Hitler has never been a leader who is good at listening to subordinates' opinions. He is more arbitrary, such as the Tiger King's gun with a very overpowering cannon, and the more exaggerated 128mm tank gun later.

In short, Hitler believed in his own judgment more than listened to others' opinions. This was undoubtedly quite entangled for his subordinates. How could he make this overly conceited and self-righteous head of state "obedient"?

Even Hitler's confidant lover, like Sperer, had no good idea on this issue. He tried hard to advise Xiaowang, and made an easy-to-understand analysis based on scientific data. Why can't a large number of tigers be produced? It's so reasonable and well-founded.

But at the end, Hitler sent him away with just one sentence: "By the end of this year, we will strive to produce 500 Tiger tanks, and it would be better if we could produce 1,000!"

Faced with such a head of state who was unable to enter the country, Sperer had no other way than to escape, or there was another one, looking for Guderian. As a firm opponent of heavy tanks, Sperer and Guderian have many common languages. For example, when opposing tigers and leopards, they were completely consistent.

After learning the bad news about expanding the production of tigers from Sperer, Guderian immediately couldn't sit still. He immediately rushed to the wolf's den to meet Hitler. Like Sperer, he also prepared a large amount of theoretical data and prepared to persuade the head of state with reasonableness and conscience.

But what Guderian didn't expect was that he was blocked from Hitler's office, and the head of state refused to receive him. This made Guderian very aggrieved, and he had no idea why this was!

Halder looked at Guderian's figure leaving angrily and sighed in his heart. He knew very well that the person Hitler didn't want to see the least at this moment was Guderian. Why? The reason is very simple. Kursk's situation was told by Guderian, and the direction of the battle was completely consistent with his expectations. This made the head of state, who had always regarded himself as a civilian military strategist, feel cruel and shameless. He can meet anyone at this time, but he will not see Guderian, who made him lose face.

Of course, Hitler did not see Guderian not only because of his self-esteem, but more importantly, he believed that Guderian came to see him for the war in Kursk and came to make suggestions. Hitler's pride did not allow him to accept Guderian's advice. The head of state believed that he had enough ability to save Paulus's troops.

So, Hitler simply turned Guderian out of the door and was upset. But he didn't expect that Guderian was not for the Kursk issue at all. In fact, Guderian thought that even if he commanded Kursk's battle, it would be difficult to save the situation, and naturally he would not have any suggestions.

Hitler stared at the map on the table with his wolf-like eyes. On this map, Konotup was drawn with a big red cross and three circles were drawn on Crorevetz. It can be imagined that even Hitler was satisfied with the transition from Crorevetz to break through. He thought Paulus was still a little clever.

"Telection Paulus, let him speed up and meet with Manstein as soon as possible! Then we will rest in Chernigov and change into more Black Panthers and Tiger tanks, we will regain the initiative on the battlefield in one fell swoop and conquer Kiev in one fell swoop!"

Hitler pounded the table heavily, shaking the cup on the table and smashed it, but the head of state didn't care at all. His wolf-like eyes were staring at the map with cold light flashing...

However, compared with the confidence of the head of state, the German soldiers did not have that high fighting spirit. In the words of General Hans von Zalmut, the commander of the 30th Army under Manstein, said: "I cannot understand the Russians at all. Sometimes they will scatter everywhere like headless flies, but more often they will resist inhumanely. The Russians completely ignore the bodies of their compatriots piled up beside them, and still hold the weapons in their hands in cold blood to shoot, shoot, and shoot at us! Starting from the 15th, we attacked Klorevec along the road, and the continuous attack lasted for five days, and the resistance of the Russians did not weaken at all. I don't understand what was supporting them? The fear of death? The hatred for us? The bloodthirsty instinct? Or are they simply inhuman animals?"

When the German 11th Army arrived at the periphery of Klorevec, they could no longer move forward. There was no doubt that the Germans were at the end of their strength. Soon, the "fatal injuries" in the German logistics supply would be exposed. Whether it was the Manstein's 11th Army outside the encirclement or the Paulus cluster inside the encirclement, they would face problems such as fuel shortage, insufficient ammunition, and shortage of food supply.

Here we have to mention the strategic bombing of the Red Air Force. Starting from April 1942, under the order of Alqueznis, the Red Army's long-range aviation forces strengthened the bombing of German railway hubs and material transfer warehouses. Thousands of Tu-3s and Pe-8s continued to patronize major cities in East Poland, throwing tens of thousands of tons of bombs, almost blew the rear of the German army.

The gasoline, ammunition, food, and medicines that the German front-line troops urgently needed were gone by bombing, and the remaining 70% could not be sent to various troops, because the Red Army's guerrillas and underground resistance organizations active in East Poland were also constantly attacking the German logistics convoy at all costs. In the end, only 50% of the materials that the German army could transport to the front line were left.

