Chapter 358: The Führer Division! The Imperial Division! The Totenkopf Division! All the villains are here!

[Because this bold plan is very much in line with Hitler's appetite! ]

【Manstein's plan was not just about defense, nor was it just about retreat.】

[Instead, they were preparing to concentrate their elite armored forces to devour the Soviet vanguard Southwestern Front, which was advancing in great strides! ]

【Manstein: Führer, please look at this picture! 】

[Manstein, who was good at seizing opportunities on the battlefield, keenly noticed a key point.]

[The Southwestern Front Army is advancing too fast.]

[I have fallen into a state of exhaustion.]

【It is a very dangerous time. 】

[First, severely damage the Southwestern Front Army, or even destroy it in one fell swoop! ]

[At the very least, we must repel them and keep them away from the battlefield. ]

[After dealing with the Soviet Southwestern Front, we will then pass through the resulting gap.]

【Counterattack with a pincer attack. 】

【The Soviet Union's Voronezh Front and Bryansk Front in the Kharkov region were completely defeated.】

【Push the battle line back to the summer of 1942. 】

[In other words, Manstein's plan was to encircle and annihilate one Soviet front in one fell swoop! And severely damage two fronts! ]

[From the perspective of the German high-ranking officers who had just suffered a disastrous defeat in the Battle of Stalingrad and whose front lines were in continuous retreat.]

[This plan is bold.]

[But once successful, it will bring huge benefits to the German army! ]

[This suits Hitler's taste very well.]

【So Hitler fully supported Manstein. 】

[Before launching the formal counterattack, Manstein had 30 divisions at his disposal.]

[Of these, 13 divisions are armored or motorized divisions.]

[The number of tanks has reached more than 900. ]

[Among them are the three ace units of the SS. 】

[The First Führer Guard Flag Armored Division! ]

【Second Empire Armored Division! 】

【The 3rd Skeleton Armored Division! 】

[They were all equipped with Tiger tanks and were the most powerful divisions in the German Army.]

[With the addition of these powerful forces, Manstein was full of confidence that his strategic plan could be implemented, although in terms of quantity, the Soviet army's strength was still more than five times that of the German army.]

When the sky screen played to this point, the barrage of comments began to exclaim as the German aces appeared one after another.

"Everyone is a villain! Everyone is an ace!"

《Fuck! Nah!》

"Even the Imperial Guards have been brought in. This time, the mustache guy is really spending a lot of money."

"These three divisions have an average of 2 men each. One division can easily defeat a Soviet army."

"If these three SS armored divisions were put together and deployed to the North African battlefield, they would probably be able to easily defeat the enemy."

"It's rare for Man Shuai to fight a rich battle..."

"It's not a good battle, after all, the Soviet Union has much more troops on the other side."

"The Tiger tank had just been put into combat at that time, right? The general Soviet army had no way to deal with the Tiger tank..."

……

The sky continues.

[The Soviet Union had no idea that the Germans were preparing to counterattack.]

[Although the Soviet Union has already detected that the German army is gathering its forces. ]

【However, the Soviet Union is very confident. 】

[The German army's massed forces were merely a massing for defense and orderly retreat.]

[The German troop movement only made it more difficult for the Soviet Union to swallow them all in one go.]

[It is unlikely that the Germans would counterattack anyway.]

[After all, the comparison of military strength on the battlefield is there. ]

[With more than 5 times the number of troops, anyone would be proud! 】

[The Soviet Union said: The advantage is mine! ]

【From the perspective of the battlefield situation, the Soviet Union does have a huge advantage. 】

【In order to deal with this battle. 】

[The Soviet army assembled 5 armies in the Kharkov area! ]

[Prepare to fight another beautiful siege battle outside Kharkov! ]

[The main force of the German army was severely damaged, and all the territory east of the Dnieper River was recovered in one fell swoop. ] [In this overly optimistic mood, the Soviet army continued to advance rapidly. ]

[The logistics supply lines are getting longer and longer.]

[In addition, the German army destroyed the railways along the way during its retreat.]

[The Soviet Union also encountered great difficulties in transporting logistical materials.]

[For example, the Soviet Southwestern Front, the 5th Army at the forefront. ]

[It is already 200 kilometers away from their logistics supply base.]

[And there is no railway connection, so logistics transportation can only be carried out by car. ]

[It is very difficult and dangerous.]

[In addition to the increasing logistical pressure, the morale of Soviet soldiers and the situation of the armored forces are not optimistic.]

[Since Operation Uranus in late 1942.]

[Although the Soviet army won successive victories, it had to go through the hard fighting of the Battle of Stalingrad and the breakthrough in the counterattack phase.]

[A large number of soldiers were in a state of prolonged combat without being able to rest or replenish themselves.]

[Many divisions on the front line have a large number of vacancies. ]

[A division has less than 5000 people. ]

[As the artillery of the god of war, the base amount of ammunition is only about half. ]

[The number of tanks was also consumed by half in the continuous attack.]

[From a third party's perspective, the Soviet army was already at the end of its strength.]

[Urgent need for replenishment, recuperation and a new round of reorganization. ]

[But Soviet commanders apparently thought otherwise.]

[Soviet commander General Vatutin, under his command the First Guards Army, Popov Tank Army, and the Sixth Army of the Southwestern Front. ]

【Three armies formed a battle group and prepared to force a crossing of the Dnieper River. 】

[On the west bank of the Dnieper River, a large-scale landing site was established to prepare for the subsequent liberation of Kiev. ]

[They were even prepared to drive the German army out of the Soviet Union before 1943.]

While Tianmu was narrating the story, he also further updated the battle line map.

It can be seen that in the Kharkov region, the Soviet Union and Germany fell into a brief stalemate.

And south of Kharkov.

The Southwestern Front stood out.

Judging from the troop numbers shown on the map, the Soviet army was still several times larger than the German army.

It seems that even if the Southwestern Front Army is somewhat prominent, it will not be a big problem.

But according to Tianmu’s introduction just now.

Manstein now controls the resources of the entire German Army Group South!
And it has the three ace troops of the SS!

And the entire Ukrainian region, all the resources of the German Air Force.

It can be said that the troops at Manstein's disposal were not too numerous.

But very elite!

Ancient people with a little strategic ability would see this.

Everyone realized that Manstein had a sharp knife in his hand!

And it's ready to strike out at any time!

Han Dynasty.

When Huo Qubing saw this, he couldn't help but get excited.

I have always admired Huo Qubing of the German Army.

After the Battle of Stalingrad, the German army was losing ground and there was even a risk that the entire army group would be surrounded.

Some were worried about the Germans.

My whole mood became bad.

But now Huo Qubing's mood has not only recovered, he is even a little excited!
This excitement was not because Huo Qubing liked the German army or admired their tactics.

As a soldier,
As a talented cavalry general!

Huo Qubing seemed to have seen it.

Manstein gave the order!
The German army's elite armored forces are like a sharp sword drawn from its sheath!
Lightning advance!

The pleasure of stabbing a sharp knife into the enemy's vital point!
The huge sense of accomplishment that a single charge can decide a battle and the outcome of a war over millions of square kilometers!

Huo Qubing was looking forward to it.

"It will be unsheathed soon."

"Manstein's sword is about to be unsheathed!"

(End of this chapter)