The Third Reich: The Return of the King

Chapter 1138

Kesselring and his men played a game of waiting at the foot of the Carpathian Mountains.

Meanwhile, Führer Mainz was somewhat surprised by the gift prepared for him by the Germans at the front.

“Isn’t that Zhukov? How come he is here?”

Seeing Zhukov, who was tied up and participating in the military parade, Mainz asked Halder, Zeitzler and others around him in surprise.

The expressions of the two were a bit strange. They arranged for Zhukov to pass through Linden Street with the captured Soviet troops to let the people of the empire feel the joy of the German victory in this battle. This action was planned by their general staff.

But Zhukov was not very cooperative. He was obviously captured, but he refused to obey arrogantly. As a last resort, the German army could only tie him up and forcibly take him out to parade in the streets.

After listening to Halder and others, Mainz couldn’t help but cover his face with his hands.

“Zhukov has a very stubborn temper and a strong character. If you do this, he will definitely commit suicide!”

Mainz was not interested in the captured Zhukov, but he was a general of the Soviet Army after all. Since he was captured on the battlefield, he could be sent to a prisoner-of-war camp at most. There was no need to humiliate him in public like this.

With Zhukov’s temper and character, he must have felt that life was worse than death after such a great humiliation.

“Well, I didn’t think so much about it before. I just thought that this was the first Soviet general we captured, so I planned to take him out for a walk to let everyone see what the Soviet army is like!”The younger Zeitzler stood up and took the blame.

“Führer, blame me if you want to, because I came up with this idea!”

Mainz looked at Zeitzler strangely and said,”It’s not necessary to blame you for such a small matter. Zhukov is nothing to me, but you are extremely important to me and the empire, so I will not pursue this matter anymore. However, Zhukov is still useful. Since you have tied him up and paraded him, why not tie him up for a few more days to prevent him from committing suicide!”

In anger, if the rope is loosened now, Zhukov will definitely hit his head against the wall and kill himself.

But if he is tied up for a few more days, allowed to calm down and face the reality, maybe he will not seek death.

But it doesn’t matter. No matter whether he is a famous general or not, Mainz doesn’t care.

Compared with Zhukov’s life or death, he cares more about when the German army can occupy Moscow!

Mainz now understands how the little mustache felt when he attacked the Russian bear!

Once the war is launched, he can’t help but look forward to holding a Red Square parade in Moscow, the capital of the Russian bear one day!

This kind of thing is very exciting just thinking about it!

“It’s the Führer. We’ll keep him tied up for a few more days!”

Halder and Zeitzler looked at each other and said with a smile.

“By the way, do you have any suitable candidates for the formation of the Northern Army Group?”

Regarding the Empire’s plan for the war against the Soviet Union, Mainz had already ordered the General Staff to start drafting it.

The general framework had been determined before. The German army would form three field groups, the Northern Army Group, the Central Army Group and the Southern Army Group, just as in history.

The reason for doing so is that the area of the Soviet Union is too large. If they do not divide their forces, it will be difficult for them to occupy all the areas.

Secondly, because several major cities of the Soviet Union happen to be located in these three directions, the goal of each army group is to capture these key cities. Forming several main army groups into a field If they are clustered, their forces will be more concentrated on a single battlefield, and their combat effectiveness will be stronger.

This is of great help in quickly capturing the main cities of the Soviet Union.

The Soviet Union has a vast territory and a sparse population, and most of the population is concentrated in Eastern Europe, which is their essence.

The German blitzkrieg must give full play to the advantages of its own armored warfare, and the armored forces are most powerful in the plains. Therefore, these three field clusters will use tank forces, especially armored divisions, as the main force, acting as the spearhead of the cluster, quickly cutting through the Soviet defense line, and then heading straight for Leningrad, Moscow and Stalingrad. These three major cities.

Once this place is taken, the Russian bear will probably only have half its life left, and it will be a lingering half.

The rest of the battle does not require the German army to take action, and it can be left to its own vassal army and the European coalition forces to continue to pursue the Soviet army eastward.

At this time, the Empire’s Southern Army Group has taken the lead in being formed.

Guderian will serve as the commander of the Southern Army Group, and the 1st Army, the 7th Army and the 12th Army will be assigned to the Southern Army Group and commanded by Guderian.

The commander of the Central Army Group has also been decided long ago, and Manstein, who returned from North America, will serve as the central The commander of the Central Army Group, and he will be responsible for the entire war on the Eastern Front.

The Central Army Group will have three to four armies under its command, including the Third, Fourth and Sixth Army Groups.

Considering that they are going to attack Moscow, the capital of the Soviet Union, Mainz intends to transfer the Eighth Army stationed in Audili to strengthen the Central Army Group. The

Central Army Group and the Southern Army Group are the two most important field groups in this war. After their formation, the German army only needs a Northern Army Group to basically complete its combat preparations against the Soviet Union.

However, there are great differences of opinion within the empire on the candidate for the commander of the Northern Army Group.

“”

Someone suggested that Model be transferred back to North America to serve as the commander of the Northern Army Group.

The reason was simple. Model was one of the three famous generals of the Empire. His ability and qualifications were there. If he served as the commander of the Northern Army Group, no one would have much to say.

“I don’t think this will work. North America has just been pacified. It would be a shame if we didn’t leave some of our troops behind. Model’s Second Army is the most suitable to stay in North America. If we transfer them back, we will have to send new troops over. By then, it will take a long time for the new troops to adapt to the situation in North America. I think this is totally not worth the loss!”

However, the opponents’ words also made sense. North America couldn’t do without Model, so it was not wise to transfer him back!

“How about transferring Rommel from the North African battlefield? His North African Corps currently has nothing to do in Africa, so he can be transferred back to participate in the war on the Eastern Front!”

Someone thought of Rommel. Rommel’s performance on the North African battlefield earned him a lot of military merits, which greatly improved his status within the German army.

“If Rommel comes back, what will happen to North Africa and the Middle East?”