At first, Yang Mingzhi simply described the current war situation, but this alone surprised Stalin.
Why? An isolated island in the war in the Pripet Swamp has a very thorough understanding of the entire war situation. This person arrived in Tula only in the early morning. If he only obtains external information through broadcasts, he can analyze the war situation.
To be honest, this man is really a military genius.
In fact, Yang Mingzhi did not show his so-called "military genius" at all. He was very familiar with the major battles during the Soviet Patriotic War and the macro-development of the war situation. Perhaps this is the only advantage that time travelers have, and it is also the biggest advantage.
.Of course, improper operation can also be a huge disaster.
Therefore, Yang Mingzhi's discussion of the war situation has only one core - the Soviet army will be victorious in all the battles it is currently participating in.
It is said that such remarks resounded throughout the alliance like slogans, and no one wanted the Soviet campaign to fail.
The slogan of victory was shouted loudly, and Stalin only wanted to understand the reason why the Soviet army was bound to win.
He squinted his eyes and asked: "It seems that you have understood the entire battle situation. From what you said, we actually have advantages in every battlefield?"
"Yes!" Yang Mingzhi replied unswervingly, "The Soviet Union has a huge population advantage, and now it has begun to receive material assistance from its allies. The Soviet Union is still an industrial country. Specifically, you created this industrial country. It seems that
You have realized that this war is bound to happen. What a coincidence. When the war happens, the Soviet Union, which originally only had wooden plows, already has the ability to mass-produce war machines."
Even though these words scratched Stalin's itch, they were still flattering words that everyone loved to hear.
"So, what you are saying is that because the Soviet Union can produce weapons on a large scale, rely on a large population, and finally get assistance from its allies, we can win all the battles at this stage."
"What is happening now is a total war. Only countries with strong military strength, sufficient materials, and high productivity can win. And this is the advantage we have. Of course, I am afraid that many generals and even the chief of general staff have said this to you countless times. You
Hope to hear more valuable remarks."
"Yes!" Stalin asked urgently: "Now, Stalingrad has begun to enter full-scale street fighting, and the entire Don River is burning. Although our army broke the deadlock in Vyazma, the German army built Smolensk into a fortress.
The situation of our army is still dangerous."
"We will win these battles. What I want to say now is that after our army defeats the German army attacking the Don River Valley and the Caucasus, our army's next step will be progress."
Stalin was enthusiastic, but he wanted to focus on hearing what Lieutenant General Berekov said about how Stalin's battle ended. This was what he was most concerned about at the moment.
"Tell me, that German general Paulus, what do you think his outcome will be?"
"It's surrender!" Yang Mingzhi said firmly.
"Surrender to whom?"
"Surrender to the great Soviet Red Army, including tens of thousands of his soldiers."
"What's the reason? That man is a German general. Wouldn't that guy escape? How could he surrender to us?"
"Because our army attracted the German army into the quagmire of war around the urban area of ​​Stalingrad, when the German army was unable to escape, our army's superior forces launched a pincer offensive. The German army placed their allies the Romanians on the flanks, and was easily defeated by our army. The pincer offensive
The offensive successfully turned into an encirclement. The besieged German troops had no food supply and they even began to eat corpses in order to survive. At this time, Paulus decided to surrender."
"Oh! Is that true?! It sounds interesting, as if it must be so."
Stalin was taciturn and low-key most of the time, with a strong desire for power. In order to stabilize his power, it was very important to reward "his own people" regularly, and it was also necessary to win over and develop new "own people".
This Belekov showed a flattering attitude, but this person had real talent and learning! Regardless of whether this person was sincere or not, he was a handy tool in those days.
Stalin was really shocked this time, because he actually briefly outlined the Soviet strategy of the Chief of General Staff regarding the Battle of Stalingrad, and that strategy was first proposed at a closed meeting of the Military Commission, and only the Commission knew the details
people.
What's more, the division commanders and brigade commanders who lead the battle only obey the military orders of their superiors and have no right or possibility to know the tactical formulation of the macro-level battle situation.
But Belekov knew it clearly! First of all, he must have been unaware. Salinchkin did not know the contents of the meeting, and there was no possibility of any leakage.
