Iron Cross

"What? A large number of Soviet troops were found on the east coast of the Caspian Sea? The Malinovsky Army Group in the north is also ready to move?" Zeitzler was shocked when he received the intelligence. Since the beginning of the cold winter, except for the fierce fighting near the Fergana Basin, all fronts have entered the winter break period, and the troops have been busy replenishing and rotating personnel. The troops that have not completed the 1943 type transformation have stepped up the transformation, and a few elite troops have begun to replace new equipment-such as Leopard tanks and Assaulters. This armored division, called the 1944 modified organization, replaced the original No. 4 tank with the Leopard, forming a combination of Leopard + Tiger + Assaulter, all with 88mm/56L caliber artillery, further optimizing logistics supply.

After the No. 4 tank was gradually transformed into a Leopard tank production line, the production of Tiger tanks remained stable at 250 vehicles/month, the production of Leopards has exceeded 500 vehicles/month, and the production level of No. 4 has dropped to 600 vehicles/month. Although the overall production has declined, the effect of improving combat effectiveness is obvious. After the Soviet army deployed IS-1 and T-43/85, Speer, who felt the pressure, became anxious in the face of the fully suppressed Type 4, and accelerated the production of the Leopard. According to the plan of the Supreme Command, by the time the spring offensive was launched in mid-April, at least 10 armored divisions that had completed the 1944 model organization optimization would be required - 4 SS and 6 Wehrmacht. At the same time, the 4 Marine brigades would also be refitted.

In order to enhance competitiveness in the field of heavy tanks and ensure the absolute advantage of the German armored warfare, the Armament Department's Tiger 2 tank, which was originally scheduled to be mass-produced in May, also made its debut ahead of schedule. Given that the 850-horsepower HL234 engine has not yet been fully matured and mass-produced, the power system still only uses the 650-horsepower HL230 engine. Fortunately, after potential tapping and transformation, the HL230 has been upgraded to HL230+, and the power has been increased to 685 horsepower. So the Armament Department launched the Tiger 2 tank first.

From the data, Tiger 2 is a simplified version of King Tiger tank. The main modification is to reduce the frontal armor to 130mm, and the armor of other parts has also been weakened to varying degrees. It is equipped with 88mm/L71 tank gun, and the weight is controlled at about 54 tons. Except for the turret, the other chassis, accessories, and body size are basically the same as King Tiger (or Tiger 3). Technical experts have previously reminded the General Staff and the military that the 88mm/L71 gun is difficult to produce and it is recommended to reserve it in advance. Therefore, Tiger 2 uses all the gun barrels that have been reserved and produced in advance. Several veteran heavy armored battalions have returned to China to receive Tiger 2 tanks. When the spring offensive begins, they will have more memorable weapons.

The Tiger II tank, equipped with an 850-horsepower HL234 engine and a new transmission system, will have 160mm inclined armor, a 105mm/L68 tank gun (with 42 rounds of ammunition), and a total weight of more than 62 tons. However, due to the increased engine power, its mobility is obviously better than the Tiger II, only slightly worse than the Tiger I based on the HL230+ engine, and close to the early Tiger tanks.

According to previous development practices, the German army will also develop tank destroyers with the same chassis. The No. 5 tank destroyer developed based on the Tiger tank was also completed not long ago, code-named "Berserker". It is different from the Ferdinand (Elephant tank destroyer) based on the Tiger chassis in history. Hoffman does not like the stupid and useless Ferdinand. The Berserker's armor is basically the same as the Tiger's, and its total weight is basically maintained at the 48-ton level. The weight of the turret is saved and used for the artillery update - the 105mm/L68 tank gun that is the same as the King Tiger is installed. The armor-piercing ability is currently ranked first, and it can shoot at Sherman and T-43 at will at about 2,000 meters.

Originally, the technical department was also preparing to launch a Jagdpanther tank destroyer based on the Panther tank, but because the current number of Panther tanks is far from enough, the Jagdpanther can only be locked in the safe as a blueprint vehicle. The only thing that makes the technical department ashamed is that the E-45 series of universal tanks proposed by the Führer, which integrates the four major advantages of "the mobility and cost of medium tanks, the firepower and defense of heavy tanks", has not made much progress. Not to mention 1944, pessimists believe that it may not be built in 1945. Although it is a bit disappointing, given that the United States is still scratching its head with the first generation of heavy tanks, the Germans have reason to be proud of their abilities and technical level.

In contrast, in order to obtain the IS-1 tanks and blueprints, the Joint Chiefs of Staff sent 30 ships full of supplies to Stalin (12 of which were to be paid as tribute to the Japanese military), and hinted that if the effect was good and the loss was not large (that is, Japan abided by its promise to only take 40% of the protection fee), another 30 ships would be sent.

In Zeitzler's eyes, all preparations on the Eastern Front were proceeding in an orderly manner, preparing to strike a comprehensive blow to Stalin after the spring. He never expected that the Russians would actually plan to give him a big blow first.

"How many troops does the enemy have?"

"The Red Army has about 200,000 troops ready to attack, divided into two routes, the east and the north, and there are about 200,000 to 350,000 follow-up troops behind them."

