"Please sit down, my armored hero - General Guderian, my chief of staff - General Zeitzler, is very happy to have dinner with the two." Hoffman tried his best to adapt to the speech style of the head of state.

"Chief of General Staff?" Guderian turned to Zeitzler with a look of surprise, "You want to replace Halde?"

Zeitzler apologized: "To be honest, I just received a verbal notice from General Schmont, and the specific situation is unknown."

Guderian was very puzzled. From the words of the head of state, he was sure that he would be re-activated, which made him have great expectations. Although he did not dare to expect the position of Chief of Staff, a commander of the group army is always indispensable. Now it seems that the situation is far more complicated than he thought. A younger generation like Zeitzler can be the Chief of Staff. Why can't Guderian do it? He looked at Zeitzler with a complicated expression, and then he became a little worried about gains and losses.

Zeitzler's confusion was no less than Guderian. If the base camp had not taken a clear telegram, he would not want to fly from France to have dinner with the head of state. As we all know, the head of state lives a hard life and eats very simple, which makes senior officers who are used to enjoying it difficult to adapt. What's more serious is that the head of state often publishes long comments during meals, peddling those clichés, which makes people's ears almost calluses when they hear it, but they still can't

He didn't pretend to be a scrupulous look. When he heard the head of state summoning him and had to have a meal with the head of state, Zeitz's head hurt, but he had to come. He thought the head of state just wanted to know the specific situation of the Battle of Dieppe, and he made sufficient preparations. Unexpectedly, after getting off the plane, Schmont vaguely informed himself that he was about to take over as Chief of Staff. Although he didn't know how this close friend recommended it to the above, such shocking news still made him feel a little nervous.

"General Zeitzler, the Battle of Dieppe was very good, but..." Hoffman paused, "I want to hear your opinion on the current situation on the Eastern Front."

Zeitzler was stunned for a moment. Is the Head of State ready to listen to my thoughts? But I was not prepared for anything!

He thought about it, carefully used the words, and slowly said: "First of War, you know, I only received a telegram this afternoon. In fact, until yesterday, I was the chief of staff of the D Army of the Western Front, busy dealing with the follow-up work of the Battle of Dieppe. My understanding of the Eastern Front was completely limited to the war reports sent by the base camp, and my understanding was relatively superficial..." Zeitzler still couldn't figure out Hoffman's trump card, and did not dare to speak casually, for fear of angering the head of war who was said to have become somewhat nervous recently. But he couldn't spread his hands completely and didn't know - this would only arouse the head of war more, and might also affect Schmont.

Hoffman interrupted him without any mercy: "Don't be modest, just say the point!"

Zeitzler's expression was a little awkward, but he was also experienced and quickly adjusted his mindset.

"The overall situation on the Eastern Front is relatively relatively-" Zeitzler thought for a long time and finally put on a word, "Active! In the northern section of the front, the northern army group faced each other, we besieged Leningrad and defeated the Red Army's attack in Demiansk; in the middle section of the front, under the leadership of General Moder, we firmly defended the defensive positions and gave a large amount of damage to the opponent; in the southern section of the front, our army has eliminated the remaining enemies of the Krim Peninsula and firmly grasped the Sevastopol and Kerch Peninsula. After defeating the attack attempt of Timhingo, we won Kharkov, and the Sixth Army has already won the victory of the Kharkov.

The troops were at the city, forming a powerful deterrence against Stalingrad... Of course, there were many problems. First, the troops were seriously insufficient. After last winter offensive and this year's summer defense, many divisions' strength was almost exhausted. I saw on the Western Front that many troops who had adjusted from the Eastern Front had serious vacancies, even one-third to one-quarter of the vacancies. These forces could not be used again before replenishment was achieved. Second, the power was too dispersed, and I agreed with the strategic direction of advancing towards the Caucasus and marching towards Stalingrad, but the current strength of the Eastern Front is far from enough to support such a strategy."

While Zeitzler said, he quietly observed the expression of the head of state. To be honest, he personally had great doubts about the Caucasus strategy, but Schmont had reminded him in advance not to interfere with the strategy of the southern wing that the head of state most favored. He decided to do so after considering it, but he still had to make an erratic opinion.

"General Guderian, what do you think?" Hoffmann refused to say anything after hearing Zeitzler's speech, nor did he look inclined. He just turned to Guderian calmly, which surprised the latter - when did the head of state so calm?

