"The potential of the Allies is far beyond our imagination." In the German base camp, Keitel looked solemn, holding the latest battle report tightly in his hand, his eyes scanning back and forth between the words on it, his face extremely expressionless. Gloomy, like the sky before a storm. No one thought that winning the Strait of Gibraltar would be a great thing and would give them a great strategic advantage. They even thought that they could take advantage of this momentum to win the British Isles in one fell swoop. After all, once the Strait of Gibraltar is obtained, the situation in the Mediterranean will be greatly beneficial to the German army, and subsequent military operations will be carried out much more smoothly. But who knew that this move would stoke a hornet's nest and irritate the Allies even more. Especially the US military, it was like crazy. The fierce response and the intensity of assistance far exceeded their imagination. Thousands of fighter planes arrived continuously in the British Isles, suddenly turning the sky black. These fighters formed a tight defense line in the air. As long as the German planes showed up or the ground troops took action, the Allied forces would be defeated. The fighter planes would roar over, drop bombs and shoot bullets, directly curbing the German offensive, making it impossible for the German army to continue the planned series of actions and could only be forced to stagnate. Not only that, the US military also sent a large number of B-17 bombers. These bombers were like the **** of death, flying towards the depths of the German army. Their targets were very clear, which were the German factories. Bombs poured down from the bombers and landed on factory buildings, production workshops and other places. For a while, flames shot into the sky and thick smoke billowed. In just a few days, the German army suffered heavy losses. A large number of factories were destroyed. The production lines that were running day and night and producing various weapons, equipment, and materials were instantly paralyzed. All kinds of materials could no longer be supplied normally as before. . What does this mean? This means that the German army will inevitably suffer heavy losses on various battlefields.

In some other battlefields, if there is really no other way, the worst case scenario is to abandon part of the position, temporarily shrink the defense line, conserve strength, and then find a way to regain the lost ground after the situation eases later. This can be regarded as a desperation strategy. . But that's absolutely not possible on the Eastern Front battlefield. The Eastern Front battlefield is crucial to the German army, and it is related to the direction of the entire war situation. Without logistical supplies, it would be too difficult for the German army to block the Soviet army's surging attack. You know, in the past two years on the Eastern Front battlefield, the German elite troops have suffered heavy losses. They have finally transferred some elite troops from other places to supplement their strength. If they lose their combat effectiveness due to lack of supplies, if these elite troops will not be able to , then the Eastern Front would be completely finished. By that time, even if the German soldiers were as brave and fearless as gods of war, facing such a difficult situation at this moment, they would be powerless. They could only watch the Soviet army advance step by step, but there was no way to stop it. The situation of the entire war became increasingly unfavorable for the German army. "Speer, the damage this time is serious, how big is the impact? Can the supply of materials on the Eastern Front be guaranteed?" Keitel frowned, his eyes full of worry, staring at Speer closely, with a tone of voice. He asked with a trace of eagerness. He knew that the current situation on the Eastern Front battlefield could be said to affect the whole body. It was crucial whether the material supply could keep up, so he eagerly wanted to get a definite answer from Speer. Hearing this, Speer showed a helpless expression on his face. There was a deep sense of powerlessness in that expression. Then he sighed slowly, shook his head and said: "Marshal, the influence is great, the destroyed Those factories are important bases for the production of artillery shells. Their paralysis has greatly affected the supply of artillery shells. Judging from the current situation, they may not be able to meet the demand of the Eastern Front in the short term. " Speer also knew very well that after the factory suffered such a large-scale bombing, it would not be easy to resume production. The repair of the production line, the deployment of raw materials, the recruitment of workers, etc., faced many difficulties in every link. There is simply no way to restore the production of artillery shells to previous levels in a short period of time. Hearing this, Keitel's face became even more ugly, as if it was covered with a layer of frost, and his brows furrowed tighter. You know, the German army on the Eastern Front was still carefully preparing for a large-scale counterattack during this period. It had already been planned, and all units were prepared accordingly. They were just waiting for the supplies to arrive, especially artillery shells. , which is an indispensable and important