Stalin asked Zhukov to organize a counterattack quickly...the emphasis was on "quickly".
The reason why it must be "quick" is because Stalin's purpose in launching a counterattack was to disrupt the German offensive deployment so that he could not launch an attack on the second line of defense step by step.
Obviously, if it is not "quick" enough, the German army will launch an attack ahead of the Soviet counterattack, and the counterattack will be meaningless.
In fact, the reason why Stalin launched a counterattack despite Zhukov's objections was that besides being dazzled by Klin's victory, another reason was that he did not believe that the second line of defense could block the German attack if this continued.
Therefore, the combination of arrogance and unconfidence, coupled with a little insecurity, made Stalin eager to change the status quo.
Zhukov knew that this was unrealistic, so no matter how much he studied the map, he could not find a feasible counterattack plan.
Soon, the Supreme Command lost patience, and they directly submitted a counterattack plan to Zhukov:
"The strategic goal is to drive out the German troops entrenched in the Volokolamsk area in order to crush the offensive the enemy is preparing. To this end, our army should organize a counterattack in two locations:
One is north of the Volokolamsk area, supplementing the 16th Army to attack the enemy from the front.
The other used a cavalry corps, Guttmann's 112th Tank Division and part of the 49th Army to launch a counterattack from the Serpukhov area to the 13th Army on the southern flank of Kluge's German 4th Army!"
This plan does seem to be feasible. Two counterattack forces launched a counterattack against the enemy in the south and north, just like the pincer attack used by the German army. The Supreme Command was also using its own tactics to deal with the enemy.
The German troops in the Lokolamsk area launched a pincer attack.
If successful, the German troops in the Volokolamsk area will soon be driven out, and several German divisions will be surrounded and annihilated.
But Zhukov didn't think so.
"I think this plan is impossible to realize, Comrade Bulganin!" Zhukov said: "The reason why the Germans are able to carry out a pincer attack is because they can concentrate superior forces and equipment, and their troops also have strong
Mobility, and our troops are obviously insufficient, our equipment is severely lacking, and our mobility is insufficient to carry out such a pincer attack!"
Zhukov's analysis is of course reasonable. The German breakthrough force is usually an army group or an armored group, and it is also equipped with a large number of air force, artillery, and tanks.
But looking back at the plan of the Soviet Supreme Command: It is okay to reorganize the 16th Army. The other force only has a cavalry corps, plus a tank division, plus part of a certain group army. This is a patchwork of things.
However, the troops needed to counterattack a German army group... In fact, let alone counterattack, it would be good to be able to block the German attack.
So needless to say, the mere comparison of troop strength and combat effectiveness determined that this plan was unrealistic, and the Soviet army with insufficient strength was not suitable for dividing its forces for an attack.
But it was not up to Zhukov.
"I hope you understand one thing, Comrade Zhukov!" Bulganin simply replied: "This is not a question, but an order!"
So Zhukov had nothing to say... He had actually lost command.
Of course Shulka didn't know this. He only knew that the troops immediately received the order to set off again. After getting on the train, they didn't even know where their destination was.
He always thought that this time it would be the same as last time, that is, the Germans broke through a certain point on the defense line, and the 4th Tank Brigade rushed to the front line as a mobile unit to "put out the fire."
But Shulka soon discovered something was wrong.
The direction of the train was still northwest... This was not what Shulka could see. In fact, as soon as Shulka got on the train and made a few turns, he quickly lost track of which was which.
This would not be a problem in modern times. Just open the map on your phone and follow the map.
But it has become a big problem in this era, especially when troops are marching.
Shulka couldn't help but think of the thief again. He had the best sense of direction in the three companies.
The other one is Uncle Alek, but he is half asleep most of the time, especially when he is not driving on the train... As soon as he gets on the train, he finds a seat by the window and takes off his military hat.
I put it on my face, and within a minute I started snoring.
It was the actors who recognized the direction.
"We are on the railway line in the direction of Istria!" said the actor.
"How do you know?" Shulka asked.
The actor looked at Shulka with wide eyes and asked: "Don't you remember anything, comrade company commander?"
"Remember what?" Shulka couldn't help but asked doubtfully.
"Our home!" said the actor: "It is only twenty kilometers away from Istria!"
This surprised Shulka. Before this, he only knew the name of a place, Lobnya, but he did not expect to get closer and closer to it under such circumstances.
"I..." Shulka said: "I didn't know it was near Moscow!"
The actor shrugged: "Then where else could it be?"
"You didn't tell me this!" Shulka said: "You didn't mention it even when we arrived in Moscow!"
"So what?" the actor replied: "Can we go back and see it during a holiday?"
Seeing Shulka's silence, the actor comforted Shulka and said: "Don't worry, comrade commander, Istria is within the second line of defense, which means... at least Lobnya is safe.
What the actor didn't know was that this wasn't what Shulka was worried about. He just didn't know what the situation was like in his "home".
After thinking for a while, Shulka asked: "In which direction is it?"
"Northwest!" the actor replied.
"Klin is also from the northwest!"
"Yes!" the actor replied: "To be precise, it's just south of Klin!"
Shulka couldn't help but frowned.
There is something wrong with this... It is unlikely that the German army will break through at almost the same position twice in a row.
In other words, this march is most likely not a mobile defense like the last time to fight against the German troops who broke into the defense line.
But what is it if not mobile defense?
Deployed on the defensive line?
This was unlikely. He believed that Zhukov would not be so stupid.
If not, then it is a counterattack?
Shulka smiled and shook his head... This is impossible. It would be great if the Soviet army could protect themselves at this time, but they still counterattack?!
After thinking about it for a while, Shulka stopped thinking about it. After all, there were some things that a second lieutenant like him didn't need to know.
So he also followed Uncle Alek's example and rested with his military cap on his face.