Chapter 830: The Progress of Civilization

In the encirclement of Smolensk, the once-peaceful city had now become a pile of rubble. The tranquility remained, but now it was a suffocating silence. After the German bombardment, everything was desolate. The Soviet infantry huddled in their trenches, squatting behind collapsed houses, some smoking, others dozing off helplessly.

No one would be too interested in this kind of war. The enemy bombards your positions with cannons, their dive bombers circle overhead, and you can only dodge everything, without even a chance to fire a single shot, dying in a street next to a pile of rubble just because you were a moment too slow to take cover.

Now, the defenders of Smolensk had to face this problem. They had no way out, completely surrounded by the German army in a limited space. And to reduce their own casualties, the German army was only using some heavy artillery and bombers, tormenting the will of everyone defending this city every day. Shells fell at irregular intervals, hitting uncertain corners of the city, taking lives and the once-beautiful buildings.

No one knew when this war would end, but as they ate their increasingly poor food and slept with their weapons among the dwindling number of buildings, they could not feel the slightest possibility of the war ending. This hopeless life was tormenting the hearts of the Soviet defenders every moment.

“The bomber units have begun to be gradually reduced, according to the plan,” Rundstedt said, returning to the front line. He moved his eyes from the battery commander’s scope and spoke to the air force liaison officer beside him. “We must conserve fuel to prepare for the hard battle to come. We can’t even retreat, because we only have enough fuel for a defensive battle.”

“We have drawn up a systematic attack plan for the future. We will carry out four air raids on Smolensk in total. The bombers will take off from several frontline airfields and drop napalm on this city to expand the effect of the air raid,” the air force liaison officer reported to the Marshal before him. “The Führer’s intention is a limited bombing of Moscow, but the fuel problem is making him hesitate on whether to carry out this deterrent attack.”

“Bombing Moscow… it’s hard to judge what kind of effect this will have on Stalin’s decision-making,” Rundstedt said, walking towards his frontline command shelter with his hands behind his back. He spoke without turning his head, “If we really anger Stalin and force the Soviet army to launch a counter-attack in the central sector ahead of schedule, won’t that be a case of the gains not making up for the losses…”

The air force liaison officer quickly caught up and whispered, “If Stalin and Zhukov were so decisive, we probably wouldn’t have to be bogged down in Smolensk like this. I, for one, think that since they don’t dare to act rashly, if we are a little more arrogant, they will become even more suspicious.”

“Adjutant,” Rundstedt said, entering his command shelter. He took off his military cap and hung it on the coat rack by the door. He then instructed his adjutant, who was writing a report, “Write a letter to General Kesselring in my name, thanking his air force for their support of Army Group A, and requesting that if the Führer insists on attacking Moscow, to please delay the bombing of Moscow, at least until my army group’s fuel reserves have recovered to seventy percent, before launching the bombing of Moscow.”

“Yes, Marshal!” the adjutant replied without getting up. After all, an army group’s report was not just a few sheets of white paper. The things he had to write were all-encompassing, and the reports piled beside him were almost a foot thick. The detailed operational report of the entire Army Group A, from the beginning of its advance to the occupation of all of Belarus and the siege of Smolensk, had to be filed and recorded. This was a long-standing habit of the army.

Just the operational reports on the King Tiger tank sent from below, along with the relevant improvement suggestions, were a stack of detailed record files, including how that King Tiger had been destroyed by Soviet soldiers in the Battle of the Orsha Heights, how the wreckage had been dealt with afterwards, as well as photos taken by the engineering corps, technical analysis reports, and the testimonies of the surrounding tank crews, and all sorts of other records.

The more modern a war is, the more it needs the support of various data and logistics personnel. A division is not just composed of combat soldiers carrying rifles, but also cooks responsible for food, specialized anti-aircraft gun units for air defense, transport units for transporting fuel and ammunition, sappers who specialize in guiding the construction of fortifications and destroying the enemy’s, paymasters, tailors, band and flag detachments, and even photographers and electricians.

The era of Han Xin counting his soldiers, where the more the better, had passed. Managing an army now relied more on professional talent from all sides, rather than on a single general himself. If someone really wanted to personally manage every detail of a modern army, then he would probably only be fit to be a regimental commander in his lifetime.

