Chapter six hundred and ninety seventh strategic focus
"But..." Vasilevsky hesitated for a while and then asked: "Comrade Stalin, what can we do now?"
There is indeed not much room for maneuver, because the entire battle has been deployed, and like an arrow shot from a bow, there is no turning back.
You can't forcefully pull back those troops who are at great offensive momentum and start over!
Stalin did not answer directly. He stood up and turned his attention to the window and said: "The National Defense Committee has discussed this issue. The Supreme Command believes that we should encircle Stalingrad as soon as possible to crush the enemy's plan!"
"Shift the focus of the campaign?" Vasilevsky got the idea.
The original strategic plan was to encircle the enemy in depth. Small encirclement in depth, such as the attack on Karachi, was secondary. It was more about harassing the German 6th Army so that it could not escape or divide its forces for reinforcements.
Now, fearing that German reinforcements would undermine the large-depth encirclement, the impatient and unsure High Command decided to focus on small-depth encirclement.
In fact, the main reason was that the Supreme Command, including Stalin, was not confident enough.
As mentioned before, although the Soviet officers and soldiers did not show it, because of the large-scale defeat in the early stage, they generally lacked confidence when facing the German army. It is not an exaggeration to say that they were fearful.
Under such circumstances, the thinking of the senior officials of the Supreme Command was: it would be great if they could win a few small victories to rescue Stalingrad, but they also wanted to surround them in one fell swoop and regain a large amount of lost territory?!
It should be said that this idea is more secure and stable, because it can quickly complete the siege of Stalingrad. Manstein's reinforcements will not have time to reinforce, and the pressure on Stalingrad will increase in a short period of time.
reduce.
But war has always been an adventurer's game. Another meaning of safety and security is to be conservative and miss opportunities.
"So!" Vasilevsky asked: "What should we do with the troops carrying out a deep encirclement? Especially the 51st Army! Should we order them to stop attacking and switch to defense?"
The Soviet army that implemented a deep encirclement had two troops, one was the Southwest Front located behind the German flank in the north, and the other was the Stalingrad Front in the south.
The Southwest Front does not need to worry too much, because it is an entire front serving as the northern pincer, and logistical supplies can also be guaranteed.
The problem is the Stalingrad Front. Although it is also a front army serving as the southern pincer, several of its armies are not actually used to outflank the Germans but to fight the Germans. The 6th Army even fought against the Germans in Stalingrad.
In full swing.
Therefore, the Stalingrad Front actually only had two armies to implement the outflank: the 57th Army implemented a small and medium-depth outflank while covering the right wing of the 51st Army, and the 51st Army implemented a large-depth outflank.
Now, Stalin plans to shift the strategic focus to close-range outflanking, so if the 51st Army continues to attack, it will be equivalent to going deep alone.
So Vasilevsky thought that Stalin would let the 51st Army stop attacking and stay in place.
However, Stalin remained silent.
Vasilevsky, who had a deep understanding of Stalin, immediately understood what this meant... The silence meant that Vasilevsky guessed wrong, which meant that Stalin did not intend to let the 51st Army stop their offensive.
Hope it continues to attack.
Sure enough, Stalin went on to say: "The 51st Group Army's offensive is beneficial to the campaign. It is not just a matter of inspiring successive victories. Their offensive is bound to attract the enemy's main reinforcements, making it impossible to reinforce Stalingrad in time!"
Therefore, the 51st Army was used as a shield to ensure the smooth implementation of the Soviet army's small-depth encirclement and force them to retreat or annihilate the enemies of Stalingrad.
Before Vasilevsky could speak, Stalin continued: "Therefore, the Supreme Command believes that the task of crushing the encircled enemy should be led by one person. Now there are two front commanders in charge, which hinders this task.
The completion of the meeting. The defense committee members present at the meeting all supported this opinion."
This is indeed a fact. The Stalingrad Front actually undertakes two different strategic tasks. One is to fight the German army in Stalingrad, and the other is to encircle the German army in depth. That is, the Don River Front Army and the Stalingrad Front Army are fighting against the German army.
Combat.
But what were you doing earlier?
How come no one mentioned this when making the plan?
Only now that the battle is in progress have I realized that these two parts should be combined into one?!
"We want to reorganize the front army?" Vasilevsky asked: "At this time?"
Stalin nodded: "It's just a matter of transfer of command! The tasks at the group army level remain completely unchanged!"
"So, which commander will be entrusted with the final task of eliminating the enemy?" Vasilevsky asked again.
"Someone suggested that all the troops encircling and suppressing the enemy should be put under the command of Rokossovsky." Stalin turned around, took out his pipe and knocked it on the table.
This also means splitting up the Stalingrad Front and handing over the troops to the Don Front.
After a moment of silence, when Vasilevsky did not speak, Stalin raised his head and asked, "Why don't you say anything?"
"I'm thinking about whether this is appropriate!" Vasilevsky replied: "I think both commanders are very capable. If the troops of the Stalingrad Front are placed under the command of Comrade Rokossovsky, then Yereomian
Ko must feel aggrieved, or it may be detrimental to the morale of the Stalingrad Front..."
"Now is not the time to talk about grievances!" Stalin interrupted Vasilevsky and ordered: "Call Yereomenko and announce to him the decision of the National Defense Committee."
With that said, Stalin threw a piece of information to Vasilevsky and said: "This is the reorganization plan!"
"Yes, Comrade Stalin!" Vasilevsky stepped forward and answered, then took the information from the table.
"There is also Zhukov!" Stalin said: "Tell him!"
"yes!"
Only then did Vasilevsky realize that Stalin came to him not to discuss things with him, but to ask him to come forward and be a bad guy... Stalin knew that these things were difficult to say, so he asked him to be a mouthpiece.
After Vasilevsky returned to the headquarters, he hesitated again and again. He picked up the phone several times but failed to make a call.
To use a Chinese idiom, this is "changing generals at the last moment".
To be precise, it is not just "changing generals before the battle", but "changing generals before the battle", changing the command of the troops who are fighting and the troops who are fighting fiercely. The impact is by no means as simple as Stalin said.
But no one dared to resist Stalin's order, and Vasilevsky finally pulled out the phone. (To be continued)