Iron Cross

In the end, Hoffman himself had a headache as to which one to choose between the two options, because each theory seemed correct. At that time, he was very anxious about it, but after a week of painful thinking, he suddenly calmed down. Zeitzler and Keitel were summoned to prepare the order.

“The purpose of the Battle of the Castle is not to capture here or there, nor to capture or attempt to capture Moscow. Our campaign is very clear, with two lines in total: first, to attract the attention of the Red Army’s heavily armed group and create opportunities for the southern flank battlefield; Second, if possible, Army Group Center can also annihilate the enemy's effective forces, such as the Bryansk Front. Therefore, I decided..." Hoffman paused, "I hope you will forget about the Tula plan or the Rzhev plan for the time being. Let’s fight Tambov first.”

"Starting from Orel to fight Tambov?"

"No, start from Voronezh!" Hoffman explained his action plan. "Voronezh is about 200 kilometers away from Tambov, which is a one-week assault distance for the armored group. After occupying this place, we will have a more leisurely opportunity to choose. One-step offensive target. Tambov is about 300 kilometers away from the Tula-Ryazan line in the northwest and about 360 kilometers away from Saratov in the southeast. I am determined to create a salient here. "

The two looked at each other: Initially it was said that Army Group Center would carry out the Battle of the Castle, but Voronezh is the defensive area of ​​Army Group South. It was decided that Model would be the commander and Weikes would be the auxiliary. Is it necessary to temporarily change the command to Holt now?

Faced with this doubt, Hoffmann couldn't laugh or cry: "Why can't Army Group Center use the defense areas of other army groups to launch an attack? It is true that Voronezh is General Huth's defense line. If it is attacked by the enemy, can Model just sit back and watch?" "

"So..." Zeitzler asked doubtfully, "What is our real goal after capturing Tambov? Tula-Ryazan or Saratov?"

Hoffman's answer made him vomit blood: "My goal is to have no goal. Under the exchange ratio of 1:7, if Stalin loses 1 million people for Tambov, let alone Tambov, I don't want it, even Voronezh You can give it to him. At worst, I will start from Kharkov and continue to fight Voronezh next time. Gentlemen, you must know that capturing here or there is not the most important thing now. Even Stalingrad itself is not the most critical and important thing. It is the effective destruction of the enemy."

As a result, the Tambov plan immediately became the third option for the Battle of the Castle. Although the plan was not the most brilliant and looked a bit ridiculous, it was finally adopted because several army group commanders believed that setting a small target first would It is also feasible to then decide the next strategic direction. Moreover, Tambov itself is very important strategically. It is an important node for the Red Army to connect the Bryansk Front and the Southwest Front - its status is equivalent to Voronezh connecting Army Group Center and Army Group South.

Of course, the implementation of this plan will face a series of problems: for example, the Rzhev-Vyazma direction will encounter a Red Army attack, and the Orel defense zone will encounter a counterattack. After final discussions, the most important line of Rzhev-Vyazma was defended by the 9th Army. After Model was promoted, Hoffman selected General Scherner as the commander of the army, and the remaining areas were defended by the 4th Army. Responsible for defense; the Orel line is responsible for the defense of Marshal Weikes' Eastern Army Group, and also assumes the functions of the campaign reserve.

On May 11, a series of personnel changes and organization transfers related to the Battle of the Castle were implemented: the Huth Group was renamed Army Group B, General Huth served as the commander, and General Joerg Hans Reinhardt officially served as the commander of the Army Group B. Commander of the 4th Armored Army; the Kleist Group was renamed Army Group A, with General Kleist as the commander and General Eberhard von Mackensen as the commander of the 1st Armored Army.

The biggest change was that the Middle East Army was renamed Army Group C, with Marshal Rommel as its commander. The German troops were renamed the 5th Panzer Army. After being promoted to general, Hermann Balck took over as commander from the position of commander of the Grossdeutschland Division. The troops originally dispatched to Turkey and led by Major General Walter Wenke also joined the army. Wenke won Rommel's high regard for his good performance and strongly recommended him to take over the position of commander of the Grossdeutschland Division. In addition to the 5th Armored Group, the army group also received cooperation from the Iranian 1st Army. Although the total strength of Army Group C is only 250,000 (150,000 for the 5th Armored Group and 100,000 for the Iran Army), its combat effectiveness cannot be underestimated because it contains several ace divisions that have completed reorganization.

Hoffmann clearly stipulated that the three Army Groups A, B, and C were all subordinate to Army Group South and were under the unified command of Marshal Manstein.

Although Manstein was very proud to be the commander of various army groups, seeing that other army groups had organized armored armies but Army Group South did not yet have one, he became anxious again and sent a telegram to the Führer, hoping to also establish an armored army and strongly recommending it. Father Hube took over, and two days later his request was approved. Hans-Valentin Hube was promoted to general and became commander of the 6th Armored Army.