"So many?" Zeitzler couldn't help but frowned, "Didn't the Russians say that they were busy clearing out the ethnic forces in Central Asia?"

"That's right. The Russian army is divided into two routes, one to attack the Caspian Sea, and the other to put out fires in Central Asia."

"How many troops do they have in total?" Zeitzler was surprised, "On the one hand, they surrounded our army in the Fergana Basin, on the other hand, they sent troops to sweep Central Asia, and on the other hand, they sent troops to attack the eastern coast of the Caspian Sea..."

"Preliminary estimates show that there are no less than 1 million troops. These are probably the main forces of the Russians that disappeared in the middle route."

"Well, the Führer is right. The Russians' strength and combat style cannot be predicted by common sense." Zeitzler sighed, walked to the map and began to judge the situation. The staff had re-marked the intelligence and information they had just received on the map.

The German army on the east coast of the Caspian Sea has a total of more than 50,000 troops, in addition to an airborne division and an airborne brigade dispatched by Scherner in advance. The total number is less than 70,000 and there is no armored division. This part of the troops is backed by the powerful Southern Army Group and can get reinforcements through the Caspian Sea at any time. Zeitzler has always believed that the danger is not great. He did not expect that the Russians would dare to make trouble. He was very angry.

"Marshal Manstein prepared a lot of troops on the west coast some time ago, saying that he would deal with the situation in Central Asia. Now they can be deployed and asked to prepare to cross the Caspian Sea." He thought for a moment and added, "Ask the Air Force to prepare to ensure regional air supremacy."

The staff officers had just agreed when one of them frowned and shouted, "Sir, your request cannot be met for the time being."

"Cannot be met?"

Zeitzler was stunned: "Why?"

"The Caspian Sea began to freeze 10 days ago. The ice layer is neither thick nor thin, but the west coast is frozen. Ships and boats cannot move, so reinforcements are impossible."

Everyone looked at each other. Zeitzler suddenly remembered that he had received a report on the situation a few days ago, and hurriedly said, "Quick, let them report the coverage of the ice area."

After marking the ice range of the Caspian Sea on the map, everyone frowned: The ice in the Caspian Sea is too strange. The west coast is almost frozen, the ice layer in the middle is very thin, and there is almost no ice on the east coast. This half-ice and half-water situation made the staff officers dumbfounded - they only heard that there was a north-south ice-water boundary, but there was also a frozen water area in the world that divided the east and the west?

The two huge pincer offensive spearheads of the Red Army in the north and south on the map, combined with the subsequent huge military force, were obviously not something that the 70,000 troops on the east coast without an armored division could defend. Zeitzler muttered to himself: "This is bad, we have to arrange a retreat."

"Marshal Manstein sent a telegram suggesting that the troops withdraw to Iran in the southeast direction and then go to Tehran for the winter. Take the baggage in the east coast camp if you can, and be sure to speed up the retreat and don't let the Russians get stuck."

"All the supplies that can't be taken away should be destroyed on the spot?"

"This..." The staff officer showed a look of horror, "The telegram said that there is no need to bother destroying it, just leave it to the Russians..."

"Leave it to the Russians? Is this what the marshal said? Is he going to aid the enemy?" Zeitzler asked with his eyes wide open in disbelief.

"Yes."

"Crazy!"

"This is really crazy..." Manstein himself said the same thing when he sent a telegram to Zeitzler. According to his original intention, at least a few thousand troops should be left to hold on, and even if the whole army was destroyed, the supplies could not be left to the Russians. But the answer given by the Führer after listening to the report made him frown.

"Can't figure it out?" Hoffman smiled, "My Marshal, you just told me that the Russians might go after the Turks."

"That's very likely, of course, they might go after the Iranians - although the latter is less likely."

"I feel that the chances of going after the Turks are greater. After all, after our army of nearly 70,000 people withdrew to Tehran, it would not be so easy for the Russians to fight the Iranians."

"It would be even more difficult to destroy all the supplies."

"If it's not easy, how can we let the Russians teach Turkey a lesson?" Hoffman's voice suddenly rose an octave, "Don't you think it's a good military strategy to let the Turks lure the enemy deep into our territory and then gather and annihilate them?"

Manstein certainly understood military strategies, but he understood the political strategies that the Führer did not say: After taking over the Transcaucasus, the Turks swallowed up most of the territory despite German opposition, and also swallowed up Baku in an extremely ugly way, and even clashed with the Iranians over territory. Many German senior officials were indignant, but Hoffman had been suppressing his emotions. Now it seems that the Führer is not in a good mood, but is holding back bad things...

"Military is the continuation of politics, and must always serve the overall political situation." Hoffman smiled, "I believe you have a plan for how to fight next?"

"Of course, no problem, but what if Marshal Bock comes?" Bock is a Turkish military adviser. He served as the commander of the Central Army Group and has a long career.

"Marshal Bock is old, and the weather has been bad recently. He is more likely to get sick. Someone will advise him to go to Italy for recuperation..." Hoffman blinked, "If there are officers under your command who are not very smart, I also suggest going to Italy or France for recuperation and sunbathing."

Manstein smiled knowingly - he is a Junker, but he is not a Junker who is conservative. He knows how to fight this war...