Chapter 830

Smolensk in March this year is still floating snowflakes, although the winter is about to pass, but the cold is still reminding people that it does not want to go away so cleanly. But this year was different from usual, because Smolensk became the battlefield and the front line.

It's hard to remember how long it has been since there was a war here. The Russian people here seem to have forgotten that there is such a thing as war in the world. They have their own unique pride, because their motherland seems to have a very proud place in the word war.

The last time I passed here to challenge this country, I heard that he was also a great leader. He was powerful in the whole of Europe and had the myth of being invincible. Until more than 100 years later, some people still talked about his name: Napoleon! You see, what a loud name!

But this name fell, because he attacked Moscow, trying to challenge the courage of the Russians, so he lost his honor and his country in Moscow. So the civilians in Smolensk are very calm looking at the war in front of them. They have reason to believe that the other side will be defeated, and they will win the final victory.

But when these civilians see the face of the war, they know that there may be some twists and turns this time, because the enemy they see seems to be a little stronger than they think, or not a little stronger.

"Boom!" A large caliber shell fell on the city of Smolensk, a huge shock wave destroyed the buildings blocking the road, a building began to collapse with the explosion, and the dust began to spread to the whole street when it collapsed. After more than one hundred years of evolution, the destructive power of war is no longer the kind of petty farce in Napoleon's time. Only those who have experienced it will know how terrible it has become.

A newly recruited teacher looked at the collapsed house in the distance, carried his rifle and exclaimed, "my God, the enemy's artillery is so powerful, a building just collapsed!"

Several veterans walking in front of him looked scornful. They knew that their artillery was more powerful, but they were not willing to explain to a recruit. After all, the follow-up of this event will develop a sentence: "Why are our cannons more powerful, but they are beaten to the door?"

Such explanations are more complicated. After all, German planes are too powerful, tanks are too powerful, even infantry are more powerful. But I'm sorry to say that, aren't I? So everyone kept silent, just step by step to the edge of the city.

It has become a ruin. The German only encircled Smolensk, but did not send their own troops to attack here. They shelled and harassed the edge of the city every day, but never tried to capture the inner part of the city which was closely guarded by the Soviet army. The German army carefully avoided street fighting and the battle of wasting human resources with the Soviet Union.

In order to defend Smolensk, Zhukov left 100000 Soviet infantry and set up a street battle position similar to Kharkov's in Smolensk. He tried to drag Group A army into the street battle and let Smolensk consume German armored forces. However, lundstedt did not fall for it, or Germany did not have the capital to fall for it, So the two sides only fought on a small scale outside the city.

The lack of oil made the Germans stop attacking, but Zhukov and Stalin could not find out the details of the Germans. They did not know why the Germans stopped attacking again this time, whether they were tired or another trap for the Soviet Union.

"Let the troops fight back at an appropriate time to see what the Germans are planning!" Stalin said on the phone in a slightly displeased tone. He ordered Zhukov to stick to Smolensk, but Zhukov left it to the German, which made Stalin very unhappy. However, he was also aware of the current situation of the Soviet Red Army. He knew that it was not Zhukov who questioned his order, but that he could not defend Smolensk at all.

However, he was still worried that Moscow would be bombed strategically by the German army, so he was almost paranoid in strengthening the Soviet Union's air defense capability in the direction of Moscow. He mobilized the best fighters and pilots near Moscow, and deployed a large number of anti-aircraft gun positions here.

This consumed a lot of valuable air defense resources of the Soviet Union and increased the burden of the lack of air defense firepower on the front line. But Moscow meant a lot to Stalin, and he was absolutely right to do so.

Zhukov was also happy with the success of this kind of thing. Since Stalin had personally inquired about the air defense in the direction of Moscow, he had no time and energy to interfere with his operational command. So he has a more flexible command and can arrange his defense more calmly.

