While the Soviet generals were discussing how to defend Kursk, the German generals were of course discussing how to attack Kursk.
In fact, not everyone believed that the German army should attack Kursk. Among them, the famous German general Guderian firmly opposed the attack on Kursk (Manstein first agreed and then opposed).
"This will not be a secret!" Guderian said: "Everyone knows that we are going to attack Kursk, even a fool can see it! But it is precisely because of this that we cannot attack Kursk unless we attack immediately
!”
It should be said that Guderian is right, because wars are always fought by surprise.
If the attack target is determined from the beginning and the enemy knows it, then there are only two situations in which the attack can be launched: one is to have absolute strength and be able to overwhelm the opponent without worrying about the enemy being prepared. The other is to launch the attack immediately so that the enemy has no time to prepare.
, so there is no difference between knowing and not knowing.
The German army did not meet both conditions.
Regarding the former, if the war had just begun, the German army might still have the absolute strength to overwhelm the Soviet army, but until now...the total number of German casualties on the battlefield has reached 400 million, which made Hitler declare for the first time that Germany
Entering a state of total war.
The so-called "state of total war" refers to the national industry, agriculture, etc. serving the war, such as increasing the working hours of German people to 80 hours a week, or requiring women to replace men of working age and letting men pick up guns and go away.
On the battlefield, Hitler also began to recruit people who were 50 years old or even older to make up for the lack of soldiers.
However, the result is that a large number of high-quality soldiers with rich combat experience, sufficient training and sufficient physical strength are replaced by old, weak, sick and disabled recruits with no combat experience.
Therefore, at this time, the German army seemed to be strong on the surface, but its combat effectiveness was far inferior to the state when the Soviet-German war broke out.
However, the Soviet Union's combat effectiveness has increased due to training in battles.
Guderian knew this very well, so he believed that Kursk should not be attacked easily even if it was surrounded by German troops.
"The Soviets have always known that we would launch an attack!" Kluge said: "But they still collapsed under our attack, and this time is no exception!"
Kluge was the staunchest supporter of the attack on Kursk. He even believed that this was the last chance for the German army to defeat the Soviet Union. If this opportunity was given up, the German army's advantages would gradually be lost in future wars...
It makes sense for Kluge to think so, because Britain and the United States have been assisting the Soviet Union. They have been continuously shipping large amounts of weapons and supplies to the Soviet Union. On the contrary, the German army's equipment and supplies have become increasingly tense.
Therefore, in the long run, the German army can either prevent Britain and the United States from transporting supplies to the Soviet Union, or they can make a quick decision. Continuing to delay the war will obviously not be good for Germany.
It should be said that both views are reasonable, so Hitler hesitated in the middle.
"The Russians of today are no longer the Russians of the past!" Guderian said.
"I know!" Cruz replied: "We are not who we were back then!"
"Oh, are you talking about the recruits who have no combat experience?" Guderian objected: "You let these recruits face the enemy and prepare fortifications for several months?"
"No, I'm talking about the 'Tiger', 'Panther', and other new types of equipment!" Kluge responded tit-for-tat: "All the enemy's fortifications will be vulnerable to these equipment, and no fortifications can stop it.
Their attack!"
"The enemy will not be idle, they know we will attack Kursk!"
"So what? Our biggest advantage is that the enemy doesn't know about our new equipment!"
…
In fact, the new equipment developed by the German army during this period was not only the "Tiger", "Panther" and those things that the Soviet commanders guessed, but also the Type 4 light machine gun with much more advanced performance, and the "
Wasp" assault gun and "Hornet" howitzer, as well as "Ferdinand" tank destroyer, etc.
The explosive appearance of these new types of equipment gave the German offensive faction great confidence.
Hitler was silent for a long time, and then asked: "So, what can we do if we don't attack?"
"We can consider attacking other places!" Guderian replied: "But it should not be Kursk, because the Russians have a whole winter to prepare, and they will build Kursk into a perfect trap!"
"We don't have enough troops to attack elsewhere, my general!" Hitler replied: "But attacking Kursk is no problem, because it will save us 0 divisions!"
"This is what I want to say, Your Excellency the Head of State!" Guderian said: "We choose to attack for strategic purposes rather than whether we can save troops. If we reluctantly attack in order to save troops, the result is likely to be
Let us down..."
Hitler fell silent again.
He knew that Guderian was right, that war should be thought more from the perspective of strategic goals rather than having only one option due to other factors... Because if there is only one option, it means that the enemy will take it seven inches away.
However, Hitler was very helpless.
Because the issue of attacking Kursk actually involves not only troop issues, but more importantly, political factors:
Because of the failure of Stalingrad, there have been many voices of dissatisfaction in the country.
In addition, Italy and Romania have been shaken, and intelligence shows that there are calls within them to overthrow the current regime and flee the war.
Therefore, if he does not win a victory, a victory that can calm everyone and reverse the situation between the Soviet Union and Germany, Hitler will fall into a very passive situation politically, and may even fall apart.
Thinking of this, Hitler said: "We should never give up counterattack at any time, my general! If you have a better counterattack plan, I will seriously consider it. But if not, we will undoubtedly have to attack Chur.
Sk!”
"Yes, Your Excellency the Head of State!" Guderian replied helplessly.
This has actually decided Kursk's attack, because Guderian is not a god, and he certainly has no way to find a so-called "proper" attack plan when there are insufficient troops. If there was one, he would have proposed it long ago.
.
But even if Hitler said this, he still had not made up his mind.
In this regard, he is very similar to Stalin. They both make preparations first and then wait and see the situation before deciding whether to launch a counterattack. (To be continued)