The Third Reich of Struggle

  In fact, apart from the three of them, no one on the front line was willing to attack, not a single condition of "heavenly timing, geographical advantage and harmony among people" could be met, attacking is just a waste of time.

  So although Harald incorporated these troops into the armored forces, the army commanders were not happy about it, and nobody cared about that prestigious empty name. Guderian would even less look at an "armored force" without a single tank in his eyes, these troops were thrown away as reserve troops to dig fortifications on the spot.

  Li De sympathized with Hald even more: Hald flattered the leader on the surface but opposed him in secret, and his subordinates also treated him in the same way, so he was a public husband who suffered from being disliked by everyone.

  "General Haider was going to..." The fat general had just opened his mouth to complain, when Li De interrupted him: "This is not the time to complain about the Army General Staff. Besides, incorporating you into the armored forces will make you run even faster."

  Li De knew that even if he and Harde argued fiercely, they still had to maintain their prestige in front of their subordinates, so as to have cohesion.

  Li De conceived a bold idea and asked Pangzi: "How many armored forces does your army have?"

  Fatso pointed at Skinny and replied: "Just about 100 tanks, all Czech Type 38s, they're all his."

  "The quantity is enough, it's just that the armor is a bit weak." Li De muttered to himself.

  Fatso and Skinny stared at each other, then looked at the leader together. Li De gestured to Schmontz to open the map, while the army deputy stood there stupidly. He said urgently: "Don't just stand there like a wooden stake, hurry up and bring the map!"

  "What map?" Schm?ller repeated.

  "Map No. 7, from Kaluga to the Tula region, and you don't even know this." Li De shouted, only realizing he was too hasty after speaking, others weren't mind-readers, how would they know what he was thinking? When receiving the map, he smiled wryly at Schmont, showing apology.

  Several heads were gathered together, staring at the map. Li De had his hand on his waist, and his right hand was excitedly pointing at the map: "Throughout the entire second half of October, Goodrich's attack on Tula didn't succeed. Now that half a month has passed, after repairing for half a month and producing a mountain of military supplies, waiting for you to launch an attack, this time it won't be easy to take down."

  Li De's hand was pointing at Kaluga and moved from Kaluga to a place northeast: "Sherpukhov, what is fifty kilometers east of this place?"

  "Kashira!" Several heads replied in unison, and simultaneously measured the distance from Kashira to Moscow with their index fingers and thumbs, then looked up at the leader in puzzlement.

  The leader smiled and felt happy, wanting to continue teasing for a while: "Think again, what does Kashira have?"

  The fat and thin men were still searching for answers with great difficulty, the irritable commander of the 53rd Army couldn't sit still and said urgently: "Whatever the leader has to say, please say it quickly, don't let everyone guess, we're all short on time."

  Li De was robbed of his white, unhappy in his heart but also helpless. Soldiers, after all, speak straightforwardly and don't beat around the bush. If they spoke carefully and chose their words, they wouldn't be soldiers, but politicians, and that would require caution.

  Lee Du punched the map heavily, his fingertips sore, and a hole was punched in the map: "Right, Kashira. There is a hydroelectric power station here, which supplies half of Moscow's electricity and all of Tula's electricity. Tula has been attacked repeatedly but not taken because it is not a city, it is a large military factory. If it loses power, its dozens of ordnance factories will also be paralyzed."

  Li De raised his head, swallowed saliva, and everyone else followed suit. Li De lowered his voice mysteriously: "Also, according to reliable intelligence, there's a mysterious place near Kashira."

  Everyone suddenly became interested, and their eyes fell back on the map.

  "Don't bother, what's the mysterious place on the map?" Li De said. He wanted to sell a suspenseful story again, but seeing the 53rd Army Commander's eyes wide open like a walnut, he had to spit it out quickly: "There is a small town built in 1939 called Stupino, which is a highly confidential administrative district. It is said that there are the most advanced research institutions inside, and also... an aircraft factory."

  Li Deben had wanted to say "poison gas factory", but was afraid of scaring them, so he changed his words at the tip of his tongue. Anyway, what's said is up to the tongue to decide.

  "There's a railway branch line from the south to Moscow," said the army deputy. "There must be an airfield," said the air force deputy.

  Everyone finally understood the intention of the commander-in-chief, and it was proven that they were all staring at a skinny guy - Lieutenant General Berthold Stein, commander of the 26th Mechanized Infantry Division.

  The skinny guy also got into character, taking out a rangefinder to measure the distance. When he looked up again, his narrow face showed solemnity: "I need one day of preparation. However, occupying it is relatively difficult, and destroying it has about half a chance."

  "The head of state said in a stern voice: 'Not half, but all.'"

  The head of state gave the order: "General Berthold von Stauffenberg."

  "Arrived!" The thin man stood up straight, and the rangefinder fell to the ground.

  "Order you to start on the 17th, lead the 26th Mechanized Infantry Division to launch a raid on Kashiwa, destroying power plants, substations, secret factories, railways, airports and all other targets. The goal of the campaign is to quickly withdraw after achieving it."

  "Yes." Although thin, his voice was quite loud.

  The commander whispered in a low voice: "Attention, everyone put on gas masks."

