Red Moscow

The news of the defeat of the Stalingrad Front Army's offensive quickly reached Stalin's ears. He immediately contacted Zhukov who was staying near Stalingrad through a high-frequency telephone.

He asked Zhukov in a stern tone on the phone: "Comrade Zhukov, why did the attack of Rokossovsky's troops stop? Are you planning to hand over Stalingrad to the Germans?"

Facing Stalin's accusation, Zhukov replied in a calm tone: "Comrade Stalin, judging from the current situation, with the current strength of the Stalingrad Front Army, it is impossible to break through the German defense line and join forces with the Southeast Front Army in the city. More troops have been transferred from other areas to strengthen the forces in the warring areas. It is useless to continue to attack with our current forces and deployment, and it will cause huge casualties to the troops..."

After listening to Zhukov's words patiently, Stalin asked into the microphone: "Comrade Zhukov, if the headquarters has replenished your troops, can the offensive continue?"

"Comrade Stalin, it is absolutely necessary to replenish the troops." Zhukov replied respectfully, "However, the enemy's strength has exceeded our imagination, so it is difficult to achieve the desired results only by attacking at the army level. We need to replenish our troops and technical equipment and readjust our deployment to carry out a powerful assault of the size of the front and completely smash the enemy's siege of Stalingrad."

Hearing this, Stalin put the microphone on the table, took out two cigarettes from the cigarette case, crushed them with his fingers, and stuffed the shredded tobacco into the pipe. He lit the pipe slowly, took two puffs, then picked up the microphone again and stuck it to his ear, saying: "Comrade Zhukov, I think some of the issues you mentioned are worthy of our further discussion. You should fly back immediately. Moscow, give me a detailed report on the current situation.”

Zhukov raised his hand to look at his watch, and said expressionlessly: "Comrade Stalin, my plane will take off in half an hour, and I will arrive at your office in three hours at most."

"Very good," Stalin said with satisfaction to Zhukov's answer, "I will arrange someone to pick you up at the airport."

While Zhukov was on the road, Stalin did not waste it. He called the Chief of the General Staff Vasilevsky to his office and said to him: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, Zhukov will be here in a few hours. Here, report on the situation in Stalingrad. Before he comes, tell me how you view the situation in the Stalingrad area."

…………

When Zhukov arrived at Stalin's office, Vasilevsky had already reported his views on the situation in the Stalingrad area. Seeing Zhukov coming in, Stalin immediately extended his hand to him and said friendlyly: "Comrade Zhukov, you have worked hard!"

"Hello, Comrade Stalin!"

"It's already past dinner time, I think you must be hungry." After Stalin finished speaking, he walked quickly to the door, opened the door and sat outside, Boskrebyshev whispered a few words , and then returned to the house again, and said to Zhukov: "You take a break first, eat something, and we will talk slowly."

Poskrebyshev moved quickly, and after only a few minutes, he came in from outside with a pot of tea and a plate of bread slices on a tray. Under Stalin's signal, he walked to the conference table, put all the things on the tray in front of Zhukov, and then quietly retreated out.

Zhukov quickly wiped out the bread on the plate, drank two more sips of tea, then stood up, pointed to the map on the wall, and asked in a polite tone: "Can I use this map?"

After obtaining Stalin's permission, he walked quickly to the map, picked up the explaining stick leaning aside, and began to tell Stalin and Vasilevsky: "...the troops that are now assembled in the north of Stalingrad, Whether it is Rokossovsky's troops, or the 24th, 66th and 1st Guards armies, they are all very combat-effective units in our army. The reason why they have been unable to make progress is mainly due to the lack of sufficient technical equipment, lacked artillery and tank corps to directly support the infantry attack, and a sufficient number of aircraft."

Zhukov drew a circle on the north side of Stalingrad with his explaining stick, tapped it hard twice, and then went on to say: "The north and west sides of the city are open, but there are some canyons, which provide good ground for the enemy. Covering caused inconvenience to our army's attack. At the same time, the enemy occupied many commanding heights outside the city and placed artillery observers on them, so that they could call artillery fire at any time to bombard our attacking troops... ..."

"Comrade Zhukov, our intention to break through the German defenses and join forces with the southeastern front army in the city was smashed by the Germans." Stalin frowned and asked, "Tell me, what kind of help do we need to provide to the Stalingrad front army? Is it possible to break through the enemy's defense?"

Hearing Stalin's question, Zhukov put down his explaining stick, and replied with a serious expression: "Comrade Stalin, in order to effectively break through the enemy's defenses and join the defenders in the city, we need at least a fully staffed group army and a tank army." , three tank brigades, and at least 400 artillery pieces. In order to gain air supremacy on the battlefield, at least one air force must be strengthened.”

"The group army and tank units can reach the north of Stalingrad within half a month." Regarding Zhukov's request, Stalin said thoughtfully: "But the air force, I'm afraid it will be a little difficult."

"Why?" As soon as Stalin finished speaking, Zhukov's question blurted out.

Stalin did not immediately answer his question, but cast his gaze aside to Vasilevsky: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, it is up to you to answer this question."

Vasilevsky nodded, took two steps forward, and said to Zhukov: "Comrade Deputy Commander, a large-scale rat infestation occurred in the air force, which prevented most of our air forces from launching into the air. "

"Rat plague?!" Zhukov couldn't help showing a shocked expression when he heard what Vasilevsky said: "Comrade Chief of the General Staff, I don't understand why the rat plague prevents our air force from taking off to fight?"

"That's right, Comrade Deputy Commander-in-Chief." Vasilevsky replied with a bitter face: "A large number of rats got into the interior of the plane, biting all kinds of insulation lines, making our plane unusable. Moreover, there are many A few ace pilots are infected with cholera and are currently being treated in a field hospital."