But Berekov's analysis is sound and logical, which can only mean one thing - he analyzed it himself.
Stalin's calm face showed a hint of doubt, and his tone became gentler: "Comrade General, are you analyzing these?"
"Of course." Yang Mingzhi noticed something strange and continued to explain without changing his face: "If I were asked to command such a huge battle, I would definitely adopt the tactic of using weak troops to lure the enemy deep into the territory, and even take the initiative to attack to induce the Germans to take the initiative.
Attack. Once the enemy falls into the trap I have formulated, and when the enemy is tired, my strategic reserve with strong combat effectiveness will go into battle to complete the encirclement. I think that all good generals will choose this most reasonable tactic."
Stalin felt much more relaxed when he said this. He sighed: "However, excellent generals are rare. If they basically make no mistakes, they are already excellent. Especially Zhukov, he needs a large number of troops to carry out a military operation, and the tactics used
It was basically a frontal attack. So I appointed Marshal Zhukov to command the Battle of Stalingrad, and the strategy and tactics were formulated by General Vasilevsky."
As soon as Stalin finished speaking, Yang Mingzhi hurriedly said: "Comrade Stalin, I am only a lieutenant general, and I am far inferior to Marshal Zhukov."
"But you clearly have a lot of room for development. Maybe you should have a good exchange with Comrade Vasilevsky." Stalin smiled slightly and continued to ask: "When will we complete the victory of the battle?"
"This... I guess, it will be before spring next year, maybe January or February."
"Okay, assuming we win in February, how will the war develop next?"
"This depends on the situation of our army. Our army defeated all the enemies who attacked the Don River Basin. The German army suffered huge losses, and our army suffered equally huge losses. Our army currently does not have the strength to launch a new round of offensive campaign, or in other words
, we are temporarily unable to launch a new round of decisive battles.
When our army restores its strength, the German army will put their last strategic mobile force into the battlefield. I speculate that our army will launch a large-scale campaign against Kiev in the summer and autumn. After completing this decisive battle, we will
The army will liberate all areas east of the Dnieper River. At the same time, the German army will lose its last strategic maneuverability, and the offensive and defensive momentum will completely change!"
Stalin listened with interest. From a long-term perspective, the anti-Fascist alliance composed of most of the countries in the world would definitely defeat Germany, and the Soviet Union would eventually win. However, no one outlined a road map for victory to Stalin.
According to what General Berekov said, by the summer of 1944, the Soviet army was able to defeat the last elite force of the German army. In the following years, the German army no longer had the ability to attack and had to enter a comprehensive defense! If the war turns out to be like this,
The Soviet army has gained complete initiative. Does that mean they can fight however they want?
Stalin continued to ask: "We have annihilated the last elite of the German army, and then what? Is it the liberation of Kiev?"
"Yes! Let me call it the Turning Point Battle." Speaking of this part, Yang Mingzhi took a step forward and got closer to Stalin: "Dear Comrade Stalin, if we win the Turning Point Battle next summer, we can liberate Kharko in the autumn.
Russia and Kiev. Our army can continue to break through to Ukraine on the right bank, and stop at a suitable location to rest and reorganize the troops in preparation for a new offensive. However, this is only a breakthrough against Ukraine on the right bank."
"What other intentions do you have? Wait!" Stalin suddenly noticed that the location of Kiev marked on the map was very close to the north of the city, which is the Pripet Swamp, which is the current guerrilla republic. Suddenly
, the leader of the Soviet Union smelled something different, and then took a breath of cold air - this Belekov seemed to be setting up an extraordinary chess game.
He couldn't help but ask: "Comrade Berekov, are you a chess master?"
"no."
"You don't have to be modest. You also have a hidden strategy. When our army liberates Kiev, it will be equivalent to bordering on your guerrilla republic. You have been operating in the swamp for a year, and the 6th Army is by no means a weak force. We can pass
This springboard can break through to the north and even liberate Minsk! Directly cut off the enemy's retreat in the north!"
"Comrade Stalin, you are also a strategist! Yes, I have such a plan. Before I came to Moscow, I had already given an order to the comrades in the swamp. That is, the only task in the next year is to conserve energy.
