On April 21, 1945, when Marshal Of Germany and Commander-in-Chief of the Western Front, Moder, committed suicide in a forest, he said to his subordinates: I, as a marshal, out of faith in the victory of the motherland, I must be responsible for the thousands of soldiers who lost their lives, and I cannot imagine that I should now go out of this forest to find Montgomery or the Americans, and raise my hands while saying: Marshal Modell is here, I surrender.
Inside, there is too much helplessness.
In fact, Modell was still a relatively easy person to ignore in World War II, because he did not have the most brilliant record of Rommel's fight against the wind, nor manstein's strategy and cunning with the Junker Versailles style, and among the marshals promoted in the late German third, Modell did not have many shining points, because when he showed his skills, Germany had been losing the battle.
Modell was only a general at the level of a military division in the early days of the war, was then the commander and commander of the armor division, and in the Barbarossa plan was a fist in the Gudri armor group, and he could not stand on the stage for the overall nature of the war decision.
And Chinese netizens used to call Modell "Mo Bu Attack", this screen name can more or less reflect his way of fighting on the Eastern Front, after all, he was called "Defense Master" in the late Soviet-German War, and the so-called "shield and sword" defense technique was ridiculed as "Mo Shou ChengGui", but this also revealed his own helplessness: when he began to fully exert his own ability, Desan was powerless to return to heaven, and what Modell was able to do was to let the German army appear again and again.
Later in the war, Modell was very powerful, was awarded the rank of field marshal, and the highest honor of the German army, the Knight's Cross with Two Swords, and was the commander of the Northern Ukraine and Army Group Center on the Eastern Front, which can also be said to be the highlight of his life. Saying that he is high-profile is not actually saying how great his military achievements are, because in the eyes of many people, it seems that he has not had much merit in being a fire captain on the battlefield of defeat, and Nazi Germany is not at this time the moment of national peril, so as a German three ferromagnets, he cannot even earn the title of a national hero, and finally only earns the disgraceful title of a third reich mourner.
Also the captain of the firefighting, zhukov of the Soviet Union can be said to be much more glorious than him, on the one hand, to save the Soviet Union from the moment of peril, on the other hand, T34 drove into Berlin, fresh clothes and angry horses, this is completely different from Modell.
You know, Modell's main achievement began in the Battle of Lezhev in early 1942, when he was the commander-in-chief of the 9th Army, with the rank of general of the panzer corps, and then he has been fighting against the crazy counterattack of the Soviet army, at this time the 9th Army in the direction of Lezhev is the nail wedge into the Soviet front, only 200 kilometers away from Moscow, when the 9th Army has only tens of thousands of people, but the German army can still take various offensives to disgust the Soviets, which makes the Soviets very unhappy.
So in November 1942 Zhukov played an "Operation Mars" offensive, when Modell had only 90,000 people and Zhukov 800,000 people, but by December 20, Zhukov failed, and it was his worst defeat in World War II, losing 335,000 people, of which 100,000 were killed, so it made the Soviet high command and Zhukov lose face, resulting in the Soviet army refusing to recognize the existence of this operation for a period of time after the war. Zhukov also flashes his words about the Battle of Lezhev in his memoirs, while Marshal Konev's memoirs contain only a series of "......"
If there is anything remarkable about the Soviets, it is that the German casualties exceeded 40%, and this casualty figure cannot be expanded, and it is 40,000 people.
Of course, the Battle of Lezhev still embarrassed Paulus of Stalingrad, and in the Battle of Lezhev, the meat grinder-like Battle of Lezhev, Modell asked for reinforcements from his superiors, which prevented Army Group Center from coming to the rescue of Stalingrad, and Paulus was beaten to death by Zhukov's "Operation Uranus", thus making Paulus the first German marshal to be captured.
So you can imagine why Modell was able to soar all the way in the last two years of Nazi Germany, in addition to the defensive tactics played well, that is, he was also very good at relations, as one of the members of the 4,000 officer corps left in Germany in world war I, he did not have the aura of junker nobility, just the German middle class, for Corporal Hitler, he did not show all kinds of contempt, it can be said that this also catered to the favor of the mustache, compared to the Prussian knights who wore the junker aura, Moder's confidence and frankness from the civilian class are more in line with the taste of the wolf's den, because the chattering old soldiers, out of Versailles, are simply useless.
Because of Modell's own flesh shield attributes, each time was able to build a relatively solid front under the steel torrent of the Soviet Union, so much so that at the diamond decoration ceremony on August 17, 1944, Hitler was moved: if it were not for you, your heroic feats and your wise leadership of the brave army, the Russians might have stepped into East Prussia today, and even reached the gates of Berlin. The German people are full of gratitude to you.
It's just that Modell committed suicide, throwing the pot in contrast to the Junker aristocrat Manstein, known as the "Manbu group", saying that Modell was a Nazi diehard, with a smell of bullying dead people who can't speak.
Of course, it is not unfounded to say that he is a die-hard, such as his first loyalty after the 720 incident, appointing an SS officer as his aide-de-camp, all kinds of evidence of his behavior, but it can also be understood as a way to achieve his ambitions and ideals, so a historical figure is not so pure, itself is very complicated.
Modell's life can be said to be a life of fighting, except that when the Eastern Front was about to collapse, he ran to the eroded Western Front and took over the position of his old superior, Marshal Kruger. Krueger was fired for being affected by the 720 incident, and it is also clear from here how much Modell trusted Hitler.
But he was sane.
Modell has been taking over the mess since its infancy, the Eastern Front is rotting everywhere, and the Western Front has directly produced cancer, how bad is the situation on the Western Front? Krueger believed that the situation had spiraled out of control to the point of appealing to the Allies, and he even persuaded Hitler to end the war.
