The Third Reich of Struggle

  Lee had not yet recovered from the shock of being a prisoner of war when he heard the stunning news: Tikhvin had fallen. What made him even angrier was that the news did not come from the Northern Group of Armies, nor from the Gestapo or the Intelligence Bureau of the General Staff, but from the enemy - from what Western countries called "the newspaper 'Pravda' which never told the truth".

  After leaving the prisoner-of-war camp, Li De ordered a special plane to be secretly transferred from Kaluga to Bryansk. While waiting for the plane, the airport tester was bored and turned on the radio, suddenly hearing a few sentences in Russian, Li De perked up his ears: "... News from Pravda of the Soviet Union: On November 18, 1941, the brave soldiers of the Seventh Army of the Soviet Red Army fought hard and entered Tikhvin."

  Lee De was struck by a sudden blow, and the Soviet army's action was unexpected. He burst into a loud scolding: "This Leb, ten days ago I warned him that the enemy would definitely counterattack, and a few days ago I personally rushed to his command post..."

  The jeers were interrupted by a broadcast, and the announcer continued in an unyielding voice: "According to another report: Starting on November 14th, the glorious 54th Army Group launched a counterattack against the German troops advancing on Volkhov. The transportation route to Lake Ladoga and through the lake to Leningrad will soon be opened, and Germany's plot to strangle Leningrad has been thoroughly foiled."

  At this moment, the leader of the jackals couldn't care less about scolding anyone and immediately ordered a special plane to head north to find Lebuxing and ask for his crime. To use a detective's phrase: "The police rushed to the scene of the crime."

  Before boarding the plane, Li De shouted to Schmont who was about to climb up the ladder: "Notify the Northern Group Army to come to the airport for reception."

  Two hours later, the plane arrived at Pskov Airport. Li De was the first to jump off the plane and rushed straight to the Mercedes-Benz car parked beside the apron. Miss Rudvika muttered thoughtfully: "Strange, why didn't I have aviophobia today?"

  Field Marshal Keitel had been waiting a long way from the headquarters, stretching out both hands and running towards the leader. Li De barely suppressed the flames that rose in his heart, smiling all over his face as he shook hands with him. But once he touched on the war situation, he couldn't smile anymore.

  On November 11, General Meretskov's Seventh Army struck the Germans north of Tikhvin with a surprise blow, and the freezing German troops abandoned their vehicles and fled into the city. The Soviet forces followed from the west, north and east, and with the reinforcement of one tank division and three infantry divisions from the headquarters, they entered Tikhvin yesterday.

  To the south of Tikhvin, Soviet forces launched a counterattack against 38th Army supported by three divisions from Northwestern Front and both sides engaged in seesaw battles around Malaya Vishera.

  On the morning of November 14, the Soviet 54th Army launched a surprise attack on the German 1st Army advancing towards Volkhov, which was defending on the south bank of the Volkhov River. Accompanied by the howling of "Stalin's organ" and the deafening roar of 302 cannons, more than a dozen T-34 tanks emerged from the winter fog, pushing the Germans across the Volkhov River. By 4 pm when the sun set, the only armored force of the 1st Army - four assault guns and several anti-tank guns - were all turned into scrap iron. The next day, Soviet tanks passed through Grazhevo, south of Volkhov, and a regiment of German infantry could not withstand, abandoning trucks and mortars, fleeing in all directions to the snow-covered wilderness.

  After listening to the war report, the commander's face turned iron-green. He held the small stick he had used to point at the sand table earlier and sat silently in front of it with his head down. Just as everyone suspected that he might have fallen asleep or was momentarily stunned from grief, he suddenly lifted his head: "Leb!"

  General Leb was startled and stood upright in front of the sand table, his eyes fixed motionlessly on a certain place on the sand table.

  "Lebu, are you satisfied now? You're responsible for this." The leader stood up at once, snapped the small stick that had been pointing at the landscape in two, and threw it to the ground fiercely. Everyone knew a storm was inevitable, each one as silent as a cicada in winter, not daring to raise their heads.

  Li De began to enumerate the various shortcomings of the old marshal from the Wolf's Lair to the Northern Group Army: "I have warned you once, twice and thrice, but you are as stubborn as an old wooden brain that can't be chopped off with an axe. What is most unbearable is that the enemy has begun to counterattack and evolved into a large-scale counteroffensive, and yet you did not report it in secret..." He suddenly started coughing violently due to his rapid speech and exaggerated gestures.

  Miss Aylott rushed in from outside, anxiously wanting to pat his back. He pushed her away with one hand, indicating that she should hurry out and not make a fuss. She went out with three steps and two glances, looking at Li De with concern as she left the door, while casting a hateful glance at Leb.

  "True, I underestimated the enemy. But why was the enemy able to launch such a large-scale attack? Because in my south, the Central Group Army went all out on defense, allowing the enemy to free up troops and put them all on me."

  Li De didn't expect him to come up with this move, he shouted hoarsely: "You fart."

  The generals also did not expect their leader to actually use profanity, a buzz of murmurs.

