"Although from the bottom of my heart, I hope that General Hott's troops can once again crush the Russians' attempt to seize Kharkov, but judging from the current war situation, the fall of the city is only a matter of time."
After hearing Manstein's remarks, Zeitzler asked in surprise: "Your Excellency, Marshal, although intelligence shows that the Russians have more troops and more equipment than you, what's the big deal? ?You know, at the beginning of the year, the Russians had an advantage in terms of strength and equipment, and they had just won the victory of annihilating the 6th Army in Stalingrad. At that time, everyone saw such a disparity between the two sides and thought that we could not escape defeat. Destiny, but you unexpectedly defeated the Russians and recaptured Kharkov and Belgorod which were occupied by the Russians."
"General Zeitzler," if the Soviet troops attacking Kharkov are only the Steppe Front and the Voronezh Front, Manstein is fully confident that Hott will hold on for a few months, but there is an extra troublemaker. Sokov made Manstein feel uncertain: "You must know Sokov among the Russian commanders, right?"
"Your Excellency, Marshal!" Zeitzler heard Manstein solemnly mention Sokov's order and asked in shock, "Are you not afraid of him anymore?"
"Yes, General Zeitzler, you are right, I am indeed afraid of him." Manstein said truthfully to Zeitzler: "Everyone says that the most terrifying among Russians is Marshal Zhukov, but I I think their statement is inaccurate. Although Zhukov is powerful, due to his position, he does not directly fight us face to face. Instead, he formulates a detailed combat plan and hands it over to the following troops for execution. You also know that the Russian troops With their combat effectiveness, even if one of our divisions faces one of their armies, we may not necessarily be at a disadvantage."
Having said this, Manstein let out a long sigh: "But Sokov is different. The army group he commanded is fighting us with real swords and guns. Our troops have suffered a lot under his hands. Even The most elite Skeleton Division, Imperial Division, Grossdeutschland Division and 19th Panzer Division, etc., all suffered defeats under his hands.
Nowadays, as long as our officers and soldiers hear that the troops fighting with them are commanded by Sokov, their morale will become low and their combat effectiveness will be greatly reduced. For example, in the past two days of the attack on the Compass Town of Kazachya, if we encountered other Russian troops, our officers and soldiers would only need a few hours to take it down. But now that we have been fighting for two days, our troops After finally rushing into the town, they were driven out again by the Russians before they could take a breath. "
When Zeitzler heard this, he couldn't help but gasped. He had been paying attention to the direction of Kharkov recently, so he naturally knew where the compass town of Kazakhya was. "Marshal, I remember that town is not big. Why is your Why are the troops still unable to drive away the Russians?"
"Sokov's troops are very good at defense, and they also have new rockets and anti-tank rockets, which makes our officers and soldiers seem a little helpless when attacking." Manstein thought of one thing he had missed. He quickly asked: "General Zeitzler, I have sent people to send the captured new Russian rifles to Berlin. I wonder when the military-industrial force will be able to imitate them?"
"Your Excellency, Marshal, didn't your subordinates deliver the STG-44 submachine guns we sent?"
"Got it." When Manstein just saw this assault rifle with the name of a submachine gun, he was quite happy. But when his subordinates delivered the captured Soviet assault rifle, his heart suddenly went cold. Compared with the assault rifles of the Soviet army, the assault rifles developed by our own military industry department appear to be much crude and crude. "But the performance of this submachine gun is never as good as the Russian assault rifles. This means that on the battlefield, our officers and soldiers using this submachine gun will be suppressed by the opponent's firepower."
"Your Excellency, Marshal, you are right." Zeitzler agreed very much with Manstein's statement, but he also had difficulties: "Our military industry department has been studying a weapon that combines the characteristics of rifles and submachine guns. However, this research work was opposed by the head of state, so the military industry department could only name this new rifle after the submachine gun number.
