Chapter 1016

The shells landed on the ground, bursting into flames in the soft soil and flowers of steel, shaking everything around and tearing the air nearby. Then, on the originally flat ground, there will be a huge crater, and the bottom of the crater is slightly steaming.

Then the Soviet soldiers would jump into the crater and use the warm place as a natural shelter. German artillery destroyed villages, destroyed fortifications, and took a lot of lives, some from Soviet soldiers, some from civilians in villages.

Strictly speaking, the German army is still a long way from completely encircling Moscow. At least due east of Moscow and the southern part of Moscow are still firmly in the hands of the regular Soviet army. And near Kursk, south of Moscow, there was even a huge Armored Regiment of Soviet troops with more than a thousand tanks.

Unfortunately, the Armored Regiment was caught in the middle by three German army groups and couldn't move for a moment. On the far right side of Zhukov is the flank of model's D group army. In front of him are the mixed Italian, Romanian and Ukrainian groups. On the far left is the Guderian group army, which is ready to launch a revenge war.

These three battle groups, however, surpass Zhukov's armour group in terms of the number of troops, equipment, even supplies and the quality of soldiers. They can barely keep the defense line unshakable, which has left Zhukov at a loss, let alone leave the defense line and go north to rescue Moscow in danger.

From the outbreak of the war until now, this is the first time that the German army has absolute superiority in its own forces against the enemy's large-scale armored cluster in a certain direction. Therefore, this also proves that the German armored force has really become the number one in the world.

In Zhukov's operational headquarters, we can also hear the rumble of artillery shells falling from the front defensive zone. Some officers are busy with their own work. After all, the whole southward cluster is a huge existence in terms of military strength. Hundreds of thousands of troops need to manage too many affairs, so the whole headquarters is also very busy.

"Comrade Marshal! The sixth armored front called, saying that they were running out of fuel and ammunition, asking for supplies An officer in charge of logistics stood behind Zhukov with the documents and asked the marshal in a loud voice.

Before Zhukov could answer the officer's question, another officer entered the room. As soon as he entered the room, he stood at attention and asked a vexing question: "Comrade Marshal! Comrades konev, commander of the 1st close guard armored front army, called to inquire about the time to replenish new tanks. "

Zhukov waved and motioned them to shut up. Then he continued to listen to the voice on the other side of the phone, ignoring the two officers who were no longer junior. Then he opened his mouth and said to the phone slightly dryly: "Comrade Stalin, my troops are sandwiched between the three German army groups. If we withdraw rashly, it will probably lead to the collapse of the whole southern Moscow war zone..."

"Yes, comrade Stalin. I firmly support any decision you make, even in a crisis, to abandon Kursk. " Zhukov, who seemed to be a lot older, said to the phone in a gentle tone: "but I have to state a fact to you first. As a result, the troops in the southern Moscow war zone will not end up much better than the Leningrad group."

"Well, I'll wait for your final order. If we are destined to bear all that fate has imposed on us, then I will lead as many troops as possible back to Moscow at the last moment. Yes! I wish you good health. " After the last sentence, Zhukov hung up the phone when he heard the busy tone on the phone. Then he turned back and looked at the two officers standing in front of him.

Giving both of them a look to continue talking, Zhukov sat back in his chair tired. The desk in front of him was piled up with papers, and several telephone lines were tangled up in a mess, falling down to the earth like ground along a corner of the table.

"Comrade Marshal! The sixth armored front army sent a message, saying that their fuel and ammunition were running out, and requested to supply food, fuel and ammunition as soon as possible. " The officer in charge of logistics had to repeat what he had just said, and then continued to stand there respectfully, waiting for Zhukov's reply.

Zhukov did not speak, but motioned to another officer to continue explaining his intention. So the second officer could only repeat what he had just said: "Comrade Marshal! Konev's armored front called to ask when the new supply tanks would be delivered to them. "

"Tell konev that there won't be any new tanks for him. I can only support 4000 recruits for him, but he must hold the main defensive position! You can't step back! " Zhukov did not answer the first officer's question, but directly refused konev's request.

Then he rubbed the bridge of his nose with his fingers and looked at the first officer: "the ammunition should be approved to the sixth front army as soon as possible, and then the transport troops should be arranged to send it to them. As for other supplies, first press down, and you will remind me again this time tomorrow."

"Yes The two officers got the answers they wanted and retired with a salute. In the office, several officers from the logistics department were checking the forms, sorting out the weapons and ammunition they had just obtained, and adding new recruits. Even the largest reserve system, up to now, has been consumed. Most of the so-called "reserve divisions" of the Soviet Union's proud shadow forces have been annihilated or captured by the German forces. Now the Soviet army is able to mobilize, in addition to the young soldiers who have no combat experience, retired grandfathers who are over age, as well as a large number of women and children. The quality of these recruits may not be as good as Hitler's national division. This also allowed some German servants to join the army, surpassing their fierce Soviet opponents in terms of fighting capacity and fighting will for the first time. It's almost a month since goodrian's g-army failed to move northward. Germany has added more than 200 tiger king tanks, 50 commandos and other armored vehicles to g-army; The weapons and equipment Zhukov got were 70 Sherman tanks aided by the United States, and more than 50 T-34 and Stalin tanks. No matter in quality or quantity, Zhukov's troops can no longer compare with the German armored troops in the front. The only thing he has a certain advantage now is the time needed for the German troops to cut their wounds. What supported the Soviet Kursk defense line was only this period when the German army restored its front-line forces. What no one knows is that in the distant German territory, the P group army, which general Bok was ordered to form, has quietly completed its basic establishment, is undergoing training, and is waiting for their heavy weapons. With this group army in mind, the German army is not a garrison force, but a field group army alone, with a total force of more than 6 million. In addition to the scattered garrison troops, the total strength of the German army exceeded 7.3 million, reaching the limit of complete saturation. This is the limit that akador has reached by vigorously mobilizing women soldiers. In Germany, on average, one out of every 10 people holds a post in the army. This proportion can not be described as terror at all. It should be called "limit". Germany has even begun to abolish the recruitment department, because the head of state privately confessed to his staff: "if there is a country that can annihilate these German troops, then it will win the war." The Soviet German war not only exhausted the Soviet Union's blood and bone, but also consumed the German army's living strength. In fact, the total number of German casualties in the Soviet Union is close to 700000. In other words, one out of an average of 100 Germans has been killed in the Soviet Union. Of course, Zhukov didn't know all this. The information he knew was basically - lost here and lost there. How many people were lost today and how many will be lost tomorrow. So he helplessly dialed the phone of his already incomplete reserve team: "get general vassilev... I'm Zhukov... Yes, let your two armored divisions move northward first... Yes, sooner or later we will all collapse, which you and I both know. Comrade Stalin hoped that we could lean to Moscow and buy him more time. I think that in a few days, or as soon as tomorrow, the order for me to dispatch troops to the north will be issued... So I'll let you leave ahead of time, so as not to panic at that time. "“ However, marshal, if the third front army of the reserve team leaves the support position, as long as the German army launches an attack, will your defense line... "On the other side of the phone, general Vasilev's urgent voice came. After all, the safety of hundreds of thousands of troops was at stake, and he had to carefully consider the consequences of his troops' early withdrawal“ I will soon draw the first front army to join the northward withdrawal Zhukov said helplessly: "our bridgehead position in the south is dispensable now. After all, Stalingrad has been occupied, Baku oil field is occupied by the German army, that is sooner or later. Now that the whole southern war zone has collapsed, it's really better for us to find a way to go back to Moscow. After all, there is Comrade Stalin there, and it is also the capital of our entire Soviet Union! "