  Li De felt embarrassed and corrected himself: "Don't worry, the Central Group Army has switched to defense, it has nothing to do with you. Besides, they are also launching an attack." Li De took out his trump card: "Even if that's the case, it's still not a reason for you to know but not report. You're no longer suitable to stay in your current position, please find someone to replace you."

  The humming noise suddenly turned into a hubbub. A general actually stood up to defend him, and he heard his heart tighten: "Recently, we have also found some abnormal situations. General Hap Arnold's 4th Tank Army secretly moved north, when we asked him to reinforce, he hesitated, on the contrary, he used unfair means to seize our supplies."

  "General Leb bellowed in a rough voice: 'Hepner's behavior is extremely suspicious, I even suspect his motive for not saving him.'"

  "Go on." Li De said, his eyes glaring at him like an Indian snake charmer, trying to glare back the rest of his words. However, this old marshal who had been through a hundred battles and participated in the Eight-Nation Alliance was not afraid of eyes. He continued, "I suspect that his motive for seeing death but not saving is being instructed by someone, hiding on the side to watch my joke."

  "Feng? Kui Xue Lelü Army General." Li De had no intention of confronting Leb head-on, and directly issued the order.

  "Forward!" The commander of the 18th Army Group took a spirited step forward.

  "Ordering you to take over as commander of the Northern Group Army."

  Kreuzer glanced at Leubon, who was red with rage and glaring at him sternly, but said nothing.

  Li De deliberately provoked him: "What? Don't you want to?"

  "I am willing." Khrushchev saw the Fuehrer's gaze pass over his shoulder, searching for someone else, and hastily replied.

  "Gentlemen, Marshal Leb has been relieved of his duties. I hope you will all support the work of our new commander and lift your spirits to turn the tide of battle."

  "Leb Marshal was furious: 'I'll sue you, I'll sue you.'"

  "What are you accusing me of? Accusing me of losing the city and land, being defeated and humiliated? Or knowing but not reporting, concealing military information?"

  ……

  Lee Teuk arrived at Ryubang with a new commander of the Northern Group Army and several attendants, including his operations chief of staff. From there, they rode in an armored personnel carrier to a secret camp deep in the forest north of Ryubang, between two marshes, where Heppner was waiting.

  In a small clearing deep in the forest, tents stood densely, smoke rising from them. The tops of the tents were painted green and covered with branches, which had aerials wrapped around them. Heppner was already waiting there for the Fuehrer with his men.

  "The Commander-in-Chief has arrived." A small group of officers stood in a semicircle, waiting to shake hands with the Commander-in-Chief.

  "Heil Hitler, with deep emotion, gave the welcome address: 'Our Fuehrer has come, to this forest, while sixty kilometers north of us, the Russians are killing our soldiers... Our Fuehrer has come, to this forest, wielding the sword of German justice, cutting off the poisonous tongues of the enemy...'"

  The commander-in-chief cheered up his subordinates, also with emotional colors: "My 4th Tank Army soldiers, officers, and gentlemen of the Northern Group Command." Everyone's eyes were focused on a few people like Keitel, as if they were visiting guests.

  The commander-in-chief continued: "Ten days ago I foresaw today's situation, and I envisioned that ten days later we would be standing on the banks of the Vistula River. Remember my words."

  Through the evolution of the situation over the past ten days, Hepner had become thoroughly impressed with the Fuehrer.

  Qu Xierer stared at everything in front of him with his eyes wide open and tongue tied, while Hepner shook hands with him and congratulated him.

  Quiller appeared very low-key, saying something like "I'm not capable, it's hard to take on this great responsibility", hoping for more support, and was surprised by everything he saw in front of him. Hepner said from the bottom of his heart that all of this was the result of the Leader's careful planning, but because Leeb didn't listen to the Leader's words, they suffered a defeat and also ruined their own future prospects.

  Kui Xier followed closely behind Yuan Shou, entering the tent. Earlier when they came, he deliberately lagged behind, trying to keep a distance from Yuan Shou.

  Khobna station is on the map, this is a one-to-one hundred thousandth of Ladoga Lake east area situation map, Ilmen Lake to Tikhvin north Pasha River, and Lyuban to Volkhov south more than ten kilometers of the region are indicated in blue, indicating that as of November 18, the German army occupied places. The northern Svir River is shown in brown, which has become Finnish territory, the green area between the Svir River and Tikhvin is controlled by the Soviet Army, this huge gap becomes a communication channel connecting Leningrad with the mainland.

  Hopper looked at Yuan Shou with his eyes, Li De waved his hand and said: "Let's start." Hopper nodded to everyone, pointing and pointing on the map:

  "There are two main directions for the attack from south to north. One is from Tikhvin to the north, via Ganikovo - Terentyevichi - Gomorychi, reaching Lake Onega; another route is only 90 kilometers away, along the eastern shore of Lake Ladoga, from Volkhov along the railway all the way north to meet with the Finnish army in Sviritsa. Due to time constraints, I put the main attack on this shorter route, with the entire 41st Army, one armored division of the 56th Army, and two divisions of the 1st Army forming a powerful striking force attacking northward."