In the Kremlin on June 30, Stalin, who had just signed an order to recall Zhukov, was sitting alone in his office calming down.
The situation on the Western Front annoyed him, but it was even more puzzling.
He didn't understand why the Western Front, which was the most well-equipped and most powerful, was still unable to deliver any powerful blow to the enemy after so long the start of the war. Why were the three armies staying in the Bialystok salient without any impact? As he waited for the formation of the enemy's encirclement, he also didn't understand why Pavlov, whom he had always valued, was unable to command his troops, and was even unable to execute the orders of the headquarters in critical moments.
At this moment, Stalin suddenly remembered the scene a year ago.
At that time, Pavlov left a very good impression on him. Pavlov was clear-cut in his reports, appeared mature and prudent, and was very confident. His reputation among senior officials has always been good. Compared with the unpopular Zhukov , Pavlov has been praised all over.
It was precisely because of this that he appointed Pavlov as commander of the Western Special Military District.
But now, Pavlov gave himself a terrible answer.
The three main front armies of the Western Front were simply surrounded by two wings of the German army at the Bialystok salient.
This reminded Stalin of the exercise half a year ago. The tactics used by Marshal Bock of the German Army Group Center were almost exactly the same as those used by Zhukov to defeat the Red Army commanded by Pavlov in the exercise!
After that exercise, Pavlov's villain was the first to complain, accusing Zhukov of sabotaging the exercise plan and disrupting the normal exercise pattern.
But now it seemed to Stalin that Zhukov had clearly taught the entire army a lesson and a wake-up call. But in the past six months, Pavlov had not made the slightest change in the fortification deployment that had been blasted at that time.
Stalin secretly regretted that he had not thought of promoting Zhukov's tactical ideas at that time.
And Pavlov, even though he had lost so miserably in that exercise, he still trusted him, listened to his slander, and almost shot Zhukov.
But Pavlov, who was promoted together with Zhukov at the beginning...why is the gap between the two so big?
Could it be said that Pavlov lacked experience? That’s not right. He participated in the First World War, the Civil War, and the Battle of the Eastern Railway. He also received the Hero Medal when he supported the Spanish Civil War, and also participated in the Soviet-Finnish War. It should be It is said that he has been in battle for a long time and will not panic when he hears the sound of cannons.
The only shortcoming seems to be that he was promoted too quickly. When Stalin thought about this, he couldn't help but sigh. After the "Great Purge", there was indeed a shortage of generals in the army, especially senior generals.
But it shouldn't be, Zhukov also brought it up quickly, and there was no problem in using it.
Besides, even if he is just a company commander, in Pavlov's position as commander of the Western Front, it is unlikely that he can lose a thousand and two men to a powerful front in a week!
Stalin thought about it and could not find a reason to justify Pavlov's failure.
Did Pavlov really have an affair with the German army?!
If you put it this way, everything seems to make sense.
Pavlov himself had an affair with the Germans, but he accused Zhukov of treason and collaboration with the enemy. Then, he sent his deployment to the German army, deliberately sending the three most elite and main armies of the Western Front into his pocket.
The idea of not being enough only appeared in Stalin's mind for a moment and was rejected by him. He knew that this was definitely impossible. After all, the committee member who saw Pavlov off was already on his way back to Moscow.
Stalin stood blankly in front of the huge floor-to-ceiling window, watching the evening in Moscow as the sky gradually darkened. He remembered what Tukhachevsky, who he had dealt with, had repeatedly emphasized: "The war of the future will be a war of engines."
, the concentration of armored tank troops can form a powerful assault fist, it is not easy to resist them!"
At that time, Pavlov was still preaching to himself: "In future wars, it will be difficult for a single tank or team to make a big difference. Tanks can only become auxiliary weapons for infantry divisions."
Stalin didn't know that Tukhachevsky was almost rescued by the Germans. He didn't even know that out of his sight, Tukhachevsky rejected the Germans' way of survival and chose to die.
But now he really feels regretful.
If the Western Front had been commanded by a general who understood armored warfare like Tukhachevsky, maybe the current result wouldn't be so bad, right?
At least, he won’t lead his troops to lose battles like Pavlov!
In the afternoon, Zhukov returned to the headquarters to report.
In Stalin's office, Timoshenko, who had been called here a long time ago, and Duvalin, the first deputy chief of general staff who had been working with Zhukov before, had been waiting here for a long time. Behind them,
Stalin was also waiting for Zhukov's return.
There was no unnecessary communication, Stalin did not apologize to Zhukov, and Zhukov did not ask Stalin for an explanation.
The two looked at each other quietly, and then saw many unspeakable things in each other's eyes.
Afterwards, Stalin made a gesture to Zhukov and asked him to sit down and watch the battlefield diagram of the Western Front Army statistics: "Comrade Chief of General Staff Zhukov, please think about it with us and tell us what you have in this situation.
Method, or what should we do?”
When Zhukov heard Stalin call himself Chief of General Staff, he knew that the other party wanted to resume his previous position. Considering Stalin's character, this was already a very difficult concession.
"I need 40 minutes to study the current situation first." Zhukov did not dwell on such trivial issues. He was still the same Zhukov, and he directly accepted the appointment without any nonsense.
What he is doing now is to understand how the battlefield situation has developed during the period when he was taken to Siberia.
"Okay, report back to me in 40 minutes." Stalin nodded and did not interfere with Zhukov's proposal.
So Zhukov, Timoshenko and Vadudin went to a room next door and began to discuss the situation and countermeasures of the Western Front.
From Timoshenko and Duvardin, Zhukov learned that the main forces of the Western Front's 3rd Army and 10th Army had been blocked west of Minsk, but some of the German forces were still slightly contained, but the specific situation was still unclear.
Some troops of the 4th Army of the Western Front have retreated into the Pripya Forest. Some scattered regiments that suffered serious losses in the battles in the past few days are retreating towards the Lezina River, but the alert German troops
