"Ha, the winter in Russia is really cold!" A steady stream of non-nutritious nonsense came out of the stranger's mouth. However, this person spoke with an arrogant tone, speaking ordinary words like this Arrogant, there is only one person in the whole of Germany. That's right, the person who just stepped off the train was Air Marshal Hermann Goering, the commander of the German Air Force.
The fat body stands like a wall, but there is an expression on the face that is incompatible with the funny version of the body. The slightly narrowed eyes reminded people that Goering was definitely not as easy to mess with as he seemed on the surface. If you underestimate this person, the consequences will be serious. This is indeed the case. If the journey on the train is not included, it takes less than a minute for Goering to set foot on the land of Russia, but this is enough. This man who is said to be the best in the Luftwaffe is now ready to find something to do. ; "Go directly to the Central Army Group Headquarters. That guy Kesselin should be there too. I heard he has done a good job during this period. Let's go there first!"
The convoy left the train station, and the tires of the car squeaked on the snow with the falling snowflakes. However, it quickly returned to calm after arriving on the main road in Smolensk. The snow in the city had been cleared away. Of course, , this was definitely not done by German soldiers, Goering could figure it out with his toes, such efficient work must be the result of Soviet residents, "It seems that Heydrich did a good job! From the Soviet perspective It didn't cause us any trouble!" Goering commented enthusiastically.
Of course, this is all the credit of Heydrich, but while being gentle, Heydrich is always ready to send all opponents to hell. Such notices often appear in newspapers, or are written in black boxes with red backgrounds. Posters were put up. The Germans openly declared that the ratio of life to death would be one hundred to one, and that for every German who was shot, one hundred hostages would be shot.
Although taking people hostage was an ancient habit, and the Romans, for example, loved to use this method, in modern times, this method is generally no longer used. Only the Germans used it in World War I and the British in South Africa during the Indian and Boer Wars. During World War II, the German Gestapo under the command of Heydrich captured people as hostages on a large scale. Marshal Keitel and some commanders with lower status than him had signed secret orders for the arrest and shooting of hostages. On October 1, Keitel ordered: "It is extremely important that the hostages include famous figures or their family members." General von Sturnagel, commander of the German forces in France, also emphasized that "the hostages must include well-known figures or their family members." The greater the reputation of the hostage being executed, the greater the deterrent effect it will have on the murderer."
With the escort of the secret police, naturally no one without an eye came up for questioning. Goering's convoy kept driving at high speed and went straight to the headquarters of Army Group Center. Goering got out of the car and looked at the headquarters of Army Group Center. The headquarters building, smiled slightly, "It seems that Marshal Bock's aesthetic sense is pretty good, but in my personal opinion, it is better to put the headquarters in a manor!" After speaking, Goering walked with his head held high. Entering the building, some sharp-eyed soldiers recognized Goering, but Goering waved his hand and did not let them tell them, and walked in himself.
After a brief inquiry, Göring and his party went directly to the office of General Kesselring, commander of the Third Air Force, and opened the door as if no one else was there. In the astonishment of General Kesselring, Goering sat down with his sword on his back. Next, he said with a smile, "Kesselring... I didn't expect that I would come here!"
"I didn't expect you. Who would have thought you would come here?" Admiral Kesselring said in his heart, but he did not show it. Instead, he asked, "Marshal, I don't know what brought you here from China. Could it be that Don’t you believe in the capabilities of our generals?” General Kesselring knew that Goering was a difficult person to deal with. He had unparalleled means in politics and power struggles and was able to hold his own in an environment full of talented people in the Luftwaffe. The position and firm control of the Air Force itself illustrates Göring's ability, so when he saw Göring, General Kesselring unconsciously felt inferior in terms of momentum.
"Yes, I did come here because of something!" Goering shattered Admiral Kesselring's illusions as soon as he opened his mouth and said, "The Battle of Moscow has reached a critical moment, and I feel it is necessary for me to be here at this time. I am stationed on the front line, and only I can cooperate with the leader of the Waffen-SS to break the turtle shell of the Soviets. Kesselring, in fact, it is not only your air force, but the air force in Leningrad and Kiev has been transferred to me. During the aircraft transfer, they will all be concentrated here in the next few days. By the way, there is also the newly established Eighth Air Force in the country. Three-fifths of the Imperial Air Force will participate in the Battle of Moscow. Its scale It’s far from comparable to these days!”