For a large army of millions, half of the supply of materials means there is a big problem. A considerable number of cars and tanks have become pure decorations and cannot play any role at all. In this extremely difficult situation, Hitler even ordered the ministries to "effectively collect the remaining fuel from the destroyed vehicles of both the enemy and us."

However, for the precise German manufacturing, the low-quality gasoline used by the Red Army was really not easy to use, causing various problems in a considerable number of German cars and tank engines. The Germans had to use filters to filter the collected Russian gasoline again and then use it.

Even if the front-line troops tried every means to get gasoline, they were still a drop in the bucket. Especially after the Red Army soldiers discovered the German intentions, they did not forget to stuff a grenade into the fuel tank when they fled the destroyed cars and tanks. They did not leave any gasoline for the Germans. This caused the German armored forces to slump.

For example, the 47th and 48th Mechanized Armies pursuing Paulus have been discovered more than once. A considerable number of German tanks were abandoned because they had no gasoline before they were fired. On the road, you can see tanks and cars abandoned by the Germans lined up in a long line.

Let me put it this way, when Paulus' armored cluster arrived near Klorevec, only one-third of the strength before the war was left. The sinister situation became clearer, and even Paulus himself had to admit: "Our army suffered huge losses after turning to Klorevec. A large number of tanks and armored vehicles were lost due to non-war damage, which made it very difficult for our army to break through Klorevec's Russian attack..."

On the other hand, the 47th and 48th mechanized armies were closely tied behind Paulus, and they could make him analges at any time. The huge danger caused sharp conflicts to erupt within the German army. The defense force and the SS were choked!

According to the battalion commander of a battalion of the 10th Division of the 46th Armored Army of Germany, "According to the requirements of our superiors, we were ordered to perform guard missions, but in fact they were the rear guards. To be honest, we don't like such missions. Everyone knows that there are about a thousand tanks behind us, and most of them are advanced T-34 and T-35. What are we in our hands? What can the old No. 3 tank and 37mm anti-tank gun do?"

"What we cannot accept in particular is why we should replace the SS? The personnel and equipment of the Second Imperial Division are more tidy than us. This difficult task should be handed over to them? Is the SS nobler than the National Welfare? Is our National Welfare just cannon fodder?"

The important reason for the National Defense Forces' dissatisfaction is that the previous few blockings of the palace were undertaken by the National Defense Forces, and the Second Armored Division of the SSS has been fully equipped with personnel to retreat. Now it is their turn to make the third blocking mission?

The problem is that Paulus doesn't think so. He believes that the strength of the SSL Second Armored Division is best preserved, and naturally has the highest combat power. Isn't it better to use the strongest combat power on the blade and let the SSL Second Armored Division break through and open up the escape path as soon as possible?

This seems to make sense, but in the circumstances at that time, not everyone accepted this more reasonable approach. In extreme cases, people would be crazy, and any little bit of disappointment would make them explode. Obviously, the Germans have reached their limits and are only a short distance from the explosion.

The bad situation not only occurs within the encirclement, but also encounters internal conflicts outside the encirclement. His army is very complex. In addition to the German Wehrmacht, there are also Romanian cavalry and a small number of Czechoslovakia and Hungarian cannon fodder. The latter two were originally full of opinions on wars and could endure it when fighting with the wind. Once they entered adversity, the conflicts would break out.

For example, Hungarian officer Major Fercitelben recalled: "The morale of the troops was very low, and the continuous combat exhausted us. Some of us even left our weapons and fled to the Russians. The German master was very angry about this. In order to ensure that such embarrassing things did not happen, they sent us a SS lieutenant and thirty other Nazi party members as reinforcements. Of course, this was only nominal. In fact, these Nazis were here to supervise us. These Nazis were stationed behind our defense line, probably to prevent us from retreating on the spot and deliberately blocking the back road!"

"These Nazis are arrogant and rude, and they refuse to accept any suggestions and opinions from us. I am afraid that in their opinion we are slaves for the only driving force. But what makes me funny is that soon after, these proud guys took off their gorgeous coats and retreated in shame. The reason? The reason is very simple. When the Paulus group in the encirclement was destroyed, the Russians opposite us began to try to launch a new offensive, and I told the SS captain: 'We have almost no heavy weapons on our defense line. Can you take over some of the defense lines or support us with some heavy weapons?'. After hearing this, the Nazis disappeared that night. These guys ran faster than rabbits!"

Just as Paulus was preparing to break through, the 47th and 48th Mechanized Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored As mentioned earlier. As the 10th Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Armored Assaults, the 58th Tank Division of the Red Army was attacked.

Paulus was shocked at the time. He quickly drew the 18th Armored Division from the offensive operations to reinforce the 10th Armored Division. This order should be said to be relatively timely. However, just when the 18th Armored Division returned to the rescue, the head of state who was far away in the wolf's den suddenly issued an inexplicable order. He asked the 18th Armored Division and the ss Second Armored Division to cooperate with Manstein's new round of clearing operations, and required the two armored divisions to put enough pressure on the 6th Army of the Red Army.

