USSR 1941

   Chapter 127 22nd Infantry Division

   Rundstedt is right to think about it.

  In fact, his previous strategy of blocking the Soviet 9th Army was wrong... The German army is good at using "blitzkrieg" but it does not mean that they are also good at defending against "blitzkrieg" attacks.

   It is difficult to use purely negative and clumsy blocking to deal with the "Blitzkrieg". This has been verified when the German armored forces swept across Europe.

  The reason is very simple. Armored troops can rely on their mobility to flexibly change direction or bypass enemy infantry garrison points, so they can mobilize several times or even ten times the number of enemies to do meaningless running back and forth to chase and intercept.

   This is the core of the "offensive advantage theory".

  The "offensive superiority theory" is opposite to the "absolute defense theory" that prevailed during this period, such as France and Britain.

   "Absolute Defense Theory" holds that an army has a greater advantage on the defensive.

This is easy to understand. When defending, the army can "build high walls and collect food widely", build trenches, lay barbed wire, lay mines, and even have bunker fortifications and airtight firepower points, plus food And ammunition stockpile... just waiting for the enemy to attack.

   Hence the Maginot Line, the Mannerheim Line, and so on.

If someone said at this time that the "absolute defense theory" was wrong and that these fortifications would not have much effect, they would definitely be ridiculed, because the entire trench warfare of World War I proved that trench-like defense is Useful, and very useful!

  This is also one of the reasons why tanks in many countries, such as Britain and France, do not pay attention to mobility.

   But the Germans believed in the "offensive superiority theory."

  They believe that the real advantage is the attack that has been abandoned by other countries, because the attack has the initiative to choose the time, location and route of attack, while the defensive side can only passively wait for the enemy to attack.

   There is a saying that "there is no defense line that cannot be broken in the world", even if the enemy has built a whole defense line, so what? Not to mention that the defense line is expensive and requires a lot of troops to garrison. This line of defense is built by people, and there are bound to be loopholes in people's construction.

  What the attacking side has to do is to find the loopholes in this line of defense, and then use very little troops and resources to break through and go around the line of defense, making the entire line of defense meaningless.

  This theory is of course correct. The German army has proved this time and time again. Even the German army often does not build a line of defense when defending, but puts mobile troops on the second line of mobile defense.

  Under this theory, Rundstedt's defense and blocking of the 9th Army is controversial.

   Now, Rundstedt has finally found the right strategy... He should not be deadlocked, he should find important nodes and further strengthen it so that he can get ahead of the enemy.

   And this important node is Odessa.

  The question is just like what the adjutant said, how can Odessa be captured in three days.

  Lundstedt rubbed his chin while looking at the map and lost in thought.

  The German army is not incapable of taking Odessa, but Odessa was not that important before that.

It is not accurate to say that Odessa is "not that important". Odessa's strategic position is very important because it is an important port for the Russian Army's Black Sea Fleet and an airport from which fighter jets can cooperate with Crimean bombers Bombing Romanian oil fields is also a shortcut from Romania to Ukraine.

  The reason why it is "not that important" is because Odessa has been surrounded by the Romanian 4th Army.

   Once surrounded, it doesn't matter so much, because the Russian army stationed there can't stop the transportation of troops and supplies. At the same time, the airport and port will be blocked by artillery, and the Russian army is in trouble.

  Because of this, the German army bypassed Odessa... Anyway, the German army didn't expect the Romanian army to play a big role, so they let the 4th Army fight there slowly.

  But now the situation has changed. The offensive of the Russian Ninth Army forced Lundstedt to consider ending the battle in Odessa as soon as possible.

   "Contact the Air Force!" Rundstedt said to the adjutant: "Let them lay mines along the coast of Odessa to blockade the port!"

"yes!"

   "At the same time let them lay mines along the road and railway from Kyiv to Odessa!" Rundstedt said: "Of course, the infantry must do the same!"

  The adjutant was stunned for a moment, and then replied "Yes!"

  The reason why the adjutant hesitated was because this road and railway were the supply lines to the northern part of Army Group South, and laying mines was also a self-blockade.

  But obviously I can't take care of so much now.

   "Also, take over the 11th Army Command!"

  The call got through quickly.

   "General, I think you still have a chance!" Lundstedt said.

   "What?" Schobert didn't understand what Lundstedt meant.

   "22nd Infantry Division!" Lundstedt reminded.

   "No, Your Excellency the Marshal!" Schobert replied: "The 22nd Infantry Division is too far away, they can't go into battle in time!"

   "You may have forgotten that the 22nd Infantry Division is an airborne division!"

  The organization of the German army is a bit strange. They pay great attention to mobility, so although some units are called "infantry divisions", they have the ability to drop.

The so-called airborne is to take a glider to maneuver. From this, we can also see the quality of German soldiers... At this time, there are very few professional airborne and parachuted troops in all countries in the world, and it can even be said to be blank. The U.S. Airborne Force was established by learning from the British on the African battlefield, and Germany has such troops whose main job is infantry and the side job is airborne.

   "No, Your Excellency Marshal!" Schobert objected, "It's not that I haven't considered the 22nd Infantry Division, but they can't land in such weather!"

  In fact, precisely because Ukraine entered the rainy season, the 22nd Infantry Division has been used by Schobert as an ordinary infantry division, but because it started late, it just entered Ukraine to follow up.

   "This is an extraordinary time, General!" Rundstedt said: "Think about it, if you don't let the 22nd Infantry Division take risks, then what will happen?"

  The other end of the phone was silent for a while, and then replied: "Your Excellency Marshal, even if I agree to let the 22nd Infantry Division risk landing, it does not mean that they can stop the Russian 9th Army!"

   "No, General!" Rundstedt said: "Their task is not to block the Russian Ninth Army!"

   "That's..." Schobert was confused by what Rundstedt said.

   "They landed in Odessa!" Rundstedt said: "Cooperating with the Romanian 4th Army to launch an offensive, they must end the battle in Odessa within three days, no more than five days!"