Vasilevsky immediately reported the situation to Zhukov, but Zhukov said: "Comrade Vasilevsky, this is impossible. The Germans have lost the ability to attack. Your intelligence must be wrong."
"Comrade Zhukov, I have repeatedly confirmed that the Germans have indeed launched an attack on our front army from both wings. Moreover, the German army is making rapid progress. A large number of armored units are participating in the attack. Our army is in danger of being encircled at any time."
Zhukov was shocked when he heard this. He couldn't help but think of the tragedy of hundreds of thousands of soldiers on the Southwest Front being surrounded in Kiev. The same thing could not happen again.
Zhukov said: "Comrade Vasilevsky, if what you said is true, then Leningrad must be evacuated immediately to avoid being surrounded by the Germans."
"Yes!" Vasilevsky responded.
Zhukov put down the phone, a bad premonition enveloped his heart. The Germans retreated in large steps. Is there really some conspiracy?
At this moment, Zhukov received a call from Timoshenko. Timoshenko said that in Crimea and the Caucasus, the Soviet army encountered a powerful German counterattack and suffered heavy losses. The German army was constantly attacking forward.
, the Soviet army was simply unable to resist.
At the same time, the Soviet troops stationed in Smolensk called and discovered an unknown number of German troops outside Smolensk.
For a moment, Zhukov was a little worried. What happened to the Germans? Aren't they fighting for power internally? This should be their weakest time, so why did they become so powerful all of a sudden?
"Report, Comrade Zhukov, the German head of state gave a speech, claiming that within a month, the main force of the Soviet army will be eliminated!" an officer said.
"The head of Germany? Hasn't he been assassinated? Who is the head of Germany now?" Zhukov asked.
The officer said: "The German head of state is not dead. He gave a speech on the radio."
"Impossible! The German head of state has been assassinated by Wolf Fang. There is no way he can survive!" Zhukov said.
"But Comrade Zhukov is indeed the voice of the German head of state, and there is nothing wrong with that."
"Will it be recorded?"
"No, the situation mentioned by the German head of state in his speech just happened recently. In other words, the German head of state is not dead at all."
"The German head of state is not dead, so who died at the Bologoye military parade?" Zhukov asked.
"Comrade Zhukov, it seems now that the person who was shot to death by the Wolf Fang during the military parade was probably the stand-in for the German head of state."
Cold sweat dripped from Zhukov's forehead. The German head of state was not dead. So why did the Germans retreat so hard some time ago? There is only one reason, and that is that the Germans carefully laid a trap. Judging from various signs, the Germans were already prepared.
For a long time, I wanted to catch all the Soviet troops in one fell swoop.
Zhukov knew that this time, not only himself, but the entire Soviet Union had been deceived by the Germans and must retreat immediately, otherwise the Soviet army would inevitably suffer disaster.
Zhukov immediately called Vasilevsky and Timoshenko and told them to retreat immediately.
Vasilevsky and Timoshenko loyally carried out Zhukov's orders, but it was too late. The Soviet troops on all fronts suffered frantic German counterattacks. The Soviet troops suffered heavy losses and were beaten back continuously.
.
In Leningrad, Vasilevsky commanded the troops and finally succeeded in breaking through after all the efforts of World War II. However, after the breakthrough, the Kalinin Front army had been reduced from 500,000 soldiers before the battle to 250,000 people.
In Crimea, the German army occupied the entire Crimea. Timoshenko could only lead his troops to support themselves on the front line of Stalingrad. Every day, hundreds of Soviet soldiers were bombarded by German artillery and aircraft bombings.
Death, the battle is extremely cruel.
In Smolensk in the middle, the German main force, the Skeleton Division, the Viking Division and other units, captured Smolensk in one fell swoop, almost cutting off the Soviet army's retreat. The Soviet army spent a lot of effort to get through Smolensk.
The road from Molensk to Moscow was retreated to Moscow, but it suffered heavy losses, with a total loss of 300,000 people.
The German Skeleton Division, Viking Division and other troops immediately pursued and launched an attack on the Moscow front line. Fortunately, Zhukov was prepared and continued to block the German army along the way, delaying the German offensive momentum. Although he paid a huge price, he finally disintegrated the German army.
The offensive caused the German army to begin to retreat.
The entire Soviet-German battlefield was in chaos. The German army suddenly launched a large-scale counterattack, boldly using interspersed tactics, and encircled a whole battalion, an entire regiment, or even an entire division of Soviet troops that were lagging behind, and finally eliminated them. The Soviet army was in mourning.
There was a great rout that affected all fronts, and huge losses were suffered.
If it weren't for the hard support of Zhukov and other generals, the entire Soviet-German battlefield would have completely collapsed.
Kazan was the temporary capital of the Soviet Socialist Union. Stalin originally planned to move the capital back to Moscow, but as the war worsened dramatically, Stalin had to give up his plan to move the capital.
