"Okay, let's continue the meeting. So Comrade Zhukov, you are determined to attack Smolensk." Stalin asked in a repeating manner.
"Yes, Comrade Stalin. I plan to mobilize two million people for combat. In other words, the total strength of the Kalinin Front and the Western Front needs to be strengthened to two million."
Stalin stretched his head and stared at the black mahogany blocks on the map.
As for Yang Mingzhi, he thought that Stalin would chat with him a few more words after he had rested. It seemed that his mind had finally returned to "war chess" from new weapons.
Yes, what Stalin faced was a special "chess" game, but it was a "event" in which the lives of hundreds of millions of Soviet citizens were at stake. In the same way, the enemy also used the lives of those 80 million German people as bargaining chips.
.
Yang Mingzhi estimated that he had explained his experience of fighting the German 100th Army, and Stalin should also have his own understanding.
Stalin may have a bigger idea, which is to invest in new weapons in future battles. By then, his career will also develop by leaps and bounds, Yang Mingzhi imagined.
What follows is a real chess game.
Zhukov began to explain his most detailed battle plan.
The red squares on the map clearly show the locations of Soviet combat units, including the three mechanized armies affiliated with the Kalinin Front. They are all large combat groups, so they are also represented by large wooden blocks.
Therefore, the task Zhukov gave to the Kalinin Front was to serve as the core of the three mechanized armies.
That is, Solomakin's First Mechanized Army and Katukov's Third Mechanized Army were the main forces, equipped with a large number of infantry divisions, and stormed the important town of Dukhovshina, fifty kilometers north of Smolensk. After occupying the city, the army
Continue to advance, enter the city of Smolensk, clear out the enemies in the city, cut off the railways, and build a defense line to block reinforcements from the western enemies.
The Fourth Assault Army and the Third Assault Army, with the Second Mechanized Army as the main force, stormed and occupied Velikiy Luki. Then they cut off the railway and built a defense line to block enemy reinforcements.
The 39th, 41st, and 43rd armies of the Kalinin Front, as well as the 3rd and 4th Assault Armies were put into action.
Next is the task of the Western Front.
The 5th, 49th, and 33rd armies of the Western Front, together with the 5th Tank Army, broke through the German Fourth Army's defense line from Sushinich, and then attacked Smolensk in the northwest. Three armies and one
The tank army is the real main offensive force of the Western Front. They must move quickly to prevent the two German armies from retreating towards Smolensk. They must block the retreat of the German troops in the encirclement circle, and at the same time prevent the incoming attacks from the west.
German reinforcements.
The 31st, 20th, and 29th Group Armies were engaged in the key battle against Vyazma.
On this huge map, Yang Mingzhi saw a relatively familiar figure, which was the wooden block representing the 39th Army Headquarters.
The 39th Army was almost surrounded and eaten by Model during the battles in late July and early August.
It is a pity that Model has no more offensive troops to waste. If there is an important reinforcement, it is the 100th Army. It is a pity that this unit is trapped in southern Belarus and wasting time.
The 39th Group Army jumped out of the encirclement, but the war was not over.
The Soviet army organized a powerful counterattack. In this offensive, Soviet soldiers stepped on the corpses of their comrades and captured the commanding heights outside Rzhev. Then they crossed the blood-stained river and liberated Rzhev.
The Soviet army finally stabilized the existing defense line. After the railway transportation in Rzhev was restored, it became an important supply station for the two Soviet front armies.
However, the 39th Group Army suffered huge losses, with more than half of its troops reduced. The combat strength of many infantry divisions was actually reduced to only 3,000 men.
According to the infantry division organization adjusted by the Soviet Union after the outbreak of the war, the division's strength was reduced to about 11,000 men. In fact, it is difficult to ensure full strength. A so-called full strength division only has about 10,000 men.
During a war, it is not easy to replenish the strength of a division. For front-line commanders like Konev, the problem of insufficient manpower in frontline combat units at all levels has always been a headache for him.
He also knew the difficulties of the army. After all, a protracted and bitter battle only ended in August. Throughout September, there was another tug-of-war on a wide front. Every infantry division suffered casualties every day, and new soldiers were added every day. Even so,
, he knew that most of the infantry divisions had barely 6,000 troops.
He was only transferred to the Western Front in September, so Konev knew the Kalinin Front very well.
