USSR 1941

As soon as Model received the order, he immediately rushed to the headquarters of the Ninth Army in a barrel car.

His heart was very heavy along the way.

No one will regard the promotion order at this time as a good thing, because everyone can see that the German army has failed at this time, and the most likely result of being promoted to a commander is to bear the responsibility of disappointment helplessly.

But that was not what Mordel had in mind.

This is also where Mordel is different from others...Others usually think of their own misfortunes first and then try to avoid them.

But as a professional soldier, Model was thinking about how to make this doomed war less ugly.

It was difficult, even more difficult than attacking Moscow.

But Model had no choice, otherwise the imperial army would suffer an unprecedented blow, and even never recover from it.

Mordel looked at the map in the rickety car, frowning.

The Fourth Tank Army retreated, the Fourth Army retreated, and the left wing of the Ninth Army was also exposed to the front of the Russians. As long as the Russians opened a gap, they would immediately outflank the Ninth Army and cut off the transportation of the Ninth Army. lines surround it.

In fact, that's exactly what the Russians did. If it weren't for the 23rd Army to block the flanks at Solomino, the Russians would have surrounded the 9th Army long ago.

But what can be done now?

In the current situation, it seems that there is only one way to retreat, but it is obvious that the head of state will not agree to retreat, even at this time.

With a "hiss", the barrel truck stopped in front of a simple wooden house.

Model looked at the driver in doubt, and asked, "This is the headquarters of the Ninth Army?"

"Yes, Your Excellency General!" The driver replied: "Russian planes bombed our original headquarters this morning, and we had to temporarily move the headquarters here!"

Model didn't say anything, he never thought that the German army would be in such a mess.

He opened the door and got out of the car, and soon several military officers came to greet him, one of whom had bandages on his hands and blood on his face.

"Your Excellency, General!" The officer said anxiously: "There is a new situation, and you need to make a decision immediately!"

Without saying a word, Model quickly followed the officers to the cabin.

Several officers inside were waiting in front of the map, and one of them was Colonel Hans Krebs, the old subordinate designated by Model, the chief of staff.

"General!" Colonel Krebs saluted Model, and then immediately pointed to the map and said: "Here, west of Rzhev, the Russians are in our line of defense, which is the junction of the 23rd Army and the 6th Army. A gap nine miles wide!"

Model couldn't help but gasped. The worst thing happened just after he took office... The Russian army rushed in from the exposed left flank and circled to the rear of the 9th Army.

"The Russians have two armies!" continued Colonel Krebs, "the 29th and 39th armies, and in the past two days they have rapidly passed this gap with tanks, infantry, and sledge units, and they have penetrated southward. .About 9 divisions have passed, our connection with the 23rd Corps has been cut off, and the 23rd Corps is surrounded and can only be supplied by airdrops."

"Where is the Sixth Army?" Model asked.

"The 6th Army successfully built a new line of defense in Rzhev to stop the Russians!"

Model couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. If the 6th Army is also surrounded or defeated, then the 9th Army will be finished.

However, this does not seem to make much difference. As long as the two Russian armies penetrate through the gap to the west of the 9th Army, the 9th Army will have only two options: either surrender or destroy the two armies and go back.

The latter is almost impossible.

"We should retreat, General!" Colonel Krebs said: "The best way is to retreat before the enemy completely surrounds us, and try to get in touch with the 23rd Army!"

Model looked at the map and was silent for a while, then shook his head and said, "We can't retreat, Krebs. Firstly, the head of state will not agree with us to do so, and secondly..."

While speaking, Model pointed to the map and said: "Look at the Russian 22nd Army has arrived at Volgo Lake and started to penetrate south. That is to say, even if we retreat now and escaped from their 29th and 39th Army The encirclement circle of the group army will eventually be surrounded by their 22nd group army!"

This is Zhukov's strategy.

He set the encirclement circle into a cycle of one layer after another.

As long as the German army is entangled in one of the encirclement circles, the consequences will be unimaginable, because other troops will soon rush to the front and expand the encirclement circle.

The reason why the Soviet army can do this is because the Soviet army has more troops... The Soviet army originally had more rear strength than the German army. Coupled with the reinforcements from Siberia, of course more troops were encircled.

On the other hand, the Soviet army marched faster than the German army in the snow.

Of course, this is multifaceted. For example, Soviet tanks and cars can better adapt to the extreme cold climate. The soldiers also have experience in marching in extremely cold temperatures. In addition, the Soviet army has an advantage in the air at this time, so it There are conditions to implement such a large and deep encirclement.

"So... what should we do?" Colonel Krebs had a look of horror in his eyes.

They may have just taken over command of the Ninth Army when they were surrounded by the enemy.

Model supported his chin, thought for a while and replied: "If we can't retreat, and staying here is a dead end, then what other options do we have?"

"Attack?" Colonel Krebs couldn't help but widen his eyes when he heard this.

"Yes, attack!" Mordel replied.

"But where are we going to attack from?" asked Colonel Krebs.

Model did not answer, but pointed to the gap opened by the Russian army on the left flank of the Ninth Army.

"But there are two Russian armies there!"

"Do we have any other options?" Mordel asked rhetorically.

After a pause, Model went on to say: "Only by making up this gap, can we encircle the enemy's 9 divisions that broke into the defense line. At the same time, if we continue to attack north, it will threaten all the supply lines of the Russian army. Does that mean anything?"

Colonel Krebs nodded: "I think you are right, General! This will prevent the enemy from chasing our army with confidence, because the weak supply line behind them will be exposed to our soldiers!"

"Yes!" replied Model. "It's not just the Ninth Army's way of life, Krebs! It's the life of our entire army, because only in this way, the Fourth Army, the Fourth Tank Army ... they have Time to stand firm!"