The decisive battle against the Third Reich

Qin Chuan's guess was correct. When the German army made a series of deployments, the Soviet Union also carried out step by step according to Vasilevsky's plan.

The first is on the military front.

Stalin himself gave these preparations a name: the "Sunshine" plan.

Taking "sunshine" for a plan that was to be implemented in the severe cold winter also shows how high Stalin had placed his hopes on this plan.

Zhukov was mainly responsible for military operations. Later, a series of reorganizations of the troops were approved and reviewed by the Supreme Command Headquarters and the National Defense Commission:

The first is the newly established Southwestern Front, which is the troops requested by Zhukov. He believes that with these troops, they can compete with the German Army Group South. Stalin delivered these troops to Zhukov as he wished.

The commander of this front is Vatutin, a commander who is good at commanding tank operations... This is not common in the Soviet army, because the Soviet Union itself made tactical mistakes in the use of tanks.

Next is the Stalingrad Front.

The main task of the Stalingrad Front at this time was to defend the Don River, so it was changed to the Don River Front. Commander Rokossovsky... The purpose was to free Zhukov from commanding the front and use it to command the overall situation.

Next is the Southeast Front.

In addition to defending the Volga River, the military purpose of the Southeastern Front was to recapture the main force of Stalingrad, so it was changed to the Stalingrad Front, and its commander was still Yereomenko.

Zhukov's plan is very simple. After the river freezes in winter, the newly formed Southwest Front Army and the Stalingrad Front Army will launch counterattacks from the west of the Don River and south of the Volga River respectively towards the German defense lines... The attack site is where Qinchuan was previously located. That is to say, the German army's flanks were defended by the Romanian army and the Italian army.

After the two Soviet front armies broke through the German defense line, they moved toward the German rear to outflank Karachi, east of the Don River.

Obviously, when the two front armies meet in Karachi, they will surround the German army in the Stalingrad area.

However, as time went by, many generals opposed it.

The reason was that the Soviet generals discovered that the German army had filled the loopholes in these areas.

The main opponent was Volsky, commander of the mechanized 4th Army in the newly formed Southwest Front who would be responsible for important assault missions.

"I think we should postpone or even cancel this plan!" Volski said: "The reason is that the Germans have made defensive preparations. Such an attack looks like attacking the enemy's weak points, but in fact it is our The force hits those Romanian and Italian troops, and the fist of the German main force hits us on the head!"

What Volsky said was very vivid and also very reasonable.

It is indeed possible for the Soviet army to break through the German defense line, but it is only the army of the German slave country.

Because of the attack, the Soviet troops, equipment, specific location and other information were placed in front of the Germans, and then the main German forces would launch a thunderous counterattack against the Soviet army under the cover of the air force.

"So!" Waliski concluded: "If we do this, not only will we not succeed, but we will suffer a disastrous defeat with the serious consequences. Even the two lines of defense we originally stationed will be destroyed due to insufficient troops. At this critical moment, I request the National Defense Committee to immediately examine in detail whether the decision made for this campaign is realistic!"

Stalin made no judgment on Volsky's words.

Because strictly speaking, what Volsky said is correct, but Volsky didn’t know that the Soviet Union still had a hand in strategy...

Stalin had sent Molotov (the People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs of the Soviet Union) as a representative to London to mediate with the British, showing them that the Soviet Union was willing to negotiate an armistice with the Germans. If the United Kingdom and the United States continued to stand by and let the war develop, Then the Soviet Union would not be willing to sacrifice its own soldiers and civilians in such a meaningless manner to allow this war to continue.

Mediation took time, and Stalin was not sure what the outcome would be, so he could only put aside his objections.

In fact, there was no need for Stalin to mediate at all. As soon as the news of the fall of Stalingrad reached London, Churchill looked at the map and fell into deep thought.

Vasilevsky was right in this regard. Britain and the United States did not want the Soviet Union to break free from the war trap with Germany. They also did not want the Soviet Union to be overthrown by Germany, because it was obvious that if Germany overthrew the Soviet Union If so, then it would be time to free up our hands to deal with Britain and the United States. At this time, the U.S. military was even fighting the Japanese in the Pacific battlefield.

Then Churchill called Roosevelt.

"Mr. President!" Churchill said: "Looking at the current situation, the situation of the Soviets does not seem to be very good!"

"Uh-huh!" Roosevelt didn't say much.

Roosevelt was actually more inclined to open a second battlefield, but Churchill suppressed this matter by relying on the fact that the second battlefield must be based in Britain.

Roosevelt's reaction made Churchill a little embarrassed. He cleared his throat and said: "If you look at the map, you will find that the German encirclement of the Soviet Union has gradually taken shape, especially the loss of the Baku oil fields... I think if we If we don’t take action, the Eastern Front will soon collapse!”

"Your Excellency Prime Minister!" Roosevelt said sarcastically: "I'm glad you finally realize this and are increasingly interested in establishing a new battlefield!"

"Of course, Mr. President!" Although Churchill knew that Roosevelt's words were thorny, he still replied without changing his face: "Especially because I have heard rumors that the Soviet Union plans to rely on the existing defense lines of the Don River and the Volga River, and rely on Negotiate with the Germans!”

This news couldn't help but move Roosevelt... Although the United States during this period surpassed the United Kingdom in industry, economy, etc., there was still a gap with the United Kingdom in terms of intelligence, so Roosevelt always had less information than Churchill.

"We cannot allow this to happen!" Roosevelt said.

"Of course!" Churchill said: "So we need a plan..."

"No, it's not a matter of planning!" Roosevelt said anxiously: "We should get in touch with Stalin to ask him to give up this idea. On the other hand, we will also increase the reinforcement materials to the Soviet Union, including oil, and then the plan The problem!"

"Yes, Mr. President!" Churchill replied: "I agree!"

In fact, this was not because Roosevelt was anxious.

Roosevelt was just pretending to be "anxious". He just wanted to use this opportunity to lead the opening of the second battlefield to enhance the voice of the United States. In this regard, Churchill actually took advantage tactically but lost completely strategically.