The Third Reich: The Return of the King

Chapter 1150

Manstein acted very quickly indeed. After giving the order to the Northern Army Group, he personally drove to the front and came to the front-line coalition headquarters.

“Salute!”

As soon as Manstein entered the headquarters, the generals of various countries stood up and saluted him in panic.

Manstein’s eyes swept over these people one by one.

Most of them did not dare to look at him directly, obviously they were very afraid of this famous imperial general.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to know, how many troops do we have on the front line now? How many tanks, how many artillery pieces?”

Manstein did not exchange pleasantries with these people, there was no need for that.

He was the commander-in-chief of the Allied Forces appointed by the Führer himself, and these people were his subordinates. He only needed to give orders and let these people execute them. As for whether they would execute them honestly, that was Himmler’s business, and he did not need to supervise them himself.

“General, our army currently has 56 divisions and 970,000 people on the Eastern Front, including 2,300 tanks, 12,000 artillery pieces, and about 2,100 aircraft, including 1,700 fighters and 200 bombers!”The coalition forces do not seem to have many troops, less than 1 million troops, compared to the millions of Soviet troops on the opposite side, it is indeed a little less.

This also explains why they couldn’t bite the Soviet defense line before.

With such an obvious advantage in the opponent’s strength, the coalition forces naturally couldn’t bite it.

“Well, very good, then from now on, give orders to all the troops on the front line, and let them immediately launch a full-scale attack on the Soviet positions from their own positions!”

Swish!

Manstein’s words caused an uproar!

Everyone was stunned by Manstein’s order!

Is this the rhythm of a full-scale war?

Although the people present were more or less prepared, after all, the German army’s preparations for war were so obvious, they were not fools, and they could naturally see and guess that the German army was going to attack the bear.

However, it is not yet May, and the bear’s rainy season has not yet passed. Isn’t it too early to send troops at this time?

“What, you don’t want to follow orders?”

Manstein saw that no one took any action and everyone was stunned. He was a little unhappy.

If it was the German army standing in front of him, then the German general would not say a word at this moment and would definitely carry out Manstein’s order seriously!

“No, we dare not. We will convey the order right away. We will convey it right away. General Manstein, calm down!”

A general with Gallic ancestry ran out quickly, persuading Manstein while winking at others.

The others also came to their senses at this time. Their command had long been taken away, and Manstein was now their immediate superior.

If they did not obey Manstein’s orders, Manstein could arrest them for disobeying orders and send them to military court.

With the strong position of the Third Reich, even if they appealed, even if the country behind them came forward, they might not be able to change the result.

Therefore, they had no choice but to carry out their orders. Order.

Seeing these people honestly run to execute the order, they began to mobilize the troops to attack the Soviet positions.

A smile appeared on Manstein’s face!

Very good, that’s right!

Although it is unlikely that the more than 900,000 coalition forces will break through the Soviet defense line from the front, their massive offensive will inevitably greatly pin down the Soviet forces and make the Soviet troops concentrate on one side of the front line.

As long as the Soviet troops are concentrated here, the German army will have an opportunity to divide and surround the Soviet army and annihilate it on the front battlefield!

This opportunity is to encircle the enemy from the north and south and cut off the opponent’s retreat.

“When General Kesselring arrives, ask him to come see me!”

Manstein told his adjutant, and then immediately sent a telegram to Guderian in the south and Bock in the north.

……

After receiving Manstein’s telegram, Guderian smiled.

This guy, this battle plan looks really bold!

But I like this way of fighting!

When the German army blitzed Poland, they staged a thousand-mile raid, went straight into the enemy’s rear, divided and surrounded the enemy’s heavy troops deployed on the front line, and then defeated them one by one.

And now, Manstein plans to have such a battle again.

However, unlike Poland, the land area of the bear is very large, so it will be much more difficult to outflank.

Even if the tactics of north-south encirclement are adopted, it is still difficult to successfully annihilate the millions of Soviet troops on the front line.

However, the greater the risk, the greater the benefit.

If they can succeed, then the first step of the German army will be very successful. They will easily take over the bear’s territories in Eastern Europe, and then quickly turn it into their own stable rear area! The bear has lost 2 million troops in previous combat operations, and the number of troops deployed on the Eastern Front at this time does not exceed three million!

Three million, this can be said to be the last main force in the hands of the bear!

So, as long as this Soviet army is eaten, the bear’s territory will become an undefended racecourse, and the German army can run around in the bear’s territory without restraint!

And in Manstein’s telegram, Guderian specifically asked to send the First Armored Army to perform this task.

The reason is that the First Armored Army has the best equipment, rich combat experience, and has two long-distance journeys, so it is best for them to perform the task.

However, Guderian did something even more excessive!

He decided to lead the troops to teach the bear a good lesson, so that they know that even if they have a broad strategic depth, it does not mean that they can sit back and relax!

“Kleist, take your First Panzer Army forward immediately and clear the way for the army!”

Guderian jumped onto a tank and ordered Kleist while asking the tank driver to start the tank.