"The Soviets are still attacking. Doesn't anyone in their command realize that this attack is having side effects?"
Different from the embarrassment of the Soviet frontline headquarters, in the headquarters of the German Army Group Center, Marshal Bock was commanding and dispatching operations without any pressure.
As the second batch of marshals, Bock was promoted to field marshal only one step later than Brauchitsch. This was not only because Reinhardt wanted to suppress Brauchitsch and prevent him from becoming the only serving marshal in the army, but also on the other hand.
Bock was awarded for his outstanding performance on the battlefields in Poland and France.
"That's good for us, too."
The person who answered was the commander of the 2nd Armored Corps under the command of Marshal Bock of Army Group Center? The famous former academic general, Guderian!
It can be said that Guderian was depressed these days. He had never been able to lead the armored troops to carry out a large-scale attack. He only mobilized large-scale armored troops to quickly encircle and suppress the advancing Soviet troops.
This kind of battle is not thrilling at all, but it is extremely easy.
After nearly a month of fighting, Guderian had used the entire central defense line of the Eastern Barrier and cooperated with the German infantry divisions occupying the fortifications to kill more than 300,000 Soviet offensive troops. And the 2nd Armored Corps under Guderian itself directly
The number of tanks lost was only 72.
Because they were fighting on their own defensive territory and successfully defended against every round of Soviet attacks. Therefore, many of the tanks that were damaged and lost were not particularly seriously damaged and could be dragged back to the rear for repair and remodeling.
, and you will be able to rejoin the battle sequence soon.
Such an easy battle with little loss, not to mention how comfortable it is to fight.
"Let the Soviets continue to fight. Anyway, we will launch a counterattack soon. Now they want to use up more of their own power, which is a good thing for us." Guderian, who was already a general, was not convinced at this time.
Worried about what might be wrong with the Soviet offensive.
Coming from an academic school, he knew better than anyone else that in the coming battle, the more the strength of the Soviet army was worn down and consumed, the easier it would be to successfully achieve the "Blitzkrieg".
Perhaps the Soviet commanders are still feeling proud of their use of the road system built with German assistance to improve their logistics and transportation conditions.
But Guderian knew very well who these roads and railways built for the Soviet Union in accordance with European standards were for!
Of course they are not for the Soviet army! These roads are prepared for the German tanks and chariots, so that after counterattack, they can smoothly and quickly penetrate into the hinterland of the Soviet Union, disrupt the rear deployment of the Soviet army on a large scale, and advance quickly.
And those railway networks that meet European standards can easily later become Germany's railway network for transporting supplies. Once the German army launches a rapid counterattack, these railways that fall under German control can be used directly against domestic rails!
"It's really painful. We can obviously wipe out the millions of Soviet troops in front of us immediately, but in order to reduce losses, we use the defense line to slowly wait for them to hit and die." Guderian, who had already predicted the future direction of the battle, was a little excited.
said.
"Wait a little longer." After hearing Guderian's emotion, Bock smiled and comforted: "The Finnish Allied Forces and Norwegian Allied Forces of the Northern Army Group, the Romanian Allied Forces and the Bulgarian Allied Forces of the Southern Army Group, those are all
They can be assembled in place from the beginning and can immediately follow our German army to launch a counterattack."
"Our Central Army Group is different. It will not be complete until the Italian Allied Forces and Spanish Allied Forces are in place." Bock chatted with Guderian with great interest: "We are right opposite the Soviets, and we can't always let them go.
Such a large-scale Allied force entered the position in advance, otherwise the Soviet army would have been much more vigilant."
Of course Guderian knew what Bock said. Not only did he know that the Italian and Spanish Allied forces were coming, he also knew the specific strength of the coming Allied forces.
There is no doubt that those coming are the most elite troops that both countries can produce.
Among them, Guderian knew that those who could quickly follow up the actions of his own armored forces would use two semi-motorized divisions from the Italian Expeditionary Force, one rapid division, one armored division, and one German armored division from Spain.
Old armored division.
In addition, the 10 German weapon divisions of the Spanish Expeditionary Force, as well as the 3 main divisions and 3 black shirt regiments sent by Italy, are also the first-class elite troops of the two countries. For Bock, they are a very impressive force.
of powerful troops.
Army Group Center was created for the purpose of capturing Moscow, the political and economic city of the Soviet Union!
For this reason, both Bock and Guderian knew that the pressure they would face would be the greatest among the three major German army groups.
Therefore, they were naturally happy to accept the joining of such a powerful coalition of two allies.
With such a powerful force, Bock can ensure that after the front of Army Group Center spreads out, he will not have to split up the German troops he has concentrated on due to the dispersion of troops. He does not have to fill in the reserves continuously to maintain the front.
This bottomless pit.
The allied forces, which are 23 divisions in size and have relatively reliable and powerful combat effectiveness, will relieve Bock from a large part of the pressure.
Such a powerful allied force is an advantage that Army Group Center has not had in history.
Moreover, this is not all the troops provided by the Allies to Army Group Center.
After Army Group Center achieves a comprehensive breakthrough, Italian Prime Minister Rossi will immediately provide 10 Italian second-rate divisions to help maintain security in the occupied area. In the future, he will continue to provide Italian troops within his ability to Army Group Center to guard the rear.
As a result, a very interesting phenomenon appeared on the Soviet-German battlefield. This battlefield seemed to be cursed with the number "3".
First of all, the deployment of the German army is mainly divided into three major army groups.
In the area responsible for Army Group North, the three-nation coalition composed of Germany, Norway, and Finland sent troops, and with the assistance of the resistance organizations of the three Baltic countries, they quickly defeated the Soviet army in North Africa.
In the area responsible for Army Group South, the German Army, the Romanian Army, the Bulgarian Army (following the main army), and the three-nation coalition forces were also very successful in suppressing the elite Soviet troops.
Army Group Center, after gathering troops from Germany, Italy, and Spain, would immediately launch a comprehensive counterattack, turn defense into offense, and defeat and destroy the main force of the Soviet army facing them in one fell swoop.
Coincidentally, the completion time of the Italian and Spanish allied forces is exactly expected to be the third day from now on, counting today as the first day.