Zhukov, holding a phone in the headquarters, said to his leader, "I don't have enough intelligence to confirm. I don't know whether the Germans stopped the attack on their own initiative this time, or whether they were really short of oil or other supplies. If we launch an offensive rashly at such a time, we may lose a large number of troops again, which will definitely make our well constructed defense system collapse again. "

His words are not alarmist. Although British spies in Germany have repeatedly claimed that Germany lacks enough strategic materials, and the United States hopes that the Soviet Union will start to fight back and strive for the initiative in the battlefield, this series of intelligence is still not enough to make the Soviet Union's generals decide to make a tentative counterattack.

After all, their wounds have not yet healed. They took the lead in launching two attacks in Poland and Ukraine, both of which were hit head-on by the German armored forces. They lost a lot of troops in these two attacks. These losses have made them unable to organize effective defense to stop the German advance. Who dares to say that this time the Germans stopped the attack with premeditation? Who dares to say that the incomplete information about the shortage of German materials is not the false information spread by the Germans to deliberately confuse the Soviet Union and make a wrong response? Once the Soviet Union started to fight back again, the cost of failure would not be affordable to the Soviet Union. That's why Stalin gave up his autocracy and began to consult Zhukov. Therefore, Zhukov changed his operational policy of substituting attack for defense and waited carefully for the opportunity he thought was appropriate. It's like the powerful British Imperial Navy, after ruling the world's oceans for a hundred years, anyone who challenges must think twice before acting. After the German army has won a series of victories, anyone should be cautious about this behemoth and dare not easily try to counterattack this offensive way of challenge. Everyone is willing to use another relatively mild way to win: first hold the position and wait for the German to attack. Once the German attack fails, it will prove that the German attack is really weak, And then fight back. Sometimes conservatism means less risk and less responsibility. Therefore, all senior Soviet generals, including Zhukov, are waiting for a more comprehensive opportunity, which is related to time. Zhukov's idea was very simple. The Soviet Union had already transferred the main forces of 35 divisions from the Far East to its own western line in secret batches. Many of these troops are old troops under the command of Zhukov. They have actual combat experience with the Japanese Kwantung Army, and their combat effectiveness is relatively higher. As long as these troops arrived in Moscow, Zhukov had the confidence to stick to his present line of defense. As long as he stuck to his present line of defense, the Soviet Union would find a chance to defeat the German army in the new winter. It was a muddy spring, a summer when the German army was defeated, and a muddy autumn when the most tired winter of the German army came. The Red Army of the Soviet Union entered the counterattack in one fell swoop when the second winter came, and the German army was defeated... This is the script of Zhukov and Stalin. There is no need to take any risks, just maintain the present situation. According to the calculation, Germany's maximum mobilization force is about 7 million to 8 million. Now the German army has almost reached the limit of military mobilization. As long as they defeat the German once, they will not have a second chance. So Stalin felt that he could wait for a chance to kill without letting the Soviet army in Moscow continue to take risks. So on the phone, Stalin's instructions were very simple: "strengthen all the defense in the direction of Moscow, let the Germans fall into the mire of war, and finally fight back when the Germans lose their offensive ability! Moscow must not be involved in the war. This is a crime that the great motherland cannot tolerate! " Zhukov generally agreed with Stalin, but he was more concerned about the defense in the direction of Caucasus: "great leader comrade Stalin, rokosovsky is determined to survive with Stalingrad, so I Zhukov will survive with Moscow! But in the direction of counterattack after defense, I still tend to focus on the weakness of the enemy rather than the region. " His idea is to strike back from the Caucasus to remove the German threat to oil resources, and then strike back from the south to take back Ukraine, threatening the German oil producing area of Romania, so as to quickly destroy the war potential of Germany“ Comrade Zhukov, I believe that we have maintained a high degree of consistency on the issue of defending Moscow. As for where to fight back, that will be the future. " Surprisingly, Stalin agreed with Zhukov. He promised Zhukov on the phone: "defend Moscow! We will work together! The future Soviet Union, you will be a great hero