Zhukov never dreamed that the little mouse would lose the combat effectiveness of the Soviet Air Force. He was silent for a long time before he asked: "Is there no way for our air force to eliminate these damn rats in a short time?"

Vasilevsky spread his hands and said helplessly: "We have taken necessary measures to try to exterminate these rats, but even if we wiped out all the rats, we still need to spend a lot of time on each rat. The aircraft is inspected to see if it is functioning properly."

Knowing that he could not get a large amount of air force support in a short period of time, Zhukov felt particularly disappointed. He understood very well that it was very unrealistic to defeat the enemy if he could not control the air supremacy on the battlefield. Even if his own side had an advantage in strength, facing the German air force would only pay a more painful price.

Stalin did not speak, but just stared intently at the map in front of him. In order not to disturb Stalin's thinking, Vasilevsky took Zhukov to a place a little further away, and said in a low voice: "It seems that we need to find a solution to the problem as soon as possible."

Although the two were standing a little far away from Stalin and their voices were very low, Stalin still heard Vasilevsky's words and immediately turned around and asked, "How do you plan to solve the problem?"

Seeing that Stalin heard their conversation, Zhukov and Vasilevsky returned to the conference table and stood straight in front of Stalin, waiting for him to say the next thing. Stalin took the pipe out of his mouth, pointed at the two of them in his hand, and said: "Well, you two go to the General Staff and discuss what measures should be taken in the Stalingrad area and where you can come from." Transfer troops to improve the situation in the Stalingrad area. At eight o'clock tomorrow night, I will wait for your news here."

Zhukov and Vasilevsky agreed, turned around and prepared to leave the office. Unexpectedly, as soon as Zhukov's hand touched the doorknob, he suddenly heard Stalin say something behind him: "Comrade Zhukov, I heard that after Rokossovsky's troops broke through the German defenses, Chuikov once sent a troop." Go north to respond. It is said that the commander of this unit is Xiao Xiaosha, is it true?"

If Stalin hadn't raised this issue, Zhukov would have almost forgotten about Sukov. Hearing Stalin’s emphatic question about this matter at this moment, he quickly turned around and replied: “Yes, Comrade Stalin. According to Chuikov’s report, he asked Lieutenant Colonel Sokov to lead a force of 200 people to go north to Orlovka Respond to the friendly forces that broke through the German defenses. But unfortunately, when this unit arrived in Orlovka, the 67th Tank Brigade that broke through the German defenses had been completely wiped out by the Germans during the march, so that they could not Complete the task of joining forces."

"I heard that Misha was very brave in the battle," Stalin continued. "He personally led his men to blow up five German tanks and was injured, right?"

When Vasilevsky heard that Sokov led his men to blow up five tanks, a look of surprise flashed across his face. However, Zhukov didn't know much about the questions Stalin asked. He said with some embarrassment: "I'm sorry, Comrade Stalin, I don't know much about this matter. If you want to know, I will call Khrushchev later. , he should know about it."

"No need." Stalin waved his hand at Zhukov and said, "You don't need to call. I will understand the specific situation in a few days. You want to get down to business."

After Zhukov and Vasilevsky came to the corridor, they asked in a low voice: "Comrade Chief of Staff, why did Comrade Stalin know the details of Lieutenant Colonel Sokov after talking about it for a few days? Do you have any other information?" Is there a news channel?"

"Comrade Zhukov." Since it was not a formal occasion, Vasilevsky no longer referred to Zhukov as the deputy commander, he said in a low voice: "Yesterday Yakov personally led the team and escorted a batch of new weapons to Stalingrad. Lieutenant Colonel Koff will know exactly what he has experienced during this northward movement."

"New weapons, what new weapons?" Zhukov asked in surprise, "Why haven't I heard of any new weapons being developed recently?"

"It's a long story." Vasilevsky said to Zhukov as he walked along the long corridor, "I've never seen this new type of weapon. It was developed by the school and Yakov."

Hearing what Vasilevsky said, Zhukov vaguely remembered that Sokov and Yakov had been missing for a while, presumably because of this new weapon. Since Vasilevsky did not know about this new type of weapon, he would not get an ideal answer if he continued to ask, so he took the initiative to change the topic: "Comrade Chief of Staff, Comrade Stalin asked us to designate a plan. , to reverse the situation in the Stalingrad region, do you have any ideas?"

Vasilevsky did not answer Zhukov's question immediately, but instead asked: "Comrade Zhukov, do you have any good ideas?"

"Comrade Chief of the General Staff," seeing that Vasilevsky was unwilling to express his views casually, Zhukov did not go around in circles, but said bluntly: "I am considering whether it is necessary for our army to carry out a campaign in the Stalingrad area. necessary for an offensive campaign."

"Offensive campaign?" Vasilevsky asked in surprise: "Comrade Zhukov, what kind of force do you plan to use to complete the offensive campaign you imagined?"

Zhukov looked left and right. Although there were only the two of them in the long corridor, he still didn't want to talk casually about the offensive campaign plan he had in mind on this occasion, so he said to Vasilevsky: "Comrade Chief of Staff, this is not the place to talk, let's go to your office and discuss the feasibility of a large-scale offensive campaign."

"Please come with me, Comrade Zhukov." Seeing that Zhukov said these words so solemnly, Vasilevsky also said with a serious face: "Only after understanding the current situation of the enemy and ourselves, it is possible to formulate To come up with an accurate attack plan, the General Staff should have a staff officer on duty, and I think he can provide us with all the information we need for this plan.”