Chapter 707: Marshal

Unlike General List’s northern front, which was struggling to hold on under the fierce attacks of Zhukov and other Soviet generals, the German forces in the southern region of Ukraine were fiercely attacking the Soviet troops. In addition to Guderian’s Army Group G, which was storming Kharkov on the main front, there was also a new army group, Army Group M, recently formed from elements of various other army groups, which was launching its own offensive against the fortress on the Crimean Peninsula.

Manstein, in another timeline, was one of the few strategic masters in the German army. His plan for the conquest of France could be called a stroke of genius. Because of this plan, the Allies suffered heavy losses, and if it hadn’t been for the later Dunkirk evacuation, Hitler could have even annihilated the main British and French forces in Belgium.

In this timeline, although Manstein was still nominally the one who proposed the important “Scythe Cut” operation, he knew in his heart that the entire plan could be said to have been single-handedly orchestrated by the Führer, Akado. Therefore, this originally famous general had been serving as a staff officer to Brauchitsch in the Army General Staff for a full nine months.

During these nine months, Manstein was not just twiddling his thumbs. He had personally participated in the construction of the “pillbox” defense line on the Eastern Front and had formulated an efficient defensive counter-attack strategy. He had actively organized the logistical support system for the army’s offensive and had perfected the material reserve work of the various army groups. In short, he had used every possible opportunity to enrich himself, and had ultimately won the approval of everyone.

His direct superior, Brauchitsch, had evaluated Manstein this way in a letter of recommendation to Akado: “He is absolutely one of the most militarily knowledgeable commanders I have ever met, steady and capable. I suggest that he be allowed to command an army group to gain some experience and become an indispensable, independent talent for the Empire.”

Guderian evaluated Manstein this way in his own diary: “This man reminds me of Erwin Rommel. If Erwin is a commander who is skilled at attacking, then Manstein is a commander who is familiar with every aspect of the army. Their styles are different, but they are both the most capable generals I have ever met.”

Now this smug “staff general” was appointed by the Führer as the new commander-in-chief of Army Group M, responsible for commanding the battle to attack the Crimean Peninsula. And upon taking up his post, he had immediately and unhurriedly begun to take stock of his assets.

If one still remembers that logistics general of the 3rd SS Panzer Division, Freericks, one would know that a general who can scrounge up equipment for his own troops is, at the very least, half a qualified commander. Having served as a staff officer for nine months, Manstein was naturally familiar with just how complex the supply process for an army group could be.

He repeatedly confirmed the equipment he needed from the messy logistics supply reports, then did his best to find what he was lacking in the frontline supply lists. Then, through his connections with the General Staff, he managed to get some big guns for his own troops.

For example, his army was equipped with 20 210mm heavy cannons produced by the Krupp factory. Akado had only lifted the ban on these behemoths a few months ago, allowing Krupp to experimentally produce this “new large-caliber howitzer.” Although this artillery piece was towed and slow to get into position, it did indeed make up for the German army’s lack of heavy artillery support.

Manstein also did his best to scrounge up all sorts of strange and miscellaneous items, such as some railway guns from France and fortress guns from Belgium that had been converted into railway guns. The calibers of these cannons were bizarre, and resupply was difficult. Most of the German units that valued mobility looked down on these hard-to-supply pieces, but Manstein signed for them all without fail.

This was because he had studied the entire Soviet Crimean defense system and knew that attacking such a fortress-concentrated “fortress zone” required a lot of large-caliber artillery for support. Unfortunately, he also knew that what the German army was currently lacking was precisely all kinds of large-caliber artillery.

Although the construction of the Soviet fortresses had been neglected due to the smooth progress of their industrial revitalization, and the fortress complex in the Crimean region was not as strong or as large as in another timeline, the defensive strength of the entire fortress zone was not to be underestimated. Manstein had therefore sent at least 30 reconnaissance planes to this area to conduct as detailed a reconnaissance and photography as possible.

There was some good news. With the commissioning of the Sovetsky Soyuz-class battleships, the Soviet Union’s large-caliber guns had found a use. Therefore, the Crimean fortress zone did not have the huge steel turrets and large-caliber guns of another timeline, only some small-caliber cannons to make up the numbers. Moreover, the underground shelter part of the entire fortress zone had also been reduced due to a lack of importance. At least those dozens-of-meters-deep underground fortifications were still on the drawing board.