As if he did not see General Kesselring's shock, Goering said to himself, "In one week, in just one week, I can open the way to victory for the ground troops. This is also what I discussed with the SS leader. The results are out!”
At this time, there was actually no need for Goering to continue. Admiral Kesselring had no choice now, because no one in the Air Force could resist Goering's majesty. Looking at the whole of Germany, except for Wilhelm III, Goering was afraid of There are only a handful of people, but none of them are from the Air Force.
Göring came here just to tell Admiral Kesselring, not to ask for his opinion, which Admiral Kesselring certainly understood. Now that both sides have understood, Goering is not willing to stay here anymore. Rather than being with the generals of the Wehrmacht, Goering would rather be with the SS. The next level up is Heydrich. Golin was going to sit in the office, "Jedinek, it's up to you to integrate the forces mobilized from all over the country. Kesselin, I need you to prepare a complete weather forecast over Moscow!" Although Lin's body was no longer in the room, the loud voice still came through the door.
Admiral Kesselring shook his head and smiled bitterly. However, the matter has come to an end and he has nothing to do now. Fortunately, he can continue to command his troops. For him, it is just that Goering is here now. He has some inconvenience. He can do it anytime and anywhere. I want to ask Goering for his advice. Essentially, he lost nothing. Goering's sudden appearance exceeded the expectations of all the generals of Army Group Center, but it was within Lin Wei's expectation, because fundamentally speaking, the reason why Goering appeared was entirely due to Lin Wei's role. As Army Group Center was unable to break the deadlock, some officers at the Army Headquarters suggested that the use of poison gas might be able to reverse the situation. Halder wrote in his diary: "Colonel Ochsner advised me to start a gas war against the Russians." Perhaps because the weather was too cold, this suggestion was not followed up. But there is no airtight wall in the world. Goering knew exactly the current situation in Moscow. He was 120 times willing to use poison gas. Wasn't he Hit? Well, since I had never been hurt by the poison gas of World War I, I would naturally not have any lingering fears. In Goering's view, there was nothing wrong with it as long as he could win, so Goering naturally came to the Soviet Union. The reason why Lin Wei was so anxious was entirely because of time constraints, because Lin Wei knew that Japan would attack Pearl Harbor in December and the United States would join the war. Lin Wei naturally does not want problems to arise at this juncture, but Lin Wei has not affected Japan's strength. He can only hope to decide the fate of the Soviet Union immediately. Even if it is the worst plan, if the United States declares war on Germany, Lin Wei will not Fear.
In fact, Lin Wei doesn't care even if the Americans join the war now, but one more thing is worse than one less thing. If the problem can be solved easily, Lin Wei will naturally not rush in and take over everything.
Goering's plan was to concentrate as much of Germany's air force in the Soviet Union as possible in the coming days and decide when to start the operation based on weather conditions. Of course, while the air force was conducting operations, the ground forces were not idle. After several days of bloody battles, Marshal Crook's Fourth Army and Guderian's Second Armored Army finally surrounded the Soviet 50th Army. After disappointing Lin Wei several times, the National Defense Forces did not let Lin Wei down anymore. The actions of Guderian and Marshal Kruger greatly shook the situation on the front line in Moscow, and the impact was huge.
However, the surrounded Soviet 50th Army did not intend to surrender immediately. The besieged Red Army certainly hoped to find a weakness in the encirclement and concentrate its forces to open a gap. The southern and southeastern parts of the German encirclement were such a weak link. In the southern area of the encirclement circle, there are only two mountain divisions that are very capable but exhausted. The Soviet assault troops had placed all their hopes there. They hope to carve a breach from there. The Soviet troops who insisted on fighting united. The German army must organize the two Soviet forces to meet. therefore. The Germans must prevent the two Soviet armies from joining forces. But the problem was that the First Mountain Army lacked enough infantry to complete this task. The army's reserves were also depleted in previous battles.
In addition, there were no extra troops allocated to him in the rear. However, Guderian knew his officers and soldiers very well. They are full of confidence in victory. They were tenacious in battle and all were soldiers of extremely high quality. They still had plenty of energy for the march. He organized some emergency response teams to constantly travel back and forth to various threatened areas. Facing the Soviet troops trying to break through, every unit under the 19th Armored Division was busy dealing with the Soviet troops' continuous breakout operations. Because the encirclement is a little too long.