What kind of war did the German Army like to fight? The question seems to be worth studying. Even if the answer to this question is debatable, there can be no doubt that the Germans preferred to outflank the opponent's heavy forces by means of great depth and detour in the wilderness where there were no fortifications.

In the Battle of Poland, Germany completely smashed the Polish defense cluster with several classic pincer offensives, ending the Polish campaign at a speed that everyone did not expect, and playing a speed of destruction that shocked the whole world.

Later, in France, the Germans completed Operation Scythe with an effective flank breakthrough, annihilating all the elite of the Anglo-French army at Dunkirk. These troops were also unprepared in the wilderness, and were pursued and killed by the main German forces to their perdition.

This was followed by a series of "German-style wars of annihilation" in eastern Poland, in Ukraine, and in Belarus, which made the Soviet Union lose its armor. Eventually, the Soviet Union began to use fortifications on a large scale to delay the German offensive, and this kind of battle example of encircling the opponent in rapid maneuver gradually disappeared.

In its place, there were seemingly never-ending trench defenses, urban storms, and large-scale tank encounters on the Eastern Front. And these tactics are all carried out on the premise of mutual attrition. For the sake of a certain defensive node or a certain strategic goal, the two sides have repeatedly invested nearly a million people in fighting for each other, so that the battle line has not moved for several weeks.

But north of Moscow, the Germans once again seized the opportunity, where they surrounded 500,000 Soviet infantry from Leningrad, with armoured units and elite mechanized infantry, which made Rundstedt very comfortable, because it was a typical German rhythm.

"Did the messenger bring back any news?" At this moment, the German field marshal was in a very good mood, although his troops were alone in the depths, but the enemy really had no strength to fight back. So he can easily extract his teeth from the tiger's mouth, and his pincer offensive this time seems to have laid the foundation for Germany to win on the Eastern Front.

The Soviet Union obviously had no reserves to launch a counterattack on the German army, and in the area south of Moscow, Zhukov's southward cluster was still struggling to support it with heavy losses, and all the forces north of Moscow were surrounded by Army Group A, Army Group E and the Finnish Corps in the area north of Tver.

Although the Germans expected fierce battles for several bridges near the Ivankov reservoir, they did not. This fully shows that the Soviet army is in a hurry to shrink its forces, and it does not even have any intention of rescuing the Leningrad cluster.

In the defensive positions around Moscow, the Soviet Red Army organized a defensive army of more than 1 million, but this number is obviously exaggerated, and everyone knows what the actual situation is.

In another time and space, when Germany defended Berlin, it also claimed to have a million troops, but unfortunately, it is estimated that even 300,000 troops with actual combat effectiveness may not be able to muster together. The old, weak, sick and disabled mobilized by the Soviet Union are actually similar to the famous national divisions in another time and space, all of them are civilians with only rifles. These units did not have any combat effectiveness at all, and in the face of the battle-hardened German elite, they would collapse if they could not hold out for even a few minutes.

It was barely enough to expect such a force to find something to eat in the ruins, and to maintain the total number of troops on the position when there was really no way, but to expect these troops to counterattack and recapture the lost bridge under the tracks of the German tanks, even Stalin himself thought it was a joke.

"Marshal! The messengers sent to the Leningrad cluster of the enemy did not meet their commander, General Govorov! The Soviet generals who received our messengers refused our persuasion to surrender, saying that Govorov was determined to live and die with his homeland. Field Marshal Rundstedt's deputy reported regretfully.

They were ordered to send messengers to persuade the Soviet troops to surrender, after all, it takes time and sacrifice for more than 500,000 troops to be annihilated in the field, in order to save money, the German General Staff still decided to arrange messengers to persuade the Soviet troops first, trying to make the Soviet troops in the encirclement surrender by themselves.

It seems that this plan was a failure, and Govorov had no intention of surrendering. Although the Soviet army was surrounded by the Germans in the wilderness, it was a pity that it was far from the point of running out of ammunition and food. However, the Germans had calculated that the supplies of the Soviet army would be able to last for about another week at most.