Zhukov obviously had high hopes for the three mechanized armies of the Kalinin Front. However, these three heavyweight units were the main force that took advantage of the victory to attack Smolensk in the August battle, and they were the most seriously injured.
According to the establishment, the tank brigade in the mechanized army should have 159 T3476 tanks. Currently, it is conservatively estimated that only 70 tanks can be put into combat. Although heavy equipment is still being replenished, it will take time to reach full strength.
Of course, heavy equipment and ammunition are brought to the various units. As long as they are prevented from being sabotaged by spies or from people secretly smoking cigarettes to obtain bomb depots, they are foolproof.
However, there is still a very disgusting problem. Konev came to Stalin's bunker in person this time and had the opportunity to talk to the Supreme Leader in person. He must talk about this matter.
Now, let's listen to Zhukov finish explaining the plan.
I saw Zhukov, holding a wooden stick solemnly, explaining and pushing the wooden block forward.
Yang Mingzhi watched without saying a word. This was the battle planning meeting of Operation Mars. It was really mysterious. Operation Mars in that plane was a defeat with a loss of troops. Maybe the situation in this plane would be much better!
After all, the Soviet army had already captured Rzhev and Sychevka. The two front armies gathered heavy troops and pushed forward directly. It seemed that it would not be difficult to capture Smolensk and Vyazma at the same time.
Maybe Operation Mars on this plane will be a big win?!
"Could it be that because of my intervention, the Soviet army would push the front back to the edge of Belarus in the winter of 1942 or the spring of 1943 at the latest? Then, I am really a powerful butterfly." Yang Mingzhi pondered nervously.
Not to mention, Zhukov really thought so.
In Zhukov's script, the Kalinin Front was the main force in this battle. This front was responsible for the main task of capturing Smolensk and Velikiy Luki. After completing the task, it immediately switched to defense, but this defense was for
Prepare for the next battle.
Zhukov pushed the wooden block, and the words in his mouth were extremely tempting.
"If we stabilize the defense line from Velikiy Luki to Smolensk, we can free up mobile troops to go north to support the Northwestern Front. We can try to attack Pskov. As long as we occupy Pskov, we will cut off the German troops to the north.
A vital communication line. Lake Pskov is very wide. As long as we finally capture and secure Pskov, all the materials needed by the enemy to attack Leningrad will need to be transported from the northern isthmus, which is only 40 kilometers wide.
.Part of the German army will be in a semi-encirclement, and our army will be able to organize its forces to annihilate the German army in the semi-encirclement. The German army will definitely attack Pskov, so they will have less troops to attack Leningrad, and we will be able to relieve Leningrad.
A great opportunity to end the siege! This opportunity is likely to be next spring."
This was a speculation that could make Stalin tremble with excitement.
After calming down, Stalin said: "Let's not talk about next year's affairs. Our affairs this year are two. Protect our southern Russia and annihilate the German Sixth Army. In the north, it is the battle you have planned to liberate Smolensk."
!Destroy all enemies in the encirclement! Now, we need to give the operation a code name."
"Mars! That's the code name we made before." Zhukov said calmly.
Stalin nodded and said nothing more.
Why use "Mars" as the code name? There is no more reason. Yang Mingzhi estimated that if the location of Moscow is regarded as the earth, the closest location where the battle took place is Mars, and the farthest location is of course Uranus. As for why there is no Venus operation and
Operation Mercury, Yang Mingzhi thought it was an irrelevant matter.
There is only one key thing. The German army will not stand like a fool and let the Soviet army fight. The Soviet army must go into battle with absolute confidence, and the majority of fighting soldiers must also be mentally prepared to die suddenly in battle.
Here, Zhukov first verbally explained the battle plan to the two front commanders. Since it was very different from the plan Zhukov had made before, most of those plan documents were invalid. In this bunker, Zhukov handed the documents to Beria.
, they are eventually destroyed by the Ministry of Internal Affairs.
"Comrade Stalin, if you don't mind, I can draft the formal planning document right here." Zhukov looked at Stalin, "I think I should do this for the sake of absolute confidentiality."
"Okay. I'm just worried that this place is under the Moskva River and the dirty air will make you upset."
"I can bear it." Zhukov coughed twice subconsciously.
To be honest, the bunker, which is 70 meters underground, needs a better ventilation system. The underground diesel generator not only supplies lighting, but also drives the exhaust fan. Unfortunately, some of the exhaust gas is not discharged in time.
