Chapter 779: Burning

Yes, this was a scene that Akado had thought of, using the idea from another timeline where the Soviet Union, after their victory in 1945, had held 200 German military flags upside down during a parade. This idea was born in 1815, when the Tsarist Russian army, after defeating Napoleon’s invasion, had thrown the invaders’ flags at the Tsar’s feet.

And in another timeline, the Soviet Red Army had held 200 German military flags upside down and had finally thrown them in front of Lenin’s Mausoleum. The flags inside came from various famous army groups of Germany and were truly shocking to the extreme. The most significant among them was the battle standard of the Adolf Hitler Leibstandarte. Akado also had his own Leibstandarte, but the flag of this honor guard was now flying beside the Führer’s own standard.

The Third Reich did not have any memorial tombs worth mentioning. After all, the founder of this empire, Akado, was still sitting comfortably on the reviewing stand, enjoying the cheers and applause of countless people. So in the end, these Soviet army flags were thrown into the fire and were put to the torch by the raging flames.

“General Manstein, our current starting point is already near the originally projected victory line. What do you think, if we were to launch an assault now, what would be our chances of success?” Akado asked Manstein beside him, as he watched the German infantry formations march majestically down the long street.

Manstein considered it carefully for a moment, then answered with some hesitation, “My Führer, I suggest that we temporarily postpone the second phase of the New Barbarossa Plan. Once a large-scale assault begins, the pressure on the tank units will increase dramatically, but at that time, there will be no turning back. The risk for us is simply too great.”

Akado sighed and said with some resignation, “My general, the Soviet Union is also constantly growing stronger with the help of the United States. We have already defended and counter-attacked twice. If we do not carry out an offensive operation, how can we explain it to the people at home? You know, the defending side has always been at a disadvantage. The price we have paid for our defense is by no means small.”

Manstein, of course, knew the reason for Akado’s anxiety. Germany already had one foot on the threshold of victory. At this time, as long as they did not make a mistake, they could maintain their advantage. But the closer they got to this point, the more difficult it was to suppress the feeling of urgency. This was a psychological problem. For Akado to be able to listen to all sides at a time like this was already very rational.

Thinking of this, Manstein slowly answered, “The armored units will be continuously attrited during a long-range advance. The Soviets can even wear down our elite armored forces with just booby traps and some ambushes. To launch an offensive at this time, even if we were to encircle Moscow, our armored forces would lose at least half their strength.”

The terrifying strategic depth of the Soviet Union was their best defense line. Even if there were no defenders constantly harassing and sniping along this road, countless tracks would be worn out, and thousands of engines and transmissions would be scrapped. This terrifying distance would make the German forces exhaust each other, and their sharpest offensive would eventually turn into a ragged march.

“What you mean is? We have to wear down the effective strength of the Soviet forces one more time before continuing to advance on Moscow?” Akado asked with a frown, after a moment’s thought, still unwilling to accept it.

In fact, before he had come to attend this grand victory parade, the Army General Staff had given him an answer similar to Manstein’s. Brauchitsch had personally made a self-criticism to Akado, admitting the Army General Staff’s mistake in underestimating the Soviet Union’s combat readiness.

Before the attack on the Soviet Union, the High Command had estimated that only a small number of Soviet units were worthy of attention, and that their mobilization potential would not exceed 5 million men. Such an optimistic estimate had led the generals of the General Staff to believe that defeating the Soviet Union would be an easy matter. Even assessing with the army’s strength from a few months ago, they thought they could flatten the Soviet Union without even a domestic mobilization.

However, the facts had proven that the assessment made by the High Command, where the Führer, Akado, personally presided, was more accurate. Combining the intelligence gathered from the army and SS intelligence departments, the German army had grasped an assessment of the Soviet army’s mobilization capability that was frighteningly precise. How detailed was this assessment report? It even specified the number of men the Soviet Union could mobilize, down to the thousand.

With this detailed assessment of their strength, Akado had, even before the war broke out, already made the worst-case preparations to annihilate 15 to 18 million Soviet soldiers. However, after the war began and Ukraine changed hands, this assessment had adjusted the Soviet Union’s mobilization capability downwards a little. Now, the Soviet Union’s mobilization capability was still around a full 10 million men.

But even though the German army had won so many battles, it still did not have the ability to swallow the Soviet Union in one bite. The High Command conservatively estimated that they would still need to annihilate 2 to 4 million Soviet troops before they could be sure of achieving victory in the war to attack Moscow and destroy the Soviet Union.

