 'gap' that will allow us to send a powerful counterattack force into the enemy's dead end." If there is no gap, use guò orderly retreat to pull the enemy's formation and create a gap. I need a detailed plan, in some places we are going to snipe the enemy with all our might, in others we are going to steadily retreat and lure the enemy to keep advancing, and eventually, what we need will appear before our eyes, you know, gentlemen. ”

Manstein's voice was calm and calm, and it strongly encouraged the staff officers who were a little confused by the unexpected rapid offensive of the Russian army. This is the most important role of the commander: to ensure the confidence of his subordinates and to tell them what to do.

While the staff officers continued to busy, Manstein returned to his desk set up in the corner of the headquarters and sat down, breathing a sigh of relief. The orderly immediately served coffee.

"Do you need a sandwich?" The orderly asked.

"Very well, bring me some."

Manstein has been in the headquarters for twenty hours since the reconnaissance unit sent the news of the imminent attack of the Russian army in the early hours of this morning, and his stomach is indeed tormenting him with hunger.

"Admiral," said a staff officer, who suddenly came to Manstein's desk, "a call from Potsdam headquarters. ”

Manstein immediately received the telegram.

"I intend to assign the newly formed Raven Guard Armored Division to your department, which has just been formed in Munich, and is expected to arrive in Kyiv within a week after specially adjusting the transportation plan, and make good use of this force to achieve victory-Lin Youde."

Manstein put down the telegram and looked at the staff officers who were listening with their ears pricked up.

"It looks like we're going to get a new force in a week, gentlemen, and before this force arrives, we must create a chance to crush the enemy's offensive in one fell swoop." Manstein stood up again, just as the orderly came in with a sandwich.

Manstein pointed down at the table and motioned for the orderlies to put the sandwich on the table, while he himself walked to the map table: "What about the latest status report?" ”

"The 502nd Heavy Battalion, which resisted the enemy's vanguard in Malinovka, sent a road map for the advance of the Russian army." A staff officer immediately reported, "This map is the clearest information we have about the Russian troops in front of us, and we have revised the large map according to the information marked on the map." ”

"Good." Manstein looked at the map, and he had already memorized a qiē from the map he had seen not long ago, and now he could see where the changes had been made by comparing them. He kept looking at the map and pondered for a long time, then he said, "You continue to keep an eye on the battlefield, and I think I should go and take a nap." ”

The staff officers looked at each other, and finally everyone watched the admiral leave the room.

The sandwich brought by the orderly was still on Manstein's desk, and it was obvious that the admiral had forgotten about it.

**

In the blink of an eye, a week had passed, and Guderian reported to Lin Youde that the ground on the Don Plain had almost dried up enough to meet the basic needs of launching an armored offensive war, but Guderian thought that perhaps it would be better to support Manstein in repelling the Russian attack first, and then consider attacking Rostov.

Lin Youde immediately called back and asked Guderian to immediately launch an offensive operation, for the simple reason that "the Russians will definitely think that we must first solve their attack from the direction of Bryansk and stabilize the rear." So if you launch a swift assault at once, the Russians will be caught off guard. ”

Shortly after sending this telegram, Lin Youde sent a new telegram: "Manstein has enough ability to ensure the safety of the rear, you just need to concentrate on the task at hand." ”

So, at the end of March 1941, the Guderian cluster deployed in Donetsk launched an offensive on Rostov-on-Don, while the Russian army still threatened Kyiv.