After Akado had made a compromise and no longer had the Central and Southern Groups attack simultaneously, Rundstedt knew that for a period of time, he could only fight a defensive counter-attack. On the broad main front, General Kluge’s Army Group F was responsible for defending more of the defense line, while Army Group A was able to save more of its armored units to be able to reinforce the Soviet-attacked defense line in time and to push back any Soviet units that dared to counter-attack.

This was a tactic the German army was very familiar with, so as a commander, Field Marshal von Rundstedt did not make any special arrangements for any more fanciful tactics. Sometimes the simplest and most brutal method was also the most effective. Because it was simple, it was carried out more resolutely and with more force.

“Our troops are not good at this kind of urban siege warfare. To be honest, even if we were to switch to other German units, they would also not be very accustomed to this kind of fighting for ruins in ruins,” Rundstedt said. “Sometimes, the more I face a crisis, the more emotional I become.”

He turned his head, looked at the air force liaison officer, and said with a smile, “Because every crisis I have encountered since 1935 has proven that the Führer has already thought of these problems long ago. This puts my mind at ease and makes me feel that I will surely achieve victory. We have been systematically learning how to fight in cities since 1927, how to use fewer troops to hold up more of the enemy in a city. Now, although we are still not very good at urban siege warfare, we are indeed better trained than our opponents. Most of our officers were ‘tormented’ by the Führer back then. They would complain to me with long faces that they had had enough of those ruins.”

Speaking of which, Rundstedt’s spirits were high. “At that time, the Führer personally refereed our exercises. In urban siege warfare, we taught every soldier, step by step, how to bend low, how to reduce their own casualties, how to use the ruins and everything around them… The soldiers of that time are all officers now, and fortunately, they have not forgotten what they learned back then. They have passed it on to the new recruits under their command. This is the reason we have been able to get this far, isn’t it?”

The air force liaison officer nodded and said to the Marshal with reverence, “Yes, Marshal. This is felt even more deeply in the air force. Our fighters are more advanced than the enemy’s, our tactics are stronger than the enemy’s. All of this has been accomplished under the leadership of the Führer. My respect for the Führer cannot be described in words. I am even a little afraid to see him. In his presence, my voice even trembles a little.”

A gift from God, the savior of Germany, the Germanic prophet… This Führer had many adjectives and nicknames in Germany. Every German believed that this savior could foresee the future and could guide Germany to the final victory. It was precisely because there was so much evidence to prove the Führer’s foresight that many people firmly carried out his orders, not daring to cut a single corner.

They believed that the Führer had a thousand and one connections with God. They had become theists, firmly believing that the Führer was their god, and they did not dare to disobey him in the slightest. As long as Akado’s eyes looked over, they carried an unparalleled pressure that made people have to speak the truth in their hearts.

There were even rumors that the Führer could foresee the future, and that if he was willing, with just a spell, he could find and kill anyone who defied his will. In short, these rumors had cloaked Akado in the mantle of a god, with a hint of strange mystery.

“So I firmly believe that as long as we follow the Führer, as long as we firmly follow the Führer, Germany will one day be revitalized! Even if we make some sacrifices today, that is the will of God, and that is the price the German nation should pay as a sacrifice to God!” Rundstedt nodded, agreeing with the air force liaison officer’s words. “So even if blood flows in rivers, I will still hold on to my beliefs, believe in the Führer, rely on the Führer. The Führer will lead us out of this predicament.”

“Yes, so our entire empire, everyone, is sincerely greeting the Führer, shouting that phrase, ‘Long live the Führer’,” the air force liaison officer chimed in. “So I and everyone I know are waiting, waiting for the moment when the Führer takes a further step.”

A further step? It didn’t seem like a step backward… Rundstedt looked at the somewhat fanatical air force liaison officer in front of him and naturally knew what he meant by “a further step.” After all, this call had been appearing for more than just a day or two. Almost everyone supported this German Führer, Akado, taking a further step. Regardless of whether he was selling vegetables or killing people, just as they had hoped for Wilhelm’s abdication back then, they now all hoped that Akado could ascend the throne and become the emperor in their hearts.

In their view, Akado’s enthronement was not a regression of the system, but a step forward for the Third Reich in accordance with God’s will, a great, epoch-making progress for human civilization.

Advance chapters at Nightjar Reads · nightjarreads.com