Obviously, Hitler was completely out of touch with the battlefield situation. He did not take the 58th Tank Division of the Red Army seriously, thinking that the 10th Armored Division of the German Army was enough to block the opponent. The head of state thought more about breaking through.

This order quickly shocked Paulus! The 10th Armored Division's call for help was one after another, but how could you ignore the head of state? So he quickly sent a telegram to the wolf's cave and asked the head of state to take back the somewhat unreasonable order.

However, Hitler still didn't think he was unreasonable. He calculated in the wolf's den thousands of miles away, thinking that the 10th Armored Division blocked the 58th Tank Division of the Red Army was not a problem at all. He even had the intention of ordering the 10th Armored Division to counterattack, which shows how serious the head of state was actually disconnected from the battlefield.

So when Hitler received a telegram from Paulus, he didn't believe it at all. When the elite German armored division could not defeat a bad tank division of the Russian army, wasn't this a joke? The head of state thought that someone was deliberately lying.

"Call Paulus immediately and ask Paulus to submit a detailed 'telephone war report' of the battalion-level troops immediately!"

The so-called detailed telex war report is actually that Hitler wants to see the real situation at the level of the Paulus Cluster Battalion to see if someone is cheating. Please note that at this time, it is a statistical report of the entire Paulus Cluster. This takes a lot of time. When Hitler checked the statistical reports sent by the Paulus Cluster Battalion one by one, the defense line of the 10th Armored Division of the German Army had collapsed.

Paulus recalled the situation at that time: "When the head of state was busy making statistical reports, the Russians launched rounds of fierce attacks after round, and finally defeated the 10th Armored Division and broke into our army. The air reconnaissance report said that the Russians had subsequent tanks and armored vehicles as high as 3,000. Once these tanks continued to go deeper, my troops would be easily divided and surrounded. I could only beg the head of state again to let the 18th Armored Division return to the rescue immediately, otherwise the consequences would be unimaginable! But the head of state still insisted on completing the statistics..."

Five hours later, the statistics came out. Paulus did not lie, and the 10th Armored Division did not lie. The wise head of state immediately waved his hand "generously": "The 18th Armored Division can act according to Paulus' orders, but must repel the Russian 58th Tank Division as soon as possible so as to re-enter the attack on the Russian 6th Army!"

I have to say that at this time, Hitler was still whimsical. He thought that as long as he defeated the 58th Tank Division, everything would be fine, and he thought that the initiative on the battlefield was still in his hands. In fact, the remnants of the 18th Armored Division and the 10th Armored Division were combined to withstand the 58th Tank Division. As for repelling the opponent, it was simply a daydream!

Not long after the 58th Tank Division of the Red Army arrived on the battlefield, the 60th and 62nd Tank Divisions of the 48th Mechanized Army and the 59th Tank Division of the 47th Mechanized Army also arrived on the battlefield. According to Ubolevic's request, they immediately launched the attack as soon as possible, forcing Paulus to retreat from the attack on the 6th Army of the Red Army and concentrate on resisting the impact of the Red Army's mechanized troops.

In other words, the attempt by Hitler to defeat the 6th Army by Paulus and Manstein, whom Hitler was expected to be broken from the beginning. Not to mention cooperating with Manstein to break through, even the defense was difficult.

Paulus recalled: "In the early morning of July 22, I received a report and learned that the enemy had penetrated into many parts of our army in the darkness of the night, and then the enemy launched a new wave of fierce attacks. The defense line of the 298th Infantry Division collapsed directly, and the division could only be forced to retreat, and the Russian tanks approached in large numbers. In addition, the flank of the 1st Cavalry Division was penetrated, and they requested to retreat immediately, otherwise they would be divided and surrounded... The only good news came from the 18th and 10th Armored Divisions, and they finally stood their feet..."

In fact, the situation of the 10th and 18th Armored Divisions was not as good as they reported to Paulus. According to the recall of the 10th Mofan Division officers and soldiers of the two neighbors, the 10th Armored Division, the two divisions, "The 18th Armored Division claimed that they had repelled the Russians, but our regiment commander's judgment was not so, because the sound of gunfire in the battle had extended to the west and northwest of our regiment, which indicated that the Russian army had wedged into the defense line of the 18th Armored Division. That afternoon, the regiment commander's judgment was confirmed, and a large hole was chiseled on the defense line of the 18th Armored Division.

The Russians were trying to strip the 18th Armored Division from other troops of our army. They wanted to fight an annihilation war! At night, the situation became increasingly tense, and our regiment was also attacked by the Russian army... Reservoirs were asked everywhere, but according to the regiment commander, there were no reserves anymore. The only reserve team, SS Second Armored Division, was still attacking the Russian 6th Army in vain. According to the order of the head of state, this division would directly obey his command. Without his orders, no one was allowed to change the mission of SS Second Armored Division without authorization..."

ps: Bow to thank Xingmushi, the useless man, drink thousands of cups, and people who are not drunk, hzangdd and comrade Juventus!
Chapter completed!