**

"It's unbelievable!" Iron Ji, who had just returned from the battle, threw the telegram on the floor at once, "We threaten his supply lines!" He didn't even send the troops deployed in Donetsk to reinforce us, but launched an attack on us? What the hell was that bastard thinking? ”

"Maybe he just wanted to catch us off guard." Natalia's voice was as calm as ever, "The Chinese themselves pay attention to 'surprise', and their art of war has always emphasized attacking where the enemy does not expect it. Obviously, the sudden attack of the Guderian cluster has indeed exceeded our expectations. Now the Don Front must be in disarray, but Rokossovsky must have a way to hold his ground. ”

"What about holding your ground? We strengthened the main forces of the Bryansk Front, and because the offensive was not so smooth, we assigned the division that was supposed to be transferred to the Don to Konev (commander of the Bryansk Front), and Rokossovsky would not have enough troops to hold back Guderian. Iron Ji gritted her teeth, "Although I don't want to admit it, Lin Youde's hand did teach me a lesson." ”

Natalia looked at Iron Ji and said, "Taught me a lesson, too, I didn't expect him to do this." Now there are two ways to deal with it, one is to immediately transfer troops to the Don Front, we have gathered a lot of troops on the Tsaritsyn side, and if we immediately advance to the Rostov side, we should be able to attack the flank of Guderian's cluster in time, and as long as Rokossovsky can hold out in the city of Rostov for four or six days, we can deal a blow to Guderian's group. The other option is to let Konev capture Kyiv as soon as possible......"

When Natalia said the second option, the expression on her face did not look so sure, after all, how difficult it is to fight the siege of the city, which the Russian army had experienced when it attacked Warsaw before, and now no Russian general would think that attacking a city with a population of more than a million is an easy job. The original plan of the Russian army was to bypass Kyiv and cut the railway line outside Kyiv in order to disrupt the supply of German troops on the front line.

Iron Ji held her chin and thought for a long time before she sighed and asked Natalia, "Which option do you think is better?" ”

"I think that the Bryansk Front should continue to operate according to the original plan, and at the same time immediately send troops from the Tsaritsyn side to the aid of the Don Front."

"Well, that's it. Rokossovsky was informed by telegram that he must hold on to the arrival of troops in the direction of Tsaritsyn. ”

**

Although the Russians immediately adjusted, Guderian's cluster had already tore through the Russian defenses with an initial surprise blow, and then the Germans swept through the homeland of the Cossacks.

Although Rokossovsky tried his best to organize the defense, the unprepared Russian troops were still defeated, and on the third day of the attack, the German armored units and armored hunters arrived under Rostov-on-Don.

Fierce siege battles immediately began, but Rostov was slightly inferior to cities with heavy industry such as Donetsk, both in terms of density and sturdiness of buildings, so the advantage in defending the city was far less obvious. After two days of street fighting, the German troops basically cleared the Russian forces in the city of Rostov-on-Don, and Rokossovsky was forced to lead his command to withdraw from the city that had not yet been completely surrounded on the first night of the siege.

If he retreated a little later, the German outflanking forces that had forced their way across the Don River upstream of Rostov would encircle him.

Rokossovsky's retreat allowed him to retain the backbone of the 45th Army, the main force of the Don Front, but most of the 50th Army, also part of the Don Front, was trapped on the Assyrian coast by the ensuing German encirclement.

On April 3, 1941, the Fiftieth Army surrendered to the German forces surrounding them, Rokossovsky ended the rescue operation of the Fiftieth Army on the same day and began to retreat towards the Volga Valley, and on April 5, Rokossovsky and the belated Tsaritsyn Front joined forces.

At the same time, under Natalia's Jianyì, Iron Ji ordered the Russian troops stationed in the Kuban steppe to abandon their defenses and retreat along the Kuban River and the Caucasus Mountains to Georgia and Azerbaijan.

Guderian did not rest idle after the capture of Rostov, he advanced non-stop in the direction of Novocherkassk, and two days later captured the city.

On April 7, 1941, Lin Youde ordered Rommel's troops to start the operation, and the German paratrooper division immediately landed in the Kuban steppe and attacked the port on the west bank of the Caucasus from behind, and then Rommel led the army group to land across the Kerch Strait.

On April 14, without even meeting decent resistance, Rommel drove into the proud fortress of the Kuban Cossacks and the capital of Catherine Dar.

At this point, the first stage of Lin Youde's war plan to seize Baku has been basically completed.