"Chief of Staff, how is the training of our soldiers going?"
Inside the German Government's conference room, the German Prime Minister asked wearily.
"The new army has completed its basic training. Are we sending them to the Russian battlefield?" German Chief of Staff Kurt Zeitzler replied respectfully.
Kurt Zeitzler was not exactly a famous general in the German military.
Before being promoted to Chief of Staff, Kurt Zeitzler had merely been the Chief of Staff of the First Panzer Group, holding the rank of major general.
Because of the German Army's earlier defeat in the Battle of Moscow, the German Prime Minister had the opportunity to promote his trusted subordinate—the obscure Kurt Zeitzler—to become the new German Chief of Staff.
Although Kurt Zeitzler had little fame, when it came to loyalty to the German Prime Minister, he could absolutely rank among the top five in the military high command.
More importantly, promoting someone without much of a foundation in the military to become Chief of Staff would cause the Junker nobility to dislike and oppose the new Chief of Staff.
That way, the Chief of Staff promoted by the German Prime Minister would have only one path to follow: constantly striving to win the Prime Minister's trust in order to secure his position.
Hearing Chief of Staff Kurt Zeitzler's question, the German Prime Minister rubbed his brow and asked wearily, "How is the situation on the Russian battlefield now?"
"Our Central and Southern Army Groups have established defensive positions along the line from Bryansk to Kharkiv, and have gathered the remnants fleeing from Stalingrad.
"There are currently about 850,000 troops deployed along the defensive line, while at least two million Russian soldiers are attacking it."
"Damn it! How did that bunch of bunglers in Army Group South manage to retreat