Manstein did not report to Hitler until the troops retreated to the Miloway Line within a few hours.
This was not a time when Manstein failed to report. In fact, he could have reported to Hitler at any time while in the car evacuating Karachi.
But Manstein did not do this. He intentionally made the command very busy, that is, constantly contacting the withdrawing troops, and then instructing them how to retreat step by step and in an orderly manner.
To be honest, these are necessary, because it is easy to command an army to attack, but very difficult to command an army to retreat.
The problem is that the Soviet army did not pursue a large-scale pursuit.
The Soviet army is not suitable for a large-scale pursuit. The reason is that there are still many German remnants in Karachi that have not been eliminated. At the same time, the follow-up troops of the 51st Army have not been able to catch up. More importantly, the sky has become bright and the air supremacy will return to the Germans at any time. If the 51st Army The 51st Army was thrown into disarray due to the pursuit, but Manstein lost Karachi again due to a counterattack. In this case, the watermelon was lost in order to pick up the sesame seeds.
Therefore, Manstein's conductor was actually very relaxed, he just pretended to be nervous.
But of course, Manstein had a reason for doing this.
When the German army was about to withdraw to the Miloway defense line, Manstein sent a telegram to Hitler: "Dear Führer, I am sorry to tell you that the enemy has broken through our Karachi defense line, and our army has no choice but to withdraw to Mirowe." Lowe!”
At this time, Hitler was resting in his room, and his secretary knocked on his door urgently with a telegram.
After a while, Hitler in military uniform opened the door. Because he was concerned about the war situation in Karachi, he did not put on his pajamas to sleep... This was one of Hitler's characteristics. He believed that it was necessary to maintain his demeanor in front of his subordinates and generals, although this It's in the bunker.
Hitler took the telegram and glanced at it, and then quickly walked to the headquarters. Before anyone arrived, the voice came: "When did it happen? What is the situation now? Where have they retreated?"
"We are about to reach the Miloway Defense Line, Your Excellency the Führer!" the staff officer replied.
Hitler turned his head in surprise, stopped, and asked: "Why do we only know now?"
"Everything happened so suddenly!" the staff officer replied: "Marshal Manstein has been working hard to change this situation, but it is still irreversible!"
Hitler gritted his teeth with hatred, but there was nothing he could do about Manstein.
Manstein knew Hitler very well. If he had reported the war situation to Hitler in Karachi, then Hitler's order would have been: "Don't take a step back! Stay where you are and I will send reinforcements to you immediately. As soon as it gets light, we will Then we can launch a counterattack under the cover of the air force to retake Karachi!"
How should Manstein respond then?
Just obey the order... Manstein knew that would be a dead end.
Because the weakness of the German army is not only Karachi, but also Miloway.
You can only choose between Miloway and Karachi, there is no possibility of having the best of both worlds.
If reinforcements are transferred to Karachi as the head of state said, then the Soviet army will inevitably seek a breakthrough in the direction of Miloway, and Karachi's troops will also be surrounded by then.
If you disobey orders, that would be blatant disobedience. If Hitler fails to step down, Manstein will of course be punished.
So Manstein chose to kill first and play later, leaving Hitler no choice, and he also avoided the risk of disobeying orders and having a head-on conflict with Hitler.
Manstein was indeed right, and Hitler had no choice but to order: "Stick to the Miloway Line of Defense and wait for the opportunity!"
Waiting for the opportunity means that Hitler still has hope of counterattacking Karachi.
But Manstein, who received the telegram, shook his head slightly. He knew that Hitler's idea was unrealistic. Once the German army retreated from Karachi, the possibility of rescuing the 6th Army was forever lost.
The reason is very simple. The German army is unable to change the status quo... Although the German army will continue to send more reinforcements to the front line, the Soviet army's reinforcements are several times that of the German army. At the same time, the Soviet air force has gradually grown, and the gap between them is also increasing.
Keep shrinking.
In other words, in the long run, if the German army cannot win in the direction of Karachi now, it will only get worse in the future.
However, Manstein did not say anything. These words cannot be said randomly. Not only will it affect the morale of the army, but Hitler also has many informants in the army, so it is not possible to say anything.
As for Hitler, he actually knew what was going on.
But on the one hand, Manstein's doing this can be regarded as giving him a step down. On the other hand, a large number of German generals have been dismissed by him in the battle to attack Moscow. Manstein can be regarded as the outstanding general among many generals.
As one of the generals, he could no longer be dismissed from his post as easily as before. So he had no choice but to give up.
What's more, Hitler still had a hope. He hoped that Goering could fulfill his promise, that is, to deliver supplies to the 6th Army.
So Hitler immediately called Göring.
"Reimplement the transportation plan!" Hitler said: "As long as we can deliver enough supplies to the 6th Army, they will be able to defeat all enemies! Are you sure?"
"Yes, Your Excellency the Führer!" Göring replied.
But in fact Goering could only say this. On the other end of the phone, he was already wiping the sweat from his forehead.
If Goering's boasting before the air transport plan was implemented was due to ignorance and arrogance, but after implementing the transport plan for a period of time, he already knew that air transport was not as simple as he imagined, especially when it was a group army.
of supplies.
Weather, harassment by enemy fighter jets, attacks on the airport, and the dispatch and delivery of supplies from the rear, etc., are all big problems.
In particular, Göring was surprised to find that the Russian air power was getting stronger and stronger. At this time, the German Air Force was no longer able to fully control the air.
Göring knew what this meant.
If the German army cannot fully and completely control the air, this means that the transport aircraft used for air transportation are actually in danger.
The reason is very simple. The Russians do not need to compete for comprehensive air supremacy. They only need to launch a surprise attack on the German airport in Stalingrad at a certain moment. They only need to control the air supremacy for ten minutes or even a few minutes to destroy the German airport and nearby areas.
The transport planes and supplies were badly beaten.
However, Göring could not change his tune.
Therefore, Göring hoped more than anyone else that Manstein could win and successfully rescue the 6th Army, but the reality was cruel. (To be continued)