Faced with the soviet flat push on the eastern front and the allied attacks on the western front, the German soldiers at this time were lonely, and Modell was no exception. While the soldiers of other countries were smiling for future victories, Modell was also tried to be a powerful adrenaline of Desan.
If desan is compared to a human body, then Modell should be the big waist of desan
December 1944.
Base Camp: Each unit reports its current situation.
Navy: 99% loss of function;
Infantry: 80% loss of function;
Artillery: 80% loss of function;
Armored Soldiers: 80% loss of skills;
Air Force: total loss of function;
Base Camp: All the outside aid (satellite countries) has been unable to turn the tide, how much adrenaline reserves are left?
Moder: All adrenaline reserves are only 5% left and cannot be remanufactured.
Base Camp: Allocate all the adrenaline to infantry and armor, prepare a counterattack in the Ardennes Forest, and make a final account to the West and its allies. The remaining units are ready to stop at any time.
Modell: I can't do that, all I can do is let Germany say goodbye to the people.
Base Camp: This directive will not be repeated.
Modell: I Nyima.....
Base Camp: Shut up.
So Modell desperately threw his troops into the Ardennes Forest, and in Mantofier's words, Hitler began a "corporal war" from then on.
At this time, Modell was standing alone, because there were not many senior generals in Germany who were on the front line.
Here to talk about The character of Modell, Modell this person is not like Marshal Rondesthyler who pays attention to the top-level design of the war policy, nor is he like Marshal Keitel who is famous for Hitler licking dogs and only nodding, as a marshal and the commander of the army group, Modell can be described as a big detail, his figure is everywhere on the front line, many times directly involved in the grass-roots command authority, can be described as a master of micro-exercises, which also shows why he is called a defensive master, the combat deployment is all clear in the chest, responsive, Extremely fast hand speed.
First of all, he was arrogant by nature, self-confident and talented, and had a small heart, especially he could not look at the staff officers under his hands, and he had a poisonous tongue, and he dealt a merciless blow to his staff officers and commanders all the time. For example, when Modell intervened in the 48th Panzer Corps, Captain Balk had a dispute with him, in fact, Balk had been saying, Modell had been listening quietly, and then Balc's two armored divisions were transferred away and put him in charge of 4 infantry divisions.
Because of Modell's work style, the grass-roots officers and soldiers only have awe and admiration for him, and do not really like him, but he is always energetic and tireless, everyone thinks that this person can always lead them to fight, replaced by some middle and senior officers, it is even more unlikely to like to work with him, when Modell took over the 41st Motorized Army in 1941, the chief of staff and a cadre of staff collectively asked to be transferred, enough to see how "bad" Modell's reputation is.
The officers said of him: Modell's bad temper made his cleverness seem so stupid.
This truth is actually very simple, most people like to stay with people who are not as good as themselves, and few people are willing to set off their stupidity around the human spirit. So a lot of people like small animals and children, because these things are stupid enough. For example, some people like cats and dogs, and it is a good cute sentence, and sometimes the subtext of cuteness and cuteness is weakness and intelligence. In the case of the little monkey, there are far fewer people who like it, because the monkey is clever enough to tease people, and those people do not have the confidence to control the monkey. In the same way, those who like children like their simplicity and lack of heart, so flickering. If you meet a little genius, 3 years old will mentally calculate the three-digit multiplication or know the correct way to write the word "vegetable force", they will definitely think about it and weigh it.
Another reason the officers disliked Modell was that he was violent and well-behaved. Many generals later recalled that Modell treated his colleagues and subordinates with extreme rudeness and ignored various prohibitions, for example, when Modell was only the commander of the army group, in the face of Corporal Hitler's spit and micro-manipulation, Modell only said coldly: My Führer, who is the commander of the 9th Army, is it you, or me?
It seems that the real micro-exercise masters of the Eastern Front battlefield are not white after all, and the level of Modell's soup words has reached the realm of idle walking and pampering.
Everyone knows that Manstein was ridiculed for being called "Man Bu Qun" because he had a high self-esteem, and he said of Modell: he was like a barracuda in the carp pond of the Officer Corps of the General Staff Headquarters (referring to his early years in the General Staff Headquarters). From his book The Lost Victory, he said of Modell: his most prominent feature is his superhuman vitality, his recklessness in doing things, his firmness in stating his views, his conviction and certainty, his brave soldier, his carelessness in everything, and his constant demands in a rough way for his subordinates to emulate him. Thus, Modell became Hitler's ideal soldier.
You know, the book "Lost Victory" Chinese netizens also gave it a nickname, called "The Art of Throwing the Pot", "Bullying the Dead Can't Speak", etc., of course, these evaluations have serious ridicule and follow-up traces, but as a Junker Marshal, such an evaluation of Modell is enough to show Modell's ability.
Marshal Mo has poor character, small heart and eyes, and is not modest, but he has a high IQ and high emotional intelligence. To know that When Modell was young, he was just a young man with poor eyesight and a sick illness, and he was completely different from the powerful and heroic Prussian soldiers of Kong Wu, and his family asked him to study law, never imagining that he would be able to become a crazy groom on the German 3 chariot in the future.
It is said that Modell was a hardcore supporter of Nazi Germany, of course, this must contain his personal ambitions to support the Nazi regime and Hitler to achieve his ideals in life, but if he is hardcore, sometimes it is too arbitrary.
On the eve of Germany's defeat, Modell finally lost his former vitality, and when his troops were besieged by the Allies in the Ruhr industrial area, he learned that his troops were described by Goebbels as traitors, and his words later more or less illustrate some of the problems: I truly believe that I am serving a criminal, that I have always led my fighters with conscience, but that I have served a criminal government.