Chapter 532: Kiev

The forces of Keitel and Guderian had encircled the entire Kiev region from the flanks. The follow-on German infantry then began to compress the strategic space of the Soviet soldiers within the encirclement, layer by layer. The German army fought cautiously on every front, suddenly losing the bold, sweeping style of the initial counter-attack.

The large-scale flanking maneuvers and deep penetrations of the beginning suddenly disappeared, replaced by the steady advance of a large number of infantry. The German army was consolidating the areas they had occupied; they seemed to have no intention of entering Belarus or Russia.

The fact that the German army did not launch a large-scale frontal assault gave the Soviet generals at the front, such as Timoshenko, time to rally their routed troops. It also proved one thing to all the Soviets: that Germany did not have a long-term plan to invade the Soviet Union, but had only been forced to launch a defensive counter-attack. This left Stalin undecided about whether to pursue peace talks. He did not know whether he should continue this somewhat rash war.

In fact, the Soviet Union’s preparations for the war and its subsequent development were very incomplete. Although they had drawn up an operational plan to invade Germany, this plan was only a programmatic document, not a specific guide for an invasion. This outline, penned by Stalin himself, had only vaguely pointed out that the Soviet Union should take the opportunity to conquer Europe, but it had not considered a series of possible problems, such as the offensive being blocked.

Judging from the current situation, the number of Soviet soldiers that the German army had so far surrounded and annihilated was only about 2 million. And the number of Soviet units that had collapsed due to their own incomplete preparations was also about the same.

But the German army, having gained a complete advantage, had suddenly halted its advance. They had set up camp in Ukraine and had begun to set up all sorts of defensive systems. The Soviet side was recovering its strength, while the German side was unhurriedly consolidating its own defensive lines.

The anticipated situation of the German panzer forces advancing frantically had not occurred. The various means that had been arranged in the direction of Moscow to wear down the main German forces had not been used. And Germany seemed to be only interested in a place like Ukraine. After taking back some of the territorial demands of Romania, the German army had even withdrawn from some of the occupied areas of Belarus.

“It seems the Führer has no interest in invading the Soviet Union. Look at this operational plan. It can be said that it has not considered the subsequent development at all!” a staff officer said to Guderian with some dissatisfaction, studying the “Operation Requiem” plan personally issued by the Führer.

Guderian smiled after hearing this but did not reply. He, of course, knew why the Führer had drawn up this plan, and he, of course, knew the true purpose behind it. In fact, this was not a short-sighted plan. On the contrary, it was a very far-sighted operational plan.

Because he himself was one of the frontline generals who did not understand this plan, the Führer had even personally had Colonel Little Gascoigne of the intelligence department rush to the front to explain the meaning behind this operational plan to Guderian.

Führer Akado believed that if Germany’s limited panzer forces were to be sent deep into the heart of Russia, the losses would be enormous. He had even ignored the optimistic operational assessment of the General Staff and had directly pegged the losses at over half. This meant that even if the German panzer forces were to approach the vicinity of Moscow, they would be forced to stop due to their losses and would be unable to achieve the strategic objective of capturing Moscow.

And even if the objective of capturing Moscow were to be achieved, it would not have much of an important role. The political significance of Moscow was greater than its actual industrial contribution to the entire Soviet Union. If the capture of Moscow could not make the entire Soviet Union submit, then Germany would collapse at almost the same moment.

Many people think that it was that great snow that saved Moscow and also saved the Soviet Union. This idea is actually naive and one-sided. Even without that great snow, could the German forces at the front have really withstood the consumption of a brutal street battle for Moscow? The answer is bound to be no, because after the defeat before the gates of Moscow, Germany was never again able to capture an important city from its opponents. This fully proves that the German offensive power had already reached its limit before the gates of Moscow.

Akado, who knew this very well, naturally knew that even with an advantageous exchange of combat power, Germany could not afford it. So he could only think of other ways to make up for the gap in numbers between the two sides.

At this time, the Führer thought of a person, a person who was not yet famous, but who had already become the number two man in the Army General Staff, Lieutenant General Manstein. This man, one of the few German generals with a strategic vision, had, according to the data provided by the Führer, drawn up a new operational plan.

This plan was the terrifying “New Operation Barbarossa.” This plan overturned the Barbarossa plan drawn up by the Army General Staff, completely abandoning the original policy of using 3 million German troops and over 2 million troops from puppet states to launch a proactive assault on the Soviet Union. It boldly proposed a war plan that was mainly defensive.

This plan could be said to be super bold and even more terrifying. It had drawn up a series of operational plans aimed at the Soviet Union’s advantages and had boldly divided the entire Barbarossa plan into several important stages.

