The decisive battle against the Third Reich

The top German military officials had their reasons for being dismissive of this.

On the one hand, this is because the combat effectiveness of the German army is generally higher than that of the Soviet army. Generally speaking, the combat effectiveness of a Soviet army group is only equivalent to that of a full German army, and a Soviet army is roughly equivalent to a German division.

In this way, the German army's flanks at both ends of Stalingrad only need to place one corps of mechanized troops on each side, which is enough to withstand the attack of a Soviet army group.

As for the crisis in those slave countries, it is just their troops with weak combat effectiveness on the front line.

On the other hand, Hitler received an intelligence from the Military Intelligence Agency. This intelligence showed that the Soviet army no longer had any reserve force worth mentioning on the Eastern Front battlefield for it to fight.

Hitler believed this information because he thought the Soviets had exhausted their reserve forces during the previous Battle of Stalingrad.

If this is the case, what else does Germany have to worry about?

However... this information was provided by Canaris.

Many people in history believe that Canaris intentionally provided Hitler with wrong information to make him make wrong judgments, such as the previous "Mincemeat Project" and another example of providing Hitler with information about the Allies during the Allied "Torch Project". Some people even suspected that Canaris had released the French General Giraud, otherwise General Giraud would not have escaped from prison.

It is impossible to know whether this is true, but at least the information Canaris provided to Hitler at this time was wrong. The fact is that Zhukov had assembled another front army, the Southwest Front Army, and was ready for a counterattack.

Of course, if it were just like this, Germany might still be able to defend the two-river line of defense.

But the Allies also began to make moves to cooperate with the Soviet Union... On the one hand, a large amount of materials were transported to Siberia of the Soviet Union via the Sea of ​​Japan, and then transported to the Soviet front line by train.

On the other hand, a large number of troops have gathered in the UK, as well as transport ships, aircraft, warships, etc. The American army in the UK has even surpassed the British army.

Moreover, the U.S. military did this without any concealment, and most of the transportation was carried out under the eyes of German submarines.

As soon as the news reached Hitler's headquarters, Hitler began to be in trouble.

The purpose of the US troops gathering in the UK is obvious, which is to land in northern France... At this time, the only possibility for the US military to land in northern France is.

The reason is that the African defense line is in a stalemate with the German army. The British and American coalition forces cannot break through the Tunisia Strait and therefore cannot land in southern France. Landing in northern Germany will undoubtedly encounter firm resistance from German soldiers and civilians, so they can only do so. As a secondary option.

So the best landing point is northern France.

After thinking about it, Hitler ordered: "Now that the Battle of Stalingrad is over, we can transfer some of the troops on the Eastern Front to France!"

"But Your Excellency the Head of State!" the staff officer objected: "But the report from the Eastern Front is that a large number of Soviet troops are gathering!"

"The Soviets have no ability to launch a counterattack!" Hitler replied: "They are just bluffing. If we are frightened by them or even retreat, then we will be fooled!"

After hearing this, the staff officer did not dare to say anything more, because he knew that Hitler was already overconfident because of his successive victories on the front line, so it would be useless to say anything now.

Qin Chuan knew nothing about this until Colonel Slain called him that afternoon.

"Major, General Rommel asked me to tell you that he went to France to report on his duties." Colonel Slain said: "He hopes to have the opportunity to fight with you on the battlefield in the future!"

"The general was transferred to France?"

"Yes!"

"Did the 21st Armored Division also be transferred together?" Qin Chuan felt faintly uneasy.

"No, Major!" Colonel Slain replied, "Some of the troops were transferred, but you know, that's not what we need to know!"

Qin Chuan understood that this was the order issued by Hitler before. Each department only needed to understand the information related to its own mission. For example, Qin Chuan only needed to focus on helicopter training.

But Qin Chuan doesn't think so.

Qinchuan was worried that although he helped the German army win the Battle of Stalingrad, due to various reasons, the German army, or specifically the 6th Army, was still unable to escape the fate of being surrounded by the Soviet army in Stalingrad and eventually having to surrender.

For example, now, at this critical moment when the eastern frontier is about to usher in a cold winter, Rommel would actually be transferred to France?

It is not a strange thing to transfer Rommel to France, because in history, Rommel was transferred to France by Hitler to strengthen the defense of the "Atlantic Wall" to deal with the possible Allied landing in northern France.

Facts have proved that Hitler was very foresight, because only Rommel accurately judged that the Allied forces would land in Normandy and made many preparations in Normandy, although this ultimately failed to withstand the Allied attack.

In other words, the United States and Britain had made new moves in northern France, which prompted Hitler to mobilize troops from the Eastern Front to France at this time.

But doesn’t this mean that there are insufficient troops on the Eastern Front?

Thinking about it, Qin Chuan asked the communications soldier to answer Alexander's phone.

"Any questions, Major?" Alexander asked on the other end of the phone.

"This is exactly what I want to ask you." Qin Chuan said: "Are we in any trouble?"

There was silence on the other end of the phone for a while, and then Alexander replied: "Yes, Major. You guessed it right, we are in trouble! Can you come to the command?"

"Of course!" Qin Chuan replied.

At Paulus' headquarters, Alexander was waiting for Qin Chuan outside the door. As soon as he saw Qin Chuan's jeep stopped, he came up to him and said, "Major, I probably shouldn't tell you these things, but I want to hear it." Listen to your opinion!"

Alexander said as he welcomed Qin Chuan into the headquarters.

Paulus was not among them, and later Qin Chuan found out that he had gone to the "Werewolf" to find Hitler.

Several staff officers in the headquarters all recognized Qin Chuan, and when they saw Qin Chuan coming in, they stepped forward to shake hands with Qin Chuan and greet him.

"That's right!" Alexander said: "All the troops we deployed on the second line for mobile defense have been transferred to France!"

"What?" Qin Chuan asked in surprise: "Then who should we rely on on our flanks?"

"The Romanian army!" Alexander replied: "And the Italian army and the Hungarian army!"

As he spoke, Alexander raised his head towards the map.

The map clearly marked the areas defended by each unit... The flanks of the Don River line were the Romanian 3rd Army, the Italian 8th Army, and the Hungarian 2nd Army.

On the Volga River line is the Romanian 4th Army.