When I first decided to put this kind of submachine gun into the army, I felt quite happy because as long as our troops are equipped with this kind of submachine gun, they can overwhelm the use of Popov submachine guns and Mosin-Nagant rifles in terms of firepower and accuracy. The Russians, but they did not expect that they would be ahead of us and put a more advanced assault rifle into the army. "
Manstein understood Mustache's character and naturally understood Zeitzler's difficulties. However, in order to prevent his troops from being pinned to the ground and rubbed by the Soviet army because of their backward weapons on the battlefield, he still had a hard-hearted attitude toward Caitzler. Zetzler: "General Zeitzler, I strongly suggest you call the military industry department and copy the Russians' new rifles no matter what, otherwise we will suffer greater losses on future battlefields."
Zeitzler was a cautious man, and when he saw Manstein showing off his cards to him, he was caught in a dilemma: "This...this..."
"General Zeitzler, do you feel that you don't know how to speak to the Führer?"
"That's right, Your Majesty Marshal." Seeing that Manstein had spoken his mind, Zeitzler said quickly: "I am worried that when I propose this plan, I will encounter opposition from the head of state.
You must know that although the Russian's new rifle has an advanced design concept, it must use new ammunition. In addition, it can fire continuously. In actual combat, the consumption of bullets is no less than that of a submachine gun, and the consumption is very alarming. In order to use this weapon, we must prepare a new ammunition system to meet the needs of combat.
However, our country is now in trouble. A large number of equipment and personnel have been lost in the tug-of-war on the Eastern Front. It is very difficult for us to make up for the losses on the front line. Not to mention the additional burden of adding new equipment and related new logistics systems. "
After hearing what Zeitzler said, Manstein fell silent. He knew very well that what the other party said was the truth. Under the current situation, a new ammunition system should be re-established to meet the needs of the battle. It's very unrealistic.
After thinking for a long time, he finally spoke again and said: "Okay, General Zeitzler, since this matter is embarrassing for you, let's put it aside for the time being. Why don't we return to the matter of building the Dnieper River defense line."
"Your Excellency, Marshal, this matter is of great importance. I cannot give you an accurate answer right away." Hearing that Manstein no longer mentioned the matter of preventing Soviet assault rifles, Zeitzler could not help but feel relieved and continued. He began to complain: "You know, building the Dnieper River defense line is not a small project, and it requires demonstration from all aspects..."
"General Zeitzler, I know that the construction of the Dnieper River Defense Line is not a small project and requires a lot of manpower and material resources." Manstein became a little anxious when he saw that Zeitzler didn't seem to be very interested in building the Dnieper River Defense Line. : "But this matter is urgent and cannot be delayed any longer. Otherwise, when the Russians occupy Kharkov and turn around and rush towards the Dnieper River, it will be too late to build a defense line."
"I can find a way to solve the material problem." Zeitzler heard the anxiety in Manstein's tone and said with some embarrassment: "But where can I find so many people for you to build fortifications?"
"If you need more manpower, why don't you worry?" Manstein said with a sneer: "In the Battle of Uman and the Battle of Kiev, we captured nearly a million Russian prisoners. I think it is appropriate to let these prisoners help us build fortifications. But that’s it.”
After hearing that Manstein mentioned that the Soviet prisoners of war captured in the Battle of Uman and the Battle of Kiev were used to build the Dnieper River defense line, Zeitzler said with a wry smile: "Your Excellency, Marshal, the Battle of Uman and the Battle of Kiev were both conducted two years ago. , after such a long time, how many of these nearly one million prisoners do you think are left now?"
"General Zeitzler!" Manstein couldn't help but feel his hair standing on end when he heard what Zeitzler said: "You won't tell me that all the nearly one million prisoners are dead now, right?"
"How should I put it?" Zeitzler said carefully after organizing the vocabulary in his mind: "After the two battles, a group of people died due to excessive injuries, and a group of them were taken to the concentration camps in the rear and executed. Another group of people died in the labor force. Excluding those prisoners who were transported back to Germany to work as laborers, there are about 150,000 people left today."