  The thin man did not shout this time and responded in a low voice after a while.

  "After completing your mission, I will award you with a Second Class War Merit Cross."

  The skinny one was indeed earth-shaking this time, and Miss Ludovica, who was taking a stroll in the courtyard, was frightened into a stumble, then looked anxiously at the house.

  "General Veerbell!" Li De Gao shouted.

  "Yes!" The fat man stood up straight, but his prominent belly and squatting buttocks made his dignified face look comical.

  "Your 13th Army is responsible for capturing Shcherbakov, tying down the Soviet 49th Army, and providing full cover for your troops."

  "Yes." Fatso replied loudly, eagerly waiting for what came next, but the leader turned to face the commander of the 53rd Army.

  "General Weisenberger, you dispatch a division to hold off the possible attack of the Soviet 50th Army, while withdrawing one regiment for a feigned attack. Today we..."

  "I understand." Before the leader could finish speaking, Weissenberger's legs were already closed together.

  Li De glared at him: "Understood what? I haven't finished speaking yet. Today we'll go to your front line, take a look at the winter fortifications."

  "I understand." The army commander replied with a hundredfold spirit. The leader came to his military inspection work, which was his honor.

  Li De let out a long sigh and waved at Bao Man: "Get ready to set off."

  He turned to Miss Adela who had just entered the room and said: "I'll send someone to take you to the special plane, you should be with Bowles."

  "No, I'm going to the front line." She pouted and turned her body around.

  Schmidt also whispered to her: "According to army tradition, there can't be female soldiers on the front line, let alone a female servant..."

  "Just because I'm a female attendant, I can take care of the leader's daily life." Her face turned red, and Li De felt embarrassed.

  The generals stood indifferently, looking at their watches with impatience.

  The young lady seemed to be dissatisfied with the president, shouting: "After so many years of revolution, you still talk about this tradition and that habit every day. Look at Russia, they even have female tank drivers."

  So the generals also accompanied their leader, and clever little Adelheid found a reason for herself, saying that being with Baur was inconvenient for a lone man and woman.

  "Alright, it's not convenient for you to wear a skirt on the front line and it's also very eye-catching. I'll give you a set of military uniform to wear, and I'll also give you a pen and a small notebook, just pretend to be a war correspondent."

  "Alright, just based on these few words, I'll let you join the party when we get back."

  "Joining the party is a sacred thing, it's not something you can just join if you want to. You think applying to join a beauty club is the same?"

  ……

  The Zhiguli moved southward at a moderate pace, the muffled sound of cannon fire continuing to their right. It wasn't until they had driven some distance that the leader finally mentioned their destination: Beryozov, 70 kilometers to the south.

  It wasn't long after departure that rain mixed with snow started falling, and the snow on the ground quickly melted, filling up the craters, and the earth was again covered in mud. The further they went forward, the more bumpy the vehicles became, and the minibus got stuck in the muddy pits several times. Later on, the original highway turned into a small path full of craters. With no other choice, Major General Weisenberger had to use an 8-ton half-tracked truck with a canopy, from the leader to the servants, everyone was squeezed together.

  The truck drove along the railway, and in the distance saw a strip of small black dots, and as it got closer, the strip was still moving. "Halt!" The leader shouted suddenly. He saw a familiar figure on his right side, a lieutenant standing in front of a pile of ammunition, directing a group of people to transport goods.

  No, this is not a crowd of people: from the goods station one person stands every meter, all the way to the distant horizon. Goods transported from the rear: from bullets to bread, from cotton-padded jackets to shells, are constantly passed through this human conveyor belt to underground warehouses and shelters in the front.

  Li De poked his head out of the car's canvas cover, confirmed that the lieutenant was indeed Harold, Goebbels' foster son, and quickly pulled back in, telling Schmont to call him over.

  Schmidt jumped off the car from behind, unexpectedly jumping into a shell hole. The people in the carriage all ran to the rear fender and looked at the muddy and disheveled army deputy who was crawling out of the pit with laughter. Air Force Deputy Officer Belo shouted to him: "When are you going to switch careers and become a naval officer?"

  Harold came around to the back of the truck in a daze and was shocked to see a general crawling on the rear mudguard waving at him.

  He handed the notebook in his hand to the person next to him, and after sending the soldier away, he climbed onto the car. If what just happened was shocking, getting on the car was even more astonishing:

  The leader, the leader was actually sitting in this shabby carriage smiling at him. He rubbed his eyes, and the leader was still there; he pinched his thigh hard, it hurt a lot;

  He knew the Führer much earlier than many old party members and old generals. In the early 1930s, before the Nazi Party came to power, his mother designed a set of Hitler Youth uniforms for him to wear and stand in front of Hitler, who patted his face and said to his mother: "Magda, this is my country's first Hitler Youth member."

  The head of state spoke first: "Our first youth team member has changed careers and become a transportation team leader."

  Harold reacted, and with a spirited Nazi salute, his right hand touched the iron rod supporting the canopy, hurting him so much that he gritted his teeth, but felt warm in his heart.

  "It's all right if we just give a military salute." Someone muttered with schadenfreude.