The decisive battle against the Third Reich

As soon as Qin Chuan arrived in Kharkov, he was summoned to the headquarters by Manstein.

"Sorry, Lieutenant Colonel!" Manstein raised his head and said to Qin Chuan while reviewing the documents in his hand: "I can't welcome you with a ceremony because we don't have time!"

"I understand, Your Majesty Marshal!"

"The Soviets will launch an attack at any time!" Manstein signed the document and handed it to the staff. He turned back to Qin Chuan and said: "But our troops were unable to arrive due to poor traffic... This Maybe that’s what the Soviets wanted!”

"How many troops can we get?" Qin Chuan asked.

"I'm not sure, Lieutenant Colonel!" Manstein replied: "I originally hoped that within a month two armies could be concentrated in Orel, and one army, the 4th Panzer Army, could rush to Kharkov and advance. to here!"

As he spoke, Manstein pointed to a point on the map: "The Belgorod area, but these two steps may not be possible!"

Qinchuan found the Orel that Manstein mentioned on the map, and then he understood... Orel and Belgorod were stuck in the throat of the Kursk protrusion. If If the Soviet army did not respond to this, Manstein's troops would threaten the Soviet army's rear and even split the Soviet offensive force in two.

"Do you know how many enemies we have to face?" Manstein pointed to several locations on the map: "Here are the Soviet Union's Western Front Army, Bryansk Front Army, and Central Front Army... And this is only what we know. It is said that the Soviet Union People are still organizing a front army as a reserve force. This means that the Soviet troops are at least twice ours! I mean, if our troops can arrive in time."

The situation is indeed serious.

If it were in the past, the German army might not care about twice the Soviet army.

But now, the German army has added a large number of inexperienced recruits, while the Soviet army has become veterans due to fighting... In this case, it can still have the strength advantage of two troops, which is different from usual.

"But none of this is important!" Manstein continued: "The important thing is that the terrain in Kursk and the area to the west is suitable for tanks to break through. If we can't stop them, we will be doomed!"

"That's why the First Infantry Regiment is here, right?" Qin Chuan asked.

"Yes!" Manstein nodded: "You have helicopters and can rush to any point to intercept and block the enemy's armored forces, or to reinforce our armored forces."

Qin Chuan admitted that Manstein's idea was a good one and that was the advantage of helicopters.

"We can produce two hundred ME63s every day!" Manstein said: "The factory is located in Kharkiv, you know, in order to more conveniently send them to the front line."

Qinchuan understood what Manstein meant... If the First Infantry Regiment wanted to attack everywhere to intercept or even reinforce the German armored forces, the ME63 would definitely be indispensable.

"But it's far from enough!" Qin Chuan replied.

This is very obvious. Two hundred tanks a day means six thousand tanks a month, and the Soviet army has four or five thousand tanks.

"Yes, I know!" Manstein said: "We will increase production!"

Manstein was a little busy because he took the document from the staff and signed it while talking to Qin Chuan.

"But that's not important, is it?" Qin Chuan said.

"Yes!" Manstein replied: "So you must seize the time to train!"

The staff officer next to him looked confused while listening to the conversation between Qin Chuan and Manstein.

Conversations between smart people are easier. Both Qin Chuan and Manstein know that the important thing is that the German army lacks soldiers who can skillfully operate the ME63. Just like the test firing of the ME63 in the shooting range...if you are not familiar with its control, you will not be able to hit the target, and no matter how many pieces are produced, it will be useless.

After a pause, Manstein looked up from the document and asked, "Any more questions?"

"No, there is no problem, Marshal!" Qin Chuan replied.

Qin Chuan was lying. In fact, there was a big problem... Take the time to train, how to train?

You must know that sharpshooters are fed with bullets, which means that training requires bullets, a lot of bullets.

Likewise, MEEE63.

The problem is that the production of ME63 is only so small, it is not even enough for battlefield use. The 1st Infantry Regiment obviously cannot use or cannot use too many ME63 for training.

So the question is...how to train a sharpshooter with little or no bullets.

Qin Chuan stood up and saluted, turned around and was about to leave the headquarters.

But when he just walked to the door, he was shocked to see Hitler and a group of officers appearing in the corridor.

"Oh, Lieutenant Colonel!" Hitler glanced at Qin Chuan unexpectedly. He took off his gloves and said to Qin Chuan: "I'm glad to see you here. Are you about to leave?"

"Yes, Your Majesty the Head of State!" Qin Chuan stepped forward and answered.

Marshal Manstein, who heard the sound, also rushed over to greet him and stood up to salute.

"Lieutenant Colonel!" Hitler invited Qin Chuan and Manstein inside: "Since you happen to be here, then join our discussion. I want to hear your opinion!"

"Discuss?" Qin Chuan didn't understand what Hitler meant.

Later he learned that Hitler was inspecting the front line and making judgments based on the inspection situation.

"Marshal Manstein!" Hitler walked to the map and said, "I want you to hear what Marshal Kruger thinks first!"

An officer stood out from behind, Commander of Army Group Center Günther von Kruger.

He gave a slight greeting to Manstein and said: "Sorry, Marshal Manstein, my idea is completely opposite to yours. I think we should not be on the defensive, but should be on the offensive!"

"Attack?" Manstein couldn't help but be stunned after hearing this: "You are simply crazy! Our preparations are seriously insufficient. The Soviets have much more troops than us, and they have also carefully constructed a defense network... They are expecting the Germans to attack. Attack, so they can easily defeat us and then launch a counterattack!"

"No, I think it's just the opposite!" Kruger said: "We all know that the Soviets are preparing for an attack, so we can't wait for the enemy to prepare before launching an attack like now. When that moment appears, it will be too late. We must disrupt their strategic plan, that is, launch an attack in front of them and force them to take a defensive position! "

“What if we’re not prepared enough?”

"The Soviets were also not prepared enough!"

"So what about the Soviet defense network? They started building it last year!" Manstein said.

"You know!" Kruger replied: "We have new tanks, and the Soviet defense network is nothing compared to these tanks!"