In fact, his previous strategy of blocking the Soviet 9th Army was wrong... The German army is good at using "blitzkrieg" but it does not mean that they are also good at defending against "blitzkrieg" attacks.
It is difficult to deal with the "Blitzkrieg" by purely passive and clumsy blocking. This has been proven when the German armored forces swept across Europe.
The reason is very simple. Armored troops can rely on their mobility to flexibly change directions or bypass important areas where enemy infantry is stationed. Therefore, they can mobilize several times or even ten times the number of enemies to run back and forth in a meaningless pursuit, interception, and interception.
This is the core of the "offensive advantage theory".
The "offensive superiority theory" is contrary to the "absolute defense theory" commonly believed by France, Britain and others during this period.
The "absolute defense theory" believes that the army has greater advantages when it is on the defensive.
This is easy to understand. When defending, the army can "build high walls and gather food widely", build trenches, pull up barbed wire, lay mines, and even have bunkers and airtight firepower points, plus food.
and ammunition reserves... just waiting for the enemy to attack.
Hence the Maginot Line, Mannerheim Line, etc.
If someone says at this time that the "absolute defense theory" is wrong and that these fortifications cannot play a big role, they will definitely be laughed at, because the trench warfare throughout World War I proved that defenses like trenches are
Useful and useful!
This is one of the reasons why tanks from many countries, such as Britain and France, do not pay attention to mobility.
But the Germans believe in the "offensive superiority theory."
They believe that the real advantage is precisely the offense that has been abandoned by other countries, because the offense has the initiative to choose the time, place and route of the attack, while the defender can only passively wait for the enemy to attack.
There is a saying that "there is no unbreakable line of defense in the world." What can the enemy do if he builds an entire line of defense? Not to mention that the defense line costs a lot of money and requires a lot of troops to be stationed. This line of defense is built by people, and what is built by people is bound to be
There will be flaws.
What the attacking side has to do is to find the flaw in this line of defense, and then use very few troops and resources to break through and get behind the line of defense, rendering the entire line of defense meaningless.
This theory is of course correct, and the German army has proved this with facts time and time again. Even when the German army is defending, it often does not build a line of defense to defend, but puts mobile troops on the second line of mobile defense.
Under this theory, Rundstedt's defense and obstruction of the 9th Army was controversial.
Now, Rundstedt finally found the right strategy... He should not guard against deadlocks, he should find important nodes and further consolidate them, so that he can stay ahead of the enemy.
And this important node is Odessa.
The question is just like what the adjutant said, how can we capture Odessa in three days.
Rundstedt touched his chin and looked at the map, lost in thought.
It’s not that the German army was incapable of taking Odessa, it’s just that Odessa wasn’t that important before that.
It is not accurate to say that Odessa is "not that important". Odessa's strategic position is very important because it is an important port for the Russian Black Sea Fleet and an airport. Fighters taking off from there can cooperate with Crimean bombers.
Bombing Romanian oil fields is also a shortcut from Romania to Ukraine.
The reason why it is "not that important" is that Odessa has been surrounded by the Romanian 4th Army.
Once it is surrounded, it is not so important, because the Russian troops stationed there cannot stop the transportation of soldiers and supplies. At the same time, the airports and ports will be blocked by artillery, and the Russian troops are in trouble.
Because of this, the German army bypassed Odessa... Anyway, the German army did not expect the Romanian army to play a big role, so they just let the 4th Army fight slowly there.
But now the situation has changed. The attack of the Russian 9th Army forced Rundstedt to consider ending the battle in Odessa as soon as possible.
"Contact the Air Force!" Rundstedt said to the adjutant: "Let them lay mines along the coast of Odessa to block the port!"
"yes!"
"At the same time, let them lay mines along the road and railway from Kiev to Odessa!" Rundstedt said: "Of course, the infantry has to do the same!"
The adjutant was stunned for a moment, and then said "Yes!"
The adjutant hesitated because this road and railway were the supply lines to the northern part of Army Group South, and laying mines was also a self-blockade.
But now I obviously don’t care about that much anymore.
"Also, pick up the 11th Army Headquarters!"
The call came through quickly.
"General, I think you still have a chance!" Rundstedt said.
"What?" Schobert didn't understand what Rundstedt meant.
"22nd Infantry Division!" Lundstedt reminded.
"No, Marshal!" Schobert replied: "The 22nd Infantry Division is too far away and they cannot enter the battle in time!"
"You may have forgotten that the 22nd Infantry Division is an airborne division!"
The formation of the German army is a bit strange. They attach great importance to mobility, so some units are called "infantry divisions" but have the ability to land organically.
The so-called airborne landing is to maneuver by glider. From this point, we can also see the quality of the German soldiers... At this time, professional airborne landing and parachuting troops in various countries around the world were very few or even blank. The British Airborne Division in 1941
The U.S. airborne troops were formed after learning from the British on the African battlefield, and Germany has such troops whose main job is infantry and whose side job is airborne landings.
"No, Marshal!" Shobert objected: "It's not that I haven't considered the 22nd Infantry Division, but they can't land in such weather at all!"
In fact, precisely because Ukraine has entered the rainy season, the 22nd Infantry Division has been used by Schobert as an ordinary infantry division. However, because of its late start, it just entered Ukraine and followed up from the rear.
"These are extraordinary times, General!" Rundstedt said, "Think about it, what would happen if you didn't put the 22nd Infantry Division at risk?"
The other end of the phone was silent for a while, and then replied: "Your Excellency, Marshal, even if I agree to allow the 22nd Infantry Division to risk landing, it does not mean that they can stop the Russian 9th Army!"
"No, General!" Rundstedt said: "Their mission is not to block the Russian 9th Army!"
"That's..." Schobert was confused when Rundstedt said this.
"They landed in Odessa!" Rundstedt said: "In cooperation with the Romanian 4th Army's attack, they must end the battle in Odessa within three days, and no more than five days!"