Shurka does not need to think too much about the situation of the German army, because judging from the battlefield situation, as long as the Soviet army can hold Karachi, the German 6th Army will always be surrounded by the Soviet army; as long as the 6th Army is
Surrounded by Soviet troops, it was only a matter of time before they were annihilated.
Göring's so-called air transportation is of course a bad move, and in the end it will even bring down the German Air Force, which originally had an absolute advantage.
In other words, if the German army does not abandon the 6th Army by cutting off its tail, it will sink with the German Air Force.
Obviously, the German army did not realize this at this time.
In other words, Hitler has not realized this yet, and he still holds on to the extravagant hope that Manstein's Don Army can retake Karachi, rescue the 6th Army, and even eventually capture Stalingrad... Hitler is a bit similar to Stalin
, they all believe that as long as the troops are brave and united, they can ignore all objective difficulties and ultimately achieve victory.
Hitler was so stubborn that Manstein went to Wolfsburg several times to discuss with Hitler to no avail.
"Your Majesty the Führer!" Manstein said to Hitler: "We have only one chance now, I mean the chance to minimize losses. Order the 6th Army to attack with all its strength from the direction of Karachi. At the same time, I will lead the Don Front to Karachi.
Attack, the enemy has not established a stable foothold in Karachi and the defense depth is insufficient. As long as our air force cooperates properly, the 6th Army still has a chance to break through!"
What Manstein said is correct.
The German 6th Army was surrounded not long ago, and was constantly being supplemented by air transportation. The supplies had not yet reached the point where they were unsustainable.
At this time, the German 6th Army and the Don Army were attacking Karachi with all their strength. Coupled with the German air superiority, it was not difficult to break through. After all, the German combat effectiveness was there.
Hitler hesitated when he heard this suggestion, but only for a moment.
"Do you know what this means?" Hitler pointed to the Don River east of Karachi and said: "The 6th Army needs to cross the Don River to break through. The enemy can use fighter planes and artillery to destroy the pontoon bridge we built on the Don River at any time!
"
As mentioned before, the Soviet Ilyushin attack aircraft can be equipped with four to eight rockets. Although the rockets are not accurate, if more than ten Ilyushins shoot towards the target at the same time, the effect will be like "Katyusha"
"Like a rocket launcher, the targets will be blown into a sea of flames.
What's even more terrifying is that this can be completed within ten seconds... This tactic is somewhat like the Soviet Army's "Katyusha", both of which have basically no defense capabilities (Note: If Il is fully capable of intercepting rockets, it will have air combat capabilities.
It is very weak, basically waiting for death when facing enemy fighters), but it can quickly fire rockets and then leave.
The only difference is that "Katyusha" is on land and "Il" is in the air.
This tactic is particularly important when the Germans have air superiority, because it allows the Germans to remain defenseless against Ilsh's rocket rain despite having air superiority.
For example, the German army built a pontoon bridge on the Don River.
It is impossible for the German Air Force to fill the surrounding airspace with fighter planes. The Soviet Army can send out several groups of fighter planes to harass and attract the attention of the German Air Force, and then unexpectedly a few ILs break into the range and hit the pontoon with rockets...
Hitler had been commanding battles at Wolfsburg, so of course he knew this Soviet tactic.
Manstein could not deny this. He nodded and replied: "Yes, the 6th Army will suffer heavy losses!"
"How disastrous is it?" Hitler asked again: "Can you estimate it?"
Manstein thought for a while and replied: "I believe... in the end only half of us will be able to successfully break through!"
This was actually an overly optimistic estimate made by Manstein in order to get Hitler to agree to his plan.
You must know that there are many uncertain factors in this besides Irvine. For example, the German 6th Army only has a short time to break through... If the time is delayed longer, the Soviet army will compress the German army's breakthrough from both sides of Karachi, and even suddenly
Army Group He would risk being surrounded.
For another example, the Soviet army only needs to attack to a position about ten kilometers away from the Don River, in any direction, and then they can bombard the pontoon bridge with artillery fire without using IL, and this is almost impossible to stop.
Therefore, if Manstein really wanted to make an objective estimate, it would be considered good if he could escape one-third.
"And all the heavy equipment, right?" Hitler asked again.
Manstein nodded.
There is no doubt that there is no time and conditions for heavy equipment to cross the river. They can only be blown up in Stalingrad.
"But, Your Majesty the Head of State!" Manstein said: "Even so, it is much better than the annihilation of the entire army!"
"That's not necessarily the case!" Hitler replied: "Because if we choose to break out, we will completely abandon Stalingrad! We still have hope to capture it, as long as we capture Karachi... It's not difficult, isn't it? It's just a medium-sized city
, we have occupied countless such cities! We could do it before, and we can do it now! What we need is confidence, will, and courage!"
Manstein didn't know what to say.
Hitler's logic was a bit strange, because the German army had conquered many cities like Karachi before, and they had easily conquered them, so they should be able to conquer them now. What they lacked was the same spirit as when they conquered countless cities before.
This may seem reasonable on the surface, but this is war, a real war.
The German army is no longer the same as when the war broke out. At this time, the German army was severely short of troops and had poor morale after the failure of the Moscow Defense War. Although it still maintained combat effectiveness, it was different from the situation at that time when everyone believed that Germany could win.
A world of difference.
The enemy is no longer the enemy it was then. When the war broke out, the Russian army was completely unprepared, with chaotic command, low morale, and even many internal conflicts.
But now, the enemy has grown up and recovered from the war. They are actively and effectively organizing resistance and seeking counterattacks.
Manstein can see this from the battle in Karachi.
In the past, even if the Don Front had insufficient troops, it would have been unimaginable for the enemy to take back a city from two German armored divisions and several infantry divisions.
However, Manstein realized one thing from this: he could not convince Hitler.
"Cheer up, my general!" Hitler patted Manstein on the shoulder and said: "I will transfer the heavy artillery unit to your command and use it to attack Karachi! Victory will definitely belong to us!" (To be continued)