In fact, Stalin didn't need to consider these issues at all. The United States and Britain were already considering these issues... Attacking the German army from the east and west was the only strategy that made it difficult for the German army to concentrate its efforts against the United States and Britain, so no matter what, the United States and Britain would not let the Soviet Union fall on the Eastern Front.

So, at this time, when Roosevelt proposed that he should launch an attack on northern France as soon as possible, Churchill did not object.

At this time, Roosevelt did not forget to sarcastically say to Churchill: "We should have done this long ago. If we had chosen to implement this plan earlier, the Germans would not have eliminated most of their threats on the Eastern Front and then turned to deal with us!"

Roosevelt's words were correct, because if the Soviet Union had the power to counterattack, then the United States and British troops would have taken the initiative in strategy.

Because even if the Soviet army is placed on the power of the Soviet army without launching an attack, the German army must place forces that match it on the Eastern Front, otherwise the Eastern Front may collapse at any time.

But now...

The performance of the German army in the Battle of Kursk changed all this.

The biggest result was that it destroyed more than 4,000 Soviet tanks... About 3,000 of them were destroyed by the German army during the battle, and the 48th Army destroyed more than 1,000 tanks.

The Soviet army was unable to bring these equipment out of the encirclement in time, and could only destroy the tanks to prevent them from falling into the hands of the Germans.

Among them are the tanks deployed by the Central Front and the Bryansk Front on the defense line of the Kursk protrusion.

As mentioned earlier, the 5th Army of the Soviet Guards Tanks must use the method of burying mines and breaking the road to delay the German advance.

This will cause a very embarrassing situation... The speed of mine burying and breaking the road cannot be controlled.

If the road breaks faster, it is equivalent to helping the Germans surround the Kursk protrusion, because the part where they broke the road was the throat of the protrusion, and destroying traffic also prevented the Soviet army from withdrawing from the Kursk protrusion.

If the road breaks slowly, it is possible to allow the Germans to break through, occupy and defeat the 5th Army of the Guards Tanks before they further destroy the highways and bridges.

On the other hand, the march and transportation of tanks are very difficult, and it is almost impossible to withdraw all the tanks, artillery and other equipment from the front line before the German army closed the encirclement.

So after weighing the pros and cons, Stalin gritted his teeth and made a decision: blow up the equipment and withdraw the troops.

These exploded equipment include more than 1,000 tanks and more than 2,000 artillery pieces, as well as a large number of ammunition supplies, aircraft accessories, etc. stored in Kursk.

But even so, 200,000 people were surrounded in the Kursk region and finally had to surrender.

As a result, the Soviet army eventually lost 800,000 people, 4,000 tanks, 5,000 artillery pieces, and 1,600 fighter jets.

The German army suffered much less losses... 200,000 casualties, 1,000 tanks, 3,000 artillery pieces, and 500 fighter jets.

A considerable part of the losses of artillery and fighter jets were because the Soviet army accurately grasped the location of German artillery positions and airports before the war and launched large-scale artillery attacks and bombings.

But in any case, this was undoubtedly a decisive victory for the Germans.

Another result was to straighten the Kursk defense line.

Originally, the Kursk protrusion stretched toward the German defense zone, with a total length of 390 kilometers.

Such a long line of defense undoubtedly requires more troops and equipment, which may not be a big deal for the Soviet army, but it is a heavy burden for the German army, which was originally insufficient.

But now, the total number of from Belgorod to Orel is only more than 100 kilometers, less than one-third of the original defense line, which can save the German army a lot of defensive forces.

More importantly,... the Soviet army's strength was greatly reduced in this battle. There were only more than 5,000 tanks in total. More than 4,000 tanks were lost in this battle, and most of the remaining ones were light tanks reinforced by the United States and Britain, or tanks that were so slow that they vomited blood and were constantly malfunctioning.

This made the Soviet army almost lose the ability to launch a large-scale strategic counterattack alone... In other words, if the Soviet Union still wanted to launch a counterattack of the same scale, it would be possible to achieve it after a long time, and slowly accumulate fuel and the aid of the United States and Britain.

Therefore, when the 21st Armored Division arrived in Orel successfully, the entire battlefield was boiling, and those who knew each other but didn't know each other were cheering for Kursk's victory at that moment.

The quality of German soldiers is high... This refers to the quality of German soldiers in terms of culture and overall situation.

In this era, many soldiers fought in a mess, only knowing how to win battles intuitively and simply, killing enemies, rob land, etc. The German army is somewhat different in this regard. They often know what the strategic significance of what they do is.

For example, the baker handed Qin Chuan a cigarette and said, "It's finally over, an incredible victory, Lieutenant Colonel!"

Qin Chuan nodded in agreement. The victory was not easy and made people feel like they had a life of surviving the disaster.

Dominic got together with the two: "This battle of the Soviets must have been a big loss of energy, and it will be difficult to recover in a while!"

"Does this mean we'll have a holiday?" Werner, who was resting in the snow next to him, said weakly: "God, I really need a good rest!"

"Forget the holiday, Werner!" Kuhn responded while fiddling with his mechanically malfunctioning rifle: "Unless we can win this war completely, what kind of holiday do you want us to get?"

Kuhn's words are correct. At this time, even the training time for recruits in Germany was greatly shortened. How could it be for veterans with combat experience to give holidays, especially the 1st Infantry Regiment that is needed everywhere.

"I feel like I can't beat it anymore!" Werner said a little tired: "This damn place, a damn life, and a damn war!"

Alphredo on the other side interrupted: "I miss the days I have been in the Italian army a little bit. I don't know why I chose to join you!"

"Because you're a fool, Alphredo!" said the baker: "We're all fools!"

The German soldiers burst into laughter with exaggerated "haha".

Of course, veterans will feel this way. No matter what happens, they will be tired and bored after experiencing too much. What's more, there are life and death tests on the battlefield again and again, more and more blood, death and a bad living environment.

Qin Chuan is no exception, he is also tired of this kind of life.

But Qin Chuan knew that they had no choice but to keep walking on this road until the end of their destiny.
Chapter completed!