Manstein had done his utmost to prepare cannons and ammunition, arming his infantry to the teeth. From his pre-battle preparations, it was clear that they were thorough and extremely targeted. This also showed that Manstein was definitely a German commander with the talent of a field marshal. Although some of his brilliance had been overshadowed by Akado, he could still be called a brilliant rising star.

As Guderian’s Army Group G began its fierce attack in the eastern region, Manstein could also no longer contain his desire to achieve meritorious deeds. He picked up the phone in his hand and gave the order for a full-scale offensive on the Crimean Peninsula. The most elite infantry under his command began to attack fiercely. The overwhelming offensive tore through the outer defense line of the Crimean Peninsula in just one afternoon, driving Marshal Voroshilov’s Red Army soldiers to the isthmus of the peninsula to make a desperate stand.

The momentum of the German attack shocked Zhukov. Although the Crimean Peninsula had never accepted his command and jurisdiction, it was, after all, still nominally Soviet territory. Now that Crimea and Kharkov were both in a critical situation at the same time, one can imagine the pressure on Zhukov’s shoulders.

Zhukov was indeed one of the most famous commanders in the Soviet Union. He wrote a telegram to Stalin analyzing the current battle situation, and then requested Stalin’s support to allow him to continue his fierce attack on the Kiev direction, to trade an offensive for an offensive, and to use a strategy of attrition to weaken the effective strength of the German army.

The reason Zhukov dared to arrange his operational plan this way was because of his frontline general, who was currently on the offensive, the commander of the 1st Guards Front, another fierce general of the Soviet Union, Konev. This general in charge of the offensive came from a political background and was also Stalin’s proudest masterpiece—the most capable political commissar he had ever discovered.

This general, in whom Stalin had confidence, advocated for a continued attack on Kiev because he had sensed the weakness in the strength of List’s Army Group E. So he had committed his troops with utmost speed and had persuaded Zhukov to use the operational reserves ahead of schedule, throwing another Guards Front into the battle. And the commander of this front was also a famous figure in history, another powerful commander of the Soviet Union, Rokossovsky.

In another timeline, these two men, along with Zhukov, were known as the “troika” of the Soviet Red Army, which was enough to show that their command level was beyond doubt. And the troops under their command were also absolutely the most elite of the Soviet Union. The reorganized 1st Guards Front, the 2nd Guards Front transferred from the Moscow direction, and the 3rd Guards Front, which was simultaneously maintaining an offensive posture in another direction, formed the new Soviet offensive lineup.

And the commander of the 3rd Front was the famous General Vasilevsky, also a skilled commander and an experienced battlefield veteran. This lineup was countless times stronger than that of the last German-Soviet war in Poland. It could be said to be a truly luxurious all-star lineup of the Soviet front lines.

For a time, the entire Eastern Front was filled with famous commanders. When Akado held the detailed investigation report on the commanders of both sides, he himself could not believe his eyes. Almost all the most capable generals of World War II were now gathered together on the Eastern Front, at a time when snowflakes were still falling, and were showing their gleaming long knives to their mortal enemies.

“These Soviet generals are all tough guys to deal with,” Akado said. The plane he was on was shaking slightly. On his lap was a brief biography of Vasilevsky, and on Anna’s leg beside him was a brief biography of Rokossovsky. It could be said that these two men could be considered representatives of the young turks within the Soviet Union. They were even much younger than the vigorous team of generals of the Third Reich.

Vasilevsky was only 43 years old this year, and this still-unknown Konev was only 40. The other frontline general, Rokossovsky, was also only 41. These young generals had emerged because of the Soviet Great Purge and had already become the core command group of the Red Army. Together with the earlier-famous Zhukov, they formed a powerful force to attack the northern defense line of Germany.

And as the German frontline commander, List was facing the attacks of three Soviet titans at the same time and seemed to be struggling to cope. His army group was not mainly composed of armored forces, and now he had to face the main Soviet fronts, which had been strengthened with thousands of advanced tanks and elite troops, on his own, which was a bit too much to ask.

Without realizing it, all six of the Soviet marshals had taken the stage: Voroshilov, Timoshenko, Zhukov, Vasilevsky, Rokossovsky, and Konev. And the German side was even more star-studded: von Rundstedt, List, Weichs, Manstein, Model, and Kluge, plus a quasi-marshal, Guderian.

The bloody campaign on the Eastern Front, as soon as its curtain was raised, had skipped the warm-up and immediately entered its most brutal and bloody stage.

Published: 2025-09-20T03:11:00.000+00:00
Last Edited: 2026-03-03T16:47:04.000+00:00
URL: https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair/posts/mtr-c707-marshal-139307978

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