The decisive battle against the Third Reich

After placing the troops, Colonel Slain took his adjutant and Qin Chuan to the headquarters to report.

They were informed in advance that the 21st Armored Division led by Rommel was incorporated into the 4th Armored Army, and that Rommel served as chief of staff within the army headquarters.

Without much effort, the two found the Armored Group Army headquarters in a two-story cement house... In cities, short and sturdy houses like this often have strong survivability, so they are always destroyed. Used for natural command.

When Colonel Slain and Qin Chuan walked into the headquarters, Rommel was discussing something with an officer in front of the map.

Seeing Slaine and Qin Chuan, Rommel was stunned for a moment, then laughed and stepped forward to warmly hug them to welcome them.

"Colonel, Major... I thought that Manstein guy would never let you go!" Rommel said: "It seems that he finally showed some gentlemanly behavior!"

Then Rommel introduced to the officer: "General Holt, let me introduce to you my two subordinates, Colonel Slain and Major Frick..."

"I know, I know!" General Holt came over, shook hands with Colonel Slain and Qin Chuan respectively, and said: "During this period, I always hear about you from General Rommel. To be precise, it's not just General Rommel, we all know one thing... It is amazing that Manstein relied on you to take the entire Transcaucasus region, especially Baku!"

"I said..." Rommel patted Qin Chuan on the shoulder very proudly and said, "No matter where they go, victory will follow!"

"General!" Colonel Slaine replied humbly: "That's not just our credit!"

"Yes, of course I know!" Rommel replied: "But I believe that without you, Manstein would not even be able to cross the Kerch Strait, let alone occupy the Transcaucasus!"

This is true, especially amphibious landing craft and amphibious tanks.

Then Rommel introduced to Qinchuan and Colonel Slain: "The person in front of you is the commander of the 4th Armored Group, General Hermann Hoth!"

Colonel Slain and Qin Chuan stood up and saluted Hermann Holt.

Qinchuan also knew a little about Hermann Holt. He was one of the four ace armored army commanders of the German army and Rommel's old superior... Rommel served as the seventh commander from 1940 to 1941. Commander of the Armored Division, the 7th Armored Division is also affiliated with the 4th Armored Army commanded by Hermann Huth. They jointly participated in the battle against France.

If you think about this relationship, it is understandable that when the war in Africa reached a stalemate, Holt would want Rommel to serve as chief of staff on the Eastern Front.

However, Rommel was somewhat hurt by Holt's evaluation of Rommel: Holt believed that Rommel acted too easily on impulse, and accused Rommel of being too narrow-minded when others questioned his contribution.

(Note: Many people believe that Rommel's success on the battlefield was partly due to Hitler's "special care" for him, and Rommel was always unceremonious in his retorts and tit-for-tat, which in Holt's eyes It’s a sign of narrow-mindedness)

It should be said that these two shortcomings are really unavoidable for Rommel, but it seems that they cannot be said to be shortcomings: the former allowed Rommel to defeat the Allies again and again in the North African battlefield, while the latter is a manifestation of his straightforward personality. .

"Major!" Holt said to Qin Chuan: "What surprises me the most is... the amphibious landing craft and amphibious tanks you built. It should be said that they played a decisive role in the Transcaucasus battlefield!"

"Yes, General!" Qin Chuan replied, and then he vaguely guessed the reason why Holt and Rommel were so eager to urge the First Infantry Regiment to return to the army... You must know that if the reserve team of Group B is added, the total strength will be nearly One million people (including the Italian, Romanian, and Hungarian armies) will not be short of an infantry regiment, even if this infantry regiment is very powerful.

Holt led Qin Chuan to the map and said, "Moreover, General Rommel also told me that he has often seen these creative inventions of yours, because there are also rocket launchers, minesweeper tanks, etc." Of course, I have heard these stories, but I never thought they were true. I thought that at least half of them were developed by scientists, but I seem to be wrong, right?"

"You can't say that, General!" Qin Chuan replied: "They were indeed made by scientists and technicians, I just told them the method!"

Holt rolled his eyes and replied: "Yeah, I understand. I was indeed wrong, because everyone knows that the method is the most important!"

After a pause, Holt continued: "Sorry, I seem to have gone off topic. You know, our battle is mainly to attack and defend the river. Do you think...do we need to use the amphibious landing ship or the amphibious landing ship? Tanks coming from Transcaucasus? Or should we build these things on a larger scale?”

What Holt said was somewhat unclear. His preface and postscript were inconsistent and his mind was jumping around a lot... Smart people often talk like this, because they often think that some things are too obvious and don't need to be said too much.

Qin Chuan understood. In fact, he had guessed before that Holt and Rommel hoped to use amphibious landing ships and amphibious landing tanks to fight the Battle of Stalingrad.

The Battle of Stalingrad, on the surface, was a siege of a city, but in fact, from a military perspective... it should be called an offensive and defensive battle on two rivers.

These two rivers are the Don River and the Volga River.

It should be said that it is also the work of the Creator. Judging from the trend, these two rivers that enter the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea invariably move closer to Stalingrad as if they are attracted by it. Especially the Don River, which originally flows from north to south. The direction is almost all drawn into an east-west direction.

In this way, a natural encirclement was formed, with half the Don River and half the Volga River. The Soviet army defended along the Don River and the Volga River.

There is only a small gap about a hundred kilometers long in this encirclement, and Stalingrad is located on this gap.

(Note: The Volga-Don Lenin Canal connecting the two rivers, completed by the Soviet Union in 1952, is located in this gap, with a total length of 101 kilometers. In addition to transportation needs, this canal also has a strategic defense role, because it can supplement on this gap)

That's why the capture of Stalingrad was so difficult.