"A week's time, I'd rather let hundreds of thousands of people starve to death on the battlefield than surrender......" Marshal Rundstedt looked at the blue arrow on the map, which had been completely surrounded by a blue arrow representing his side, on a circular sign: "I am more concerned now than the dead man Govorov, how the Führer will arrange the next battle on the Eastern Front." ”

It's not just Rundstedt, there are too many people who care about it. Several main offensive directions of the German army, including the north of Moscow, south of Moscow to the Kursk region, the area south of Kursk, the Baku direction were a total of four. With the exception of the northern Moscow theater of operations, which Rundstedt personally commanded, actions in any direction could lead to the birth of a new marshal in the army.

Guderian, Manstein, Kluge were all strong contenders for this marshal. However, in Rundstedt's eyes, these generals are labeled as "Führer's lineage", just like another Field Marshal Rommel.

Once this marshal is born, then in the composition of the Imperial Army, the power of the Führer's faction will completely overwhelm the original noble officers of the General Staff Headquarters. This is also the most painful fact -- there are so many capable people in the Führer's faction that it is not too much to pick out any one and stuff the rank of field marshal.

The situation in which these veterans maintain the balance in the open and secret will eventually be broken at some point, and the generals of the Führer's faction will eventually stand in key positions in the German military department and become important pawns of the Führer to control the whole of Germany. Thinking of this, Rundstedt smiled bitterly, and then shook his head helplessly: Isn't he himself also promoted by the Führer all the way? In the eyes of outsiders, he can be regarded as a complete Führer, right?

The opinion within the army was to facilitate as much as possible the southward M Army under the command of General Manstein to seize the nearby Baku oil fields, so that this aristocratic "Führer" would be the first to be promoted to the rank of marshal, so as to balance the forces within the army.

Another voice is to nominate General Keitel and General Liszt, who have no merit and hard work, after all, these two generals, including General Moder in the rear, are both respected veterans, and the defending side should also be rewarded.

Brauchitsch also asked Marshal Rundstedt and Marshal Rommel about the matter, but Rundstedt did not immediately call back, and the latter replied succinctly: "I am only responsible for fighting for the Führer and for Germany." Everything else, none of my business!"

The Führer's side was even more confused, and no matter how Brauchitsch asked, Accardo didn't seem to want to answer directly. The wise Führer smiled and said, "The promotion of the marshal must be done carefully, and I am also considering it." He prevaricated and made it unclear what he was thinking about.

"General Liszt has called! He launched a new round of artillery bombardment on his positions to the west of the encirclement, focusing on Heights 67. While Rundstedt was thinking about the promotion of the army that seemed to be doomed this time, a signal soldier knocked on the door of Field Marshal Rundstedt's headquarters with the telegram he had just received, and reported: "The headquarters of the 2nd Panzer Army has called, the Finnish troops are moving due north of us, and the Soviet army still has no move to break through. ”

It was impossible for the Soviets to break through and escape, and the rear was the German Army Group E, which was in hot pursuit, and on the flanks was the Finnish cluster that had avenged the Soviet-Finnish war, and in front of several main forces of the German armored forces - if they could still escape, it would be hell.

After sorting out his thoughts from a bunch of inexplicable internal relationships, the field marshal left those messy relationships behind, he carefully looked at the position where Liszt was attacking, then clicked on the map, and deployed his own orders to his men: "Let the grenadiers on the flanks of the 2nd Panzer Army advance 5 kilometers and respond to the attacking General Liszt!"

"Yes, Marshal!" the deputy saluted, then turned and walked out of the marshal's office. It was a very wise choice to set up a headquarters in Tver, after all, there are quite a few buildings that can be used as temporary residences for officers, as well as temporary headquarters for various units.

As soon as the deputy walked out of the room, another officer from the telegraph room entered the room with a new telegram: "Long live the Führer! Your Excellency Marshal, news has come from the air force that Norway has been attacked by Allied bombers taking off from Iceland and has suffered heavy losses. ”

"What?" Rundstedt was stunned for a moment, then took the message and looked at it carefully. He saw the figures in terms of losses, as well as the results of the Air Force's counterattack against Iceland. After a while, he closed the papers, and then fell into thought.

Just now, he was still thinking about personnel appointments and balancing the forces of all parties. And his enemies reminded him at this moment that the war was far from over, and that Germany had not yet reached the end of victory. Now is not the time to divide the fruits of victory, because the enemy still has the ability to crush the entire Third Reich.

Rundstedt leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling in a daze, when suddenly a question struck him: why do we have to maintain balance? Isn't it the best way to appoint and dismiss people who are capable?