"Dear Head." Guderian put down the knife and fork in his hand, "Frankly speaking, I have been away from the front line in the past few months. Although I have learned some situations, it may not be in line with the actual situation. So, my judgment..."

Hoffman knew his concerns and waved his hand with a smile, "This is not a formal combat seminar, nor does it require post-distribution minutes. It is entirely the Supreme Commander who is listening to advice, so you don't have to have any scruples. It seems better to be straightforward - at this time last year, if my generals were not carrying me in front of me, maybe we are now discussing post-war reconstruction."

Guderian's face turned red. Of course, he knew what the head of state was "one set in person and one set behind the other": Before the Battle of Moscow, the commanders of the army on the eastern front were Moscow, while the head of state was first Ukraine and then Moscow. He asked Guderian's armored group to go to the Southern Army Group to support the operation. As a result, the army commander-in-chief Blauxiche, Chief of Staff Halde, and Marshal Bok, Commander-in-Chief of the Central Army Group, and the commander of the Central Army Group, to reject it, and the order of the head of state was reduced by open and secret means. The armored forces of the Central Army Group advanced to Mo.

Sko made preparations, and on the one hand, he divided his troops to support Ukraine. The result of this was that the troops did not directly attack Moscow as the generals imagined, nor did they take Ukraine as soon as possible and then turn around to attack Moscow as the head of state imagined. The best five weeks of weather slipped away in the meaningless debate, and then the defeat of the Battle of Moscow. Then, Bouchic was removed from the commander-in-chief of the Army, Bok was removed from the commander-in-chief of the Central Army Group, Guderian was forced to transfer to the reserve service, and it was finally Halde's turn.

"Now, when I look back, I think about it calmly. The First Head of State made a decision at the time, but unfortunately we had a deviation in communication and execution." The commander of the armored force who was in the front and rear situation at that time was Guderian himself, but he couldn't hear the complaints from his current words. Zeitzler couldn't help but give him a thumbs up. The reserve service these months have indeed been in vain. Guderian, who has always been annoying, has now become better at speaking.

Guderian continued: "My thoughts may...be a bit negative in the next strategy of the Eastern Front - I think we should accumulate strength this year, focus on offensive defense, consume the vitality of the Russians, and wait for another year to launch a full-scale attack."

Zeitzler was startled, but Hoffman nodded slightly: "Tell me your reasons."

"The main reasons are two points. The first is the military force issue that General Zeitzler just mentioned. Our army's strength on the Eastern Front is about 3 million, and the strength of the Allied Forces is only 3.5 million, but we need to face at least 4.5 million enemies. On the Western Front, the Balkans, North Africa and other fronts, we still have 1 million troops, but they face more British and Americans. Stalin is estimated to have more than 2 million reserves, and there is no need to worry about the Japanese behind him. The second is the equipment issue. Whether it is artillery or armored power, the number of Russians is at least half that of us. Although

They were clumsy when using it, but this quantity advantage is hard to ignore. What's more, in terms of crucial armor strength, we not only did not have a quantity advantage, but even lost the quality advantage - we struggled to deal with the Russian T-34 and KV-1. I heard that the No. 5 tank (Leopard) has been basically developed and the No. 6 tank (Tiger) has also been successfully manufactured. If there is a year to undergo a large-scale replacement, the empire's armor power can regain the upper hand, and the same is true for air strength." Guderian finished his point of view in one breath, and then waited for Hoffman's verdict to be anxiously awaited Hoffman's verdict.

"There is one thing I want to correct. According to the intelligence collected by the frontline and my judgment, the Russians' frontline troops are not the 4.5 million you estimate, but between 5.5 and 6 million, and the estimation of 2 million reserve teams is logical; in addition, the Russians' numerical advantage in armored vehicles and artillery may be greater than you think - they not only surpassed us in manufacturing, but also the British and Americans provide them with supplies - in the first half of this year

Stalin got no less than 1,000 tanks from Churchill and Roosevelt, so, "Hoffman said slowly, "We have wiped out 400-500 Stalin's divisions, but he still has at least 500 divisions. I think your judgment is correct. We should switch to strategic defense. The attacks in the Caucasus and Stalingrad can be optionally stopped. If necessary, several protruding parts in the middle section of the eastern line can also be leveled to save troops."
Chapter completed!