The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Order No. 227, in a nutshell, required the Soviet army to defend the motherland to the death no matter how many casualties they incurred in the face of German aggression, and not to take a step back. Officers and political workers who retreat without authorization will be considered "cowards" and "traitors" and will be dealt with under military law.

This was actually all caused by Stalin's own mistakes or misjudgments.

Because of his victory in the defense of Moscow, he had the heart to underestimate the enemy. He ignored the objections of his staff and launched a rash attack on the German army. He even triumphantly laughed at the staff when he achieved a brief victory in the early stages of the attack on Kharkov.

But they were soon slapped in the face by the German army... The German army surrounded the Soviet army that broke into the Battle of Kharkov and annihilated hundreds of thousands of Soviet troops at a very small cost, seriously weakening the Soviet army's reserve strength in the south.

More importantly, Stalin misjudged the German army's next strategic direction. He believed that the German army would still attack Moscow instead of Stalingrad.

To be precise, it was not Stalin's misjudgment, but Hitler's intention to get Army Group Center and even Army Group South into a posture to attack Moscow.

Stalin was obviously fooled, so on the one hand he gathered his troops in Moscow without daring to move, and on the other hand he attacked Kharkov in the south.

As a result of the defeat of Kharkov and the siege of hundreds of thousands of people, the Soviet Union experienced a situation similar to that of the Transcaucasus battlefield in the entire southern region, including the Caucasus: empty troops could not stop the German army's crazy counterattack.

In this urgent situation, Stalin's Order No. 227 came into being.

The reason for issuing such a cruel order is simple: if the Soviet army continues to retreat, strategically important cities will fall, and morale across the country will be severely damaged.

Under this high-pressure order, General Tyulenev made every effort to build defenses in Baku.

In fact, it was Budyonny who gave General Tyulenev the advice at this time.

"Comrade Budyonny!" General Tyurenev called Budyonny before retreating to Baku: "I hope to get air cover from the Fourth Air Force! You know, the situation is very dangerous now, Germany The people are advancing towards Baku step by step, we cannot let them occupy Baku!”

There was silence on the other end of the phone. When Tyulenev was confused, Marshal Budyonny replied: "Comrade Tyulenev, I know that the Fourth Air Force should provide reinforcements to you, but it is not the time yet! "

"Comrade Budyonni..."

"Listen to me, Comrade Tyulenev!" Marshal Budyonny interrupted Tyulenev: "I know what you are thinking, you will think that I am looking for excuses not to provide reinforcements!"

"no no……"

"Don't deny it!" Marshal Budyonny did not give Tyulenev a chance to explain: "It will not do me any good. The reason is just like you said, the Germans are marching towards Baku, and the speed is very fast, maybe several times. The queen will arrive in Baku!”

After a pause, Marshal Budyonny continued: "Then, what good will it do to me if I don't reinforce the Transcaucasus Front? The Transcaucasus Front was defeated, followed by the North Caucasus Front, and if the Germans occupied Pakistan If we don’t store it, the Soviet Union will be in danger due to lack of energy. What good will this do to me?”

General Tyulenev soon felt relieved. Budyonny was right. As a Soviet Marshal, this was of no benefit to him at all.

"Then, Comrade Budyonni..."

"Do you remember what we did before the Battle of Moscow?" Budyonny asked: "I mean when we retreated all the way to Moscow!"

"You mean the strong walls clear the country?" Tyulenev asked.

Marshal Budyonny did not answer. He was just silent for a while, and then changed the topic: "1,200 kilometers away, by the time the Germans arrive in Baku, they will be exhausted, and our chance to fight back will be here. Understand." Yet?"

Tyulenev seemed to understand something and replied: "I understand, Comrade Budyonny! Thank you very much!"

Perhaps because of the confusion of the authorities, General Tyulenev, who had been beaten badly by the Germans before, almost lost confidence in himself and his army.

But now, with Budyonni's reminder, he suddenly understood what he was going to do.

On the one hand, he asked the troops to constantly cause trouble on the way the Germans advanced, such as blowing up bridges, laying mines, and occasionally ambushes.

However, this actually had little impact on the German army, because the German troops of the 7th Airborne Corps actually parachuted to the rear of the Soviet army after airborne. They not only occupied the Caucasus Mountains, but also took the initiative to occupy the Caucasus Mountains based on the Caucasus. main traffic.

Therefore, the Soviet army's actions such as blowing up bridges and laying mines were mostly in vain. The German army advanced eastwards at a speed of one hundred kilometers per day along the roads controlled by the airborne troops.

On the other hand, Tyulenev asked the soldiers to start the evacuation of the people, demanding that the walls be fortified and the country cleared as before the Battle of Moscow.

This was done quite well. The ammunition supplies and fuel in the warehouse were all burned up in one go, even the food in the hands of the people.

But they couldn't do anything about the crops growing in the fields... The Soviet army also wanted to burn all these things, but they couldn't do it if they were scattered in the fields, or it could be said that there was no time for them to do so, so the German army They will be surrounded at any time from behind or even on the flanks.

Finally, there is the defense of Baku.

General Tyulenev, like Marshal Budyonny, was born in the cavalry. The difference between him and Marshal Budyonny is that... he did not realize that the cavalry was no longer adapted to the battlefield of this era. This is why Tyulenev would send a cavalry division there. One of the reasons why Novorossiysk faced off.

Needless to say what the result was. A cavalry division that Tyulenev was proud of was defeated miserably in Novorossiysk. Only a few hundred people in one division escaped around the Caucasus and returned to the front.

At this time, Tyulenev certainly did not dare to have the previous thoughts. After several exchanges or consultations with Budyonny, he used the terrain to dig trenches and build layers of defenses 30 kilometers away from Baku.

"Strive to hold each line of defense for ten days!" Budyonny said to Tyulenev: "In this way, it will take at least several months for the Germans to reach Baku, and our reinforcements will arrive by then! "

"Thank you very much, Comrade Budyonny!" Tyulenev replied.

He had never taken Budyonni seriously before, and even secretly competed with Budyonni because they were both commanders of the front army.

But now, Tyulenev finally understood the gap between himself and the old marshal.