He did not think that the battle planning could be completed in one afternoon, because there were still a lot of details that needed to be discussed with the two front commanders.
Besides, the leader thinks very highly of General Berekov and may even ask Berekov to talk to him again.
Before that, Zhukov knew that he still had to understand one thing, the so-called front commander's evaluation of the current situation of his troops.
Originally, what Zhukov and Stalin wanted to hear was of course good news, such as how the soldiers were prepared and the frontline soldiers persisted in the never-ending tug-of-war with the German army every day.
Konev, he actually spoke a discordant tone.
And what Konev is talking about is indeed a terrible problem facing the Soviet army right now.
"Comrade Stalin, Comrade Zhukov, I think we must face up to a problem, and that is the problem of deserters. This problem will cause great harm to our army."
"Desert?" Stalin was the most angry when he heard the word deserter. He asked: "My orders apply to everyone, including me! Didn't you implement the orders well?!"
"No! Comrade Stalin, the current situation is quite special. In my army, all deserters who are captured are sentenced or shot, but some deserters escape in the direction of the enemy."
"What?! If so, they are not deserters, but traitors to the great motherland! What should we do after we capture such people? Comrade Zhukov?"
"Of course, after a military court trial." Zhukov shrugged helplessly, "But for such a traitor, if he is caught and shot, I think there is no problem."
"Not enough!" Stalin showed his ferocious side, "I know there is such a problem. Those traitors have failed the motherland and the people. They threw themselves into the German army of the perpetrators. They behaved like invaders.
They are all hurting us. I think there are still many people who are not determined and will become traitors. We need some strong means, even cruel means."
What method was Stalin talking about? That was the so-called strategy of killing Lian.
It is said that if a soldier rebels against the country and surrenders to the enemy, his family will be exiled to Siberia. If the family does not want to go to a bitter and cold place, the soldier has no choice but to fight and die.
Stalin felt that his simple and crude method must be effective, but unfortunately the German army's operation was a slap in the face. In just half a year after the war, the Soviet army surrendered more than one million troops! In the first half of 1942, at least another
Half a million people surrendered! Do you want to punish at least five million people with the same methods as Zhulian?!
No! If we do that, regardless of whether Siberia can withstand such a large population, if five million people are affected, the country will be shaken.
Stalin quickly stopped his methods of killing the company. Later, with the newspaper's desperate publicity, Stalin gradually forgot about the soldiers' voluntary surrender.
After all, there are still "non-combat attrition" situations in the army, where soldiers injure themselves, become ill, or deserters defect. As long as the army maintains sufficient combat strength, it is acceptable to suffer such special attrition.
. What’s more, the situation was similar among the hostile German forces.
Stalin still couldn't hear the word treason and surrender to the enemy, and immediately criticized Konev's incompetent military management.
Of course Konev did not talk back. He took the initiative to explain the situation to the leader. He even nervously said: "I estimate that there are 100 to 200 people defecting to the German army every day on the entire front!
In other words, our fleeing soldiers every month are equivalent to an infantry division in combat status."
"What? One division? Ten thousand people?!" Stalin couldn't believe his ears: "Are you serious? Comrade Konev?!"
"Yes, I dare not lie. Just in September, I read the combat statistics of the Western Front. The statistical records submitted by the grassroots units were very detailed. Some of the documents recorded the mysterious disappearance of soldiers, and some records were
Soldiers who plan to defect persuade those who don't want to leave."
"There is such a thing?!" Stalin stomped his feet angrily, and then roared loudly in the airtight bunker, "There is such a thing? Let your soldiers escape, squad leader, platoon leader, where are they?! They
Should be arrested!”
Konev didn't want to argue, even though he knew that it was impossible to sentence junior officers. Deserters did happen every day, but why did it happen? Now it just happened.
This kind of thing at least said one thing. Various national newspapers desperately promoted that Soviet soldiers would fight tenaciously to the death, and soldiers would never surrender to the invaders. Such words were really propaganda slogans.
It is true that most Soviet soldiers will not surrender because they have huge hatred for the enemy. But there are still many people who are not determined. After all, many people were forcibly recruited into the army, and they are not comfortable with the matter of joining the army.
Resistance. After seeing fierce battles on the front line and a poor living environment, fleeing to the enemy to escape the sea of suffering seems to be a good choice.