"150,000 people?" Manstein couldn't help but gasped when he learned that there were only 150,000 prisoners left among nearly a million prisoners. However, having 150,000 people to help him build fortifications was still better than nothing. Thinking of this, he said to Zeitzler: "General Zeitzler, please give an order to put these prisoners under the jurisdiction of my troops. I will use them to build a new building on the Dnieper River in the shortest possible time." Strong and reliable fortifications.”
"Himler is responsible for the care of these Russian prisoners of war." Zeitzler said cautiously: "But don't worry, Marshal, I will communicate with him as soon as possible and get him to agree to hand over these prisoners of war to you. "
"General Zeitzler, I leave it to you to communicate with Himmler." Manstein didn't like Himmler, so he was unwilling to deal with him, so he left the matter to Zeitzler to take full responsibility. However, considering the time constraints, he also specifically urged the other party: "I hope to see these Russian prisoners of war who are still alive in three days."
After seeing Manstein put down the phone, the chief of staff asked him tentatively: "Marshal, to build a long defense line on the Dnieper River, only 150,000 people are not enough. We need to find ways to recruit more." of labor force.”
Manstein took out a cigar from the wooden box, looked up at his chief of staff, and asked: "Chief of staff, where do you think we should recruit new labor force from?"
"Your Excellency, Marshal, if we build a defense line on the Dnieper River, it means that the left bank of the river will completely fall into the hands of the Russians."
"Yes, that's right."
"With the Left Bank in the hands of the Russians, they would certainly be recruiting new soldiers from the cities or the countryside to replace the men they had lost in the battle."
"Yes, that's true." Manstein asked with some confusion: "Chief of Staff, is there any difference between what you said and us recruiting enough labor to build the defense line?"
"Your Excellency, Marshal, what I mean is to recruit people from the cities and villages on the left bank to build a defense line."
"Recruit people from the cities and villages on the left bank to build a defense line?" Manstein cut off the cigar holder with scissors and held it in his mouth without lighting it immediately: "Aren't you worried that some of these people will attack the Russians? Are you going to blow the whistle and leak all our defense deployment?"
"Marshal Your Excellency, you don't have to worry about this. I have already thought of a way."
"any solution?"
"We can take advantage of the fact that the Russians have not captured Kharkov, move all the Russians on the left bank of the Dnieper River to the right bank, blow up factories, bridges and culverts, take away their livestock and poultry, set fire to the villages, and Poisoning the wells. After we do this, even if the Russians capture the place we abandoned, they will not be replenished with troops or supplies."
Manstein felt that the plan proposed by the chief of staff to strengthen the walls and clear the country was very effective in dealing with the Soviet army, but unfortunately it was too vicious. If I agree to his plan, once Germany is defeated in the future, I may be sent to court for this matter.
Seeing that Manstein did not speak, the chief of staff just lit the cigar silently and started smoking slowly. He quickly asked: "Marshal, do you agree with my opinion?"
"Chief of Staff," Manstein put down the cigar in his hand and looked at the Chief of Staff with narrowed eyes: "Have you ever thought that once Germany is defeated, the decision we made today can be directly sent to the gallows? ?”
"You are right, Marshal." The Chief of Staff did not deny Manstein's remarks, but continued: "But if we fail to build the Dnieper River defense line in time, the Russians will successfully cross Dnieper, then our troops in Ukraine would be in danger."
The chief of staff looked at Manstein and said solemnly: "If we lose Ukraine, the fate that awaits us is either to be dismissed from our posts or to be sent to a military court. In order to defend the Dnieper River, I think we can try this method. .”
After thinking about what the chief of staff said for a long time, Manstein still felt that his hands should not be stained with the blood of innocent people. But in order to defend the Dnieper River, he felt that it was more appropriate for his chief of staff to bear this infamy, so he said to him: "Okay, chief of staff. Since you proposed this plan, you will be responsible for the specific implementation work." Bar."
The chief of staff knew that Manstein was going to use him as a scapegoat, and a sad smile appeared on his face: "Okay, Marshal, as long as you don't object, I will immediately start arranging this matter."