fire support in counterattack operations. Now they are told that the supply of artillery shells cannot be met, which means that all previous plans will be ruined and the counterattack will go bankrupt. This is not good news. This is undoubtedly a negative impact on the strategic layout of the German army on the Eastern Front. A heavy blow. It's winter now, the temperature is very low, and the battlefield is full of ice and snow. For the German army, such an environment is naturally not very advantageous. Soldiers have to endure severe cold fighting, and weapons and equipment sometimes malfunction due to low temperatures, which affects their combat effectiveness to some extent. Originally, I was thinking of just relying on the existing material supply, holding on to the existing defense line, and waiting for the right time to make plans. However, once there is a shortage of supplies, especially artillery shells, the Soviet army will be keenly aware of this opportunity, and then take this opportunity to launch a violent counterattack. With the Soviet army's powerful combat effectiveness and huge troop scale, it may be difficult for the German army to resist it by then, and it may lose a large area of ​​​​position. This is what Keitel is most worried about. After all, as a senior member of the German army, he must consider the overall situation. If there is a major defeat on the Eastern Front, the entire war situation will be completely out of control, and the consequences will be unimaginable. "Is there no way to solve it?" Keitel looked at Speer, his eyes full of expectation and a hint of unwillingness, and asked again, still hoping that Speer could come up with some emergency solution, even if It might as well just alleviate the current severe material supply problem. After hearing this, Speer was silent for a while, with a solemn look on his face, and then slowly said: "I have tried to speed up the efficiency of integration. Currently, all links are being pushed forward intensively, but it still needs to be done. A certain amount of time.” He knows very well that in order to restore material supply as soon as possible, integrating existing industrial resources is the most critical measure at the moment. However, the issues involved are too many and complex. Different countries have different industrial systems, production standards and management. Models, integrating them together so that they can operate efficiently is not something that can be accomplished overnight. In this regard, Keitel could only sigh. He knew in his heart that integrating the industries of several countries was not easy. The difficulty was beyond imagination.

Speer is already considered to have outstanding abilities. In the past period, he was able to double the industrial output value. This is already a very remarkable achievement. It would be difficult for others to achieve it. It's just that the situation is too critical at the moment. The Eastern Front battlefield is facing strong pressure from the Soviet army at any time, and there is such a big gap in material supply. That's why he seems so anxious, hoping for an immediate solution. to solve current problems. "Marshal, will the operation in the British Isles continue?" Rundstedt looked at Marshal Keitel and asked with a serious face. In his view, although the landing operation on the British Isles achieved certain results in the early stage, the German troops successfully landed and occupied some beachheads, and established relatively stable defense lines in some areas. However, as the US military intensified After the massive aid, the situation became very different. The Allies had an absolute advantage in the air. The . fighter planes that continued to arrive continued to carry out air attacks on the German army, which made the German ground troops difficult to move forward. The offensive also began to show signs of decline, and it became increasingly difficult to continue to advance. . According to his idea, it is to stop the action. After all, if it continues like this, the German army may suffer greater losses, and it may not be able to achieve the expected strategic goals. It may be wise to stop the losses in time. However, Marshal Keitel was still a little unwilling. He frowned, with a tangled look on his face. After all, the German army put in a lot of effort in this landing operation and finally succeeded in landing. They also invested a lot of troops and material resources in the early stage. If they just gave up now, wouldn't it be a big loss? All the efforts he had made before were in vain, so he still had a trace of luck in his heart, thinking that there might be a turning point, but he was still reluctant to make the decision to stop action easily. "Is there no hope?" Marshal Keitel looked at Rundstedt with a look of hope and asked. He hoped that Rundstedt could analyze the situation again. "There is little hope. Unless our air force can contain the Allied fighters, they will be wiped out by the other side's air force sooner or later." Rundstedt frowned and shook his head helplessly. He knew the current situation very well. On the battlefields of the British Isles, air superiority was firmly in the hands of the Allies. Without the effective cover of air power, the German ground troops were like prey exposed to the sun. , are always facing the danger