The first stage was to gain a firm foothold in Ukraine, rely on the short-range interspersion of panzer forces to gain an advantage, annihilate the Red Army in the area west of Ukraine, and then enter into negotiations with the Soviet Union to strive for peace between the two countries. Once this goal was achieved, it would be a phased victory for this period.

If the Soviet Union did not compromise, then the plan would turn to the second stage. The German army would strengthen its defenses in the Ukrainian region and wait for the Soviet Union’s second offensive. Because of the great victory of the German’s first counter-attack (that is, Operation Requiem), the Soviets’ second attack would certainly be greatly delayed. Without careful preparation, they would not easily fall for the same trap twice. And by the time the Soviet Union was ready, Germany would have already turned Ukraine into a huge fortress.

At that time, it would be the third stage of the operation. Germany would fight another defensive counter-attack, using its superior panzer forces and air power to destroy the Soviet attacking forces. In this way, the distance between the two sides would be close enough, and the problem of heavy losses to the panzer forces due to a long-distance raid would not occur. Once this situation arose, the German army could, after the counter-attack, set out from Ukraine, sweep across the western regions of the Soviet Union, and occupy Moscow.

Of course, this operational plan was based on the advantages that Germany had now gained. In other words, the implicit core idea of this new Barbarossa operational plan was a single word: “delay.” The longer it was delayed, the more favorable it would be for Germany. The longer it was delayed, the greater the gap in national strength between the two countries would become.

Why would this situation arise? The reason is simple. Germany had gained a greater strategic advantage than in the previous life. This advantage came from the British mainland. Without the threat of the British Isles, which was like a fishbone in the throat, Germany’s domestic industry was no longer in danger of being interfered with, and its rear industrial capacity could be steadily improved. In addition, after the integration of the domestic industry with that of France, the Netherlands, Belgium, and even southern Britain, the production capacity would also become higher and higher. It was clear that the longer the time was delayed, the more favorable it would be for Germany. And when Germany could truly and fully exert the industrial advantages of the occupied territories, not even the United States would be able to match Germany’s industrial production capacity.

In addition, the Soviet Union had now lost its strong supporter, Britain, and the United States had gone to war with Japan ahead of schedule. The supplementary materials that the Soviet Union could get could not go through the convenient route from Britain to the Soviet Union, but could only be sent through the Bering Strait to the eastern part of the Soviet Union. By the time these materials reached the western front of the Soviet Union, it would be at least a month later.

Under this situation of waxing and waning, unlike the race against time when attacking France and Britain at the beginning of the war, Akado’s Third Reich now hoped that the war would be dragged out into the later stages. This was the principle that as the situation changed, expectations would also change.

At the beginning of the war, to prevent the United States from stirring up trouble and entering the war, Akado had led Germany in a frantic attack, taking down the entire Western European region in one go. At this time, the entire Third Reich could be said to be “aggressive as fire.” But after stabilizing its rear, what Germany hoped for now was to be “immovable as a mountain.” When it had truly stabilized the European region and gained a firm foothold, the rise of the world’s number one power would become a fait accompli, and no one would be able to stop it.

However, whether this operational plan of stabilizing the defensive line, occupying Ukraine, and waiting for the Soviets to compromise could succeed still depended on how determined the Soviet side was to fight. If the Soviet Union was determined to fight, then Germany could only be forced to respond. If the Soviet Union were to attack directly without regrouping, then all of Germany’s operational deployments would have to be adjusted accordingly. War is never a matter for one country, but a game that is ultimately determined by the decisions of both sides.

Grain from the Polish farms was being transported into Ukraine. Another decision of the German high command was to mobilize the anti-Soviet sentiment in Ukraine, to turn the entire Ukraine into a region that hated the Soviet Union through a multi-layered goodwill initiative, to lay a good foundation for further actions.

In another timeline, the German army’s entry into Ukraine had been warmly welcomed by the local people. They had welcomed the German army as if they were welcoming liberators. This scene could probably be considered a miracle in the history of wars of aggression. However, the Nazi army of that time had carried out an even more cruel exploitation of both Ukraine and Belarus, which had led to the final falling out between the two sides, completely wasting the support of the people of the two regions. And for all of this, Akado had long since thought of a countermeasure. He had decided from the very beginning to consolidate the friendly sentiment in the Ukrainian region, to provide a stable great rear for future combat operations.

All in all, Germany’s new Barbarossa plan required Germany to advance steadily in Ukraine, so the German army also changed its previous combat style and began to slowly manage the Ukrainian region they had just occupied.

Published: 2025-09-03T02:36:25.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2025-12-14T18:18:05.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c532-kiev-137999740

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