The Third Reich: The Return of the King

Chapter 1190

Hearing Manstein’s words, Mainz smiled.

“You are right. If they leave Kazan, they will die slowly.”

“However, if you continue to stay in Kazan, you will be waiting to die. So, if you were Starling, would you choose to wait to die on the spot, or retreat and wait for an opportunity?”

Based on Mainz’s understanding of Starling, if it was him before the Moscow Incident, he would definitely choose to defend to the end.

After all, when facing the massive attack of millions of German troops, Starling was a ruthless man who could defend Moscow and never retreat a single step.

However, this is a different time. The current Starling is not the same as in history, because history has changed.

In the Moscow Incident, Starling and his army were not driven away by the German army, but by the people under his own rule.

This failure and escape can be said to have fundamentally changed Starling.

After all, before this, he had no experience of escaping in a panic.

But after this time, he had!

Everything has a second chance. After the first escape, when facing the same situation the second time, It would be easier for him to make a similar choice.

Therefore, from a human perspective, Mainz judged that Stalingrad would not defend Kazan to the death.

If the German army only attacked the Soviet army from the direction of Moscow, then the Soviet army would still have hope of resistance. After all, an attack from a single direction is easier to defend.

However, the most deadly at the moment is actually the German attack from the south.

Guderian’s Southern Army Group is attacking Stalingrad at this time. The city’s current defense is not tight. The main force of the Soviet army has considered abandoning it and withdrawing eastward to the northern Caspian Sea east of Astrakhan.

Originally stationed in the southwestern part of the Russian Bear were Zhukov and his more than one million troops. If this army was not annihilated by the German army, then the German attack here would inevitably encounter stubborn resistance from the other side..

Historically, during the Soviet-German War, many large-scale battles broke out on the southern battlefield. The fighting between the two sides on the southern battlefield lasted for most of the Soviet-German War until the German army was completely defeated and driven away.

However, Zhukov’s risky plan caused more than half of the Soviet troops stationed in the southwestern region to be withdrawn, and the troops that were withdrawn were all the troops that Starlin had finally gathered by selling his belongings and saving money.

The loss of this force severely damaged the Soviet army, and the defense system in the southwest also collapsed.

While the German army annihilated millions of Soviet troops on the front line in the Mins city area in one fell swoop, the Soviet army in the southwest was also suffering from the fierce attack of the German Southern Army Group.

This offensive was launched when Guderian led his troops from Moscow and attacked the Soviet army from the rear along the Volga River. It reached its peak at that time.

Suffering from fierce attacks from the front and back of the German army, the Soviet troops stationed in the southwest battlefield could no longer hold on.

They made some symbolic resistance in Stalingrad, and then quickly withdrew their troops and rushed eastward along the Caspian Sea.

Taking advantage of the opportunity that Starling and the main force of the Soviet army were attracting the attention of the German army in the Kazan area, they must escape from the German encirclement as soon as possible. Otherwise, once the German army felt the threat they brought, they would definitely kill them before attacking Kazan!

If you don’t want to become cannon fodder, you can only run faster than the main force!

The Soviet army in the southwest battlefield not only left a huge gap for the German army, but also made the Soviet flank in the Kazan area even weaker.

As long as Starling was not blinded by his subordinates, he would be able to judge that the battle situation was unfavorable to him based on the current bad situation. Therefore, Mainz speculated that Starling would definitely retreat.

“Führer, if the Soviet army will continue to retreat eastward as you said, then what should we do?”

Manstein knew that the Soviet army could not be allowed to keep running eastward, even though the Siberian Plain in the east was a barren land.

The climate there was cold and not suitable for human habitation and life.

If the Soviet army ran there, most of them would freeze to death when the weather got cold.

However, the problem was that the Russians still had a lot of land in the Far East. As long as they could cross the Siberian wilderness and reach the Far East, they would have a chance to survive!

Once the Soviet army ran to the Far East, the German army would have to destroy them. They would either have to go around the earth and send the navy from the Pacific Ocean to attack the Soviet army that had fled to the Far East.

Or they would have to cross the Siberian wilderness, which was sparsely populated and had harsh climatic conditions. , and pursue the Soviets along the route they retreated.

Neither of these two options is what the German army wants!

Therefore, Manstein hopes to destroy the Soviets before they escape. However, if the judgment of the head of Mainz is correct, then the Soviet army will have retreated before they take action to destroy the other side. In this case, how can they completely annihilate the other side and prevent them from escaping?

This is a good question, and Mainz has been thinking about this problem in his heart these days.

From his inner point of view, he hopes to eradicate the power of the Red Bear.

However, if you consider it from a realistic point of view, it is easy to conclude that it is not cost-effective to do so!

The German troops With every step forward across the Ural Mountains to the east, the manpower, material resources and transportation costs will grow exponentially!

After all, the capital of the Third Reich is in Berlin, and Berlin is more than 3,000 kilometers away from Kazan.

With such a long distance, the transportation cost of materials will be very high, and the route is too long, and more energy will be required to ensure the safety of the goods during transportation. These costs are also difficult to calculate!

If the war ends soon, then the Empire can grit its teeth and hold on.

But if such a war continues and never ends, no one can afford the huge military expenditure.

Therefore, from the perspective of the head of state, he must calculate whether this war is worthwhile.

If the Soviet army really fled to the Far East, chasing them all the way eastward would definitely not be economically cost-effective, and politically, it would also seem to be a loss.

Because Starling’s red bear was killed, the puppets supported by the German army no longer had external threats.

Without external threats, their dependence on the Third Reich would be much reduced, and it would be much more difficult for the Third Reich to completely control them.

Therefore, it would be beneficial to the empire to retain a certain number of Soviet troops and let them increase pressure on these puppet regimes.

Therefore, Mainz thought about it, and said to Manstein:”Concentrate troops to win the Battle of Kazan. As for the defeated Soviet army, there is no need to send a large army to pursue them!”