of being attacked. If things go on like this, it will be a matter of time before they are eliminated, and the only way to change this situation is for the German air force to become stronger and suppress the Allied fighters, but this is not easy. After hearing this, Marshal Keitel's face naturally didn't look good, and his originally gloomy face became even gloomier, as if it was covered by a thick layer of dark clouds. Thousands of Allied fighter planes are hovering over the British Isles. That densely packed group of planes is not so easy to eliminate. Not to mention, the Allies will have a steady stream of fighter planes to supplement them, which will put too much pressure on the German army. What about the German army? The number of their fighter planes is getting smaller and smaller. In the previous series of air battles and Allied bombing operations, many German fighter planes were destroyed. Moreover, due to the impact on industrial production, the replenishment speed of new fighters cannot keep up. The speed of loss has caused the number of available fighters to become increasingly stretched. Although the performance of German fighter planes is very superior and has unique advantages in some aspects, such as flight speed and maneuverability, it may be better than some Allied fighter planes. However, facing such a large number of Allied fighter planes, it is difficult to defeat them with both fists. Fourth hand, just relying on good performance is difficult to turn the tide of the battle under such a huge disparity in numbers. "The Air Force is temporarily unable to dispatch more fighter planes to support the British Isles. The Eastern Front has been in emergency several times." Marshal Keitel shook his head helplessly and said. He was also in a dilemma. The Eastern Front battlefield was related to the life and death of the German army. Air power is urgently needed to support ground troops and resist the Soviet attack. If more fighter planes are dispatched to the British Isles, the eastern front may not be able to hold, so there is really no way to allocate more power to support this side. . "If this is the case, I suggest that the landing troops be transferred back and continue, which is just a meaningless sacrifice." Rundstedt looked at Marshal Keitel with sincere eyes and suggested in a firm tone. He felt that since there was not enough air power to support the landing troops, allowing them to stay in the British Isles would be equivalent to letting them die in vain. It would be better to withdraw the troops early and save some effective forces to deal with other more serious problems. Because of the important battlefield situation, after all, the green hills are left, so there is no need to worry about running out of firewood. In this obviously unfavorable situation, stopping losses in time is the wisest choice. "Let me think about it again. It would be a big loss to give up the advantage that I finally gained at this time." Marshal Keitel frowned, with a tangled look on his face, and he felt really unwilling to do so. After all, for this landing operation on the British Isles, the German army invested a lot of manpower, material resources and energy. Through fierce battles in the early stage, they finally gained some advantages bit by bit, occupied a certain territory on the islands, and established a After breaking the initial line of defense, if he gave up so easily now, all his previous efforts would be in vain, so he still wanted to think about it again and see if there was any other way to preserve this hard-won result. "Then there is only one way, to increase the assistance. Otherwise, when the Allied reinforcements arrive, I'm afraid they will have no choice but to jump into the sea." Rundstedt reminded him seriously, with a hint of anxiety in his eyes, and a deep sense of worry. Understand the seriousness of the current situation. Although the German landing troops on the island are still holding on to their positions for the time being, as time goes by, Allied reinforcements are constantly arriving. If the German army cannot increase assistance in time and provide sufficient support to the landing troops, Once the Allied reinforcements arrive, the disparity in strength between the two sides will become even greater. The German troops on the island will simply not be able to resist it. At that time, I am afraid that the only way to go is to jump into the sea. Those tens of thousands of elites will have to The whole army was wiped out. These are tens of thousands of elites. They are all troops carefully trained by the German army and have extremely strong combat effectiveness. Every soldier has undergone rigorous training and has rich combat experience. They are the backbone of the German army on various battlefields. If it were really lost, the loss would be too great, it would be such a loss. Moreover, troops are being used everywhere, and every battlefield is in urgent need of military support. Elite troops are already very few. If these tens of thousands of elites are wasted for no reason, then no one can bear this responsibility. The entire German army The strategic layout will be greatly affected, and it may be difficult for subsequent combat operations to proceed smoothly.

"I understand." Marshal Keitel nodded solemnly after hearing Rundstedt's words. (End of chapter)