At the frontline headquarters on the Soviet-Finnish border, Mannerheim felt as if he had been tricked. However, he could not figure out where he had been tricked.
The Germans agreed to send troops to help them regain their lost territory, and then expanded the territory that did not originally belong to them, thereby establishing the Great Kingdom of Finland.
No matter how you look at it, this is a good thing.
The only thing Finland had to pay was to dispatch a large army to keep up with the combat rhythm of the entire Allied camp, advance all the way to East Karelia within the specified date issued by the German high command, and then occupy it.
Anyway, this is Finland's own strategic goal, and it needs to be completed sooner or later. Now that we are joining forces with the Germans, we have just set a deadline.
Perhaps this rapid advancement of the combat plan is too burdensome for the Finnish army and will lead to a larger casualty ratio.
However, Finland does not have the national strength to fight a protracted war. If it can win a quick victory, of course it must try its best.
"Marshal, our main force here has cooperated with the German Allied Forces to defeat the Soviet garrison deployed on the border. The Air Force has also cooperated with the German Air Force to destroy most of the Soviet fighter planes at the northern airport."
The report from the Finnish Chief of General Staff gave Mannerheim reassurance.
In the original Soviet-Finnish War, the Finnish Air Force had always been at a disadvantage. Although its results were impressive, the Finnish Air Force was completely unable to compete head-on with the Soviet Air Force for air supremacy.
Now, in its previous attack on Germany's eastern defense line, the Soviet Air Force was massively destroyed by the German anti-aircraft firepower deployed in the East Prussia-West Poland controlled area-Southern Province.
That's not all. As the attacker, the Soviet Air Force was also frantically intercepted and killed by more advanced German fighter planes. Often after participating in an air raid, only a small number of Soviet fighter planes could return to the airport.
This is not an unexpected difficulty.
After all, the German Air Force had achieved overwhelming air superiority on the British battlefield.
As a result, the entire western Germany, including the capital Berlin, no longer had any need to deploy anti-aircraft firepower.
Reinhard first ordered that the anti-aircraft artillery captured by Germany in France, Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland, Denmark, Belgium, and other countries over the years be gradually transferred to the British Army one week before the start of the Battle of Britain.
Transported on the Eastern Front and deployed on the Soviet-German border defense line.
Afterwards, "Operation Sea Lion" officially began, and the Allied Three Powers successfully landed on the British mainland, with unstoppable momentum along the way.
So Reinhard further ordered that the anti-aircraft artillery originally deployed in the German mainland be moved to the east, almost wiping out all the anti-aircraft artillery in the west of Germany, and super-saturated the deployment in eastern Germany.
In addition, in recent years, through Rossi's network, a large number of anti-aircraft artillery were imported directly from Italy at low prices and then shipped directly to the Soviet-German border without transit. The anti-aircraft firepower on the Soviet-German border has reached a very sufficient level.
.
This leaves the Soviet Air Force Alexander.
Most of the performance was originally backward. Although there were advanced fighters, most of them were of low performance. The Soviet Air Force, which had weak anti-aircraft firepower capabilities, had suffered incredible losses during the offensive in the past half month.
Of course, there is also the reason why the main force of Germany's own air force is deployed on the Eastern Front and can take off from the rear airport nearby to fight with the Soviet Air Force and shoot down a large number of Soviet aircraft.
In order to avoid being suddenly destroyed by the Soviet air force along the border, these German fighter planes deployed on the Eastern Front deliberately built the airport at an average distance of 30 kilometers away from the Eastern Defense Line.
This gives them a certain amount of time to take off.
With the assistance of twelve large radar stations secretly built by Germany behind the eastern defense line, the German Air Force on the eastern front never had the problem of being raided and destroyed by Soviet fighter planes at the airport.
These were just the war conditions before Romania and Finland joined the Soviet-German war.
Even in a one-on-one confrontation, the Third Reich as the defender was already fighting much better than the Soviet Union as the aggressor.
It is true that the main reason why the Soviet-German war was fought like this was because Germany had been prepared for it and built a strong "Eastern Barrier".
The side that uses the defensive line to fight trench warfare often has an easier time than the attacking side. This is the experience that the Germans gained with countless blood and sacrifices as early as the last world war.
Now, it was Germany's turn to fight back. Reinhardt promptly recruited a large number of allies to share the pressure that his empire had to bear as an attacker.
Through the chief of staff's report, Mannerheim seemed to have figured out where his vague feeling of being cheated came from.
"Are you sure that the Germans are joining forces with us to attack as promised on every major front that they have negotiated with us in advance?"
Mannerheim dragged his chin with his hand and confirmed again to his chief of staff.
"Yes, Marshal." The Chief of Staff replied firmly: "I am very sure that the Germans are indeed conducting a joint attack with us according to the original plan. These are all reported by the frontline commander."
"That's it." Mannerheim nodded thoughtfully, and then said to the chief of staff: "Nothing happens. You go and pass my order. Each division will continue to advance according to the original combat plan."
He has thought everything through.
The German army was not lazy at all on every front in the process of the Finnish army regaining lost ground, and they tried their best to join forces with the Finnish army to attack.
This does not mean that the Germans are very noble. For the national interests of Finland, which is also a member of the Allied Powers, they fulfill their obligations as the big brother of the Allied Powers and selflessly help Finland conquer cities and territories.
On the contrary, the Germans have their own calculations.
Mannerheim had not reacted before, thinking that the Germans' purpose was only to completely repel the Soviet attack. At most, they would use their allies to occupy a large part of the Soviet land and weaken the Soviet power.
However, now he understands Reinhard's intention.
The reason why the German army did not hesitate to send troops to the Finnish front outside its own counterattack route was because it did not want to help Finland build a great Finnish kingdom and weaken and reduce the Soviet Union's territorial scope.
If it was just to use Finland to occupy part of the Soviet Union's land and weaken the other side, the German army cooperating with the Finnish army would not have to be as desperate as now. After all, the Finnish army itself would also regain the lost territory according to its goals.
There is only one reason why the German army worked so hard to lead the Finnish army to attack, and that is that they also need to achieve a breakthrough in the direction of the Finnish army's attack.
The goal of the German army in the north is probably Leningrad!
As for Reinhardt's real strategic purpose, it now seems unlikely that it is just to fight a successful counterattack.
Judging from Germany's current Eastern Front strategy, it wants to take over the entire Soviet Union!
"The German head of state is simply a crazy man!" Mannerheim murmured to himself in a low voice as he watched the chief of staff walk away.