Based on Hoffmann's suggestion and coordinated by Zeitzler, the commanders of each army group reached an agreement: to launch an attack on Tambov on May 25, with the northern wing group commanded by Model and Colonel Erhard Rouse. The 3rd Panzer Army commanded by General General Rudolf Schmidt and the 2nd Panzer Army commanded by General Rudolf Schmidt were responsible for the main offensive mission. The southern flank group was commanded by Huth, and Reinhardt's 4th Army was responsible for the secondary offensive mission.

On May 15, the No. 11 Operation Order of the General Staff, signed by Hoffman and co-signed by Keitel, was issued:

…I have decided to launch the first of a series of offensives this summer, the "Castle" offensive, as soon as the weather conditions permit.

This offensive is of decisive significance. It must succeed quickly and thoroughly, and must lay the foundation for winning the initiative this summer and completely destroying the Bolshevik regime. Therefore, all preparations should be made very carefully and vigorously. In the main assault direction, the most elite troops, the most sophisticated weapons, the most outstanding commanders and sufficient supplies should be deployed. Every commander and every soldier must fully realize the decisive significance of this offensive, and its victory will surely attract worldwide attention.

The purpose of this offensive is: with Voronezh as the main starting base, divided into two routes in the north and south, with three armored groups to carry out intensive, brave and rapid assaults, encircle the enemy in the Tambov area, and annihilate them through concentric assaults!

The so-called enemy in the Tambov area actually refers to the main force of the Bryansk Front. Intelligence shows that after repeated reorganization and reinforcement, the army group's strength cannot be underestimated. It has the 3rd Guards Tank Army (12th and 15th Tank Armies, 2nd Mechanized Army, 91st Independent Tank Brigade), 1st Guards Tank Army, 20th Tank Army and other forces, with a total of more than 800 tanks and a total force of more than 500,000.

However, the offensive force prepared by Hoffman for Tambov can also be called violent - a total of 3 armored armies were mobilized, with a total force of almost 600,000, but the total number of tanks was more than double that of the Russians, nearly 2,000, including 5 Tiger armored battalions. Of course, considering that the Red Army may receive a large number of reinforcements, in addition to the initial force advantage, Hoffman also asked Zeitzler to prepare emergency reinforcements - 100,000 people and 600 tanks.

In addition to the significant tank advantage, the air force strength comparison is also overwhelming - the total number of Red Army aircraft does not exceed 1,000, while the Eastern Front Air Force has 3,200 aircraft. The only major technical weapon that the Red Army is close to is artillery: Germany has about 10,248 artillery pieces, while the Red Army has about 8,000 artillery pieces.

Hoffman regrets that although the name is the same, the Panther tank that appeared in the Castle Battle in history cannot participate in the battle this time because it has not been produced at all.

In terms of force comparison, this time it has an overwhelming advantage. Unless Stalin mobilizes heavy troops to join the battlefield in a short period of time, the Bryansk Front cannot be saved - but this just achieves the significance of the Castle Battle.

He habitually asked Model: "The battle will be launched tomorrow, what difficulties are you facing?"

"Recently, I have indeed encountered a difficulty that is not too big or too small." Model said this with a smile, "I originally asked for 400 tanks to be supplemented, but 600 were sent to me at once. This, I found... the tank crews are not enough, even the reserve crews are used, and there are still dozens of gaps!"

Everyone in the command center was stunned at first, and finally burst into laughter

This sounds like a cold humor, but it actually reflects the greatly improved supply situation of the German army. According to the original plan, the Panther should start small-scale production in April, but due to the overall shortage of the No. 4 tank, Hoffman made up his mind to postpone the production of the Panther to August, and even believed that if necessary, it could be postponed to September. Domestic tank factories should produce the No. 4 tank at full capacity.

Thanks to Speer's efforts, the monthly output of the Type 4 tank climbed again from 1,394 in March to 1,468 in April. It is expected to reach the ultimate goal of 1,500 in May, but it can't go any higher, because the supporting production lines are gradually preparing to switch to the production of the Panther. Unless the Panther is no longer prepared to be produced, 1,500 is the limit. Although the expansion of quantity makes everyone happy, and the performance of the Type 4H is not bad, Hoffman believes that the Allies will definitely launch new tanks, and it is necessary to have performance advantages. Therefore, the Panther must be put into production this year, and the timing depends on the final results of the Castle Battle and the Spring Awakening Battle.

If the loss is large, then the Panther will be put into production in September or even October; if the loss is small, then the Panther will be put into production in August. In any case, the 3,000 Type 4 tanks in June and July are inevitable.