On 20th December 1941 a very worried Guderian flew to East Prussia to
see Hitler at his headquarters. He wanted to persuade him to take the
German front line back to more favourable positions, if necessary over
a considerable distance. The five-hour interview was of historic
importance. It showed the Fuehrer irritable, tormented by anxiety, but
resolved to fight fanatically; it revealed a powerless and obsequious
High Command, resembling courtiers in uniforms; and it showed
Guderian, alone but courageous, passionately arguing his case and
fearlessly giving Hitler his frank opinion on the situation at the
front.
The first time the word retreat was mentioned Hitler exploded. The
word seemed to sting him like the bite of an adder. It conjured up for
him the spectre of the Napoleonic disaster of 1812. Anything but
retreat!
Passionately Hitler tried to convince Guderian: "Once I've authorized
a retreat there won't be any holding them. The troops will just run.
And with the frost and the deep snow and the icy roads that means that
the heavy weapons will be the first to be abandoned, and the light
ones next, and then the rifles will be thrown away, and in the end
there'll be nothing left. No. The defensive positions must be held.
Transport junctions and supply centres must be defended like
fortresses. The troops must dig their nails into the ground; they must
dig in, and not yield an inch."
Guderian rejoined: "My Fuehrer, the ground in Russia at present is
frozen solid to a depth of four feet. No one can dig in there."
"Then you must get the mortars to fire at the ground to make
shell-craters," Hitler retorted. "That's what we did in Flanders in
the first war."
Guderian again had to put Hitler right on his facts. "In Flanders the
ground was soft. But in Russia the shells now produce holes no more
as iron. Besides, the divisions have neither enough mortars nor,
what's more important, any shells to spare for that kind of
experiment. I myself have only four heavy howitzers left to each
division, and none of them has more than 50 rounds. And that is for a
front sector of 20 miles."
Before Hitler could interrupt him Guderian continued: "Positional
warfare in this unsuitable terrain will lead to battles of material as
in the First World War. We shall lose the flower of our Officers Corps
and NCOs Corps; we shall suffer gigantic losses without gaining any
advantage. And these losses will be irreplaceable."
There was deathly silence in the Fuehrer's bunker at the Wolfsschanze.
Hitler too was silent. Then he stepped up close to Guderian and in an
imploring voice said, "Do you believe Frederick the Great's grenadiers
died gladly? And yet the King was justified in demanding of them the
sacrifice of their lives. I too consider myself justified in demanding
of each German soldier that he should sacrifice his life."
Guderian realized at once that with this bombastic comparison Hitler
was merely trying to evade the issue. What Hitler was talking about
was not sacrifice as such, but useless sacrifice. He therefore said
calmly, "Our soldiers have proved that they are prepared to sacrifice
their lives. But this sacrifice ought only to be demanded when the end
justifies it. And I see no such justification, my Fuehrer!"
From the horrified expressions on the faces of the officers present it
was clear that they expected Hitler to explode. But he did not. He
said almost softly, "I know all about your personal effort, and how
you lead your troops from in front. But for this reason you are in
danger of seeing things too much at close quarters. You are hamstrung
by too much compassion for your men. Things look clearer from a
greater distance. In order to hold the front no sacrifice can be too
great. For if we do not hold it the Armies of Army Group Centre are
lost."
The argument continued for several hours. When Guderian left the
situation room in the Fuehrer's bunker late at night he overheard
Hitler saying to Keitel, "There goes a man whom I have not been able
to convince."
.....Hitler Moves East by Paul Carell
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