Unfortunately, it was no longer realistic to expect the Soviet Union to launch another rash offensive and sacrifice such a huge number of troops. The frontline combat strength of the Soviet Union had already been tested by the cruel war, and their tactical quality had seen a terrifying improvement. More importantly, a large number of terrifyingly capable characters had emerged among the Soviet frontline commanders. These people were not the kind of idiots who would suddenly act foolishly or get hot-headed. They were geniuses who could stand shoulder to shoulder with the frontline generals of the German army.

“I think, Führer, since the plan has already been decided, we should not change it easily. This way, on the one hand, we won’t be in a rush, and on the other hand, we will have a precedent to follow when we do anything,” Manstein said, watching as one after another of the Soviet military flags were thrown into the raging fire. He spoke slowly.

Akado laughed, a laugh of relief. “I was being too indecisive. But if it were Marshal Rommel sitting next to me today, he would probably have told me to launch the offensive as soon as possible, to tear open the enemy’s defense line, and to go as far as possible.”

“My Führer, in organizing an offensive, or rather, in organizing an all-out offensive, I am indeed not as creative as Marshal Rommel. I am more suited to fighting by the book, to winning by the book,” Manstein said with a smile to Akado.

Akado nodded. “I only have one Rommel, and also only one Manstein. Likewise, only one Guderian, one List, one Weichs, one Keitel… This is good. I think you understand what I mean, don’t you?”

Everyone is different, everyone is unique. Rommel had achieved fame and success by fighting in the vast desert. Manstein did not need to feel regret, because there was an equally vast Caucasus region waiting for him to gallop across. This was what Akado meant, and Manstein, of course, understood.

“Soon, the entire Donetsk will fall into our hands. Kharkov will also be occupied. Stalingrad… Stalingrad… are you confident you can completely remove this nail in the Caucasus?” Akado remembered a scene from a movie he had seen, where Khrushchev was roaring at his subordinates. He still remembered the line vividly: “This is not Kursk, not Minsk, not Kiev… This is Stalingrad, it is Stalin-grad! It is named after the leader, it is a symbol.”

“This city is actually just an important town in the Soviet Union, but its name has given it infinite political significance. As long as we capture this city, the blow to Stalin’s personal prestige in the Soviet Union will undoubtedly be huge,” Manstein said after a moment’s thought. “But instead of rushing to capture that place, it would be better to use it as bait to eliminate the effective strength of the Soviet Union. This is more in line with our interests.”

Akado nodded in agreement with Manstein’s words. He knew that once the second phase of the New Barbarossa Plan was implemented, then the entire world war would become a different picture. Finland and Turkey would launch a pincer attack on the Soviet Union from the north and south. The German army would be at full throttle, crushing its way to Moscow. And at that time, it would be a situation where all of Germany’s cards were on the table. Whether they won or lost would then passively depend on the enemy’s reaction.

And the war for the Caucasus was not a personal duel, not a personal grudge between Akado and Stalin. He was not Hitler; he would not be obsessed with destroying the city called Stalingrad. In his heart, he was even unwilling to face that seemingly unconquerable city, because the street fighting there had really been a bitter pill for the German elite.

So Akado was very much in favor of Manstein’s idea. To besiege a point to draw out reinforcements, or even to surround without attacking, were all good ways to deal with this city. If necessary, he even felt they could bypass it and then come back to find a way to capture it later.

Looking at the burning fire in front of the reviewing stand, in which were the various military flags of the hundreds of thousands of troops in Crimea, and at this time, hundreds of thousands more in the Donetsk region were waiting to be annihilated by the German army. One victory after another on the southern part of the Eastern Front was truly gratifying. In the northern region, von Rundstedt was already at the front, and the elite troops under his command were putting pressure on the Soviet army day and night. The fall of Minsk was just a matter of time. Everything was proceeding step by step according to the German army’s script.

The fierce fire was burning, and the military flags were turning to ashes in the flames. Akado didn’t know how many more Soviet military flags he would have to burn before he could sit down at the negotiating table with Stalin. But he longed for that day to come more than ever. After all, this war had been going on for long enough, and enough had been lost.

“You’re right!” Akado looked at Manstein. “Bring Stalin to the negotiating table for me! That’s an order!”

Manstein smiled, a very natural smile. “Yes, my Führer! I will bring you victory!”

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