At this time, Stalin completely lost his former calm demeanor and had a bad temper. The situation on the battlefield was still good a few days ago, but in the blink of an eye, the Soviet troops on the northern, central, and southern fronts of the entire Soviet battlefield were defeated.
The war situation continued to deteriorate, which Stalin could not tolerate.
"Comrade Stalin and Comrade Zhukov reported that the German troops on the Moscow front have stopped attacking and have begun to retreat towards Smolensk. There should be no problems in Moscow in a short time," Malenkov said.
"I know." Stalin took a long drag on his pipe and said coldly.
"Comrade Stalin, judging from the current situation, we underestimated the enemy and advanced rashly. The initiative gained in the past few months was suddenly wiped out, and the German army regained the initiative on the battlefield." Malenkov said.
Stalin said: "Is there any definite news about the German head of state?"
Malenkov replied: "Already, according to the latest information, the person who was assassinated in Bologoye was the stand-in of the German head of state. The German head of state is still intact and has returned to Berlin. He also recently attended Berlin's celebration of the Soviet-German victory on the battlefield.
Big Parade.”
"Damn it!" Stalin's face turned livid when he heard the news, and then said: "So, this German action is a conspiracy, the purpose is to lure our army to attack, and finally eliminate our army's effective strength!"
"Comrade Stalin, it seems like this now. In this wave of German attacks, we lost a million experienced officers and soldiers." Malenkov said with a sad expression.
"hateful!"
Stalin slammed his pipe on the table, and then said: "All of this was caused by Xu Rui and Langya. If they hadn't wanted to behead the German head of state, they wouldn't have caused such a big disaster!"
Malenkov was startled, knowing that Stalin was looking for a scapegoat for his own failures. Under the current situation, it would be best to use an outsider like Xu Rui as the scapegoat.
Thinking of this, Malenkov echoed: "Comrade Stalin, the source of everything comes from Xu Rui and his wolf fangs. If they don't assassinate the German head of state, we will not fall into the Germans' conspiracy. Xu Rui must be punished."
.”
Stalin said: "Punishment is necessary, but in view of Comrade Xu Rui's previous contributions, some of his mistakes can also be made up for. At the same time, taking into account the relationship between China and the Soviet Union, although heavy punishment is unnecessary, light punishment is still necessary."
of."
"Comrade Stalin, Xu Rui has a narrow national mentality, and all actions center on China's interests. Such a person will not put the interests of the Soviet Union first. It is inappropriate to keep him in the Soviet Union. It is better to keep him in the Soviet Union."
Xu Rui rushed back to China."
Stalin said: "This proposal is very good. If it were an ordinary person and he made such a big mistake, he would have to engage in military law. But Xu Rui has made great contributions. He made such a big mistake this time, and the merits and demerits are exactly balanced. We in the Soviet Union
A person can solve his own problems by himself, and there is no need for an outsider to tell him what to do, so just let him go back to China."
"Okay, Comrade Stalin, I will inform Xu Rui of your instructions and ask him to pack up and get out of the Soviet Union!" Malenkov said.
Malenkov left Stalin's office. Stalin's expression was very stern. As the supreme leader of the Soviet Union, Stalin had an unshirkable responsibility for this failure. In order to maintain his image in the hearts of the Soviet military and civilians, there must be a scapegoat to bear this responsibility.
Xu Rui is an outsider and is naturally the ideal person to shirk responsibility for the consequences of a major defeat.
Stalin murmured to himself: "Xu Rui, Xu Rui, you can't blame me this time..."
"What? Drive Xu Rui back to China? Who made this suggestion?" Zhukov roared on the phone. Zhukov certainly knew the value of Xu Rui. If Xu Rui continued to serve as his chief of staff, then this collapse was possible.
It was avoided, but it was precisely because of the leader's selfish desires and narrow national pride that Xu Rui was excluded from the command of this battle, which triggered a series of great defeats.
Zhukov was about to re-enable Xu Rui to turn the tide of the war, but at this time, news came that his superiors wanted to drive Xu Rui back to the country.
"Comrade Zhukov, this is an order from Comrade Stalin and the Military Commission. You can reserve your opinion, but you must implement it unconditionally." Malenkov said on the phone.
Zhukov said: "Comrade Stalin is wrong to do this. Without Xu Rui's participation, we the Soviet people will pay a greater price to win this war. I want to speak directly with Comrade Stalin!"
Malenkov said on the phone: "Comrade Stalin has made up his mind. Comrade Zhukov, please don't bother Comrade Stalin."
Snapped!
Malenkov hung up the phone, and Zhukov could only look up to the sky and sigh while holding the phone that was still beeping. It seemed that Stalin had made up his mind and everything was irreversible. Xu Rui had nothing to do with this rout.
But now, Xu Rui and his Wolf Fang have become the scapegoat, where is the justice...