Rui, I forbid them from launching campaign-level military operations, train the army with all their strength, whether men or women, and train a large number of militiamen to provide support for the main force of our army going north.
The Belarusian people have been persisting in fighting. I promised them that I will lead the army that liberated Chernigov to the banks of the Dnieper River in a year. I told my comrades in the swamp that we must build tanks that can run.
roads so that the troops could pass through the swamp area smoothly and catch the Germans by surprise.
Although I cannot guarantee whether we can reach Minsk, I have full confidence in the Red Army to liberate the entire Gomel region!"
Now Stalin had a sense of heroism. He realized that he had noticed General Berekov's strategy. Obviously, this was a reflection of his huge improvement in military level. While he was satisfied with himself, he was even more surprised.
Belekov's strategy.
Then the war situation developed like this. From a macro perspective, the entire northeastern part of Belarus and the area near the Baltic Sea became a huge protrusion!
"Well, Comrade General, if we liberate Kiev before next winter, what will happen in 1944?"
"It's the liberation of the entire territory, Comrade Stalin!" Yang Mingzhi said firmly with a smile, "Not only the liberation of the entire territory, the Red Army began to enter Poland and Romania! Maybe in the autumn of 1944, the Red Army began to enter the German mainland."
Yang Mingzhi believes in "trends", which is the development trend of things. Germany's industrial capacity is limited and its economic capacity is inherently bad. While the long-term war has caused the economy to collapse, food production will become worse and worse. The German people have begun to appear.
Anti-war sentiment, those with such sentiments were often hanged from telephone poles.
The direct cause of the German army's increasing lack of stamina stems from their increasingly poor overall national strength. The production of tanks, aircraft and artillery reached its peak, but due to the loss of Romania's fuel supply, a large number of tanks could not run and aircraft could not fly.
Even with the increasing production of synthetic fuels and the absolute shortage of oil, the blitzkrieg they were proud of could not be implemented. The war machine had lost its advantage. The German army could only rely on infantry to resist the steel war machines of the Soviet and Allied forces.
Germany's defeat was inevitable. As for the exact time, Yang Mingzhi estimated that Germany's surrender day would definitely not be May 9, and the war would probably end earlier.
In the end, Stalin asked a very pointed question that the people of the entire alliance wanted to know: "Tell me when we will capture Berlin and when will we be able to catch the culprit of the war."
"Probably at the end of April or early May. If we fight well, we may be able to capture the villain with the mustache in early April and end this damn war! So, I can't estimate the exact time, I can only be certain,
Our spring offensive of 1945 would end with Germany's defeat. We won the war!"
A pair of big, heavy hands clapped, and Stalin felt really comfortable hearing this discussion.
What Yang Mingzhi didn't know was that because street fighting had begun in Stalingrad and the German offensive was fierce, the Soviet army was likely to lose control of the city. Of course, the victory of the battle did not depend on the gains and losses in the city. Besides, the city of Stalingrad was far inferior.
Moscow is so big.
But the success or failure of the city is related to the morale of more than one million troops. It is a city that is ordered in the name of its leader. Even if there are mountains of corpses and seas of blood, the city cannot be lost.
If you think so, the problems facing the Soviet army are very serious. Today Yang Mingzhi's wonderful discussion made Stalin energetic.
"Comrade Berekov, your discussion is really wonderful! It seems that the war is going to develop according to this trend, and you seem to have an insight into everything."
In fact, Yang Mingzhi had always been vigilant. He didn't want to say more about this matter, so he became humble: "These are just my humble opinions as a lieutenant general. Thanks to your trust, I have the opportunity to tell you these thoughts."
"What a wonderful idea!"
Stalin was looking forward to this meeting with Yang Mingzhi, and the "Road Map to Victory in War" made him very happy.
He clasped his head with his hands behind his back, pacing thoughtfully on the brown carpet.
Suddenly, he stopped. A new question required Yang Mingzhi's answer: "General Berekov, if this is how the war situation develops, we should find a way to fight every battle well. I know very well that you
At present, there is only a group army commander. There are seventy commanders like you in the whole army, but none of them can make such a long-term war game. Now, assuming that you serve as the chief of general staff, you have the power to make all plans.
Do you have any new ideas for the battle?" (To be continued)