Chapter 777: cut first and play later

Chapter 777

Manstein did not report to Hitler until the troops retreated to the Milloway line within a few hours.

This is not a time when Manstein did not report, in fact he could have reported to Hitler anytime he was pulling from Karachi in his car.

But Manstein did not do this. He deliberately made the command very busy, that is, he kept in touch with the withdrawing troops, and then instructed them how to stop and retreat in an orderly manner.

To be honest, these are also very necessary, because it is easy to command an army to attack, but it is very difficult to command an army to retreat.

The problem is that the Soviet army did not have a large-scale pursuit.

The Soviet army is not suitable for large-scale pursuit. The reason is that there are still many German remnants in Karachi that have not been eliminated. The 51st Army was thrown into disarray because of the pursuit, but Manstein lost Karachi again because of a counterattack, so the watermelon was lost just to pick up sesame seeds.

Therefore, Manstein's command is actually very relaxed, but he pretends to be very nervous.

But of course, Manstein did it for a reason.

When the German army was about to withdraw to the Milove Line, Manstein sent a telegram to Hitler: "Dear Fuhrer, I regret to inform you that the enemy has already broken through our Karachi Defense Line. Lowe!"

At this time, Hitler was resting in his room, and the secretary knocked on his door urgently with a telegram.

After a while, Hitler in military uniform opened the door. Because he was concerned about the war situation in Karachi, he didn't put on his pajamas to sleep... This is one of Hitler's characteristics. He believed that he had to maintain his demeanor in front of his subordinates and generals. In the bunker.

Hitler took the telegram and glanced at it, and then walked quickly to the headquarters. The voice came before the person arrived: "When did it happen? What's the situation now? Where have they retreated?"

"We are about to arrive at the Milloway defense line, Your Excellency the Führer!" the staff officer replied.

Hitler turned his head in surprise, stopped in his footsteps, and asked, "Why do we only know now?"

"Everything happened too suddenly!" The staff officer replied: "Marshal Manstein has been working hard to change this situation, but it is still irreversible!"

Hitler gritted his teeth with hatred, but there was nothing he could do about Manstein.

Manstein knew Hitler very well. If he had reported the battle situation to Hitler in Karachi, then Hitler's order would have been: "Don't take a step back! Stay where you are, and I will send reinforcements to you immediately. As soon as the sky is bright, we will Then we can launch a counterattack under the cover of the air force to retake Karachi!"

Then how should Manstein answer?

Follow orders... Manstein knew it would be a dead end.

Because the weakness of the German army is not only Karachi, but also Miloway.

Milloway and Karachi can only choose one of the two, and there is no possibility of having the best of both worlds.

If the reinforcements are transferred to Karachi as the head of state said, then the Soviet army will inevitably seek a breakthrough in the direction of Milove, and Karachi's troops will also be surrounded by then.

Disobey the order, that is open disobedience, and of course Hitler will punish Manstein if he cannot step down.

So Manstein chose to cut first and play later, leaving Hitler with no choice, and he himself avoided confronting Hitler at the risk of disobeying orders.

Manstein was not mistaken, and Hitler had nothing to do about it. He could only order: "Stick to the Milovey line of defense and wait for the opportunity!"

Waiting for the opportunity means that Hitler still has hope for counterattacking Karachi.

But Manstein, who received the telegram, shook his head slightly. He knew that Hitler's idea was unrealistic. Once Karachi retreated, the German army had lost forever the possibility of rescuing the 6th Army.

The reason is simple. The German army is powerless to change the status quo... Although the German army will continue to send more reinforcements to the front line, the Soviet army's reinforcements are several times that of the German army. At the same time, the Soviet army's air force has gradually grown. zoom out.

That is to say, in the long run, if the German army cannot win in the direction of Karachi now, it will only get worse in the future.

However, Manstein didn’t say anything. These words cannot be said indiscriminately. They will not only affect the morale of the army, but Hitler also planted many spymen in the army, so he can’t say anything.

As for Hitler, he actually knew what was going on.

But on the one hand, Manstein's doing so can be regarded as giving him a step down. On the other hand, a large number of German generals have been dismissed by him in the battle to attack Moscow. Manstein can be regarded as the most exhausted of many generals. As one of the generals, he can no longer be given a "dismissal" punishment as before. So I can only give up.

What's more, Hitler still has a hope. He hopes that Goering can fulfill his promise, that is, to send supplies to the 6th Army.

So Hitler immediately called Goering.

"Re-implement the transportation plan!" Hitler said: "As long as we can send enough supplies to the Sixth Army, then they will be able to defeat all enemies! Are you sure?"

"It's time, Your Excellency the Führer!" Goering replied.

But in fact, that's all Goering can say. On the other end of the phone, he is already wiping the sweat from his forehead.

If it is said that Goering boasted about Haikou when he had not implemented the air transportation plan, it was due to ignorance and arrogance, but after implementing the transportation plan for a period of time, he already knew that air transportation was not as simple as he imagined, especially when it was a group army supplies.

Weather, harassment by enemy fighter jets, attack on the airport, and the dispatch and delivery of rear materials, etc., are all big problems.

Especially Goering was surprised to find that the Russian air power has become stronger and stronger. At this time, the German Air Force has been unable to fully control the air supremacy.

Goering knew what that meant.

If the German army cannot fully and thoroughly grasp the air supremacy, this means that the transport aircraft used for air transportation are actually in danger.

The reason is simple. The Russians do not need to compete for overall air supremacy. They only need to launch a surprise attack on the German military airport in Stalingrad at a certain moment. They only need to control the air superiority for ten minutes or even a few minutes. The transport planes and supplies were beaten terribly.

However, Goering could not change his words.

So Göring hopes that Manstein can win and rescue the 6th Army smoothly than anyone else, but the reality is cruel.

(end of this chapter)